how good is he?  i havent heard much about him before last week, is he a top 50 prospect next year?   his avg is eye-opening, but will he keep that up, and how does his power and speed compare to other prospects?

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  FFILLER 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  ILLER 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 FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER  FFILLER 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  ILLER 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

i'm wondering at what age do you give up on prospects that haven't made it yet? .. and is there a general # thats good to use as a rule of thumb?

i've always heard that 27 is the year for alot of players, but that seems to be more for hitters..  that also seems like an awfully long time to wait if the player hasn't made it yet....  do pitchers have any age to go by?  i.e. Cliff Lee was a late bloomer, possibly all of his owners dumped him in dynasty leagues with deep minors systems   .. i hate seeing mistakes like that, so i tend to wait on alot of players too long.. i'll keep players like Matt Gamel. Chris Marrero, Chris Nelson, and Max Ramirez in favor of many new pedigree prospects in their teens/early 20's... sometimes its too tough a choice.. is this a bad strategy?

in baseball...

he just posted his new prospect list/rookie analysis thing.. it costs $$ and im a big fan of his stuff,  so i wont spoil it and list his top 100 or anything (i think its a top 500) ... but it looks to be contreversal as usual, once the free version comes out next year..  so i thought some of you might be muy interested ... go yankees!

revisiting a help-diary i started last week.. i'm up to my last pick in my leagues' prospect draft, and could use some oppinions ...

out of the following, who would you take and WHY ?

Jair Jurrjens
Jacoby Ellsbury
Sean Rodriguez
Chris Iannetta
Curtis Thigpen
Adam Lind
Wes Bankston
Joey Votto
Kevin Kouzmanoff

below are each of their stats on the year so far..

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JAIR JURRJENS 6'1" 160 lbs  20 yo
Hi A - Florida State League
60.0 IP
1.80 Era
50 K
7 BB
43 hits
3 hr

JACOBY ELLSBURY  6'1"  185 lbs  22yo
Hi A - Carolina League
94 ab's
.330 Avg
.411 Obp
.500 Slg
3 HR
2 double
3 triple
10 BB
14 K
12 SB
3 CS

SEAN RODRIGUEZ 6'1" 198 lbs  21 yo
Hi A - California League
189 ab's
.302 Avg
.366 Obp
.508 Slg
9 HR
8 double
2 triple
15 BB
47 K
7 SB
3 CS

CHRIS IANNETTA  5'11" 195 23 yo
AA - Texas League
110 ab's
.291 Avg
.391 Obp
.518 Slg
6 HR
5 double
1 triple
16 BB
17 K
1 SB
0 CS

CURTIS THIGPEN 5'11" 190 lbs 23 yo
AA - Eastern League
98 ab's
.265 Avg
.385 Obp
.500 Slg
3 HR
8 double
3 triple
18 bb
21 k
3 sb
0 cs

ADAM LIND 6'2" 195 lbs  22 yo
AA - Eastern League
192 Ab's
.291 Avg
.330 Obp
.500 Slg
9 HR
11 double
0 triple
10 BB
42 K
0 SB
1 CS

WES BANKSTON  6'4" 200 lbs 22yo
AA - Southern League
69 ab's
.333 Avg
.378 Obp
.406 Slg
1 HR
2 double
0 triple
4 BB
17 K
4 SB
1 CS

JOEY VOTTO 6'3" 220 lbs 22 yo
AA - Southern League
194 ab's
.294 Avg
.373 Obp
.500 Slg
8 HR
16 double
0 triple
25 BB
51 K
9 SB
2 CS

KEVIN KOUZMANOFF 6'1" 200 lbs 24 yo
AA - Eastern League
135 ab's
.415 Avg
.457 Obp
.615 Slg
5 HR
12 double
0 triple
11 BB
18 K
2 SB
2 CS

i need to ask for some Draft Help ... i know these types of questions are unpopular, but its the last round of a deep draft and i figure its good to talk about some of these names anyway : ]

i have 2 upcoming picks, alot of good players are off the board, and these are the ones i'm staring  at..

if you could pick 3, who would you take and WHY ?

Reid Brignac
Chris Ianetta
Marcus Sanders
Kevin Kouzmanoff
Jair Jurrjens
Ryan Patterson
Nolan Reimold
Jacoby Ellsbury
Jeff Bianchi
Brandon Snyder
Fernando Martinez
Gaby Hernandez
Sean Rodriguez
Curtis Thigpen
Pat Neshek
Daisuke Matsuzka
Koji Uehara
Akinori Iwamura

So.. Matsuzaka is owned in all leagues that I play in.  Are their any other names we should now about, who could be coming over next year? .. and specifically, are there any Free Agents?  

 I've heard that Akinori Iwamura (3B) was promised to be posted at the end this year, but this would be the 3rd year in a row he was promised, so i'm guessing its not defenite....  similiar story for K.Uehara, though he would be a nice prize if he did come.. anyone know his exact Free Agent year?  .. these are the only 2 names i've been following, is there anyone else? (besides D.M.!)

so he's doing great in the Eastern League as a 20 year old.  is he better then we even thought, and should he be considered an elite pitcher?   or am i going too far?  at this rate, i'm thinking he could be in the rotation by september

Gio Gonzalez
AA Reading

2.45 ERA
29.1 IP
21 H
8 R
8 ER
2 HR
12 BB
34 K

McClouth got the start today and went 0-5, but we have a PLATOON

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060404&content_id=54020&vkey=n ews_milb&fext=.jsp

I wish somewhere in Vegas, they're putting odds on each guy.  Assuming one eventually beats out the other  .. I like McClouth because his minor league history is a little better, but Duffy was big last year.. they're both lefty and match up evenly in almost everything

now that he's probably staying in Seattle, does anyone have projections for him?

how good of a hitter is he, and does he have to worry about Carl Everett? (gasp!) FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER FILLER

i saw BA's preview, but looking for other oppinions.. what are some top guys to look at?  .. John Jaso looks promising and i don't understand how the D-Ray didn't protect him. looking at his numbers, he looks like a solid prospect that doesn't need to play c to be valuable.. but him and Sing are the only ones i know, anyone else to watch out for?

its looking more and more like he won't sign with an MLB team.  The best offer he's gotten so far is the Mariners: for 2 years, 8 mil a year... and his team in Japan (Fukuoka Softbank Hawks) just upped their offer a couple days ago to 3 years, 10 mil a year....  the latest news articles say he flew back to Japan this week because of a family illness, and that he'll make a decision by tuesday

http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkxMTImZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTY4MTk 5NTMmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2

does anyone own him? (i got him in 3 of my 4 leagues) .. i find it hard to believe that he's getting so little interest from teams considering the catchers on the market this year. Are the tigers shopping Pudge or something?  I also think his agent might be doing a terrible job in rushing this entire process.. he's waited at least 3 years to come here, why don't they wait a few more months to see how things develop? (kinda how Pudge/Boras waited it out 2 years ago)

i think back in the day he had really big #'s in the minors and was supposedly a great strike-out pitcher.. (i can't find the minor league stats to prove this though).  then he fell off the map... this year his K/9 was really ugly, but low 4.00 era and 10 wins might have rebuilt his confidence.  are we looking at a breakout season in 06?

im currently in the middle of a deep draft.. if you can take 10 players from this list, who would you take and in what order?

gio gonzalez
troy patton
nolan reimold
brandon snyder
neil walker
miguel montero
nick adenhart
kevin slowey
elvis andrus
jose tabata
austin jackson
andrew mccutchen
corey wimberly
jacoby ellsbury
alberto callaspo
elijah dukes
brian bannister
jake stevens
jason hammel
daniel haigwood
sean gallagher
matt garza
yorman bazardo
wladameir balentien
matt moses
andre either
travis denker
jayson nix

any potential monsters poised for a break-out next season?

he starts vs. the Angels tommorrow in place of Radke ..

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050703/SPORTS06/507030343/1007/SPOR TS

should be interesting, he's been good in AAA most of the time.. i think he's been almost dominant all year except his most recent start went badly.  are the Twins gonna keep going slow with him this year?

guys, who should i pick in the 1st round of my prospect draft? .. its a 20 team H2H in its 2nd year, so alot of good players were taken last year.  i've narrowed it down to these 3

Zach Duke
Chris Nelson
Brian Dopirak

i'm leaning towards Duke because its hard to get good young pitching and i think he's ace who'll be ready the quickest.. but Nelson seems too good to pass up and Dopirak seems a 40 hr type.. any thoughts? please help