Baseball Guru
02-19-2002, 02:56 PM
Emergency catcher a surprise top prospect
By MIKE RUTSEY -- Toronto Sun
DUNEDIN, Fla. -- No one knows better that scouting is an inexact science than Blue Jays vice-president Tim Wilken.
The team's former director of scouting has seen plenty of examples where players who were selected in the higher rounds develop into bona fide prospects. He also has had occasions when blind luck played a role in signing a player who had been entirely overlooked.
TWO EXAMPLES
At the Jays spring training camp, which officially opened yesterday, an example of each can be found in second baseman Orlando Hudson and catcher Kevin Cash.
Hudson is the talk of the organization and is expected to be play at the major-league level in the not-so-distant future. Cash, meanwhile, has come from nowhere after signing in 1999 as a non-drafted free agent. After two seasons in the organization he has opened enough eyes to be invited to his first major-league camp.
Hudson was selected twice by the Jays: In the 33rd round after high school, and, when he didn't sign, in the 43rd round in 1997.
"Well, how smart does that make me?" Wilken said with a self-deprecating laugh about Hudson. "The problem in baseball is that we, as a (scouting) community, get into a kind of categorizational rut."
Of the two prospects, Cash's story is the more amazing and his signing by the Jays came about as a fluke.
"He played third base in college (Florida State), didn't run well and had just average power," Wilken said. "Then back in '99 I was in Cape Cod covering the league and the starting catcher for the Hyannisport team was hurt and the backup fouled a ball off his foot and couldn't play.
"Well, Cash (still a third baseman) volunteered and it looked like he'd been catching all his life. It was like a dream happening in front of my face.
"I told Ted Lakas (a Jays regional scout) not to let this guy get off the island."
A few days later, Cash was a Jay.
"He's a prospect all right," Wilken said. "He has a chance to be a good, solid everyday player. He's going to be a major-leaguer -- what type will depend on his bat (last year at Dunedin in single-A, Cash hit .283 in 105 games with 12 homers and 66 RBIs). As for his catch-and-throw skills, they're the best in the organization."
Hudson, meanwhile, fell through the cracks to the 43rd round because he rated just average in every category -- speed, power, arm strength and bat speed.
"He's a kid who has shown that he plays better the better the competition gets," Wilken said. "He is a very intelligent baseball player but he does nothing that really wows you, he just does everything well. On top of everything else, he's a leader."
By MIKE RUTSEY -- Toronto Sun
DUNEDIN, Fla. -- No one knows better that scouting is an inexact science than Blue Jays vice-president Tim Wilken.
The team's former director of scouting has seen plenty of examples where players who were selected in the higher rounds develop into bona fide prospects. He also has had occasions when blind luck played a role in signing a player who had been entirely overlooked.
TWO EXAMPLES
At the Jays spring training camp, which officially opened yesterday, an example of each can be found in second baseman Orlando Hudson and catcher Kevin Cash.
Hudson is the talk of the organization and is expected to be play at the major-league level in the not-so-distant future. Cash, meanwhile, has come from nowhere after signing in 1999 as a non-drafted free agent. After two seasons in the organization he has opened enough eyes to be invited to his first major-league camp.
Hudson was selected twice by the Jays: In the 33rd round after high school, and, when he didn't sign, in the 43rd round in 1997.
"Well, how smart does that make me?" Wilken said with a self-deprecating laugh about Hudson. "The problem in baseball is that we, as a (scouting) community, get into a kind of categorizational rut."
Of the two prospects, Cash's story is the more amazing and his signing by the Jays came about as a fluke.
"He played third base in college (Florida State), didn't run well and had just average power," Wilken said. "Then back in '99 I was in Cape Cod covering the league and the starting catcher for the Hyannisport team was hurt and the backup fouled a ball off his foot and couldn't play.
"Well, Cash (still a third baseman) volunteered and it looked like he'd been catching all his life. It was like a dream happening in front of my face.
"I told Ted Lakas (a Jays regional scout) not to let this guy get off the island."
A few days later, Cash was a Jay.
"He's a prospect all right," Wilken said. "He has a chance to be a good, solid everyday player. He's going to be a major-leaguer -- what type will depend on his bat (last year at Dunedin in single-A, Cash hit .283 in 105 games with 12 homers and 66 RBIs). As for his catch-and-throw skills, they're the best in the organization."
Hudson, meanwhile, fell through the cracks to the 43rd round because he rated just average in every category -- speed, power, arm strength and bat speed.
"He's a kid who has shown that he plays better the better the competition gets," Wilken said. "He is a very intelligent baseball player but he does nothing that really wows you, he just does everything well. On top of everything else, he's a leader."