Monday, June 3, 2013

What prospect experts are saying about Byron Buxton

One of the Twitter features that I enjoy most is accidental voyeurism.  Basically, if you follow two people and they have a Twitter conversation, you get to see the whole thing.  Jason Parks is a national prospect and player development writer for Baseball Prospectus.  He is also a Martin Kove loyalist/apologist.  Chris Mellen is a national prospect writer for Baseball Prospectus.  He is also the Director of Scouting for SoxProspects.com.  In short, these guys know about prospects and you should be following/reading them if you have Twitter/the ability to read.

Typically, a conversation between these two is about Red Dawn, Point Break or Road House.  They also discuss prospects and scouting.  Personally, I find both conversation topics to be fascinating, as I am a Swayze admirer and prospect follower myself.  Today, they had a brief conversation about Twins' super prospect Byron Buxton.  It was an entertaining and informative conversation, and I would like to present it to you.

WARNING!  There is foul language below.  If you are under 18, please consult with your parent or legal guardian before you proceed.  In fact, you should probably consult with your parent or legal guardian before you read anything about Buxton, as it will likely contain adult situations and may result in nudity.

Here we go:
I should point out that Parks is not shy about sharing his affinity for particular prospects and their particular tools.  I find this to be very refreshing, as baseball tends to be far too macho.  Back to the tweets:
If the f-bomb offends you, just replace it with "raspberry."  It's impossible to be offended by raspberry.
An HOF comp is so much fun to read.  I'll say this:  there will be a guy from this generation who people look back on in sixty years and use as an irresponsible comp for future young prospects.  Why can't it be Buxton?
Now we have a conversation between two guys who really know their stuff.  I'm officially engaged.
Right, this isn't normal.  19-year-olds at low A with little experience don't dominate like this.  I've seen people nit-picking Buxton's performance, saying things like "he isn't dominating THAT much" or "he's hitting well, but it's not like he's hitting .400."  That is crazy talk.  Buxton is dominating and he is dominating in his first full season of pro baseball.  This does not happen often.  Don't overanalyze; just enjoy it.
This is why scouting box scores doesn't work.  You can't get this kind of information from a box score.  Mellen and Parks have seen Buxton play.  They know what his body looks like.  They can project based off of his tools.  Oh, and anyone disappointed with 20-25 home runs is crazy.  Kirby Puckett hit 30 home runs once and he did it in the Metrodome.
Four 7 tools!  A seven isn't just above average, it's well above average.  If he actualizes, Twins fans are all going to need a lot of naps.
Now we're talking about a .300 hitter with 20-25 home runs, excellent defense and a ton of speed.  The smelling salts are in the upstairs medicine cabinet.  Good gravy.
Ha!  Look at this dork.  Get your own ideas!  But seriously, I thought it would be fun to share this information with anyone who happens upon this blog.  Byron Buxton is a special prospect and Twins fans may never experience another prospect like him.  He may not turn into the best player we have ever seen, but the buzz around this guy is almost as exciting for me.  Since I am married to a team mired in mediocrity, this kind of buzz is all I have.

Thanks again to Jason Parks and Chris Mellen for letting us eavesdrop on an extremely interesting  Twitter conversation.  Click on their names, follow them on Twitter and enjoy the Swayze/Prospect talk.  Also, subscribe to Baseball Prospectus and read their prospect work.  It's not just these two there, as there is a whole team of talented writers who actually watch these prospects play baseball.  It's a whole scene.
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