Jake's Take: I'm Superbad-er?

by Jacob Larsen on Aug 20, 2007 12:32 PM EDT

Potential DP Duo
-Not since "Twins" have you seen a stranger duo, but that may change in 2008. If certain things fall into place, like we believe they will, we may have a 6'6" place-holding SS and a 5'10" "rangey" 2nd baseman. I'd love to see JtD just leap over a standing Aki to make a game-saving play.

While many believe that Guzman may be too large for SS, that was his natural position and had been until midway through last season. If Logan White, the most underrated Scouting Director in all of baseball and best talent evaluator in the game, believed that Guzman was able to play SS for the 1st 5 years of his pro career(remember, Guzman was a 6 ft. 16 year old international signee). If I recall correctly, Maddon noted that Guzman's fielding at 3B was the smoothest of all the 3B candidates in Spring Training(which included Longoria and Iwamura).

I honestly doubt many major leaguers are going to try and slide hard into Guzman to break up a double play, seeing as they'd do more damage to themselves if they ran into baseball's closest thing to an infield brick wall.

Cincy OFer (Jay Bruce) provides his own Scouting Reports

On Devil Rays third baseman Evan Longoria: "Talk about a presence. He knows he's good, he knows he's talented without being cocky about it. Just the way he carries himself it's like you're talking about a major league veteran. He's got such a great approach about the way he goes about it, it's something a lot of younger guys can learn from."

Good things to hear about our "more than likely" starting 3B in 2008, but I'd like to point out to everyone that Evan seems to be "getting it" as he closes in on the majors. In AAA, thus far, he's showed great power(over half of his hits have been for extra bases-4 doubles, 3 HRs) and excellent plate discipline(13 BBs to 12 Ks). His OPS is higher in AAA than it was in AA, however his average seems to point out that he's still adjusting to AAA pitching and DBAP.

More than one....
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On Devil Rays righthander Mitch Talbot, who Triple-A Louisville has faced three times in the last two weeks: "It's weird. The first time we faced him he was 93-94 with a cutter. The second time he was 85-86 with a cutter and then this last time he was 90-91 with a cutter. He's hard to get a read on. But he's got an outstanding changeup to go along with all those other pitches. He can be really tough."

While some people consider Talbot to be a bit of a "lost cause" this year, he's still had success this year and his pitch repetoire will always keep his name near possible call-up candidates.

Keep an eye out for..
-While many of us believe that the ESPN TV network as something of a biased super-being, the print version is much...muuuuuuuuuuuch better. Starting today, they started their Face of the Franchise series with yours' truly as part of the selection committee for the Devil Rays. My selection, which I have forgotten myself, will be unveiled on Wednesday.

Prospect of the Week
-Lewis H. Rollins notched his 15th win of the year this weekend, putting him at the tops of the entire organization(by a good margin) in Wins. Why does it seem that "control artists" keep racking up the Win Crowns year-in-year-out? Rollins has a near 5:1 K/BB and is trying to duplicate another Winthrop Eagle's minor league success story.

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Comments

Re: Jake's Take: I'm Superbad-er?

I'm under the impression that any contribution to ESPN.com must include a Yankees and/or Red Sox reference. Is that true?

www.lakelandbaseballacademy.com

by SeanDubbs on Aug 20, 2007 1:46 PM EDT reply actions

Re: Jake's Take: I'm Superbad-er?

Nope, I didn't mention the Yankees or Sawks once.

I forgot to give people instructions on how to find the Rays, but just click on the Rays logo on the right-hand side of the page.

by Jacob Larsen on Aug 20, 2007 2:17 PM EDT up reply actions

Re: Jake's Take: I'm Superbad-er?

And for that, you are my hero.

Jake > RJ (But only on Wednesday)

Grats on the gig none the less. I'm pretty sure EY will go with CC on Thursday. My money is Lancaster going with Kaz.

www.lakelandbaseballacademy.com

by SeanDubbs on Aug 20, 2007 3:21 PM EDT up reply actions

Re: Jake's Take: I'm Superbad-er?

B.J. should get some love, I mean he was the next Jeter, the highlight reel superstar, ect.; ESPN loves those guys.

My question: do we really need two ESPN contributors on this thing; why not get Staats, Magrane, Freed, Willis, Kalas, KALAS! No respect to E.Y., but those guys know the team better than him.

Also I'm not putting the words "when he leaves," past E.Y., not since someone (either Eduardo, Eric, or some other BBTN guy) said "You have to wonder if Crawford will be a Ray after the deadline."

by R.J. Anderson on Aug 20, 2007 3:26 PM EDT up reply actions

For me

It came down to Upton Vs. Crawford...basically complete hitter(seeing as Upton can put up a .400 OBP) versus triples and future HOF speedster.

I also considered Longoria and Young, seeing as it said "Face of the Franchise"....

You'll have to wait until Wednesday to see who I picked, hell I'd like to know myself.

by Jacob Larsen on Aug 20, 2007 3:45 PM EDT up reply actions

Re: Jake's Take: I'm Superbad-er?

I am going to go out on a limb here and guess that you and everyone else went with CC as the face of the franchise.

Before we get too excited about Guzman, lets remember his Triple-A OBP is under .300. In fact, it is lower than Harris's MLB BA.

by TomT on Aug 20, 2007 2:46 PM EDT reply actions

Jake's said it in the past

You have to question Guzman's motivation in AAA.

by R.J. Anderson on Aug 20, 2007 3:23 PM EDT up reply actions

Joel got shortchanged last year

He got a call-up from the Dodgers, got some wide-spaced ABs, got demoted(in which he didn't feel he deserved, from what I remember reading) and when he got placed back in AAA he was told he'd play a multitude of positions that he had never played.

Not sure if Joel openly complained about the movement, but he did what had to impress the Rays enough to get this call-up.

I figure that he's going to attempt to do everything he can to stick and he's got the power and potential to get his way. Outside of Pena and Gomes, I don't think that anyone on this roster has the pure power force that Guzman's swing can generate. Youtube has videos that show what damage that JtD can do.

by Jacob Larsen on Aug 20, 2007 3:50 PM EDT up reply actions

Re: Joel got shortchanged last year

In fairness to your last point; Joel was the only option. Unless you want Jorge Velandia or Elliot Johnson on the big league team...

by R.J. Anderson on Aug 20, 2007 3:58 PM EDT up reply actions

Re: Jake's Take: I'm Superbad-er?

Now that Joel is up with the big club he has the benefit (a very valuable one) in working with Hendu!! Give a little time and I think Joel can really jump up in his offence. Y'all might think that I'm crazy but I've always thought that there was a decent chance Joel could be a late bloomer like Albert Pujols and become really special.

SC raysfan

by SC raysfan on Aug 20, 2007 3:42 PM EDT reply actions

He's still young

Next year is his last option year, so hopefully he takes Norton's job; which that in itself is debatable this late in the year (not what his job is, but why he has one)

by R.J. Anderson on Aug 20, 2007 3:59 PM EDT up reply actions