It seems like just about every spring training there is a prospect that is on the verge of breaking out that a few avid Ranger fans (Newberg, MJH and the like, more nowadays, Parks etc.) that make the trip to AZ  notice during spring training. This more often than not has been followed by a breakout season that brings them national attention. Off the top Kinsler, Holland, and Martin Perez come to mind (Main also comes to mind but not much has been shown by him yet, could be due to the illness, being overvalued, poor development, etc.). My question would be has there been a guy this spring and maybe I have just missed the talks? Would Jorge Alfaro be the guy this spring? Would it be NeRa? Those are about the only two guys I remember hearing much about. Your thoughts?

Avery has been claimed by the Rangers, can anyone explain to me how this is going to work for this year and the reminaing years on his contract as far as if his salary will count against the Stars cap and by how much?

Filler....Stars up 4-1 against the Sharks. Neal (my favorite Star) has two goals

Filler....Stars up 4-1 against the Sharks. Neal (my favorite Star) has two goals

Filler....Stars up 4-1 against the Sharks. Neal (my favorite Star) has two goals

Filler....Stars up 4-1 against the Sharks. Neal (my favorite Star) has two goals

Filler....Stars up 4-1 against the Sharks. Neal (my favorite Star) has two goals

This time of year there isn't much baseball related to discuss but Hamilton came on my TV just now so I guess things are looking up. Granted it was for a commercial but I guess its a start. I think the commercial is on this website, http://www.iamsecond.com/ but other than that I don't think the site is ready yet. I hadn't seen it before and thought it was odd that the first time I saw it was at 3 in the morning...is it April yet?

Well I joined yesterday to put up a short post about this because I wanted some A's fans opinions on it, I forgot that it takes 24 hours to join up though. I'll delete this post after a little bit I just wanted some A's fans input. Anyways I put up a post on lonestarball.com comparing the top 10's of these two systems based on the community rankings (I had to project numbers 9 and 10 for the A's based on who was 2nd and 3rd at the time on the #8 ballot). Check it out and let us Ranger fans know what you agree/disagree with.

http://www.lonestarball.com/2008/11/29/675176/rangers-vs-a-s-community-r

Scouting reports that I have seen on Simmons weren't favorable and I really didn't know what to make of Mazzaro's struggles throughout the minors except for a very good showing at AA this past season. I'd say those two guys were the ones that I had the hardest time comparing because I don't know much about their stuff and their numbers were underwhelming at times.

Well since I woke up early and can't sleep, I figured I would compare the two best farm systems top 10 prospects based on community rankings. (I had to project 9 and 10 for the A's based on current voting)

1. Derek Holland vs. Trevor Cahill

Cahill takes this one rather easily IMO. Holland has the better velocity on his fastball but Cahill's has the great sink and his best secondary pitch is rated higher than Holland's is.

Edge: A's

2. Neftali Feliz vs. Brett Anderson

Polish vs. upside here? Not that Anderson's upside isn't real good himself but Feliz has the better upside here, but I think Anderson is one of the safest bests in minor league baseball to be an average to above average MLB starter. Feliz needs to improve his secondary offerings (he's still very young, plenty of time) but Anderson gets the edge here as well. It also has been mentioned many times but it shouldn't be overlooked, Anderson's thumb injury likely caused his A+ numbers to look worse than they were.

Edge: A's

3. Justin Smoak vs. Chris Carter

Is Carter a 3T player? Probably not fair to give him that label yet but he does strike out a lot. He also draws a good amount of walks though, which leads me to believe that he is often working deep into counts, thus drawind lots of walks and striking out a lot. At 21 Chris Davis put up a line of .298/.340/.573/.913 in A+ while Chris Carter put up a line of .259/.361/.569/.930 at 21 in A+. It was after he left A+ that Davis' stock really begin to rise but Carter is on the right path. Have to go mostly off of scouting reports to compare Smoak as his playing time was limited. Projected as a guy who can work the count, put up a solid average, hit 35+ homers while playing average to above average defense at first. His stats in A ball were pretty good and though not much stock should be put into AFL numbers, it was good to see him do well there as he doesn't have many other pro ab's to go on.

Edge: Rangers

4. Michael Main vs. Aaron Cunningham

This one is difficult. All Cunningham has ever done is hit but what does he project to be as a big leaguer? 18 is his highest HR total in a season and his steal amounts have never been great. A guy like Andre Ethier comes to mind as an upside comp (who is a pretty good player). Michael Main has good command of a low to mid 90's fastball (I always find that mot scouting reports overstate a guy's velocity but this is accurate for Main) and unlike the two Ranger pitcher above him on this list he has two other pitchers that have been deemed major league ready.

Edge: Rangers

5. Elvis Andrus vs. Gio Gonzalez

Andrus is a defensive whiz with good speed. The bat? Well we'll see where that is headed but right now he doesn't project to have much power. He has always been young for his league but sometimes that has been the best thing going for him. If he doesn't add any power but can maintain a near league average batting average and continue to draw walks, with his defense and speed that is a pretty valuable player. It seems to me that Gio gets a bit of a shaft when it comes to rankings. I personally would have him ahead of Cunningham. He has always had a real good K-rate but has also had a some control problems, which always seem to get magnified in a young pitcher when first entering MLB. I expect him to have better control and better results next season.

Edge: Rangers

6. Taylor Teagarden vs. Adrian Cardenas

I think Teagarden gets overvaled some due to his hot hitting in his short MLB debut. He is what he is though, a good defensive catcher who will probably strike out too much, hit for a below average batting average, draw some walks and have above average pop for a catcher. Cardenas is similiar to Cunningham for me in that he doesn't hit for much power or show good speed, but he does hit, and is young enough to still add some power, though he doesn't appear to be the hitter that Teagarden is. Due to defensive abilities and importance of posistion the edge goes to Teagarden.

Edge: Rangers

7. Max Ramirez vs. Sean Doolittle

IMO, this is the second one that is not close. Max has always hit well and has a chance to play catcher, though likely below average defensively, and even if he is relegated to DH, his bat projects to play there. Doolittle has yet to put up an OPS above .800 anywhere other than the Cal League. Doolttle was pretty good in the AFL this year but again, not much stock can be put into those numbers.

Edge: Rangers

8. Martin Perez vs. James Simmons

This is a hard matchup to rate. Perez is the young lefty with a fastball that might already have as good or better velocity than Simmons (reports are that Simmons sits at 88-90, help me out A's fans, is that true?), and has what some call the best curve in the system. Simmons has shown good control in the minors but has been hittable and hasn't struck out a ton of guys. Unless Simmons can bring up his K rate or drop his hit rate, I don't see how I can rate him ahead of the upside that Perez has.

Edge: Rangers

9. Julio Borbon vs. Vincent Mazzaro

Mazzaro has been hittable and below league average except for 137 in which he cut down his hit rate and had an ERA below 2, though he still did not strike many guys out. I honestly don't know what to make of him. These 137 innings can't be overlooked but niether can the rest of his innings. Borbon plays a good CF, has great speed, and has shown enough pop to not be Juan Pierre. He rarely strikes out but also rarely takes a walk. He showed the ability to take walks in the AFL this year, but I'm skeptical to believe that will continue, though it was good to see that he can change his approach.

Edge: Rangers

10. Eric Hurley vs. Michael Inoa

I've been low on Hurley for awhile since reports were out that his velocity was down in 2007. His K-rate was never great and his AAA showing this year didn't help sway me the other way. Inoa is pretty much all upside and projectibility. He obviously has big time potential but thats all it really is right now. I will be an interested observer.

Edge: A's

Best of the rest (not based on voting, but based on my opinion)

Engel Beltre and Neil Ramirez vs. Henry Rodriguez and Fautino De Los Santos

If you can't tell be now, I prefer upside to safety and am a believer in pitchers that have good fastballs have a much better chance to succeed. Beltre has tons of upside but he has shown a horrible K/BB rate thus far in his career. Plenty young enough to have time to change that. Ramriez has a good fastball and a good curveball and having two pitches at a young allows me to overlook his early control problems and rank him ahead of guys like Beavan and Boscan. Rodriguez seems destined for the pen but he could develop into a knockout closer. His control problems are obvious but his stuff is electric and he still has very good potential. De Los Santos is another guy with electric stuff who is comming off of an injury. If he can rebound fully from his injury he should shoot up this list.

Edge: A's

I'd love to hear feedback, especially from A's fans. I don't know a ton about Simmons and Mazzaro's stuff and that may of made it harder for me to think highly of them. Among other changes in both lists, I would have put H-Rod  and De Los Santos in the A's top 10 as opposed to Simmons and Mazzaro.

I always post something that has already been posted. I looked around but could not find this so...

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/ask-ba/2008/267092.html

It has Price/Davis as the #1 combo (I'm not so sure that Price/me wouldn't be the best L/R combo) and has Holland/Feliz at #2, fitting in nicely just ahead of the A's duo of Anderson/Cahill.

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These boards seem to be lawyer heavy but I was wondering if anyone has taken the GMAT and if they might be able to give me a bit of advice on it. I take mine this weekend. Thanks.

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With Price now in the bigs......

Bumgarner in low A

Alderson in high A

Feliz in low A and AA

Holland in low A high A and AA

Cahill in high A and AA

Anderson in high A and AA

1st team

SP Derek Holland • Rangers
Righthanders Jordan Walden (Angels) and Mat Latos (Padres) got the attention as being the top arms from the final draft-and-follow class of 2006, but Holland may turn out to be the best. The little-known 25th-round lefthander from Wallace State (Ala.) CC-Hanceville rocketed from low Class A Clinton to Double-A Frisco this summer, seemingly getting better at each stop. With command of easy mid-90s velocity and a killer changeup, the 21-year-old Holland ranked 10th in the minors with 157 strikeouts, a 2.27 ERA and a .209 opponent average.

Feliz was 2nd team.

FWIW the 2nd team has the better set of pitching prospects on it

I guess I had to resign up just to start this. Someone has to start one when Fabio strikes out 7 in 3 innings.

Why do you want Todd Dodge fired?

(Sorry for posting this here. If there are pm's I didn't see them and was curios on Sprite's answer)

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