I still think it is possible that Hank is bluffing, hoping that no other team in the AL will join the trade discussion. If that turns out to be true it would look like the Twins would have to trade him to someone like the Mets near the beginning of Spring Training, or risk losing him at the end of 08 for nothing.
The guys at Baseball America aren't surprised this hasn't happened yet, but they think either of the Sox's offers are better than any other offers. http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/baseball/red_sox/view.bg?articleid=1066594
I'm surprised that nothing has come of this yet...I thought some sort of trade would ahve been done by now.
Honestly, I think Santana has already advised the Twins that he's not waiving his no-trade. At this point, he knows he's going to become ridiculously rich in 10 months. When he can just have his agent sit down and hammer out a multi-million dollar deal, without that team saying "Well, we've already given up a lot for you", he stands a very good chance of making a king's ransom. I'm not surprised at all that this hasn't gotten done, and I'll be even less surprised if Santana pitches this year in Minny.
Only Jim Callis would think the Red Sox offer would be better than an offer including Hughes and Kennedy. :lol: Atleast now that the Yankees system has produced at the major league level, he can't senselessly bash them anymore.
agreed,,,,if the yankees threw in kennedy it would BLOW the sox offer away......jim callis licks balls
Kennedy sucks. There, I've said it. He has exactly as many above Major League average pitches as I do. That would be zero. He's going to get hammered.
he relys on his control, smarts, and changing speeds to dominate. he is a strikeout pitcher with no above average pitches. think about it. there are tons of guys that can throw 95 mph but blow because they have no movement or control.
Huh? The only thing he doesn't have is a mid-90's fastball. A guy with great control, very good curveball, and a fastball with movement that sits at 88-92 MPH isn't exactly my idea of a guy who "sucks". But I guess Mike Mussina has sucked during his career, as well. It's not like the Sox offering Lester is much better, anyway. Lester's not a top of the rotation guy, and Kennedy's not a #5. They're both about equal, #3 starters with the potential to be a #2.
I have yet to see a single scouting report that lists ANY of his pitches as anything but average. He doesn't have a curveball NEAR the quality of Mussina, and at his peak, Mussina threw slightly harder and much smarter. I may be exaggerating by saying he sucks, but he's nothing special either.
http://mvn.com/milb-yankees/2007/06/19/prospect-profile-3-ian-kennedy/ http://www.moundtalk.com/prospects/ian-kennedy-scouting-report/ http://allyankeeinfo.blogspot.com/2007/03/ian-kennedy-scouting-report.html It's not that he's as good as Mussina, but the point is a pitcher with a few solid pitches and plus accuracy and command can be successful without having an overpowering fastball.
I mean a REPUTABLE scouting report. From like Baseball America or you know, an actual big league scout. Not some random blogs.
Does MiLB.com count? http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/news/top50/y2008/profile.jsp?t=p_top&pid=453178 I haven't seen BA's scouting report, although I'm not surprised if they said he has no plus pitches, or even any above average pitches. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how he fares. From what I've seen, and the fact that he was the #21 overall pick (this is once his stock fell after a sub-par college year), I'd say he has atleast two pitches that are much better than average.
First, I'm pretty sure that that scouting report has a typo, otherwise it makes no sense. I'm nearly positive that it should say "Despite the LACK of a plus fastball..." Why would it be harder to miss bats with a plus fastball? Clearly that can't be right. Plus if you wanted to make a claim that he had a plus pitch, it CERTAINLY wouldn't be his fastball. Even if it was typed correctly (which is very unlikely), who wrote it? A scout or a beat reporter? If it's the latter, then it may as well be a blog. Secondly, there's a difference between above average and plus. An above average pitch is just that, above average: a plus pitch (as described by Bill James) is a pitch that if located properly is virtually unhittable. Something like say Pedro's change in his prime, Chamberlain's fastball, or Mussina's knuckle-curve in his prime. Kennedy doesn't have that with any pitch he throws.
It probably was a typo, and if it was it kind of proves that he must have better than average secondary pitches if he can consistently strike people out; something he's done at every level. I know that, which is why I said "I'm not surprised if they said he has no plus pitches, or even any above average pitches." Depending on the scout, though, there are different degrees of "plus". Many would say Pedro's change or Mussina's knuckle-curve were "plus-plus". "Plus" is a little easier to attain. Zito a few years ago had a plus curveball, Randy Johnson's slider in his prime would probably be considered "plus-plus". With that said, I'm not saying Kennedy DOES have a plus pitch, but I refuse to believe that his changeup or even his curveball aren't at the very least "above average". When you factor that in, along with his PLUS command, I expect him to be a good middle of the rotation starter for a number of years.
That's the part that's being ignored here. It's not like anyone is calling Kennedy the next ace of the Yankees' rotation. At his best, he might get to the third spot, but that would take something pretty drastic, with Wang, Hughes, and Chamberlain in front of him. But if he were pitching elsewhere, it wouldn't be unthinkable for him to be at least a 3, if not a 2.
