Sickels is about as controversial as a ham sandwich. One person just get sand in their vagina if people dont think exactly the same as they do.
I had no idea he worked for Vox in any capacity. I thought he owned and operated the site. Still one of the best at what he does.
Sickels was invaluable 15-20 years ago when there just weren't a lot of publicly available prospect guys writing on the internet - I actually interviewed him for a piece I did when I was interning at MLB.com. Sickels was one of the few people who could fill you in on, say, the 17th best prospect in your favorite team's system, and if you didn't want to pay for BA or wait for the BPro annual he was basically the only option for that.
Time punishes us all, internet-based baseball writers perhaps more than most - there was a time where Rob Neyer was THE cutting edge of stats-based baseball writing, for example. And Sickels famously had health issues. He hasn't provided anything unique in years, but the legacy means this is still a little sad - it'll be the same way when Gammons hangs it up, I suspect.
Sickels was invaluable 15-20 years ago when there just weren't a lot of publicly available prospect guys writing on the internet - I actually interviewed him for a piece I did when I was interning at MLB.com. Sickels was one of the few people who could fill you in on, say, the 17th best prospect in your favorite team's system, and if you didn't want to pay for BA or wait for the BPro annual he was basically the only option for that.
Time punishes us all, internet-based baseball writers perhaps more than most - there was a time where Rob Neyer was THE cutting edge of stats-based baseball writing, for example. And Sickels famously had health issues. He hasn't provided anything unique in years, but the legacy means this is still a little sad - it'll be the same way when Gammons hangs it up, I suspect.
The thing that is invaluable about Sickels is that he built a very loyal following, which in turn has built a great community who interact daily through minor league game day posts.
Sickels isn't just some dope with a blog. He's actually a well respected journalist for decades now. He previously worked for ESPN years ago before branching off on his own and being absorbed by a larger company.
The unfortunate issue now is that there are so many amateur prospect writer's out there who are his direct competition. More than ever. So it's hard for him to monetize what he does. He used to release a prospect guide annually.