December 6, 200322 yr Here's how it goes. Each side makes their opening argument. One side goes first. Once the other side goes, the first side may post again and defend his argument. You can only go again once the opposing side gets to speak. You've got 48 hours. ONLY the competitors of this specific debate, the judges and myself may post in this thread. At the end the judges will privately vote on a winner. This debate ends 10:00 PM Eastern on 12/7. Topic - Who do you think has a brighter future, Miguel Cabrera or Dontrelle Willis? and Why? Miguel Cabrera - alkazoid Dontrelle Willis - Big Hugg Either side may begin.
December 7, 200322 yr This thread is so full of info. Great arguement going on in here, I'm going to have a hard time deciding who I'm going to vote for...
December 7, 200322 yr Rarely do teams get the opportunity to call up a minor leaguer and watch him become an instant success. This season, the Marlins were fortunate to have two such success stories in 20-year-old Miguel Cabrera and 21-year-old Dontrelle Willis. Cabrera and Willis were ranked #1 and #4 respectively of all Marlins prospects by Baseball America. Both will have bright futures, but at only 20 years of age, Cabrera is being primed for what might be a Hall of Fame career. MIGUEL CABRERA In July of 1999, the Marlins signed Cabrera and gave him a Venezuelan record $1.9 million signing bonus--all this for a boy who was just three months removed from his 16th birthday. If that sounds like a lot of money to throw at a mere teenager, consider that the Yankees offered Cabrera much more to sign with them. He declined their offer so he could join a team with more Latin players, and the rest is history. At 18, Cabrera became the youngest player ever to play in the All-Star Futures game. As he progressed through every level of baseball up to the big leagues, Miguel held the distinction of being the youngest regular player in every league he played in. By being ranked the #1 prospect in the Marlins system by Baseball America, Cabrera joined the likes of A.J. Burnett, Josh Beckett, Charles Johnson, and Edgar Renteria. Miguel Cabrera is a complete package; his offense, defense, and special teams place him in a class of his own. This April, he was hitting over .400 for Double-A Carolina before being moved to left field to prepare for his eventual big league call-up. When he was finally called up, Cabrera was hitting .365 and leading the Southern League in five offensive categories. In the majors, he became only the third player since 1900 to hit a walkoff homerun in his first major league at-bat--all this at the age of 20. He is so complete a hitter that former 3rd base coach Ozzie Guillen predicted that Cabrera will become bigger than Manny Ramirez. ESPN's Jerry Crasnick likened him to Albert Pujols. Defensively, Miguel is equally as impressive. The managers of the Southern League ranked him the #1 strongest infield arm and the best defensive third baseman in the league. After his call-up, in his 34 major league games at 3rd base while Mike Lowell was out, Cabrera committed only 1 error. Guillen also noted Cabrera to have "the best arm on the team." Considering his tremendous offensive ability, people often overlook Miguel Cabrera's tremendous glove and powerful arm. He's versatile, too. When Mike Lowell went down, young Miguel gave the club a much-needed lift by filling in at third base. Prior to the playoffs, he had already learned how to play shortstop, third base, and left field. When Cabrera was seen working out at first base, a whole slew of Derrek Lee trade rumors were ignited. In the postseason, when the lineup needed some tweaking, the 20-year-old phenom stepped up and agreed to move to right field to accommodate both Conine and Lowell. Skipper Jack McKeon trusted a boy to bat cleanup in October... and little Miguelito delivered. In the postseason, he came through in the clutch and manhandled the Cubs' feared pitching staff by going 10-for-30 and knocking 3 homers (.333 AVG, .633 SLG, 1.027 OPS). In the World Series, Cabrera again managed to come through when the team needed him the most. Many will remember the storied at-bat during Future Hall-of-Famer Roger Clemens' final game, in which Clemens buzzed a fastball by Cabrera's head in an act of intimidation. In a preview of what will surely come, the man-child showed poise and was clearly unfazed. After nearly being taken to the infirmary by a Clemens fastball, the 20-year-old countered with the unthinkable; he took Roger Clemens to the fish tank. DONTRELLE WILLIS NL Rookie of the Year Dontrelle Willis also had a phenomenal season. Known for his funky, deceptive delivery, the D-train started the year on a roll and coasted to an All-Star Game appearance. However, he struggled during the second half, going 5-5 with a 4.60 ERA and was dropped from the rotation during the World Series. Many attribute this dropoff to a lack of conditioning, but the word around baseball was that D-train's delivery was beginning to lose its notoriety. Dontrelle Willis developed his trademark leg-kick and hip-twist as a teenager, and he carried this deceptive delivery with him throughout the minor leagues and into the big leagues. D-train was sensational in the minors and even earned Baseball America honors as the #4 prospect in the Marlins organization, behind only Adrian Gonzalez, Jason Stokes, and Miguel Cabrera. After his call-up, Willis continued to amaze major-league batters and even pitched a 1-hitter. As the season trudged on and Dontrelle began facing teams for the 2nd and 3rd times, his deceptive delivery proved to be less effective, his ERA jumped, and he was consistently getting pulled out of games earlier. Soon, he began to encounter serious control problems. Willis' postseason was equally disappointing. In 5 and 2/3 innings pitched against the Giants (a team that had seen him before), Willis racked up 5 ER and a 7.94 ERA. In two appearances and 3 & 1/3 IP against the Cubs (who had also seen him before), he picked up 7 ER and an 18.90 ERA. After getting stripped of his starters role, the D-train did manage to end his postseason on a high note by pitching 3 & 2/3 scoreless innings against the Yankees--a team that had never seen him before. In his 12 & 2/3 innings of postseason pitching, Willis racked up 12 earned runs and a mediocre 8.53 ERA. Despite the fact that teams are learning his delivery, Dontrelle Willis is committed to improving the fundamentals of his pitching. To improve control, pitching coach Wayne Rosenthal has been teaching Willis to pitch out of the stretch. Though this may take away from his deceptive delivery, in the end, it is in Willis' best interests to become a fundamentally strong pitcher. Currently, Baseball America rates his pitches to be in the average range. Willis has one of the highest pitch counts per inning in all of baseball and doesn't last many innings in his starts. With a delivery that becomes much easier to hit after a few looks, Dontrelle has nothing to lose by working on his pitches. THE FUTURE I am confident that several years from now, D-train will still be known as a very good pitcher. However, I don't believe he will ever become as great as Miguel Cabrera will be. Miguel Cabrera was highly regarded as the greatest prospect in the history of the Marlins organization, and he was a frontrunner for #1 prospect in baseball before being called up to duty. Despite playing only one-half of a season, Cabrera finished 5th in Rookie of the Year voting. How many ballplayers can you think of that were this good at the age of 20? The future looks very bright for this superstar-in-the-making. edit: sources (shuddap, you) http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sport.../printstory.jsp http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/minor...624cabrera.html http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/7044394.htm http://espn.go.com/mlb/columns/downonthefarm/1549887.html http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/leagues/mlb/marlins/ http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/minor...amwrap_fla.html http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/minor...ague20s_sl.html http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/featu...ries_tools.html http://proxy.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs2003/...tory?id=1639346 http://houston.astros.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/m...x.jsp?award=roy http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/conten...bef19000e3.html
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