As far as other guys that deserve more respect though, I missed a couple, Joe Piekarz-he’s a soft-tossing lefty that has always been over-looked and thought to not making it at one level and he always does better than anybody expected. Joe Newby- improves every year, but only moves one level/year, nobody can call him a prospect because he didn’t sign for any money. Ron Madej- Has electric stuff from the left side and he’s a big kid that the A’s must like a little bit because they worked with him at the past two Instructional leagues non-stop. Oh, and Haas Pratt- the kid is twice the first-baseman that Steve Kleen is and has a bat that’s pretty damn good and now they throw him in at bullpen catcher??? What was that move? Haas deserves more credit and I look for him to make a huge splash at spring training.

That’s my piece,
Not Imported

Boyd will start in high-A. He was hitting in 2006 well enough, and if he’s going to have a shot at moving up the system, he’ll want to do it sooner rather than later. Age is on his side right now, but in a year or so, he loses any shot he has at prospect status if he hasn’t made it to AA ball.

I’m a huge fan of Massaro’s, but if you wanna talk about a little guy in the outfield - Massaro is about 125lbs drenched in wet concrete. But he’s smart, he’s fast, he can field, he can drop a bunt - if he ever packed some pounds on and started discovering a power stroke, you’d be looking at Javier Herrera in that kid all over again.

Here’s a question - who do YOU see as the guys who are deserving of respect but aren’t getting any?

As far as the fast-food-free……. you’ve spent enough time around minor-leaguers to know that no player on any team is fast-food free, that’s all there is after a game. But as far as working at one, I see Boyd as more of a greater at Wal-Mart than I do a Micky D’s drive-thru employee. But only after baseball has come and gone, but I do wish them both the best of luck, I think at their next stop they are going to need it.

One other question though, without Mike Massaro going down, and Toddric Johnson breaking his finger, and Nick Blasi moving up, would Boyd or Sulentic have made it out of Vancouver last year??? And what’s the word on who’s going where because nobody hold’s down the outfield like that Massaro kid, he FLY’S! Will Chad and Matt be back in Low A? Will Massaro have to repeat to start in Low A because of missing 1/2 the season last year? (although he was pretty good while he was there.) What’s the word?

How can I rate Sulentic a prospect? Simply because, as an 18-year-old, the kid mashed opposition pitching all season for Vancouver. Is he a great outfielder? Hell no, and that’s why there’s talk of putting him in the infield over time, but Daric Barton isn’t a great defensive player either - in fact, he’s decidedly Durazo-esque - but he hits well enough that it doesn’t really matter.

Sulentic, as I have said many times this past year, is a major league bat with a little league head. I recall seeing Keith Lieppman phone down to the bench and telling them to take Sulentic out of a game when he failed to steal second as a brawl ensued at home plate - but that’s not because Sulentic is lazy or untalented, it’s because he just doesn’t know any better. Yet.

Is he a dick? Maybe. Is he in love with himself? Maybe. Is he content to get by on his batting alone? Maybe.

But his batting is the shit, and will take him a long way. If Oakland can just get some baseball know-how into his head, and teach him some good habits, he’ll be something special, and that’s just the way it is.

Regarding Chad Boyd, sure, he’s not fast. And yeah, he’s not big. But I can only quote Lieppman again, who said of 5 foot nothing Ryan Ruiz, "There’s no rule in baseball that you have to give the pitcher a big strikezone to aim at. If he’s good, he’ll make it, size or no size."

Have you watched Barry Bonds playing in the outfield lately? Have you seen how not fast he is? Have you seen how few flyballs he’ll chase down? Have you seen his comical arm?

Single-A ball is for learnin’, and Boyd and Sulentic are either going to learn and be great, or they won’t and they’ll get used to working at Wendy’s. But seeing as both are young, and are getting good results on the board, I’d lean towards them staying fast-food-free for a few seasons yet.

On another note, I’m curious how serious you can take 18-yr old Sulentic being a prospect. GIven the A’s took him high and right out of High School, but lets face some facts, he’s little, he’s so afraid of hurting himself that he does not go after fly-balls with any intensity and lets a lot of things drop that are routine for even a sub-par outfielder. His arm is laughable, I watched in the playoff’s as an opposing catcher took third after Sulentic already had the ball and was no more than 100′ feet away from third. The runner beat the ball to third standing up, NO PLAY! How does that go on to rank somebody as high as he has been touted? Maybe they are guessing he’s so bad at some of the things he does now that if he can improve even a little bit, he’ll somehow be great? I don’t know, I’ve never understood the whole “High Cieling” lingo when it comes to guys like this. And one other TURD, Chad Boyd…….. you may call him a gamer, you may call him a guy with a lot of heart, but GOOD GOD, have you watched this kid in the outfield? Have you seen how NOT BIG he is? Have you seen how NOT FAST he is??? Because I am just curious as to wether or not that lack of those tools with affect him? Last time I checked, no big-leaguer got to where they were by being an Averager hitter with no size, no speed, no power and no work-ethic, but that was just the last time I looked it up. I don’t know.