the Giants have added former top prospect Angel Villalona to their 40-man roster.

Villalona, who received a club-record $2.1 million signing bonus as a 16-year-old in 2006, hasn’t played professionally in over two years after being accused of killing a 25-year-old man in a Dominican Republic nightclub in September of 2009. Charges were eventually dismissed as part of a $139,000 settlement with the victim’s family, but Villalona sued the Giants for $5 million earlier this summer claiming they violated the terms of his contract following his arrest. After the two sides settled the lawsuit in September, the Giants were prepared to welcome him back into the organization.

I'm curious as to what the MinorLeagueBall community thinks of Villalona's chances of succeeding.  He's still only 21 years old, and he was a top shelf prospect prior to these troubles.

  My hunch is that within two years, Villalona will be generating excitement.  Assuming his tools are intact, I think Villalona can still be a sucessful Major Leaguer.

Pursuant to a discussion which developed in the initial Hosmer call-up thread, I thought it would be a good chance to spur conversation.  Eric Hosmer, assuming he develops as expected, will likely be beyond the price range of the KC Royals at maturity.  This is nothing new to small market clubs, and most have taken to signing their young stars early, offering financial security in exchange for buying out prime years at what are likely discount rates (never forget the marginal value of your first $20M or so.)   The most extreme example so far is likely Evan Longoria, who was signed long-term almost immediately after debuting in MLB.  In the article below, Hosmer's agent Scott Boras seems to put the kibosh on the idea. 

Were you KC, what would you do?  Generally, do you think large-scale investment in largely unproven commodities is a worthwhile strategy?

Agent Scott Boras, who represents Hosmer, scuttled those hopes Thursday by telling Yahoo! Sports that baseball’s changing financial picture argues against such an extension at this time.

“Athletes have to know that you have to look at the market you’re in,’ Boras said. “You can’t look at the markets of the past. For players like Hosmer, as you go back and look, as (Mark) Teixeira had his own market and (Prince) Fielder had his own market, Hosmer will have his own.

“And something tells me it's going to be a rather eventful one.”

The Royals have not expressed any interest publicly in signing Hosmer to the type of long-term deal as a rookie that Tampa Bay negotiated in 2008 with third baseman Evan Longoria.

Boras’ message seems clear: Don’t bother trying. He cited the anticipation of increased television revenues in coming years that should impact Hosmer’s expected eligibility for arbitration after 2013 and free agency after 2017.

“The arbitration markets and free agent markets are going to be vastly different,” Boras predicted. “Sports are not DVR’d. People stay and watch it. They don't flip channels. There's a broader way of understanding the market. There's huge values in sports broadcasting rights.”

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/05/12/2871403/royals-notebook-coleman-says-first.html#ixzz1MEUfucRo

The Angels have DFA'd Brandon Wood.  While not a prospect in the proper sense of the term, Wood presents an interesting case due to his consistently strong AAA performance and his utter ineptitude so far in MLB.  I've created this thread to ask:

1. Does anybody still hold out hope for Wood salvaging his MLB career?

2. Is there a team which might present a good fit for Wood going forward?

3. Assuming Wood is a Quad-A player, what red flags are there that we might learn from going forward?

While most point to Wood's AAA k rate as a red flag, it was no worse than Mark Reynolds'.  Wood still has a glove that plays at SS or 3B (though, it looks as though he's more of a 3b going forward.)  Personally, I'm of the mind that if given an extended look in the Majors (the Alex Gordon treatment), Wood may well break through and turn into something resembling Brandon Inge. 

What says the community?

Reports indicate that the New York Mets have hired Sandy Alderson to be their GM.  Alderson was previously the GM of the Oakland A's from 1983-1997, and was in large part responsible for building both the late 80's dynasty and the early-00's Moneyball A's.  

What effect is this likely to have on the Mets farm system and player development?  Will they stop fast-tracking players so often?  Will they draft differently?

Roy Halladay threw a no-hitter against the Reds in game 1 of the NLDS.  Wow!  Only 104 pitches!

Tie-in to the minors: The Jays did a great job overhauling Halladay's mechanics in AAA, right? 

umm.... which pitcher is most likely to perform this incredibly unlikely feat first?

I wish Roy Halladay was a Met. I wish Roy Halladay was a Met. I wish Roy Halladay was a Met. I wish Roy Halladay was a Met. I wish Roy Halladay was a Met.

I wish Roy Halladay was a Met. I wish Roy Halladay was a Met. I wish Roy Halladay was a Met. I wish Roy Halladay was a Met. I wish Roy Halladay was a Met.

I wish Roy Halladay was a Met. I wish Roy Halladay was a Met. I wish Roy Halladay was a Met. I wish Roy Halladay was a Met. I wish Roy Halladay was a Met.

I wish Roy Halladay was a Met. I wish Roy Halladay was a Met. I wish Roy Halladay was a Met. I wish Roy Halladay was a Met. I wish Roy Halladay was a Met.

I wish Roy Halladay was a Met. I wish Roy Halladay was a Met. I wish Roy Halladay was a Met. I wish Roy Halladay was a Met. I wish Roy Halladay was a Met.

I wish Roy Halladay was a Met. I wish Roy Halladay was a Met. I wish Roy Halladay was a Met. I wish Roy Halladay was a Met. I wish Roy Halladay was a Met.  (imagine Bart Simpson writing this on the board.)

Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids during his MVP 2003 season.  http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/02/07/alex-rodriguez-steroids/?eref=sircrc

It's a matter of time till all the 03 testing names are released.

As a Mets fan, I think this fits the bill:

Cartman: [walks over to Scott's end of the table] Yes! Yesss! Oh, let me taste your tears, Scott!
[starts licking Scott's tears off his face]
Cartman: Mm, your tears are so yummy and sweet!
Kyle: Dude, I think it might be best for us to never piss Cartman off again.
Stan: Good call.
Cartman: Oh, the tears of unfathomable sadness! My-yummy!
[licks the tears off the table and off Scott's face]
Cartman: Mm-yummy, you guys!
[screen closes to Looney Tunes-style splash]
Cartman: Yuppitibut, that's all, folks!

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=499547

"Pitchers feel pain sometimes and think they're hurt," Ryan said. "A lot of times, they're not. They have to learn to pitch through it."

Texas pitchers have already had one conditioning camp, in which they learned that running will be a way of life. That's running as in sprints, not leisurely jogs.

The workload will increase in spring training. If the plans hold, the Rangers could return to the four-man rotation, which has been out of favor for more than 30 years.

Fraley goes on to say the Rangers have nothing to lose, a bone of contention I do have with the article.  Otherwise, I think that Ryan has the right idea. Pitch counts, innings caps, and the like have become very extreme.  This is inhibiting the performance of their teams by giving more innings to lesser pitchers, and while there is some evidence which says that pitch counts should be in place till the age of 25, it certainly doesn't make sense to groom a generation of 5-6 IP starters, does it?

http://www.baseballwriters.org/awards/2008/2008_AL_mvp.html

Well, I'd have rather seen the award go to Youkilis or Mauer, but I suppose this is satisfactory.  How long until the MSM starts beating the drums for Pedroia as the new Jeter?  Or Pedroia as a future HOF'r?  It's a pretty great start to a career, and far better than what most of this site had predicted for the neophyte Red Sox.

fillerfillerfillerfiller

I'm curious as to why there isn't more buzz around Bell.  He's playing CF in AA for the Red Sox organization.  Granted, he's already 25, but he seems to have a pretty fair bat, having produced (until this year) very strong contact rates for a player with above average power.  This season, he's still producing with his numbers at 286/361/479 with 13HR, 49RBI, and 3SB.  The rest of his stats can be found here : http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Bubba%20Bell&pos=LF&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=488694

I'll be the first to admit that he's got a relatively poor age relative to league, but I don't see any reason to believe that Bell won't continue to produce as he moves up the ladder.  Assuming he can stick in CF, Bell should be a solid 4th OF at minimum, with a solid chance of developing into a solid regular.  I'm curious if any of the posters here have any sort of insight or scouting impressions regarding Bell, and why he doesn't get more love?

We've reached the halfway point of the season, so I'm curious as to who you think is the best prospect in baseball.  The only requirements are that the player has not used up his rookie eligibility, is currently in the minors, and is a member or unsigned recent draftee of an MLB organization (sorry Yu Darvish).

My bet is on Clayton Kershaw.  He's got great stuff, he just acquitted himself well in a brief trial with the Dodgers, and he's got just about everything a prospect could ask for. 

Who's your pick? 

P.S. Yes, we're lumping pitchers and position players in together for the purposes of this poll.

EDIT : Added David Price to the poll.  Honestly, I just listed the top 10 prospects I could think of off the top of my head.  And if you believe the hype surrounding Inoa, he definitely belongs on this list.

"

Ricciardi slammed Dunn on his Wednesday night phone-in show on The Fan 590, a Toronto radio station. His comments came after a caller suggested the Jays acquire Dunn, who is hitting .227 with 18 homers and 43 RBIs with the Reds.

“Do you know the guy doesn’t really like baseball that much?” Ricciardi  said to the caller. “Do you know the guy doesn’t have a passion to play the game that much? How much do you know about the player?

“There’s a reason why you’re attracted to some players and there’s a reason why you’re not attracted to some players. I don’t think you’d be very happy if we brought Adam Dunn here …

“We’ve done our homework on guys like Adam Dunn and there’s a reason why we don’t want Adam Dunn. I don’t want to get into specifics.”

Ricciardi was generally sympathetic as callers vented following the Jays 5-4 loss to Milwaukee. But Ricciardi’s demeanour changed when a caller mentioned Dunn as a hitter who might “save” the Jays’ moribund offence.

“He’s a lifetime .230, .240 hitter that strikes out a ton and hits home runs,” Ricciardi said.

“Yes, he hits home runs, which none of the Toronto Blue Jays are doing,” the caller replied.

That retort triggered Ricciardi’s shot at Dunn as a player who “doesn’t really like baseball that much.”"

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/postedsports/archive/2008/06/19/jays-notebook-ricciardi-trashes-adam-dunn-on-radio-show.aspx

I find it absolutely amazing that Ricciardi would go off on ANOTHER team's player like this. Can the union file a grievance about depressing Dunn's potential FA value?  What could be the "specifics" Ricciardi is discussing?  This is just unbelievable - an MLB GM going off on another team's player.  Particularly a player who would seemingly fit the Jays so well as a high OPS type to replace Frank Thomas. What's going on with all the invective up in Toronto.  It's like some weird permutation of the old Bronx Zoo. 

What do you guys think?

P.S. I realize this has nothing to do with the minors, but I thought it really merited conversation.  Besides, if I'm a top prospect and I have the choice between a major college program and the Blue Jays organization, aren't I better off taking my chances elsewhere?  This has been an astonishing season in Toronto.

The Mets fired Willie Randolph last night. 

Without getting into the way the franchise let Willie twist in the wind, the enormously embarrassing "Willie Watch", and incredibly uncouth way they actually fired Randolph, what strikes me most is this :

Mets players learned of Randolph's firing via text message with beat writers. 

http://www.cantstopthebleeding.com/?p=13539

Nevermind that the team was coming off a win, or that it seems like Omar really didn't want to fire Willie.

The Mets didn't even tell the players.

Stay classy, Mr.Met.

Here's the draft thread.

Early thoughts and impressions :

The Pirates made a great choice here. In my estimation, Alvarez and Beckham are the two premium talents in this draft (3 if Hosmer can move to RF). I can’t help shake the feeling that Alvarez is going to be a really great hitter in MLB.

I absolutely love this pick. Yes, Smoak’s got HUGE potential, but the Giants need a sure thing here, and Posey is the surest thing available in the draft at this point. There’s also the issue of positional scarcity.

    Both of these young stars have been locked up to long term deals by their franchises.  It's obvious that both players decided to take security over a potentially larger reward down the road. 

    I'm really struck by the Braun deal.  I understand Kazmir's actions to the extent that he's probably worried he'll blow his arm out and he wants to make sure his family is taken care of.  However, Kazmir still hits FA in his 20's even with this deal.  Ryan Braun has essentially forfeited his entire prime and with it, his chance at a mega deal unless he's still solid into his 30's. I really think Braun has left an absolutely astounding amount of money on the table by giving up 2 years of FA that mean he won't actually hit the market till he's comfortably north of 30.

    These were both obviously great deals for the Rays and Brewers, but the hat tip really must go to the Brew Crew for the best young player deal since Omar bilked Reyes.

    There's a pretty good write up of Kershaw's mechanics here : http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/is-clayton-kershaw-worth-the-hype/

    I'm enthralled by Kershaw, and I think he is the absolute best pitching prospect in baseball and likely the best overall.  I don't know much about mechanics, but I haven't seen too many red flags. 

    I think we're all looking forward to see how the Dodgers will handle Kershaw.  I don't know that I'd put him in AAA, as opposed to just jumping him right up to the majors.  Jason Schmidt's rehab is coming along nicely, so I doubt the Dodgers will need to throw Kershaw into the fire from the start.  I'd be inclined to put him in the bullpen, where he could effectively turn Dodger games into a 6 inning affair (Kershaw-Broxton-Saito). 

    What do you guys think of Kershaw's mechanics? and his future prospects?

In his latest Rumblings and Grumblings, Jayson Stark had this to say :

"The next big thing?: It's 10 years ago now since the Yankees handed a $1.52-million signing bonus to a 16-year-old Dominican pitcher by the name of Ricardo Aramboles. It's believed that no Latino pitcher (non-Cuban division) has topped that bonus since. But there's so much buzz about a Dominican right-hander named Michel Inoa, it looks as if Aramboles' record is in serious danger this summer. More than a dozen teams are in on Inoa, who is already hitting 94 on the gun -- at age 16."

I'm wondering if there's anything you guys know about Inoa?  Anything you could enlighten me with in terms of what else he compliments his fastball with, his projectability (which I imagine is terrific), and things of that nature would be appreciated. 

I'm curious as to how the community feels about bringing up pitchers.  Given a top prospect fresh out of high school, what do you think is the best way to bring the pitcher along?  Furthermore, I'm curious as to how you guys who would handle your major league staff if it was carrying a young starter or two, like the Yankees. 

This season seems to represent a swing in the pendulum against pitch counts and inning caps, as the Rangers have decided to unbridle their farmhands to a certain extent, the Phillies are letting Cole Hamels go deeper into starts, and most notably, Roy Halladay is (efficiently) throwing a ton of innings. 

Teams remain loathe to incur the Year After Effect for most of their starters, but we seem to be seeing a move back towards heavier use of their starters.

Personally, I'm giddy to see pitchers more willing to work with a mind towards relying on their defense so they can go deeper into games and spare the bullpen.  And I'd definitely run my farm to build up arms as much as possible, even if that means running the risk of incurring some injuries along the way.

So, I figured we could use an Oscars thread.  Here are my picks :

Who I want to win?
Best Picture : Michael Clayton
Best Actor : Daniel Day-Lewis
Best Supporting Actor : Hal Hollbrook
Best Actress : Ellen Page
Best Supporting Actress : Cate Blanchett
Best Director : Jason Reitman, Juno

Who do I think will win?
Best Picture : Atonement
Best Actor : Daniel Day-Lewis (maybe Tommy Lee Jones)
Best Supporting Actor : Javier Bardem
Best Actress : Marion Cottilard
Best Supporting Actress : Ruby Dee
Best Director : The Coen Bros.

And Juno better win for soundtrack!

What do you guys think? Who are your picks?  What's your commentary?  Insert question here

Place your thoughts on today's congressional hearings on PEDs in baseball in here.  Personally, I am glad this is happening (even if there are MUCH better things for Congress to worry about).  And hey, it's providing GREAT theater.  

a couple of blogs : http://www.fannation.com/blogs/show/22070

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=3197192&name=congressional_hearings

As expected, Goose Gossage was elected to the Hall of Fame.  He is the lone member of the class to be elected by the writers.  

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/baseball/mlb/01/08/hall.2008.ap/index.html?eref=T1

I'd say that it's about time.  Gossage was the very definition of what a Hall of Fame reliever should be in his first 10 years.  It looks like Jim Rice is going to get in next year, something that I don't necessarily agree with.  Tim Raines only received 24% of the ballot, and seems destined to join Bert Blyleven and Ron Santo on the BP wishlist of HOF members.  On the flip side, Jack Morris seems to be getting further away from the Hall, which I personally don't agree with as I think Morris is someone who belongs in the HOF, as his impact goes far beyond his final numbers.  

On a less savory note, Mark McGwire recieved the same vote total in this year as last.  While I don't agree with people who say that he's not a HOF caliber player at any rate, I do think it is the right move by the writers to keep him out.  

Kudos to the Goose and welcome to the Hall of Fame!  

The Rocket has been called to appear before Congress regarding doping in pro sports.  Let's see who else gets the call and whether or not anybody wants to talk about the past when they're under congressional  oath.  

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3181689

I'd bet that Clemens suddenly gets a case of amnesia or possibly, that he misspoke to Mike Wallace when he said "B-12" and "Lidocaine" and he meant "hGH" and "Winstrol".  The real upshot of this will be a call for WADA testing from the Congress, ownership acquiescing, and a possible strike by the players to avoid having blood samples held in perpetuity to avoid retroactive testing, as well as possible civil liberty violations.  

Well, here's our circus!

I don't know if this has been posted elsewhere on the board, so I've decided to put it up in a diary.  Interesting comments by Mr.Sickels.  Story found here : http://www.athleticsnation.com/story/2008/1/3/15274/46815

On a totally unrelated note, what do you guys think of Joe Thatcher?  I can't find much of anything on him pre-age 24.  Could you guys offer any help?

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3168825

Mark Prior has signed a 1 year deal with the Padres.  I think this is a great signing.  It is exactly the sort of smart move which a team needs to make.  If Prior is healthy for any somewhat extended part of the season, and performs the way he's capable of, I think this is would be one of the biggest value signings in the game this offseason.

I do wonder about the shape of Prior's shoulder, though.  I'd read reports of it's uncertain status as scaring teams off. I wonder just how Prior will return in 2008, if at all.

Still, the risk/reward on this deal is fabulous, and you have to like this signing for San Diego.

WFAN (660 AM) in NYC is reporting this.  UGH UGH UGH.  WHY!??

It's like Kazmir for position players.  Ramonny Castrada would have been fine behind the plate, and Milledge is already probably ready to outproduce Church.  Ugh. Ugh.

Jim Bowden needs a polite golf clap.  And Omar needs a slap.  

It's not even that we traded Milledge.  We traded him for nothing.  I'm SURE we could have gotten more for him (even in a package)

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071120&content_id=2304717&vkey=news_mlb&fext=. jsp&c_id=mlb

Rollins takes home the NL MVP, and I can't really say that I disagree.  I watched the Mets collapse, and Rollins' Phillies (and they are very much his and Chase Utley's team) were relentless in their pursuit.  Kudos to Rollins, and a hearty honorable mention to Matt Holliday, who did everything an MVP is supposed to do.  

Once more, Jimmy Rollins is your 2007 NL MVP and I think he deserves it.

No, you Bonds apologists, I don't mean the greenies Barry tested positive for two years ago (or the stuff that Willie Mays was using in the 60's).  I mean, the element of the game.  And I'm curious to feel out how the rest of the board feels about it.  The conversation was had a bit in the NL MVP thread, but I feel like we could flesh it out more.

 I believe speed is the most underrated part of the game of baseball by the analytical community.  How do you guys all feel about speed, and how much do you take into account when evaluating prospects or major leaguers.  A pair of recent articles prominently mention speed.  One by Jayson Stark of ESPN, where you will find interesting statistics towards the bottom of the page (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=3099910)
and another by Dan Fox, of BP.  http://baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=6931

I don't feel like there has yet been a proper method discovered to evaluate fully the contribution of speed to a player's value, and a result, I think scouting is very necessary in this area.  Outfielders need it, baserunners want it, and pitchers and catchers hate it.  What do you all think of speed?

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071113&content_id=2299400&vkey=news_mlb&fext=. jsp&c_id=mlb

Sabathia gets the Cy, and even though I am in the Beckett camp, I think he's deserving of it.  Thus far, the BBWAA has been fairly on target.  

It's interesting to note that on the MLB front page, they noted win support as the reason for Beckett's higher win total.

Let's keep the deadline dealing news in this thread. The latest news?  

-Proctor to the Dodgers for Wilson Betemit.  
       I think you have to love this trade for the Yankees.  Proctor may be a stalwart in the pen (something they need) but Betemit is a much more valuable commodity, and should Torre hand the keys over to Edwar and Joba (and no, not just SNTS - I think they'd be improvements), it would def. upgrade the Yanks.  I also think this signals and Eric Gagne deal around the corner.

What say you?

Leaving his politics aside, George Will wrote a really great article on PED's and Bonds.  Nothing really new here, but for once, there's a mainstream voice that speaks with some degree of familiarity and credibility on this whole mess.  Will is one of the great baseball fans in this country, and I think his opinion does carry some weight with it.

Personally, I think there's sufficient circumstantial evidence for a non-analytical positive on Bonds and an asterisk on his records.  That having been said, unless something new comes to light, or MLB changes its position on him/the Mitchell investigation produces something of merit, I do think Bud Selig should be in attendance for the home run record being set.

Incidentally, would any of you happen to know if World Baseball Classic testing - which was more of a WADA-style gig, is being implemented in the near future by MLB?  Or if it is in place already at the minor league level - which can have its testing policy thrust upon it without the union?  Also : Major U.S. sporting leagues may be joining up in the fight against PED's... http://www.france24.com/france24Public/en/administration/afp-news.html?id=070515182138.xdok1g0p& cat=null (forgive the link, it was the best I could do)...

And here's the George Will article (and a great read) : http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18629617/site/newsweek/

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/baseball/mlb/04/27/steroid.bust/index.html

A baseball insider, with close connections to the Mets has been implicated in the latest steroid scandal.  

This bit of news marked the first time that I grimaced about the steroid problem, and my first thought was that the Mets team I grew up on may well have been filled with juicers.  The idea has crossed my mind before, but never this palpably.  It was a terrible feeling, and honestly, the first player I thought of was Mike Piazza.  But, innocent until proven guilty.

The issue of steroids is not going away any time soon, and I think that the only way to fix this problem will be to harken back to Landis and simply have a zero tolerance policy for steroid use.  No matter who is found out, whether Bonds cheer or Clemens boo or whoever else that would elicit a gasp, baseball needs to get to the bottom of this and enact very strict WADA style testing, because it is the only way to the save the integrity of the game.