Making The Most Out Of C.J. Henry
Posted by Steve L. on October 3rd, 2007 · Comments (4)
Remember 1st round pick C.J. Henry? He was traded for Bobbu Abreu.
According to the Lawrence Journal-World, Henry requested his release from the Phils’ organization and is now attempting to decide if he should “sign a free-agent contract with another major-league baseball organization or scrap baseball altogether and play college basketball.”
Looks like the Yankees were smart to trade him.
But, apparently, not very smart to draft him.
The baseball draft is the biggest crapshoot out of all four major sports. Where else would a last round do-it-as-a-favor-to-a-friend draft pick become the greatest offensive at a position player (catcher)?
This does have to go into the plus column for Cashman.
High-upside two-sport player with raw skills. A pure risk-v.-reward pick. Sometimes it backfires, and sometimes it works (see Austin Jackson, who broke out this year and will start in AA next year — with Tabata’s injury issues, Jackson might be the Yankees’ best position-player prospect).
CJ Henry was a bad pick and I said so at the time. High upside? He’s gone already, high upside players don’t collapse that fast. But he did land Abreu, so in the end, it workd out for the Yankees.
Austin Jackson was the top 14-and-under and top 16-and-under player in America. Totally different situations. Jackson was always a baseball talent, he just concentrated on basketball as a senior because he could get a full athletic scholarship much easier than he could for baseball.