This must have been a really good team. This card shows how difficult it can be to project young minor league talent.
Nick Noonan was beginning to take the career path of Conor Gillaspie. Good LH bat, solid enough defensively, but little opportunity to crack the big club. Sliding down and off prospect lists left and right on the way towards earning a one-way to Palooka-ville ( or Chicago in the case of Gillaspie ).
from When the Giants come to town blog:
When the Giants Come to Town...:
The Valdez move leaves Nick Noonan in the driver's seat for the last IF roster spot, although the Giants will undoubtedly be looking intently at waiver wires as spring training winds down.
The Giants also released minor league OF Wendell Fairley who was part of the 2007 draft class. The current scorecard on the 6 first and supplemental first round picks from that draft:
Madison Bumgarner- Currently Giants #2 starter and quickly becoming a star in the major leagues.
Tim Alderson- traded in 2009 for Freddy Sanchez who did not help the Giants in 2009, but came with an option that helped the Giants re-sign him. He was an important member of the 2010 World Series Championship squad.'via Blog this'
Tim Alderson made an appearance this spring with the Pirates, evoking memories of the days when there did not seem to be a clear consensus as to who would be more successful in the professional ranks. The events of the past couple of years seem to indicate that Bumgarner was the man all along. But I'm not sure it was so clear 4-5 years ago.
The same thing with Wendell Fairley. It shows how quickly "can't miss" can go to "whatever happened to?"
His five-tool potential never really translated into actual performance on the field. Some big hits and big misses, that's for sure.
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