[USML Announce] May bin hot......May bin not

[jhwinick at aol.com]

What's not to like about Cameron Maybin?? A 5-tool player who looks like the second coming of Clemente in his first week in the show.??

Pardon me, but I'll withold my enthusiasm for the time being.? For one, he's 20 years old and other than his at-bats this week, has a total of?20 at bats above Single-A.? And how was he really doing in the low minors?? The surface statistics looks pretty impressive, don't they?? But let's look a little below the surface.? Let's see....his strikeout to walk ratio was 2-1.? Not terrible, but certainly not major league all-star caliber.? Uh oh....his contact rate was 72%.? That means in nearly a third of his at bats his bat didn't contact the ball....at all!? No fouls, no dribblers to the mound, no fly outs, no line drives....nothing, nada, zip.? The average major league ballplayer has a contact rate above 80%.? The guys in the 70% range tend to flame out quickly with batting averages no better than .250.? A top-notch major league hitter has a contact rate in the 90's.? 

Mark my words....this kids headed back to the minors or he's going to look a lot like Ruben Rivera in no time at all.

Don't get?me wrong, I like Cameron Maybin and will be happy to entertain offers for him next year.? But at least at this point, he's still got a long way to go before he?is worthy of a title like King Cameron.? And maybe its just me, but the last Rich Robbins hosted coronation doesn't appear to have played out as proclaimed.??

More updates on the sudden surge of prospect puffery to follow.

Jeffrey Winick
President, DUMP

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