Giants to announce return of Velez

[Bear]

07/08/2008
By Chris Haft
MLB.com

NEW YORK -- The Giants will officially announce on Tuesday that they have recalled infielder-outfielder Eugenio Velez from Triple-A Fresno to fill the vacancy on their active Major League roster.

Velez will replace outfielder Brian Horwitz, who was optioned to Fresno after Sunday's 5-3 loss to the Dodgers.

Velez, 26, made San Francisco's Opening Day roster after leading the Majors during the exhibition season with 16 stolen bases. But his overall regular-season performance revealed a lack of polish, prompting the Giants to option him to Fresno after he hit .207 in 41 games.

Velez, a switch-hitter, was batting .310 with five home runs, 15 RBIs and 13 steals in 22 attempts in 42 games at Fresno.

I like this kids speed, but the jury is out on his ability to play at this level yet!:confused:

[giants rule]

word...

[McCovey]

Can Velez hit well enough to make his speed useful? I tend to doubt that.

[Bear]

Can Velez hit well enough to make his speed useful? I tend to doubt that.


I hope he gets the chance to prove it one way or the other between now, and the end of the year. This is the case with so many of the young players. ;)

[McCovey]

I hope he gets the chance to prove it one way or the other between now, and the end of the year. This is the case with so many of the young players. ;)
To me Velez is not that young. He's 26 years old. That is rather old for a prospect. But he should be given a chance to show what he can do. I'd rather have a 26 year old than a 34 year old with zero upside.

[Bear]

To me Velez is not that young. He's 26 years old. That is rather old for a prospect. But he should be given a chance to show what he can do. I'd rather have a 26 year old than a 34 year old with zero upside.


He does have some upside and that is speed. Also on a board like this 26 is young compare to the guy we call the Kid who is older than God!:eek::pound:

[SF Kid]

And there you go again...the oldest MFer of all talking shit.

[Bear]

And there you go again...the oldest MFer of all talking shit.


Age is a state of mind a physical well being, and in all those areas the Bear is just a Cub, and the Kid is just plane OLD! :smack::rotf:

[McCovey]

In baseball, age is a huge determining factor in a player's likely future success. Velez has some skill but he's not really even a solid hitter. I keep reading that if Velez can "learn" to hit in the majors he will be pretty good. Well, what has he been doing for the past seven years in the minors? Players can't "learn" how to hit at the major league level. By then it's too late. Velez is 26 years old. He's older than Grady Sizemore, David Wright, and Joe Mauer. I hope he can develop into a solid major leaguer but that's as good as he's going to get. :(

[McCovey]

He does have some upside and that is speed. Also on a board like this 26 is young compare to the guy we call the Kid who is older than God!:eek::pound:
Sure Velez can run. But he needs to be able to get on base to utilize his speed.

[SF Kid]

You really have to wonder about this guy mac. Exactly the point. What has he been doing in the monors the last 7 years. Kind of troubling.

The Giants just seem to be in a funk with regards to players like this.

[McCovey]

You really have to wonder about this guy mac. Exactly the point. What has he been doing in the monors the last 7 years. Kind of troubling.

The Giants just seem to be in a funk with regards to players like this.
To me spending 6-7 years in the minors is not a good sign. Players that are destined to be above average or All Star players spend far less time in the minors. There's a direct link between skill and time spent in the minors. Players with great talent spend relatively little time in the minors. And it's just not the superstars and legends. Will Clark was drafted in 1985 and was in the majors in 1986. Even Robby Thompson only spend three years in the minors. He was drafted in 1983 and joined the Giants in 1986 with Clark.