But the scouts say he LOOKS like a ballplayer

A quick "short shot" from yesterday's BM column in the D and C:

"The New York Yankees actually do have some impressive young prospects, including first baseman Eric Duncan and pitcher Philip Hughes. Would any Yankees watchers be surprised if Duncan and Hughes were part of a package offer to the Florida Marlins for outfielder-third baseman Miguel Cabrera and/or pitcher Dontrelle Willis?”

In case you are interested in any actual, real life, Billy Beane-style numbers:

Eric Duncan - In 110 ABs at Triple A Columbus this year, he is ripping it up with a .533 OPS. (Baseball America doesn't list any other stats for him, so I assume it's Mr. Duncan's first season of pro-ball.)
Phillip Hughes - After a dominating 30 innings last year in High A ball, (30 Ks, .178 average against, 1.80 ERA), he has a 4.50 ERA at Double A in only 2 starts, to go with a .286 BAA.

All of these results smack of small sample size, but the point is that maybe the Fish (or any other team) will want to wait a few more months/years for these two to develop before unloading established major league talent for them. Oh yeah, and maybe the media should chill out a little about how good these (or any prospects) are anecdotally, and wait for them to actually produce. Granted our man uses the word "offer," not "traded," but I suspect he really meant the latter.