Taylor Guerrieri and Jose Fernandez seem to be two very similar prospects to me. Both throw mid to upper 90's/ with fernandez having what seems to be 3 above avg to plus pitches and 4th that is avg. Guerrieri seems to hav 2 plus pitches. My questions is which one do you take and why?

I understand fernandez is a year older, but i also understand Guerrieri has character concerns. Am I off base thinking they are about equal?

 

Which pitcher between Gerrit Cole, Matt Purke, Jameson Taillon, and Martin Perez would you rather have and why? Just trying to start some debate. Right now personally I would take Gerrit Cole but I dont know enough about Jameson Taillon. What are your thoughts.

Cole has the highest Ceiling I believe with what is said to be Strasburg type stuff minus the control. Purke has pitchability and a lot of Cliff Lee in him. Perez I have never seen and same with Taillon

Poll

Which one?

28%

Matt Purke

63 votes

18%

Gerrit Cole

40 votes

23%

Martin Perez

52 votes

30%

Jameson Taillon

67 votes

222 votes | Poll has closed

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/12/atlanta-interested-in-dan-uggla.html#comments

The Braves are itnerested in trading for Uggla and moving him to LF. Would Teheran and Delgado get it done? Is that too much?

 

Also is Carlos Perez in the same league as Delgado, Teheran, and Vizcaino?

The marlins say they must be overwhelmed by a division rival but if you can gain two good pitching prospects I say you do it

The draft discussion thread got me thinking and I went and looked back on 4 recent drafts, 02 03 04 and 05. For my own knowledge I wanted to see if you were better off drafting a HS kid or a college kid with your first round pick. I went through the 4 drafts and looked at each pick and my own oppinion to judge if the player lived up to first round expectations. Now these were my oppinions but I was objective and pretty hard(Thats what she said). Basically I asked myself would I be happy with this pick if this were my team. There were a few tweeners, that I told my self for anyone who I had to think about I would put under the no. I feel to consider a first rounder a success he should be more than a solid contributer to a team. For example I did not label Taylor Tankersley a hit.  He was a tweener, but I dont think you want to draft a middle reliever with your first round pick. On the other hand I considered Ryan Wagner a hit with his recent success. I did the first round and the supplemental. Heres the results:

(I will list them like this 5/8. which means 5 high school hitters were hits out of 8 HS hitter draftees)

05 Draft

• HS
  • 1st Rd - 4/7 Hitters; 1/4 pitchers
  • 1s - 0/2 Hitters; 3/7 pitchers
  • Total = 9/21
• Coll
  • 1st Rd - 5/10 Hitters; 2/9 pitchers
  • 1s - 1/3 Hitters; 2/6 pitchers
  • Total = 10/28

04 Draft

• HS
  • 1st Rd - 3/7 Hitters; 2/6 pitchers
  • 1s - 0/1 Hitters; 0/2 pitchers
  • Total = 5/16
• Coll
  • 1st Rd - 1/4 Hitters; 3/13 pitchers
  • 1s - 0/1 Hitters; 1/7 pitchers
  • Total = 5/25

03 Draft

• HS
  • 1st Rd - 4/9 Hitters; 2/3 pitchers
  • 1s - 2/2 Hitters; 1/3 pitchers
  • Total = 9/17
• Coll
  • 1st Rd - 4/11 Hitters; 3/7 pitchers
  • 1s - 0/2 Hitters; 0/0 pitchers
  • Total = 6/20

02 Draft

• HS
  • 1st Rd - 5/9 Hitters; 4/7 pitchers
  • 1s - 0/2 Hitters; 0/1 pitchers
  • Total = 5/16
• Coll
  • 1st Rd - 3/5 Hitters; 3/9 pitchers
  • 1s - 0/3 Hitters; 0/5 pitchers
  • Total = 6/21

My conclusion is that there turned out to be a higher failure rate amongst college draftees in the first round as opposed to High School draftees. More shock was the fact that first round high school pitchers had a lower failure rate than college "polished" pitchers. I believe and have believed that the bust rate for all draftees is extremely high and the "safer" college guys are not exactly safer. In fact first round high schoolers turned out to be safer.

Now the problem with this data is that it is my oppinion. I felt I was fair and if other people choose they can do their own and come back with their own info. I feel I can look at the names objectively and give my oppinion of them.

Id like to hear arguments and support so have at it.

I have been looking and can not find who signed LHP Swarling Jimenez? Can anyone help me? He was hyped as a LH Pedro.

 

Also I have not been able to find johenser cevallos and jhonaton Baez, 2 other hyped prospects. Thanks

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Last year Mike Stanton came from a 2nd round pick to 39 homers and close to .300 AVG. who will be this years mike stanton? Not who will hit 39 homers but who will come from the International scene or the draft in their debut and set the prospect scene on fire? A couple off the top of my head are Destin Hood and Isaac Galloway. I have high hopes for both of these two and cant wait to see how they progress in their debuts.

What would your team give up for Dan Uggla? Marlins of course will be looking for cheap young pitching?

Uggla's agent speaks about the future
> Posted by Mike Berardino at 9:39:09 PM

Just had an interesting (and slightly disturbing) conversation with Jeff Borris, the agent for Dan Uggla.

I already had the salary requests for Uggla ($5.35M) and the Marlins ($4.4M) in their upcoming arbitration battle, so I asked him if there had been any last-minute talk of a multiyear deal for a two-time All-Star with 90 home runs the past three years.

"The Marlins are not interested in signing Daniel Uggla to a multiyear contract," Borris said. "We always would be open to listen to anything, but they made it very clear to us they were only going to sign Hanley and Hanley alone."

That was a pretty strong statement, so I pressed Borris a bit. I wondered if he had any concerns Uggla might not be with the Marlins on Opening Day, especially if he were to win a judgment that sits nearly a full million higher than what the Fish apparently had budgeted for him. 

"I don't know what their motives are," Borris said. "They made it very clear the club will be going in a different direction."

The only question from the Uggla camp seems to be how soon that other shoe drops. With younger, cheaper options such as Emilio Bonifacio and Chris Coghlan in the fold -- and you don't go out and trade two vital cogs like Josh Willingham and Scott Olsen for Bonifacio if you have no intention of playing him at his natural position very soon -- Uggla could be on the trading block this July, if not sooner.

And how about Bonifacio? What does Borris suspect could happen with him?

"His price is right for the Marlins," Borris said.

Ouch. 

So how would you feel about Life After Uggla from a Marlins' perspective? Is all this talk about improved defense just a veiled attempt to prepare the fan base for the eventual subtraction of one of the five greatest Rule V finds ever?  

http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports_baseball_marlins/2009/01/ugglas-agent-speaks-about-the-future.html

<!-- being category labels --><!-- end category labels -->

Who are your breakout pitcher candidates for the 2009 season?

Off the top of my head, Wilmer Font, Martin Perez, Hector Correa

Some way under the radar prospects from the marlins are RHP Blake Brewer (18) and LHP Edgar Olmos (18). Both are from the 08 draft. Both are projectable at 6'5" and have room to grow and add on some size which could lead to increase in velocity (not sure of their velo right now).

After thinking about what KC has done with trading for stop gap mediocre veterans, I came up with a question: Is it better to have stop gaps and play .500 ball or let young and/or inexpensive guys play the positions and sink or swim and play .400 ball? Let me explain.

Look at what the Devil Rays did by having all those top draft picks and by making a few trades, they go from worst to the world series. By a team of mine showing me they can play .500 ball at best does not satisfy me. I would rather have the full on rebuilding mode, play poor ball, and get high draft picks. KC is not contending with these trades. I understand teams want a winning environment, but I would just rather rebuild from scrap with cheaper guys. Take the money you would have spent on crisp and jacobs and put it in the draft or International Free Agency. What is everyone elses thoughts?

Agent: Viciedo Declared Free Agent

Posted Nov. 8, 2008 2:18 pm by John Manuel
Filed under: International

Dayan Viciedo, the Cuban teenager who left the island in May seeking to become a free agent, has gotten what he wanted. His agent, Jaime Torres, said Saturday that Major League Baseball has declared Viciedo a free agent, and that major league clubs already are in hot pursuit.

The White Sox, who signed Torres’ client Alexei Ramirez last offseason, already have made an offer, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Torres said he’d received one other offer by Saturday morning and has scheduled two workouts in the Dominican Republic to further showcase his 19-year-old client this week.

When Viciedo first arrived in Miami in late May, Torres kept his arrival under wraps briefly, then announced in June that Viciedo had been in the U.S. and passed through the draft without being selected, making him a free agent. MLB wasn’t buying that argument, but even though Viciedo had been in the U.S., Torres was able to establish his residency in a third country, the D.R. Now he’s also gone through the unblocking process and is free to sign.

Torres said two other talented Cubans he represents, junior team defectors Noel Arguellez, a lefthander, and Jose Iglesias, a shortstop, are still going through "paperwork" to establish third-country residency and go through the "unblocking" process, a procedure aimed at preventing Cubans from funneling money back to Raoul Castro’s government.

Here’s our original scouting report on Viciedo:

Born in March 1989, Viciedo is listed at 6-foot-1, 210 pounds, but reports are that he was bigger than that last year at the World Junior Championship in Mexico. Viciedo has excellent power and hitting ability, however, with one scout comparing him to Giants prospect Angel Villalona. He slugged over .500 two of the last three seasons in Cuba’s Serie Nacional, its top-level league, hitting 14 homers in 2005-2006—as a 16-year-old—in his best season.

"His body could go the same route as Livan Hernandez, and when I saw him in Mexico, he wasn’t very good at third base anymore," one international scouting director said. "But he can really hit; in fact, I think he’s probably a better hitter than Villalona."

Villalona received a $2.1 million bonus from the Giants in 2006.

Another scout who had seen Viciedo was less enthused about him as a player, pegging him as a first baseman-only hitter with a bad body. "You know everybody liked Kendry Morales," the scout said, referring to the Angels’ Cuban DH/first baseman, "and he had some other tools. But his body’s gone south and he’s pretty much just a DH. So I think it’s premature to get too excited about this guy."

Viciedo burst on the scene as a 15-year-old, when he was MVP of the World Junior Championships. In Serie Nacional in 2005-2006, he made the all-star team while playing for Villa Clara. His Villa Clara manager, former national team star Victor Mesa, told Cuba’s Granma news in 2006 that Viciedo has “a good arm and tremendous power. He’s got excellent technique, but at the same time is surprisingly calm for his young age and very secure in defense.”

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=1789

 

What are some thoughts on this kid? The kid is lazy but can hit the crap out of the ball. Sounds a lot like a potential miguel cabrera.

I was wondering if anyone had an update on any international signings? I saw an subscriber article on ba and was wondering if anyone could let us know of the names of the signed people. Please dont post the article, just an update on who signed. thanks                                                filler  filler    filler  filler   filler  filler       filler  filler    filler  filler   filler  filler    filler  filler    filler  filler   filler  filler  filler  filler    filler  filler   filler  filler    filler  filler    filler  filler   filler                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

I was wondering if anyone else watched the game and what their thoughts were. I didnt get to watch the entire game but I came away with these thoughts from what I did see:

The 09 draft class is loaded with pitchers.

6'7" LHP Tyler Matzek appears to be the head of the high school class hitting 93 consistently.

LHP Matt Purke looked equally impressive throwing in the low 90's and topping out at 95.

RHP Jacob Turner was throwing in the low 90's and recorded 5 strikeouts in 2 innings.

6'8" RHP Chad Thompson impressed me more than most. I imagine this guy will be a top 10 pick with as much projectability as he has already throwing in the low 90's and hitting 94. Hes really skinny right now so as he fills out and fixes his mechanics he should be throwing in the upper 90's.

RHP Mychal Givens really impressed me as well. I havent heard to many people raving about his pitching and i always here people talk about him as a SS. But he was hitting 95-96 consistently and topped out at 97. I even read somewhere they said he topped out at 98 but I did not see it. I dont think anyone in their right mind drafts him as a SS. HS kids throwing 96 are rare. I was very impressed with him and see him as a top 10 pick as well.

OF Donovan Tate was impressive as well and displayed some power. I saw him hit a bad pitch to the warning track.

Overall Im impressed with this crop and I personally believe this will be an excellent draft class more pitching dominant. Probably similar to the 07 draft.

Logan Morrison has reeled off a few hitting streaks this season, but none as condensed as his effort this weekend.

Morrison collected a hit in his eighth consecutive at-bat as part of a 4-for-5 five-RBI effort Sunday, powering the Jupiter Hammerheads top the Palm Beach Cardinals, 12-8, at Roger Dean Stadium.

Coming off a 4-for-4 game on Saturday, the 20-year-old first baseman extended his "hits" streak to eight at-bats before taking a called third strike in the eighth inning. He drilled two-run homers in the first and third, lined an RBI double in the fourth and singled and scored in the sixth.

"I'm happy, but there's always room for improvement," Morrison said. "You can't be too happy or else you'll think you know everything."

For eight plate appearances, Morrison did appear all-knowing, though he downplayed the streak.

"It's nice, but at the same time, I wasn't worried about it," he said. "You're just trying to get a hit and dealing with the present."

The former 22nd-round Draft pick is 24-for-44 (.546) with four homers and 11 RBIs during an 11-game hitting streak. Both of Sunday's roundtrippers came off Cardinals starter Brad Furnish.

"In the the first AB, he was working me in and he threw me a changeup and over the plate," Morrison recalled. "I just recognized it and hit over the fence in right-center."

He came to the plate in the third, looking for a heater.

"He went away first and then the next pitch, it was a fastball in," Morrison said. "I was waiting for him to come back in."

It was the fourth four-hit performance of the season for the Kansas City native, who has 16 hits in his last six games. Sunday's effort was the third time he has driven in at least four runs.

"I've just been loose and relaxed, getting my pitches to hit," he said. "I'm not swinging at balls and I'm being patient."

Morrison strung together a 15-game hitting streak from June 5-24 after recording an 11-game run from April 20-May 12.

"I'm staying on balls, I'm not being afraid to be jammed," said Morrison, who leads the Florida State League with a .355 batting average, nearly 100 points higher than his 2007 mark. "I'm not pulling off and trying to hit home runs."

Still, the long balls are coming. He ranked third in the Marlins' Minor League system with 24 homers last season and participated in Home Run Derby at this year's FSL All-Star Game.

"I wanted to not worry about the home runs this year," he said. "If they come, they come. And they've come lately."

Morrison surpassed a 3-for-4, four-RBI effort against Daytona on April 27 but said he tries not to dwell on past performances.

"It's not what you did in the past, it's what you're doing in the present," he said. "I don't really think about the streaks unless someone tells me. My cousin will text me and say, 'Hey you've hit in whatever games,' and I'm like, 'OK, thanks.' I don't really know about them otherwise."

Morrison split his rookie season between the Gulf Coast League and short-season Jamestown in 2006. He hit .267 with 24 homers and 86 RBIs as a South Atlantic League All-Star last season at Greensboro before earning a promotion to Jupiter this spring.

All-Star Jeff Allison (7-7) recorded the win, despite giving up five runs on seven hits over five innings.

Furnish (7-8), a former second-round pick, was charged with six runs on seven hits over four frames.

Matthew Arburr and Charles Kingrey each drove in three runs for Palm Beach (20-21).

Logan Morrison has got to be climbing up prospect ladders. He seems to be advanced in maturity as a hitter just as porcello is as a pitcher. Already realizing he doesnt have to go for homeruns everytime up and accepting that they will come. This is what makes elite hitters like pujols for example. I am more impressed with a guy who will hit 25-30 homeruns and bat .330 vs a guy who hits 40 homeruns and hits .260. Where does morrison rank in your eyes? Top 75 prospects? how bout among firstbaseman?

From BA:

International signing period updates

Posted Jul. 24, 2008 3:27 pm by Ben Badler
Filed under: Daily Dish, International

Nearly every team has signed players from the international signing period, which began on July 2 and ends next month. Baseball America has learned of a few key signings, though these updates are not comprehensive.

The Braves signed Dominican lefty Carlos Perez for a bonus believed to be $600,000. Perez was frequently showcased with righthander Michel Inoa, who signed with the A’s for a record $4.25 million. Perez, who is 6-foot-2, 180 pounds, showed an 88-91 mph fastball, a changeup and some feel for a curveball.

Atlanta also signed a pair of players from Taiwan: catcher Meng-Hsiu Tsai and righthander Wei-Cheng Huang. Both bonuses are believed to be low six-figure deals.

The Mets signed a few international players this year, the most notable of whom is Dominican third baseman Aderlin Rodriguez, who signed for $600,000.

The Pirates signed Colombian shortstop Yhonathan Barrios, who has a projectable bat but will likely move to third base. The Pirates also landed outfielder Exidardo Cayones for what scouts say was a $400,000 bonus. Cayones is athletic, has good mobility and a 45 arm on the 20-80 scouting scale.

 

If you know of any other updates please post them. Nice to see the Pirates dipping into the Latin America a little more

Bryan Peterson, 22, of the marlins was recently promoted to AA Carolina. He was drafted by the marlins in the 2007 draft. He was hitting .301 with 19 hr, 58 rbi, and 15 sb in high A to go along with a .922 ops.  At AA he is off to a hot start hitting .471 with 6 rbi in 13 ab.

What are everyones thoughts on this guy as I have not heard of him until today. Is he a legit prospect or just a mirage? What was said about him before the draft?

I was hoping we could use this thread to keep updates of all the international signings going on. Everyone can post any updates or any sources they find on theyre teams website or something. I have this so far:

http://www.saberscouting.com/2008/07/02/july2update/

July 2nd Morning Update

July 2nd, 2008<!-- by kileymcd --> · 29 Comments

By Kiley McDaniel

There has been intrigue, rumors, and large amounts of money flying around with the opening of the signing period for nearly all of the top 16 year olds in Latin America beginning this morning.

Some scouts and agents started posting in the comments of the scouting reports article and 100 comments later, it turned into a liveblog of sorts of international rumors and facts. It’s still a comments section, so take it with a grain of salt, but there’s some good stuff in there.

ESPN Deportes broke the story that both the Rangers and Reds offered $5 million to Michel Inoa, but he stuck with the A’s offer of $4.25 million because of his comfort with their organization and confidence in their pitcher development system.

The Reds offered a $5 million big league deal and the Rangers went to $5.2 million in a standard minor league deal.

I had heard a few other teams involved on the high end of the Inoa sweepstakes, but the Reds and Rangers had the most buzz all along and now it’s clear why. This is proof that these teams are serious about Latin America, and also underlines a common July 2nd occurrence that I’ll touch on after the jump.

Read on for much more on these developments, and an early list of July 2nd signings after the jump…

EDIT: I’ve added some updated signings and bonus information.

(Michel Inoa photo credit: Victor Perez/ESPNDeportes.com)

Some notes on done deals, or at least the ones that have leaked out so far, beyond Inoa’s $4.25 million to Oakland:

ESPN Deportes tags a few signings on the end of the Inoa story:

- LHP Carlos Perez to Atlanta for $600,000
- SS Anderson Felix to the Yankees for $500,000
- RHP Pedro Martinez to San Diego for $150,000
- SS Jimmy De Los Santos to Atlanta for $100,000

Mentioned in the comments and later confirmed:

- 3B Gustavo Pierre to Toronto
- SS Jose Osoria to Cleveland for $575,000

Padres.com has a press release on the elite talent San Diego has locked up:

- RHP Adis Portillo, $2.2 million
- SS Alvaro Aristy
- RF Luis Domoromo, $1.2 million
- RHP Elvin Tavarez
- UT Corey Adamson

The Padres aren’t messing around, with a spanking new $8.5 million academy in the Dominican and getting some top talent on the first day of the open period. You can check the release for info on the players, like Adamson, who is from Australia and I have little information on.

Aristy, Domoromo, and Portillo were long rumored to be headed to the Padres and are covered in the international scouting reports article. Tavarez, and many of these other players, have bios in Enrique Rojas’ international preview for ESPN Deportes.

Hat tip to commenter Paul, who led me to the link and mentioned some numbers that have been rumored for the last few weeks, and I was able to confirm Portillo’s and Domoromo’s bonuses, while Aristy is strongly rumored to have signed for $1 million and Adamson is said to have been paid in the $500,000 range, but I wasn’t able to get a solid number for Tavarez.

Padres exec Paul DePodesta has his own thoughts on the Padres July 2nd signees at his blog.

The Yankees have also made their signees official:

- INF Giancarlo Arias
- C/3B Jackson Valera
- OF Ramon Flores
- SS Anderson Felix
- RF Yeico Calderon

As mentioned above, Felix was for $500,000, and all of these players were fringe seven figure talents that the Yankees locked up early in the process. While the bonuses aren’t clear yet for all of these players, it appears all five were for below-market, value-type deals between $500,000 and $900,000.

Calderon, Flores, and Arias have reports in the scouting reports article, but, in short, all are excellent hitters with corner player type skills, though Arias may stick at second base. Felix is a hitability shortstop with gap-to-gap power likely moving to second base, and Valera keeps with the theme as a very good bat with plus power but no clear position.

The Yankees focused on guys with high-probability bats that they were able to get at below-market prices, all in an exploding market. This is a dynamic I’ll touch in the next article as the teams that were ahead of the curve and spending a lot of money in Latin America for many years are now trying to find ways to get solid values in a crowded market.

The big market, established teams are the ones with the infrastructure in place to pull off something like the Yankees did; the experienced scouts, relationships, reputation, know-how, etc. Notice how none of the traditional Latin powers are on these big, seven-figure talents, that it’s all relatively new teams trying to make a name for themselves. I’m sure the Mariners, Braves, Red Sox, and Mets list of signees will look pretty similar to that Yankees list.

The Rangers would be considered by some to be a traditional power (others would say it’s the group listed aboce), but it’s not uncommon for players to take less money on July 2nd from a scout/team they are comfortable with, that have a track record with the player, reputation, and tradition. Every year, a team wanting to make a splash makes a late play for top players and gets rebuffed, it just doesn’t always make the papers. While sometimes the player/agent take the money, taking less money is more common than many fans may assume. This open market doesn’t necessarily work like the MLB free agent market, and that’s part of the intrigue.

In the same vein, some good players never get seen by these other teams and some big market teams will get a player for $100,000 that they would’ve paid up to $500,000 for. Obviously, that becomes less and less common by the day. The days seem to be over where teams get a discount because a player grew up wanting to play for them; the scout that knew them when they were 12 is the new best way to get a player for a good value, hence the rush by many teams in the last few years to get the infrastructure of the big market teams in place.

The Braves made two signings in Taiwan, hat tip to reader George L.:

- RHP Wei-Chen Huang for $125,000.
- C Meng-Hsiu Tsai for $100,000

Reported by the Taiwan Baseball Blog, Huang is an 18 year old righty at 6′0, 185 lbs with a fastball that tops out at 90, with a curve and change. Here are some pictures on his agent’s web site of his press conference

Also from the Taiwan Baseball Blog, Tsai is a 5′11, 190 pound that shows an above-average arm and reportedly had interest from the Red Sox, Twins, and Mariners, as well.

While I finish up the next article about the Latin market and bonuses, along with gathering more confirmed signings, take a look at the notes article I wrote to introduce the July 2nd signing period with some numbers and a general feel for the process.

We also have a number of Latin sources posting confirmed numbers in the comments for this article and the ones before it.  I can’t confirm all of these, but the commenters haven’t been proven wrong yet, so if you’re looking for news on your team, take a look.

I have been running a shadow system for the florida marlins for the past 3 years. this year I drafted justin smoak even though I have Logan Morrison. My question is who is the better prospect? I know most people will say hands down justin smoak but Logan Morrison is thought to have 30-40 hr power, I would give the edge to smoak on defense although I dont know anything about morrison's defense. Who is the better prospect? and also can logan morrison play the outfield?

I was thinking about the rays and their option for the draft this year. I know this will not happen but hear me out and let me know what you think.

With there being no number 1 guy this year why not draft someone like alvarez and low ball him. Hope he doesnt sign and then next year get the first pick and take stephen strasburg? Now I know a lot can go wrong and you shouldnt gamble on next year but I think this would be a gutsy move and the right move. If alvarez signs then you get him for cheap.

You can also go overslot on round 2 and round 3 picks. Maybe get gerrit cole in round 2 or another top prospect who falls because of signability.

My concern is by doing this would the Rays get pick 1A or pick 1B next year?

Michael Stanton was a 2007 2nd round pick of the marlins last year. He started off hot in low-a but has since cooled off. His line currently stands at .267/.377/.494 with 10 hr. The scary thing about him is his 71/10 k/bb rate. The guy does have a high ceiling though. I was wondering what everyones thoughts were. I found this on project prospoect about him:

"Michael Stanton, OF, 11/8/1989, Low-A, Florida Marlins: Stanton is a 6-foot-1 soft tossing lefty reliever. He has good command and is very tough against left-handed hitters. Wait a minute, wrong Mike Stanton. This Mike Stanton is an 6-foot-5 multi-sport talent who was taken 76th overall in the 2007 draft out of high school. Stanton is a very athletic player with big power potential -- and can currently handle center-field. He struggled mightily in his pro debut, but his raw potential is far too great to just look at that 56 AB sample size. Stanton will start the 2008 season in Low-A Greenboro, where he will be the 4th youngest player in the level. He certainly has a chance to struggle again in his first full season, however if he puts up numbers from the start and continues to produce, there is no doubt that he has the highest ceiling of any player listed here. Stanton is the type of player who could eventually be a top 10 prospect if all goes right and he lives up to his steep potential. Definitely watch this one."

http://www.projectprospect.com/article/2008/04/14/deep-dynasty-fishing-12-names-to-follow

What are your thoughts on him and what kind of ceiling do you think he has. The marlins are assembling some good young hitters in their system with Stanton, Logan Morrison, Matt Dominguez and not to forget Maybin.

I know Volstad gets some talk, but I personally believe these three pitchers are three of the most underrated pitching prospects. Tucker and Thompson never get much talk and Volstad gets nothing but ripped everywhere I read. But here they are sneaking up on everyone this year.

Volstad: 2-0 2.90 31 IP 21/10 K/BB 3.35 GO/AO!

Tucker: 1-1 1.30 27.2 IP 27/9 K/BB

Thompson: 0-2 2.84 25.1 IP 16/16 K/BB 2.93 GO/AO

These guys are really starting to show their potential from when the marlins took them in the first round. I personally was never really high on Tucker, but he has really suprised me this year. I also have not included West who has the most potential of all of them just that hes battling an injury.

The giants sure are putting the saying "you never have enough pitching" to the test. Already hosting a rotation of cain and lincecum, with bumgarner alderson and sosa as top prospects in the minors, along with waldis joaquin, wilber bucardo, and jose valdez(a sleeper) as some darkhorse candidates in the minors. The only sure thing out of this appears to be lincecum and cain(who im not positive will be an ace, although I do hope he is). Alderson appears promising and polished, with bumgarner showing his ceiling. Sosa appears to have #2 or #1 stuff. Joaquin throws hard but is probably better suited for the pen. Bucardo I like a lot and is a good ground ball pitcher but is a ways away. Valdez is just a sleeper who had a good k rate along with good projectability.

My purposal will upset a lot of giants fans but what if they take another pitcher. I agree they do not need one, but imagine the draft comes, and our choice is between crow, matusz, smoak, skipworth, and alonso (or any combination of these guys). I dont believe crow will be there but if he is, I think the giants should take him. Hes got number 1 stuff and would be dynamite with cain and lincecum. 

Now on to the real business. Crow is gone. Matusz, smoak, alonso, skipworth. First lets break down a smoak selection. 1st baseman with not much average but big time power and big time glove. I know you dont count your chickens before they hatch but villalona is there and I would hate to move him again (Although I think he should have been put in left field anyways). You take best talent and dont worry about future logjam, but the thought is there. Now alonso, not much defense good average, average power. I think he would be a reach here but that is my oppinion. I dont believe he will hit over 25 or 30 homers a season and Id prefer he be a .320 hitter if his power will be average. Skipworth, I dont like catchers in the first round let alone that high. Now if hes mauer or martinez Id kick myself but people dont even know if he will stick at catcher, and then you have yourself another 1st baseman. Now onto matusz. Cain is not a proven ace in my oppinion, lincecum is pitching like one, but that is still a dynamic 1-2 punch for now and into the future.  Alderson and Bumgarner are in A ball, you never know what can happen, though you have high hopes. Sosa is injured and may not be a top notch starter in the bigs. The rest are ? marks. By taking matusz you have a fast riser who has been projected anywhere from a #1 to a #3. Im not a scout and havent seen him, but if the giants project him to be a #1 why not grab him. Its a potential rotation of 5 number 1's or 2's. They have villalona, noonan, fairly, burriss, culberson all coming up. They can get more bats in the supplemental and 2nd round. Dont pass on the pitcher just because we have a lot. But iguess the same case can be made for smoak. And if all these guys pan out, then you have the best rotation and bullpen in the league. even with average hitting that team is world series contenders. 

Ive been doing my yearly research on the 08 draft and since Ive been reading ive had the understanding that melville was the top hs pitching prospect. After reading some scouting reports and watching some footage cole appears to be hands down the top hs arm of the 08 draft. Cole is 6'3" with a fastball that sit 95-98, with a plus slider and changeup, and armed with above average control. Melville meanwhile sits 88-91 in his last start, topping out at 93. Hes 6'5" 200 so a little more projectable. Hes got an average knuckle curve and an average changeup. Hes got below average control.

In my oppinion its not even close. Cole is hands down a better highschool pitcher. I wouldnt touch melville in the top 10. All hes really got going for him is projectability. What are your oppinions? and is there anyone else who you think is better than cole or at least comparable to him?

I was wondering where everyone would rank this years top pitching prospects compared to last years. We could even rank the high school guys seperate from the college. Most importantly Im wondering about these 3: Tim Melville, Alex Meyer, and Garrit Cole.

My rankings look like this (this is based purely on what I have read):

High School Only

Rick Porcello
Jarred Parker
Madison Bumgarner
Tim Melville
Tim Alderson
Garrit Cole
Blake Beavan
Micheal Main
Alex Meyer

That is all I can think of right now. Please let me know what you guys think

I was wondering if anyone could give me some scouting information on a seattle mariners pitching prospect ramon romeijn. How hard does he throw? does he have any plus pitches? is he highly thought of in seattle? thanks guys                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

I dont know if anyone has seen it yet on Baseball America blogs but the 2008 16 yr old bonus babies are already being talked about. This appers to be a historic class with some signing bonus records to be set. The most intriguing player in my mind is 6'7 rhp Micheal Inoa who is only 16 years old and already throwing 91-92 and hitting 94. This kid appears to set a record for pitchers, Im making an early guess at $2 million. Heres the link:
http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=733#more-733

Heres a link for more info on some of these guys:
http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=737#more-737

I will post more when I find them.

Considering this is a downtime for prospect talk, I figured we could get a little talk going about 2008 draft prospects. In my oppinion this is looking like a deep draft. Ive already come up with a mini-big board, all the info I have on guys is the stuff I read but here is my mini-big board:

1. 3B Pedro Alvarez
   
2. RHP Tim Melville HS
   
3. 1B Justin Smoak
   
4. SS Tim Beckham HS
   
5. LHP Brian Matusz
   
6. 1B Eric Hosmer HS
   
7. C Kyle Skipworth HS
   
8. RHP Tyson Ross
   
9. RHP Aaron Crow
   
10. RHP Alex Meyer HS
    
11. RHP Aaron Schafer
    
12. RHP Michale Pallazone HS
    
13. C Kyle Hightower HS
    
14. SS Harold Martinez HS
    
15. RHP BJ Hermsen HS
    
16. OF Isaac Galloway HS
    
17. RHP Garrit Cole HS
    
18. SS Brandon Crawford

Whats everyones oppinion and who are some guys im missing.

I found this article too on Eric Hosmer http://www.pgcrosschecker.com/2007/columnists/davidrawnsley/weeklycolumn/hosmer_special_hitter.aspx

The guy looks like a top prospect and if he didnt play first base he would possibly be the 2nd pick.

Ive heard Alvarez is one of the best hitting prospects to come out in the past 20 years.

And Ive also read that Matusz is only behind Santana in stuff right now!

What are everyones thoughts?

The trading of draft picks in major league baseball is an interesting topic that I was thinking about today. Of course it would spice up the draft and be another trading chip for playoff contendors to ship and rebuilding teams to gain. My wuestion is, what is the value of a "future" draft pick. For example, lets say it is June 20, 2008. The 2008 draft is over and the Giants find themselves out of playoff contention. Could Noah Lowry fetch a first round pick? second round pick? Of course with arbitration this could not happen because some teams may not have a first round pick.

But what would be the value of a first round pick? On a top 100 prospect list, where would you draw the line and say instead of this prospect, I want the first round pick? Instead of prospect number 45 I want the first round pick.

Of course this topic is to generate discussion, I was just wondering what everyones thoughts were on this topic.

In this "virtual" trade, everyone can be traded, including 2007 draftees. And lets all remember that this is a real life trade, considering we are all prospect hounds we tend to overvalue them and undervalue major leaguers.

This is a marlins/tigers trade redo.

Tigers start the conversation with the Marlins and the Marlins say Cabrera is worth Miller and Maybin PLUS more. I think we all believe this to be fair, in my oppinion the marlins are getting ripped but thats ok. Marlins say Im gonna need Miller, Maybin, and Porcello out of this deal but we will offer more. Offer is now

Marlins get:
Miller
Maybin
Porcello

Tigers get:
Cabrera
Willis

Tigers decline

Marlins up the offer

Marlins get:
Porcello
Maybin
Miller

Tigers get:
Cabrera
Willis
Kevin Gregg
Aaron Thompson

In my oppinion this works and in a way the tigers win and pretty easily.

The tigers are getting a build-your-team-around 3rd baseman whos bat is top 3 in the game in Miguel Cabrera. They get, at worst, an innings eating lefty who is 26 and just a few years ago won 22 games. (lets not forget willis was messed up by kranitz messing with his mechanics). They get a cheap good closer who is only 28 and can be used as a stud setup man or replace todd jones now or in the future. And with the involvement of thompson, the tigers are only downgrading procello in a way. They give up Porcello for a 20 yr old lefty who may be able to contribute in 2008 who has the ceiling of a #2, thats CEILING. Plus he is closer to the bigs than porcello, although we all know porcello has unmatched potential, he still has yet to throw a pitch.

What are thoughts, remember to think like a major league gm. Remember that the tigers are here to win now and this deal solidifies them for now and in the future. Willis is 26, Cabrera is 23, Gregg is 28 or 29, and Thompson is 20.

TOP TEN
PROSPECTS

1. Angel Villalona, 3b
   
2. Tim Alderson, rhp
   
3. Madison Bumgarner, lhp
   
4. Nate Schierholtz, of
   
5. Henry Sosa, rhp
   
6. Nick Noonan, 2b/ss
   
7. Eugenio Velez, of/2b
   
8. Wendell Fairley, of
   
9. John Bowker, of
   
10. Emmanuel Burriss, ss

I dont know about everyone else but I am really excited about the giants future. They could potentially have a dominant rotation. I know there arent any hitters coming anytime soon, but I have a feeling the next two drafts could bring in a couple top hitters. 2011 and forward looks bright for San Fran

I have been thinking about starting a sort of real life imaginary league where people will pick which team they want (all minors leagues included with that team) and we do sort of a reality version of fantasy baseball. We do not do 5 x 5 leagues, instead we take baseball prospectus and we add up our wins we would get from each player on our team. For example, I got the Tigers, By aquiring Cabrera, I gained 8.3 wins(round down and make it 8). And we search baseball prospectus for every guys win worth. So throughout the season we have full control over our entire organization. Now if Im the yankees and midway through the season I want Bedard, I give up prospects for bedard, I sacrifice future for wins now. I know there may be potential problems with this, but it would be as real as we could get. We would run the draft and international signing period. Each team would be assigned a budget for international signings and the mlb draft to keep things fair.

My question is can we get this information from baseball prospectus or Pecota? I have looked before and do not know how to find it or if we can. But I have read on web sites that "Pecota ranks this guy worth 4.7 wins." If this is possible please let me know how to do it. Thanks