Wednesday, January 28, 2004
Inside Scoop from Detroit
Justin Spiro, the editor-in-chief of DetroitSports.net, who wrote a story last Friday saying that Pudge to Seattle was a done deal, does a Q&A for the folks at InsideThePark.com
In this interview he reaffirms his faith in his source and his belief that Pudge is going to the M's, though this interview occurred before this Associated Press story that indicates that Pudge will sign with the Tigers as soon as Friday.
He also provides a Detroit perspective on the Mariners, and these tidbits on the M's half of the Carlos Guillen trade.
On Ramon Santiago - "He is a good kid, but that doesn’t translate into production. He was forced into a bad situation last year with the lowly state of the Tigers. Santiago showed flashes of spectacular defense in 2003, but his bat was just too weak even for Detroit. Given a year or two to mature with a winning team like Seattle should work to his advantage."
On Juan Gonzalez - "Even the top scouts don’t have much to report on this guy. From what I have heard, he is an extremely raw talent with decent upside. His defense appears adequate. In 453 at-bats at Single-A last season, he only managed a .249 average. His power numbers are weak too - 4 homers and 39 RBI. Gonzalez did swipe 24 bases in 2003 at West Michigan, perhaps the only positive sign for his future. "
The more I read, the more I hope that Santiago starts the year in the minors, though I have no idea if he has options left. Seems like he could use full-time at bats rather than being a bench presence. Hopefully, he will be the man sent down when we pick up Eric Karros, official Bench Masher of Lefties of the Mariner Optimist.
In this interview he reaffirms his faith in his source and his belief that Pudge is going to the M's, though this interview occurred before this Associated Press story that indicates that Pudge will sign with the Tigers as soon as Friday.
He also provides a Detroit perspective on the Mariners, and these tidbits on the M's half of the Carlos Guillen trade.
On Ramon Santiago - "He is a good kid, but that doesn’t translate into production. He was forced into a bad situation last year with the lowly state of the Tigers. Santiago showed flashes of spectacular defense in 2003, but his bat was just too weak even for Detroit. Given a year or two to mature with a winning team like Seattle should work to his advantage."
On Juan Gonzalez - "Even the top scouts don’t have much to report on this guy. From what I have heard, he is an extremely raw talent with decent upside. His defense appears adequate. In 453 at-bats at Single-A last season, he only managed a .249 average. His power numbers are weak too - 4 homers and 39 RBI. Gonzalez did swipe 24 bases in 2003 at West Michigan, perhaps the only positive sign for his future. "
The more I read, the more I hope that Santiago starts the year in the minors, though I have no idea if he has options left. Seems like he could use full-time at bats rather than being a bench presence. Hopefully, he will be the man sent down when we pick up Eric Karros, official Bench Masher of Lefties of the Mariner Optimist.
