Article: Seth's Preliminary Top 50: Part 1 (41-50)

[Seth Stohs]

 

Is it possible to put their previous ranking?

 

I added this to the just-posted Part 2 (31-40). Here are the previous rankings for the guys in 41-50.

 

Jason Wheeler: 2015 (21)

Niko Goodrum: 2015 (27), 2014 (20), 2013 (27), 2012 (19), 2011 (26)

Brett Lee: 2014 (27)

Levi Michael: 2013 (30), 2012 (17)

DJ Baxendale: 2014 (25)

[Guest]

It appears that Mat Batts just announced his retirement from baseball via Twitter with the following 2 Tweets. Mat's a great guy and while I'm surprised, I have no doubt he'll be an excellent journalist.

 

Mat Batts ‏@MBatts28  ·
Excited to officially announce that I have accepted a reporting job for The Dispatch in Lexington, NC. Follow along @LexDispatchMB

 

Mat Batts ‏@MBatts28  ·
I will never forget the lessons I learned and people I met playing the game of baseball. Can't wait to see what the next chapter holds.

[Seth Stohs]

Mat Batts announced his retirement this morning... So, I guess Quezada moves up, and I believe Dalton Hicks was next in line.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

Mat Batts announced his retirement this morning... So, I guess Quezada moves up, and I believe Dalton Hicks was next in line.

 

Oh wow... as well as he pitched, I'd have thought he would stick around another year.  Good luck to him. 

[70charger]

 

Oh wow... as well as he pitched, I'd have thought he would stick around another year.  Good luck to him. 

 

Agreed. Pretty surprising.

[h2oface]

#43 – Niko Goodrum - 23 – IF/OF – Ft. Myers Miracle/Chattanooga Lookouts

Goodrum was the Twins second-round draft pick out of high school in Georgia in 2010.

 

A second round pick in 2010, and after 5 plus years, he is all the way up to a #43 top prospect on this list. Wow. Progress, eh? Looks like a wasted and misguided #2 pick in the draft to me. Many of these prospects have been ranked higher in many years before.

 

Jason Wheeler: 2015 (21)
Niko Goodrum: 2015 (27), 2014 (20), 2013 (27), 2012 (19), 2011 (26)
Brett Lee: 2014 (27)
Levi Michael: 2013 (30), 2012 (17)

DJ Baxendale: 2014 (25)

 

According to this ranker, they should have been much better than they became or are becoming. Or he is really wrong now.?Tough game, that ranking.

[Shane Wahl]

Regarding Batts: what the hell? That's crazy to me!

[jokin]

 

 

Regarding Batts: what the hell? That's crazy to me!

 

Yep. It sure seems like there has to be more to the story here.

 

Consider,

Caleb T-Bar was drafted one round later than Batts (18th) by the Brewers.

Both lefties.

Both from smaller-type colleges.

Similar-type builds.

Batts has had a meteoric rise through the organization in just two years- culminating in a sparkling seaon in High A. while,

Thielbar was released after his first two years and had as his only option to continue playing was with the St Paul Saints.

Thielbar haa accumulated over one year of service time at better than 1/2 a million$ net, plus lifetime benefits, while,

A cub reporter just starting out at a small town newspaper couldn't hope to make half a million in 10 years.

 

Like I said, there has to be more to the story.

[Seth Stohs]

I don't know the whole story. I do know that minor leaguers basically lose money to play, especially in those early years. He got a very nice job, near his home, in the field that he wants to cover. He's getting married and maybe just realizes the odds of him reaching the big leagues are very small (like most minor leaguers)... maybe he thought this was the right opportunity at the right time. 

 

And, there is life beyond baseball for a lot of people. Batts is a very smart guy and he'll be alright. 

[Seth Stohs]

Right after I posted the above, I saw this... Mat Batts wrote a quick article about his decision for The Dispatch in Lexington. 

 

 

[ashbury]

Right after I posted the above, I saw this... Mat Batts wrote a quick article about his decision for The Dispatch in Lexington. 

Wow. He wrote that nicely. Guess he's found the right job to be in.

 

His reasons echo mine when I retired, but I didn't expect that from a 24 year old. A very surprising choice but I can see why, now that he's explained.