Whatever happened to Jason Dellaero

[easyw]

Near as I can tell, backi n April 2005, after the Montgomery Biscuits (AA-Southern League) sent him down to the Hudson Valley Renegades of the NY-League (Low A short season), he's been out of baseball.

 

Both Crede and Bill Melton had a lot of priase for this guy's defensive abilities. What went wrong for him? Couldn't hit? Nose candy? what?

[witesoxfan]

Near as I can tell, backi n April 2005, after the Montgomery Biscuits (AA-Southern League) sent him down to the Hudson Valley Renegades of the NY-League (Low A short season), he's been out of baseball.

 

Both Crede and Bill Melton had a lot of priase for this guy's defensive abilities. What went wrong for him? Couldn't hit? Nose candy? what?

 

I will foreward this post with a warning: I do not know a lot about minor league baseball.

 

That being said...I do seem to recall he couldn't hit whatsoever - like a .210 hitter in the minors - but that he was just amazing defensively. I also recall the Sox trying to convert him to a pitcher to put his great arm(like a 95 MPH fastball from what I remember) to use, but that he was very stubborn about not wanting to pitch and wanting to play in the field.

[Heads22]

http://thebaseballcube.com/players/D/jason-dellaero.shtml

[Rex Hudler]

I will foreward this post with a warning: I do not know a lot about minor league baseball.

 

That being said...I do seem to recall he couldn't hit whatsoever - like a .210 hitter in the minors - but that he was just amazing defensively.  I also recall the Sox trying to convert him to a pitcher to put his great arm(like a 95 MPH fastball from what I remember) to use, but that he was very stubborn about not wanting to pitch and wanting to play in the field.

 

 

You are dead on. Jason Dellaero was the best SS I have ever seen play on a regular basis. Many scouts at the time said that the day he made the Majors with the Sox he instantly became the 3rd best defensive SS in the big leagues. I remember them talking about Vizquel, but can't recall the other one.

 

He made plays that you just don't see made. He had an absolute cannon for an arm. Even though he made a few errors, they never seemed to be at a time that hurt his team. I can't think of another SS I'd want to see the ball hit at with the game on the line.

 

That said, he screwed himself at the plate. He was a switch hitter and finally started to put it together, hitting .268 in 81 games. He was working well with Barons hitting coach Steve Whittaker and the Sox brought him to the big leagues in September.

 

The next season, against the advice of the Sox (and anybody else with half a baseball brain), he decided to stop switch hitting. So he basically had to learn to hit breaking balls going away from RH pitchers batting from the right side. He failed miserably doing so and was too stubborn to listen to anyone.

 

Jason thought he would become the next great AL SS hitting 20-30 HR's a year. He swung from his heels and had no clue, nor ability/willingness to adjust. His numbers after that reflected this.

 

They tried to make him a pitcher but he resisted. The Sox finally made him a deal that they would play him everyday at SS in Birmingham (he had been sitting on the bench in Charlotte) if he would agree to work on pitching and work out of the bullpen for the Barons. He agreed to get more playing time. He just never gave a fair effort to pitching. He refused to give up the HR-hitting SS fantasy (even though Sox personnel told him if he would just hit .250 they would keep him in the big leagues) and never gave pitching a real effort. You could tell he was just going through the motions.

 

His story is a sad one. I have never seen a player that was so good in one phase of the game yet so bad in another. He would have been a pleasure to watch play SS in the Majors. He probably could have made it as a pitcher if he gave it a real effort. Instead, he isn't doing squat right now. Sad, indeed.

[santo=dorf]

The first thing i thought to myself after Berkmn hit that double was, "We passed up this guy for Jason Dellaero???"

[Heads22]

Great post Rex.

[Rex Hudler]

Thanks, Heads.

 

I didn't hear the comments that spurred the creation of this thread though. What was said to bring up memories of Jason Dellaero?

[3E8]

Thanks, Heads.

 

I didn't hear the comments that spurred the creation of this thread though.  What was said to bring up memories of Jason Dellaero?

Postgame yesterday, a reporter asked Crede about his great defense, and Crede said he attributed it to the mentoring of Jason Dellaero.

[Rex Hudler]

Postgame yesterday, a reporter asked Crede about his great defense, and Crede said he attributed it to the mentoring of Jason Dellaero.

 

They did play side-by-side in Birmingham. It doesn't surprise me, Dellaero was that good.

[Heads22]

For anyone who has seen the play of Valido, how does his play resemble that of Dellaero? Is it even a comparison? I can barely remember Jason's name, let alone recall a comparison.

[Rex Hudler]

For anyone who has seen the play of Valido, how does his play resemble that of Dellaero? Is it even a comparison? I can barely remember Jason's name, let alone recall a comparison.

 

I haven't Valido, so I can't offer much up in that regard. I do know that Dellaero was a guy that you had to see many times to fully appreciate him. He didn't throw hard over to 1B unless he had to. He didn't seem to have a lot of flash until he made a play that he had no business making. He was very fundamentally sound, but could go in the hole and throw with the best of them. He would routinely field balls that were headed into CF, spin and throw a perfect strike to the 1B to nail the runner. It looked pretty effortless.

[Randar68]

I haven't Valido, so I can't offer much up in that regard.  I do know that Dellaero was a guy that you had to see many times to fully appreciate him.  He didn't throw hard over to 1B unless he had to.  He didn't seem to have a lot of flash until he made a play that he had no business making.  He was very fundamentally sound, but could go in the hole and throw with the best of them.  He would routinely field balls that were headed into CF, spin and throw a perfect strike to the 1B to nail the runner.  It looked pretty effortless.

 

Valido and Dellaero are similar, but Jason had a better arm, could really unload when he had to, like you said.

 

I think Valido is going to be a it more steady, probably make fewer errors than Dellaero would have, but he won't get to quite as many balls.

 

That said, Valido still has Gold Glove ability at SS. As always, you either have to be silly with acrobatic plays or hit enough to get noticed that way to win a gold glove, but I think he'd be a top defensive SS in the majors today if they needed one at the major league level...

[CWSGuy406]

Rex:

 

In an age where a guy like Willie Harris can be a 25th man because he sucks up almost everything hit his way at second, how the hell could this guy still be in the minors? I'm not doubting you, but even if he hit like .200, it'd be passable, especially if his defense were as advertised.

 

That's some damn high regard your giving that kid, and I'm not doubting it one bit -- just wondering how the hell this kid hasn't cracked a big league roster, regardless of what he's done at the plate.

[witesoxfan]

In an age where a guy like Willie Harris can be a 25th man because he sucks up almost everything hit his way at second

 

As a 25th man in the regular season, Willie is valuable because of his speed off the bench and his up the middle versatility.

 

As a 25th man in the postseason, Willie is valuable because of his speed and speed alone basically.

 

Not sure about Dellaero...but I'd guess he wasn't incredibly fast. And even Willie is a .650-700 OPS player with about a .320-.360 OBP at the MLB level, where as there is probably a chance Dellaero wouldn't put up a .500 OPS.

[3E8]

Willie knows how to take a walk as well.

[qwerty]

Willie knows how to take a walk as well.

 

Play him versus righties some where of turf and he will put up at least a .360 obp imo. The twins would sure like to have him i am thinking.

[witesoxfan]

Play him versus righties some where of turf and he will put up at least a .360 obp imo. The twins would sure like to have him i am thinking.

 

Just gotta hope he doesn't wind up in Minny.

 

His ridiculous range? His ability to get on base? He would probably cause the Sox fits for a good 2-3 years, perhaps more.

[OilCan]

The wish to see Willie play on turf may happen....in the WS. If speed does come into play, besides Pablo Ozuna on the bench, Willie would be a good option to go to.

[Rex Hudler]

Rex:

 

In an age where a guy like Willie Harris can be a 25th man because he sucks up almost everything hit his way at second, how the hell could this guy still be in the minors?  I'm not doubting you, but even if he hit like .200, it'd be passable, especially if his defense were as advertised.

 

That's some damn high regard your giving that kid, and I'm not doubting it one bit -- just wondering how the hell this kid hasn't cracked a big league roster, regardless of what he's done at the plate.

 

He did.. with the Sox in September 2000. Keep in mind that after that callup, he hit LESS than .200 in full seasons at BOTH AA and AAA. He refused to be coached.

 

A perfect example of his hard-headedness...

 

Hitting coach Gregg Ritchie became utterly frustrated with Dellaero. Minor League Hitting Coordinator Mike Lum had talked to him ad naseum, including a couple of closed door sessions that weren't too quiet on the other side of the door.

 

One day, Ritchie asked Dellaero if he REALLY wanted to get to the big leagues. Jason said he did. Ritchie asked him to trust him and do what he asked him to do even though it would be weird. Jason seemed to be willing.

 

Ritchie asked Dellaero to do everything he could to hit 4 ground balls right at the secondbaseman in that night's game. He said just trust me, and hit the ball as hard as you can on the ground right at the 2B. Said he didn't care at all if he went 0-4, he just wanted him to focus on keeping his front shoulder closed and to see he could still hit the ball hard.

 

They proceeded to work off of the batting tee in the Met's indoor hitting room. Ritchie placed the tee on the outside corner and back a bit to force Jason to stay back and drive the ball the other way. Jason worked for 15 minutes, doing nothing but hitting balls off a tee that would go right at the second baseman.

 

Ritchie seemed happy and felt he had made progress. He thought Dellaero would see that he could stay back on a pitch and drive it hard. Hell, he even hoped that while trying to hit the ball at the 2B he would hit a line drive over his head into RCF.

 

Now it is time for Jason to head to the plate for his first AB. On the first pitch he saw, he pulled off of a curveball so hard that he pulled the ball fould down the LF line right at the opposing bullpen. Ritchie threw down his clipboard and said "I give up". Dellaero hit the ball hard on the next pitch, but right at the LF for an out. He came back to the dugout happy he hit the ball hard. Ritchie just looked at him in astonishment and knew it was hopeless.

 

That help paint the picture???

[CWSGuy406]

Thanks, Rex.

 

Sort of a sad story there.