Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome to The Yankee Zone. We hope you enjoy your visit.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
Making a Lastings impression; By Jon Heyman, Newsday
Topic Started: Feb 24 2006, 11:48 PM (34 Views)
Gategem
Member Avatar
Member In Exile
Members
Quote:
 
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Lastings Milledge was blasting baseballs well past the leftfield fence and out toward rustic Peacock Boulevard here the other day, flashing the power and potential everyone talks about but so few have seen.

Milledge belied his baby face and a birth certificate that swears he's nearly 21 (even that looks like a stretch), powering balls into the patch of Pines beyond the fence on Field 2. The phenom's finally here in the flesh, the one-in-a-million marvel living up to all the imaginations.

The select few who witnessed Milledge hit Tuesday gushed about all the traits that make him one of baseball's most praised prospects. Hitting coach Rick Down flashed a wink to one reporter who glanced over, as if to acknowledge the privilege to be among the first to observe embryonic greatness.

Rare is it that more superlatives have been attached to a player who is no more than a rumor to all but a few Mets fans. Watch him while you can. The Mets have traded a few monster prospects before -- Scott Kazmir comes to mind -- and yet, their grip on Milledge seems greater now than ever.

One other high-ranking Mets person said flatly, "He's our leftfielder in 2007."

Milledge has only 793 minor-league at-bats and 23 home runs, and his name already has been tied to Barry Zito and Manny Ramirez in trade talks. Milledge doesn't appear to have allowed that grapevine whisper to reach his head. Yet, he marveled, "When you're thrown in that group, you're somebody."

If he's thrown into a trade, there will be an outcry completely out of proportion to his modest accomplishments. Practically no one in New York knows anything beyond the stats and reviews. Yet, everyone craves to behold him.

If the Mets ever weaken, perhaps they should heed the words of one American League scout who trailed Milledge extensively throughout his amateur years at Lakewood Ranch High in Palmetto, across this state.

"This kid could be something special," that scout said.

This is the kind of kid that gets the baseball juices flowing. Some see 40 stolen bases in his future. Others see 30 home runs. One invoked the name Gary Sheffield as a comparison because of his bat speed. When Sheffield's name was relayed to Milledge, he demurred. "I just want to play the game, and stay focused on the task at hand," Milledge said. He'll surprise you with modesty, too.

The scout has no such limitations.

"The word that comes to mind is explosive," the scout said. "He has explosiveness in his foot speed and explosiveness in his bat speed. He's got all the ingredients to be a big-time player.

"He's going to be an exciting player and an emotional player. He's going to have peaks and valleys. But his highs are going to be very high," the scout continued. "The power will play more in the big leagues than his speed. Some see him as a gap hitter. I see him as an extra-base hitter with speed."

From the moment Milledge drove his Hummer (he got a $2-million signing bonus, after all) onto the lot and lugged in his belongings in plastic grocery bags (not all the money went toward luxury items), Milledge has been impressing Mets people in a number of ways. "He's blended in," general manager Omar Minaya said.

Playing in minor-league outposts of Kingsport, Capital City, St. Lucie and Binghamton, Milledge may not realize how much of a somebody he is.

Like Kazmir before him, Milledge will mention the excitement of New York. But Milledge also will hint at a debt to the Mets for selecting him when 11 other teams passed, many based on an unsubstantiated incident with a girl while he was in high school that may have been exacerbated by small-town innuendo and whispers.

"My character is always going to be questioned. It's unfair all the way around. But life isn't fair," Milledge said. "And you've got to take the negative and make it into a positive."

Here's one big way he did that: Milledge appears to understand he owes the Mets for looking past what other teams wouldn't.

"I would like to stay here and play for the Mets," Milledge said. "They were the ones who had all the faith in me."

That faith continues. There hasn't been a hint of a repeat of the reported earlier trouble, and Minaya asserted, "I'm not going to pay attention to something he may have done when he was 14 years old."

The Mets love his work ethic and signs of maturity. They were impressed that he showed the initiative to ask Willie Randolph whether his dreadlocks met team rules. (The manager told him to get a trim.) They also like that he's adjusted after slow starts in his minor-league stops, that he's made solid contact (.318 at St. Lucie and Binghamton last year) shown periods of power, and that he's willing to switch to leftfield from his natural centerfield. The Mets love everything about him. Minaya said, "It's exciting to watch."

When he arrives in New York, our scout said folks will be amazed by what they see. Even after all they've heard, they'll still be amazed.

Lastings Milledge file

Born: April 5, 1985 | Height: 6-1 | Weight: 185 pounds | Bats: Right | Throws: Right

Drafted: High school - Palmetto, Fla., 2003 (1st round)

Strengths: Lightning-quick bat speed; uses the entire field and has the ability to hit for power as well as average; above-average speed; plus arm.

Weaknesses: Inability to control the strike zone; free swinger prone to chasing breaking balls out of the zone; hasn't drawn many walks although pitchers are wary of him; instincts are unrefined.

2005 Statistics

Club Avg. G AB R H 2B HR RBI BB SO SB OBP SLG

St. Lucie (A) .302 62 232 48 70 15 4 22 19 41 18 .385 .418

Binghamton (AA) .337 48 193 33 65 17 4 24 14 47 11 .392 .487

Source: Baseball America 2006 Prospect Handbook
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
ZetaBoards - Free Forum Hosting
ZetaBoards gives you all the tools to create a successful discussion community.
Learn More · Sign-up Now
« Previous Topic · MLB Talk · Next Topic »
Add Reply

Member Legend
Administrator | Moderator | Member | Validating | Banned

Please Visit Our Affiliates





Title banner © 2007 by Venom of The Yankee Zone.
All Rights Reserved.
edge created by tiptopolive of ifsz