I think Raf hits the nail on the head here. It seems like a lot of these guys who were highly touted prospects failed not because of ability but because of injuries. I tend to also think that proper management of their workloads could have avoided most if not all of the injuries (I’m thinking guys like Prior, Wood, etc.)

The Yankees are being very careful and very smart with Phil Franchise’s arm, and for that reason alone I think projecting him to be a very good to great pitcher is more solid.

Remember Steve Avery?
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Yep, Injuries that may or may not have been workload related killed him.

FWIW, I only champion people like Brett Gardner and Melky because I like their hustling style of play – and the fact that they work the strikezone as batters. Those guys always get my attention.

I’m not questioning Hughes – and I have written, that, barring injury, he will have a good major league career.

It’s just that I’ve been around so long, and seen so many of the next Roger Clemens, etc., cases that I just can’t sign on to say Hughes will star out of the chute.

Where did I call them Hall of Famers? My point is that every pitching prospect does not flame out. Some of them come up from the minors and make an impact in their rookie years, which all of the above-listed players did.

I just feel that with Hughes, and prospects in general, you seem to be trying to protect yourself from something that MIGHT happen. Sure, Hughes could fail, and it would be disappointing, but I’d rather stay positive and root for him than against him.

What clouds this for me, Steve, is that you question Hughes, and then champion people like Brett Gardner and Melky. I like both of those guys, but their chances of being above-average major leaguers is much less likely than Hughes’.

baileywalk – let those guys do it for a while before we start to work on their Cooperstown cases.

Remember Steve Avery?

I’d rather read fifteen A-Rod stories — about his love for Lou, his lack of love for Jeter, his worldview-shaping relationship with his pet poodle — than read another “many other pitching prospects just as good as Hughes have failed to live up to their potential” posts. It may be hard to accept, but some pitching prospects do get the job done in the big leagues — for recent examples, check out the entire Marlins pitching staff, Justin Verlander, Matt Cain, Liriano, Papelbon, Kazmir, Jered Weaver, Cole Hamels…

I think Benes is a very interested comparison. Benes was a major victim of the Home Run surge in 1995-1996. He was a bonafide ace for about four years, but he just couldn’t stop giving up home runs after that.

In terms of style, Benes was much less a control/strikeout pitcher and much more a ground ball guy. Hughes does it all.