Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Graham Stoneburner: Future Closer?

I saw this interesting nugget (copyright: Peter King) yesterday in Chad at LoHud's assorted Minor League notes post:

"Pretty much every scouting report you’ll ever read about Graham Stoneburner suggests his ultimate role could be as a reliever rather than a starter. The Yankees, though, will continue to use Stoneburner out of the rotation, and they believe that he could remain a starter if his changeup continues to develop. Stoneburner had a 2.41 ERA between Tampa and Charleston last season, and the Yankees won’t change his role until he pitches himself out of the rotation."

I'm already on the record as a huge Stoneburner fan and could really care less where he ends up pitching as long it's in pinstripes.  But the fact that the dude has arguably the coolest name ever makes me think that he could fit in better as a reliever.  I mean, "Graham Stoneburner."  That name screams closer.  It's the coolest closer name since The Duke in "Major League, " and that guy led the league in K/9 and hit batsmen.  And threw at his kid in a father-son game!  Pretty damn impressive if you ask me.

So if Stoneburner ends up becoming the closer of the future instead of a part of the rotation, that works for me.  He's already suited for it from a name perspective.  All we need to do now is figure out what his entrance music would be.  Do you focus on the "Stone-" aspect of his name or the "-Burner?"  What do you think?

(Just more awesome AB4AR-style analysis.  Scouting reports and secondary pitches be damned.  This kid has a cool name and that makes him a good closer prospect.  Beat that logic, Tim Kurkjian!)

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