I hate fantasy diaries, but I'm bored and have been thinking about this a fair bit so I'm posting one.
I'm in a 30 team Keeper Sim league (50 players deep) and I'm looking for opinions on my top 10 prospects. Any feedback would be welcome and anyone who wants to post their own top 10 prospects from their own team, I promise to comment on it (provided you comment on mine).
So, here it is (I included John's grades plus an occasional comment of my own)

1. Andy Laroche, 3B (A-)
   
2. Jed Lowrie, SS (A-; I agree with John, I love his bat and think his D will be good enough to stick at SS)
   
3. Michael Bowden, RHP (B)
   
4. Ryan Tucker, RHP (B; I like Bowden's polish a bit more, at least until Tucker's slider comes around)
   
5. Josh Donaldson, C (B; love his bat)
   
6. Brian Duensing, LHP (B-; I keep going back and forth between 6 and 9 for Duensing, his ceiling isn't great, but I like his chances of getting there. For now it's 6.)
   
7. Josh Reddick, OF (B-)
   
8. Caleb Gindl, CF (C+)
   
9. John Tolisano, 2b (C+, future OFer IMO)
   
10. Joe Benson, CF (ungraded, raw but I love the tools)

Any comments are welcome and again, if you comment on my top 10, I promise to comment on yours.

Today, the playofs finally begin. I don't say that just because I'm a Patriots fan, I say it because if the op four teams in the game haven't started playing yet, it's not really the playoffs, it's more like a 'play-in'. That may just be me though.
Anyone have any thoughts on today's games?
Personally, I'm going with the Pats, Colts, Packers and Giants. I think a combination of Tony Romo not being half as clutch as people want to believe he is, Dallas peaking in November and TO being not TO results in a Cowboys collapse.

The older threads seem to have been bogged down and then fizzled out. Given Yesterday and last night's developments, it seems a new thread would be necessary.

To sum up:
Last night the Yanks and Twins seemed to be negotiating exclusively and there were some reports that a deal was close, with a Hank Steinbrenner imposed deadline of midnight in place.

The Yanks were unwilling to include both Kennedy and Hughes in their offers.

Late last night (not long after midnight), talks between the Yankees and Twins died.

Somewhat surprisingly to some people, the Red Sox stepped in and resumed negotiations. I say surprisingly because a lot of people seemed to believe the Sox were in this only to drive up the price on the Yankees. (As if they wouldn't actually WANT the best pitcher in baseball).

Several packages were reported, but it now looks like Lester, Crisp, Masterson and Lowrie is the deal on the table.

Talks reached the point where the two teams have exchanged medical reports on Santana and Lester before turning in for the evening.

I'm still catching up myself, so feel free to correct anything in here that isn't correct.

If it's possible, perhaps you might want to find 1-2 dependable, rational posters to the forums who could serve as admins on the diaries to lock or delete posts such as the one just made by MasonDMB.
Policing the diaries to keep out the trash that you've specifically asked people not to post isn't something you should have to do and I'm sue you could find some eager volunteers.

it's official, Hamilton is NOT eligible. I have to admit, I'm rather shocked. MLB almost NEVER gets anything right, but this time they did.
Some eligible contenders...
NL
Dmitri Young
JJ Hardy
Kelly Johnson
Kaz Matsui
Oliver Perez
Rick Ankiel
Ben Sheets

AL
Jon Lester
Carlos Pena
Jose Guillen
Fausto Carmon
Casey Kotchman

Yes, yes, I'm contentious, opinionated and occasionally obnoxious, but the IBC is a great league and I'm not running it anymore (We're run by a 6 member committee since I retired this spring as Commish).
We're a 5yr old Diamond Mind Baseball league
Use DMB Projections
Daily Boxscores
Using MLB injuries
50 player roster
30 teams
Annual rookie draft
Free Cookies (not really)

The Indians and Pirates franchises are available, they and the Washington franchise will be placed in a minidraft so you'll have an opportunity to build your team the way you want it.
Contact me on AIM at brendilon or post here if you're interested.

One of the ESPN wiseguys recently put Clay Buchholz, who recently outpitched his idol Roger Clemens, as one of the top 5 pitching prospects in baseball, specifically in front of Phil Hughes.  Any thoughts, opposed to or in favor of this position?  Where do you see Buchholz in comparison to his peers?  For that matter, what about Michael Bowden, where does he rank now in your eyes?                        

Nobody has mentioned this (which is surprising) but Gary Matthews has been implicated in an illegal HGH ring.  Supposedly Matthews was getting prescriptions for the drug and having it mailed to an associate who probably passed it on to him.
I'm surprised to see that HGH actually came to the forground as quickly as this.  it's not covered in the CBA but presents many of the same benefits of anabolic steroids.  I'm not sure there will be any implications for Matthews beyond the public scrutiny and shame since the prescription was from a doctor at an 'anti-aging' clinic.
Any thoughts?

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=gyroballsearch
Got this link from Baseball Prospectus (since I never head to ESPN.com anymore).  It makes for a very entertaining read about the gyroball but, more importantly, the mystique behind the gyroball.  Basically, it's a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying... nothing.

In an interview with the Boston Globe's Gordon Edes that will air Wednesday on NESN, Red Sox GM Theo Epstein hinted that Jonathan Papelbon remains an option to be the team's closer this season.
There's some speculation that Papelbon may soon be named the team's closer, with owner Tom Werner indicating that a decision on the role had already been reached. If Papelbon is going to close, then it's likely Jon Lester, Joel Pineiro and Julian Tavarez would compete for the fifth spot in the rotation.

Not surprising really given the less than impressive talent lined up for the Closer role.  Personally, i suspect they'll have Papelbon prepare to be a starter for most of ST, then if no one really emerges as a strong candidate to close reliably, switch him over.

Daisuke Matsuzaka hinted Wednesday that he is working on a new pitch.
Not the gyroball. Agent Scott Boras indicated that Matsuazaka may be working more on a sinking fastball. Like most Japanese pitches, he's focused primarily on a four-seam fastball with little movement.
At the very least this is probably pretty good foresight on his or his advisors part.  many have speculated that his rather straight fastball could get rocked, he hasn't thrown a pitch in MLB yet and he's already anticipating a potential problem and working to mitigate it.

Our 30 team sim league just finished our Annual Rookie draft and I thought I would post the results to elicit feedback.  They're in the order each team picked in.  I know many of the members post or read here, but I'll be sure to link the comments for everyone in the league.
Thanks in advance for any feedback.
We include any players drafted in the prior draft, japanese playInternationaers who came over this season, Cuban defectors and international signees who sign (or are reported to have signed) before January 1st (though some of them got signed as FA's this year).  Most members did 5 rounds, some stopped after 2, one went 8.

DET - Daisuke Matsuzaka, RHP     Chris Marrero, OF     Max Sapp, C     Chris Huseby, RHP     Matt Latos, RHP       
TEX - Andrew Miller, LHP      Wes Hodges, 3B     Justin Masterson, RHP     Matt Sweeney, 1b     Brennan Boesch, OF     Tim Norton, RHP     Ronnie Bourquin, 3b
NYM - Tim Lincecum, RHP     Adam Ottavino, RHP     Jeff Locke, LHP     D'Arby Myers, OF     Daniel Dorn, OF       
CWS - Evan Longoria, 3b     Jason Place, OF     Matthew McBride, C     Justin Turner, 2b     Sergio Perez, RHP     Benjamin Snyder, LHP     Joshua Rodriguez, 2b/SS
WAS - Clayton Kershaw, LHP     Tony Butler, LHP     Trevor Cahill, RHP     Tom Hickman, OF     Chris Archer, RHP       
SD - Bill Rowell, 3b     Kris Johnson, LHP     Jordan Walden, RHP     Glenn Gibson, LHP      Ryan Morris, LHP     Hector Ambriz, RHP   
TB - Luke Hochevar, RHP     Steve Evarts, LHP     Drew Carpenter, RHP     Aaron Bates, 1b           
PIT - Brad Lincoln, RHP     Jon Jay, OF     Joe Smith, RHP     Josh Papelbon, RHP     Jeff Manship, RHP       
ANA - Brett Sinkbeil, RHP     Cedric Hunter, OF     Caleb Clay, RHP     Stephen Holmes, RHP     Jason Taylor, OF       
LA - Travis Snider, of     Matt Antonelli, 3B     Scott Sizemore, 2B     Brooks Brown, RHP     David Christensen, OF     Larry Suarez, RHP   
ARI - Daniel Bard, RHP     Colton Willems, RHP     Carlos Truinfel, SS     Chris Davis, 1b     Francisco Pena, C       
ATL - Dellin Betances, RHP     Kasey Kiker, LHP     Balbino Fuenmayor, 3B     Marcus Lemon, SS     Tyler Robertson, LHP       
CLE - Hank Conger, C     David Huff, LHP     Chris Errecart, OF     Blake Wood, RHP           
PHI - Pedro Beato, RHP     Ian Kennedy, RHP     Preston Mattingly, OF     Zach McAllister, RHP           
OAK - Kei Igawa, LHP     Angel Villalona, 3B     Chad Tracy, C     Mike Felix, LHP     Chris Carlson, 1B       
COL - Joba "The Hutt" Chamberlain, RHP     Cyle Hankerd, OF     Steven Wright, RHP     Hideki Okajima, LHP     Adam Cowart, RHP       
STL - Brett Anderson, LHP     Emmanuel Burris, SS     Cory Rasmus, RHP     Alexander Cobb, RHP               
CHN - Max Scherzer, RHP     Cole Gillespie, OF                       
BAL - Chris Parmelee, OF/1B     Young-Il Jung, RHP     Zech Zinicola, RHP     Chase Fontaine, SS     Josh Butler, RHP     Matt Long, RHP     Ryan Adams, SS   
KC - Akinori Iwamura, 3b     Chris Valaika, milf     George Kontos, RHP     Desmond Jennings, OF     Danny Ray Herrera, LHP     Colin Curtis, OF       
TOR - Drew Stubbs, OF     Yoslan Hererra, RHP     Mark Hamilton, 1B     Brandon Hynick, RHP     Adam Witter, C           
MIL - Kyle McCulloch, RHP     Brandon Magee, RHP     Chad Rodgers, LHP     Kyler Burker, OF     Wade LeBlanc, LHP           
FLA - Brandon Morrow, RHP     Juan Miranda, 1B     Clayton Tanner, LHP     Craig Cooper, 1b               
MIN - Greg Reynolds, RHP     Kevin Mulvey, RHP     Cody Johnson, 1B     Kevin Gunderson, LHP     Daniel Valencia, 3b           
CIN - Kyle Drabek, RHP     Adrian Cardenas, 2B     Stephen King, SS     Sean Watson, RHP     Dallas Buck, RHP     Zach Britton, LHP     Sean Black, RHP     Alex White, RHP
BOS - Lars Anderson, 1B     Chris Tillman, RHP     Joe Benson, OF     Euclides Viloria, LHP     Shelby Ford, 2b     Jason Smit, SS     Garrett Olson, 3b   
SEA - "Avery" Bryan Morris, RHP      Jermaine Mitchell, OF     Andrew Fie, 3b     Whitney Robbins, 3b     Jason Berken, RHP     David Freese, 3b       
SFG - Jeremy Jeffress, RHP     Bryce Cox, RHP     Chris Perez, RHP     Brandon Belt, LHP     Oscar Rivera           
HOU - Tyler Colvin, OF     Chad Huffman, OF     Chris Coghlan, 3B                   
NYY - Matthew Sulentic, OF     Jeff Samardzija, RHP     Mark Melancon, RHP      Kenneth Herndon, RHP     Kyle Orr, 1b           

Who would you rather have, Jon Lester or Chuck James.
Both are lefties, Lester has the edge in age (23 this season to James' 25) but James has had more success at the MLB level.
Both were B+'s in John's last book.
James has the frightening gb/fb ratio but flat out dominated throughout the minors (Career 2.09 era 5.97 h/9, .45 hr/9, 2.59bb/9, 10.54 k/9)
Lester recently had a cancer scare but is apparently in remission and has been throwing for almost a month.  he also put up very impressive numbers in the minors and is younger.
Both have two first names. So who do you think is the better pitcher?

The Astros have acquired Jason Jennings and Miguel Asencio from the Rockies for Jason Hirsh, Willy Taveras and Taylor Buchholz, FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal reports.

I'm not a huge fan of this deal for the Astros unless they're really sure they can get Jennings extended for good money (not in this market though)

Sorry about the additional Daisuke Diary, but I can't post a poll otherwise.
Assuming Daisuke signs (which I'm 90% confident of), how much will it be for?  I'm assuming that it will be for 6 years or 3 years and that if it's 3 years, the sox will be less willing to spend more money since they risk losing Daisuke to Free Agency.  I know he would be arbitration eligible but Boras would almost certainly insist on having a clause in there that would make him a free agent at that point.

Chuck James and John Maine both had impressive seasons this year, Maine in particular seemed to come out of nowhere after having been nearly written off.  Both started out in the bullpen and moved back to starting when their teams suffered injuries for NL East teams.
They had fairly similar results
Maine: 7.1k/9, 3.3bb/9, 6.84h/9 and a .89g/f ratio
James: 6.9k/9, 3.55bb/9, 7.64h/9, .50g/f
james gave up a fair number of HR's 1.5/9ip but maine gave up even more 2.5/9ip.
Who do you prefer and why?

Who would have seen a 3.45 era 1.08 whip and a 22/55/73 bb/k/ip ratios coming for Maine?  I have Maine in a sim league and hung onto him mostly out of sheer stubborness and I can't believe the production he has had.  If he qualified, his 3.45 era would be 6th in the NL, WHIP 2d, k/bb 14th, k/9 19th and his ERC of 3.12 would be third in the NL.
I haven't seen him pitch but he has obviously been a big surprise, he's 25, so not too old... how good is he really?

2.7 bb/9
6.78 k/9
2.5 K/bb

The Red Sox have signed their sedcond overall draft pick, 28th overall pick, Daniel bard
It's been a pretty satisfying draft for Sox fans.

Sox sign Bard
By Gary Dzen, Boston.com Staff

The Red Sox today announced the signing of their second pick (28th overall) in the 2006 draft, North Carolina righthander Daniel Bard. The terms of the signing were not disclosed.

Bard will report to Fort Myers on September 18 for the team's Florida Instructional League program. The 21-year-old pitcher was ranked the No. 15 overall prospect and the No. 13 pitching prospect in the draft by Baseball America.

It was unclear several weeks ago if the Red Sox would be able to sign Bard. Had he attended classes last week at North Carolina, the Sox would have lost all negotiating rights, and Bard would have gone back into next year's draft.

Bard went 3-3 for the Wareham Gatemen of the Cape Cod League in 2005, recording 82 strikeouts in 65.0 innings of work. He led the league in strikeouts and ranked third with a 1.25 ERA.

With Bard's signing, the Red Sox have signed 27 of the 54 players it selected in the 2006 First Year Player Draft, including each of its first 13 picks.

From Rotoworld.com:
Dustin Pedroia was removed for a pinch-hitter in the first game of Triple-A Pawtucket's doubleheader Monday, suggesting that he might be set to join the Red Sox.
If he's called up, it will probably be as a replacement for the injured Alex Gonzalez. He could get most of the starts at shortstop for the next couple of weeks, making him a solid play in AL-only leagues.

Pedroia, following a terrible start after wrist surgery, has raised his production to .299/.379/.414.  He's not showing much HR power, but has 22 doubles so far and his usuall 33/21 bb/k ratio.  As a sox fan, I have to admit, I've come to appreciate Gonzalez (even when he wasn't hitting well, he was playing great defense and was getting 'the little things' done) and Mark Loretta.  I don't know what the Sox plans are for pedroia next year, probably SS to replace Gonzalez, but I have very little doubt he'll be succesful at whatever he does.

Since we're all sports fans here, not just baseball fans.  Does anyone have any picks for SuperBowl XLI?

As a Pats fan I of course think there's a good chance they'll find a way to get there but my dark horse pick would be the Bengals, a team I've grown to appreciate.  I don't think the Steelers will repeat and I don't want to see the Colts come close.  I also don't think anyone in the NFC has a shot, sorry but the AFC is just better right now.

Craig Hansen was called up today in place of Jermaine van Buren.  Hard to gauge how permanent this may be, the call is probably largely a reaction to yesterday's horrendous outing by Beckett.
Hansen thus far has a 2.66 era, 17bb and 18k in 23.2IP in 7 AAA games (four starts).
he also had a 0.82era in 11ip over 5 games for AA

Kerry Wood started today against the Washington Nationals after... well, it seems like forever on the DL.

Personally, I'm taking July 4th as the date for his next DL stint.  My first instinct was actually to pick some time next week, but I figured I should be a little more optimistic than that. Any other takers?

Ok, ok, so it's not Delmon...
Dmitri Young was charged with misdemeanor domestic violence after being accused of choking his former girlfriend in the early morning hours of April 14.
Young, who didn't play Wednesday against the Twins, is expected to turn himself in to authorities on Monday under a deal worked out with prosecutors. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 93 days in jail and a $500 fine. "It's a bum deal," Young said. "Unfortunately it's public knowledge. I don't see this person any more." May. 18 - 1:26 am et
Source: Detroit Free Press

Seems like perhaps the whole family needs some anger managementn help.

The Arroyo / Wily Mo Pena trade got a pretty good amount of attention on this site and I figured it might be a good time to look at how it's going for both teams so far.
My gut reaction was in opposition when I first heard the news but I warmed to the trade pretty quickly and had a lot of hope for Arroyo breaking out in Cinci (Josh was notable in holding this opinion as well).  Thus far, I'd call Arroyo the elading candidate for NL Cy Young (I would ENVER have expected that).  He's 5-1 2.03 era with a 1.01 WHIP and a .201 BAA for a surprising Cincinnati team.  I don't think he can keep it going at this level, he's never looked THIS good before, but I do expect him to continue to pitch well for Cinci.
When Crisp went down with an injury, I was hoping Stern would get the playing time, I like Pena but wasn't comfortable with him in CF.  Well, he's looked better defensively in CF than he was in RF and in fact, has looked pretty ok (especially compared to expectations).  What's really stood out is that this kid has been hitting very, very well.  How well? how about to the tune of .325/.375/.519?  he hasn't had any trouble adjusting to the AL, indeed so far he has flourished.  I can't imagine him keeping up this pace (he's a career .255 hitter after all) but he has very much begun to endure himself to Red Sox fans and heck, hes young (24), maybe he's finally starting to put it together (I hope, I hope, I hope...)
To sum up, both teams have reason to be excited about the results of this trade, something you can't say too often.  Both players are certainly overperforming but both are proving they're talent to their new team.

Also, on a selfish note, our Keeper Diamond Mind league has one spot open, the Mets.  FYI, new members are asked to confirm their identity by e-mailing me from a work or school e-mail (you would e-mail me at ibc.commish@gmail.com from your regular e-mail and I'll provide my school e-mail for you to e-mail me at with your confirming address).  It's a step I hate to take but we have had members running multiple teams in the past secretly and it's something we'd like to avoid happening again. natsfan, cincinco and several other minorleagueball.com members are already members so drop us a line if you're interested.

We're one month into the season, who do you see so far as being the leading Candidate for the AL ROY?  I've posted some names for votes, if you think it will be someone else, post who and why.
The NL seems much stronger hitter wise, while the AL seems to have much better pitching candidates.

Not surprisingly, I think Papelbon is the guy.  Putting up exceptional numbers in a high pressure/profile role for a high pressure/profile team.

We're one month into the season, who do you see so far as being the leading Candidate for the NL ROY?  I've posted some names for votes, if you think it will be someone else, post who and why.

My personal pick would be Hanley Ramirez, partly because of the surprise factor, no on expected him to play this well this quickly.  

How does the recent Delmon Young incident effect Dukes as a prospect?
First of all, Dukes' 'troubles' have been the biggest issue as far as knocking him down on prospect lists.  With Delmon crossing way over the line, does Young drop drastically on prospect lists?  If not, it seems that Dukes would need to be re-evaluated and receive a little more slack in that area (at least from a prospect evaluation standpoint).
Dukes is also now TB's #1 OFer at AAA (since Young is suspended indefinitely).  Through 22 games, he's hitting .316/.413/.595 with 4 hr's, 3 triples, 4 doubles and 2 stolen bases with a 13/12k/bb ratio.  He's showing the power, plate discipline and reportedly has been strong defensively.  He's also shown a lot more maturity over the last year.
Is it perhaps time to bring an end to the Damon Hollins era (seriosuly, i can't believe this guy is playing still) and see just what Elijah Dukes can do?

According to WUSA-TV Washington, MLB has chosen Washington real estate magnate Theodore Lerner as the new owner of the Nationals.
The Lerner Group will edge out the groups led by Washington businessmen Fred Malek and Jeffrey Zients and Indianapolis radio tycoon Jeff Smulyan, which is probably good news. Former Braves president Stan Kasten is expected to serve as the team's president after Lerner assumes control next month. Apr. 26 - 2:15 pm et
Source: WUSA9.com

All I can say.. It's about Freakin time!

Thus far we've got two EXTREMLY impressive young closers who have yet to be scored upon.
Chris Ray 8.1 ip, 3h, 4bb 11k, 0.00 era, 0.84whip, 6 saves
Jonathan Papelbon 12.1 IP, 6h, 2bb, 10k, 0.00 era, 0.65whip ML leading 9 saves
Ray has struck out more batters (in fewer innings no less) but Paps has been sick and leads the majors in saves.
The question is, who do you think will falter first and how long before it happens?