Read the opposing arguments from Loyal Homer and Sports Geek.
Today the TSD staff plays a little bit of real world fantasy baseball. Loyal Homer, Sports Geek, and I (Babe Ruthless) will attempt to identify the must-have player to build a franchise around. Our only criterion is that the player must be 25-years old or younger.
This debate seems almost unfair because I can win it with two words – Stephen Strasburg.
That’s it… Stephen Strasburg. Mission accomplished. I win. Chalk up the victory, and move on to the next debate.
Those in-the-know in the baseball world already agree with me. The 21-year old rookie hurler entered last year’s MLB draft as potentially the greatest prospect who ever lived. That is not overblown hyperbole but rather a statement of fact reiterated by baseball experts, former players, and scouts throughout the country.
Strasburg’s talent is in on a level all its own. I am reminded of the scene in The Princess Bride where the evil mastermind Vizzini describes his intelligence by asking, “Have you ever heard of Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates?” He then calls them all “morons” in comparison to his intellect. Stephen Strasburg’s star shines in a similar manner.
There are some terrific talents out there under the age of 25, including Prince Fielder (24), Matt Kemp (23), Hanley Ramirez (24), Ryan Braun (24), Tim Lincecum (24), and Joakim Soria (24) just to name a few. Still, there are some hot, even younger standouts like Evan Longoria (24) and Jason Heyward (20), but none of them hold a candle to Strasburg. The kid’s ridiculous minor league numbers do his talking for him.
Across 11 starts he averaged 10.6 strikeouts and 2.1 walks for every nine innings of work. Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post explains that this puts him in with some pretty elite company because, “… in the past 110 years only three big league pitchers have completed an entire season with both rates as good or better than those: Pedro Martinez (1999, 2000, 2002), Curt Schilling (1997, 2002) and Randy Johnson (2004).” If Strasburg turns out to be some sort of bloody sock wearing, bench coach tossing, Big Unit hybrid, then heaven help the hitters that are forced to step into the box against a guy who brings it like these icons.
But who could really blame people for making these comparisons? It is as if his arm was blessed by the baseball gods. The guy brings insane heat to the mound, regularly reaching triple digits on the radar gun. But more shocking and jaw-dropping is the fact that this rookie actually has control over his stuff. He throws with disciplined accuracy, controlling both sides of the plate. This mix of power and precision, usually only reserved for medical instruments, allows him to pull of some incredible feats, such as his 23 strikeout game in college. Not to mention the fact that his fastball actually has movement, and he has formidable breaking pitches to keep batters on their toes. This otherworldly cannon of Strasburg’s has led many to declare that he has more talent than some of the most highly touted pitchers of all time, specifically Mark Prior (Editor’s note: How do they compare injury-wise?).
I know my fellow TSD competitors chose elite young batters like Evan Longoria and Jason Heyward, but I distinctly strayed away from the pack for a reason, instead going with a pitcher. Unlike fantasy baseball drafts, where the accepted logic dictates that one avoids building a team around a pitcher (i.e. taking one with their first round pick), real world teams should be built around a stable of aces. Why? Because pitching wins championships. Sure, we have all heard that old adage before, but it has often been proven valid. It is undeniable that games cannot be won without scoring runs, but it seems that time and again the teams that excel in the postseason boast a core of dominant pitchers. Strasburg figures to be the ace that will serve as the foundation for the Washington Nationals for the foreseeable future.
If I were a GM or manager I would have done anything and everything within my power to bring in Strasburg to build my team around. There will be other Longorias (see Alex Rodriguez and David Wright) and there will be other Jason Heywards (Ryan Braun, Matt Holiday, and Matt Kemp). But nobody out there right now comes close to the upside of Strasburg.
