whiterasta80 wrote:I agree that its too early MB, although if it works out this move has many potential positive ramifications. (adapted from my BB post)
If Snider sticks (I doubt it, but its possible), then we can blow our wad on a SS and a pitcher. Personally I've always liked Ben Sheets and think we should take a run at him. Of course it'd be on the assumption that he's only going to give us about 22 starts, but they'd be mostly quality ones.
As for Snider, I still think its early. He should have stayed at AAA until this time next year. Let his OPS come back up over .900 and cut the strikeouts down. We do risk setting him back, and we have started his clock for no apparent reason IMO. That said, its entirely possible that he hits major league pitching just like he did in the minors- at which point... Hello DH.
Also, this is an organization that doesn't hand out huge signing bonuses to its prospects- we look for signability. An underrated part of this move is that it'll show top prospects that they can get to the majors quickly under our watch. As a high schooler Snider signed almost immediately, got a half season under his belt before many of his peers ever swung a minor league bat. He is aggressively promoted based on his performance and hits the majors at 20. That might increase "signability" of the next 18 year old kid we have to negotiate with.
I'm still against this move (and it reeks of JP trying to point out that he's got the ship moving forward), but I can't deny that, if its successful and Snider sticks, it could have a real positive impact on this team in a number of areas.
I agree that if Snider stays on the team and hits well, it will help the Jays tremendously since he fills their main weakness (LHB with power). However, how likely is that? As much as I would like to have elite players under the team's control for as long as possible, I don't mind promoting a 19/20 year old if he's ready for it. But is Snider at that point? He's not an A-Rod level prospect.
Vernon Wells was called up in 1999 at age 20 (he was drafted out of high school in 1997 so it's almost identical to Snider's situation). He struggled for a month, and didn't become a regular until age 23 in 2002. Calling Wells up didn't hurt since he spent two whole seasons in AAA before becoming a regular and he was a productive player for six years before being signed to a huge extension, but what if Wells became a regular in 2000 at age 21? That's what I fear will happen with Snider given the team's lack of options. Wells had Stewart, Cruz, and Mondesi blocking him. Snider is different in the sense that he can DH (Wells was too valuable defensively to DH), and DH happens to be Toronto's weakness.
Ricciardi is a sample size idiot, so if Snider lights the world on fire in September, he'll be a HOF'er in JP's eyes and will be pencilled in at DH for 2009 immediately. Who knows, maybe Snider will take off and never stop, but he doesn't strike me as that type of prospect. He has K issues and doesn't walk enough or hit for a high enough BA (yet) for me to be optimistic about him facing MLB pitching at age 20. I'd imagine a lot of strike outs in the coming month.
Ultimately, I just hope it's a one month experiment and Snider starts 2009 in AAA. There are a few short-term DH options out there in free agency (Delgado, Giambi, Ibanez, etc). I wouldn't mind blocking Snider for 2 years and make him force the Jays to play him, rather than rushing him out of necessity.
