A Look At Mike Aviles

go mike!

Sad he is even forced to prove himself worthy of playing time AGAIN.

You would think hitting .325 as a rookie shortstop with 11? HR would pretty much guarantee your place is held while you recover from an injury.

Especially since he egged the faces of the powers that be by being successful the first time around. I guess they are still convinced that was just a fluke and there is no way he could do it again.

here’s some more egg

Only 13 middle infielders in Royals history have posted a .750 OPS or better.

One of course was Mike Aviles in 2008.

Cookie Rojas 1971 – .763
Frank White 1982 – .788
UL Washington 1982 – .750
Frank White 1984 – .756
Frank White 1986 – .787
Keith Lockhart 1995 – .833
Jay Bell 1997 – .829
Jose Offerman 1997 – .753
Jose Offerman 1998 – .841
Angel Berroa 2003 – .789
Mark Grudzielanek 2007 – .772
Mike Aviles 2008 – .833
Alberto Callaspo 2009 – .813

before Ned sits Yuni down in favor of Aviles near every day.

He made a big to-do in his pre-game press conference about loving players that perform ABOVE their talent level, and that work to achieve everything the earn, as opposed to having things handed to them. When he was asked a follow up question if there was anybody on the current 25 man roster that fit that bill, he produced 2 names, without pause. Aviles & Maier.

He said that was how Podsednik got his initial break when he managed Milwaukee…There was a kid named Alex Sanchez, that was the Brewers reigning Rookie of the Year that was the incumbent in CF…Ned didn’t like his work ethic, so after like 2 weeks, he replaced him with Pods.

I fully expect a month to 6 weeks of stuff very similar to Trey. Playing JoGui, Yuni, Pods & Ankiel (when healthy) too much. When it becomes apparent that the team isn’t going to compete in 2010 (assuming we don’t rattle off a 15-5 stretch over 20 games or something silly to give the illusion of competitiveness) we will see those guys jettisoned in favor of the younger crew

and you’re trying to get to the end of your second year… then there’s a good reason to get a fire under your ass

one difference between Baird and Moore where Baird was right involves drafting low profile college Seniors. Moore could be avoiding the signing of expensive old guys if he had some 26 year olds whose ML careers won’t last long in the first place.

A huge percentage of baseball players don’t last past 3 years. Baseball is a high turnover form of employment. And ultimately, people who are likable have to be told that they’re gone.

While Mike Aviles probably won’t be in the majors by 2015, he’s making the most of his opportunities and we should try to draft low-profile guys who seem to make the most of their opportunities. (The Org might want to invest in some intelligence agency tactics to learn as much as possible for these decisions)

Talented players who don’t try enough might get too many chances, but dudes who make the most of what they have possess a lot of value.

You could probably find a lot of players with Aviles’ talent, but what makes Aviles so good is his drive. Unfortunately for scouting, they haven’t figured out a good test for baseball drive.

A .318 wOBA going forward (ZiPS RoS) isn’t good, but it’s decent for an average-fielding SS or good-fielding 2B.

Super-small sample issues qualifications noted, things worth watching:

• Despite the lack of walks so far this season, Aviles is swinging at less pitches out of the zone than in either his miracles 2008 or disaster 2009.

• He’s making insanely frequent contact so far (92.7%)

• He’s actually swinhing at less than half the pitches he sees.

• His batted-ball profile so far this season resembles 2008 more than 2009. A .395 BABIP is clearly way beyond what almost anyone is capable of, but he’s making quality contact on balls in play

• I doubt he’s an 11/2% HR/FB guy, and both his homers this season have been just enoughs. Most players are around 30% for that, as was Aviles in 2008.

• I won’t bother with platoon splits this season so far, but has big ones for his career line.

Again, Aviles doesn’t need to keep this up to be useful. Indeed, while I doubt he’s really even a league average offensive player (true talent), if he’s anywhere close to being an average defensive shortstop, that’s an above-average player.

but I am getting very concerned about his BCP being too high.

A few weeks after Aviles got called up in 2009, I went to a game with my father and younger brothers. My youngest brother (10 at the time) loves hanging around the parking lot before and after games to try to get autographs. Mike was walking to his car with presumably his girlfriend, and was about to get in and drive off, but my brother yelled, “Hey Mike, we’re from Omaha! Great game.”

Aviles hopped out of his car, jogged over to the fence where my brother was and signed his baseball and said thanks for supporting him in Omaha.

I thought that was really classy.

Mike will wind up a utility player on a good Royals team in the near future. He should start at MIF for the next two years, then we should hope someone beats him out of the job. After that, he could be super Sporqie.

because he just doesn't look like a SS is supposed to look.