Report on Tui

Jason Churchill of Prospect Insider has his first installment of the Farm Report for 2008 in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The profile is a familiar name.

When the Mariners handed out more than $2 million to their third-round draft pick in June 2004, the record signing bonus for Woodinville native Matt Tuiasosopo was expected to be well worth the investment.

Nearly four years later, scouts are beginning to wonder if baseball ever is going to click for the former Washington quarterback recruit.

"There are always concerns when an athlete is giving up one or two other sports to focus on baseball," said an assistant scouting director of an AL team. "Sometimes they take to baseball easily, sometimes it takes years."

Although Tuiasosopo flashed the ability to hit for extra bases early in his career during short stints with the club's two short-season affiliates, there have been fewer questions answered than most initially expected.

Plenty of scout talk follows and a recap of the tough time Tuiasosopo had at Double-A. Then, there is this at the end.

"We've been working on getting his hands to settle in," Tacoma hitting coach Alonzo Powell said. "He sees the ball well and can go the other way, and getting his hands to a more steady position will allow him to get the bat head out in front more often. That's where the power is going to come from."

The latest scouting reports no longer lead off with comments about him being more of an athlete than a hitter.

"No, he's shown he can learn, he works hard and is developing now," the AL executive said.