Washington Players Chuckle About Player Rankings August 21, 1999
(AP) WASHINGTON--On the day of Commisioner Matthew Peck's release of the
potential ratings of all position players, some of the Sea Dogs were
pretty humored by the results.
Larry Walker was named the best outfielder in the majors by Peck's grading
system, and the second-best player overall. but second baseman Chuck
Knoblauch was ranked only third.
"I think what they told me is that while I was the best existing second
baseman, I was only the third best prospect," Knoblauch chuckled. "You
know, I don't think that hurts too much."
Lance Johnson was also pretty humored by his positioning.
"Well, you know, they told me I was right in front of Shannon Stewart, and
I said, 'Who?'" Johnson laughed. "Then they told me I was behind a bunch
of kids. I thought it was a hoot."
In fact, Johnson was placed behind such "stalwart" outfielders as Greg
Vaughn, Mike Cameron, Andruw Jones, Vladimir Guerrero and Alex Ochoa, and
Washington's own Mickey Kelly.
"Well, Vaughnie's a former home run champion," said Johnson of his former
teammate. "But geez...that's a lot of kids to be behind."
But Johnson, who was batting .353 at the time the release came out, wasn't
particularly perturbed.
"Listen, they've been telling me a kid's gonna take my job for how long
now?" Johnson said. "And every year, I prove 'em wrong."
One Sea Dog wasn't laughing too loudly, however. Barry Larkin seemed a
little miffed about his placement.
"I'm ahead of Matthias who?" Larkin asked. When told that it was 20-year
old Matthias Lund of Tucson, rated sixth behind Larkin's fifth, Larkin
gave a short, barking laugh.
"So they're equating me with kids too, huh?" Larkin asked. "I figure
there's about one shortstop who's really better than me right now, and
I'm not challenging his throne."
Alex Rodriguez, Larkin's allusion, was the highest-rated player on the
list of major-leaguers.
Washington finished the day at 84-38, a .689 winning percentage.
