OK, so I've seen the graphic logo for this web site for the last year, and when I've stopped to think about it I usually think how un-minor league this guys looks.  He looks like a guy in his mid-30s who has bulked up in order to cash in on some DH contract.  Then just today it hit me:

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Let's leave aside the superstar prospects like Felix or Billingsley or Verlander or Cain.  I want to get a community opinion on the next tier of guys, the ones who might pitch soon but probably won't be up until 2007, and then might not really stick until 2008+.  Looking at John's ratings, I see the next big group to be from the five guys I've put in the polls.  Discussion of my opinions after the break.

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I love how online advertisers know exactly how to appeal to the male sports fan's mind. So when you go to your fantasy baseball site, chances are you'll see some banner ads for gambling sites. How do you know it's an ad for a gambling site? It has a picture of a barely-dressed woman. What's the connection? Hormonal...

So about that new ad we see on this site, the one with the naked woman "wearing" only a heart-shaped box of chocolates held in a strategic position? I have four thoughts:

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One thing we all want is for this great site of John's to grow and prosper. The more web traffic he gets, the better the ad rates, the more money he can make, the more time he has to research and report and hang out with us.

Well, by noticing the most heavily-trafficked diaries over the past few weeks, I think I have come up with the killer diary. The diary that will drive traffic to this site like no other. The combination of people and ideas that will cause an explosion of interest:

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When a pitcher moves up the minor league ranks, you can expect some typical behavior.  A flamethrower who mows them down in the A- and AA- level, still gets his strikeouts in AAA and in the majors, but usually at a lower rate.  A pitcher's control over his walks can come back to bite a highly thought of pitcher when he reaches the major leagues.  Ideally you get a pitcher who gets strikes and doesn't issue many walks.  That way when they get to the bigs, he might only strike out 6 or 7 per 9IP, but by not walking many he sets himself up for success.

That's typical.  And then there's Felix...

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I won't post John's revised lists for obvious reasons, but newsletter subscribers got them in the mail over the last few days.  All I'm saying is that as a Felix-Verlander-Billingsley owner, I'm as happy as can be.

But I have some questions about some pitchers who did not make the revised list (or the original 2005 list for that matter).  I'm curious what the readership here thinks of their progress and chances.

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Seattle paper story

Is there a doctor in the house?  How serious is this for Felix Hernandez?  He'll miss his next start and then...?

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I play in a few leagues, but my main one is a H2H points-based league where the scoring rules so favor the pitchers that any fool who can hurl a ball can help you.  That means the competition for top pitchers is huge. So this is the one league, and I mean the ONLY league, where I emphasize pitching in my minor league draft.  15-man ML rosters, so you can speculate deep.  What I do is take what John says and only go for B, B+, A-, or A players.  I look for top of the rotation starters, and guys who dominate.  If only every fourth guy comes through, I'm set.

Well, my draft is done, and here is who I have.  I like them all, but maybe you can point out one or two who is not quite as good as the rest.  I need trade bait, after all, so your opinions will help!

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What if you have a bunch of picks in your upcoming keeper league ML draft, and you were really high on Miller before his injury.  Do you still take him knowing that you can keep a guy on your ML roster as long as you want?  Or will his injuries derail his early career enough to not make it worth bothering?

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When you are in a shallow league, you can skim the cream of the crop for minor leaguers.  Nothing but A-rated players for you, thank you very much.  But what about those of us in deeper leagues?  What do you do when you reach the end of the Top 100 lists, and there's nothing but low-rated players remaining from C to sagging C.  (OK, that was a terrible pun)  What you do is learn to dig deep.

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