The Brian Cole Story

[G-Fafif]

SI will remember Mets prospect Brian Cole in a big way in its baseball preview issue. Sarasota Herald-Tribune explains how the story came to be.

Reputable people � Duquette, Sabathia, Engle, Tim Foli, Al Leiter, Mookie Wilson, Heath Bell, Albert Pujols. They all could not wait to talk about what they had witnessed. �It was the middle of last season,� McKnight said, �and these guys called me right back, which doesn't ever happen. They were like, �Hey, first of all, absolutely I'll do an interview with you about Brian Cole.' � �Secondly, how the hell did you find out about him?' They were almost protective of this secret and they also wanted to make sure that I did it all right.� Sabathia told McKnight about the time in the minors in 1999 when Cole turned on a 96-mph fastball and blasted a home run. �This kid was a bottle-rocket,� Sabathia said. �I've never seen anybody with that much power and so small in size, with crazy bat speed and hand-eye coordination that you couldn't get anything by him. �Each of them,� McKnight said, �to a man, said you have to understand that this is not us making this stuff up because he died tragically. We would be talking about him like this if he were playing in his 12th All-Star Game. This kid was amazing.�

[Edgy MD]

I'm sure he was excellent, but... well, the consensus at the time was that he was the team's number two prospect. And the guy ahead of him was also an outfielder who ended up having only a modest career.

So sure, he could've turned out to be the second coming of Kirby Puckett, but... I don't remember him being looked at as such a sure thing at the time.

Still, even saying that, I enjoy the thrill of reading the hypebolic reports (better than Rickey Henderson?). I guess it lets me think we had something coming to us and we were entitled to it but somehow got screwed out of it.

[MFS62]

I may have to buy an issue of SI for the first time in many years.



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Later

[Guest The Second Spitter]

Edgy MD wrote: I'm sure he was excellent, but... well, the consensus at the time was that he was the team's number two prospect. And the guy ahead of him was also an outfielder who ended up having only a modest career..

Alex Escobar?

[Edgy MD]

Yup.

Looking back, I see Baseball America had him fourth in 2000.

1. Alex Escobar, OF
2. Pat Strange, RHP
3. Grant Roberts, RHP
4. Brian Cole, OF
5. Enrique Cruz, SS
6. Lesli Brea, RHP
7. Jorge Toca, 1B/OF
8. Jason Tyner, OF
9. Eric Cammack, RHP
10. Dicky Gonzalez, RHP

At the wrongful death suit, folks --- including former Mets executives --- swore up and down that he was a rare and special talent that would have earned a heckuva lot of money. If that's true, he'd've been the only one on that list to do so.

[Guest The Second Spitter]

He was born in the same year as Escobar.

The wrongful death settlement ($131M) is indicative of Vladimir Guerrero�s career earnings (excluding endorsements, but since it�s a settlement figure it implies compromise). It�s a pretty big call, but who knows�..

But looking at that list, gee whiz you�d think we had someone in front-office who was regularly caught with his pants down in dealings with other baseball execs and draft strategies, not to mention personal relations with front office support staff.

edit: Brea and Toca should not even be on that list.

[Gwreck]

I think that $131M amount was the verdict amount and not the settled amount. A $131M verdict would almost certainly be reduced on appeal.

[Guest The Second Spitter]

You are correct, thanks for the correction. (Serves me right for relying on a poorly worded autoblog article as my source).

Can somebody explain to me why the case was heard in Mississippi and not Florida?

Btw the family's attorneys had a 50% percentage contingency fee. That represents a solid MLB career in itself.

[Gwreck]

The case was likely heard in Mississippi because that was Cole's residence (and the location of his estate) and was also the location of defendant Watson Quality Ford (the dealership that sold the car).

Cases like this are usually commenced in State Court and then removed to Federal Court under the theory of diversity (disputes between residents/businesses of different states) but not always.

I did not know the attorneys got a 50% contingency fee or that Mississippi permitted such a high fee (most states are 33.33% on these types of cases). Note that there are instances where an attorney can apply for a court-approved upward modification of the usual contingency percentage if a matter requires extensive work (ie. the Cole matter was tried three times before it was settled).

[Frayed Knot]

John Sickels looks back at Brian Cole from a prospect standpoint.

[metirish]

Frayed Knot wrote: John Sickels looks back at Brian Cole from a prospect standpoint.

Thanks for that link, well worth the read. Cool that Sickels was able to dig up his old reports in Cole.

[MFS62]

Thank you.
Because of his size, speed and power, I had envisioned him being our Jimmy Wynn.

Later