Off-Season Link Report: Latest -- Huntsville News

[thebruce44]

I have not been following minor league baseball long enough to know what happens when you get a bottle neck on decent pitching prospects.

 

This will be interesting to watch when these guys run out of levels to be promoted too. Are we going to have a lot of guys that deserve a shot in the majors sitting at AAA or are there going to be a lot of trades involved? Maybe injuries will make this whole situation go away though, so who knows.

[MassBrew]

Congratulations, Rickie!

 

Linkage:

 

mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/ml...;fext=.jsp

[MassBrew]

Story from Huntsville featuring Kade Johnson:

 

www.al.com/specialreport/.../out2.html

 

Catcher says 'it's not easy to make do' on minor league salary

 

I'm sorry, but for most of the players, yes, but not 1st, 2nd, and even 3rd round bonus babies.

 

This story would have rung much more true if it didn't include a focus on Kade Johnson, and snipets from Mike Jones.

 

So most of the former 2nd round pick's (Johnson's) $650,000 is "socked away". Hey, that's great for Kade. But I've invested 18 years in my career, and that bonus is equal to about 13 years of my salary at my current pay scale, never mind going back to the early years. And I'm pretty sure Johnson's initial contract includes language about money for school after his playing days are done.

 

So yes, for 90 - 95% of the Brewers' farmhands, a headline about "still waiting to strike it rich" may ring true. But as much as I tout Mark McCarter, this story holds no ground when you're quoting 1st and 2nd round picks in this day and age of huge up-front money.

 

Sorry Kade, I'm rooting for you, but you can't be crying poverty -- no way, no how.

[lend d money]

MB, you nailed it on the head. On top of that, I found it ironic that this type of commentary would come from someone hitting below the Mendoza line, yet on a major league roster. Kade is a stiff. He will never see a major league game, unless we have a huge injury bug at that position that prompts a quick cup of coffee. He should be damn grateful that he is on a major league roster. Quite frankly, I think he is fortunate to be in organized baseball. He is closer to the independent leagues, than the majors. Thankfully, it will be short-lived as we have several worthwhile candidates who will need to assume (his) a spot in 2005. I don't care what you do in life, if you are handed $650K out of the box, please don't look for tears. It's embarrassing!

[MassBrew]

The Indianapolis website would continue to get solid grades in an off-season review, should yours truly ever produce the long-promised follow-up to last year's affiliate website reviews.

 

Here the folks in Indy manage to do what the mlb.com staff can't at this time, and that's produce archived audio clips. Here's two interviews with Cecil Cooper, each worthwhile.

 

The first interview, with Tribe broadcaster Brian Giffin, is brief but provides some nice insights.

 

The second interview is from Coop's mlb.com visit last week. Even though he calls Tony Gwynn's son "Chris" http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/embarassed.gif , it's an OK clip that includes thoughts on Indy as a AAA city, his time spent as a player agent, and breaking into the big leagues with the Red Sox at a time when Boston was still considered "behind the times" in the integration of minority players.

 

www.indyindians.com/multi...audio.html

[MassBrew]

Notes from Huntsville:

 

www.al.com/sports/huntsvi...170170.xml