And as Ricky pointed out in the comments section, if the metric is All-Star game MVP awards, I think we have the beginnings of a solid case for best player ever. At the least he's better than Aaron. I mean c'mon, he was NEVER MVP of the All-Star game!
Anyway, if you have a minute and can get your hands on it, check out the latest issue of Little League Magazine. Yep, that's Carl on the cover. I've been trying to find the content online, but there's a nice little article about him in there, and it mentions how he's a spokesman for RBI Baseball as well as a supporter of Little League in Houston and Tampa. Bay. On his role as a ball player he says, "I just want to play and hope somebody sees me and decides to play because of it." Very cool stuff.
And despite the apparent surprise in the media, last night wasn't Carl's first rodeo:
Yeah, big game for Carl!
ReplyDeleteNice card by the way.
so, steve garvey is twice the player carl is! i like this metric!
ReplyDeleteI was thrilled by CC's catch and MVP award too.
ReplyDeleteSo as a Crawford fan, here's the big question - do you think he'll sign a contract extension to keep him in Tampa Bay after 2010?
I'd love to see him stay, especially since he's been on the team since the dark days of 2002, but I'm not sure if the Rays can afford both Crawford and Upton. Plus, Desmond Jennings, who's a huge OF prospect, should be ready for the majors sometime next year.
Dave, that's a great question. I'll try to keep this short.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think the Rays have to resign Crawford to an extension, the sooner the better. At some point the future has to be NOW, by which I mean the franchise has to decide it has the players to make a run in place for the long term and make a go of it. Obviously, these guys are young enough the future has about a seven year window. They need to pony up the cash to keep all of these guys and go.
I know the folks at D-Rays Bay are salivating over the drafts picks the Rays would get if he walked, but let's look at that for a sec.
1) This isn't football or basketball. Draft picks are important, especially if you want to keep costs down, but players take time to develop. If they really want picks for Crawford, who mans LF and RF? Which brings me to..
2) Let's say Jennings comes up and replaces Crawford in left. That means RF is manned by...? A platoon of Gabes, Perez, and Burrell? If cost were REALLY an issue, I cannot for the life of me understand why then they left Ruggiano in Durham and let Johnson go to Japan. Ruggiano has adjusted at every level, so why assume he's a AAAA player before he's ever gotten consistent ABs in the Majors?
I know that age isn't particularly kind to players with CC's skill set, but he's about to hit the age where people peak athletically. According to BB Reference the batter he most resembles through age 26 is Clemente. I'll stop well short of saying CC will be a HOFer and will finish with Clemente's numbers, but the numbers are enough to make you pause.
And beyond CC's potential, it seems like letting him walk would be a BIG step back. If no one else in the system is going to be in RF let's put Jennings there and let it roll!