Comments on: Raul as Catcher http://www.proballnw.com/10-2008/raul-as-catcher/ aka Bleeding Blue and Teal - a Seattle Mariners blog Sat, 13 Mar 2010 16:56:33 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: hatomama http://www.proballnw.com/10-2008/raul-as-catcher/comment-page-1/#comment-3665 hatomama Tue, 21 Oct 2008 22:41:46 +0000 http://www.bleedingblueandteal.com/?p=1099#comment-3665 Jon's probably right. Another story wrapping up his '95 season said Raul "still has a long way to go defensively." They may have thought it wasn't a good to have him catching AA pitchers if he was already having trouble with A pitchers, and if he was scheduled to do the position switch that winter, they probably wanted to keep him relatively comfortable for the rest of '95. It sounds like he would have been better off sticking to the outfield from the start. Jon’s probably right. Another story wrapping up his ‘95 season said Raul “still has a long way to go defensively.” They may have thought it wasn’t a good to have him catching AA pitchers if he was already having trouble with A pitchers, and if he was scheduled to do the position switch that winter, they probably wanted to keep him relatively comfortable for the rest of ‘95. It sounds like he would have been better off sticking to the outfield from the start.

]]> By: Jon Shields http://www.proballnw.com/10-2008/raul-as-catcher/comment-page-1/#comment-3662 Jon Shields Tue, 21 Oct 2008 08:46:30 +0000 http://www.bleedingblueandteal.com/?p=1099#comment-3662 <blockquote>So the question about 1995 is: why did he stay in A-ball for an entire season? He dominated the league throughout the year, and in 1996, after switching to the outfield, spent only 19 games in AA before moving up to Tacoma.</blockquote> I would assume it was a defensive thing, not offensive. If the defense isn't a concern, there is never reason to keep such a good hitter in A-ball for so long unless they're extremely young, which wasn't the case for Raul. It sure is a shame the way prospects were handled in the mid/late 90s in Seattle. I often ponder what would have become of Raul had he been given the proper playing time when he first came up... especially if he had stuck behind the plate.

So the question about 1995 is: why did he stay in A-ball for an entire season? He dominated the league throughout the year, and in 1996, after switching to the outfield, spent only 19 games in AA before moving up to Tacoma.

I would assume it was a defensive thing, not offensive. If the defense isn’t a concern, there is never reason to keep such a good hitter in A-ball for so long unless they’re extremely young, which wasn’t the case for Raul.

It sure is a shame the way prospects were handled in the mid/late 90s in Seattle. I often ponder what would have become of Raul had he been given the proper playing time when he first came up… especially if he had stuck behind the plate.

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