I'm in a traditional 5x5, 25-man roster, autcion-draft, NL-only league. 

I have Jordan Shafer ($1 through 2010), who was demoted today.  I also have Gerardo Parra ($10 through 2011) who I linked to Elijah Dukes ($1 2010) when the latter went on the DL. Here's my quandary: with Schafer's demotion and Dukes's activation, I have the opportunity to split/keep Parra & Dukes, but the move would require cutting Schafer outright. I am in the running and playing for this year, but since this is a keeper league, I am concerned about dumping Schafer because of his long-term potential (and admit to worrying that Parra's hot start might not last).

I recently lost B Myers to the DL (for the season, apparently) and three up-&-comers that are available in the FA pool in my NL-only league (5x5, 25-man roster) are A Bastardo, K Medlen, and S West.  I have my thoughts on them re their potential returns for this year (I'm in 3rd out of 12, so need someone who'll stick / produce NOW) and also for the future (any of these three could be valuable in 2010-11) but would welcome input from this knowledgable crowd. So let's hear from you... How would you rank these three, and why?  Thanks!

A two-part post. First, I am looking for keeper help since in my league I can keep 15 and have 18-20 that warrant consideration. For background, we maintain rosters of 25 active players and play "traditional" 5x5 categories...12 teams in the league & a $280 salary cap.  I have several no-brainer keepers (Braun $21, R Martin $14, Utley $16, Pence $6, J Upton $4, E Dukes $1, Gallardo $5, Scherzer $1) but would value input from readers here on the following...who would you keep and -- if you have time -- why/ why not?

J Schafer $1, J Rauch $1, P Sandoval $10, M Gamel $7, C Carrasco $1, L Castillo $6, C Barmes $10, J Lannan $10, J Hanrahan $11.

I can keep four from that group and am currently leaning toward Sandoval, Schafer, Carrasco & Gamel. Tough to throw Rauch back but he's not really worth a roster spot if he's not a closer.  Does Hanrahan close this season for WAS?

Also, in my league we have rare openings (two) this season and if you're interested and could attend a live auction draft in Santa Barbara, CA post a note and I'll touch base with you... It's a great league with a 20-year history (I've been in it for 11 years).

Thanks!

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/minorleagues/prospects/y2009/

MLB.com has been rolling out their Top 50 Prospects for 2009 this week...with #50-#11 posted so far, and the Top 10 coming tomorrow. So far, The Brewers have 2 of the top 40 in Gamel @ #23 and Jeffress @ #44 (LaPorta, btw, is @ #14...ouch). I'm thinking that might be it for the Brew Crew...despite how I like Salome & Escobar, I don't see either of them in the Top 10.  Still 2 of 40 is pretty solid since if all 30 teams had equal representation there'd only be room for 1.666667 per organization.

What do you all think of these rankings (if you care) and do you agree, disagree, or ___?  Curious also what you think the roles & arrival times (to FT status) of your top few prospects might be next season.  I've been following Gamel for a couple years and have high hopes, for his bat at least!  (*Disclaimer: I have Gallardo, Braun & Gamel on my NL-only fantasy squad...*)

PS - you'll see from my TagLine that I'm a Giants fan (I grew up in the SF Bay Area), but the Brewers are another favorite of mine...love the fact that they develop players internally and succeed without the $$$$ payroll. 

Well darn, these stats aren't quite as exciting as those from the hitters I posted earlier...then again, notably absent is our three-headed monster of MadBum, Alderson, and Nicholson.  Still, there are encouraging indicators here (and yeah, yeah, I know...small sample size, weaker competition, yada*3...but hey, it's the offseason...let's enjoy what's available to us).  Check out Romo's numbers...an 18:1 K:BB ratio? That's silly...he continues to impress.  I also like what Pucetas has done.

chew, tea, discuss...

Post script: looks like Edlefsen might be better suited for the NHL. How do you hit SIX batters in 12 innings?  Wait, wait, don't tell me...I can do that math. Oh yeah, one batter, every other inning. Got it.

Hopefully my attempt at importing some WL stats is successful. I've extracted these from MLB.com, eliminated some columns of marginal importance, and taken out hitters with less than 50 ABs.  Thought it might be interesting for anyone who might not be tracking this stuff, and certainly might prompt some conversation(s) within this entertaining site.

One thing that jumped out at me is the catcher slot. Not to start a firestorm -- because I know we all love Bengie -- but in the blogsite's myriad trade discussions, what about the thought of dealing Bengie while he's arguably among the top 5 catchers in the NL?  Lots of clubs out there need a solid catcher, and we have Sandoval & Alonzo that would be a fine tandem there...and the possibility of Posey sticking there makes it even more interesting.  If we could turn Bengie into a nice SP, 1B, or, OF...maybe it's worth a thought. So, chew on these data, take a sip of tea, and talk amongst yourselves.

Oh, and I'll try to do the same thing for our pitchers later today...

First-time poster here @ McCovey Chronicles...but a lifelong Giants fan (check out my profile).  You probably track these guys as closely or moreso than I do, but I wanted to ensure the community is aware that Pablo has not only stayed hot, but increased his hotness decisively in the VWL.  Hopefully, this link will work for you...

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Pablo%20Sandoval&pos=C&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=467055

...but if not, I'll sum it up here:

17 Games; 27-for-68 (a .397 BA); 5 HR; OPS of 1.150; and a 5:8 BB:K ratio.

I acknowledge this is a relatively small sample size, but I think it does prove that his hot start in the Majors was not a fluke -- and the 5 dingers show that the power is there to turn a bunch of those doubles into HRs -- he had 48 two-baggers this year across three levels.

I think our future is very bright, and I hope we don't dump any of our cornerstone prospects (Posey, Bumgarner, Alderson, Villalona) for a short-term rental...

Well, since this is my first attempt at a post here, I'll end it there...look forward to being active in this community. Go Giants!