Who are the best players in your team's system who were left off the 40-man roster and are now eligible to be selected in the rule 5 draft?  I'll start with my team, the Tigers:

C James Skelton: An OBP machine with quick feet and solid defensive skills behind the plate.  I'm very disappointed the Tigers didn't protect him.  Teams with an opening at backup catcher would be wise to give him a look.

RHP Luis Marte: When he's healthy, he's got a low 90s fastball that he can bump into the mid 90s and a decent curveball.  However, he hurt is elbow midseason and was only throwing 88-91 mph when he came back.  He has also battled soreness in the Arizona Fall League.  He might be worth the gamble if he can say healthy.

RHP Jay Sborz: A former 2nd round pick who struggled mightily in his first few years in pro ball.  He figured it out this year however, and pitched very will out of the bullpen in High A.  He's got a mid 90s fastball.

Edit: It turns out that Marte is NOT rule 5 eligible yet.  My apologies.

Giants 9th round pick, Ryan Verdugo of LSU, is pitching on ESPN2 right now.  He had a pretty rough first inning.  He's pretty much a two pitch guy (87-90 mph fastball and slider).

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Has the Connecticut Defenders roster been announced yet?  I'm not a Giants fan, but I live very close to Norwich and go to a lot of Defenders games.  If it has been announced, who's on it?  If not, who do you guys think will be on it?  Any information on these players would be helpful as well as I'm not too familiar with the Giants system.  I want to know about the 2008 version of this team before they take the field.  The 2007 version was terrible, but Eugenio Velez and John Bowker are both good players that I enjoyed watching.

Also, who are the candidates for a mid-season promotion to Connecticut?  Is anyone being held down in San Jose until the weather warms up in CT?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

Just for fun, I put the guys the Tigers traded away this offseason in parenthesis in the spots they would have been in.  It really shows you how much weaker this system is post Cabrera and Renteria trades.

(Cameron Maybin)

1. Rick Porcello

(Jair Jurrjens)
(Gorkys Hernandez)
(Dallas Trahern)

2. Jeff Larish
   
3. Danny Worth
   
4. Michael Hollimon
   

5. James Skelton
   
6. Virgil Vasquez
   
7. Scott Sizemore
   
8. Casey Crosby
   
9. Yorman Bazardo
   
10. Matt Joyce

According to Ken Rosenthal, the Tigers and Marlins are talking about a potential blockbuster that would send Cabrera and Willis to the Tigers.  Maybin and Andrew Miller are mentioned as guys that could be sent to Florida.  Thoughts?

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7525396

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Could you guys rank the following outfielders:

Carlos Gonzalez, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jordan Schafer, Dexter Fowler, Wladimir Balentien, Desmond Jennings, Gorkys Hernandez, Austin Jackson, Fernando Martinez, and Jose Tabata

This is NOT fantasy related.  You dont have to rank all of them, but maybe you could just give me your opinions on some of the guys that you are familiar with.  Thanks

is the player the Tigers will receive from the Cardinals for Mike Maroth.  Can anyone shed any light on him?  He's supposed to have good stuff and is a former 1st round pick but his numbers have been bad.  What kind of stuff does he have?  Does he project better as a starter or a reliever?

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The Denver Post has reported that the Tigers sent scouts to watch Joe Koshansky and Ian Stewart.  Here's the link:

http://www.denverpost.com/rockies/ci_6465082

Can any Rockies fans comment on what they might want from the Tigers that would be reasonable?  Any chance a deal between these two teams also includes Brian Fuentes?

The Michigan Wolverines defeated #1 ranked Vanderbilt today and have advanced to the super regionals.  What an upset.  Vanderbilt brought Price in as a reliever and freshman Alan Oaks homered off of Price in the 10th inning to give Michigan a 4-3 lead which was held in the bottom half of the inning by junor reliever Michael Powers of Michigan.  BTW, Oaks was the 50th round pick of the Tigers last year but he opted to go to school.

Who do you think is the best HS pitcher in the draft this year?

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