Expert Opinion

Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus sat down for a Q & A with Oakland Clubhouse and said something in response to a Q about former Kane County Cougar Matt Sulentic, a 3rd round pick in 2006, about the Midwest League that doesn't surprise me. Here is the exchange:

OaklandClubhouse: Another guy who had a big comeback year in 2008 was Matt Sulentic. Do you think that improvement was a product of the Cal League or is he for real again?

Kevin Goldstein: I think the Cal League helped, but I think people just throw ‘Cal League’ out there a little too often. Stockton is in the northern half of that league, which isn’t nearly the pinball machine that the southern half is. So it’s not as huge of an effect. It’s obviously way better than Kane County. The Midwest League is the toughest hitters’ league in baseball now, even more than the Florida State League.

They took a really big risk putting him there, just from what he did at Kane County, but the decision was either to send him [to Stockton] and hope for the best, or send him back to Kane County, where the league could have gotten into his head a little bit and resulting in him really ending up with some confidence issues and stuff like that. I think he can hit. I’m not sure it is a ton, but if he turns into something between Jason Michaels and David Dellucci kind of bench outfielder, line-drive hitter, I wouldn’t be shocked.

For comparison:

Sulentic (KC, '06): 30 games, .235BA, .327OBP, .327SLG, 1 HR, 13 RBI
Sulentic (KC, '07): 56 games, .175/.234/.218, 1 HR, 16 RBI
Sulentic (Stockton, '08): 95 games, .309/.368/.481, 9HR, 55RBI