SB Nation User Blog: laxtonto

Murphy Makes First Public Statement: Former ASU coach issues remarks on his forced resignation

laxtonto — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:13:17 -0000

Murphy Makes First Public Statement: Former ASU coach issues remarks on his forced resignation

laxtonto — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:12:14 -0000

Murphy Makes First Public Statement: Former ASU coach issues remarks on his forced resignation

BA John Manual's Farm Rankings

laxtonto — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 22:28:39 -0000

BA writer John Manual ranked the farm systems of all 30 teams for CNNSI. It is intersting tha the did it on teirs more than individual rankings. Right now I would expect the Sox to fall closer to 6 than to 15...

Link

Best of the rest (6-15 range)

Braves: Depth took a hit in '09, but outfielder Jason Heyward lifts system himself.

Brewers: Alcides Escobar (still barely eligible), '09 draft pitchers keep Milwaukee strong.

Marlins: Still thin on arms, but Florida's bats, led by OF Mike Stanton, still impress.

Orioles: If Josh Bell and Brandon Snyder are legit corner IF bats, O's could be interesting.

Pirates: Impressive depth behind top prospects Pedro Alvarez, Tony Sanchez.

Red Sox: System is very young, but SS/RHP Casey Kelly, OF Ryan Westmoreland could be special.

Rockies: Four impact pitching prospects, led by '09 first-rounder Tyler Matzek.

Royals: Excellent top-level pitching supplemented by strong '09 draft class.

Twins: Solid upper-level hitters aided by influx of draft and international talent in '08.

Yankees: Slugging catcher Jesus Montero ranks among minors' best hitters.

Longstanding ASU Pat Murphy resigns

laxtonto — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:50:23 -0000

Longstanding ASU Pat Murphy resigns

Arizona State University baseball coach Pat Murphy announced his resignation today. An interim head coach will assume responsibility for the program until his replacement is selected.

"Coach Murphy has an outstanding record of success on the playing field," said Lisa Love, university vice president for athletics. "I thank him for 16 years of hard work and service to the university and the sport."

Pat Murphy became ASU’s head baseball coach in August 1994. During his tenure, he was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year four times, his teams took three straight Pac-10 titles and two World Series berths, and in 1998 he was named the National Coach of the Year.

Since the 2000 season, no other Pac-10 school has won as many games as ASU, both overall and conference games. Murphy has also had more players drafted by Major League Baseball since 1995 than any other coach in the nation.

This come as a total shock to everyone in the college baseball world. Big news.

Pat Murphy resigns

laxtonto — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:42:52 -0000

I know a lot of people are going WTF, who is Pat Murphy. Pat Murphy is the long standing baseball coach at ASU. One of the big names in college baseball stepped down and there is about to be some major moment in the ranks of college coaches.

Breaking news out of Tempe, Ariz.: Pat Murphy has resigned as head coach at Arizona State. The Sun Devils have just released this statement:

Arizona State University baseball coach Pat Murphy announced his resignation today. An interim head coach will assume responsibility for the program until his replacement is selected.

“Coach Murphy has an outstanding record of success on the playing field,” said Lisa Love, university vice president for athletics. “I thank him for 16 years of hard work and service to the university and the sport.”

ASU will immediately begin a national search for a new head baseball coach.

We’ll have much more on this major development as information becomes available.

UPDATE: I just got off the phone with Oregon State coach Pat Casey, who had not yet heard the news about Murphy’s resignation and was understandably stunned. Casey is one of Murphy’s closest friends in the college coaching world, and the fact that Casey hadn’t heard this news indicates that this decision was not planned well in advance. Casey even said he spoke with Murphy on the phone "the other day" and Murphy did not say anything about a plan to resign. Reaction in the baseball industry—scouts, agents, coaches—has been shock across the board.

There are two obvious figures on the sidelines here. One is Ken Knutson, who joined ASU’s staff this summer after 17 years as the head coach at Washington. With his background as a head coach in the Pac-10, Knutson would at least make sense as an interim coach to stabilize the situation while the Sun Devils conduct a national search—which might not yield any fruits until after the season. Late November is far from an ideal time to make a big splash with a coaching hire.

Here’s another name to keep in mind: Arizona State softball coach Clint Myers. Sources familiar with the Sun Devils have speculated in the past that Love liked the idea of installing Myers as ASU’s baseball coach. Myers did have success in 10 seasons as the head baseball coach for Central Arizona JC, where he made two trips to the Junior College World Series and won a national title in 2002. He also played for the Sun Devils in the early 1970s, and his son Casey played for ASU as well. Myers played for legendary coach Bobby Winkles, coached under legendary coach Jim Brock, and his son played under Murphy, so he’s a Sun Devil through and through.

Another note: Assistant coach Andy Stankiewicz left the Sun Devils in the last week to take a job in the Mariners’ player-development department, according to multiple sources.

Link

Rosenthal - Sources: Vizquel not returning to Rangers

laxtonto — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 04:10:02 -0000

Rosenthal - Sources: Vizquel not returning to Rangers

Free-agent shortstop Omar Vizquel will not be back with the Rangers, major-league sources say.

Vizquel, 42, had 195 plate appearances last season, and is looking for the same type of utility role.

He would prefer a higher-profile team, one source says.

Jordan Lyles: Under-hyped or Overrated?

laxtonto — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:06:56 -0000

It seems that with the first run of prospect lists coming out, that there is going to be once again a few lighting rod prospects. One it seems is going to be Jordan Lyles.

Lyles lit up A ball with a 10.39 K per 9 and a 2.42 FIP in 144 ip while walking 2.39 per 9. This led to his being voted the 6th best prospect in the South Atlantic League by BA with these comments:

Lyles showed the stuff of a potential frontline starter this season. His fastball now sits at 89-91 mph and touches 93. Using a high three-quarters, clean and quick arm action and a repeatable delivery, he challenges hitters with his heater and finished second in the SAL with 167 strikeouts in 145 innings.

"He's the first pitcher I saw say, 'Here you go, Melky Mesa,' and throw him four straight fastballs and strike him out," Tyson said. "After he struck him out and turned around, I saw a little grin on his face, which I like. He's a bulldog, a competitor."

Lyles throws two different curveballs, a show-me pitch in the mid-70s and a sharper 77-80 mph bender. He might be better served scrapping the slower curveball, which he leaves up in the zone. He mixes in an average changeup and started throwing a slider halfway through the season.

The other side of this argument comes from the questions in his ability to keep generating the strike out numbers as he faces better competition. Adam Foster of ProjectProspect.com wrote this in his conclusion of his article on Lyles:

The scouts I spoke with each named a handful of pitching prospects in the South Atlantic League alone who impressed them more than Lyles. Going off buzz from members of our community and the information that's circulating around the web on Lyles, I think he's someone who's likely to enter 2010 very overhyped due to his Low-A walk and strikeout rates.

Looking deep into his numbers, watching a large portion of his 2009 starts, and talking to multiple scouts about Lyles, I see more than a few weaknesses in his game. The main one is that he relies on hitters chasing his fastball up in the zone. Once he faces guys who don't do that, he's likely going to slam into a wall.

So which side of the fence do people here side? Is he being overrated due to his excellent performance against the South Atlantic League's inexperienced hitters or is he undervalued due to his reflection of age and performance in comparison to his numbers?

Poll

Which is he?

Overrated

49 votes

Undervalued

70 votes

119 votes | Poll has closed

Crow, Scheppers Team Up In AFL

laxtonto — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:04:47 -0000

Crow, Scheppers Team Up In AFL

Discusses Scheppers AFL experience, his assimilation into the Ranger's pitching program and what he is working on.

BA Texas League top 20

laxtonto — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:42:19 -0000

BA Texas League top 20

Smoak #2
Kiker #11

Oct 10th College Football Thread

laxtonto — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 18:20:53 -0000

Some decent games on tap today

Fl vs. LSU

Bama vs. Ole Miss

A&M vs. Okie State

OU vs. Baylor

Georgia vs. Tenn

Mich vs. Iowa

Texas vs. Col

Wisc. vs. Ohio State

Any other games of note that we should watch? Anyone know what the Pac 10 game to watch is outside of UCLA vs. Oregon?

All I am going to say is GO UNT, don't lose to bad to UL LA. Is that pathetic or what?