Phillies Nation

I hate to say it, because I love talent, love to watch young players develop…but AH was a bad pic…a lux for the Phils…

You cannot teach a 27-1 Strkie-out to walk, or an 8 to one…IF the player has no interest in doing it…having only walked 9 times in a league where the pitcher is as raw as the batter…

I hope he does, but my money would be heavily on his next career choice.

For any crossover Philly sports fans I’d compare Hewitt to Winston Justice with the Eagles, a very young raw ‘kid’ who went from being the best guy on the field to being in a situation where everyone carries that tag. It’s taken till his forth year as a professional and being virtually written off for Justice to mature as a player and a person and demonstrate that he understands there’s more work than can be imagined to get on the field and perform at the top level, seems to me a lot like Hewitt. Tom G’s very right you can’t teach a 27-1 K/BB guy to become disciplined at the plate, he has to shed his immaturity and learn it for himself.

Sellers seems a lot like Greg Dobbs before he came to Philly, slow progression in the minors despite good enough numbers to wonder why at 27 he hasn’t made it past AA in his 6th year in the minors.

I can’t see Pedro Feliz being good enough to play in the majors for 3 or 4 more years ..

Im a big fan of Feliz.. and I think after next season he’s done..

I’ve seen Sellers numbers, it seems a bit odd since his numbers in the Houston system weren’t terrible that he was let go and then at 27 is in his third full year in AA between Houston and Philly. I say he reminds me of Dobbs as a guy with the same kind of build who its taken time to get through the minors despite being a .300ish hitter with some power.

I agree on Pedro but I’m not ready to write him off yet when so many players are capable of still playing at a good enough level in their late thirties. I can’t see a guy in the league that fits the young budding third basemen criteria that’s actually a realistic target, it’s probably going to be another free-agent on a two year deal like Helms and Pedro.

P.S. – I like Pedro for two more years. He’s fine. He’s capable. He can really field. Thats all you need with this lineup. Hey, the Beatles had Ringo Starr. Our infield has Pedro Feliz. As for Hewitt – see Jeff Jackson, if anyone remembers him. Drafted ahead of Frank Thomas, too.

The Dispy

Dipsy I would say that firstly the talented evaluators are far more learned when it comes to inside baseball knowledge than ‘we’ will ever be unless someone has been lucky enough to play professional baseball, I think we have to view it as a secret society we can try and understand from the outside but in reality it’s something you can’t fathom until you’ve ‘seen the playbook’.

I think to use a metaphor it’s the different between adopting a baby and fostering an infant, the infant has been taught life by someone else whereas the babies brand-spanking new. With a guy like Hewitt we have to believe the Phils have a blueprint they are executing with him otherwise it is a visibly dumb move, one all ballclubs make and they can’t all be that stupid and self-destructive.

I think the draft system as is pointed out by everyone is massively flawed (more than any other sport) and where a player is drafted means little compared to what they sign for. I would assume as happens every year that there are a couple of dozen players drafted in the picks after and rounds after Hewitt that received a much more lucrative signing bonus making where he was drafted largely irrelevant. Every club is drafting ’1st round’ talent in later rounds now giving bonuses several times higher than slot which is the main reason the draft system is broken. the only reason I can think justifies taking Hewitt so high was that the Phils must have thought he wouldn’t be there with their next pick whereas other guys they’d targeted would.

It’s easy for us to fixate on the first rounders and view them like NFL, NBA or NHL draftees who are almost guaranteed to make it to the ‘majors’ and few are outright busts, baseball is so different by virtue of the fact the players playing the sport professionally eclipse the others and only so many can be in the majors.

The Phils probably gave more money to Hewitt because it was a small amount in the bigger picture whereas taking a guy further along in the development process would cost much more leaving a much smaller margin for error. The upside is it’s clear the rest of the money is going into the kind of over-slot thing you suggest which is why the Phils are stacked with more talent than most.

3 or 4 MORE years? MORE years? I hope we can get decent production out of him for the rest of this season and for one more year if they pickup his option.

They really have got to bring in someone this offseason or next offseason via trade. Somoene to hold down the fort for 3-4 years, the years you think Pedro can give us but I do not agree. THEN you can rebuild the organization’s depth at that position, draft, locate and sign a “3B of the future.”

Who could that guy be though Geoff? Right now there are only 21 players who qualify at 3rd basemen who’ve had at least 350 ABs this year.

3 or 4……no.

Two years…..yeah, I think Pedro can be a pretty good 3B for 2 more years and contribute enough offensively to justify having him in the lineup.

Can we please stop with the third baseman stuff? I’m really gonna get Feliz’s back here. I think he’s %100 solid. All he has to do is what he’s doing. He can really field and he doesn’t strike out often. Let him be. He’s perfect for this team.

The Dipsy

Well, thats not gonna happen, Chuck. You’re right. He’s a big man, and older man, with a history of back trouble. We traded George Costanza and now we have no third base prospects. Thats said, I don’t think we have to worry about this right now. I just wanna see Lidge get a 1-2-3 save tonite. We can worry about Stairs if you want to. We’re gonna effin kill Penny tonite incidentally.

The Dipsy

Hewitt is a center fielder. He does not move like an infielder and never has. He was not even a very good high school shortstop, but he has amazing speed and a solid if unpsectacular arm.