Uecker's birthday and hindsight

by KLSnow on Jan 26, 2008 9:26 AM CST

Good morning,

If you haven't heard yet, today is Bob Uecker's 73rd birthday! So happy birthday to him. If it was warmer, maybe he could spend it (yes, I'm going there) "just a bit outside." Hat tip to Bugs and Cranks for the heads up, but the terrible joke is all mine.

I also wanted to take a moment to direct your attention to something over at D-Rays Bay. As you may or may not remember, the Rays had the top pick in the 2003 draft, and passed on Rickie Weeks, widely considered the best prospect in the draft, to take Delmon Young.

At D-Rays Bay, the question has come up: Would they do it again? Delmon Young had a 91 OPS+ in his first full season, playing all 162 games at age 21. Weeks showed flashes of brilliance in among a legion of challenges and finished with a 108 OPS+ in a season where he spent time on the shelf and in AAA, at age 24. Comparing them straight up is like comparing apples to apples that are three years older, so I'd ask this instead: If the Brewers traded Weeks and all they got back was Matt Garza, would you be upset? I would.

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Young

Living in Minnesota, I'll get a close-up view of Young this year on the Twins. From what I've heard, he (like Weeks) has tons of potential, but also may have been a problem in the Rays' clubhouse. Twins fans sure are excited to have some extra pop in the lineup, however, which is what they needed last year.

I think I would take Weeks right now, and would definitely rather have him over Garza.

Minnesota Brewer Fan

by oconnobe on Jan 26, 2008 9:57 AM CST 0 recs

where in mn?

i live about 45 minutes south of minneapolis -

it's gonna be fun to see delmon play this spring, but that's about all we've got to look forward to. i swear, i'm the only person who lives in minnesota who thinks wearing a joe mauer jersey makes a bold statement about a man's sexuality.

/rip torii
/preemptive rip johan

all you got's some shiner bock and three or four chords

by somethingvague on Jan 26, 2008 9:05 PM CST up 0 recs

MN

Cottage Grove, south of St. Paul ... I agree, it could be a rough year in a tough division for the Twins. I can't wait for some outdoor baseball in Minnesota, however!

Minnesota Brewer Fan

by oconnobe on Jan 26, 2008 9:33 PM CST up 0 recs

second round

In hindsight, wouldn't we rather the Brewers take Andre Ethier in the second round over Tony Gwynn Jr.??

by thekid2point0 on Jan 26, 2008 12:42 PM CST 0 recs

oh second glance

Really, Johnathan Papelbon was a 4th round pick that year and would have looked really good in a Brewers uniform as well.

by thekid2point0 on Jan 26, 2008 12:44 PM CST up 0 recs

Draft hindsight

I think you have to be careful how hard you work on draft hindsight...the MLB Draft is an inexact science, at best. I think the Weeks v. Young case is interesting, especially since the Rays more or less ignored conventional wisdom and every pre-draft ranking to take Young over Weeks. But if you go too far past that, you end up banging your head against questions like "Didn't every major league team get at least 61 chances to draft Mike Piazza before the Dodgers picked him in the 62nd round?"

by KLSnow on Jan 26, 2008 1:39 PM CST 0 recs

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