Yuniesky Betancourt

[bigh0rt]

What do you all think of him? Bob Elliot thinks pretty highly...

What a major-league scout says: “I’m sure Derek Jeter is going to start the all-star game in San Francisco for the American League. But this guy could be his heir.

“He is probably going to wind up with more errors than last year, but Jeter had 22 his first full year. Betancourt has more range than most and he plays with a flair. He has fun. Watching him field a ground ball behind second and making a strong throw to get a guy on a bang-bang play is like watching Dontrelle Willis pitch. We don’t have enough of that.”

“Some Cubans ,such as Ariel Prieto or Osvaldo Fernandez, have been busts. This kid can play. He’s like those flashy, yet dependable shortstops from Cuba: Bert Campaneris, Leo Cardenas or Rey Ordonez. Last time I looked he’d struck out only about 10% of his plate appearances.

“You might argue whether he’ll take over from Jeter, or if he was good as Campaneris or Ordonez, but I’ll tell you one thing, he’s the best dang shortstop named Yuniesky that I’ve ever seen.”

Winnipeg SUN | FULL STORY

[Old_Style]

Am I missing something here? The heir to Jeter? Come on.

[kimchi_chigae]

Betancourt is pretty awesome defensively, but his bat will never give him an All-Star appearance.

[Field]

I like this guy a lot. I was actually thinking about starting a thread about him the other day. He is amazing on defense, and makes it look so easy. Hell of an arm, kind of reminds me of Furcal in the field.

My second favorite player in the game right now.

[idealFX]

Am I missing something here? The heir to Jeter? Come on.

who do you propose is the closest comparison? don't say reyes, because they're totally different defensively.

Betancourt is pretty awesome defensively, but his bat will never give him an All-Star appearance.

so i guess the flash of his .327 average in may doesn't mean anything...? sooner or later, he'll get moved up to the 7th spot, then maybe 2, then slowly to leadoff when ichiro leaves. betancourt is a very good situational hitter, and may very well be molded into a leadoff hitter.

[Big Pimpin]

One of my favorites and certainly underrated by those who don't see him day in and day out.

Betancourt is pretty awesome defensively, but his bat will never give him an All-Star appearance.

He is definitely awesome defensively, despite his throwing issues so far this year. The kid can flat out play the field. I disagree about the bat though. I really see him as a consistent .280-.300 hitter. In addition, his bat has some real pop plus the kid can run. Now, so far neither of those skills has carried over into massive HR or SB totals. However, I think as he develops he's capable of 20+ HRs and at least that many steals (for all his speed he's not so great at reading pitchers and getting jumps).

Anyway, I would not be surprised at all to see him put together a big first half at some point and make an All Star game. I don't know that he'll ever be a top 5 fantasy SS or a regular All Star, but IMO he's got some very good skills.