So much for Manny Ramirez, right? Well, probably not.
Anyway, here's some of what John Sickles had to say this spring about young Hoffmann, a 24-year-old outfielder:
Jamie Hoffmann looks like he has a future as a reserve outfielder. Although he doesn't have any overwhelming tools, he does a lot of things on the field. He can swipe a base, shows sparks of power, controls the strike zone reasonably well and is an excellent defensive outfielder. ...Hoffmann should move up to Triple A in '09 and could put up some superficially gaudy numbers ... Don't be tricked into thinking he will be a star, but he should be a useful player. Grade C.
Hoffmann's Triple A stats don't actually look all that gaudy, although he was just moved up from Double A and has all of 41 plate appearances for Albuquerque, a very good place to rack up hitting numbers.
Baseball America didn't think highly enough of young Hoffmann to put him in its prospect book.
A little more info on Hoffmann from PucKato. ...
ReplyDeleteHe was going to play college hockey at Colorado College and was recruited by Minnesota State. He was drafted by the National Hockey League's Carolina Hurricanes in the eighth round in 2003. But just when it looked like he was set to be a hockey player, he took a big chance.
After a year of junior hockey he came home and played American Legion baseball and had a great summer, which prompted the Dodgers to sign him to a free-agent contract.