Quote:
Originally Posted by KevB
I'd be shocked if Bubba is in AA within a year of beginning his career.
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Just a brief stopover. A lot of teams will try to give their premier prospects a brief taste of AA at the end of a season, even if it means starting them at A+ the next year, to show them the carrot they're reaching for.
And in some instances, they actually think the guy can help on a playoff push (the Cardinals did that with Pujols and he helped them win the title in AA with a massive playoff run).
It wasn't likely, but lets say he went to low A and crushed for 2 months (not unrealistic, low A is essentially premier level HS ball; like the traveling AS teams and such). Next season, they could have him on an accelerated low A schedule and get him to high A by June. If he performs well in High A, they'd probably at least consider giving him a cup of coffee in AA to wrap up the season and give him his target for 2012.
As it is, he may not play a game for them this season. Then next year he'll probably start in short season rookie ball, make a move to Low A in a couple of months, then high A towards the end of the year if he excels.
Granted, if he struggles (certainly possible for a HS kid), it will all be moot as he wouldn't have advanced rapidly anyway. But if he plays well, the holdout could have the effect of keeping him back a full level.