Morning Reading
Some links to pore over with your coffee, Mountain Dew, Red Bull, etc.
You’ll forgive me for all the Bryce Harper news but when it comes to the Nats in the offseason it’s all Bryce Harper all the time. (Pay plenty of attention to that advertisement to your right 😉
Now that I’m done keyword stuffing, here’s a few links of interest before Chip Caray says something stupid on TBS this afternoon…
…As promised, a Bryce Harper update from Adam Kilgore, who has the time, salary, and budget that I don’t.
…Your newest member of the Internet Baseball Writers Association, Washington, DC chapter (that and $2 gets me a cup of coffee, much like my two Journalism degrees) voted for Espinosa, Lombardozzi, and Milone for the Minor League Player of the Year in the 2010 Player Achievement Awards, taking quite seriously the part about most destined for big-league success.
…This is a blog dedicated to the minors, but because it affects the 2011 draft, here’s a look at how Adam Dunn might be a Type B free agent.
…Finally, with the new ownership in place at Hagerstown, they’re making some requests about Municipal Stadium.
If Dunn is a Type B free agent and we let him walk, Rizzo will have major egg on his face. As it is, we may not get that high a non sandwich pick given how low he is on the Type A ladder.
Harper not going to the AFL is not a big deal for me. Sounds like instructional league has been humbling. I say Hagerstown for him next year. What say you?
Yes. Low-A will enable him to master hitting what the scouts said he would struggle with in the beginning: mid-90s heat.
That article on Hagerstown was very interesting, not like they’re asking the world. With neither the will nor money to build a new park, this seems fair that some basic upkeep is finally done.
I get the feeling that this is going to one of the advantages of some local ownership.
How big a piece of ownership is local, does anyone know?
Mark L.:
I’d think local ownership has an advantage when they’re asking for general improvements, given the economy. The Hagerstown town council & the ownership group for the Suns will probably work something out. Now, if the owners are looking for a new stadium, or large-scale improvements to the existing facility funded by the municipal bonds (the Potomac Nationals, the Phitz, and Prince William County come to mind), then there could be a problem.
They are tearing up the field as we speak and taking out the left field “bump” that’s been there for years. I was told that there was a huge piece of bedrock under there that was just left when the field was originally built. I’m sure running uphill in the outfield after a ball is a WEIRD feeling. LOL
I’m all for keeping the MUNI. It needs basic improvements (more bathrooms, better concessions) like that netting, some clubhouse stuff. I think creature comforts will come in the next year or two. All I want is a clock….a big dial one old school style- out in the outfield somewhere – please?
TBR – Running uphill probably is a little weird, but they have to do it in that tricked-up, ‘Goofy Golf’ stadium in Houston as well. I still don’t understand how the overall design for that ballpark got past MLB scrutiny; Tal’s Hill in CF, the Crawford boxes creating a short porch, the Train (what the heck does that have to do with the Astros, anyway?). I’m suprised that Houston hasn’t cashed in on the “Racing whatevers” concept as well, just to add to the sideshow atmosphere – Maybe bar-b-que, with racing Brisket, Chicken, Pork Ribs, & Sausage… M-mmm, bar-b-que.
Sorry, got side-tracked by an off-topic rant. If they’re already re-grading the field in HAG, that’s a good sign that some other improvements are in store as well. A good sign, imo.
One of the Bluefield Orioles actually did catch one while scaling the RF berm at Howard Johnson Field (Johnson City, TN) when I went this past August. You can see a pic of it here.
It’s looking more & more that Hagerstown will be THE destination next year, what with all the exciting players and rejuvenated field.