So apparently it is a done deal. Under two months into the major league season it is a no-brainer. With between 3 and 6 years left to determine the value of a trade, the Dallas Morning News is reporting that the Rangers made the right choice in trading Volquez for Hamilton. Really? Already? It is official that Hamilton has outperformed Volquez to this point and will do so for the duration of the players respective careers within their current organizations?
Obviously we are talking about an article written by an author in Dallas, which is essentially the home town paper of the Rangers (Yes, I know the Rangers are located in Arlington). Sherrington first compares Hamilton and his tools to Alex Rodirguez. Clearly Hamilton deserves that praise as he was once referred to as,
a once-in-a-generation talent with a golden left arm (as a schoolboy pitcher he consistently hit 96mph) and a vicious home run swing (his bat speed was once clocked at a ridiculous 110mph). He was a true five-tool wonder... (SI, June 2, 2008)However, even with that said, it is difficult to compare Hamilton to Rodriguez. Consider ARod has a 40/40 crown to his name. Consider ARod has multiple gold gloves at a very demanding position. Possibly Sherrington simply forgot how incredible the tools that a 21 year old Rodriguez possessed.
All of that is besides the point. Nobody can disagree that Hamilton is an incredible ball player. He is exceeding the expectations that were placed upon him as a prospect. In fact, in 2005, John Sickels of Minor League Ball reflected upon his 2000 prospect rankings where Hamilton ranked as the #32 prospect in baseball. However, this past february Sickels reflected upon both his 2000 and 2001 (where Hamilton was #6) rankings and concluded that Hamilton was 'still developing'.
While Hamilton has always been a top rated prospect with tools that made scouts drool, Volquez, with an electric arm, always had scouts saying 'what if'? What if he could harness his control? What if he was in an organization that was better at grooming starting pitchers? What if?
Well, that 'what if' has come full circle and Volquez is making major league hitters look more foolish then the minor league hitters he was facing the previous five seasons. That is, his current 10.67 k/9 is 1.46 higher then his minor league line.
As a prospect, Sickels rated Volquez as high as a B+ in 2006. However this grade fell to a B in 2007. While a B grade for a starting pitcher is no knock on the kid, this would rate him in the same range as the Red Sox Justin Masterson
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