Posts Tagged Joe Posnanski
What Happened to Alex Gordon?
Posted by Chris Cwik in Baseball, Fantasy on May 4, 2010
Another Royal Head-Scratcher
In 2007, Alex Gordon was the second coming. Nearly the consensus top prospect in baseball, big things were projected for Gordon once he reached the major leagues. Baseball America predicted Gordon would win the 2007 ROY award, SI’s Bryan Smith called him the “ultimate hitting prospect,” and BP’s Kevin Goldstein claimed Gordon was “without a weakness offensively.” Although it’s ridiculous to even think about in 2010, MLB Trade Rumors hypothesized over whether the Royals would trade Alex Gordon for Alex Rodriguez (I love MLB Trade Rumors, but seriously…that was a post!). Three years later, and suggesting that trade today would automatically disqualify you from any serious baseball conversations, and would likely lead to heavy psychological testing. While injuries may have prevented Gordon from reaching his ceiling in the majors, the Royals have seen enough, sending him down to AAA. For Royals’ fans everywhere, it’s getting more and more difficult to “trust the process.”
Posnanski’s Future Hall Of Famers
Posted by Chris Cwik in Baseball on November 26, 2009
If Pujols Quit Now, He Might Get In...He's That Good
I consider Joe Posnanski to be a pretty smart guy. Having said that, anytime you rank the top 10 players under 30 who will make it to the Hall Of Fame, you take some big risks. Posnanski recognizes the risks right away, when he admits that if he made this list in 1985, only 4 of his 10 would currently be in the HOF. Obviously, many factors come into play when you make this type of list. Injuries, ineffectiveness, inability to live up to the hype, and other external factors can derail the careers of some of the best players in the league. Even within the article, Posnanski compares Hanley Ramirez to Nomar Garciaparra and Derek Jeter, two players who probably would have made this same list 10 years ago. You already know the rest of the story, Jeter is still a lock, while Nomar continues to sign one year deals as a super-sub. These were two of the most dynamic players in all of baseball a few years ago…and only one of them is still considered a lock for the Hall. The point is, it’s really hard to be a top player in the MLB for an extended period of time. While Posnanski makes some very good selections, its just as likely that only 4 out of 10 actually make it to the Hall. I can’t stress this enough, Posnanski picks some of the best players in the game right now…and many of them will not go on to the HOF. That’s crazy! Posnanski makes this point when he lists would-be choices from 1985, so while guys on his 2009 list all look like good selections, it’s likely that only half of the players on that list make it to the Hall. Don’t believe me? Let’s take a closer look.
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