In response to Monday's post about Ryan Ludwick and his realness, a reader asks, "Any current '4-A' players you think fans should watch out for in the future?"
Why, yes there are. And by the way, "4-A" belongs in quotes because I'm not entirely convinced that 4-A players actually exist. At least under the age of about 30. I'm not saying that every 29-year-old hitter with a big year in Triple-A is really good enough to play in the majors. What I'm saying is that if you find a player who puts together a
run of good Triple-A seasons, usually the only reasons he's not in the majors are bad management or bad luck.
Ryan Ludwick was one of those guys. So were
Jack
Cust and
Carlos
Pena.
I'm convinced that
Nelson
Cruz is one of those guys, too. Monday night, Cruz hit his first homer of the season. In the majors, that is. Previously this season, he hit 37 home runs and had these slash stats with Triple-A
Oklahoma: .342/.429/.695. No, he's not really
that good. But he's been raking Double- and Triple-A pitchers since 2004. However, in 442 plate appearances in the majors (before Monday night), Cruz hasn't hit for average. So, everybody sort of gave up on him.
Dallas
McPherson might be one of those guys. Once a top prospect, McPherson hasn't hit in the majors -- that's in 384 plate appearances
-- plus he missed all of last season with a back injury (and surgery).
This year, he leads professional baseball with 40 home runs. I believe he also leads the minors with 160 strikeouts, and his inability to make consistent contact means he probably wouldn't be a
good hitter in the majors. Plus, like Cruz, McPherson turned 28 last month, and might already have passed his prime. I do believe he could be a
useful hitter, though. At least for a year or two.
Dan
Johnson might be one of those guys. I'm sure you remember Johnson as the A's semi-regular first baseman from 2005 through 2007.
Johnson's an odd player. He draws a ton of walks, has some power and doesn't strike out all that often, but has a real tough time hitting for average. He batted .234 in 2006 and .236 in '07, and the A's gave up on him. Having just turned 29, he's a year older than Cruz and McPherson. This year, with Triple-A
Durham, Johnson's hitting .306/.414/.554 and leads the International League in OPS. Meanwhile, he hasn't picked up a single at-bat with the parent Rays this season, even as the club has struggled for most of the season to find a productive designated hitter. Why? Because Johnson's now been hung with the 4-A tag, as opposed to Proven Veterans" like
Cliff
Floyd and
Jonny
Gomes.
Are there more guys like this? You bet. These are the guys who are easy to find, because they put up big numbers. They have to, because they play corner positions. But if there are three guys like this, there are three shortstops and three second basemen and three catchers who have been unfairly hung with the 4-A tag, too.
It's long been a truism among nerds like me that, at any one moment, there's plenty of free talent available. In the spring of 2007, just about anybody could have had Jack Cust for a song. Same thing with Ryan Ludwick. So my question is, who's going to grab Dan Johnson for just about nothing this winter, and give him a real shot next summer?
Rob Neyer
