Comments on: Just what I was hoping he wouldn’t say

By: GoRams

GoRams — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 09:51:42 +0000

i’m in this converstion a little late but i watched pete and his brother in the cages the 28th of june in Owasso and he can hit,with a lot of pop, his work ethic is great and is looking forward to getting on the field. you can check out his high school numbers at http://www.owassobaseball.com and see the program he came from if you like. Okla has very competitve teams,and Owasso travels to Fla. every spring break to play the best. I’m a little partial…bet you can’t guess where i’m from.

By: erik

erik — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 18:18:44 +0000

sleepyca,

that’s great and all, but that’s against inferior competition with aluminum bats. those are amazing numbers and all, but remember the context. obviously, the cardinals like his athleticism and i would think they would know more about his swing then most. maybe they feel he’s fixable. we’ll see.

By: SleepyCA

SleepyCA — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 17:47:44 +0000

I just have to throw out the fact that, for a guy who “doesn’t have very much power potential”, Kozma has hit for an awful lot of power as a skinny 18yo kid. Home run every 10 at bats, 1.720 OPS, etc.

I guess we’ll see how it turns out…

By: Carlos Gomez

Carlos Gomez — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 15:12:04 +0000

Erik,

Mortenson is a guy who is already on my list as well. I like his mechanics quite a bit, although I’ll go more in-depth when I sit down to write the article. He’ll be in on either part 4 or part 5.

By: erik

erik — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 13:22:03 +0000

Thanks Carlos,

Carlos,

Hey, while I got you on our good side here, have you looked at Clay Mortenson? He didn’t put really impressive numbers for Gonzaga this year,and he wasn’t even drafted until now that he’s a senior. Obviously the Cardinals really like him, they made him their 2nd pick. And some at Baseball America like him too. I figure from a scout’s perspective, he has to be doing something right. Maybe you could shed some light? I’m not asking for a video breakdown at THT, maybe you could just look at his video and share some off the cuff thoughts.

-Erik

By: Carlos Gomez

Carlos Gomez — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 13:04:18 +0000

Sidd#21– I’m trying to get into scouting/player development so I’ll be forced to make snap judgments on players that the organization I’ll work for will be giving out large bonuses to. I’ll be paid to give out opinions and when I form a strong opinion, I certainly won’t back down from it.

Re: Kozma-LaPorta

I am currently an instructor. Does that mean that I can’t compare kids’ techniques to what Roger Clemens does because they’re here and he’s over there? I’m not comparing body type, position, and all that….I’m simply comparing the “technique.” I’m not comparing Kozma and LaPorta. I’m comparing Kozma’s technique to LaPorta’s technique…big difference there…

Erik–don’t despair. You guys have been good to me. Todd is a guy who is almost certainly in, and he’s very interesting to me

By: erik

erik — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 04:47:41 +0000

let me correct myself, he said he may look at todd, he’s on the cusp of making the cut of the videos he posts on.

By: sidd fynch

sidd fynch — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 03:06:36 +0000

“10 HR’s is the upper limit for him, IMO. I did a voice review on Kozma compared to LaPorta where I talk about hand path, in my blog at:”

Wow, I gotta take exception to this. The kid is 18 frikkin years old and you can certifiably claim that 10 HR is his upper limit for power? For a guy who is atheltically gifted enough to be a SS, and clearly has a decent build? He’s got the size to be able to put some muscle behind the ball, the athletic gifts to have good hand-eye coordination, and the youth to correct mechanical flaws…and you can claim the XX is his max limit?

I really don’t know much about Kozma, but as a research scientist, I certainly know when one is extraplotaing beyond the bounds of evidence and the is working within limits of uncertainty. That would very much seem to apply to this case.

Isn’t LaPorta a collegiate 1st baseman or C? ….and a hand comparison indicates that someone 4 years younger at a completely different position has UT INF as his upside? It really seems like a suspect comp, and argument altogether.

Sorry, I ain’t buying it. Not for those reasons, anyway.

By: Balkroth

Balkroth — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 21:31:28 +0000

Wow, he really does turn on the ball fairly slowly. While it’s his lack of using his legs to his advantage is obvious, did anyone notice that his torso seems to not be used that well either? Kinda reminds me of Craig Counsel.

Although I’m much better at analyzing Lefties and pitchers.

By: fewgoodcards

fewgoodcards — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 18:47:39 +0000

“You have very good points as to why not to label him as a utility-man type. That may have been harsh on my part, but still, at #18, I’d like to see more power.”

there was no power available, it was either take a slappy guy like kozma, noonan, jackson, or borbon or take a pitcher. let me ask you this, if they took kyle russell at 18 does that somehow make it a better draft?