Friday, January 05, 2007

Steal of the Deal

The New York Post is quoting an NL Scout who says that Ross Ohlendorf is the steal of the Randy Johnson deal. The article dances around the name Chien Ming Wang a bunch of times and quotes the GM as follows:

"This kid is special."
"He's a tough kid, a smart kid. He got over 1,500 on his SATs."
"He really has a power arm. He's the kind of kid you just love to have. He's special."
"Ohlendorf is the story of this trade. [Yankees GM] Brian [Cashman] got a steal."

I've been very high on Ohlendorf for quite some time now, and felt that he would be the sleeper in this deal. I expected Owings to front the trade, but in the end I'm extremely pleased to add Ohlendorf to the Bombers system. He's been called a C+ prospect by a number of scouting services, but I think that "+" at the end of the "C" could turn this player into a B prospect or better when all is said and done. To me, he's the most intriguing addition to the farm this offseason, and while Sanchez looks like the better "now" prospect, I can't wait to follow Ohlendorf as he does his thing in either Trenton or SWB. The Daily News also had this to say about Curtis Ross Ohlendorf.

The same scout calls Alberto Gonzalez Major League ready, with the chance to start for a number of teams now. He says that the bat is a bit weak, but he reminds him of Orlando Cabrera. Whoever this scout is says that he could be around for 10 years. I don't know what the truth is on any of these guys, and frankly there probably aren't more than a few people out there that have seen them enough to make a full analysis of their ability, but I'm satisfied, if not thrilled, with the trade. You can see my feelings in the post just below this.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The real steal of this trade may actually be Steven Jackson. First, he has better stuff than Ross Ohlendorf despite his older age. And the results he got at AA last year was excellent after a mechanical rebuild. Jackson has a better upside than Ohlendorf if that's really what he has to offer.

Anonymous said...

That 1500 SAT score will come in real well during the essay portion of a baseball game.

I hope someone (cough...Mike...cough) periodically gives us updates during the season on all of these prospects we got. It feels like Christmas and Santa left a bunch of baseball players under my plastic tree.

Mike Plugh said...

Actually Chris, I've given that some thought. I think it does mean something. It means he knows how to prepare for a test. It means he knows how to absorb information.

That's very important to preparing for batters. IF..IF...he makes it to the Majors, it's just a small part of the package that he brings to the table. He'll be there for his skill, but he'll last because he knows how to prepare well.