Ashmore & Oppenheimer Shoot The…
…well, you know what…
If you haven’t seen Mike Ashmore’s interview with Yankees Vice President of Scouting Damon Oppenheimer check it out. Here’s Part One and Part Two of the interview.
My favorite parts:
What are your impressions of Eduardo Nunez?
Oppenheimer: “There’s no question that the kid has a lot of natural tools. He can really throw, that’s as good of an arm as you’re going to see in some parks in all the minor leagues and some of the big leagues. He’s got ability to square up a ball and hit. That’s why he’s here, he’s got to get more consistent and I think he’ll do that. There’s life to him and with his athleticism, he’ll be a pretty good player.”
Is there any concern in regards to the amount of errors he’s made? And what’s leading to those errors from what you’ve seen?
Oppenheimer: “I can’t really answer it, because I’ve only been here a couple of days. So I can’t tell you why. But he needs to work on that. We’re addressing it, and we’re going to help him get better at it.”
Is there a player in the organization who kind of stands out to you as being under the radar and maybe someone the fans should be keeping an eye on?
Oppenheimer: “Well, I think you guys had one in Kevin Russo here. He’s made a lot of progress and he’s done a good job. I don’t know if that’s under the radar anymore, he’s hitting .330-something in Triple-A. But he wasn’t a big name guy. Kevin’s a guy that people should really keep their eye on. He can play and he’s performed.”
Eduardo Nunez and Kevin Russo…future Yankees, trading chips, or the second coming of Domingo Ramos and George Zeber? What’s your opinion?
Trading chips, and I hope they continue to progress to a point where other teams will value them highly. It is a common psychological phenomenon that owners of any item tend to overvalue it in relation to the market — that’s why Yankee fans (who may be treated as the owners here) complain that other teams demand “more” from the Yankees in trades than from other teams. We should want to see players like these rise in the estimation of scouts across baseball.
To me, the most interesting tidbits of the interview were:
Ashmore: What have you seen from Andrew Brackman this season that leads you to believe he’s on the right path?
Oppenheimer: “Well, since we’ve taken him and stuck him in the bullpen and said just go out there and go ‘em, I think we’ve seen some improvement. There’s been less thinking about thinks so much and not worrying about stuff. We’re seeing some good things coming from him. It’s a learning year for him, it’s not easy coming off of that surgery and it’s not easy being that tall. We’ve seen good stuff. That’s the thing. Now it’s just this off-season and going into next year, we’re really hoping to see him explode.
Ashmore: Does he still profile as a starter in your eyes?
Oppenheimer: “Yeah. It’s just sometimes you have to deviate from the plan a little bit and take a step backwards to go forwards, and that’s where we needed to go with him.”
I’m very curious to know how Brackman comes back from a rough first season of pro ball next year. The ’07 draft won’t be a total bust even if Brackman doesn’t get on track but, by most accounts, none of the players drafted by the Yanks in the ’07 draft class are considered high-ceiling impact players. The Yanks don’t NEED Brackman the way other teams need their first rounders to succeed…but it would be nice to get some sort of return on him.
FWIW, if Brackman makes it, he won’t be the first case of a huge FB pitcher having some terrible BB totals in the minors. It took Randy Johnson time to click. Then again, Danny Cabrera never clicked….
Steve Lombardi wrote:
I agree, which is why no one should close the book on Brackman right now and prematurely call him a bust.
That being said, Brackman’s major league contract and presence on the 40-man roster create some developmental obstacles for the Yanks. That’s why Oppenheimer is right to wish for Brackman’s “explosion” this off-season and into next year.