Hammerin Hank, The Babe, Phat Albert, A-Roid, "Pop" Sickels... all the greats had nicknames. It looks like it's time to bestow one on the mighty Jason Heyward. Let's hear your best suggestions. I'll start:

Jason Christ
The Hey-maker
Say-Hey Kid 2
I don't know if he drinks margaritas, but "Rita" Heyward doesn't seem quite right.
Brave'sHeart
Bobby's Cox (I'm sorry. I'm not really bad, I'm just drawn that way.)

Go for it.

Mike Leake made the Reds Roster as 5th Starter. CBS Sportsline says he's the first SP to go straight from the draft to the majors since since Darren Dreifort in 1994. As I recall, Dreifort had a decent start, then faded into mediocrity (with a lot of injury problems). John seemed to think highly of Leake considering his selection of Leake as someone he'd put into a pressure 7th game situation against the Yankees.

Is this kid that good? What does the community think he'll do over this year and the first few years of his career?

From Rotoworld:

Quote of the Week, courtesy of San Francisco Chronicle reporter Susan Slusser talking about 17-year-old A's pitching prospect Michael Ynoa: Santiago Casilla told me a few weeks ago when I asked if he'd seen Ynoa this winter that Ynoa has "beautiful eyes," which made me laugh, since I'd been asking about his pitching. (Casilla hadn't seen him pitch, as it turned out.) But Casilla wasn't just cracking a joke: Ynoa does have extraordinary eyes—aquamarine or sea green, something like that. Striking.

Well, now we know where his awesome talent comes from!

After 7 innings, his line looks pretty good:

7 IP   4 hits   1 run (unearned)    2 BB   6 KO  Spring ERA at 2.75

Just today I ran across 2 websites apparently dedicated to helping high school baseball players get noticed by scouts and college recruiters. One is www.mlb.scout.com which sells a recruiting kit for $39. The other is www.gobaseball.net that lets kids upload stats that scouts then could conveniently access. I suspect the Internet is loaded with other options, too. I was wondering 1) how legitimate, and 2) how effective such resources are. If any of the knowledgeable posters on this site have opinions on this sort of online opportunity, I'd sure be interested, as my son is an excellent player entering his senior year.

As a kid I used to collect baseball cards. Back then there was basically one way to get them -- in a small pack with a flat piece of gum. And only one or 2 brands, Topps and maybe one other brand.

Now I occasionally feel the uge to snap up a pack just to see if I might get one of the current stars. But the market seems to be overly saturated these days. There are lots of brands -- Topps, Fleer, Upper Deck, Bowman and others. And sub-catagories like Topps Turkey Red. Does anyone have an opinion on these choices? Is there a "classic" brand that has the highest vale/respect among collectors? In other words, if you bought one pack a year, which would you go for?

He's now won 5 straight for San Diego. Everything I've read about him says he only has average stuff. I looked at his minor league record -- he seems okay but not spectacular -- pretty good won/loss record; a couple of years with a decent era; but no sign of dominance. Does anyone know why the success at this level? Has he matured into the role? Has he pulled a Putz and developed a new pitch? Is the San Diego park helping him that much? And most importantly, is this kind of success sustainable?

I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it. Manny Ramirez tonight set a new major league record for running out of the largest number of headwear. Chasing down a fly ball, he lost, in order:

1. his hat
   
2. the do-rag he was wearing under his hat
   
3. (while falling down and rolling on the ground) the red tie he was wearing to hold back his dreadlocks.

2 more HRs for Kyle Russell Friday and Saturday against Kansas State. That brings him to 15 and breaks the Texas Longhorn sophomore record set by Jeff Ontiveros. He's only 5 away from the UT single season record (also set by Ontiveros).

Bradley Suttle is also hitting well (don't know their actual BAs). In fact, this may be one of the best hitting Longhorn teams ever. Also one of the best defensively as opposing coaches often remark how difficult it is to get balls to fall in in the outfield.

The only thing possibly holding this team back is the pitching. They don't seem to have any truly dominant arms.

I'm up in our minor league draft (I have 24 hours to decide). 12-team H2H points league. We can have 2 Minor Leaguers and keep them inactive as long as we want. Once activated, they can only be signed for 3 years. I currently have Kendrick, who I would like to keep inactive for one more year, plus one open spot. While there are plenty of prospect lists, the difficulty is in figuring out who will be a fantasy asset in their first 1-4 years in the Majors.

Best available seem to me:
Andrew Miller - projected as a #1, but how many years before he makes a substantial impact? I doubt he's a Liriano, but is he a Cain?
Adam Miller - pretty much the same as Andrew. Maybe a little closer to the bigs.
Billy Butler - seems to be a natural hitter but still very young. Will he need several years ML experience before he contributes significantly? Or could he be another Pronk by age 23? There are always solid hitters available on the WW.  
Evan Longoria -- Some say he's nearly as good as Gordon. But the sample is small.

Other options include Maybin and Bruce (both seem too far away). Also my league penalizes for KOs and I've already suffered from having Sexson and Edmonds.

Would appreciate any advice.

Nobody's talking about Justin Upton. He's not on the "Top Prospect" lists. He's not being mentioned in the posts I've been reading -- on this site or several others I frequent. Is it because he hasn't played in the minors yet? Is that a requirement to get on the "Lists"? Coming out of high school, he sounded like God's gift to baseball, now I don't hear his name when people talk about the great prospects like Brandon Wood, Delmon Young, Marte, Quentin, Butler, etc.

Is he just too far down the line to speculate about? I'd love to read a scouting report, as I personally know almost nothing about him (other than he recently signed for about $6 kazillion).

Seems like there are some very good 2B prospects rated high on the various lists. And, of course, the lists rate them differently. RotoAmerica has Kendrick as #4 and Bob Reed has Pedroia as his top 2B at #9. Baseball Analyst has them at 35 and 42 respectively.

I'm curious as to how readers here rate the top 2B prospects. I've put them in the order of my ranking -- based on how I feel they will perform as major leaguers, not where they are currently. I included Burke because he really hasn't had a chance as a 2B in the majors, but still could (Biggio can't live forever). Please feel free to throw in some others.

Early signs of Spring: the crocus flowers pushing up through the snow, robins twittering on the berry trees, Fantasy Baseball Draft guides and Baseball Prospects books popping up in newstands and websites. I realize that most folks here wil have a strong and well-deserved loyalty to John. But as a newcomer to the world of prospects and the minor leagues, I'm a bit dazzled by all the options out there.
So tell me please: if I were to purchase one "prospects book," which one would you recommend? John's? Baseball America's? Another option?
Please note, I am new at all this and would be interested in a reasoned evaluation of the kids. I don't know what the VORPs and +150s and eqXYZs mean, so an interesting "science book for non-science majors" would be nice.

Thanks in advance

I'd love to hear people's opinion of Zach Duke. He seemed pretty awesome last year, especially considering his youth. But maybe it was because of his youth (meaning the opposing batters had never faced him before).
Do you think he'll have a good season this year or a sophomore slump? Did his minor league stats predict his early success? Or was Duke a Fluke?

And to avoid another diary, what do people think of Jose Capellan? I've heard he throws upper 90s with a fluid, easy motion. But his major league stats are less than impressive. Does he project to become a quality starter? A closer? Or a career set-up man?

I'm new to exploring minor league baseball but am quickly becoming fascinated by it. One thing has intrigued me about rating players. Most of the "Top Prospects" lists I have seen have had Brandon Wood in the top 3, but place Howie Kendrick somewhere between 37 and 75. Yet, in a diary a few days ago comparing the two, Kendrick seemed to have the most love from those responding.

I realize that rating prospects is an inexact science, but that seems to be a rather significant discrepancy. So why such a big difference from the "experts" and the posters (who I assume are the general fans).