香港三级片

Can all of us baseball fans agree, pretty please with sugar on top, not to rush to turn prospects into 鈥渂usts鈥� before they鈥檙e even 26?

Honestly, 26 was a relatively arbitrary age to pick. The larger issue we鈥檙e taking aim at here is the hyper speed with which we now feel the need to evaluate and render decisions on players, decisions that often disregard previous in-depth and researched evaluations and decisions made by scouts, evaluators, coaches and other such experts.

This isn鈥檛 even specific to the Cardinals, though there鈥檚 no shortage of premature judgments made on young sluggers Nolan Gorman, 24, or Jordan Walker, 22.

In fact, an MLB Network interview last week with Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker triggered this train of thought. It started with former major leaguer Harold Reynolds鈥� question about the progress made by young outfielder Jarred Kelenic.

In 2021, while Kelenic was a member of the Seattle Mariners鈥� organization, Baseball America ranked him the No. 4 overall prospect in the minors. The sixth overall pick in the 2018 MLB draft, Kelenic already had established himself as potential star by the time he made his MLB debut in 2021.

Basically, some folks thought of Kelenic similarly to the way they viewed 2022 AL Rookie of the Year and two-time All-Star Julio Rodriguez coming up through the minors. Except Kelenic is left-handed and arrived in the big leagues ahead of Rodriguez.

Then, Kelenic鈥檚 struggles at the plate 鈥� he hit 14 home runs in 93 games, but also slashed .181/.265/.350 鈥� prompted him to spend 86 games in the minors in 2022. The Mariners traded Kelenic to the Braves along with pitcher Marco Gonzales and first baseman Evan White in December 2023.

Last season, Kelenic played in 131 games for the Braves and slashed .231/.286/.393 with 15 home runs and was a 13% below league average offensive player (in terms of OPS+).

Reynolds鈥� question to Snitker about Kelenic came in the context of the rush to label players 鈥渂usts鈥� if they don鈥檛 produce immediately.

鈥淚n the industry, we鈥檙e rushing them more and more,鈥� Snitker said during a Wednesday appearance on MLB Network鈥檚 鈥淗ot Stove鈥� show. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like they get to the big leagues sooner. It used to be 1,200 at-bats, 300 innings. Now, it鈥檚 not so much so.

鈥淵ou know, Jarred, it didn鈥檛 go the way we wanted. Last year in a perfect world, Ronald (Acuna, who was sidelined by injury for much of the season) would have hit leadoff and Jarred would have been right in front of him hitting ninth. We would have just put him in there and let him grow. He kind of was forced to the top of the order. I think he did a great job. This thing is never easy. He鈥檚 still a young player, learning. He鈥檚 got great skills. I love the kid. You have to love the skillset.鈥�

Kelenic, who is 25, serves as one example, but this rush to judgment isn鈥檛 just something that applies to Kelenic.

Players find their stride at different times.

Many Cardinals fans certainly still react like they opened a package of rotten eggs when the name Adolis Garcia comes up.

The former Cardinals outfielder is now a two-time All-Star, a Gold Glove winner, the 2023 American League Championship Series MVP and a 2023 World Series champion all after the Cardinals (2019) and the Texas Rangers (2021) designated him for assignment. The Rangers retained Garcia after they designated him.

You can look at a guy such as Sacramento/Las Vegas/TBA Athletics slugger Brent Rooker as another example.

Rooker, selected 35th in the 2017 MLB draft, appeared in 65 games with the Minnesota Twins in 2020 and 2021. By the time Rooker reached the Athletics, he鈥檇 also passed through the San Diego Padres鈥� and Kansas City Royals鈥� organizations.

All Rooker did the past two seasons with the Athletics, at ages 28 and 29, was slash .272/.348/.528 with a 147 OPS+. Oh, and he added an All-Star and a Silver Slugger award to his r茅sum茅. Not bad for an old timer.

The year before Rooker鈥檚 breakout 30-homer campaign for the Athletics in 2023, he spent time in Triple A for the Padres and the Royals. But wait. He debuted in 2020 and was still playing 81 games in Triple A in 2022. Why didn鈥檛 someone ship that guy to baseball oblivion?

After all, the infamous veteran catcher Jake Taylor from the movie 鈥淢ajor League鈥� once told us that a red tag in your locker didn鈥檛 just mean you鈥檇 been sent down. It meant 鈥測ou just died and went down to the minors.鈥�

Yes, that鈥檚 just a movie depiction of the way guys speak in a locker room or clubhouse. Somehow, we as baseball followers still seem to have a similar tone when it comes to prospects 鈥� as Reynolds identified in his question to Snitker.

Contrary to popular belief, some stellar careers have come guys who鈥檝e risen from the dead of the minors.

Famously, former Royals star Alex Gordon had been the No. 2 pick in the 2005 draft after having been a Golden Spikes Award winner in college. He quickly tore up the minors, earned recognition as the No. 2 overall prospect in the minors and got dubbed the heir apparent to Royals legend George Brett as the franchise鈥檚 next great third baseman.

Well, it didn鈥檛 work out that way.

After two seasons in the majors, he went back to the minors and made the transition from third base to left field. Gordon re-emerged as an outfielder at age 26.

Gordon eventually won eight Gold Gloves as a left fielder, earned three All-Star selections, was part of two AL pennant winning teams and won a World Series. He has a place in the franchise鈥檚 Hall of Fame waiting and his jersey number will almost assuredly get retired.

Up until the end of his career, Gordon still described himself as a 鈥渇ailed third baseman.鈥�

On second thought. Never mind. It鈥檚 crazy to ever think any player would make good on his potential at or after the age of 26.