Rob Neyer: Slow Down with All the Ramiro Pena Hype

Rob Neyer had this to say in response to Bill Madden's article this weekend in which he called Ramiro Pena the Yankees' short stop of the future.

Well first let's look at a couple quotes from the Madden article:

"When I first saw him three years ago, you could knock the bat out of his hands," said one veteran scout whose primary assignment is in the minor leagues. "But he was a magician with the glove and that made him someone to keep an eye on. Now that he's gained a little weight, put on a little muscle, he's no longer an 'out.' He can handle the bat. I always felt his glove would get him to the big leagues, but now I can see him as an everyday shortstop."

"Best looking young shortstop I've seen in a couple of years," said one National League scout.

And now for Neyer:

I haven't seen Ramiro Pena play. Until Sunday, I had never heard of Ramiro Pena. And now he's the Yankees' shortstop of the future!

Well, maybe.

This past winter, John Sickels wrote about 40 Yankees prospects in his book. Ramiro Pena wasn't one of them.

This past winter, the guys at Baseball America wrote about 30 Yankees prospects in their book. Ramiro Pena wasn't one of them. They mentioned a number of other young players, too, in their minor league depth chart for the Yankees. And here's where Ramiro Pena shows up: behind Carmen Angelini (Yankees' No. 28 prospect), Garrison Lassiter (not ranked) and Eduardo Nunez (not ranked).

I'm not saying Bill Madden's scouts are wrong about Ramiro Pena. But if they're right, they and Madden should be summarily promoted to the highest positions in their fields. Or, at the very least, they should get together and write a book about young baseball players who are a lot better than everyone else thinks.

I have to agree with Neyer. It does seem that people are jumping the gun a bit on Pena's future. People are getting a little too excited about a good spring. Yes, he's got a great glove, there's no doubt about that, but in four season in the minors, he's just a career .258/.316/.319 hitter.

I think he could probably be a pretty valuable utility man in the majors for a while, but who knows if he can hit well enough in the majors to be an everyday SS for the New York Yankees. For now, I think it's best if we just wait and see how things work out without making any bold predictions.