My first EVER Mikie Mahtook post

I never heard of Mikie Mahtook before the other day. Evidently he is a very talented outfielder from LSU.

The Rays, who had back to back picks at 31 and 32 in the first round, chose Mahtook.

High School Rivals says he's a great value and has a real shot to be a big leaguer.

This was the pick that Brian Cashman didn't want to surrender for anyone other than Cliff Lee. And the Steinbrenner boys did an end around and got Rafael Soriano which resulted in one of the great awkward press conferences ever.

Soriano is 32 and on the disabled list again.
Who knows when he is coming back and when that 5.40 ERA will go down.

Cashman better hope this is my last post on Mahtook.
Or shall I say the Steinbrenner boys better hope he doesn't. Otherwise, Cashman will remind them every day for the rest of their lives that they went with Soriano.
(I can't help it... I want Mahtook to become an All Star!)

But what is up with the name Mikie?

The Hype of Kris Benson

I read yesterday that Kris Benson was indeed retiring from baseball. I was shocked when I read that. He was still pitching?

That would be like hearing “Katrina and the Waves broke up.” Yeah, I figured they did.

Actually Benson did pitch for a few games in 2009 and 2010. He pitched 36 1/3 innings in the majors since 2006. And he hung them up today.

He made tens of millions of dollars along the way, and never even approached being an elite pitcher.

The man whose first name started with a K because he parents wanted a pitcher was a stud in high school and was called “The Messiah” in Clemson University. He had all the makings of being the next big star pitcher.

The Pirates used the #1 pick overall in 1996 on him. The #1 pick is supposed to be a potential superstar or at least a steady veteran.

Now to be fair to the Pirates, that first round didn’t exactly produce a bumper crop of future Hall of Famers. It had Billy Koch and Eric Milton and Braden Looper and Jason Marquis among others. But it wasn’t like they passed up on Ken Griffey Jr to draft him.

Then again Roy Oswalt was still available in the 22nd round, so maybe they should have done a better job scouting.

His minor league numbers were mediocre, but his status as a prospect was always hyped.

He came up to the bigs in 1999 and won his big league debut. He played for a truly rotten Pirates team (redundant after 1992) but he pitched well. Not great. But well. Good ERA. Most strikeouts by a Pittsburgh right hander in 2000. Again he wasn’t a bad pitcher. He was just overhyped.

When he missed the 2001 season after surgery he came back and pitched well. Not great, but well.

When he was dealt to the Mets, it was thought they were getting a budding ace who just needed to get out of Pittsburgh.

He pitched OK in New York. Not great. Not badly. None of his numbers were eye popping. He’d go on a good streak than a bad streak.

It was classic Jim Duquette deal… one that was supposed to spark the team and instead kept the Mets mediocre.

Later with the Orioles he pitched OK, but not great, in 2006.

Even his wife was overhyped. I kept hearing about how unbelievably hot she was. I saw her.

She was OK… not great… and certainly not worth the hype nor how annoying she was in interviews.

And now, after cameos in Texas and Arizona, a hyped career is over.

Kris Benson’s career was baseball equivalent to the movie Dick Tracy.

Lots of hype… lots of built up expectations… lots of behind the scene friction between the star and the potentially crazy leading lady… and when it was all over I thought “That’s it?”

It wasn’t bad and there was talent there… but there was a lot of talent behind Dick Tracy as well and not a lot of memorable moments.

Good luck Victor Martinez

Victor Martinez has moved on from the Red Sox. There was no post season glory with him behind the plate. Heck the Sox never won a post season game in the year and a quarter he called Fenway home.

But he got a few hits for the Sox, made an All Star team and was a likable enough guy to root for.

This Red Sox fan wishes him well as he goes off to Detroit.

Meanwhile with Martinez gone and Beltre certain to go elsewhere, Theo is piling up some draft picks. He knows that the Sox will pick at least 4 times before the second round is up.

So either the Red Sox will be sniffing around for some big time free agent knowing that their draft won't be blown... or they could be ready to deal some prospects because the cupboard could be replenished next summer.

Either way, the winter is starting to get interesting in Boston.
Good luck in Detroit, Victor.
You'll look good with the Old English D.

So THAT'S why the Pirates picked Bryan Bullington first overall!

When I wrote my 30 Can't Miss Aces Who Missed post, I had a hard decision: Which former #1 overall pick by the Pirates should I dog pile on?

Kris Benson or Bryan Bullington?

Despite Benson's mediocre career, I decided to go with Bullington.
Benson never was an ace.
Bullington never won a game.

In 19 games, spread out over 5 seasons and 4 organizations, he went 0-7 with a 5.02 ERA.

Maybe it took him 20 games to figure it out, because today he got into the win column... and it was no cheap task.

He pitched 8 shutout innings against the World Champion Yankees and looked every inch an ace doing it.

Of course he did it for the Royals. The Pirates got exactly nothing for their investment. And yes, it would have been wiser to draft Prince Fielder, Zack Greinke, Joe Saunders, Cole Hamels, Matt Cain, Joe Blanton, Jeff Francis, Joey Votto, Jon Lester, Brian McCann or Curtis Granderson indtead of Bullington.

But I can't help but feel good for him. Maybe he HAS figured it out. Maybe the Royals stumbled across a solid pitcher who got his groove back.

Granted, he's 29... not "spring chicken" time for a budding pitcher. But hey!
Warren Spahn won 277 games after he turned 30!

I'm just saying.