Greg

Halman

Dutch police were called to a home in the port city of Rotterdam and found the 24-year-old ballplayer bleeding from a stab wound. They were unable to resuscitate him. Halman’s 22-year-old brother was arrested as a possible suspect and is being questioned by police. There aren’t many more details available at this time. Halman, 24, batted .299/.358/.441 with three homers and 15 RBI in 40 games this year for Triple-A Tacoma.

Halman couldn’t cut it in the Midwest League to begin the year, batting .182/.234/.273 with an incredible 77 strikeouts in 187 at-bats, but he’s been a force in the Northwest League so far, even if he’s continuing to K too often. Halman, a 19-year-old from the Netherlands, has impressive power potential and the speed to play center field. He’s something of a long shot because of all the strikeouts, but it could click for him at some point within the next few years.

At 1016 in 128 at-bats, Halman has twice the OPS in the Northwest League that he did after opening the season in the Midwest League. He’s going to have to cut back on the strikeouts in order to develop, but the tools are there. He’ll get another crack at the Midwest League next year.

Unfortunately, he’s not going anything besides hitting homers. He’s 10-for-61 with 26 strikeouts, giving him an unusual .164/.200/.443 line. Halman’s power potential is off the charts, but he has a ways to go yet.

Kasey Kiker started for Bakersfield and held the rest of the Mavericks hitless for seven innings. Halman’s two homers got him up to eight for the year. The 20-year-old is hitting a respectable .265/.317/.490 in the Cal League despite striking out 49 times in 37 games. He’s also a perfect 16-for-16 stealing bases. Of course, no one questions his tools. He’s a lot like Wladimir Balentien, but he’s not quite as good of a bet for the future.

Par for the course. Halman is hitting .240 with three homers and a 32/2 K/BB ratio in 75 at-bats this fall. He finished at .272/.326/.528 with 29 homers and a 142/32 K/BB ratio in 492 at-bats for Single-A High Desert and Double-A West Tenn last season. The 854 OPS was very impressive for a guy who just turned 21 in August. Still, Halman’s awful plate disclipline makes him very difficult to project.

Halman had one triple and two RBI in seven Cactus League at-bats. The 22-year-old led the Southern League with 25 homers last season, but also led the league with 183 strikeouts.

Halman entered the game in the eighth inning as a defensive replacement, and rewarded Mariners manager Jack Zduriencik by contributing with his bat. Halman is hitting .409/.409/.636 in his first 22 at-bats in 2011, and is part of a promising youth movement that could give Seattle much more run production in the second half of the season.

Michael Saunders needed to go, but hopefully Halman’s stay will be a short one. He had played in just five games since returning from a broken wrist, going 6-for-22 with one homer. One of the game’s most strikeout-prone players, he appeared completely overmatched in his brief audition last year, going 4-for-29 with no homers and 11 strikeouts. He has big-time power, but he’s not a major leaguer right now and the Mariners need to be hunting for a veteran outfielder capable of helping out in at least a part-time role.

The Netherlands had no power at all in the middle of their lineup during the Olympics last year, so Halman is a welcome addition, even he’s still too raw to contribute to a major league team. He had 29 homers between Single-A High Desert and Double-A West Tenn last season.