Phil Rogers

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Phil Rogers

Post by Padres »

Like everyone else in the IBC I am an avid reader of Baseball America ... but as some of you know, it irks me that they have Phil Rogers covering the White Sox prospects for them. First, his knowledge of minor league baseball is limited at best; second, he is a Cub fan; and third , there are many, many better choices out there. Here is a classic critique of a recent Rogers misdirected missive on Lucas Harrrell:

Why? Because he’s the latest recipient of The Phil Rogers Kiss of Death:

[Rogers recently wrote:] Righthander Lucas Harrell has had an impressive season after needing much of 2008 to recover from elbow surgery the year before. He was 12-4, 3.21 through 24 starts between Birmingham and Charlotte, solidifying his spot on the 40-man roster and putting himself in position to contend for a big-league spot in 2010.

You’ll be hard-pressed to find a bigger Harrell fan than yours truly, but Harrell wasn’t “impressive” by any other stat, whether it was WHIP (1.404), walks (4.3/9 IP), strikeouts (5.7/9 IP) or groundball rate (56.7 percent). Barring some sort of big turnaround, Harrell’s closer to falling off the 40-man roster than joining the 25-man version.

Rogers has a habit of using wins and ERA to try to find his sleeper, which has led him to endorse:

Heath Phillips (couldn’t crack the Royals’ staff this season)
Lance Broadway (5-9, 6.17 ERA between Charlotte and Buffalo this season)
Wes Whisler (who may be known for a 13.50 ERA and a .000 BAA if he never gets back to the big leagues)

There is a glimmer of hope, in that Rogers was on the Clevelan Santeliz bandwagon shortly after he made the 40-man roster by surprise. Santeliz’s numbers aren’t impressive across the season at Double-A, but he finished the year by striking out 17 over his last 12 innings, allowing just 13 baserunners and two earned runs.

When it comes to starters – especially starters without strikeout stuff – an endorsement from Rogers usually foreshadows doom.

Thanks to Jim Margalus at Sox Machine ... I can only add that, IMHO, Rogers is equally bad at evaluating lower level non-pitching prospects as well.
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Post by Rangers »

Looking from the outside, I can commiserate on Rogers. He's from down here, and though I wasn't around when he worked in Dallas, because he's from here he gets some attention and likes to comment on the Rangers. He's a regular recipient of scorn from LSB. It would suck to have him do all of the writing and prospect handbook stuff on BA for your team.
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Post by Padres »

Rogers at it again:

Some baseball people believe the White Sox could have interest in the Cubs' Carlos Zambrano, possibly even for the newly acquired Jake Peavy. It would be a way for two teams without much money to spend to shake things up, but wouldn't Peavy have more value than Zambrano at this point? ...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi- ... 968.column

Honestly - this guy is an idoit!
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Post by Padres »

Scott Lucas points out the errors of Rogers' ways:

On Wednesday, Jamey [Newberg] mentioned Phil Rogers’ column regarding now-departed Texas hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo in conjunction with ex-Rangers in Chicago. Per Rogers, “[Rudy] Jaramillo is the absolute perfect man for the Cubs' situation. He has worked successfully in the past with both Alfonso Soriano and Milton Bradley.”

Success with Soriano? Aside from his rookie campaign in 2001 and his disastrous 2009, Soriano’s two worst seasons at the plate were unquestionably with the Rangers. During 2002-2008, Soriano batted .274/.316/.498 in Texas and .290/.333/.545 everywhere else. (In addition, “everywhere else” is an inferior hitting environment.) Jaramillo’s responsibility for Soriano’s performance in Texas is debatable, but to suggest Soriano succeeded under Jaramillo’s direction is simply untrue.


Source: Lucas e-mail 10/16/09
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Post by Giants »

I really enjoy this Rudy Jaramillo as hitting guru thing. I haven't seen a ton of evidence for it.
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Post by Rangers »

Athletics wrote:I really enjoy this Rudy Jaramillo as hitting guru thing. I haven't seen a ton of evidence for it.
Me neither.
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Post by Padres »

It isn't bad enough that my White Sox have one of the worst minor league systems in baseball but then BA adds insult to injury by trotting out Phil Rogers again to their prospect ranking this year ... I was hoping that Mark Gonzales - who has been covering the Pale Hose for BA and has some credibility - would be the BA ranker this year ...
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