'The sky's the limit' for onetime football sensation Sizemore - Seattle Times March 7, 2004

Larry Stone / Baseball reporter

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — If the Montreal Expos, of all teams, hadn't stepped up financially in the summer of 2000, Grady Sizemore might be preparing right now for his senior season as the Washington Huskies' quarterback.

Or, at the very least, as a safety or even running back, positions the Huskies were considering using the all-everything talent from Everett's Cascade High School when Rick Neuheisel made him a recruiting priority and obtained his letter of intent in February 2000.

Sizemore planned to play both football and baseball at UW, at least until the Expos drafted him in the third round in June and met the family's requirement of a $2 million signing bonus. It was an offer he couldn't refuse.

"It was a tough decision, but I think coach Neuheisel understood," Sizemore says now. "It was something I couldn't pass up, something that was right for me."

It turned out to be a very wise decision by both parties, though it will be the Cleveland Indians, not the Expos, reaping the benefits of Sizemore's rapid baseball ascension.

Sizemore is no Drew Henson-like baseball washout. Far from it. Obtained by Cleveland in the 2002 Bartolo Colon trade with Montreal, Sizemore is rated as the Indians' No. 1 prospect, and the ninth-best prospect in baseball, according to Baseball America.

Scouts have compared him to Darin Erstad, but the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Sizemore might wind up with even more power and speed. He is coming off a breakout season at Class AA Akron, where he hit .304 with 11 triples, 13 homers, 78 runs batted in and 96 runs, and was named Cleveland's Minor League Player of the Year.

"The sky's the limit for him," said Brad Komminsk, Sizemore's manager last year at Akron. "Grady can go as far as he wants to go. He's obviously a very skilled and talented player, but his intangibles make him something special."

Sizemore was the Most Valuable Player of the Futures Game at the All-Star Game in Chicago, and batted .412 in the Eastern League playoffs to lead Akron to the title.

Then he moved to Team USA, where he hit .442 with 12 runs and seven RBI in 13 games of the Olympic qualifying tournament, playing for manager Frank Robinson. But that experience ended in the bitter disappointment of a 2-1 loss to Mexico that kept the United States out of the 2004 Olympics.

"It's kind of embarrassing," Sizemore said. "It's not a good feeling to be the U.S. team that didn't qualify for the Olympics. But you learn from it."

He's just 21 years old and attending his first major-league camp. Sizemore, a left-handed batter and thrower, is slated to start the year at Class AAA Buffalo, but manager Eric Wedge and GM Mark Shapiro have already gone on record predicting a midseason call-up. The Indians see Sizemore as their center fielder of the future, and the future could begin this summer.

Sizemore is trying to stay grounded as the accolades and attention increase.

"Everyone in this organization can play," he said. "I'm not focused too much on where they have me as a prospect, or where they have me projected. I just try to get better each day and work hard.

"Everyone wants to get to the big leagues as soon as possible, but it's not a focal point for me right now. When I'm ready, I think I'll be there. They'll know when I'm ready. They'll know when they want me there."

As for any lingering regrets about spurning the Huskies four years ago, they've disappeared.

"I made the right decision," he said. "I'm happy with what I did. It would have been nice to play quarterback for the Huskies. But I think this is the better situation for me."