This is a discussion on Sandy Alderson's offseason goal: Improve to 95-100 wins. within the San Diego Padres forum at Strike 3 Forums; I truly hope you are right FmrFresnan, there is nothing like seeing a dominating rookie ...

redsrbetter · 02-11-2007, 05:15 PM

I truly hope you are right FmrFresnan, there is nothing like seeing a dominating rookie do his thing. If hedoes take off this year, he and Gonzalez will be a huge part of your lineup and the Giles' brothers will be an afterthought.

realmofotalk · 02-11-2007, 05:21 PM

Originally Posted by love_that_reefer

Expect a lot of errors at third as well.

In fairness, even Eric Chavez wasn't a great fielding 3b in his rookie season.

FmrFresnan · 02-11-2007, 05:37 PM

I think Kouz absolutely has the ability to be the ROY this season. It depends on if he can put it all together offensively as well as defensively. If he becomes a huge factor for the Padres, I think the sky is the limit for him.

love_that_reefer · 02-11-2007, 06:52 PM

Originally Posted by realmofotalk

In fairness, even Eric Chavez wasn't a great fielding 3b in his rookie season.

Yeah that's all I'm saying. Scouting reports say he is DH material but he's 25 and can improve his fielding.

redsrbetter · 02-11-2007, 07:37 PM

Agreed, he is still young and that is the variable that helps him in the long run. I have every hope in the world that Edwin Encarnacion can improve his fielding as well and he is just as young.

As far as ROY goes, yeah he is definitely on the top of the list for candidates. If he has a pretty good year, there is no reason why he can't get it.

FmrFresnan · 02-11-2007, 08:05 PM

Originally Posted by love_that_reefer

Yeah that's all I'm saying. Scouting reports say he is DH material but he's 25 and can improve his fielding.

The scouting reports are mostly from AAA, I don't believe he got enough time in the majors last season to warrant any "assumptions" by the scouts.

love_that_reefer · 02-11-2007, 09:48 PM

So what if they are AAA scouting reports? That's what you go by with rookies. The Indians thought he was DH material and tried to move him away from third since they have both of those positions locked up for a while. That's why he was expendable. Scouts know what they are talking about.

FmrFresnan · 02-11-2007, 11:37 PM

Originally Posted by love_that_reefer

So what if they are AAA scouting reports? That's what you go by with rookies. The Indians thought he was DH material and tried to move him away from third since they have both of those positions locked up for a while. That's why he was expendable. Scouts know what they are talking about.

Scouts in baseball or all sports? I seem to remember so called "scouts" said Ryan Leaf would have more of an upside than Peyton Manning....guess we know how that one turned out.

HollywoodLeo · 02-11-2007, 11:57 PM

scouts are wrong a lot, but they have their jobs for a reason...

FmrFresnan · 02-12-2007, 04:14 PM

I know scouts have their jobs for a reason, but I don't think we should take their word as "the final word". I think Kouz is going to prove a lot of people wrong this season, I think we're going to have a fun time watching this kid.

HollywoodLeo · 02-12-2007, 04:18 PM

I don't take anything a scout says as a "final word", but I do use it as a guide for making educated guesses of how someone might perform.

padrefanforever · 02-13-2007, 12:55 PM

I think scouts have also said he has 'soft hands' and if this is the case, he can improve his defense with hard work....if he becomes an avg. defensive player, while becoming the masher most think he can be, then this will be a huge p/u for the Padres....and even if he's just so so at 3rd while mashing, it's a massive upgrade over what we've been running out there....so let this guy do his thing......odds are outstanding that it will be a great improvement for us

padrefanforever · 02-13-2007, 01:00 PM

Originally Posted by love_that_reefer

Ryan Howard hit 48 homers in 2004 between AA and AAA. How does Kouzmanoff have better power numbers? I agree with Mission on this one. Lots of doubles with around 20 homers. Expect a lot of errors at third as well. Maddux in a rotation where he is likely #3 might do him a lot of good.

In 2004 at 24 years and 4 months old Ryan Howard started the year in AA.
In 2006 at 24 years and 8 months old Kevin Kouzmanoff started the year in AA.

Both were promoted to AAA in mid season.

AA Numbers
RH .297 .386 .647 1.033
KK .389 .449 .660 1.109

AAA Numbers
RH .270 .362 .604 0.966
KK .353 .409 .647 1.056

Kevin Kouzmanoff had a distinct advantage in minor league numbers, and this is what I was trying to get across....hope that helps