On Bill Shanks scout site, two of the popular posters on there are calling me a hypocrite for saying that Delmon Young still has a chance says hes only 23 and at the same time I write Jeff Francoeur off. One of the posters, who post does post in here, says that they are similar hitters. I disagree with him. Delmon Young was the number 1 or 2 prospect in baseball for 2 years. He has a track record in the minors of performing. Those results have not translated at the Major league level yet but he does possess them. Francouer never possessed amazing skills in the minors. Dlemon Young showed a little improvement in 08 over 07. Delmon was a better in the 2nd half of last year vs. the first half. Yes he did lose some power but he raised his bb% and hit%. Delmon Young isn't playing everyday now and as young hitter its hard for him to get into a groove since hes not getting consistent playing time. Francouer has been given ever opportunity to succeed, years of it, but he just isn't getting any better. Now am I being a hypocrite saying that Delmon still has a shot to be a productive player and I don't think Frenchy will or are they just comparing the two so that as Braves fans they want to call attention on higher praised players that are struggling so that Francoeurs career flop doesn't look so bad?

MAtt Sweeney put up good numbers as a 19 year old in Low A ball in 2007.  IN 485 at bats he hit 18 homers with 38 walks and only 88 strikeouts. He had an ISOP of .198 which isn't to bad for a 19 year old in A ball. HE was out for 2008 with a leg problem I believe. He has come back in 2009 without missing a step and actually showing better plate presence. Thru 146 plate appearances in High A, he has 5 home runs and 15 walks with only 18 Strikeouts and a .523 SLG..  He wasn't on anyones top prospect list coming into the season. Safe to say this guy could be in a top 100 after the season? Heard he may have some make up concerns, any truth to this?

thanks

his 2009 debut today

6 IP, 3H, 2bb, 0ER, 6 k's vs the reds in Houston. Write ups everywhere on the guy makes it seem like he has good stuff. He can hit mid-high 90's and has good secondary pitches. Seems like he was downgraded on every list due to his injury concerns. Is this guy an under the radar post hype prospect that stands a good chance to succeed if he stays healthy?

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3802342

  not one of the guys the Cubs got back where on Johns list or HQ's list of the Indians and none of the 3  of them even got honorable mentioned on either list. So who the hell are they? I guess I'll post more since I have to make this 75 words long. I wish John could turn this filter off. Thank you

whats the drawback to this guy?  I never see him mentioned  on any prospects list. is it his size? at 6'7'' he can carry 270 lbs better than Prince fielder can. At age 21 in a full year at AA his walk rate went up and his strikeout rate went down which has some value. Does his lack of power hold him back? would people assume a guy with his size should hit more power? Of his 19 homeruns in 2008 13 of them came in the last 2 months which means he does have power and it could have been late developing. He has 11 walks in his last 10 AFL games so he does have some sort of plate discipline. I am not saying this guy will be a stud but couldn't he be a james loney type hitter?

i'm a little confused. Why are there 2 team USA's? theres the college one and then theres the one Davey Johnson is coaching. is the college one just to get freshman, sophomore hitters at bats during the summer?

 on a side note, stephen strasburg was behind home plate sitting in the bleachers charting pitches tonight. Got to meet him and he seemed like a nice guy. Wish he was pitching though. That catcher from Indiana was having a hard time behind the pate tonight

team USa is coming to my home town for 2 exhibitons against themselves and one game against my local college summer team. Are there any players on team USA"s roster worth looking out for? I figure the elite college players will all be up in Cape Cod. I have no clue about any of these guys. I figure they must be decent to be on team USA

  http://mlb.mlb.com/usa_baseball/article.jsp?story=national_team_invites_2008

Hope John doesn't get mad by me posting this. Bill James finally opened his site. Its not bad, worth the $3 a month in the stats he provides.

         http://www.billjamesonline.net/

hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

The Rev. Al Sharpton said Saturday that he believes the U.S. government has been pursuing black athletes more aggressively than white athletes in scandals over performance enhancing drugs.

In his weekly address to followers in Harlem, Sharpton compared the treatment of Barry Bonds, baseball's all-time home run king, to the treatment of Roger Clemens, one of the game's greatest pitchers.

Bonds was indicted last year on a charge that he perjured himself while testifying before a grand jury investigating criminal steroids distribution by the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative.
Clemens has been accused by a former trainer of taking steroids and human growth hormone _ a charge he denied during sworn testimony before Congress.

Sharpton said the members of Congress who were there for the hearing, "treated Roger Clemens like they were at a fan club meeting." He questioned why a steroids scandal had landed Bonds in trouble, but no white athlete of a similar standing.

"You've got to understand that the fight has always been about the criminalization of black men," Sharpton said.

   Al Sharpton is a class act. If he ever played baseball he'd be the first person ever to be inducted into the Hall of Fame due to great 'makeup' regardless of his OPS

I'm not one for rumors. This is more of a elijah dukes needs a new home and the nationals need  him or frankly any outfielder who can hit. Dukes is playing well in the Dominican Summer League and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays have no room for him. Does anyone think Dukes has a chance if he goes to the Nationals?

 http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071121&content_id=2306541&vkey=news_was&fext=. jsp&c_id=was&partnered=rss_was