In FanGraphs' new post answering, "Who is Tommy Manzella?" there are a lot of "apparently"s, and even a "wickedly mediocre." Too out of context for you? Regard:
For years now, Manzella has been named by Baseball America as the Astros’ best defensive infielder. Evidently he can pick the ball. Even so, BA has yet to rank Manzella in the Astros’ top 10. That’s a bit of a problem, because the Astros’ system is not one that you would call "deep"...maybe all the disrespect stemmed from Manzella’s wickedly mediocre offensive game...
...Manzella turns 27 in mid-April. Unless he’s Adam Everett with the glove or goes through a Ben Zobrist transformation (Zobrist was an on-base machine throughout the minors though, mind you) he’s a utility player at best.
Then, like many a writer before, the article closes with a little shot at Brandon Lyon.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
