Javier Herrera, meet Tommy John
2006-03-22 13:58
According to Baseball America, the A’s #2 prospect, Javier Herrera, will miss the 2006 season with Tommy John surgery.
Rats. I had a feeling the A’s were overdue for some bad news. Well, at least this bad news doesn’t hurt the major league club much in 2006. How much missing a year will hurt Herrera’s progress is another matter.
Question: suppose you could choose between Herrera and Daric Barton as to which one would miss a year of development with injury. Which one would you choose? The toolsy guy (Herrera) or the plate discipline guy (Barton)? Which type of player is hurt the most by losing a year of development?
1. Having to choose, I choose Herrera just because I don't think he's much of a prospect.
But, that aside, as I argued on Beaneball, it would seem that the toolsy guy would be hurt more from a year of no development - the player still trying to develop his baseball skills, his plate discipline, his reads on flyballs, etc. etc. needs as many reps as he can get.
I never thought highly of Herrera in the first place, and then he got caught with a PED last year, and now he's hurt; in other words, I just don't see him ever making an impact, whether with the A's or any other team.