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Where'd you hear that his ceiling was anywhere near Mussina or Maddux? That's a fairly ridiculous thing to say. People draft players like Royce Ring in the first round because they think there's less gamble in them producing on a big league level, it happens all the time in virtually every draft.
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from
http://mvn.com/milb-yankees/2007/06/...3-ian-kennedy/
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It’s very rare that a right handed pitcher pitcher takes the Mussina/Maddux finesse style and make it work with a lot of success - but it does happen every once in awhile. Kennedy possesses all the skills necessary to make such a style work.
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while kennedy is certainly less of risk, and lower of a ceiling than say Joba Chamberlain, it is tough to imagine that the Yankees would spend a first-round pick on someone who is slated to at most be a back-of-the-rotation guy. the yankees can buy that kind of talent on the FA market. perhaps if you think that they will trade him away, but that's just about the opposite of what cashman has been preaching and practicing for the last 3 years. draft high risk, high ceiling prospects and protect them all the way to the majors.
anyways, i don't really want to get into a semantic discussion of scouting reports. we'll see soon enough (next year) what kennedy (as well as chamberlain and a few others) make of themselves. sorry if this comes across as argumentative.