Hot Stove

I remember when John Olerud came up he was a quality pitcher as well as a quality hitter and there was discussion as to whether he would be a pitcher or a position player. The Blue Jays chose hitter and that was likely the correct choice as he was a career .295 hitter with a .398 OBP with 5

John Olerud was definitely an excellent college pitcher and was scouted as a pitcher as well. However, he wasn't as great a pitching prospect as the "tweeners" I mentioned like Kieschnick, Owings, and Dreifort. Every year there are some players in the first few rounds who divide scouts into those liking him as a pitcher and those preferring him as a hitter. For example, many teams--including Seattle--were just as interested in Adam Jones as a pitcher than as a hitter. St. Louis' first round pick Jack Flaherty also divided scouts. However--unlike Kieschnick, Owings, and Dreifort-- very few of these tweeners maintain both skill sets into the majors, including Olerud and Jones.

As to Ankiel, people still don't realize how difficult the pitcher to hitter transition is, although Bogusevic did ok. Many ex-pitchers, like Doolittle, shift comfortably back into their pitching routines. Some who never even pitched are such good athletes their cannon arms move into pitching fluidly. However, moving back into the grind of catching up to fastballs, guessing on breaking balls, and re-aligning one's stance and swing are usually beyond most. Ankiel deserves a lot of credit for the Of career he had, overcoming his anxiety issues notwithstanding.

Olerud and Ankiel are excellent examples. Given how Ankiel has turned out as a hitter had he not developed whatever problem it was that made him unable to throw strikes I do think he would have been a good candidate for getting some dual use. Clearly he had the hitting talent to do so.

I understand the point about pitchers being forced to quit hitting once they turn pro with the DH being present at all levels of minors. But the question I posed was not if there were any of current crop you would do it with but would you use a pitcher in such a manner if he did show the ability with the bat. I suspect the biggest barrier that would prevent it would be fear of an injury costing you your DH and a member of your rotation. And of course the potential for the double duty use to lead to more injury risk.

Might flip the question around some. Suppose a player showed good glove work and a decent enough bat to warrant a utility role, but not enough to lock down a starting fielding position. But he also showed he could serve up 95+ heat. Would you use him in an occasional relief role as well as the occasional defensive replacement or pinch hitter?

Some of my other favorite pitchers that could hit....Fernando and Dontrelle Willis


Some good info on pitchers who could hit....

http://www.sbnation.com/2011/12/29/2668 ... f-all-time

http://sabr.org/cmsFiles/Files/Pitchers ... itters.pdf

As for hitters that could fill the utility role and pick up some RP innings

Francouer is the first name that comes to my mind

Olerud and Ankiel are excellent examples. Given how Ankiel has turned out as a hitter had he not developed whatever problem it was that made him unable to throw strikes I do think he would have been a good candidate for getting some dual use. Clearly he had the hitting talent to do so...

Might flip the question around some. Suppose a player showed good glove work and a decent enough bat to warrant a utility role, but not enough to lock down a starting fielding position. But he also showed he could serve up 95+ heat. Would you use him in an occasional relief role as well as the occasional defensive replacement or pinch hitter?

I already answered the first question in my earlier post:

For the most part, only if the GM has done a poor job assembling his bench. If a team doesn't have a reserve hitter available who can't outhit all the team's pitchers, the GM has failed to do that.

As to Valen's second question, the first part is unclear. If a "player" shows good glove work and a decent enough bat to warrant a utility role, but not enough for a starting position, he gets a utility role. That goes without saying. A pitcher, however most would not because of my answer above. As to position players pitching, the rule about pitchers Dh'ing applies in the inverse. If a GM hasn't stocked his bullpen with pitchers better at pitching than every position player on the bench, than he has failed. So, position players should only pitch in emergencies. That has also been the case for a long time now. Adam Jones or Buster Posey aren't getting pitching gigs any time soon.

Braves sign Gomes to platoon in LF


Oh the shame of it all!

The Braves could start the season with Gomes sharing left-field duties with Zoilo Almonte, the former Yankees prospect who signed as a free agent in November. Cuban signee Dion Toscano is among their other left-field possibilities, if not in spring training then later, if they decide he could use some at-bats in the minors before being brought up.

Who will have the worst year, Gomes or B J Upton----I don't see many base runners here. I guess at least BJ can run a little if he gets HBP.

Yeah, the Braves have an absolutely brutal lineup. A breathtaking tear down of a competitive team.

For 2015, perhaps. Otherwise it's a breathtaking rebuilding of an organization that had a dim future.

It seems these days more teams are following the plan of blowing things up completely and rebuilding all out with young players than I ever remember. Rangers followed that to some extent committing to a young nucleus. I still remember the year the big promotional campaign was "These kids can play". Obviously trying to spin the youth movement as a positive. Turns out they could and thus the next campaign "It's Time".

Houston has followed that model. We all know about the Miami firesales after they believed they had peaked. Boston jettisoned a lot of big name contracts and then turned it around very quickly. Mariners foundation was the talent arriving and a commitment to the young guys followed by some significant signings now that they think they are getting close.

Seattle has no idea how to build a team for their park. As long as that works it wont work in Sleepless in Seattle. Its a joke. I wonder what the heck is going on there and then I remember oh yea they sighed a 2b to mega money. They thought they were the Yankees of the North