I don't see one up yet and for the sake of discussion I thought I'd get one up before night games start.

Probables

AAA: Andrew Oliver, Chris Jakubauskas vs. Shelby Miller, Mark Rogers, Jordan Lyles, Eric Hurley, Brad Peacock

AA: Zack Wheeler, Ethan Martin, Chris Dwyer, Dae-Eun Rhee, Barrett Loux, Sonny Gray

A+: Cody Buckel, Brody Colvin vs. Jameson Taillon, Chris Young rehab, Wojciechowski vs. Adrian Salcedo, Andrew Chafin

A: Parker Bridwell, Justin Nicolino

Continue reading this post »

Probables

AAA: Wily Peralta, Alex White, Garret Richards

AA: Nestor Molina, Trevor Bauer vs. Allen Webster, Robbie Erlin, Tyler Thornburg, James Paxton, Nick Schmidt

A+: JR Graham, Taylor Jungmann, Jesse Biddle, Zach Lee, Tyler Matzek, AJ Cole

A: Will Lamb, Parker Bridwell, Michael Foltynewicz,

Continue reading this post »

Sorry about re-posting this but I made the mistake in the earlier post of including a poll. As a result there were no discussion about the pluses and minuses of both pitchers. Beachy shockingly won that poll and I would just like to hear from the people that voted either way as to why you feel one is better than the other.

The question is simple. If you can have either Brandon Beachy's or Turner's first 6 MLB seasons, who would you pick and why?

In my mind Turner is the better pitcher simply because he has proven every stop of the way that he can handle the workload and succeed at a relatively young age. He also throws harder and has arguably a better breaking ball (Turner's curve vs. Beachy's slider).

So what do you guys think? Don't be shy, I know over a hundred of you voted. You surely have opinions and good reasoning behind it.

I was having this conversation with a friend earlier in the day about this. Who would you put your money on as being better in their team controlled years (let's just say better WAR during their first 6 years as a major leaguer)?


On the one hand Jacob Turner is a much more heralded prospect who has breezed through the minors and is pitching well in AA at a young age. On the other hand Brandon Beachy breezed through the minors as well(albeit with worse age vs. league due to being a college guy), but mostly as a reliever. But he's performing exceedingly well in his first full season as a starter, in the majors nonetheless.

So what do you guys think?

...in a fantasy world?

I know this is a bit off topic(and let's be honest, besides the Zack Cy Young run and Butler actually starting to hit with authority, we don't have THAT much to look forward to the rest of the season), but I just took over the Royals in a huge(28 teams) dynasty league that tries to mimic the MLB(but since it's fantasy baseball, defense and grits don't matter, I will probably try to trade Bloomy first chance I get). As the Royals I get everybody that's in the Royals system right now besides 2009 draft picks(which will go into an amateur draft). Well, I was going through the roster and things don't look promising...

Continue reading this post »

Landon Powell was one of my(and I'm sure a lot of other people's) favorite prospect in baseball 2 years ago. When the A's were still running the over the hill Jason Kendall out there every day and Kurt Suzuki wasn't doing anything to separate himself from Powell.

We all know what happened, his knee gave up on him. At the time a lot of people think the A's will convert him into a 1B because there didn't seems to be a way that he can possibly stay behind the plate with those knees. But he came back and stayed at C. The contact ability isn't there but the patience as well as the power are still there last year in AAA.

In honor of him getting his first MLB hit and ribbie today. I post the question below.

So what do you make of Landon Powell? Is he going to stay a backup catcher until his knee blow out again? Or can he start somewhere and produce similar numbers offensively to guys like Mike Napoli(probably best case) or Chris Snyder?

Since the super bowl thread got some of us talking about Springsteen and his music. I got curious as to what kind of music RR users listens to. For starters, if you have to go to a deserted island with an album released in 2008, which one would it be? 2008 can be considered a down year for music, but there has been a few excellent new bands coming out as well as Lil Wayne of the world releasing some nice materials.

Discuss away...

Let's do some group thinking. Post prospects in the comment section who has seen their stock raise/drop this year and let the rest of the community decide what grade he should be right now. This should be fun.

FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER

really, the content of this post will be in the comment section.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/07/yankees-eyein-1.html

Should the Jarrod Washburn deal fall apart, the Yankees are exploring an alternative in Brian Bannister for Melky Cabrera.  Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star writes,

"Nothing appears imminent, but the framework for a deal seems to exist because New York has already shown a willingness to part with [Melky] Cabrera. Add this: The Royals nearly obtained Cabrera in a trade-deadline swap two years ago for veteran outfielder Reggie Sanders before Sanders suffered an injury."

In this scenario, David Dejesus moves to left to make room for Cabrera in center.  And Mark Teahen would get back to his natural position at first base.  Cabrera is making $461,200, only $40,200 more than Bannister, and both are set to reach arbitration after this season.

The Yanks prefer Washburn but are in negotiations after the Mariners rejected an offer of Cabrera and Kei Igawa for the lefty veteran.  Seattle might want Brett Gardner as well as for the Yankees to take on all of Washburn's $14MM contract through next year.

After a horrible 2007 in the low As. Matt Sulentic got promoted to A+ nonetheless this year. And the hitter friendly Cal league seems to really help as he's hitting a solid .294/.367/.477 line so far this year for Stockton. Strikeout is still a tad high for Matt. But after being downgraded to a C this year, what do you think, assuming he keeps this up, his grade should be by the end of the year?

and other general thoughts.

I mean I know all of the steroid/bad teammate/not good for news yada yada. But hey, look at it this way.

Steroid list include guys like Giambi, Paul Byrd, whoever that good RP for the Indians is who keeps trying to kill baby Jesus, Miguel Tejada... they are all still in the league

Bad teammate include guys like Milton Bradley/Gary Sheffield/Jose Guillen, they are all still in the league

Not good for the press crew include any international player that don't speak good English, the rare white guy that's too shy to speak(looking at you Greinke) and the "you know" crew, you know? They all still have a job.

Now, counting out low PA folks like Tupman(2.000 OPS!), Greinke(1.667 OPS), Aviles and Bannister(1.000OPS). Our team leader in OPS is Miguel Olivo(who I'd argue to this point hasn't been a consistent regular) at .299/.326/.555. If you want to set a AB limit to 150 or above, it goes all the way down to Teahen at .258/.339/.409. Which is (cough) below league average for a corner OF.

Now Bonds' LOWEST OPS tracing back all the way to his last year with the Pirates(1992) was .999 in 2006 when he hits 26 HRs in less than 400 ab. And you know even with a little regression, he can still get on base quite a bit. And if he can handle 110 games last year at LF, I'll be darned if he can't handle 120-130 at DH for the Royals when he doesn't have to run on what used to be his legs half the game.

Now I know all the negative press we could be getting. But Bonds will 1. help the team win more games 2. draw more fans. And if he's desperate, he might sign for the rest of the year for about 5-7 millions, and that's tremendous value. And it's not like he's blocking anybody at DH.

Discuss?

"Dodgers acquired infielder Angel Berroa and cash from the Royals for infielder Juan Rivera.

Berroa will head to Triple-A Las Vegas for now. The 30-year-old former Rookie of the Year was hitting .291/.323/.519 with 10 homers for Triple-A Omaha. He'll be an option as a part-timer if the Dodgers' infield doesn't get healthy soon. The cash picked up by the Dodgers in the deal will likely cover the vast majority of the approx. $3.5 million he was still owed under the teams of his four-year deal. In Rivera, the Royals are picking up a non-prospect. The 21-year-old was hitting .241/.267/.345 in 10 games for low Single-A Great Lakes."

I mean I'm all for getting rid of Angel Berroa, but come on, if we are covering a lot of the salary, at least get a prospect for him, it's not like the Dodgers has a bad farm system(cough cough Astros). I can't find anything too positive about this Juan Rivera character besides the fact that he shares a name with a former Expos(BEST baseball organization ever! And yes, I was that Royal Expos fan if you are wondering) OF and he's a SS. His career number certainly don't look good, looks like a minor league fodder to me.

-1 for Dayton for not getting a spec out of Angel.

Tomko to the pen.

Honestly, I don't think Davies with his laser straight fastball and his confidence level at Greinke's level 2 years ago is going to change anything. But then again, it'll be pretty hard to do worse than Tomko/Bale/whoever else we threw out there for our #5 starter. And he's still young and has decent stuff(though I'd argue that both Tomko and Bale has above average stuff). At this point, with our #5 starter a crapshoot all year, why not? Here's hoping I'm wrong and that Davies' mediocre k rate/high walk rate/flyball tendency don't get to him this time around. Seriously, 4.8ish ERA would be awesome from him.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Shane%20Costa&pos=OF&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=430573

Shane Costa is hitting .304/.348/.527 with 9 HRs in AAA, our offense

Our offense is: Last in runs, last in HR, 2nd to last in Slg(Nationals slug worse), that's 3 things that Costa could potentially improve over somebody like Gathright or Gload. Now we probably should keep Gathright because of his speed and as a backup OF. Gload on the other hand, isn't that great of a bat for 1B or corner OF at his best and is putrid this year. Butler has yet to make an error at 1B this year, now watching him play, he's not ever going to be an all star defender at first, but as long is he's not absolutely horrible(think Frank Thomas, Dimitri Young or David Ortiz) his bat should(I hope) more than make up for his range at first.

What do you guys think?

I was talking trade earlier in the day involving those 3. And I thought it was interesting what people would think is the best pitcher of the 3. Cain and Lincecum are somewhat similar pitcher but Gallardo is a different style. Right now I think Cain and Lincecum are slightly a level up from Gallardo(because of their "stuff") but I'm not sure and that's why I want to get a feel from the community here.

Yovani Gallardo
Plus: Good team, good defense behind, good control, good breaking ball
Minus: Not a power pitcher

Tim Lincecum
Plus: Good fastball, good curveball, deceptive delivery, good home park
Minus: Bad defense, bad run support, not very good control, rely on fastball too much

Matt Cain
Plus: Plus fastball and curve, with slider and change showing potential, big solid body with an easy delivery, good home park
Minus: Bad defense, bad run support, not very good control, rely on fastball too much

So what exactly is up with him? Hasn't pitched since the trade? Is he officially shut down for the year? I searched but can't find anything. I don't even know what level he's assigned to.

Anybody got infos on him? And what injury was it exactly, shoulder problem?

300 character...

Um boom ba bay
Um boom ba bay
Um Um boom ba bay bay

Pressure pushing down on me
Pressing down on you no man ask for
Under pressure
That burns a building down
Splits a family in two
Puts people on streets

Um ba ba bay
Um ba ba bay
Dee day duh
Ee day duh
thats ok

It's the terror of knowing
What this world is about
Watching some good friends
Screaming let me out!
Pray tomorrow takes me higher
Pressure on people
People on streets

Day day day
da da dup bup bup
Okay

Chippin' around
kick my brains round the floor
These are the days
It never rains but it pours
Ee do bay bup
Ee do bay ba bup
Ee do bup
Bay bup
People on streets
Dee da dee da day
People on streets
Dee da dee da dee da dee da

It's the terror of knowing
What this world is about
Watching some good friends
Screaming let me out!
Pray tomorrow takes me high high higher
Pressure on people
People on streets

Turned away from it all
Like a blind man
Sat on a fence but it don't work
Keep coming up with love
But it's so slashed and torn
Why why why?

(Love, love, love, love)

Insanity laughs under pressure we're cracking
Can't we give ourselves one more chance?
Why can't we give love that one more chance?
Why can't we give love give love give love?
Give love give love give love give love give love give love?
Cause love's such an old fashioned lie
And love dares you to care
For the people on the edge of the night
And love dares you to change our way
Of caring about ourselves
This is our last dance
this is ourselves

Under Pressure
Under Pressure
Pressure

Well, to those that actually thought about trading some useful parts of us for Wily Mo, he cleared waiver today. I don't know why, but I thought we should have made a claim. No biggie though, more than likely, Wily Mo isn't going to do a whole lot the rest of the year. And we have a OF overflow problem.

I never liked the idea of getting Wily Mo and paying anything more than "nothing" anyway. He could be a superstar, but he's had so many problems hitting for contact that I don't think he can ever be more than a 4th OF.

Just noticed today that he made a start yesterday.

So far this year, if I'm not mistaken, he's gone from bullpen in AAA to rotation in AAA to bullpen in AAA to bullpen in AA to rotation in AA....how much more jerking around can somebody take?

And what's everybody's thought on him now? Is he still an upside C+ prospect or is he less now. It just amazes me how people who walk more than 1 batter per inning can some how strikeout so many people, usually you need at least half decent control to strike guys out.

Dubbed sleeper by many last year. And reasonably predicted for a breakout season in the Cal league by many before this year. He hasn't disappointed. Sure he still strikes out way too much, but he walks enough to have an acceptable ISO OBP. Being in the Padres organization means that your power potential are vastly hurt, and there's questions about where he'll play with Adrian Gonzalez in the major league level(though Blanks is pretty far away) and there's a big question of whether he can control his huge strike zone(he's 6'4") against better pitching.

His numbers for A+ Lake Elsinore in the Cal league

.327/.406/.589 17HR 30bb/67k 8sb/2cs

What type of player do you guys think he'll mostly become in the majors. And do you guys think he's a legitimate top 100 guy or is still just a sleeper due to strike zone questions and him being only in A+?

fairly sharp over the first 3 innings, not Johan like, but hold his own, kept the ball low. But once the Padres have seen him and starts to be patient...well 4th inning happened. What exactly is his repetoire? I saw a decent fastball with some sinking action around 91-93 with a curve that he rarely throws, that's about it.

Athletics purchased the contract of outfielder Dee Brown from Triple-A Sacramento.
Jorge Piedra would have made more sense. Brown, back in the majors since 2004, hit .285/.377/.503 in 151 at-bats between Triple-A Tucson and Sacramento. He'll likely be used mostly as a pinch-hitter.

I always liked him, he won't be a regular, but I'm rooting for him.

Me and another owner in the league are usually thought as the 2 stingiest owner when it comes to trades. He makes a lot of so called rip off trades and I've been called out in the past too. So I like the challenge of dealing with him. I lost the trade 2 years ago when I traded

Miguel Tejada 10,781,000 (2009)

for

Edgar Renteria 8,000,000 (2008)Team option(09)
Milton Bradley 2,500,000 (2007)
Guillermo Mota 2,600,000 (2006)
Josh Johnson NA(Later swapped straight up for Matt Cain, when JJ was the NL ERA leader and Cain had a 5+ ERA)
Eric Reed NA

Without further ado, here's the deal, VERY interested in knowing what you guys think, as much detail as possible.(I'm Oakland)

Marlins Send

Jeremy Hermida 300,000 (2011)
Wilson Betemit 300,000 (2010)
Dan Czyz (NA)
Daniel Garcia (NA)
Tom Hickman (NA)

A's Send

Melky Cabrera 300,000 (2011)
Byung Yung Kim 3,000,000 (2009)
Max Scherzer (NA)

I'm going to reply to this diary with various names. REPLY TO THOSE NAMES(easier to see, easier to count) with what you think they should rank in a top prospect list with the community list's criteria(no 2007 draftees). I figure this will be interesting. You can also reply to the main diary with names that interest you.

to get to 300 characters, here's a random lyric.

And it goes, and it goes
And it goes a little something like this

Hit It!
Aaron's in the house
Come on
Here we go
Aaron's in the house

Yo guys, check it out
Guess what happened to me
(Another crazy story, come on AC)
I was hanging at the court
Just playing some ball
Working on my game
(Yeah, we heard it all)
I heard the fans screaming
I thought it was for me
But then I saw a shadow
It was 12 foot 3
It was Shaquile O'Neal
(What? What did he say?)
(How 'bout some one-on-one, you wanna play?)
I told him why not, I got some time
But when I beat you real bad
Try not to cry

(Please Aaron, are you for real?)
(One-on-one with Shaquile O'Neal?)
Yeah, 34 Centre from the L.A. Lakers
(You must've been nervous)
I knew I could take him
Scared the Shaq, psyche him out
I said O'Neal, you're in my house now
Start the game the whistle blows
Pay attention close as the story goes...

CHORUS
It's like boom (boom)
I put it in the hoop
Like slam (slam)
I heard the crowd screaming
out jam (jam)
I swear that I'm telling you the facts
Cuz that's how I beat Shaq
X2

So check it out
I thought I had the lead
But then he started scoring more points than me
I was scoring up bricks
(Was he hitting those shots?)
I knew that there was a way that I could make it stop

I had a plan, I could change the pace
I said, Yo Shaq you didn't tie your shoelace
He looked down, I stole the ball
I'm taking him the scoon now watch me all
A 3-pointer, nothing but net
Come on Shaq, had enough yet?
Down by two, I'm catching up
I guess he's getting nervous
Cuz he already lost

CHORUS

Dunk after dunk
Jam after jam
Cheerleaders are cheering
Aaron's the man
X 2

Annoncers were shocked
couldn't believe it was real
(I can't believe a kid just stuffed O'Neal)
One more second, was all that remained
I put the ball up
I put him in shame
I must admit that it sounds real crazy
but the ball went in
Then he cried like a baby
Sorry Shaq, I should've let you win
You're good too
And we can still be friends

The fans went nuts
They put me on their shoulders
Then I heard a voice
And it sounded like my mother's
(Get up for school, you're gonna be late!)
Ma, can't you see that I'm playing the game?
(How could you be playing if you're still in bed?)
(Are you gettin' sick, did you hit your head?)
Aw, man it was all a dream
I guess that kinda thing could never happen to me

If it was a dream and it wasn't real

How'd I get a jersey with the name O'Neal?
Woah...

It's like boom (boom)
I put it in the hoop
Like slam (slam)
I heard the crowd screaming
out jam (jam)
I swear that I'm telling you the facts
Cuz that's how I beat Shaq

Ryan Braun had a 10% lead after about 120 votes. Moving on.

1. Justin Upton
   
2. Phil Hughes
   
3. Yovani Gallardo
   
4. Billy Butler
   
5. Ryan Braun

just saw that on rotoworld.

WTF?

How is this move going to help us? We have a crowded OF already. And you bet if Oakland's clubhouse chemistry(which is great) can't contain Bradley, KC's definitely can't.

Headscratcher

Yadayada yodayoda

yadayada yodayoda

Leo Nunez blows either way

geez, how long, how long must I sing this song?

First one was uneventful...

Here's where the fun begin

I'm adding Adam Jones to the list to replace a hitter in Justin Upton. Suggest some players to add to the poll at #3 if you will. I genuinely think Salty is a serious candidate to be added to the poll this soon, you may think differently.

Since I need a filler, here's the lyrics to the song Amsterdam by Peter, Bjorn and John

Baby went to Amsterdam
She put a little money into travelling
Now it's so slow, so slow
Baby went to Amsterdam
Four, five days for the big canal
Now it's so slow, so slow

And I was heading up north
To a place that I know
Eating well, sleeping well
But still I was way, way out of line
Amsterdam was stuck in my mind

Oh, it's a kind of stupid groove
That you can't ignore
Oh, it's a kind of natural fact
Sometimes you're just left to be alone

Baby went to Amsterdam
She put a little money into travelling
Now it's so slow, so slow
Baby went to Amsterdam
Four, five days for the big canal
Now it's so slow, so slow

And I got to go away
To a place of my own
Working hard, fill my time
From that day on, till I hit the bed
Amsterdam was stuck in my head

Oh, it's a kind of stupid groove
That you can't ignore
Oh, it's a kind of natural fact
Sometimes you're just left to be alone

Baby went to Amsterdam
She put a little money into travelling
Now it's so slow, so slow
Baby went to Amsterdam
Four, five days for the big canal
Now it's so slow, so slow

Baby went to Amsterdam
She put a little money into travelling
Now it's so slow, so slow
Baby went to Amsterdam
Four, five days for the big canal
Now it's so slow, so slow, slow

sigh, enough dramas okay? How about we just come up with a list? Eligibility is of tomorrow morning at 9am CT. 130 career ab or 50 career innings(MLB) is the cutoff line. So no Lincecum. And there's no 2007 draftees. Sorry but there's just SOOO many uncertainties towards them. And there's just so many questions as to who to include and who doesn't. And I'd rather everything be black and white just so not to stir up controversy.

If you vote others, tell me who so I can consider adding them for the #2 poll.

Here's the poll, have fun discussing.

Our league just held it's annual Devil Rays/Diamondbacks dispersal draft, the premise is that we draft those 2 team's 2006 draft class(Longoria and Scherzer) and whatever is left from earlier such draft(guys like Bonifacio slipped through the crack last year for example). I know some of those players are no longer with those 2 organizations, but as long as they are on those teams in opening day 2005, they are eligible. I'll post a player universe below. Just curious about you guys' opinion on it, steals? bad picks? opinion on a player in general? anything really other than flame wars.

BTW: our league is 28 teams, basically the 28 teams of the MLB except the DBacks and DRays.

Without further ado, here's the draft

1. Minnesota Twins - Evan Longoria-3B (TB)
   
2. Oakland A's - Mark Reynolds-INF (ARI)
   
3. Oakland A's - Maxwell Scherzer-RHP (ARI)
   
4. Pittsburgh Pirates - Gerardo Parra-OF (ARI)
   
5. Colorado Rockies (Nats) - Brett Anderson-LHP (ARI)
   
6. Oakland A's - Brooks Brown-RHP (ARI)
   
7. Cleveland Indians - Joshua Butler-RHP (TB)
   
8. Atlanta Braves (Acq From St. Louis Cardinals) - Emilio Bonifacio (Ari)
   
9. Toronto Blue Jays - Desmond Jennings (TB)
   
10. Seattle Mariners - (Kevin) Cyle Hankerd (ARI)
    
11. Cincinnati Reds - Dallas Buck (Ari)
    
12. Chicago White Sox - Ruddy Lugo (TB)
    
13. Los Angeles Dodgers - Alexander Cobb (TB)
    
14. Los Angeles Dodgers - Ryan Reid (TB)
    
15. Houston Astros - Nevin Ashley (TB)
    
16. New York Mets - Skipped
    
17. Detroit Tigers - (Lewis) Heath Rollins (TB)
    
18. Oakland A's - Bryan Byrne (ARI)
    
19. Los Angeles Angels - Brian Barden (ARI)
    
20. Oakland A's - Daniel Stange (Ari)
    
21. Baltimore Orioles - Skipped
    
22. San Diego Padres - Tyree Hayes (TB)
    
23. Boston Red Sox - Ryan Royster (TB)
    
24. Chicago Cubs - Rhyne Hughes (TB)
    
25. Oakland A's - Brad Miller (Ari)
    
26. Atlanta Braves - Danny Richar (ARI)
    
27. Florida Marlins - Andrew Fie (ARI)
    
28. Milwaukee Brewers - Rusty Ryal (ARI)

You probably won't find another person who think less of Max Scherzer then I do prior to him signing last week. I just thought that a fastball along wouldn't get you very far in the majors. And that mechanic is just outright horrible. I have a choice between Brett Anderson, Max Scherzer, Gerardo Parra, Heath Rollins(D-Rays) and Josh Butler. I originally thought that for sure I'd take one of Parra or Anderson, leaning heavily towards Anderson. But Scherzer's debut today was great. And I'm starting to think that I might have to trust the Diamondback's scouts who tell the team to take him 11th overall and who tells the team to give him all that money more than some armchair scouts like myself with strong opinions.

There's basically only 1 question mark for Brett Anderson, is his stuff good enough. He's 3 years and change younger than Scherzer, only a level lower and probably won't be for much longer. Without knowing the background, I'd take Anderson's number/age/level any day over Scherzer. But knowing he's supposedly a "polished" HS arm without great stuff. I'm hesitant now.

What do you guys think, who will have a more productive first 6 year in the majors(all that matters in our league) and what's their ETA?