Gordon vs. Boesch

by drwmsu1 on Jul 6, 2010 11:46 AM EDT

This is NOT fantasy related, I just have been thinking of this and curious what the community-think here would be. Alex Gordon is 26, and tearing up AAA since his move to the corner outfield position. He was one of if not the best hitting prospect in the game a few years ago.

Brennan Boesch, 25, was maybe a grade C+ prospect (really should wait until i am at home and have John's book), not given much hype at all. The Baseball Prospectus 2010 book has the killer line on him "less discriminating than Tila Tequila" to knock his free-swinging ways. All that said, he is KILLING it in the Bigs right now. I know he is due for some regression---he isn't Pujols after all--but in my mind he's a legit above average corner outfield for years to come.

Which of these players would you wish your team had from 2011-2015? I'm not interested in your fantasy team, i mean on your favorite MLB team.

Poll

Who would you rather have on your favorite MLB team from 2011-2015?

Brennan Boesch

40 votes

Alex Gordon

72 votes

Neither, both are/will be bums

9 votes

121 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 8 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Admittedly, Boesch has been impressive in his MLB debut, but his minor league track record doesn’t support any of this right now… plus I’m still a believer in Gordon, even if I’ve had to downwardly revise my expectations. I’ll go with the track record and pedigree until Boesch proves this is sustainable over the long haul.

by PhillyFriar on Jul 6, 2010 12:01 PM EDT reply actions

I'm pretty much in agreement with this.

I just don’t know how I can let like five years of information slide because Boesch has been so damn good the past two months.

I think that the Tigers have probably found a pretty useful piece long-term in Boesch, but he’s not this kind of hitter going forward, and I also think it’s fair to believe that there’s still a small chance that Gordon can reach his upside if developed properly from here on out.

I think they both have solid chances of becoming good everyday outfielders, but Gordon’s advantages in defensive versatility, pedigree, track record and sheer upside (i.e. Gordon could actually combine patience with hitting ability and big power) would seem to outweigh what Boesch has done in Detroit so far.

Picking Boesch would be rather reactionary, in my opinion.

I like baseball.
I write for Beyond the Box Score and The Hardball Times Fantasy

by Satchel Price on Jul 6, 2010 12:50 PM EDT up reply actions

Is this okay?

If it is not allowable to copy an article from Fangraphs, please delete.

I thought this article did not give hope for a bright future for either Boesch or Colvin.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/colvin-and-boesch-going-forward/

The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. It reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again.

by Savoy on Jul 6, 2010 1:22 PM EDT reply actions

As a rule, I think links are better than copy and paste

I doubt anybody would sue you, though

TheSouthWing.com - A Magazine of essays, prose and poems

by OldProspects on Jul 6, 2010 2:33 PM EDT up reply actions

Boesch

Watching this guy, there is nothing not to like about him right now. He even took 4 walks in yesterday’s game. He hits right handers and left handers, fastballs and breaking balls, inside and outside corners, at the knees and at the waist, to right field and left field. The only weakness is he will swing at the occasional curveball in the dirt….but it better actually bounce or he’ll center it.

I’ve been waiting for a month now for him to come back down to earth or for pitchers to adjust, but he’s still centering the ball, and he’s actually made an adjustment and is walking more. Pitchers have no answer for him, if*/when he cools off it will not be any scouting report exposing his weakness, it will just be him cooling off.

*I’m not saying he has much of a chance to maintain a 1.000 OPS (Albert Pujols-lite), but I think he can be close to .900 (Justin Morneau) if he continues to play well.

by The Fume on Jul 6, 2010 6:34 PM EDT reply actions

I mostly agree

I think he is a late bloomer who’s bloomed. Can’t be easy to develop/maintain good swing mechanics at his size (6’6"), but I think he has them now. His plate coverage is solid, he doesn’t even swing at that many BAD pitches, it is just when he goes up there he is looking to hit and if it’s in the zone he’ll fire away. I don’t recall him being fooled that much.

Yes, he will cool off. I’m not sure he is a 900 OPS guy, but could see him hitting 280/340/510 which I think is going to be way better than what Gordon will do. I think it is obvious that Gordon has holes that can be exploited. I’m not sure Boesch’s holes are as big.

I will say this being a prospect board, and the fact Boesch wasn’t much of one while Gordon was a MAJOR one, I’m not surprised by the voting. About 2-1 in favor of Gordon. I wonder which MLB GM’s would choose?

by drwmsu1 on Jul 6, 2010 7:37 PM EDT up reply actions

agreed.

I view a .900 OPS as his ceiling going forward, I think he’ll settle in below that, about where your numbers are at. Which would be a good, cheap outfielder, assuming he doesn’t become a butcher.

Gordon’s big advantage is that he can (should) be able to play 3rd base, so the bar is a bit lower.

by The Fume on Jul 7, 2010 10:21 AM EDT up reply actions