Greg Halman...who?

by cool hand Charlie on Jul 7, 2008 8:45 AM EDT

This kid looks pretty good. I don't know if he was supposed to be good or not but it looks like the Mariners found him in the Netherlands. As a 20 year old in AA for the Mariners(West Tennessee) he is posting a line of .279/.329/.559.888. and he has a good line overall having spent part of the season in the Cal league.

The kid is 6'4'' and close to 200 pounds so he has a nice frame and must have good speed. He has 25 stolen bases to only 2 caught stealing this season.

So, what's this kid's future? Is he toolsy? Will he be able to cut it in the majors in a couple years? I just happaned to notice he had good numbers and had never heard of him, so i wondered if you guys had anymore knowledge about him beyond what the numbers show.

thanks

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John did a write up on him a little while back.

Remember: baseball guys... baseball...

by Metty5 on Jul 7, 2008 9:36 AM EDT 0 recs

hey thanks

i missed that somewhere, I’ll look back for it

Go Pirates!!!

by cool hand Charlie on Jul 7, 2008 9:58 AM EDT up 0 recs

couldn't find it

i searched back about 120 stories(january) and didnt see it. John gave him a C+ and said that he had tremendous tools but a problem with strikeouts in the book. I think this diary is deserved with the success he has had with his age relative to level. The new stats speak volumes about his tools and ability to play baseball and i’m curious what everyone thinks about him. With his tools and these numbers, how is he all that different from Cameron Maybin as a prospect? Maybin has a K problem too and actually isnt hitting as well as Halman. But Maybin was an A- and Halman was a C+.

Go Pirates!!!

by cool hand Charlie on Jul 7, 2008 10:11 AM EDT up 0 recs

He was demoted the previous season

He started out at Wisconsin in 2007 before being demoted to short season when he failed to hit above .200. When he was demoted he tore up the league with plenty of home runs but still struck out at a similar rate though he did have more walks. In Everett he was also repeating the same level as 2006, which ended early due to a suspension I believe. Even now his K% needs to be reduced but he has made improvements to less than 25% of his PA’s since he was promoted to AA.

by tdot mariner fan on Jul 7, 2008 1:28 PM EDT up 0 recs

Not a suspension

broke his hand.

Okay, he broke it during an on-field brawl, but technically he missed time due to the broken hand.

by marc w on Jul 7, 2008 4:52 PM EDT up 0 recs

lol Selective Memory

I remember the incident but not the injury. It is good to see the hand injury has not hampered his power production much even if he began playing High Desert.

by tdot mariner fan on Jul 8, 2008 1:06 AM EDT up 0 recs

Here's the link

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2008/6/18/553727/controversial-prospect-gre

by TRanger on Jul 7, 2008 10:14 AM EDT 0 recs

wow

i feel like an idiot….somehow i missed that written 3 weeks ago.

Go Pirates!!!

by cool hand Charlie on Jul 7, 2008 10:22 AM EDT up 0 recs

19:93 BB/K ratio

Sounds like Russell Branyan.

by number_twentyone on Jul 7, 2008 11:00 AM EDT 0 recs

it's still really early to say that...

He could be a Soriano type too…

"When Justin Upton faces Lincecum, I think Christ might appear in the heavens, and the world will end." -JakeFree

by JT12340 on Jul 7, 2008 11:03 AM EDT up 0 recs

or a Chris B Young/Adam Jones/Mike Cameron/Insert Black OF/ Andruw Jones

I’m kidding everyone, we don’t need to start that debate again.

I see him has a Boom Bust guy. Huge Power, Huge Speed, but he’ll disappear for games then just come out and have monster games.

I could see him 265/320/520 guy. Safeco could hurt him a little, but he is a great athlete.

Remember: baseball guys... baseball...

by Metty5 on Jul 7, 2008 11:15 AM EDT up 0 recs

I think that's right on

.265/.320/.520. I’ll second that.

With his speed, it may be a better line than it appears at first blush; if he’s able to consistently get 30 steals or so, that’d be nice.

by marc w on Jul 7, 2008 1:07 PM EDT up 0 recs

Mostly agree

I think his slugging is a little higher in the majors. Maybe up into the 540-550 area. I think his power is pretty real. I consider him to be a better version of Chris Young (since I expect Halman to be able to hit over 240).

Speaking of Chris Young, what happened to his speed this year? Was there an injury I didn’t hear about?

"My mom always taught me it's better to laugh at yourself than to laugh at others. She was so wrong. ;)" -Pedrophile

by Boxkutter on Jul 7, 2008 1:19 PM EDT up 0 recs

You're predicting a .285 IsoP?

Ryan Howard’s career IsoP is .306.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that might be an overestimate of his power ability.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on Jul 7, 2008 1:34 PM EDT up 0 recs

You may be right...

but I am pretty high on the kid. I just missed drafting him in my DMB League a few weeks ago. I had three picks in a row and he went right before my three picks. Pissed me off. I do think he can be a 40-40-40 man in his prime though. 40 Doubles, 40 Homers, and 40 stolen bags (30-30-30 should be easy for him). Maybe I am a bit of a Halman-homer though, I don’t know. Also I am a Mariner fan, but I try not to let that sway me when it comes to prospects.

"My mom always taught me it's better to laugh at yourself than to laugh at others. She was so wrong. ;)" -Pedrophile

by Boxkutter on Jul 7, 2008 2:19 PM EDT up 0 recs

So you think he'll be the best player in baseball?

Tools Whore

Sign Bonds!

by Tyler on Jul 7, 2008 4:18 PM EDT up 0 recs

Hrmm...

I’m interjecting here, but would you say that Soriano 2006 was the best player in the game? Because that sounds alot like who is being described here. I’d say that’s definitely an All-Star/MVP caliber player, but the best in the game? That’s reserved for Pujols or A-Rod type talents.

by GuyinNY on Jul 7, 2008 4:45 PM EDT up 0 recs

Ok

maybe best player in the league was to strong, but Soriano in 06 was one of the 10 or so best players in the league, even with his low OBP.

Tools Whore

Sign Bonds!

by Tyler on Jul 8, 2008 7:37 PM EDT up 0 recs

Keith Law

Referred to him as a great signing and talent, but as someone whose approach needs a lot of work, and who could be hurt by the Mariners’ tendency to rush their prospects like mad.

by aap212 on Jul 7, 2008 12:20 PM EDT 0 recs

They've been a lot more cautious with him

He struggled in the MWL last year, so they brought him back to short season ball to get his confidence up. This year, he only moved up when it was logical to do so (CF spot open, and he’d been really good in the Cal League).
They clearly haven’t done something weird like they’d done with Tuiasosopo, for example.

A great, great talent, and it’s nice to see him putting things together this year.

by marc w on Jul 7, 2008 1:05 PM EDT up 0 recs

I asked that question to klaw

Remember: baseball guys... baseball...

by Metty5 on Jul 7, 2008 3:59 PM EDT up 0 recs

His skill set screams Alfonso Soriano

and his numbers so far look like Soriano’s too. But he’s still way, way too raw. He bleeds power and speed tools, but that approach is absolutely atrocious and I have a lot of doubts that he’ll ovecome them. I’m not a fan. He screams bust to me. I can’t stop envisioning him struggling in Triple-A in the cavern that is Cheney Stadium for three years, and after he proves his worth there, another three years as a Quad-A guy who’s approach has zero chance in the bigs.

Maybe I’m being too hard on him, but I see him strictly as a guy to keep an eye on. Needless to say, if he breaks out, I’ll be super excited to see him more.

by elrey34 on Jul 7, 2008 2:57 PM EDT 0 recs