There is so much wrong with Alex Rodriguez and I can pile on here. But let me go the other way. I do think A-Rod is a baseball gym rat and it is where — I believe, anyway — we connected. I really enjoyed talking baseball with A-Rod.
So last year when I was with him during his rehab at Triple-A, I asked him if during his minor league games any player had stood out.
He mentioned one player he had seen at Low-A Charleston — “Pete O’Brien has real power,” Rodriguez said. I wondered at the time if this was a Miami thing (O’Brien is from there) and A-Rod tends to favor the city. But seven weeks into this season, O’Brien has hit 17 homers between Single-A (10) and Double-A (seven in just 11 games). Only Rangers power prospect Joey Gallo (18) has more in the minors.
Scouts concur O’Brien’s righty might is legit with one saying, “He doesn’t even seem as if he swings hard and he has enormous power. Enormous.” But a few scouts spoken to believe he has big holes in his swing — one likened him to J.P. Arencibia in that he will hit for some power, but with prodigious strikeouts and low batting average, a portfolio that has led to Arencibia winding up back in the minors. Plus, scouts think O’Brien will not catch in the majors and lacks the athleticism to play first or right field.
Yankee officials — of course — disagree. They also don’t project him as a catcher, in part because they have Brian McCann, John Ryan Murphy and Gary Sanchez to cover the position into the future. But they believe he has the athleticism to play first or a corner outfield adequately and can be a 30-plus-homer righty bat, which is a rare commodity (eight managed it last year compared to 19 a decade earlier).
Yes, he will strike out a lot and not hit better than .250 in all likelihood, though the Yankees are hopeful the strikeouts will drop some with experience. For now, he projects somewhat to a Mark Reynolds type.