quote:
Well, since I have common sense and understand what tools are desired in the MLB, I am qualified to have an informed opinion that somebody who has below average speed, doesn't have a natural defensive position, doesn't hit for power, and whose OBP is relatively low has a very small chance of making it. His one projectable tool is pretty good hand-eye coordination and the ability to hit for average. If he had some speed to go with that, or if he had a good glove, then that's something to work with.
In fact, I'd say that while his odds are still infinitesimally low, as ironic as it sounds, Krey Bratsen has more projectable tools. He has great speed. He's a very good fielder, and he has a surprisingly strong arm for a centerfielder. His swing is atrocious, but if a pro organization put its full resources on retooling his swing and could get him to be a .260 hitter...who knows?
In this era of baseball with so much competition due to population increases and the greater recruitment and development of international prospects, you better be above average in several categories...power, speed, glove, natural hitter, etc.
So what makes you qualified to say I'm not qualified. :-)
Cole was very solid defensively at first and behind the dish. He has power to all areas of the field and consistently showed that at A&M, as well as hit for a good average. One of the few that had that ability. Plus, he improved all 3 years at A&M, also one of the few that did. He's a very teachable young player, which is what scouts are looking for in players in the later rounds. Hell, Adam Smith went as a pitcher, a position he didn't even play at A&M. Scouts obviously saw something in Cole that led them to draft him. Whether he'll make it or not remains to be seen. I, personally, think that Cole would have benefited from staying one more year, but I don't know all the circumstances.
Bratsen does not have more tools. Bratsen was a very good defender because of his speed, but I wouldn't say his arm was above average. He never improved as a hitter over his career and displayed zero to very minimal power. Just because he might be better than Cole at one area (speed), doesn't mean he has more tools. Again, if scouts saw something that they could work with, Krey would have been drafted because he is a natural athlete. But he wasn't.
Troy Stein, who most on here would freely admit was a worse hitter than Cole, was drafted in the 10th round. It surprised a lot of us, but the scouts must have seen something in him that was worth trying to fix. He was below average defensively, had a subpar arm, and was just about average with the bat at A&M.
That's the difference between us and scouts. We can speculate and have "informed opinions" all we want, but it doesn't mean that what we are saying has any meaning or bearing. I'm more trusting that scouts know what the heck they are doing so I'm willing to put a lot of stock into what they do/say.
