Good ole' BP unfiltered has a mini-interview of Ben Broussard, currently languishing in AAA Scranton for the Yanks

http://baseballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=892

He may not be very good, but he gets the whole baseball is nothing personal and seems glad just to be playing the game

It was going to be the first time in my career that I was given an opportunity to play every day, but it didn’t work out.  The team got off to a bad start, and they had to do what they had to do.  That’s just the way that baseball works.

I wouldn’t care if I was in A-ball right now; I just want to play baseball.  I love the game and I love getting out here and getting dirty and being around the guys in the clubhouse.

so you just have to have thick skin and a short-term memory.  You just have to believe in yourself.  But I have nothing bad to say about any of them.

Good luck Ben and I hope you find talent you never had before and end up getting another shot at starting someday

I was an outfielder picked in the first 5 rounds out of an east coast college. My progression through the minors was slow due to splitting time between baseball and playing in the NFL. I broke camp with my Major League team at the age of 25 before being sent back down mid-July after struggling. It wasn't until I was 28 that I claimed my first full time job with a 20/20 season. My major league  and minor league numbers were incredibly similar and I played in parts of 15 major league seasons.  I was a solid power/speed player with solid batting average but poor plate discipline .

who am I?

So what do you all think he is going to do next year? It looks like he has little shot of breaking camp with the big league team and will be sent back to AAA starting the year at the age of 23.

Here is some things to ponder
2005 539 PA 160 strikeouts  29.7 K%  6.1 BB% 49.6 XBH%
2006 522 PA 140 strikeouts  26.8 K%  13.4 BB% 45.1 XBH%
2007 544 PA 105 strikeouts  19.3 K%  9.9 BB% 37.4 XBH%

The trend of strikeouts dropping at every level is encouraging and I expect to drop moderately next year to 16% or so since he will be repeating the level. The walks look above average but nothing special. The Extra base hits in 2005 and 2006 looked pretty special and 37% is still nothing to sneeze at.

So what does everyone think Wlad has in store for this year? Will he have a killer spring and take Wilkerson or Ibanez's job (pushing Raul to DH)? will he rake the first couple months and force himself on to team late May, will he have a credible consolidation year and be poised to take the starting job in 2009, or will he regress

I am a Mariner fan and hate all things Angels with a passion, but I am intrigued by Reggie Willits. His contact and plate discipline were excellent, but his power was non-existent. At 26 his power potential is pretty much fulfilled, but can a hitter really succeed with his skill set? I mean, at some point don't you just have pitchers throw it right now the pipe a la Sean Burroughs strategy knowing the worst that can happen is a single? I was just wondering if anyone thought he could could have a prolonged career hitting .290/.390/.340 or something similar. Just guess searching for comps using BR the best I could really find was Julio Cruz. Their secondary skills are pretty similar, but Cruz rarely hit .250 let alone .290; What do you all think?

I was a mid first round pick post 1985 out of mid-western college. In my first full season of professional ball I went 30/30 in the Eastern League with over 100 walks despite hitting only .225. After that season Baseball America ranked me as a mid Top 100 prospect because of my advanced secondary skills. The next 1 1/2 years I spent in triple a showing ok power, good speed, and horrible contact before getting a long look from my parent club at the age of 24. A year after that I was traded in the offseason in what was essentially a prospect for prospect trade. It wasn't until I was 28 that I broke out slugging over .500 in the majors

My minor league career was marked with Plus speed, ok power and walks and low batting average. My 14 year major league career was marked with excellent power, ok on base skills, and low batting average.

Who am I?