I was reading Baseball America today when I came across an article stating that Scheppers has recently been clocked at 93-96 and showed a great breaking ball while playing in some intrasquad games with a California Juco. A unnamed scout even said that he expected Scheppers to go in the Top-10 picks for sure.

My question is, would anyone object to the Pirates drafting Scheppers again this year? If the reports are true, then he is definitley a true #1 type of pitcher that the Pirates need at the number 4 spot. If I understand the draft process right (I probably don't) then I believe the Buccos would have to have Scheppers blessing to re-draft him?

Anyways, with the lack of a true number 2 prospect stepping up after Strasburg in this years draft I really do think the Pirates should at least entertain re-drafting Scheppers. What do you guys think?

I know that everyone has pretty much discussed everything that is wrong with Andy LaRoche over the past few weeks but I think I'v come across something that has yet to been talked about. While perusing Fan Graphs earlier, (a fantastic website by the way) I ended up on Andy's page and noticed that his BABIP is an absurdly low .179 with the Pirates and Dodgers this year.

While I agree with most people that we should not freak out over 175 AB's this year, I think that at least some of Andy's problem this year is incredibly poor luck. Most players BABIP is very close to .300. I .179 figure means that LaRoche is simply not having any of his balls in play drop in for hits right now.

I am confident that next year he will come back 100% from his thumb injury and begin hitting for at least a moderate amount of power. Hopefully his luck will turn at least somewhat as well. If you have any thoughts on this or think its totally bogus feel free to say so.

Hi guys. I'v got a question regarding the pretty commonly used stat OPS+. On baseball reference, it seems to me that the OPS + number that is given for players is their percentage above average for ALL of MLB. What I am looking for is OPS + for each position.

As you well know, a 1st basemen with an OPS + of 105 is not nearly as valuable as a catcher with and identical reading. Basically, what I'm looking for is that OSP + adjusted for a players main position. Any insight at all would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Hey guys, I was just looking over the Pirates Minor League numbers when Romak's line of .281.439.575 in A ball caught my eye. Hes only 21, and while hes striking out a lot (47 times in 45 games), obviously he's more than making up for it with his OPS being over 1000.

I havnd't seen him play at all but just by glancing at his numbers he looks like he could turn into a Jason Bay type player if he pans out. Bay put up a slightly higher BA throughout the minors, but his OBP and SLG where lower than Romak's are right now.

What do you guys think? I know most of you know alot more about these lower level minor leaguers than I do, especially since some of you actually get to see them in person. Any input would be greatly appreciated. thanks

I remember that last year someone set up a fantasy type thing where everyone took over as "GM" for a MLB franchise and made all the deadline trades ect. I really enjoyed this last year and I was hoping that whoever set it up last year could do so again. Thanks

Filler...... I will gladly take the Pirates if this all goes down again............................................................................................... .

Hi, I'm curious what you guys think about Pirates AA 1st basemen Steven Pearce. He hit his 16th and 17th home run tonight for Altoona, and he has a line of .300/.380/.500, and while he is not really young, he is still just 24. What do you think is his ceiling at the major league level, and where do you think he fits into the Pirates lineup?

Obviously they need a bat wit that kind of power, but there is no way they would move Laroach, even with his mighty struggles this year. I dont know anything about his mobility, but maybe he could slide into RF for next season, with Doumit getting most of the starts at catcher and Nady moving into center field when Duffy hopefully goes to the bench. Thanks for you guys input.

I know in years past MLB.com has had a draft tracker, which is basically an alphabetical list of all players who are in the draft, along with a small write up on many of the players and a link to the scouting videos. Does mlb.com not have a draft tracker this year? I'v looked and looked and I cannot find one. If not, is there any other site that has one will this type of info? thanks

Hi guys, quick question about the website baseeball reference. When viewing the team stats there is a stat for hitters labeled ops +, with a stat for pitchers that is era +. From prior knowledge i know that a 100 in either category is considered average, but the part i am confused about is just how much above average it is. For example, if a player has a ops + of 103 does that mean he is 3% above average? Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks

this may be a ridiculous request but i wondering if anyone knew of a website that had info like the average ops for each position.
Example: the average ops of Left Fielders in the mlb this year is X. thanks

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this guy was a flat out stud back in 2004, putting up a sub 3 ERA and along with a fantastic k rate. He also did all this at the tender age of 22. Since then hes had almost one and a half terrible seasons capped off by his start last night agaisnt the Dodgers. He almost walking one guy an inning, and his ERA is in the 6's. Can this guy get back to the way he was in 2004? Should he be sent back to the minors or should he be allowed to keep getting battered at the major league level? Do you think the Pirates would consider trading him and would there even be a market for him?