[USML Announce] Desmond Is Forever

Brad Jansen bljansen at gmail.com
Thu Jun 18 11:06:46 EDT 2009


Dear Comrade Mark:
  I can only chuckle at your inane puffery of the likes of Juan Rivera
(anything to get out of that long-term contract, eh?), and I can only resign
myself to your utter contempt and lack of grace in responding to my
compliments and concessions.  But I will not sit idly by as you attack
what's left of my minor league talent.  Allow yourself the time to read the
following espn.com article about Desmond Jennings (not that he's on the
trading block, by any means, but the Truth about my team cannot be
suppressed):



*Desmond Jennings, OF, Rays*

The 22-year-old's biggest issue before this season was simply staying on the
field. In 2007, Jennings missed a month due to knee surgery (yet still hit
.315 with 45 steals in the Sally League), and managed to play in just 24
games at high Class A last year, as he missed the first two months of the
season with a back injury, followed by left shoulder surgery that ended his
season prematurely. It's no wonder that at the beginning of this season,
Jennings told me he was "just trying to stay healthy; trying to get back in
the flow."

Well, consider him flowing.

Jennings has excelled for the Rays' Double-A club in the Southern League
this year, entering Wednesday hitting .327 with a .403 on-base percentage
and a .518 slugging percentage. He's also walked 29 times with just 35
strikeouts in 63 games, and has gone 22-for-26 on the base paths. Those
numbers certainly catch your attention.

"There's no one thing I need to work on after missing a whole season,"
Jennings said, "because I need to work on everything after losing all that
time."

Jennings was a 10th-round pick in the 2006 draft out of a community college
in Mississippi, and had even signed a letter of intent to play wide receiver
at Alabama out of high school. But on the diamond, he has all the "tools" to
be a prototypical lead off man.

His swing is short to the ball, and he gets the bat through the zone
quickly. Though he occasionally will over swing and get away from his
contact-oriented approach, Jennings said he knows his "job is to get on base
and score runs." He has excellent plate discipline, knows the strike zone,
and his swing allows him to adjust to off-speed stuff well.

For a lead off man, he's not a slap hitter by any means, and can hit balls
gap-to-gap with pull power. The 6-foot-2, 180-pound right-handed batter
projects to have teens homer totals in the big leagues.

His biggest asset is his 70 speed on the 20-80 scouting scale, which allows
him to make up for the occasional misreads in center field and create havoc
on the base paths. There's very little not to like aside from the injury
history, and he's stayed on the field thus far this season, as he still has
to demonstrate that his durability issues are behind him.

It's an easy and somewhat obvious comparison to liken Jennings to a
right-handed version of his future teammate Carl
Crawford<javascript:newWin('http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/fantasy?playerId=5035')>,
but it's no less apt. The Rays can afford to be a little patient with him,
as he may be a year away, but fantasy players know how special a player
Crawford is and Jennings should be worth the wait if he can stay out of the
trainer's room.



---So, you can tout your wild-eyed rookie pitchers, sore-armed relievers
and past their prime veterans, but a hardy number of us already have some
nice talent, thank you.

--And, typical of your ridiculously blessed fortunes this year, how
fortuitous that as soon as Francisco gets shelved for the season, Scott
Downs gets hurt and your reserve pitcher Jason Frasor gets the nod to close.
When it's your year, it's your year and Mark, it's your year.  So, enjoy it
with love and positive vibes.



--Brother Brad
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