flatjacket1 wrote:"AAAA" player refers to a player who cannot succeed at the MLB level. David Cooper has never been given a shot
Thats because behind the numbers there is real scouting going on in the minor leagues. Cooper hasn't been given a "real" shot because he's not much of a prospect.
and no matter how bad Lind does we will still never consider the player who batted above .360, hit 50+ doubles and had an OBP of nearly .440 in the PCL.
You just answered it yourself: its the PCL. The organization has scouts and coaches looking at Cooper daily; the reality is that no one believes his PCL batting will translate at all to the MLB.
Number don't lie, he can hit.
Numbers do lie. In the previous 2 seasons in AA he was a sub .260 hitter with .729 and .769 OPS...then he gets to the PCL and all of a sudden he's hitting .360+ with a near 1.000 OPS? Its a complete mirage. He does not have the bat needed to play the position he plays (1B/DH). Hechavarria hits .235 in New Hampshire and .389 in Las Vegas in the same season: the numbers in the PCL mean next to nothing.
Thats the thing we generally seem to forget. All we see is numbers; whereas success in the major leagues requires certain attributes that the numbers often hide. Even AAA; the closest step from the MLB, is a huge downgrade in competition. We see a guy hitting .320+ when in reality the scouting report on that same player could put him as a player that will never hit over .250 in the majors. Brad Mills had no problem putting up great results even in the batting-inflated PCL yet he's never going to be even an average MLB pitcher. Go Tweet any minor-league baseball writer; there isn't one person that thinks that Cooper can be a starting-quality 1B.