Pence is 24 years old. If Burke would not have played so terrible the first month this year, Pence would still be in AAA, turning 25 in April, and never having a taste of the big leagues as of yet. That makes me want to puke. Pence has been dominating everyone ever since high school and took way to long to be brought up. Thank God that Burke stumbled, and he got his chance. He is a great player.
No offense to you Mr. Froback Sir, but you are probably of an older generation and would like to see things done the way they have always been done. I just disagree. I am not alone either when I say that. Almost every credible publication / media has criticized the Astros for the same thing I am pointing out.
Ok, I figure this might be lost on you, but Pence was drafted in 2004. So that means he has been in the Astros system, exactly 3 years. I think you would be hard pressed to find a ton of players who progess from the draft to the majors faster than that. If I had to guess I would guess around 2-3 per team on average. Also alot can be made for having a position to play, because Berkman was blocked when he was trying to break in to the ML roster, which is why he had to move to the OF, as Bagwell was at 1B. So delays are not just about talent sometimes.
And has been pointed out, while Pence was the best postional prospect of the Astros, that does not mean as much as if he were the best of say the Dodgers system or something. The Astros have a pretty empty system as far as postion players go, which is why they are ranked in the bottom 3rd of all baseball right now. Pence showed signs of being pretty good, but nothing like what he has show to date in the majors.
As for me being part of a different generation, well, I never thought of myself as anything of the sort, but I have learned that you can screw up players by moving them too fast. Pence had been marked for a while as a player likely to break in to the majors around this time. Due to extenuating circumstances it wasn't supposed to be this year, but thankfully since he was brought up, he has succeeded. That does not mean it works for everyone that way. Jason Lane is a perfect example, as he was the MVP of every stop along his Minor league career and couldn't make it click in the majors.
That is why a minor league system exists. The fact that people see success stories about people like Pujols and think every organization should pump one or two of those out every year is just silly. People like that are very rare.
Look at Mitch Einertson, he tore it up his first year in Pro-ball and has been searching desperately to find that "magic" again. Each player develops differently. I am NOT against having an 18 year old on the major league club, provided he can produce and be consistent. But Ken Griffey Jr doesn't come around every year.
