Diamondbacks release Tony Clark

[DWKB]

Did you even watch the playoffs that year?

No Tony Womack means no trip to the WS and possibly no WS win in game 7.

Yes, I agree that if we chose not to field the position of SS at all that we'd have probably lost in the playoffs and or WS. After all it's quite a hole between 3B and 2B.

Other than that you're basis is purely speculation on what even a league average SS would have offered the team.

 

[dogpoo32]

 

[Mulli]

Yes, I agree that if we chose not to field the position of SS at all that we'd have probably lost in the playoffs and or WS. After all it's quite a hole between 3B and 2B.

Other than that you're basis is purely speculation on what even a league average SS would have offered the team.

Womack had two clutch hits (1 v. The cards, 1 v. The yanks). He had a better postseason than Gonzo. I think.

 

[DWKB]

Womack had two clutch hits (1 v. The cards, 1 v. The yanks). He had a better postseason than Gonzo. I think.

I know he had two clutch hits, but the assumptions that Tony, and only Tony, would have made those hits is false. He did not have a better postseason than Gonzo on any level. His overall contribution to the team that year, and his career, was way below standard, those two hits aside.

 

[azsouthendzone]

BTW,

You're on shaky ground if your name is Tony in Arizona

Tony Clark
Tony Womack
Tony Pena

Don't include Womack. He has a ring and was a big part of making that happen.

 

[Ryanwb]

Holy cow.... I didn't realize Womack had such a following. I am still recalling the 2 years he decided he wanted to try his hand at being a power hitter.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate all that he did to contribute to the WS, but let's be realistic

 

[TJ]

Please...giving him a full season is a waste of time. There is a reason he got straight released by the NATS...he's a AAAA player, dominates AAA, can't hit major league pitching. Bring on Brandon Allen, see what he can do.

WTF is a AAAA player? Plus the Nats don't know how to run a baseball team. If they had Albert Pujols, they would probably flat out release him too. Expos/Nationals are perennial losers for a reason: consistent poor decisions.

And Brandon Allen being a better prospect than Whitesell? Don't kid yourself brotha! He needs another year or two in AA and AAA to develop. Whitesell has already proven that he has surpassed AAA ball. Kids only played 27 games in the majors, mostly as a pinch hitter, and you want to write him off already?

We aren't playing for much more than 4th place in the division right now, so what's the risk in giving him a try? None. At least we can agree that he is a cheaper option than Tracy, and more productive.

 

[Mulli]

I know he had two clutch hits, but the assumptions that Tony, and only Tony, would have made those hits is false. He did not have a better postseason than Gonzo on any level. His overall contribution to the team that year, and his career, was way below standard, those two hits aside.

You could be right, but I am thinking that to say he was the worst on the team is silly. Midre Cummings was not better

Not counting the bloop over the drawn in infield. I don't recall Gonzo having a definitely better post-season, but I guess he could have.

 

[DWKB]

WTF is a AAAA player? Plus the Nats don't know how to run a baseball team. If they had Albert Pujols, they would probably flat out release him too. Expos/Nationals are perennial losers for a reason: consistent poor decisions.

And Brandon Allen being a better prospect than Whitesell? Don't kid yourself brotha! He needs another year or two in AA and AAA to develop. Whitesell has already proven that he has surpassed AAA ball. Kids only played 27 games in the majors, mostly as a pinch hitter, and you want to write him off already?

We aren't playing for much more than 4th place in the division right now, so what's the risk in giving him a try? None. At least we can agree that he is a cheaper option than Tracy, and more productive.

An AAAA player is usually a guy who can dominate the mediocre pitching in AAA leagues but struggles to put up numbers in the majors. Typically players who are in their late 20's have seen enough to be able to smash the mediocre pitching in the minors, but struggle when reaching major league level pitching.

Former DBack examples would be Alan Zinter, Koyie Hill, and Andy Green.


There is no risk in trying out Whitesell, he's a stop-gap for now. You're probably the only person who follows baseball that thinks Whitesell is a better prospect than Allen.

 

[Mulli]

Looking up the post season stats, Womack was fairly comparable to Gonzo, but, yeah, he was close to the worst on the team. Besides Albie Lopez and Midre Cummings, which is not saying much.

 

[DWKB]

You could be right, but I am thinking that to say he was the worst on the team is silly. Midre Cummings was not better

Yes, Cummings was not better, but it's probably closer than you think

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

That's what you gotta love about baseball. You can always look at the numbers.

Womack's OPS in the 2001 postseason was .616 (including a horrid .297 OBP) which I'm assuming was much below the average for MLB shortstops that year. So yeah, those two hits were clutch but if we had even a league average SS in place of Womack we probably don't even need his Game 5 NLDS and Game 7 WS heroics as we roll through the playoffs.

 

[Mulli]

Wow, anyone see Jay Bell's numbers for that post-season? Ugh.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/2001_WS.shtml

 

[DWKB]

Wow, anyone see Jay Bell's numbers for that post-season? Ugh.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/2001_WS.shtml

Careful looking at Post Season numbers. You'll develop Billy Hatcher Syndrome.

 

[Mulli]

Careful looking at Post Season numbers. You'll develop Billy Hatcher Syndrome.

Counsell's were bad as well cepting the HR against Roger Clemens.

 

[Ryanwb]

Wow, anyone see Jay Bell's numbers for that post-season? Ugh.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/2001_WS.shtml

How about Danny Bautista...talk about en fuego

 

[TJ]

An AAAA player is usually a guy who can dominate the mediocre pitching in AAA leagues but struggles to put up numbers in the majors. Typically players who are in their late 20's have seen enough to be able to smash the mediocre pitching in the minors, but struggle when reaching major league level pitching.

Former DBack examples would be Alan Zinter, Koyie Hill, and Andy Green.


There is no risk in trying out Whitesell, he's a stop-gap for now. You're probably the only person who follows baseball that thinks Whitesell is a better prospect than Allen.

Brandon Allen has put up decent stats in the minors, but he has some major deficiencies to work on before he hits the pros. First off, he is prone to striking out alot (124 in 2008 in 516 ABs) his fielding is sub-par for a 1st baseman (15 errors) and his average is, well, average for a minor league player (.279).

Whitesell is prone to the K as well, but he makes up for it with a higher average (.324) and OBP (.424). So aside from age, which really isn't a factor, I don't see how Allen is a better option. Your argument is based on the lack of experience he has in the majors and irrelevant D-Backs history. Remember Upton? He tore up the minors so fast that the organization couldn't wait to get him into Chase field, but he lagged for a bit but then caught fire. My argument is that we have nothing to lose by letting him finish out the season as the primary 1st baseman and seeing what we have in this kid. If he still sucks after 200 or so at bats, then I'll be more than happy to eat crow; however, at this point he is the best option we have and there is potential for this kid to stick around.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Brandon Allen has put up decent stats in the minors, but he has some major deficiencies to work on before he hits the pros. First off, he is prone to striking out alot (124 in 2008 in 516 ABs) his fielding is sub-par for a 1st baseman (15 errors) and his average is, well, average for a minor league player (.279).

Whitesell is prone to the K as well, but he makes up for it with a higher average (.324) and OBP (.424). So aside from age, which really isn't a factor, I don't see how Allen is a better option. Your argument is based on the lack of experience he has in the majors and irrelevant D-Backs history. Remember Upton? He tore up the minors so fast that the organization couldn't wait to get him into Chase field, but he lagged for a bit but then caught fire. My argument is that we have nothing to lose by letting him finish out the season as the primary 1st baseman and seeing what we have in this kid. If he still sucks after 200 or so at bats, then I'll be more than happy to eat crow; however, at this point he is the best option we have and there is potential for this kid to stick around.

Do you realize how useless it is comparing a 23 year old prospect in the Southern or Independent League versus a against a 27 year old in the thin air of Reno in the PCL? It is an apples to oranges comparison. Allen is a considerably superior prospect to Whitesell and it's not even that close.

 

[PoolBoy]

he just needed another Tony to make his point. 2 Tony's wouldn't have been as impressive to say all Tony's are on shaky ground. Either that or he had his eyes closed in the bottom of the 9th when he hit the game tying double against the Yanks.

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