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Kaaihue Getting Noticed

Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus has ranked our slugging young first baseman, Kala Kaaihue, fourth in his list of minor league first base prospects. Here is what he had to say about Kala (subscription required):

Undrafted out of junior college, Kaaihue had a monster debut last year, and he's silencing his critics with a remarkable season at Myrtle Beach, the toughest hitting park in the Carolina League. In road games, the big Hawaiian is mashing to the tune of .309/.428/.644 with 13 home runs in 149 at-bats, and he has true plus-plus power. Kaaihue is a big, slow, hulking first baseman who has future Three True Outcomes all-star potential, evidenced by 20 home runs, 52 walks, and 87 strikeouts in 293 at-bats so far this year. He'll probably never hit for much of an average, but his secondary skills will more than make up for it.

For those of you who are uninitiated, "Three True Outcomes" refers to a power hitter who does one of three things when he comes up to bat, he walks, strikes out, or hits a homerun. Of course it doesn't work out exactly like that, but generally those are the results of an at-bat - it's named after Rob Deer. I tend to think that Kala is a bit more than that as his average has been around .300 for each of the last two years.

If we make the trade with Texas, then Teixeira could simply be the guy that gets us through 2008 until Kala is ready.

And what do you know, Kala Kaaihue got promoted to double-A Mississippi today. He's on his way, Three True Outcomes or not...

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