Homer Still Not Ready

id be fine with it. seriously, i dont really have a probelm with bonds. this has been said, but in 30 years no one will care that he did steroids. the only reason i kinda have beef with him is because so many other people are put off by steroids now that it makes the game look bad. but from an ideological standpoint, bonds doesnt bother me at all.

Sorry Alan, couldnt wait.

Homer having a inning count in the minors to ensure that he built his arm strength up but did did hurt himself, does anyone know what that was at? Also what I'm looking at in this situation is that Homer needs to be on a inning count for the year to ensure that he makes the progress we want, but does it matter at this point if its with the Bats or the Reds clearly AAA isn't going to demand him to adjust his pitches so hes more than a fireballer with a decent curve and change. I think brining him up ala Cole Hamles could do this. But I'm still weary about this becasue I think once people (sweaterpants) get a taste the whole keeping him on an inning count on the year would be tossed out the window and could lead to Greinke type of situation rather than a Willis in the long term. Just a random thought to add to this debate

You need to look at context with the player. I don't know that any of the players you listed other than Wood and maybe Sabathia were anywhere near as good prospects as Homer is right now. Let's take a look at where they were on BA's top 100 list before they came up and what they did when they got there, as well as any other possible factors to look at.

Kerry Wood: 4th on BA's 1998 list, was relatively dominant when healthy and injuries were probably more a result of Dusty Baker being an incompetent assclown and a curve that put too much stress on the arm than his age when he came up. Normal minor league progression with results nowhere near as good as Homer's have been. Still has a career 116 ERA+ and 1300 strikeouts over 1100 innings. He's a success (though a disappointment at the same time).

Jerome Williams: 50th on BA's 2003 list, statistically solid early career before the Giants gave up on him because he wasn't turning into an ace like they had hoped. Put up a 3.30 ERA as a rookie and followed that up with a solid 4.24 ERA campaign. He had three awful starts to begin the next year with the Giants and was ultimately sent to the Cubs in a trade, where he made 18 starts for them in 2005 to the tune of a 3.91 ERA. Has been awful the last two years in about 40 innings total of work for the Cubs and Nationals. Normal minor league progression, had more than shown he was ready before making appearance at 21. You can't call him a success, but expectations were never sky-high from anyone other than the Giants, and it'd be tough to argue that he wasn't mistreated by that organization given what he did. Failure, but doesn't seem like it was a result of his age.

Sidney Ponson: 78th on BA's 1998 list, put together 6 years around league average or better for the Orioles and Giants before getting a big money contract and becoming a laughingstock. Went from rookie ball to 13 bad AA starts to 1 good AAA start to the majors in the span of about a year. Given that he never made it higher than 78th on the list to begin with, I can't call him a failure.

Dontrelle Willis: 43rd on BA's 2003 list, won rookie of the year in 2003 and was second in Cy Young voting in 2005. Followed up those campaigns with worse years, albeit years that would still be considered pretty solid out of most players. Made the jump from 6 AA starts to the majors. Definite success.

Jeremy Bonderman: 20th on BA's 2003 list, came up and lost 19 games as a rookie for the awful 2003 Tigers team. Has improved every year he's been in the league and still has time to grow. Not really comparable to Homer because he only had 27 career starts in the minors, with the highest level being hi-A ball. Not the ideal way to handle a prospect, but it hasn't seemed to hurt him too much. Success.

CC Sabathia: 7th on BA's 2001 list, went 17-5 with a 4.39 ERA as a rookie. Has had some nagging injuries over the years, but has never thrown less than 28 starts and has never had an ERA+ lower than 102. Made the jump from AA to the majors, skipping AAA altogether. Like Bonderman, looks to really be progressing in the past couple of years to something resembling an ace. Success.

Miguel Asencio: Never on the list. Has been a failure, but with only 30 career starts and a 100 ERA+ in those starts, it was more a result of never getting another chance due to Tommy John surgery. Made the jump from hi-A straight to the majors. Not a very good way to handle a prospect, and not comparable to Homer. Then again, they wouldn't be the Royals if they weren't ruining relatively talented young players. Failure, but expectations were never terribly high to begin with.

Zack Greinke: 14th on BA's 2004 list, great rookie year with a 3.97 ERA and 1.17 WHIP. Equally bad sophomore year with a 5.80 ERA, before missing most of last year dealing with anxiety problems. Has had the talent, hasn't had the make-up to be a major leaguer. Was relatively dominating in 29 combined starts between A+, AA, and AAA in 2003 and early 2004 at age 20. There's still plenty of hope with him at age 23, but right now he can't be called a success. Failure, make-up problems possibly a result of being called up too early and lacking the maturity to handle major leagues.

Javier Vazquez: 83rd on BA's 1998 list, has carved out a very, very solid career as a reliable innings eater with the ability to put up a better than league average ERA. Made the jump from just 6 AA starts to the majors. Did struggle in his first two years in the league at a young age. Definite success.

It's tough to deny that most of the players on this list were rushed. Wood, Williams, and Greinke were the only ones who recieved anything more than 1 start in AAA, and none of them pitched nearly as well as Homer has so far this year. Nobody on the list was ever as Homer has been over the past two years, or even all that comparable to him. Putting Homer in the majors wouldn't be rushing him, it would be challenging him, and every start he makes just shows that more and more.