No Quitters II

Round 1 Draft Review

2008-07-07T01:50:00.003-05:00

So I've done a review of the 1st round, plus supplemental round, of this seasons draft. I used a format that is like "Baseball America's Prospect Handbook" rather than write something up about each player. Some of the categories are pretty straight forward while others are not. The Best "Pitcher" Category doesn't necessarily he's the best pitcher, just that he knows how to "pitch" and not just be a "thrower." The Best Athlete category was tricky and I was originally going to give it to Joel Hynes before ultimately deciding. If anyone wants to come up with a set criteria for determining it then be my guest. Anyhow, here is the review.

Best Hitter for Average - Alex Zhou, Catcher, Iowa City Undertakers, 11th Overall
Best Power-Hitter - John Stanley, 2B, Helena Mountaineers, 21st Overall
Best Stirke-Zone Discipline - Paul Long, Catcher, Washington D.C. Revolution, 23rd Overall
Best Pure Hitter - Alex Zhou, Catcher, Iowa City Undertakers, 11th Overall
Fastest Baserunner - Jose Mercedes, 2B, Durham Disaster, 2nd Overall
Best Athlete - Gerry Wise, CF, Charleston Chiefs, 17th Overall
Best Fastball - Wayne Cormier, San Fransisco Values, 50th Overall
Best Curveball - Albert Granados, San Fransisco Values, 5th Overall
Best Slider - Cesar Ramirez, New Orleans Gushing Dikes, 49th Overall
Best Changeup - Ricardo Espinoza, Montgomery Marauders, 1st Overall
Best Control - Albert Granados, San Fransisco Values, 5th Overall and Malcom McCartin, Buffalo Wings, 3rd Overall
Highest Velocity- Albert Sojo, Charlotte Knights, 20th Overall
Best 'Pitcher' - Malcom McCartin, Buffalo Wings, 3rd Overall
Best Defensive Catcher - Paul Long, Catcher, Washington D.C. Revolution, 23rd Overall
Best Defensive Infielder - Anthony Zentmeyer, 2B, Minnesota Goats, 15th Overall
Best Infield Arm - Vladimir Chavez, SS, Louisville EliteDucks, 19th Overall
Best Defensive Outfielder - Craig Hardy, CF, Milwaukee Timber Rattlers, 31st Overall
Best Outfield Arm - Orel Lawrence, CF, Kansas City Monarchs, 14th Overall
Closest To The Majors - Malcom McCartin, Buffalo Wings, 3rd Overall
Best Late-Round Pick(Made After No.20) - Paul Long, Catcher, Washington D.C. Revolution, 23rd Overall
Most Intriguing Background -Ross Nixon and Charles Nixon are cousins who were both taken in the supplemental round of the draft.
Biggest Reach - Albert Hernandez, Atlanta Incorruptibles, 40th Overall

Top 100: 61-80

2008-07-06T22:15:00.002-05:00

61. Brandon Cone, CF, Boston Backbay Badboys (Traded from Philadelphia), -3

62. Everett Fischbach, RF, Washington D.C. Revolution, +7

63. Moises Colome, SP, Montgomery Marauders, +5

64. Hub Kennedy, SP, Helena Mountaineers, --

65. Roger Dye, RF, Minnesota Goats, -8

66. Tony Aramboles, 3B, Helena Mountaineers, +17

67. Billy Murray, SS, Santa Cruz Screaming Eagles, --

68. Ivan Romano, C, New Orleans Gushing Dikes, +10

69. Marino Cervantes, SP, Charlotte Knights, +2

70. Rudy Roth, SP, Kansas City Monarchs (Traded from New Orleans), +4

71. Braden Rolison, SP, Durham Disaster (Traded from Helena), +6

72. Jay Stern, SS, Iowa City Undertakers, +13

73. Gerald Kramer, RP, Santa Cruz Screaming Eagles, +14

74. Ben Logan, CF, New Britain Bees, +22

75. Miguel DeLeon, LF, Dover Dragaerans, -10

76. Alfonso Martinez, RP, Santa Cruz Screaming Eagles, --

77. Alex Cora, SP, Los Angeles Trolly Dodgers, +14

78. Francisco Martin, SP, Boston BackBay Badboys, +14

79. Wally Everhart, SP, Boston BackBay Badboys, +14

80. Vernon Wilson, SP, Cleveland Cuyahogas, --

Where are they now?
61. Brady Fiore, #49
63. Stubby Moore, Majors
64. Rod Austin, Sluggers List
67. Yamid Rodriguez, Majors
70. Pat Park, #85
72. Gene Hernandez, #81
73. Eddie Pierzynski, Majors
76. Benny Chavez, #60
79. Alex Alvarez, Majors
80. Raul Ortiz, #83

Free Agent Review

2008-06-28T15:30:00.004-05:00

There were an amazing 11 Type A Free Agents signed this past off-season. Boston, Huntington, and Richmond all signed two. There were also 6 Type B Free Agents signed as well. New Orleans leads the league in compensation picks for the 3 players they lost, while Boston and Las Vegas each have two picks.

Dario Yamaguchi, SP, Arizona High Heat 3yrs/$22.5mil
Dario has had a spectacular start to the year as he has gone 6-2 with a 3.05 ERA in 9 starts for Arizona so far. With a 3:1 K/BB ratio and a WHIP of 1.19. Its looking like Arizona's rotation is going to be great, and carry them far this year.

Timothy Stokes, LF, Boston BackBay Badboys, 2yrs/$10mil
Stokes has been a solid contributor to Boston so far this year. Coming over from Charlotte, he has posted a line of .361/.449/.810 so far this year. Not spectacular for a COF, but definitely not bad either.

Tony Hernandez, RF, Boston BackBay Badboys, 2yrs/$12mil
Tony has had an impressive start to the season. We are only 45 games into the season and he has 26 XBHs already. As good as his bat has been so far he has been somewhat dreadful in the field with 4 errors already, for a .902 fielding percentage in right field.

T.J. Hernandez, SP, Cleveland Cuyahogas, 3yrs/$70mil
The prize of this past seasons free agent class, T.J. has lived up to the billing. Some say mytitan overpaid, but its hard to argue with the results so far. 6-3 with a 4:1 k/bb ratio and a 1.08 whip, he has been dominant. In his 3 losses he has given up a total of 10 runs, so its not like he got blown out. The guy is a workhorse and its surprising to see mytitan have him pitch once every 5th day rather than as much as possible.

Vic Vazquez, 3B, Colorado Helmet Sundaes, 3yrs/$19.8mil
Vic was signed by the now defunct ucbulls33. Luckily he fits nicely in Colorado, but then again, what hitter doesn't? 14HRs already, to go with a .381OBP and .604SLG, he has been worth almost every penny of the contract.

Ralph Jefferies, RP, Colorado Helmet Sundaes, 1yr/$4.8mil
Another signing by ucbulls33 who has gone on to abandon the franchise. This one is a head scratcher, but at least he didn't give up a draft pick and only provided a compensation pick. Ralph already has pitched 34 2/3 innings and those innings have been downright ugly. A 1.93WHIP and a 9.09ERA is not what a major league pitcher should be putting up. He is an extreme ground ball pitcher, which is what you want in Colorado, but he has mid 50's control which is barely passable. Why would anyone pay a guy $4.8mil who has a career ERA of 4.61 prior to this season?

Matthew Riggs, SP, Huntington Blazers, 5yrs/$60mil
Riggs has been good so far this year, not great, but good. He is 4-3 so far with a 3.62ERA after moving away from the friendly confines of Detroit. I would imagine that both ERA and WHIP will slowly start creeping higher as his home ball park is definitely more suited for hitters.

Doug Buck, RF, Huntington Blazers, 5yr/$64mil
Huntington spent a lot this past off season to land some free agents, lets hope they pan out for him. Like Riggs, Doug has gotten off to a good start, but not a great one. He's putting up numbers that are pretty much more or less the same as his career averages. Is he worth $64mil? Not in my mind.

Giovanni Lemon, SP, Kansas City Monarchs, 4yrs/$27mil
This is not what Kansas City was thinking was going to happen when they signed Giovanni. He's 1-5 with an ERA over 6.00. Its not like he's keeping the ball in the park either as he's given up 12HRs and has a slugging against of over .600. I would imagine this is just bad luck on his part as his skills say he shouldn't be doing this.

Raul Brogna, DH, Las Vegas Highrollers, 3yr/$18mil
Raul has been mentioned as an early MVP candidate in the American League with his 1.043OPS, and surely will be in the top 5 if he keeps it up. He is currently on pace to set career marks for nearly every offensive statistic there is.

Manny Sherman, RP, Las Vegas Highrollers, 3yrs/$17.4mil
One would think that if you are going to sign a Type A relief pitcher that you would be in need of a reliever, but this is not the case in Las Vegas. They already have a couple of competent relieves in the pen, but yet they went out and gave Sherman a pretty nice sized contract AND gave up draft picks. So far this year Manny has only pitched in 3 games and has 2 2/3IP. The 3 games he has pitched though have been great as he's only given up a single hit.

Karl Bale, 1B, Los Angeles Trolly Dodgers, 2yrs/$9.5mil
It appears that Karl has been a pinch hit bat coming off the bench most of the time as he's only started 26 games so far this season. His OBP would be higher if he was able to hit the ball a little better, but he is drawing alot of walks in his limited time so far. There is a mutual option for next year but I wouldn't think Bale would exercise it as its hard to imagine a team willing to pay him more than the $5.5 that he is owed next season.

Don Embree, RP, Montgomery Mauraders, 3yrs/$11.7mil
There have been some high priced relievers that were signed this past season, ones that don't figure to have prominant roles in the pen either. Don Embree is another example of this. Costing Montgomery almost $6mil this season he has only pitched 20innings and is slotted in the Setup B role. He hasn't even pithced well in the 20 innings he has pitched with a WHIP over 2.00. His skills say that this is probably just a small sample size though and he should come back to earth shortly.

Morris Phillips, SP, Philadelphia Phightins, 2yrs/$5.4mil
Philadelphia is still a couple of seasons away from competing and it looks like the signing of Phillips is just a stop gap until some young arms can develop down on the farm. It looks like he will fill that role just fine as he has 3 seasons of over 180ip. If his control was a little bit better he'd be a #3-4 on a contender.

Micah Regan, CF, Richmond Storm, 2yrs/$15mil
Micah would be better suited at second, but is currently playing out in Center for Richond. The Storm were active this year in free agency and signed two type A's, but the money they shelled out hasn't resulted in more wins, yet. This could be because Micah is 40pts below his career OBP and 90pts below his career SLG. I've noticed that some players with Micah's skills, and robocoach mentioned this as well, seem to be in a funk lately. With Micah, and the other guys I've noticed, its all happened at about the same time which would lead me to believe it was a change to the engine. We'll see.

Bucky Truman, 1B, Richmond Storm, 3yrs/$25mil
Bucky was my "Top Hitter" in this years free agency period and was signed by Richmond, and has not disapointed. With an OBP over .400 he has remarkabley only scored 21runs while being on base over 91 times so far this season. This stat indicated that Richmond just doesn't have anyone else on the roster that is capable of brining in runs, which is a shame for Bucky.

Ismael Franco, RF, Tacoma Pilots, 5yrs/$40mil
So threester backloaded this contract, only paying $4mil this year and paying $9mil each of the last 4 years. Hopefully he's around for the duration, and I have no reason to believe he won't be. His move to an extreme pitchers park has not hurt his stats at all which must be a nice suprise for threester. He had an early stint on the DL with a Back Strain, which is nothing new as he has been on the DL four seperate time due to his back. He's healthy now and on his persuit of 110rbi+ for a 6th straight season.

Top 100: 41-60

2008-06-22T00:06:00.002-05:00

So I thought I'd have more time for the blog than I actually do. So I don't think I will be able to write up a little brief review of each player. Anyhow, here's 41-60:

41. Hal Paquette, SP, Cleveland

42. Nate Harper, SP, Las Vegas

43. T.J. Davidson, SP, Richmond

44. John Byrne, 2B, Louisville (Traded from Arizona after list was compiled)

45. Dolf Spencer, CF, Montgomery

46. Damion Uchida, SP, Louisville

47. Sam Fletcher, 2B, Santa Cruz

48. Ernie Beverlin, RF, Dover

49. Brady Fiore, RP, Milwaukee

50. Fernando Manzanillo, 3B, Arizona (Traded from Helena after list was compiled)

51. Jack Truman, RF, Richmond

52. Hector Serra, RP, Durham

53. Pat Woo, SS, Scranton

54. Ernest Iorg, SP, Scranton

55. Charles Norton, RF, Atlanta

56. Alberto Sanchez, CF, Kansas City

57. Tony Simas, SP, Atlanta

58. Willy Rigdon, 2B, Iowa City

59.Benito Aparicio, SP, Richmond

60. Benny Chavez, RP, Las Vegas

Where are they now?
41. Donaldo Alicea - Sluggers List, DH - Minnesota
42. Alfonso Cruz - #97 (RP recalibration), RP - Chicago
44. Cody Relaford - 2B - Milwaukee - Majors
45. Stephen Taylor - SP - Montgomery - Majors
47. Charles Mann - SP - New Britain - Majors
48. Craig Clark - SP - Las Vegas - Majors
51. Sammy Jacquez - SS - Montgomery - Majors
56. Josh Holzemer - CF - Toledo - Majors
57. Roger Dye - #65 - 2B - Minnesota
58. Brandon Cone - #61 - 2B - Boston

Trade Review Week 2

2008-06-07T12:42:00.002-05:00

There was a flurry of activity during week 2 here is a recap

Las Vegas dealt power hitting 3B Rigo Carrasco to Philly for 2 high stamina low split SP's in Al Martin and Trey Hubbell. This was a major heist by Philly. Carrasco should be a force for the Phightins while the 2 SP's will struggle to get anyone out at the big league level

The next deal saw Richmond send CF Dwight Terryto Durham for 3 pitchers, Yorvit Izturis , Omar Martinez , and Jose Maduro. Maduro looks to have the most upside, but Richmond was really just looking for some pitching depth. Durham's aquisition of Terry raises some questions about CFer of the future Ross Herges. Durham management confirms that after a year in AAA for both of them, it will be an open competion next season with the deserving player getting the job. Anytime you get a futre ML player for fringe MLers it is a good deal, ( but richmond did get plenty of depth).

Next up Las Vegas made a 2nd move by sending former silver slugger Daryle Patrick to Minnesota for a pair of prospects Alan Maxwell and speed demon D'Angelo Diaz. Diaz will be a productive ML OF, but once again this looks like a deal that isn't to favorable for Las Vegas, They are clearing alot of payroll though, so maybe they wil be players in the IFA market and make up for it, now and in the future.

Next up Toledo aquired slugging DH/1B Manny Tanaka from Durham for SP Patrick Monroe. In only 300 Ab's last season Tanaka smacked 19 HR's and drove in 51 runs, given a full alottment of AB's expect a very solid season from Tanaka. Monroe is a very solid #3-4 SP except for his low durability which might force him into a LR role or at least for this season, he will just need pushed back in the rotation every once in awhile. This deal looks like a solid deal for both franchises.

Durham was back at it again this time aquiring the 15th ovreall pick in the season 3 draft SP Braden Rolison from Montgomery for slick feilding ML SS Aaron Garciaparra, and2 prospects C Juan Nunez and OF Jim Oquist. Rollison currently slides into Durham's future #2 SP slot. At 1st glance this looks like a solid deal for both teams, but a few days after the deal was completed Montgomery inexplicably released Oquist. Montgomery mangement was unavailable for comment. Given that Montgomery released the best player they got in the deal, this one had some around the league scratching their heads.

Trade Review

2008-06-01T14:55:00.003-05:00

The 1st trade that was completed in season 6 saw New Britain send backup Outfeilder Bob Collier to Colorado for Colorado's 2nd round pick from a season ago Pedro Ayala This looks like a solid deal for New Britain as Ayala should become a solid 4th OF ( at worst) in the bigs, while Collier is a AAAA type player at best. A comparable player could have been gotten as a cheap free agent.

New Orleans and Toledo came together on a deal that saw the Cow Tippers send DH/1B Adam Sellers to the Gushing Dikes in exchange for 3B Juan Seneca who is coming off a down season where he only saw 117 AB's and hit a meager .248 with 5 HR's and 17 RBI. The dikes had been unsucceful in aquiring Sellers last season from Durham, but were able to find a match with Toledo, after Toledo aquired Sellers during a season 5 trade with Durham. Sellers is a very good offensive player who hit .312 with an ops of .932 with 29 HR's and 87 RBI. Seneca's ability to at least not embarress himself in the feild makes deal fairly even. Slight edge to New Orleans.

Top 100: 21-40

2008-06-01T14:37:00.002-05:00

21. Bernie Melendez, SP, Buffalo, --
Bernie is back at the same spot as last year. He will walk the occasional batter, but that hasn't stopped either Hugh Luebbers or Orber Gutierrez from posting good numbers. He was the first pick in Season 4's draft, and depending on how much his control improves this season he could be up in September.

22. Stewart Dixon, SP, Kansas City, --
The sixth newcomer to this year's list, Stewart was the twelfth player selected in the draft last year. Projects to have great command of a curve and slider. Look for him to spend the year playing low a ball for the Monarchs.

23. Danys Carrara, 3B, Kansas City, +10
Carrara is a walk machine as he as averaged over 100 walks a season in his 4 pro seasons. Hailing out of Brazil, be on the lookout for Carrara later this year.

24. Shane Aurilia, SS, Charlotte, -1
Shane drops a spot in the list this year, but he is ready to break into the show. Shane is one of the fastest players, possibly ever to play the game, though he is not known as a base stealer. He is capable of putting up 40HR and 402B's a season.

25. Joe Parkinson, SS, Toledo, +1
Another Toledo infielder. Could you imagine if they still had McFeeley? ;-) Parkinson is still probably a full year away from being ready. He should be able to challenge Cal Ripken's consecutive games streak as his health/durability, and makeup all project to be in the 90's.

26. Rudy Howard, SS, Charlotte, +4
The 7th pick in Season 3's draft, Rudy has done nothing to disappoint since being drafted. Posting a career .335/.411/.630 line in over 1000 AB's, he should be ready for the bigs by the end of the year.

27. Lorenzo Feliz, SP, Charlotte, --
Lorenzo is HBD's version of Derek Lowe and Brandon Webb in that he induces a slew of ground balls. He is a workhorse in the rotation as he's already pitched 200 innings in just his first full season. Could start the season at the major league level, but looks like he'll be down at AA.

28. Jared Lofton, 1B, Las Vegas, -3
The list's first 1B, but in all reality, he's not a 1B. At number 27 we had HBD's Brandon Webb, and now at number 28 we have HBD's version of Ryan Howard. Jared is 25yr's old and is still stuck in the minors. You would have to say he is ready for a shot to produce at the big league level, and in his prime he should be able to put up MVP type numbers.

29. Douglas Gonzales, 2B, Charlotte, --
Hailing out of Schenectady County Community College in New York, Douglas was the 22nd pick last year. He appears to be an average ML 2B and should put up great offensive numbers. About average base runner as well. He appears to be a full season away from being ready.

30. Mule Buckley, SP, Montgomery, +1
For some reason I had Mule listed as a catcher last year. Not entirely sure why that was the case, but anyhow Mule is a pitcher, and a pretty good left hander at that. Pretty much ready to play in the bigs.

31. Jimmy Collins, 2B, Richmond, -2
Another walk machine and a black hole at 2B, Collins looks like a solid player. He might not get to as many balls as an average 2B would, but the ones he does get to are going to be turned into outs. His work ethic is 2nd to none, and has consistently improved each year as a pro.

32.Angel Earley, SS, Montgomery, --
This pick I believe will draw alot of controversy. He's not overtly dominate on offense, but will be more than adequate on defense. He should make up for his smallish bat by lagging out a couple more doubles and stealing his way into scoring position.

33. Alex Slaughter, 3B, New Britain, -1
Slaughter will most likely spend the year in the minors, but an argument could be made for bringing him up now. His durability still needs to get up a little bit, as that has been holding him back from getting the PA's that his bat deserves.

34. Cory Lee, SP, Minnesota, --
Cory was the ace for the University of Arkansas as they made it to the Super Regional of the CWS last year. Unfortunately the rest of the rotation wasn't comprised of similar players as they lost to Oklahoma State in the Regional Final. He produces alot of ground ball outs with a curve, sinker, and change-up, and is very effective against right handed hitters.

35. Rey Garland, 3B, Iowa City, --
Rey is the little brother of Andy Garland, but unfortunatley their parents split up as the brothers were separated when very young. Growing up Rey was always a clumsy kid as he kept getting himself hurt, but that didn't stop him from becoming a good enough ball player to be drafted in the supplemental round last year. Look for him to dominate lefties, and draw a lot of walks if he can stay healthy enough.

36. Allie Fitzgerald, SP, New Orleans, +3
Allie is not your prototypical pitcher as he is fairly "short" at 5'10", but he can sure generate a lot of velocity on his pitches, and somehow is an extreme ground ball pitcher. Drafted out of the baseball player factory that is known as Colfax High School, Allie is still about a year away from terrorizing left handed batters.

37. O.T. Olsen, SS, Buffalo, +16
Olsen jumps up this years list, in part due to a lot of graduations to the bigs in front of him, and also due to the minor tweak in how the list was generated. With over 1200 minor league at-bats, he seems ready to break into the show and will likely see a call up later this year.

38. Emil Alvarez, C, Santa Cruz, --
The first catcher on this years list, Emil was taken with a sandwich pick last year that Santa Cruz got in return for Dover signing Joaquin Martinez. While he won't be a great defensive catcher, he should be better than most, and will make up for any defensive shortcomings while up at the plate. Already playing at AAA while only 20yrs old, he is already ahead of the curve.

39. Ted Ellenwood, 1B, Scranton, -4
Ted falls back a few spots in this years list, probably due to an increase in the weight applied to defensive abilities. He is destined to be a COF or a 1B, but that isn't what pops out at you when you watch him play. Its his ability to hit the ball frickin 500ft with ease. He received significant playing time after getting called up in August last year as he played in 58 games. In those games he amassed a ridiculous OPS of 1.016. If he had been playing the entire year he probably would have won ROY easily. If this stat doesn't blow your mind then stop being a fan of baseball. 1 HR per 10AB's last year.

40. Russ Cressend, C, Montgomery, -4
Russ is a professional hitter who just happens to play catcher, nothing else about it. Slated to start the season in the bigs, he shouldn't disappoint and should be in the running for AL ROY. Tacoma would have had been on the list if they wouldn't have traded him in season 4, but they did, so they aren't. If Russ is able to get enough plate apperances he could be in the running for the league lead in HR's.

Where are they now(Season 5 21-40)
21. Albert Vizquel, RP, Tacoma - AAA (Fell out of the top 100 due to a shift in the rankings of RP)
24. Ajax Radke, SP, Helena - Majors
34. Alfonso Martinez, RP, Santa Cruz - AAA(#76)
37. Brandon Mintz, RP, Helena - Majors
38. Pascual Urbina, RP, Milwaukee - Majors
40. Sam Fletcher, 2B, Santa Cruz - AAA (#47)

Top 100: 1-20

2008-05-31T22:22:00.003-05:00

Once again, I drastically lowered the weight towards relief pitching (I define a reliever as a guy with less than 60 in stamina). As I have stated before as well position players tend to be weighted towards guys who play positions that require defense rather than the guys like David Ortiz and Prince Fielder. Yes Threester, I realize that there are about 7-10 guys who are not on the list that probably should be. They are your prototypical 1B/DH guys. I'll include them in the last post as a list of "guys who can hit, but not much else" list. They will definitely contribute at the big league level, its just I haven't found a good "middle" ground between the offensive and defensive ratings yet.

Rank; Name; Position; Team; Change from last year's list.

1. Bruce Fowler, SP, Chicago, --
We have a new overall number one, and it's last year's number one draft pick. Bruce signed a $4 million contract coming out of Millenium High School in Goodyear, AZ. He went 11-1 between rookie league and low a ball. He will give up the occasional home run, but looks like he could be one of the league's best pitchers for years to come.

2. Luke McFeely, 3B, Durham, -1
Last season's number one prospect falls on the list to number two thanks to Bruce, but he still looks like a great ball player.

3. Cliff Morgan, SS, Kansas City, +1
Moving up one spot, Cliff looks to continue his dominance this year and projects to break into the bigs possibly next year if his defense improves. He spent last year at High A, where he won a sliver slugger and an an all-star invitation as he posted a .362/.452/.621 line.

4. Doug Stern, SP, Arizona, --
Another new addition to this year's list, Doug was chosen with the third overall pick last season. As if Arizona needs anymore pitching as a couple of their prospects graduated to the bigs last year. Stern went 10-3 in 16 starts at low a last year.

5. Randy Gordon, SS, Toledo, --
Toledo would have had an amazing left side of their infield if they would have kept number two prospect McFeeley and Gordon, but they felt they had other pressing needs and traded McFeeley to Durham. Gordon was the second pick last season. You'd be hard pressed to find a guy who can hit the ball harder against right handed pitchers than Randy can.

6. Terry Jacquez, SP, Montgomery, +2
Terry definitely benefits from the move out of Santa Fe, even though Montgomery is still a hitters park. Whoever says SWINGINGWOOD doesn't know how to spot good pitchers doesn't know what they are talking about as Jacquez was another find by him. Traded away in season 4, Terry is all but ready for the bigs, though his durability will limit his use during the season.

7. Vic Ramsey, RP, Buffalo, --
Buffalo was probably the luckiest team in the draft when Richmond passed on Ramsey and selected Alex Treadway instead. Treadway isn't even one of the top 100 pitching prospects, while Ramsey is in the top 10 overall.

8. Santiago Martinez, SP, Montgomery, +1
Martinez also looks to benefit from the transition out of Santa Fe to Montgomery. Probably the smartest decision that though he probably didn't know it at the time. Might not be as good as he could be as his pitches might hold him back a little. Looks like he'll start the year off in the bigs.

9. Ralph Karl, RP, Montgomery, - 4
Montgomery's third pitcher on the list, and another SWININGWOOD draftee. Ralph has extraordinary effectiveness against both sides of the plate, though doesn't have a "great" pitch in his arsenal.

10. Ismael Nieves, SS, Buffalo, +4
Ismael is arguably ready for the bigs right now. Depending on how much his glove improves during the season you should be on the lookout for a call up later down the road.

11. Bosco Cochrane, SP, Buffalo, +2
Cochrane won't be setting any IP records, but he will definitely be a perennial all-star during his career. He was used as a closer last year, and was very effective coming out of the pen. There will be debate among the league if that trend continues when he eventually makes it to the bigs.

12. Ed Hamilton, SS, Minnesota, +16
Hamilton is an anomaly of my rankings. His defense is excellent, but his offense is suspect, even though he possesses great contact and power attributes. Ed is ready for the major leagues right now.

13. Dennis Acquilino, SS, Buffalo, +4
Another Buffalo shortstop shows up in the top 20 of this years rankings. Dennis is a little bit better defensively than Ismael, while Ismael is a little bit better offensively

14.Kevin Lennon, SP, Charleston, +1
Lennon has been less than spectacular during his pro career if you base your decision off of W-L records. He is a combined 10-15 over two full seasons, but that only tells half the story. His whip is 1.27 in over 230IP, which is pretty darn good. His K/BB ratio is also over 2.4. This leads me to believe he just has been playing on a team that has trouble putting up runs. Most likely will be around the minors for at least another season and a half.

15. Matthew Nitkowski, SP, New Orleans, +1
Nitkowski is one of those marginal types that seem to dominate the rankings. They don't really have the stamina to start, but their durability is low enough that they wouldn't be really effective out of the pen, but their other ratings are really good. You want to get them as many innings as possible, but are unsure which route to take. Matthew has averaged only 3 2/3 innings a start during his two seasons, but has managed to strike out almost a batter per inning. He's really in that "gray area"

16. Gary Fletcher, RF, New Orleans, -6
Fletcher falls a few spots in this years list, but its no fault of his own. He still projects to have an absolute cannon in right, and will hold many runners in their places once they find this out. Could start for any team this year.

17. Otis Schneider, SS, Milwaukee, --
Schneider is another newcomer to the list this year and projects to be the best overall defender from the list. Offensively won't be overpowering, but looks like he'll draw a ton of walks.

18. Aaron Lemon, SP, Durham, 0
Aaron surprisingly has not moved a single spot this year. He improved a ton over the past year as he is up 11pts overall, and appears to be a year from making his ML debut if he can keep that pace up.

19. Oswaldo Flores, Dover, SP, 1
Oswaldo has been a starter all his life, but it appears that Dover's new ownership wants him in the pen closing games out. He has been nagged by some minor injuries, but it doesn't appear to have sidetracked his progression to much.

20. Jim James, SS, Milwaukee, --
James is the second Milwaukee shortstop on the list. He is offensively better than Schneider, but a little bit worse on defense. Most likely will make the transition to third base, much like Ryan Braun did coming out of college, but hopefully with better success.

Where are they now(Last Year's Top 20):
2. Arthur Daniels, Boston - Majors
3. Gus Carpenter - Arizona - Majors
6. Trent Gragg - Minnesota - Majors
7. Esteban Johnson - Arizona - Majors
11. Louie Cho - Louisville - Majors
12. Ray Slocumb - Arizona - Majors

Top Prospects of Season 6

2008-05-31T18:15:00.002-05:00

So hopefully this run of the "Top Prospects" list goes smoothly and there are no technical errors. I changed the way the rankings are run just a slight bit, so players that are still eligible from last year might have moved around a little bit. Also I heavily decreased the weight of relief pitchers. So Albert Vizquel goes from being in the top 40 to not being in the list at all(he came in at #111). Not too sure how well that will work out, but for now that is how it's going to be.

The Montgomery Marauders(formerly Santa Fe) has a record ten players on this years list, followed by the Buffalo Wings with 6 players. Two teams don't have any players on the list, Tacoma and Colorado (formerly Honolulu, who also didn't have any players on the list last year).

Here's the overall ranking of each team's farm system:

Team	Players	Points	Change
Montgomery	10	611	0
Buffallo	6	507	0
Charlotte	5	330	2
Kansas City	4	300	6
New Orleans	5	300	-1
Durham	6	264	5
Santa Cruz	7	259	19
Richmond	4	220	-1
Milwaukee	3	217	6
Minnesota	4	208	-4
Dover	6	193	-2
Las Vegas	3	173	5
Toledo	2	172	6
Arizona	2	154	-11
Iowa	4	153	9
Helena	3	123	-4
New Britan	3	115	-1
Scranton	2	110	-10
Chicago	2	104	1
Atlanta	3	97	1
Charelston	1	87	1
Cleveland	2	81	6
Lousiville	2	66	-5
Boston	2	45	-11
Los Angeles	2	41	-11
Phildadelphia	1	40	5
Washington	1	39	-2
Huntington	3	25	-1
San Fransisco	1	13	1
New York	1	3	-1

Points are awarded in reverse order of where the player is on the list. For example the first overall player is awarded 100pts while the 3rd overall is awarded 98. Change is how many positions the team has changed in the rankings from last year.

Top 20 Free Agents This Off-Season

2008-05-31T17:20:00.002-05:00

Here is my personal list of the Top 20 Free Agents available this off-season. I use the same rankings that I use for the Top 100 Prospect list that will be coming out shortly. Starting pitchers have a stamina above 60, while relievers are below. Also position players who are better at defense, but might have an average bat, tend to be ranked higher than those who suck at defense but can absolutely rake. Also this list doesn't do a good job of predicting compensation as compensation tends to be weighted towards stamina/durability/health.

1. T.J. Hernandez, SP
2. Dario Yamaguchi, SP
3. Doug Buck, CF
4. Rafael Torres, SP
5. Reggie Alexander, 3B
6. David Murray, SP (though durability wise might be limited to long relief.)
7. Matthew Riggs, SP
8. Ismael Franco, RF
9. Ebenezer Lecroy, SP
10. Scott Black, SS
11. Jermaine Mitchell, SP
12. Lou Porter, SP
13. Brendan Smart, RP
14. Giovanni Lemon, SP
15. Wes Turner, SS
16. Vic Vazquez, 3B
17. Martin Lee, SP
18. Buddy Overbay, C
19. Geronimo Valdes, SP
20. Micah Regan, LF

Best Pure Hitter: Bucky Truman, 1B

Starting Pitching VORP

2008-05-06T21:24:00.003-05:00

Alright, here's what the VORP is for starting pitching. Once again these are not park adjusted. So Antonio Martin probably was not the "best" pitcher this past year as he played in a park that was all -4. Do not get me wrong, he had an amazing year and I would have loved to have him on my team, and with everything park adjusted he probably is still in the top 5. Also at the bottom of the list are 3/4 Santa Fe pitchers, and we all know Santa Fe is a +4 park across the board.

Here is what the average starter did throughout the season:

G	GS	CG	SHO	W	L	SV	SVO	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	OAV		OBP			SLG					WHIP				ERA
29	25	1	0	9	9	0	0	159	165	89	83	23	57	117	0.272		0.340			0.447					1.40				4.70

The list:

Name	Player	Vorp
Antonio Martin	TAC	115.9
Angel Puente	WAS	110.7
Ismael Torres	MIL	100.7
Carson Redmond	SWB	88.6
George Wagner	TAC	88.4
Hector Unamuno	WAS	87.8
Randy Redding	RIC	87.1
Felix Holt	AUG	86.4
Cecil Stern	NB	77.6
T.J. Hernandez	ATL	76.0
Felipe De La Vega	SF	73.7
Kenneth Owen	DET	73.6
Rafael Torres	HUN	71.0
Johnny Linden	HUN	69.9
Glenn Juden	POR	66.2
Brett Hoover	CHR	65.7
Douglas Handworth	NB	64.3
Rocky Lincoln	AUG	63.3
Gus Carpenter	CHY	61.6
Norm Romano	RIC	59.4
Henry Nathan	CHA	59.2
Roy Farley	CHY	58.5
Giovanni Lemon	ANA	56.7
Theo Lofton	LA	56.3
Dennis Mercker	CLE	56.2
Esteban Johnson	CHY	55.3
Turner Venafro	WAS	53.5
Morris Phillips	BOS	53.2
Hugh Luebbers	MIL	53.0
Yorrick Kelly	LA	52.7
Vance McDonald	CHR	51.7
Jayson Bell	CHA	51.2
Kenneth Tabaka	HEL	51.0
Seth White	CHA	50.3
Paul Houston	TAC	50.1
Vasco Bennett	NB	50.0
Dario Yamaguchi	ANA	49.3
Dick MacDougal	POR	49.2
Joe Clontz	POR	48.8
Ivan Randall	NY2	48.1
Brian Myers	PHI	47.9
Cory Kraemer	JAX	46.3
Ajax Radke	HEL	46.3
Orber Gutierrez	MIL	46.0
Casey Timlin	HUN	45.7
Jerry Barfield	WAS	45.7
Ozzie Uribe	BOS	44.6
Vladimir Valentin	LAV	44.1
Matthew Riggs	DET	43.0
Dante Adkinsson	SWB	41.4
Ben Roosevelt	JAX	40.5
Heath Harding	CHY	40.1
Al Crespo	HON	40.0
Red Green	ANA	40.0
Alan Spencer	ATL	39.9
Lawrence Lazzeri	MIN	39.6
Andres Pena	NB	38.4
Justin Jensen	CHR	38.3
Ben Cirillo	HON	38.2
Victor Encarnacion	MIL	38.0
Shane Campbell	LA	37.9
Vinny Diaz	BOS	37.6
Kurt O'Neill	DET	37.4
Geraldo Escobar	NY2	37.2
Midre Nunez	TOL	36.8
Clay Adams	JAX	35.6
Derrin Smart	POR	34.6
Julian Cornejo	NO	34.6
Joaquin Silva	CHR	33.6
Don Morgan	CHR	32.5
Jimmy Butler	CHA	32.4
Christopher Scott	PHI	32.3
Lance Farnsworth	TAC	31.5
Justin Diaz	BUF	31.4
Del Howell	SF	29.9
Louie Guzman	NO	29.3
Doug Anderson	LAV	29.3
Bill King	MIL	29.1
Bernard Wilson	CHA	27.9
Elroy Aven	BUF	27.3
Trent Gragg	MIN	26.7
Vladimir Perez	WAS	26.4
Thomas Reese	TOL	26.2
Antonio Wallace	SWB	26.0
Matt Carver	SWB	25.9
Geronimo Valdes	JAX	25.9
Clay Punto	LAV	25.7
Gary Lee	LA	25.3
Glenn Bagwell	POR	24.7
Patrick Berry	DET	23.4
Kevin Rooney	AUG	23.0
Ebenezer LeCroy	PHI	22.8
Gary Cloud	MIN	22.3
Roy Ford	NY2	21.4
David Murray	ATL	20.8
Mark Jennings	CHY	20.2
Stan Snavely	LAV	20.1
Rod Monroe	LA	20.0
Turner Blake	CLE	20.0
Hugh Edwards	MIN	19.5
Charlie Small	PHI	18.7
Alex Alvarez	NY2	18.2
Kevin Suzuki	MIN	18.1
Vic Gonzalez	HEL	17.9
Woody Ashby	SF	17.6
Lariel Mercedes	HON	17.0
Gerald Kim	NY2	16.5
Derrick Bere	RIC	16.5
William McGowan	DET	16.5
Dude Clarke	ANA	15.9
Alfonso Romero	HUN	15.3
Brook White	HON	15.0
Darron Brantley	ATL	14.9
Herm White	ANA	13.3
Ron Presley	NO	12.8
Lonnie Garcia	CLE	12.6
Clarence McEnroe	NB	11.6
Jeff Gload	CLE	11.3
Marc Allen	CH1	10.7
Rob Harding	WAS	9.5
Shane Cohen	LAV	9.3
Neil Person	NY2	9.3
Rich Bere	TAC	8.8
Roosevelt Glass	BUF	8.2
Benito Aparicio	RIC	7.9
Willie Barrett	BOS	7.6
Willie Johnson	LA	7.2
Gary Powell	SWB	7.1
Stephen Taylor	BOS	6.6
Dennis Yamamoto	ATL	6.0
Benny Santana	LAV	5.6
Rudy Roth	NO	5.4
Reid Gates	MIL	4.8
Sam Luebbers	PHI	4.6
Hugh Long #	CLE	4.1
Rabbit Drese #	RIC	4.1
Gary Walker	HEL	4.0
Kory Daal	POR	3.8
Chris Lowry	CH1	3.7
Rickey Prokopec	AUG	2.3
Javier Chavez	SF	2.2
Tom Wise	DET	2.1
Desi Gonzalez	CHA	1.6
James Shave #	CLE	1.5
Dennis James	MIL	1.3
James Yoshii	SF	1.2
Hugh Snyder	NO	1.0
Sean Johnson #	DUR	0.6
Mac Kim	ATL	0.0
Derrick Monroe	CHR	-0.1
Jermaine Mitchell	SFE	-0.3
Wes Alexander	TOL	-0.6
Francisco Martin	BOS	-0.9
Kevin Fryman	NB	-1.3
Junior Yamamoto	WAS	-1.8
Nash Blank	BUF	-2.3
Napoleon May	NO	-2.4
Carson Marshall	CH1	-2.8
Domingo Soto	JAX	-2.9
Pablo Sanchez	CLE	-3.3
Raul Pena	NB	-3.3
Tyler Lombard	DUR	-3.5
Keith Washburn	PHI	-3.7
Damion Uchida #	AUG	-3.9
Andres Espada	RIC	-3.9
Carlos Rosa	HEL	-4.0
Brandon Ball	CH1	-4.1
Justin Lofton	HUN	-4.1
Curt Pearson	DUR	-4.6
Julio Azocar	TOL	-4.6
Blake Fabregas	JAX	-4.7
Bobby Hill	NO	-5.0
Paul Griffith	JAX	-5.2
Lou Porter	MIN	-5.4
Al Martin #	PHI	-5.7
Vic Cela	BOS	-5.8
Craig Clark	NO	-6.0
Max Ramirez	TOL	-6.5
Billy Duchscherer	DUR	-7.1
Kevin Diaz	LAV	-7.3
Reagan Henson	HUN	-9.1
Ivan Mercado #	PHI	-9.1
Kirt Thomas	DUR	-9.6
Pedro Martinez	HUN	-9.8
Tarrik Lohse	DUR	-10.6
Jacob Yoshii	BUF	-11.5
Don Martin	SWB	-12.5
Matty Mercado #	PHI	-12.6
Brad Ryan	TOL	-12.8
Otis Conway	AUG	-13.6
Dale Haynes	CH1	-15.6
Luke Upshaw	HON	-22.2
Amos Dixon	SFE	-22.5
Sherm Robinson	BUF	-23.3
Tommy Cora #	RIC	-23.4
Bubbles Gibson	DET	-23.9
Jarrod McIntyre	SFE	-33.4
Timo Lo Duca	SFE	-35.1
Dennis Abe	SFE	-42.2

VORP: 2B/3B/SS/CF

2008-05-06T20:51:00.003-05:00

So the final position player VORP for season 5. I'll keep the stats around to keep track of it for seasons in the future. Trent Buehrle lead the league in VORP with 108.1 runs over what a replacement player would have provided. Trent appears in this category because he played more games at 2B than he did in RF. If he was in the COF category he would have only been 86 runs above replacement, not the 108 that he was as a 2B. Bobby Logan came through after signing a 5yr/35.5mil contract extension to avoid arbitration.

The average 2B/3B/SS/CF:

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	HBP	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
123	418	61	112	18	2	15	57	37	5	79	18	6	0.261	0.326	0.410	0.737

Player	Team	VORP
Trent Buehrle	SWB	108.1
Bobby Logan	ATL	103.0
Osvaldo Perez	ATL	86.5
Tori Floyd	NO	78.3
Paul Martin	HEL	76.1
Dario Newfield	CHA	70.4
Louie Cho	AUG	68.9
Reggie Alexander	NB	68.0
Mel Wilkins	POR	67.5
Carlos Trinidad	HUN	66.3
York Reese	SFE	65.7
Juan Martin	CH1	64.1
Miguel Sivilla	NY2	63.8
Rigo Carrasco	LAA	63.2
Edgar Cornejo	CHR	62.9
Footsie O'Neil	CHY	59.9
Doug Buck	POR	57.6
Vladimir Valentin	CHA	56.1
Ivan Vaughn	MIN	55.0
Frank Cox	LV	53.1
Tim Gonzales	SWB	52.9
Artie Spence	JAX	52.5
Jon Peterson	BUF	51.2
Rico Lunar	LA	50.7
Brandon Cone	PHI	49.9
Wes Turner	ATL	49.7
Walt Bagwell	CHY	47.3
Kent Stevenson	BOS	46.6
Mike DeRosa	LA	44.8
Charlie Lorraine	SWB	44.5
Bryan Newhouser	NY2	44.4
Brian Tomko	CLE	44.4
Johnnie Naulty	BOS	44.0
Ray Slocumb	CHY	43.3
Ben Lowell	RIC	42.3
Ramon Yang	SWB	42.1
David Hernandez	LA	41.5
Alfredo Santayana	WAS	41.0
Morris Perisho	CH1	40.5
Julio Palmeiro	SF	40.1
Gus Martin	JAX	39.7
Malcolm Huff	AUG	38.3
Cody Relaford	MIL	38.0
Delino Martinez	CLE	37.6
Scott Black	POR	37.2
Ismael Reyes	MIL	35.8
Brendan Green	BUF	35.0
Sammy Jacquez	SFE	34.9
Sandy McEnerney	WAS	34.7
Mario Hodges	LA	34.5
Josh Holzemer	TOL	34.4
Gary Crosby	CLE	34.1
Chance Pierre	SFE	33.8
Rogers Cannon	TAC	33.7
Geraldo Chavez	CLE	33.1
Juan Herrera	PHI	33.0
Mike Hill	BOS	31.4
Vic Vazquez	HEL	31.1
Orlando Molina	CHR	30.8
B.C. Saenz	TAC	30.7
Derek Coleman	ATL	30.5
Eduardo Rosado	MIL	30.3
Julio Vallarta	LAA	29.9
P.T. Molina	PHI	29.6
Charles Brinkley	LAA	29.6
David Andujar	TOL	29.4
Darrin Maxwell	SF	28.4
Dude Spurgeon	HEL	27.9
Will Veres	DET	27.1
Alejandro Moreno	DET	27.0
Omar Martin	BOS	26.8
Trenidad Rincon	HUN	26.4
Edgardo Ortiz	CHR	26.0
Jose Fernandez	NO	25.6
Rod Freeman	SWB	24.7
Dennys Sasaki	CH1	24.4
Jim Adams	RIC	24.2
Olmedo Colon	CHY	23.4
Vin Guapo	HON	23.3
Lou Buck	NO	22.7
Dustan Clark	NO	22.7
Rich Garcia	JAX	22.3
Magglio Elcano	CHR	22.1
Pedro Santos	NB	22.1
Chance Spence	PHI	21.8
Brady Walker	LV	21.4
Chris Grace	SF	21.4
Ted Root	DET	21.2
Ramon Lim	HON	21.0
Zachrey Snow	PHI	20.8
Mariano Hernandez	LV	20.5
Bruce Henderson	TAC	20.1
Lorenzo Park	CHA	19.7
Ted Vosberg	DET	19.1
Carlos Carrasco	NB	18.6
Quilvio Encarnacion	BUF	18.2
Tony Ramirez	DET	17.9
Marino Aramboles	JAX	17.4
Rob Raggio	CH1	17.1
Roger McCarty	JAX	16.8
Daniel Moore	HUN	16.7
Juan Torcato	MIN	15.5
Dave Jones	TOL	14.9
Luis Veras	LA	14.7
Steven Buchanan	LV	14.6
Allen Sutton	HUN	14.1
Curtis Charles	AUG	14.1
Bennie Hurst	CHR	14.0
Howard Ponson	WAS	13.6
Javy Sosa	CHR	13.3
Rob Beirne	MIL	13.1
Mark Brea	TAC	13.1
Jose Uribe	SF	12.6
Slash Stone	MIN	12.3
Homer Hurst	HON	12.3
Chris Nitkowski	AUG	12.2
Cesar Guerrero	DUR	12.1
Carson Puffer	DUR	11.5
Dave Perry	CLE	11.4
Hector Meulens	LAA	11.2
Willie Saenz	DUR	10.2
Clarence Farrell	AUG	7.7
Daniel Simon	PHI	7.6
Marc Durbin	TOL	7.4
Nerio Reitsma	HON	7.1
Jorge Trajano	HEL	6.9
Lawrence Sweeney	NY2	6.9
Bobby Karl	POR	6.9
Stan Perez	RIC	6.8
Oswaldo Franco	DUR	6.6
Ramiro Montanez	HUN	6.6
Virgil Moreno	CHA	6.2
Dario Miyakazi	NB	6.0
Quilvio Arrojo	PHI	6.0
Livan Valentin	LV	5.4
Walter Dunham	CHA	5.4
Nate Cook	SF	5.2
Bernie Anderson	POR	5.1
Miguel Reynoso	JAX	4.7
Mitch Redmond	BUF	4.5
Derrick O'Donnell	SF	4.3
Marty Workman	MIL	3.8
Ariel Quevedo	HUN	3.8
Theodore James	TAC	3.4
Ron Bell	JAX	3.4
Carson Woolf	SF	3.3
Tim Scott	MIN	2.7
Walt Redmond	HEL	2.0
Vin Miro	BUF	1.9
Roy Evans	NB	1.6
Turner Kerr	TOL	1.5
Devon Lawrence	HON	1.4
Andres Seguignol	HON	1.4
Edgar Ordonez	HUN	1.4
Fonzie Kipling	BOS	1.3
Pete Simpson	LV	1.2
Dennys Baines	LA	1.1
Darryl Williams	NB	1.1
Trenidad Gil	SFE	1.1
Chuck Wilkerson	NB	1.1
Max Benson	MIN	0.9
Carlos Unamuno	HEL	0.8
Pedro Andujar	HEL	0.7
Blade Sellers	RIC	0.5
Aaron Jackson	HON	0.3
Randy Hitchcock	NY2	0.3
Yogi Campbell	RIC	0.1
Bill Surhoff	POR	0.0
Ned Sullivan	MIL	-0.2
David Rosario	TAC	-0.4
Damaso Segui	HON	-0.4
Ernest Gray	HUN	-1.2
Cookie Rosa	PHI	-1.2
Carlos Castillo	PHI	-1.4
Tim Peters	NB	-1.5
Joe Weaver	NY2	-1.9
Calvin Malloy	BOS	-2.6
Pedro Barrios	RIC	-2.6
Angel Carrasco	MIN	-2.6
Alex Espinosa	TAC	-2.9
Luis Gongora	DUR	-3.4
Doug Byrne	CHR	-3.9
Brad Porter	NO	-4.2
Samuel Griffin	WAS	-4.5
Willie Samuel	MIL	-4.9
Tim Black	WAS	-5.3
Bob McEnerney	HON	-7.1
Russell Roosevelt	SFE	-7.6
Harpo Estes	CHY	-7.7
Desi Palmeiro	CHA	-8.6
Carl Kline	CH1	-9.0
Harry Figueroa	SWB	-10.1
Jeff Simmons	BOS	-10.6
Dennis Kobayashi	LAA	-10.8
Jimmie Segui	BUF	-11.7
Omar Mota	NB	-13.5
Alex Chen	LV	-14.2
Stuart Whitaker	DUR	-16.0
Vladimir Chavez	AUG	-26.7
Aaron Garciaparra	DUR	-26.8

VORP: 1B/COF/DH

2008-05-06T18:35:00.003-05:00

So here are the latest VORP calculations. I should mention that these don't account for how good a player is on defense, only what his offensive contributions are. Also these numbers are not park adjusted as whatifsports does not provide home/away run data for some reason. So if you play in an extreme pitchers/hitters park its going to be skewed towards that way. For example Rob Lee from Tacoma almost definitely contributed more than 56.8 runs over what a replacement player would have produced, but because Tacoma is all -4, its going to bring his total down. The opposite goes for players in extreme hitters parks, the numbers will show that they contributed more runs than they probably did because runs are easier to come by in those parks. I should also note that a team comprised of all replacement level players would be on pace to tie the 1962 Mets with 120 losses in a season.

Here is what the average 1B/DH/COF did during season 5:

G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	HBP	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
116	397	62	110	18	2	19	62	41	4	67	11	4	0.274	0.344	0.457	0.801

And here is VORP:

Name	Team	VORP
Dennis Mori	MIN	82.8
Rickey Collier	HEL	73.8
Teddy Reid	NB	60.8
Chuck Parker	SWB	58.7
Preston Burkhart	MIL	57.7
Rob Lee	TAC	56.8
Jose Fernandez	AUG	55.3
Quinn Morgan	MIL	54.8
Shawn Hutton	POR	54.8
Don McGuire	ATL	53.7
Adam Sellers	TOL	52.5
Johnny Cepeda	CHY	51.7
Raymond Lombardi	MIL	51.3
Pedro Silva	POR	47.4
Cesar Gandarilla	NB	45.0
Ismael Franco	BOS	44.8
Wesley Terrell	TAC	44.5
Hiram Vosberg	TAC	44.5
Karl Bale	NO	43.3
Bucky Truman	LA	42.9
Grover Miadich	CHY	42.4
Albert Gomez	RIC	41.9
Buddy Overbay	POR	41.0
Tony Hernandez	NO	38.8
Pat Dodd	HEL	38.8
Raul Brogna	SFE	38.4
Matty Maduro	NB	38.3
Cookie Kolb	LV	37.8
Omar DaSilva	HON	37.7
Warren Richardson	JAX	37.7
Enrique Fernandez	LV	35.8
Mac Hyun	HUN	35.5
Chuck Nathan	TOL	35.1
Bart Walls	LAA	34.7
Yamid Torres	NY2	34.6
Rico Pineda	ATL	34.6
Timothy McCartin	SF	34.5
Rich Davenport	CH1	34.4
Wesley Park	ATL	34.0
Stephen Perry	RIC	33.6
Harry Upshaw	TAC	32.6
Jose Valdes	HEL	32.5
Stuffy Smith	HEL	32.3
R.A. Mann	PHI	30.9
Nerio Zambrano	CHR	30.4
Brutus Fleming	BUF	30.0
Rod Austin	CH1	29.4
Rico Cornejo	HON	27.4
Ralph Towers	TOL	27.2
Benny Watson	BOS	27.0
Raymond Washington	DUR	26.4
Rogers Wood	SFE	26.1
Antone Fox	BOS	25.9
O.T. Wagner	CLE	25.5
Bert Henry	NY2	24.7
Manny Tanaka	DUR	23.9
Benito Ramirez	HEL	23.8
Kelvin Parris	HUN	23.7
Gus Clark	WAS	22.8
Timothy Stokes	CHA	20.9
Lou Hall	MIN	20.5
Sidney Stahoviak	SWB	20.3
David Yamakazi	JAX	19.7
Adam Johnstone	DUR	18.5
Howie Clifton	LAA	18.1
Trever Thomas	CH1	18.0
Tony Cordova	SF	17.9
Calvin Yosida	NO	17.9
Mark Stern	LA	17.9
Donnie Powell	WAS	17.4
Nate Tracy	LAA	17.2
Ross Rhodes	ATL	17.0
Brendan Green	BUF	16.2
Bobby Penny	CLE	16.0
Ted Ellenwood	SWB	15.9
Daryle Patrick	LAA	15.8
Rex Holzemer	AUG	15.3
Christopher Hayes	CH1	15.3
Victor Guerrero	DET	15.1
Benito Polanco	HUN	15.1
Luis Silva	SWB	15.0
Trevor Duvall	SWB	14.3
Timo Yeats	HON	14.2
Danny McGee	LV	14.1
Mo Beech	NB	13.9
Max Payton	HON	13.7
Horacio Rodriguez	NY2	12.9
Robert Carter	LA	12.5
Mac Kydd	LV	11.5
Nick Hall	MIN	11.1
Seth Reynolds	NY2	11.0
David Ramirez	NY2	10.6
Midre Lopez	BOS	9.7
Phil File	CHA	9.7
Chin-Hui Won	LAA	9.7
Ryan Bonilla	NO	9.6
Micah Regan	WAS	9.6
Bart Matthews	POR	8.6
LaTroy Price	CH1	8.4
Trey Fleming	SFE	8.2
Jimmie Pujols	CHR	8.2
Rey Larson	POR	7.7
Felipe Castillo	AUG	7.6
Dennys Cox	CHY	7.2
Ken Conine	RIC	7.0
Tomas Zapata	MIN	6.8
Carl Hayes	SFE	6.8
Ronnie Baptist	BOS	6.6
Phil Hernandez	WAS	6.5
Mac Cepeda	DUR	6.1
Placido Ordonez	CLE	5.5
Mac Lee	WAS	5.1
Bennie Hurst	CHR	5.1
Rock Williams	HON	5.1
Rich Garcia	JAX	5.0
Benny Manto	NO	4.9
Jarrod Williams	CHA	4.6
Wayne Bere	DET	4.4
Pete Nicholas	TOL	4.4
Vin Mercado	RIC	4.4
Bill Sanford	TAC	2.8
Darren Sele	BUF	2.8
Homer Knoblauch	BUF	2.1
Louis Woodward	HEL	1.5
Carter Farnsworth	TOL	1.5
Patsy Hyzdu	LA	1.4
Cody Presley	MIN	1.4
Cleatus Bechler	SFE	1.3
Glenallen Kinney	CHY	1.1
Chili Clark	CH1	0.6
Wilton Johnson	DUR	0.5
Dan Anderson	SF	-0.1
Jared Fischbach	HUN	-0.3
Bob Collier	NB	-0.5
Juan Seneca	NO	-1.1
Diego Polonia	SFE	-1.3
Britt Carver	TOL	-1.5
Chad Nathan	CHA	-1.7
Enrique Rodriguez	ATL	-2.0
Curt Minor	POR	-2.2
Edwin Messmer	CHR	-2.3
Monte Wright	JAX	-2.8
Robert Riggs	PHI	-2.8
Donovan O'Neill	MIL	-3.0
Junior Everett	HUN	-3.0
Miguel Nunez	CHR	-3.2
Dennis Portugal	NY2	-3.4
Jose Ramirez	DET	-3.7
Sammy Fernandez	MIL	-3.8
Einar Johnson	RIC	-4.0
Evan Epstein	BOS	-4.0
Albert Maduro	TOL	-4.0
Walter Pierzynski	BOS	-4.2
Angel Gardel	DET	-4.3
Ryan Cox	CHR	-4.5
D.T. Swann	HON	-4.5
Sal Martin	CH1	-4.7
Sammy Gonzalez	LA	-4.8
Robert Howell	POR	-5.1
Christy Lee	TAC	-5.7
Vic Pena	CHY	-6.0
Lee Cammack	SFE	-6.0
Andy Reid	CLE	-6.9
Otis Lawson	SF	-8.3
Orber Caballero	BOS	-8.6
Joaquin Martinez	NY2	-9.3
Joel Ray	CH1	-9.7
Aubrey Goldman	CLE	-10.0
Teddy Black	JAX	-10.1
Will Maxwell	CHY	-10.3
Steve Black	PHI	-10.8
Jeremi Rowan	LA	-11.4
Mark Yamada	CHA	-12.2
Tony Guerrero	LAA	-12.5
J.T. Foxx	DET	-17.0

VORP: Catchers

2008-05-05T20:46:00.002-05:00

Alright, for those of you who have no idea what VORP stands for it stands for Value Over Replacement Player. What it basically boils down to is how many runs did a player help create over what a replacement player would have created. There is a somewhat detailed process on how to figure it out but you basically figure out what the average player at the position did offensively and then you multiply it by whatever the replacement level is. I like to use equivalent runs but you could use runs created as well.

So what is considered "replacement level?" Well generally a replacement is a guy who you can find at little to no cost to your team to play. Either its a minor league call up, a guy off the waiver wire, or a trade with another team that does not cost your team legit prospects. So for Catchers the replacement level is 75% as its harder to get a decent catcher defensively. 1st baseman and designated hitters are normally at 85% because its easier to find guys who don't have to play defense. For the sake of HBD I moved corner outfielders into this category as well. Center fielders, 2nd and 3rd baseman and shortstops are in the last category and their replacement level is 80%. You could make the argument that CF and SS should be at 75% as its harder to get an average defender at those positions, but for now they are at 80%.

There are more in depth articles on it elsewhere if you just Google it. Also I'm not entirely sure I am doing the calculations right, but I'm 90% sure I am. So here is VORP for catchers. If you don't see a guy on here that you think should be let me know. Chances are he appeared in more games at a different position.

So what does this that number say? Well it says that Art Beamon was the most valuable catcher, even though he only played in 113 games on the season. It also says that Richmond and Portland's catchers performed worse than what probably could have been picked up from AAA or off the waiver wire for little to no cost to them. This is pretty remarkable considering that Portland still won 101 games on the season.

Player	Team	Vorp
Art Beamon	NY2	64.8
Troy Palmer	LA	52.0
Matt West	SWB	47.2
Max Gabriel	AUG	43.4
Malcolm Myers	TAC	39.8
Richard Matthews	PHI	38.1
C.C. Maduro	CHA	35.6
Harold Ward	NO	31.7
Izzy Perez	BOS	30.1
Kent Miles	JAX	28.5
Dean Livingstone	TOL	24.6
Yamid Rodriguez	NY2	24.6
Thomas Berra	ATL	23.4
Chad Patterson	CHA	21.5
Luis Oropesa	MIL	20.3
Parker White	CH1	20.1
Ralph Pose	JAX	19.1
Archie Hodges	HEL	18.7
Benji Fernandez	BUF	18.6
Raul Prieto	MIL	18.4
Rich Simpson	CHY	18.0
Blake Washington	BOS	16.4
Geoffery Houston	CH1	15.6
Larry Charleston	CHR	15.5
David Paniagua	LAA	14.6
P.J. Burke	HEL	13.5
Hamish Lemke	BUF	12.9
Al Flores	HON	12.3
Dan Winn	SFE	11.9
Henry Merrick	ATL	11.0
Orlando Diaz	SWB	10.9
Walt Judd	DET	9.8
Benito Alvarado	RIC	9.4
Juan James	HUN	8.9
Bob Ausmus	LV	5.6
Ivan Romano	NO	4.6
Hipolito Hernandez	TOL	3.8
Hector Castro	CHR	3.7
Red Hines	SF	3.3
Dave Smoltz	TAC	2.6
Sergio Snyder	LA	1.8
Bruce Cepeda	NB	1.7
Al Holmes	PHI	1.5
Brian Waters	SF	1.4
Mark Perez	NB	0.2
Anthony Swann	CLE	-4.8
Carmine Griffin	DUR	-5.0
Moises Mesa	LV	-5.8
Jeffrey Henley	WAS	-6.0
Angel Segui	AUG	-6.6
Kid Fisher	CLE	-8.9
Brian Byrd	DET	-9.4
Pat Montgomery	HUN	-14.2
Orlando Liriano	MIN	-18.2
Gill Mitchell	LAA	-21.6
Buzz Caufield	RIC	-24.0
Armando Valentin	POR	-31.3

Top 100 Prospects Season Review: 1-20

2008-05-04T15:07:00.005-05:00

So to try and make up for that last post of the "Baseball America's" Top 100 Prospects I'm going to try and post a season review of how they did. Probably won't do all 100, as I most likely will be doing VORP(Value Over Replacement Player) for NQII like I did for Fingers.

1. Luke McFeely 3B, Durham Disaster

Luke spent the year at High A and only played in 86 games, though when he was in the game he absolutely raked. He posted a .365/.467/.675 line with 22HR and 68 walks.

2. Arthur Daniels RP, Boston BackBay Badboys

Arthur had an up and down year for Boston in the Majors. When he pitched good he was unhittable, but when he gave up runs, he gave them up in bunches. It's unclear how Boston plans on using him during the playoffs.

3. Gus Carpenter SP, Cheyenne Magic Bus

Carpenter had a gem of a rookie season for Cheyenne as he held oppenents to a .233 batting average. His whip was a low 1.17 but an unusually high era of 3.96 shows he was a little unlucky at times. His 13-10 record also indicates either a lack of run support, or that he gave up runs in bunches. Should be a shoe-in for NL Rookie of the Year.

4. Cliff Morgan SS, Jacksonville Hurricanes

Cliff spent the year at High A. He won a Silver Slugger and an All Star invitation for his efforts, as he posted a .362/.452/.621 line with 117 batted in.

5. Ralph Karl RP, Santa Fe Lockdown

Ralph spent the year playing Double A ball and locked up 31 out of 36 saves. Limited opponents to a .301 OBP/.336 SLG and had a K9 of 8.3. Also won the AA AL Fireman of the Year award as well as an All Star invitation.

6. Trent Gragg SP, Minnesota Goats

Gragg had a fairly respectable rookie season by all accounts. Pitched a total of 176 innings while striking out 166 and only walking 46. Trent will definitely look to build upon this season next year.

7. Esteban Johnson SP, Cheyenne Magic Bus

The 2nd of Cheyenne's ROY candidates, Johnson also had a great rookie campaign. Going 13-9 while pitching over 200 innings, while striking out 199 batters is a success in anyone's book.

8. Terry Jacquez SP, Santa Fe Lockdown

Jacquez had an average year at Double A posting a 1.41 whip over 126 innings and 22 starts. If there is anything to highlight from his year is that he held opponents to a .253 batting average. In the playoffs he pitched 5 innings of 2 hit baseball while striking out 4.

9. Santiago Martinez SP, Santa Fe Lockdown

This Santa Fe Double A team is stacked with pitching, as this is the 3rd player they have in the top 10. Santiago pitched a little bit better than Terry as his whip was at 1.39. He struck out 167 batters in 174 innings of work while only issuing 58 free passes. Also earned an All Star invitation this year.

10. Gary Fletcher RF, New Orleans Gushing Dikes

Fletcher is well on his way to being on the the majors best right fielders, and this season he didn't disapoint. Had 61 extra base hits on the season and was an All Star.

11. Louie Cho 2B, Augusta Sea Dogs

Had a great rookie season and is a candidate for NL ROY. The guy is an on base machine after drawing 101 walks for a .414 OBP, which was second only to Trent Buehrle of Scranton.

12. Ray Slocumb 3B, Cheyenne Magic Bus

Cheyenne's third and final ROY Candidate, Slocumb had a solid season for a third baseman, and what would be considered a great year for a rookie third baseman. He committed only 7 errors on the season while batting a point shy of .300 with 24hrs and 97rbi.

13. Bosco Cochrane RP, Buffalo Wings

An All Star, US Futures Team invitation, and runner up to Double A Fireman of the Year award, Bosco's season is for all intents and purposes a successful one. Converting 32 of 36 save chances, Bosco struck out 83 in only 63 innings. He's a closer right now, but he might be converted to a starter as his stamina is high enough to warrant it.

14. Ismael Nieves, SS Buffalo

Ismael spent the year at High A and posted a .319/.397/.540 line in 450ABs. His defense is relatively advanced for his age and is nearly ML ready as is his offense. He was 1 run scored short of 100 on the year, and had over 100rbi's.

15. Kevin Lennon SP, Charleston

Looking at Lennon's W-L record of 7-10 you would think that he had a fairly bad year at High A but looking at his peripherals it tells a different story. His whip was a decent 1.36 and he had a sub 4.00 era. His K/BB ratio was a good 2.5 so look for him to improve his W-L record next year as he keeps his teams in games.

16. Matthew Nitkowski SP, New Orleans Gushing Dikes

Matt had a setback at Low A this year after recovering from elbow tendinitis last year. His 3.72 era is lower than what his 1.46 whip indicates it could have been. One bright side of his season was his K/BB ratio of over 3

17. Dennis Acquilino SS, Buffalo Wings

Dennis had a respectable season at Double A, even after spending a week on the DL with a strained hamstring. He posted a .300/.383/.447 line while stealing 50+ bases. Also was chosen as the backup shortstop at the midsummer classic. Look for him to compete for the starting shortstop position coming out of spring training next year.

18. Aaron Lemon SP, Durham Disaster

Lemon had an amazing year playing Low A ball for Durham going 11-1 as a tandem starter. Struck out 123 batters while holding opponents to a ridiculously low ops of .613. Surprisingly he did not make the All Star game or post season award finalists.

19. Error done during processing of the Top 100 Prospects

20. Oswaldo Flores SP, New York Leathernecks

Flores missed a couple of starts during the year due to a lower back strain, but it didn't halt his development at all as he went 16-3 in 28 starts. He struck out 150 in only 146 innings while posting a sub 3.00 era. He was an All Star and finished 2nd in the Cy Young voting this season.

Belatedly, the AL North.

2008-04-28T12:23:00.002-05:00

Portland took:
1. Joel Baker RF
2.Hector Wood 2B
3.Daryle Smith SP
4.Trot Miller P Unsigned
5.Vern Young RP

New Britian took:
1. Paul Xavier 1B
2.Al Garcia 2B
3.Tanner Long LF
4.Rollie Swan 3B
5.Alan Aldridge DH

Detroit took:
1. Willie Rigdon 2B
1.Rey Garland 3B
2.Ronald Phelps SS
2.Stevie Moore RP
3.Ken Anderson LF
4. Delanor Enders RF
5.Valerio Moya P Unsigned

Minnesota took:
1. Cory Lee SP
2. Steve Reitz 2B
3.Hamish O'brien P
4.Tex Demaree SP
5.Roy Paul P Unsigned.

This division's draft was characterized by solid, if unspectacular picks, and no 1st round screw-ups.

Portland obtained an oustanding future lead-off hitter in 1st round Baker, but his second round pick Wood may have future health problems (21 Health rating?!?). Then a group of pitchers that rate career MILB, but with big workloads. Grade is, regrettably, C-, as his 2nd rounder will probably never make it.

New Britian had a solid mistake free draft. His 1-2-3 picks all rate to make the show someday at some level. His 1st round pick 1B will likely be a superb run producer at the ML level some day. Grade B.

Detroit had some extra picks in the early rounds, and naturally managed to get some very good talent for them. Unfortunately, his superlative 1st round 2B Rigdon has taken a (purely unlucky) Major DL hit. (That is however, independant of his draft grade, as the guy's health hardly indicates the likelyhood of such a big DL hit.) A nice balance of IF's, OF's, and a RP likely to contribute some day. Grade A-.

Minnesota wanted pitching, at least I hope he did, he got 5 pitchers in 5 rounds, and pitching arrived in the draft for him. His 1st round pick rates one of the better pitchers taken in the AL side of the draft, and his 2nd-3rd pitchers are no stiffs either. From his point of view, probably an A+ draft, by the standards of NQ II, B+.

NL South Draft Review

2008-04-17T23:53:00.002-05:00

Charlotte Knights
1: Douglas Gonzales, 2B
1: Victor Raines, P (from Minnesota for Lou Hall)
1: Quinn Carpenter, LF (from New Orleans for Miguel Saenz)
2: Victor Guerrero, P
3: Tarrik Rodgers, P
4: Todd Reynolds, LF
5: Phil Matsuzaka, CF

So Charlotte is another team that loaded up on first round picks, having their normal and two compensation picks. Douglas Gonzales was a great choice with the 22nd pick. He'll be an all star 2nd baseman during his career. As a switch hitter he has shown the ability to handle both handed pitchers, and has 40+ HR power to boot. Victor Raines looks like he'll be a good #3 or #4 starter. He has good control and splits, but his pitches leave something lacking. Quinn Carpenter is an interesting pick, is able to handle righties, and will slap the ball around and hope to leg out some infield singles. Victor Guerrero and Tarrik Rodgers are most likely a long relief type pitchers, or career AAA starters. They have decent control and average splits, but pitches, again are lacking. Todd Reynolds and Phil Matsuzaka are probably bound to come off the bench, with Reynolds having the possibility of starting in a pinch.
Grade:B

Charleston Chiefs
1: Harold Lincoln, P
2: Fergie Engle, 1B
3: Terry Edwards, P
4: Mike Nichols, P
5: Kory Sodowsky

Charleston's draft is marginally better than Richmonds draft. Harold Lincoln is at best a 4th/5th Starter. Engle has a good bat, but will struggle against righties. The rest of the pitchers draft are barely AA material as their control sucks big time.
Grade: C

Huntington Blazers
1: Jose Owen, P
2: Gerald Benson, P
3: Bo Perez, P
4: Vic Cobb, P
5: Carl Becker, P

So apparently Huntington wanted to stock up on some pitching. Jose Owen initially was the number 3 prospect when the computers generated the class, but his control was too low to warrant that position. Most likely a number 3 in the rotation. Gerald Benson was a good 2nd pick, and will most likely be a setup man in the future. Perez has a career as a possible long reliever while Cobb and Becker are minor leaguers.
Grade: B-

Jacksonville Hurricanes
1: Stewart Dixon, P
2: Jim Wesson, 2B
3: Sidney Park, P
4: Charles Saitou, 1B
5: Carl Charleston, P

Dixon was taken with the 12th pick, one earlier than Jose Owen was, and has a lot more upside than Owen. His control is roughly 40pts higher, and while his splits are a little lower, not significantly enough to hurt him too much. Most likely going to be a #2. Jim Wesson was drafted as a 2B but won't ever play that position in the Majors. He has a light bat, and because he won't be playing 2B, and subsequently loses value. Saitou is basically a carbon copy of Wesson with minor differences, and plays 1B. Again because he plays a position that relies less on defense you can usually find better options. Charleston was a good 5th round pick. He might struggle to stay healthy with an akward delivery that places strain on his arm, but if he manages to stay healthy he will be a decent reliever.
Grade:B

A numeric analysis of Internationals Across Worlds

2008-04-16T20:10:00.003-05:00

Since I've had so little to report on NQII's International signings, I decided to look at the signings in the last 3 completed seasons in some of my other leagues to compare. I looked at the number of signings For $8 million or more, and the projected overalls of those signings. I'm not less than 15 million or so on Advance Scouting in any of my worlds, so my OVR's should be reasonably accurate. Seasons listed 1-2-3 are the last 3 completed seasons of each World. And the OVR's listed track from highest signed dollar guy (usually averages about 17.5 million) to 8 million (technically, 7.9 million). BTW, every one of the signings of <70 OVR are Relief Pitchers or Catchers, as best I remember.

World: Fingers
1. 9 signings: 90 79 87 81 74 76 71 75.
2. 12 signings: 90 78 78 84 71 84 79 85 79 69 73 65.
3. 7 signings: 88 89 74 81 82 82 84 68.

World: 7MickeyMantle7
1. 16 signings: 87 83 92 77 74 75 71 77 81 69 70 81 73 80 83 64.
2. 12 signings: 85 81 85 74 74 86 80 81 81 75 75 76.
3. 11 signings: 94 84 77 84 81 66 69 81 73 77 84.

World: Clemens*
1. 12 signings: 82 79 74 75 77 81 73 86 77 69 79 79.
2. 15 signings: 69 82 82 72 80 80 75 82 79 73 71 68 76 73 71.
3. 7 signings: 91 79 79 82 67 70 75.

World: Cochrane (The only public World I'm in. Or ever will be, I assure you.)
1. 10 signings: 97 93 85 76 92 77 76 77 81 78.
2. 7 signings: 77 78 83 86 84 91 81.
3. 4 signings: 88 79 78 76.

And now for the big enchilada:

No Quitters II:
1. 5 signings: 94 74 81 77 75.
2. 3 signings: 88 60 74.
3. 1 signing: 89.

Folks, we are getting seriously hosed on the International signing department. 7MM7 signed more people, with higher ratings, in the the season just completed than NQ II has in its entire existence, including the season in progress.

I do find interesting the fact that generally speaking, the International signings do "follow the money". The best guys go for top dollar. But, notice that no league has ever put up even 16 signings (half a World's teams) at 8 million in a single season. There really isn't that much international talent out there, and a whole lot of dollars chasing it, making it a very expensive proposition to improve one's team. Plus it has to "mature" to have ML use at some future point. The fact that our group of owners isn't pursuing the INT's is partly a function of lack of generated talrnt on our World's "Internationals Market", but I also think we have an exceptionally cagey group of Owners who just don't waste money.

So Long, Toledo

2008-04-13T11:27:00.003-05:00

by Chuckie Fairweather
Toledo NewsGopher

There you have it folks. My beloved Tips have returned to their losing ways with a vengeance and I can't take it anymore. The national baseball talking heads have given the team a B- for the recent draft, but the truth is I just can't wait for the future. I'm not getting any younger and this is just too depressing.

I am saddened to tell you, my faithful readers, that I have accepted a job with the Tacoma News Tribune where I will, as of next Tuesday, become the beat reporter for the Tacoma Pilots, and while it pains me to leave you and my old hometown, I am looking forward to the opportunity to cover a winning team for once.

It has been an honor and a priveledge keeping you informed on your sometimes loved and usually hated Cow Tippers, but I must move forward. See you all at the World Series.

AL East Draft Review

2008-04-12T03:01:00.002-05:00

The Al East draft was:

Boston
1. Fausto Espinoza SP
2.Frank White SP
3.Lyle Stankiewicz SP
4.Branch Voyles RP
5.LLoyd Stechschulte SP

New York
1.Ernie Beverlin LF
1.Santos Tejada LF
2.James Post C Unsigned
3.Jody Veritek CF
4.Albie Veras 3B
5.Randy DePaula SP

Toledo
1. Randy Gordon SS
2.Fred Leonard 1B Unsigned
3.Benji Foster 2B
4.Rick Pittinger CF
5.Gerge Campbell RF

Chicago
1. Bruce Fowler SP
2.Sergio Bieser SS
3.Jeffrey Costello SS
4.Shooter Knight 2B (RF?)
5.Norman Duvall LF

The AL East's draft is dominated by the signing of Bruce Fowler, the #1 Overall pick, and a Pitcher whose numbers frankly boggle the mind. Most of the teams in this division had rather... thematic drafts, one way or another.

Boston, I'm going out on a limb here, wanted to improve the starting pitching. 5 pitchers taken, 5 signed, all of them with potential, pretty much the 1st 4 with ML potential. Espinoza stands to be a lock for a better than average ML Starter, even by the standards of NQ II, and that is saying something. And the rest of the Pitchers taken add up to a real solid Draft. Grade B.

New York... is a team whose feelings I am going to hurt. 2 firsts and a second, the 2nd round pick as yet unsigned, and the 2 First round picks, well, take a look at those Health ratings. Realistically, neither one of those guys has much chance at a lengthy ML career, a shame cosidering the (likely unrealizable) hitting prowess. Basically a wipe out on the 1st and second rounds. Realistically, Grade F.

Toledo failed to sign his 2nd round pick, and considering the money he wants, probably won't. (?)
But his 1st and 3rd picks are a real good DP combination, maybe average (by League standards) hitters, but a terrific pair of gloves. His other picks are also all way above average as defenders. Don't know if he meant to improve his defense that much, but he did. I personally really like the combo of great "green" and "yellow" numbers he drafted, a little hitting improvement in the minors, and this will be a really good draft. A Knock down for losing his 2 pick, but Grade B-.

Chicago. Well, what does one say about Fowler? I mean Geez people, a 100 OVR pitcher? In about 3 seasons, we can start looking foward to the Bruce Fowler, Pitcher of the Week, and Bruce Fowler, Cy Young awards with unending monotony. And then in the 3rd round ( ?!, not the second, a much lesser SS, but decent 3B) he gets a SS whose Glove ratings would make him the 3rd round steal of the draft, if his health rating holds up. Grade A.

NL North Draft Review

2008-04-10T19:14:00.002-05:00

So the format will be the same as the NL East review, so I won't bother re-typing it.

Buffalo Wings
1: Vic Ramsey, P
2: Troy Cedeno, P
3: Andre Keller, P
4: Pete Terry, P
5: Dallas Garcia, P

So it is pretty obvious that the Wings went pretty pitching heavy in this draft as all 5 of their first picks were pitchers. Vic Ramsey looks pretty much un-hittable and was a steal considering there was another relief pitcher taken before him by Richmond with the 7th pick. If there is something that you could deem a flaw about Ramsey, it would be his durability is average for a reliever, but beyond that, there is squat to complain about. Troy Cedeno projects to be a #4/5 type starter. He has good control but mediocre splits and pitches. He has a history of health problems so hopefully he can avoid the injury bug in his career. The last 3 pitchers are career minor leaguers.
Grade:B-

Cleveland Cuyahogas
1: Hal Paquette, P
1: Hi Adams, P (From Washington D.C. for Hector Unamuno
1: Vernon Wilson, P (From Washington D.C. for Hector Unamuno)
2: David Forster, P
3: Erick Glynn, P
4: Santiago Ramirez, CF
5: Vin Romano, SS

If it wasn't for the fact that both Milwaukee and Scranton took a combined a two pitchers(both by Milwaukee) I would say that the NL North went dipped heavy into pitching this year. Cleveland's first five picks were all pitchers, and I would say 3 of them are guaranteed to be in the majors one day. Hal Paquette possesses great control, and is able to get right handed batters out with ease. Opposing batters may be able to key in on his fast ball as his 3 other pitchers are average. Both Wilson and Adams are almost exact copies of Paquette in that they have good control, and their effectiveness against righties is decent as well. They also posses good first pitches, and have better secondary pitches than Hal. Wilson may be injury prone during his career and could see his fair share of the DL. David Forster is borderline ML material in my opinion. He has good control and his splits are average, but he lacks a decent pitch and his secondary pitches are horrible. Santiago looks like he's going to be a bench 2nd baseman. His splits and batting eye are average, and won't make up for his lack of power. His sub par glove for 2B also means that he won't be starting for any length of time. Vin Romano is a purely defensive shortstop who could start against righties if you don't have any other option. Erick Glynn is a career minor league type guy. Good control combined with shitty splits and only two pitches is a surefire way to get shelled in the majors.
Grade:B+

Milwaukee Timber Rattlers
1: Otis Schneider, SS
1: Jim James, SS (From Atlanta for Thomas Berra)
1: Kevin Sanders, 2B (From Atlanta for Thomas Berra)
1: Bartolo Alvarado, P (From Cheyenne for Olemedo Colon)
2: Felix Ramirez, SS
3: Randy Phillips, 3B
4: Jordan Carter, LF
5: Luther Pearce, P
I came into the draft loaded with first round picks, and could have had two more first rounders next year if I was able to offer Warren Richardson a contract, but having a budget and sticking to it has its drawbacks sometimes. Anyhow my minors needed to be replenished with position players as I have picked a pitcher in the first round every year with the exception of Season 2. Otis Schneider is an excellent defensive shortstop who won't kill me at the plate, and will draw a ton of walks. I drafted Jim James as a shortstop, but because Schneider is leaps and bounds better defensively, he'll move over to 3rd base. His skill set is eerily similar to that of Nerio Reitsma, lets just hope he doesn't put up the same numbers that Reitsma did for me. Kevin Sanders was drafted as a 2B but he's more suited for RF, plus he has a big power bat. Won't draw alot of walks, but his slugging will make up for that. Bartolo Alvarado will be a good left handed starting pitcher. Excellent control plus decent splits, though he might get hit by righties. Also has 3 plus pitches, though will need a good PC catcher to avoid his 3rd. Randy Phillips swings a good bat, and will most likely move to left field as he is blocked by the afro mentioned players at 3rd and right. Felix Ramirez doesn't have great splits, but his power will help make up for some of that. He's blocked mostly everywhere on the diamond and will probably be traded away. Jordan Carter is most likely a player who will come off the bench and Luther Pearce is probably a career minor league starter.
Grade:A-

Scranton SweetSwing'n AbbyMo's
1: Pat Woo, SS
2: William Bryne, CF
3: Ted Hodges, SS (Not Signed)
4: Ralph Myers, 3B (Not Signed)
5: Hal Roosevelt, 2B (Not Signed)
Well Scranton has only signed two of their top 5 picks. I assume he's waiting for a good international to roll around before he dumps the rest of his prospect budget into signing picks. Anyhow, Woo and Bryne are basically the same player with minor differences, or not so minor. Lets start with whats the same: Power, Splits, Eye. All within 5-10pts of each other. Woo makes alot more contact that Bryne, but Bryne is alot faster than Woo. Woo will be an above average shortstop whil Bryne will be an average 2B/CF. The last 3 picks were basically defensive guys, but Myers has the potential to develop some nice power.
Grade:B

NL East Draft Review

2008-04-08T23:30:00.002-05:00

So the Amateur Draft came and went nearly two weeks ago, and if I wasn't so busy with school and work I would've had the review up early. I didn't bother to redo the projections for the players from what I had when they showed up, with the exception for the guys I didn't see to begin with. I didn't expect them to change significantly, if at all as I had max for both high school and college. As Robocoach did for the AL, I'm only going to do the first 5 rounds for each team, so there might be some guys that were taken in the lower rounds that will be missed. But alas, here it is:

Washington D.C. Revolution
1: Hi Adams (to Cleveland for compensation of Hector Unamuno)
2: Chad Riley, P
3: Charles Smith, P
4: Apollo Kennedy, P
5: Ed Winn, SS

In my opinion this draft was a bust for the Revolutions. None of the pitchers taken look like they will last in the majors, with Riley having the best chance of being a spot starter, long reliever. His control is good, but his splits and pitches leave a little to be desired. Winn was drafted as a shortstop out of junior college, but he will most likely end up as either a 3B or RF. He'll most likely be a career minor leaguer or be the 25th man on a major league roster. Both Smith and Kennedy will most likely be AAA inning eaters for their career.
Grade: C-

Augusta Sea Dogs
1: Odalis Seguignol, SS
1: Fonzie Kelly, RF (from Las Vegas for Enrique Hernandez)
1: Tanner Henry, CF (from Honolulu for Al Crespo)
2: Al Powell, P
3: Luis Cedeno, LF (from Las Vegas for Enrique Hernandez)
3: James Ulrich, CF
4: Clyde Yeats, P
5: Homer Shields, 3B
With a total of 5 of the first 100 picks, its hard to be in a better situation going into the draft than Augusta was. Seguignol will be a good defensive shortstop, who won't destroy you on offense, and will actually contribute against lefties. He's also a pretty fast guy, so look for him to be stealing the occasional base. I like the pick of Fonzie Kelly. While he has marginal ratings in most of the blue categories, his eye is top notch. Combined with his high speed rating and you might have a perfect leadoff, or number two hitter. Tanner Henry has spectacular range, but this might cause him to commit a few more errors than he would have normally as his glove will be sub par in center. Don't get me wrong, he'll be a good defensively. Both Cedeno and Shields have average hitting ratings, and most likely won't be everyday starters at the ML level. Ulrich will be a defensive substitution if he ever makes a ML roster, and has decent spilts, but his lack of power, and inability to draw a walk will hurt him. Al Powell and Homer Shields will be career minor league inning eaters and will never see the big leagues.
Grade: B/B+

Philadelphia Phightins
1: Will Punto, CF
1: Willie Samuel, RF (from New Britian for Vasco Bennett)
1: P.T. Andrews, P (from New Britian for Vasco Bennett)
2: Curtis Lincoln, P
3: Timo Vanguri, 3B
4: Tyler Lucas, SS
5: Cesar Jacquez, SS
The Phightins of Piladelphia also had 5 of the first 100 picks in this years draft, and they definitely need them as they are hovering around the .425 mark as of this writing. They were able to get good value for their type A picks in Samuel and Andrews. Willie doesn't have the best of splits, but his contact and power will make sure he has a job in the majors. He also has what should be, a gun in right field and will definitely be gunning down base runners that are trying to test him. Andrews will be an excellent setup man and spot closer and was the second best reliever on my board. Timo Vanguri has decent splits, and will be an average 3rd baseman. Curtis Lincoln will be nothing more than what appears to be a 4th/5th starter and both Lucas and Jacquez most likely won't reach the majors. What hurts Philadelphia's draft is their inability to sign future gold glover Will Punto. When I look at Punto's skill set I'm reminded of Ismael Reyes who is a perennial gold glove candidate and web gem nominee.
Grade:B with Punto it would've been a B+/A-

Richmond Storm
1: Alex Treadway, P
2: Adrian Hull, P
3: Frank Bonds, 3B
4: Sidney Graham, P
5: Francis Harris, 1B
When I look at Richmond's draft class I find it hard to come up with something good about it. Alex Treadway, taken 7th overall, was the 5th or 6th best reliever on my board. It's impossible to justify taking him that high, especially when Vic Ramsey was still available. Treadway will most likely be a setup man in the majors. He could possibly close for a team without any other options, but there are better relievers out there. Adrian Hull has good control, and plus pitches, but his splits will limit his options and will most likely be another setup man for Richmond. Sidney Graham has decent control, but his average splits combined with the lack of any + pitches means he'll be relegated to the minors for his career. Harris might have a chance to come off the bench and Frank Bonds was a waste of a 3rd round pick.
Grade:C-

Cuyahogas feeling the All-Star snub

2008-04-07T11:16:00.002-05:00

With the All-Star game approaching, Cleveland is sporting zero, ziltch, and nada representation on ANY level for all star consideration. Yes, the Cuyahogas have been a disappointment record wise this season, but some consideration was hoped to be given to a few players. Brian Tomko is having a stellar season at the plate while Teddy Wise, old man Donzell Kelly, and Sparky Jennings have been outstanding in the pen. At the AAA level, Al Rosado has been top notch, sporting a .370 BA. With victory comes recognition, hopefully with a strong second half, Cleveland will get some much needed respect.

Surgery Successful in Toledo?

2008-04-05T22:20:00.003-05:00

by Chuckie Fairweather
Toledo NewsGopher Staff Reporter

Reggie Alexander a cancer in the clubhouse? No one here in Toledo would have believed it had you made such a statement a mere 3 weeks ago, but under the circumstances one must wonder. After trading Reggie to New Britain for Marc Durbin and prospects the Cow Tippers have won 12 of their last 19 games, finishing that streak up with another mini streak winning 10 of the last 11.
As you may have guessed, pandemonium has erupted amongst the Tipper faithful (who weren't nearly so faithful only weeks ago). Tickets are selling faster than they can be printed. Throngs of drunken fans are bringing their children down to the ballpark in hopes of seeing what has once again become this city's favorite team.
In an effort to appease the near rioting crowds of ticketless fans the Tippers front office has ordered the installation of high definition television screens outside of the stadium and thousands of people are hanging around to watch the games from the comfort of the downtown sidewalks of Toledo. Makeshift vendors are now peddling beer and soda from ice chests rolled through the crowd while perched precariously atop skateboards and Radio Flyer red wagons. It is nearing insanity....and this city LOVES it.
As of just yesterday the Tips have tied for second place in the American League East with the Leathernecks of New York and are now in the process of trying to close the 9 game gap between themselves and first place Boston with nearly half the season to go. The only question is: Can this team keep it up?
I believe the answer can best be summed up in the words of Adam Sellers, "Hell yes we can do it! Behind the solid pitching of Midre Nunez and failsafe closer Jimmy Hampton this team can do anything. Hell, even our sad sack starter Brad Ryan won his first game this week. Ain't no team coming here to our pasture and beatin' us now".
So, folks, if anyone asks you why you think the Tips have turned it around you just tell them Chuckie told you so. Then you look them square in the eyes, take a good chew on your cud and in your most sincere voice you tell them,

MMMMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Not in our pasture, baby!

Draft results, AL South

2008-04-02T20:55:00.002-05:00

Atlanta:
3. Frank Abercrombie P
4. Willie George P
5. Otis Ardoin 2B

Santa Fe:
1. Angel Earley SS
1. Gil Adkinson 2B Unsigned
2.George Coppinger CF Unsigned
3. Stuart Hooper P
4. Footsie Brown ss (3B?) Unsigned
5.Delino Alvarez 1B

New Orleans:
1. Willie Hernadez RF
1. Rene Huff LF
1. Richard Meng 2B
1.Lyle cooper 2B
2. Roy Newson 3B
2. Jack Langford DH\C
3.Jerome Lloyd P
4. King Benes DH\C
5.Glenallen Blasingame SS Unsigned (how can you not sign a guy with that name?)

Durham:
1.Wilfredo Cedeno P
2. Mike Mann C
3.Gene Lawton LF
4.Karl Ausmus P
5.Cy Walker RF Unsigned.

Ok folks the AL South had a real up and down draft day.

Atlanta had no 1st or 2nd, and scores an F by defintion. But it is ok not to have those picks, he is in 1st, so the FA signings must be working.

Santa Fe had an interesting draft. With so many people not signed yet, he scores an Incomplete, but this will turn into a B or so when(if) his people sign. He did something I really, really like, I hope not just by coincidence- look at the "yellow" categories on his signings. Lots of 100 potentials pop up there, health, patience, make-up, etc. This is a strategy that will pay big dividends in the long run. And his 1st round SS has a pretty decent glove too.

New Orleans had, What, the mother of all drafts? Four 1st rounders must be nice. My scouts show his contact\power ratings on his 1st rounders to project 84\89, 100\68, 63\93, 46\78 (but, superlative glove). And I forgot to write down their speed ratings, so it may be even worse for his divisional opponents than it looks. And then 2 2nd rounders are also good picks. He wanted hitting, he got hitting. Scores an A+ in any draft.

Durham had a decent draft. his 1st round pick is by far the best arm taken in the division, and his number 2 pick catcher was a guy I really, really hoped to get with my number 2 pick. The rest of the draft was indifferent, but getting a ML caliber Starting Pitcher AND an ML caliber starting Catcher makes it a good draft day. Score it a B+.

International signings week 5

2008-04-02T20:22:00.002-05:00

A flurry of signings in week 5, almost all of them for small change. 19 signings were made, but only 3 for over 1.0 million. 10, as in ten!, of the signings were for 150k or less, mostly less. 7 of these signings were pitchers, catchers, or shortstops, clearly destined for rookie league, and some of us made 50k or so catcher sigings last week. I just had this argument with tzentmeyer in Clemens*, that there were not enough catchers (who could catch) or Center fielders in the draft. He, and the other developers, were of a different opinion. Well, if there are enough catchers in the draft, why did so many of us sign a 50K catcher on draft week?

Three significant money signings were made:

Durham signed P Fernado Sosa for 7.5 million. He rates a + set-up A or so reliever by my advance scouts, and has to be considered a very good signing.

Philadelphia signed SS Joaquin Fernandez for 3.8 million. He has the glove, and will probably develop as a hitter, but the 40 health rating is very risky. If he doesn't get hurt, great signing.

Boston signed P Victor James for 2.1 million. For a 2 mil signing, this guy has incredible stuff, but his health and durability ratings are, well, a disaster. Very risky signing.

NOW HEAR THIS:

Half way through the season, we have ONE signing for more than 10 million. My signing of Manzanillo is the second biggest signing of the season so far, at 9.5 million. This means that a great deal of money is still out there to chase (what sure appears to be) a drastic fall off in talent. Unless several, indeed, many, internationals come through soon, a whole lot of managers are going to be left holding a whole lot of money. So consider yourselves forewarned.

Al West Draft Analysis

2008-04-01T20:50:00.010-05:00

The AL draft analysis begins with the West because it is real easy.

Tacoma drafted------------------------ Anaheim drafted
1. Victor Melendez RF Unsigned------- 3. Rabbit Daneker CF Unsigned
1. David Sierra 2B Unsigned------------4. Pokey Krause P Unsigned
2. Andy Frazier LF Unsigned -----------5. Fransisco Martin P
3. Rob Franco P Unsigned
4. Goose VanderWal 2B Unsigned
5.Cookie Hansen RF Unsigned

Honolulu Drafted--------------------------- Helena Drafted
1. Ham Telgheder 2B---------------------- 1. Hub Kennedy SP
2. Pedro Ayala RF--------------------------2.Rip Burks CF
3.Matt BorchardP --------------------------3.Yamid Santiago 3B Unsigned
4. Rico Cervantes P ------------------------4. Ernie Westbrook DH
5. Benji Palmeiro P Unsigned---------------5.Preston Bradford SS

In the 1st 5 rounds.

Tacoma has signed not one of his 1-5 round picks, and it looks like his scouting budgets are finally catching up with him, as the 1st round picks are pretty dreadful and I can't see most of the others. With no one signed, and no one to point to, a technical Grade Incomplete, actual Grade F.

Anahiem had no draft to speak of, but since he is winning, one can hardly criticise giving up the picks. Still, by lack of picks alone, Grade F.

Honolulu had a pretty good draft, and has signed most of his picks. His 1-2 picks are definitely ML materiel, I really like his 1st round pick, and his later pitcher picks can always catch a DITR. Grade C+ to B+. (hedging a little here, when I look at all the other AL drafts, this could go up or down.)

Helena had a better draft than hoped. The 1-2 picks are ML materiel, and the pitcher taken at pick 21 exceeded all expectation. A lack of funds preventing signing the 3rd round pick. A for the 1st round, but D+ for the rest of the draft.

To say that the AL West's draft sucked is putting it mildly: few picks, fewer signed, and no spectacular prospects to drool over. Helena and Honolulu are the only franchises that even have any ML potential picks signed, and Helena got the only ML quality arm in the draft for these teams.

Where Do We Go From Here, Toledo?

2008-04-01T18:32:00.004-05:00

by Chuckie Fairweather
Toledo NewsGopher Staff Reporter

The dog days of summer have arrived early here in the scenic city of Toledo, and it appears the Cow Tipper faithful would just as soon walk their dogs as pay to watch their once beloved team play baseball. The once electrified atmosphere here at Fifth Third Field in the heart of downtown appears to have blown a fuse as the team continues to lose while having ceased to show the signs of brightness that attracted so many of the city's baseball starved citizens to the park like moths to a flame mere months ago. Miserable perfomances from the highly touted young pitching staff along with an ice cold team presence at the plate has led everyone here in town, save a few drunken hecklers and unenthusiastic Little League teams, to forego any further trips out to the old ball yard and to turn their eyes from what, at this time, appears to be a pretty bleak immediate future for the team.

Add to the team's lackluster performance a preseason deal sending number one prospect Luke McFeely to Durham for underachieveing up and comers Ralph Towers and Josh Holzemer along with the more recent trade sending superstar Reggie Alexander to New Britain in exchange for relatively unknown pitching prospect Harry Tavarez, AAA 2B Lewis Corey and a marginal ML 3B in Mark Durbin and one has to believe the front office team here at Cow Tippers Central has created a definite recipe for box office disaster.

When asked about the recent Alexander deal, team president Jimmy Hank Carmichael was quoted as saying,

"Hell, son, I just pay the bills around here. I hire people to take care of those decisions and I have nothing but faith in my capable young GM...erm...whazhisname".'

When Whazhisname himself, 37 year old GM Timmy Tankwaters was asked about the state of the team, he replied,

"We would obviously rather win here in Toledo, but having seen that our young team isn't as ready to compete as we had hoped we have chosen to free up some money for next season where we can and start rebuilding further for the future. We recently Acquired the number 2 draft pick overall in Randy Gordon, who we are certain will be our SS of the future, and we are more than a little excited about this acquisition. We were also able to pick up a few other decent players in the draft, and with the addition of some of the prospects we've added through trade we feel the future is bright here in Toledo. We do wish it known, however, that we are under no circumstances giving up on the team we have put together over the previous offseason. We feel most of the players in our lineup are just coming into their own as ML ballplayers and we have the utmost confidence in the pitching rotation we have put together along with the coaching staff we hope will lead this organization out of obscurity. Now if you don't mind, I have work to do".

So there you have it baseball fans. Straight out of the horse's mouth. This season has basically been written off by Jimmy Hank and his team of (ahem) capable professionals. Start looking to the future, Toledans. Remember, we still have Albert Maduro and Joe Parkinson waiting in the Minor League wings and if you really start to delve deeper into the organization you can certainly see signs of what could become a very competiti........ah screw it. What a pile of crap. I need a beer.

Note from the Editor: The opinions expressed by the reporter are not necessarily the opinions of the management here at the Toledo NewsGopher. Send complaints or otherwise directly to Chuckie at cfair@newsgopher.org.

The Mistake on the Lake??

2008-03-27T13:20:00.002-05:00

I'm not gonna hit the implosion button yet, but this Cuyahoga team is making my ulcer flare up regularly. So far, it has been a failure on all aspects on the ML squad. Pitching has been awful both in the rotation and in the pen. the offense has been offensive, with the exception of Brian Tomko and Geraldo Chavez. Turner Blake and Dave Perry who were performing exceptionally at AAA have been called up and veteran Bobby Penny will see an increase in playing time to use his wily veteran skills to maybe give this squad a little pick me up. There was no delusion of competing for a playoff spot this season, but sub .500 ball was not expected.

International signings, week 4.

2008-03-27T07:02:00.004-05:00

A flurry of international signings ahead of the draft, most of the good MILB, marginal ML player type.

Boston signed RP Miguel Perez for 1.4 million and LF Ariel Mota for 1.3 million. Perez has questional health but great make-up, so we'll see, Mota is part of a trend of 90+ power potential signings.

Los Angeles signed LF Al Feliz for 460K. Another 90+ power guy, not merely cheap, but ultra cheap. An A+ on smart use of the money.

Jacksonville signed SP Damaso Amaro for 2 million. Good stuff, bad control. Will he make the ML some day? Who knows, but even as a career high inning MILB starter, he is a bargain.

Philadelphia signed 3B (RF?) Jesus Gonzalez for 2.3 million, I'm pretty sure to see if he can hit a curve ball. He is another 90+ power guy. Anybody noticing a trend this week?

Three very minor signings: Durham signed RP Jolbert Alcantaro for 190k, Huntington signed RP Domingo Reynoso for 80k, and Helena signed C Alex Fernanadez for 60K. All seem like reasonable MILB signings. I know in my case the Catcher is strictly to catch rookie ball.

Addendum: some time next week, my DSL will be up and running. Huzzah!

1st Quarter NL North Review

2008-03-20T20:15:00.002-05:00

So the first quarter of Season 5 has come and gone in No Quitters II. The biggest surprise so far, to me at least, has been that Milwaukee has been keeping pace with Scranton. Both Scranton and Milwaukee are leading the league in wins with 28 and 26 respectively. Cleveland has crawled its way back near .500, while Buffalo is already 15 games back from the leaders. Lets take a team by team look at what's happening.

Scranton SweetSwing'n AbbyMo's (NL)
coonja76
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Scranton has been dominate in every area of the game during the first 40 games. Going 14-5 at home and 14-7 away, they haven't been phased on the road. Leading the AbbyMo's have been preseason All NL North picks in Matt West and Chuck Parker. Chuck is absolutely tearing it up on the field, and is on pace to hit 68HRs and steal 73 bases. Possibly the first ever 60/60 guy? We'll see. As a team Scranton leads the NL in on base percentage by 15 points.

Their rotation has been just as dominate as their offense has been, as their top 4 pitchers have an ERA below 3.50. Carson Redmond has been having a season for the ages so far. Going 6-0 in 8 starts, he has struck out 53 while only walking 6. Douglas Dawkins has been consistent in the closers role so far, as he has converted 9 saves in 9 chances.

Despite having 3 players listed on the preseason All NL Defensive team, Scranton is dead last in last in errors allowed and fielding percentage, and consequentially are 2nd to last in unearned runs allowed. Although their defense has been trying their best to allow more runs to score, they are 3rd in the NL in runs allowed.

Milwaukee Timber Rattlers (NL)
lccooler
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Milwaukee started the year with a 4 game sweep of Buffalo, and then promptly got swept by Scranton. So far this year we have been lead by minor league signing Preston Burkhart who is having an MVP type year so far. He leads all NL North hitters in RC/27 by almost an amazing 3 runs. Quinn Morgan is also having another fine season, posting a line of .365/.571/.936. Cody Relaford is in the middle of a sophomore slump, and has been relegated to the bottom of the batting order. Thankfully he hasn't forgotten how to play defense as well.

The Timber Rattlers have also been lead by the Big 3 as they have been the past 4 seasons. Ismael Torres has seen a return to his Cy Young season in season 2, while both Hugh Luebbers and Orber Gutierrez are holding their own in the rotation. Look for Milwaukee to replace a starter in the rotation by the all start break if the number 4 and 5 guys don't turn it around. Ted Alexander is following up his NL Fireman of the Year award from last year with another remarkable season so far. He started the season converting his first 14 saves without allowing a run, but gave up back to back solo home runs in his 15th save opportunity. He bounced back quickly saving the next game.

Milwaukee is also having a superb defensive season having only committed a total of 9 errors. This is second only to Las Vegas in the NL.

Cleveland Cuyahogas (NL)
mytitan
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Cleveland has been having an up and down season thus far. They started out the season going 3-7, but have come back to a respectable 20-23. This is not that easy of a feat in the NL North with both Milwaukee and Scranton owning both the top two records in the NL. The Cuyahogas are having a great defensive and offensive season, and if their pitching would come around they could possibly compete for a wild card spot.

The Cuyahogas have been lead on offense by both Gary Crosby and Geraldo Chavez. Both are near the top of the NL North in offensive production, and each does it differently. Chavez is getting on base like no other, and is currently 3rd in the North, while Crosby is slugging the ball all over the place.

Pitching is a different story. While they aren't horrible, they is only one person on the team who is having an All Star season. So let's start with the good in Dennis Mercker. He's 5-1 in 8 starts and has 6 quality starts so far. Top prospect Jeff Gload, has been having a decent rookie season so far. While his ERA says otherwise, his WHIP has said otherwise. He's been respectable at home, but has gotten pounded on the road.

Buffalo Wings (NL)
mdonegan
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What has gone right for Buffalo this year you may ask? Well besides Brutus Fleming there hasn't been much good news coming out of Buffalo. The wings are dead last in WHIP and ERA and 2nd to last in 1.8*OPS. The Wings have used a total of 14 different lineups on offense, and while they have used the same rotation since opening day, none of them is performing better than what a number 3 or 4 starter on any other staff would perform. Even the Wing's closer, Juan Perez, has a WHIP above 2.00.

It looks like mdonegan is going to need to hunker down for a long season, but as we've seen from the Top 100 prospect list, help is not that far away.

NL North 1st Qtr All Stars
C: Matt West - Scranton
1B: Quinn Morgan - Milwaukee
2B: Geraldo Chavez - Cleveland
3B: Brian Tomko - Cleveland
SS: Delino Martinez - Cleveland
LF: Chuck Parker - Scranton (Normally RF)
CF: Gary Crosby - Cleveland
RF: Preston Burkhart - Milwaukee

Starting Pitchers
Carson Redmond - Scranton
Ismael Sanchez - Milwaukee
Orber Guiterrez - Milwaukee
Dennis Merker - Cleveland
Dante Adkinsson - Scranton

Closer
Ted Alexander - Milwaukee

1st Qtr All NL North Defensive Team
C: Luis Oropesa - Milwaukee
1B: O.T. Wagner - Cleveland
2B: Geraldo Chavez - Cleveland
3B: Ramon Yang - Scranton
SS: Eduardo Rosado - Milwaukee
LF: Aubrey Goldman - Cleveland
CF: Gary Crosby - Cleveland
RF: Placido Ordonez - Cleveland

International Signings Week 3

2008-03-20T12:06:00.003-05:00

Helena signed 3B\RF Fernando Manzanillo for 9.5 mil. Yes, the big news in the 3rd week of the season is the signing of Manzanillo, by, uh, well, me. Kind of hard to be objective here, but I believe he projects quality late 1st round pick level talent, and by definition, you can't do better than that. Helena has blown the entire prospect budget on the signing, and by drafting very conservative, can just sign the amateur draft. That's why they invented calulators people, so you can run budgets to within 100k of their maximum "tolerance".

Charlotte signed 2 people, C Rolando Flores at 556k, and reliever James Yamakazi at 2.0 Mil.
I think these are quality signings, especially the C, with some serious catcher skills, will be a serious MILB asset to any team he is on. Just make sure that when the pitchers he handles progress, you don't hand them over to some big bat\can't catch a game catcher without carefully thinking through the consequences.

Buffalo signed RP Omar Beltre for 2.3 million. Which just looking at the guy seems an unbelievable bargain for an RP projecting that talent.

New York Leathernecks signed OF Delino Sanchez for 3.6 Mil. This looks to be another good bargain in the INT signing season, as Sanchez projects to at least, what, okish ML OF?

Durham signed RP Jesus Valdez for 1.5 mil. Financially sound signing, but what to make of a guy with such a mix of really good and really bad ratings? "we'd better teach this guy some control before he kills somebody".

Since I'm a day late on posting (I have relatives visiting), I can't look at a "last week" search and be sure I've gotten everybody. So I apologise for anybody I missed. And I have the perceptable felling I've missed people.

NL South Weekly Review - Week 2

2008-03-19T12:56:00.001-05:00

NL South Weekly Review

Welcome to the weekly review of the NL South. It’s been an interesting second week for the NL South as the Huntington Blazers (20-16) as been in a free fall allowing the surging Charlotte Knights (19-17) to come within 1 game. The Charleston Chiefs (18-18) are struggling as well but are still within 2 games. The Jacksonville Hurricanes (15-21) are hanging in there at 5 games back.

Huntington Blazers (20-16) AAA (24-12)/ AA (26-10)/ HIA (14-22)/ LOA (16-20)

The great start by the Blazers as turned into a nightmare the second week of the season. The Blazers have gone 5-11 during the last week, only winning one game each series that they’ve played. They are now 12-11 at home, 8-5 on the road and 11-15 playing against teams outside there division. The citizens of Huntington have gone out on search parties, looking for the missing offensive of the Blazers but as of today it has not been found. Last week they only scored 60 runs, good for 3.75 runs per game. The offensive as fell to 5h in runs scored (192) even as they still lead the league in Hits (375), AVE (.289) and second in OBP (.356), it is clear that the problem the team is struggle with men in scoring position. The strikeouts continue to cause problems as they still led the league with 273.
Mac Hyun (1B) – (.294, 12, 28) leads the team in Runs (27), HR (12), and RBI (28)
Allen Sutton (2B/RF) – (.281, 4, 13)
Carlos Trinidad (3B) – (.327, 8, 27) leads the team in Hits (48)
Benito Polanco (LF) – (.289, 7, 24) tied for the led SB (10) and leads the team in SO (37)
Trenidad Rincon (SS) – (.320, 8, 27) leads the team in Walks (18) and tied in 2B’s (6)

The pitching staff it seems as ran away with the offensive the last week. They have allowed 94 runs, 5.88 runs per game during the week. They have fallen to 9th in the National League with a 4.51 ERA. The starters are only averaging 5.5 innings per start and out of the teams 36 games only 17 have been quality starts. The team is hoping with their new acquisition of Pedro Martinez will provide enough innings to give the tired bullpen a breather. The bullpen as already pitched over 130 innings so far with Javier Hernandez already pitching in 23 games. The team as not found a closer yet, as Eric Baker as been hit hard his recently, losing the closer job to Haywood Brewer who as saved to 2 games.
Johnny Linden – (3-3, 4.98) leads the team in IP (43.1), GS (8), and tied in wins (3)
Rafael Torres – (3-2, 3.35) leads the team in SO (35) and tied in wins (3)
Haywood Brewer – (3.04, 2SV)

Can the Blazers stop the sinking ship or will they continue to sink to the bottom?

DL
Edgar Ordonez (shoulder surgery) – Out for the season
Roster Moves
Pedro Martinez (P) – Traded from New Britain
Jared Fischbach (RF) – Sent back to AAA
Alfonso Romero (P) – Sent to AAA

Charleston Chiefs (18-18) AAA (27-9)/ AA (19-17)/ HIA (17-19)/ LOA (22-14)

The Chiefs are cold once again, as there season seems to be going up and down already. They have only one 6 times in there last 16 games. With the Blazers struggling as well the Chiefs are still right behind the leaders. They are 9-10 at home, 9-8 on the road and 14-12 playing against teams outside there division. The offensive has gone ice cold the last week, unable to provide any kind of support to the pitching staff. The new GM as express that a team with a high payroll and high priced vets that this team is expected to win. Last week the offensive scored only 62 runs, scoring 3.88 runs per game during the week. The team has dropped to the middle of the pack in most offensive categories; expect they are second in the league in steals with 57.
Edgar Cornejo (2B) – (.315, 7, 21) leads the team in Runs (31), Hits (46), 2B (12), Walks (20), SO (29), and SB (25)
Miguel Nunez (RF) – (.308, 7, 20)
Orlando Molina (3B) – (.296, 10, 35) leads the team in HR (10), RBI (35)
Magglio Elcano (CF) – (.262, 1, 12)
Edgardo Ortiz (SS) – (.214, 4, 14)

As the offensive has struggled the pitching staff has been great. They have allowed 69 runs, 4.31 runs per game during the week. They are 3rd in the National League in ERA at 4.06. The starter’s average 6.8 innings per start, 5 complete games and they have 20 quality starts out of the 36 games played. Don Morgan as thrown the only shutout for the team so far. The bullpen has only pitched 71 innings so far, but it’s still closer by committee so far, with five different pitchers recording at least one save, Stevie Brumfield leading the team with 3, but they have also blown 5 saves as well.
Don Morgan – (3-3, 3.03) leads the team in IP (62.1), SHO (1) and SO (50)
Brett Hoover – (6-1, 2.72) leads the team in Wins (6), and CG (3)
Stevie Brumfield – (4.50, 3SV)

Can the veterans pull themselves out of there slump or will the pitchers need to step up even more.

DL
None
Roster Moves
Stevie Brumfield (P) - Promoted to ML
Miguel James (P) – Sent to AAA

Charlotte Knights (19-17) AAA (16-20)/ AA (13-23)/ HIA (21-15)/ LOA (9-27)

The Knights are hot, winning 10 out of there last 17 games. They have surged to within 1 game of the Huntington Blazers for the lead in the division. They are now 11-8 at home, 8-9 on the road, 14-12 playing against teams outside there division. The problems that plagued the offensive during the first week of the season, has been forgotten by the team, but more importantly by the fans themselves. The blazing hot offensive has gotten 165 hits, hit 32 homeruns, and scored 111 runs, 6.53 runs per game during the week. They are 2cd in runs scored with 205 and RBI with 201, they also led the league with 63 long balls. The team has gotten its AVE (.255), OBP (.328) up from the previous week, which as helped the offensive to explode.
Vladimir Valentin (2B) – (.257, 11, 35) tied with team led in RBI (35)
Timothy Stokes (RF) – (.298, 3, 17) leads the teams in Hits (39), 2B’s (10), and BB (18)
Lorenzo Park (3B) – (.248, 8, 25) leads the team in SO (29)
Dario Newfield (CF) – (.278, 14, 35) leads the team in Runs (27), HR (14), and RBI (35)
Phil File (1B) – (.197, 6, 14)

The pitching staff hasn’t had to be perfect the last week, but they where still pretty good. They have allowed only 74 runs, 4.63 runs per game during the week. They are 8th in the league in ERA at 4.45. The starter’s average 5.6 innings per start, 1 complete game and they have 19 quality starts out of the teams 37 games. Out of the 17 games played during the week, the starters won 8 times, as the bullpen was able to hold more leads this week. The bullpen has just pitch over 100 innings so far, with closer Einar Olivares leading the team with 18 games. The blown saves are still a real concern for the team as they have already blown 7 games this season.

Can the Knights hold onto leads late in the games or will that cost them more and more as the season goes forward.

Seth White – (3-2, 3.64) tied with the team led of 3 wins
Henry Nathan – (2-1, 2.45)
Einar Olivares – (4.91, 8SV)
DL
None
Roster Moves
None

Jacksonville Hurricanes (15-21) AAA (11-25)/ AA (23-13)/ HIA (19-17)/ LOA (16-20)

The Hurricanes just can’t get over the hump of being a .500 team. When ever they get close they seem to lose a couple in a row, forcing them to play catch up once again. The week started at well, winning there 5 out of the first 7 games, but have lost 8 out of the last 10 games. They are now 8-12 at home, 7-9 on the road, 13-12 playing against teams outside there division. The offensive has improved scoring 99 runs, 5.82 runs per game during the last week. The Hurricanes are having no problems getting men into scoring position as they led the league in doubles with 68, getting 360 hits and hitting .283 as a team, but they still are having a tough time getting them to score with only 182 runs scored so far this season.
Warren Richardson (RF) – (.275, 13, 35) leads the team in HR (13), and RBI (35)
Gus Martin (2B) – (.350, 6, 30) leads the team in Hits (49), and SO (31)
Marino Aramboles (SS) – (.274, 1, 6)
David Yamakazi (1B/LF) – (.270, 7, 22) leads the team in Runs (26)
Kent Miles (C) – (.321, 4, 16) leads the team in 2B’s (12)
The pitching staff has improved slightly during the last week. They have allowed 83 runs, 4.88 runs per game during the week. The moved up one stop with a 5.42 ERA. The starters are averaging 6.1 innings per game, 1 complete game and they have 15 quality starts out of the 36 games played. The team has found Geronimo Valdes is truly the staff ace leading the team in wins and ERA. The bullpen has pitched under 100 innings so far, giving them lots of rest to perform to there best abilities. Elroy Cogan has been solid when ever he gets a chance to be, but it’s been kind of an adventure in the bullpen to get to there great closer.
Clay Adams – (1-2, 4.47)
Geronimo Valdes – (5-2, 4.25) leads the team in W (5)
Elroy Cogan – (2.84, 5SV)

If the Hurricanes offensive starts to get hot will they still need to win games 8-7, 9-6 so they can approach .500 again?

DL
Artie Spencer (broken wrist) – 15 Day DL
Roster Moves
Teddy Black (1B) – Promoted to ML

NL SOUTH PLAYER OF THE WEEK
3/5/2008 - 3/12/2008
Dario Newfield
(Charlotte Knights)

Dario Newfield is the Player of the Week. He went 17/51 for a batting average of .333 and hit 7 homeruns in 14 games. Molina also drove in 22 runs, scored 16 runs and .804 Slugging Percentage.

NL SOUTH PLAYER OF THE WEEK
3/5/2008 - 3/12/2008
Henry Nathan
(Charlotte Knights)

Henry Nathan is the Pitcher of the Week. He gave up 4 earned run(s) in 21.0 innings for an ERA of 1.71. He went 2-0 over a span of 3 games. Nathan struck out 13 while only walking 3.

Anticipation mounts for Amateur Draft

2008-03-19T11:14:00.002-05:00

With the Amateur draft coming next week, the Cuyahogas, who have 3 first round picks, are cautiously optimistic about landing some quality SP prospects. Financial concerns due to the signing of IFA Frank Li have the bean counters in Cleveland concerned about signability. Look for Cleveland to transfer some funds to the draft warchest and play it safe this season and not chase the riskier to sign prospects.

Bees Recover from Awful Start to Get Back to .500

2008-03-16T19:25:00.003-05:00

Expectations were high in New Britain, CT after the Bees' 107 win season and ALCS appearance in Season 4. After signing Vasco Bennett in the offseason to a deep pitching staff and trading for Carlos Carrasco, it looked like the Bees were primed for a run at the AL pennant.

Then the season started and the Bees train wrecked to a 2-10 start. Tension in the clubhouse caused some tempers to flair, but the club refocused and kept it together. The Bees have rallied, going 12-4 in their last 16 games to even up their record at 14-14. They've managed to stay within shouting distance of division rival Portland, currently sitting 5.5 games out of first. The Bees have been led by their stellar starting staff, notably

and

Cleveland's slow climb back to respectability

2008-03-15T19:30:00.002-05:00

Even after an abysmal 4-12 start to the season, the Cuyahoga faithful held out hope that the team would find a way to hit on all cylinders and regain some respect within NQ2. Strong pitching and timely hitting(finally) the past 10 games has put Cleveland only 2 games under .500 and keeps them in the thick of the playoff run this season. Lead by Lonnie Garcia and Dennis Mercker on the hill, and Gary Crosby and Brian Tomko on offense, hope has returned to the shores of Lake Erie.

Hector Unamuno returns to the Jake

2008-03-14T12:18:00.002-05:00

Hardball Dynasty's

Hector Unamuno

Throughout the short history of Cuyahogas baseball, no athlete was more beloved than Hector Unamuno. The holder of nearly all season and career pitching records returned to Cleveland to face his former teammates as a much heralded FA signing by the DC Revolution. Appearing to a standing ovation, Unamuno brought his "A" stuff, but fell short on a Bob Penny 2-run blast giving the Cuyahogas a much needed 3-2 win. GM Mark Shapiro commented that "while it was always the plan to have Hector in a Cleveland uniform, financially it didn't fit with our goals. We wish him all the luck in DC".

NL South Weekly Review

2008-03-13T14:31:00.005-05:00

Welcome to the weekly review of the NL South. It’s been an interesting week for the NL South as the Huntington Blazers (15-5) have jumped out to a 3 game lead over the Charleston Chiefs (12-8). The Charlotte Knights (9-10) are 5.5 games off the pace and the Jacksonville Hurricanes (8-11) are 6.5 games out.

Huntington Blazers (15-5) AAA (14-5)/ AA (13-6)/ HIA (9-10)/ LOA (6-13)

The Blazers have started out blazing by winning every series so far, while sweeping the Knights and Hurricanes also. They are 9-5 at home, 6-0 on the road and 9-1 within the division. The Blazers have the number 1 offensive in the National League with 132 runs scored, 6.60 runs per game. They also led the National League in Hits (231), RBI (131), AVE (.322), OBP (.389) and OPS (.873) but they are also leading the league with 148 strikeouts. (3B) Carlos Trinidad (.367, 3, 17) and (SS) Trenidad Rincon (.366, 6, 22) have been giving opposing pitchers problem so far in the beginning of the season. (1B) Mac Huyen (.314, 4, 15), (RF) Allen Sutton (.315, 2, 11), (C) Pat Montgomery (.308, 2, 11) have been making it a tough battle for any pitcher so far this year to get through the order. Can the offensive continue this kind of fire power through out the year or will it eventually slow down?
The pitching staff hasn’t been left out with this great start, only allowing 86 runs scored, 4.52 runs per game. They are second in the National League with a 4.08 ERA. The ace of the staff Johnny Liden (3-0, 2.52) and fifth starter Casey Timlin (3-1, 3.18) have been doing a great job anchoring the rotation. Alfonso Romero (1-1, 3.28) as had some rough luck so far this season with bullpen losing two games for him. The bullpen as struggled at times with a 4.62 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP but have only blown one save so far. Brian Sakamoto was given the closer job but as blown the only save and a 12.15 ERA, so he lost it to Eric Baker. Baker as taken the job and ran with it by saving all 4 chances and allowing only one run.
DL
Edgar Ordonez (shoulder surgery) – Out for the season
Ariel Quevedo (stiff neck) – 15 day DL
Roster Moves
Ramiro Montanez (CF) - FA pickup
Jared Fischbach (RF) – Promoted to ML

Charleston Chiefs (12-8) AAA (15-4)/ AA (9-10)/ HIA (9-10)/ LOA (11-8)

The Chiefs started the season off cold, losing 7 of there first 9 games. Then they pulled off 9 straight victories before Scranton final stopped the streak. They are 3-3 at home, 9-5 on the road and 4-6 within the division. They have scored 120 runs which is the second best in the league, averaging 6.00 runs per game. They are also second in the league in Hits (224), RBI (117), AVE (.306), OBP (.369), SLG (.487) and OPS (.856), while also tied for first with 45 SB. (3B) Orlando Molina (.373, 6, 25) is providing the power, while (2B) Edgar Cornejo (.357, 4, 15) have provided the speed with 20 steals. (RF) Miguel Nunez (.341, 3, 12) as 5 stolen bases, (CF) Magglio Elcano (.329, 0, 7) as 9 steals as well, given catchers fits when playing this team. They face the same questions as the Blazers do about the offensive being able to stay hot or will it begin to cool down.
The pitching staff had struggled in the beginning of the season but has improved since the 9 game winning streak began. They are 5th in the league in ERA with 4.27, allowing 93 runs, 4.65 runs per game. Brett Hoover (4-0, 2.97) and Don Morgan (2-0, 1.95) as been an unbeatable one to two punch, combining for half the teams wins. The bullpen as really struggled so far with a 4.99 ERA and blowing 2 saves. Four different pitches as saved a game for the Chiefs, Enrique Vincente being the last.
DL
Ryan Cox (strained hamstring) – 15 day DL
Roster Moves
Edwin Messmer (LF) - Promoted to ML

Charlotte Knights (9-10) AAA (10-9)/ AA (9-10)/ HIA (8-11)/ LOA (5-14)

The Knights started off great, winning 7 out of there first 10 games, but has hit a nose dive, winning only twice in there last 9 games. They are 2-4 at home, 7-6 on the road, and 3-5 within the division. They have scored 94 runs, 4.95 runs per game. The offensive has been able to blast the ball over the fence, hitting 31 homeruns, good for third in the league, but that’s the only thing the offensive has been able to do. They are last in Hits (149), AVE (.230), and OBP (.302). (2B) Vladimir Valentin (.247, 7, 21) and (CF) Dario Newfield (.240, 7, 13) has provided the power. (RF) Timothy Stokes (.320, 1, 11) leads the team with 13 runs scored. Can the Knights offensive find the ability to get men on base, so that the big power guys in the middle of the order can bring them around, or will the offensive rely on the pitching staff to keep them in the games?
The pitching staff as been good so far this season at shutting down the opposite teams offensive for the most part. They have allowed 85 runs so far, 4.47 runs per game. They are 7th in the league with a 4.56 ERA. Starting pitchers Henry Nathan (0-1, 3.26), Bernard Wilson (1-0, 3.46), Jimmy Butler (1-1, 3.76) as pitched well, but the bullpen hasn’t been able to hold on to the games for them. The starting pitching as only accounted for 4 wins, despite posting a 4.52 ERA. The bullpen is 5-6 with 7 saves in 11 chances, but also has a 4.88 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP. Einar Olivares is leading the bullpen with 4 saves, but as also blown 3 more. Julio Bocachica as been a good backup option getting 2 saves and not allowing a single run so far this season.
DL
None
Roster Moves
None

Jacksonville Hurricanes (8-11) AAA (7-12)/ AA (10-9)/ HIA (10-9)/ LOA (11-8)

The Hurricanes started out awful, winning for four times during there first 14 games. They have won 4 out of there last 5 to get close to .500. They are 6-7 at home, 2-4 on the road, and 2-8 within the division. They have scored 83 runs, 4.37 runs per game. The offensive has been able to get the hits with 177 but have been unable to get them across home plate (if there was a stat for runners in scoring position average, they could possible be last). (2B) Gus Martin (.384, 4, 16) and (3B) Artie Spence (.356, 5, 13) have been providing the offensive they were expected to provide this season. (RF) Warren Richardson (.263, 6, 17) leads the team in homeruns and RBI’s, while (LF) David Yamakazi (.234, 4, 10) leads the team with 14 runs scored. Who have to wonder if the hitters for the Hurricanes are trying to hard with runners in scoring position to get them across and tightening up at the plate or are they trying to make up for the pitching staff that is getting killed on most nights. Can the Hurricanes begin to relax at the plate and start bringing the runners around before it becomes a year long problem?
The pitching staff has struggled so far this year. They have allowed 109 runs, 5.74 runs allowed per game. They are second to last in ERA at 5.80, and OAV at .285. The only bright so far for the pitching staff is they lead the league in strikeouts with 145. Geronimo Valdes (3-1, 3.24) has been the only ace in the staff so far, as the rest of the starting pitchers are 3-7 with an ERA of 6.04. The bullpen has been to get 5 saves, and have only blown 2 saves. Elroy Cogan as been his normal closer self getting 4 saves and only blown one. The bullpen’s 7.01 ERA is a real concern for the team, as it needs to improve for the team to contend within the division.
DL
None
Roster Moves
None

NL SOUTH PLAYER OF THE WEEK
3/5/2008 - 3/12/2008
Orlando Molina

Orlando Molina is the Player of the Week. He went 31/83 for a batting average of .373 and hit 6 homeruns in 20 games. Molina also drove in 25 runs and .639 Slugging Percentage.

NL SOUTH PLAYER OF THE WEEK
3/5/2008 - 3/12/2008
Brett Hoover
Brett Hoover is the Pitcher of the Week. He gave up 11 earned run(s) in 33.1 innings for an ERA of 2.97. He went 4-0 over a span of 4 games. This included 2 complete games. Hoover struck out 26 while only walking 10.

International signings, week 2.

2008-03-12T19:32:00.003-05:00

Frankly, NQ II is off to a slow start on the International signings. Good news for people waiting to see the draft board before going after anybody, bad news for the guy who will be doing a lot of writing when the big flurry of International signings comes in.

One huge signing was made: Cleveland signed SS (3B, 2B?) Frank Li, Bruce's brother I believe. signed for 17 million, he projects, by my Advance scouting budget, which could be off, as a solid 1st round draft pick equivalent. Mytitan pretty much blew the prospect budget on him, but by definition it would be pretty hard to get better than a 1st round pick type player.

Atlanta inked reliever Sherman Bukvich. For 1.6 million, he looks like a pretty good deal for the $$$.

Toledo continued to sign Major League Marginal, Minor League good, players with strong upside.
Hector James, relief pitcher, for 3.0 million, Andres Lopez, starting pitcher, for 4.3 million, and Magglio Padilla, relief pitcher, for 3.7 million. given ++ coaching and training, any of these guys could really do well in long-term improvement. I especially like the James signing- any pitcher projecting 100 health, 3 good pitches, and Control and Velocity both projecting better than 85 (possibly much better than 85, budgets and projections differ) is a pitcher with great upside potential, as long as his VL\VR splits are anything at all. I rate this one as really good signing for the money.

NL North Season Preview

2008-03-07T02:54:00.001-06:00

So Season 5 marks the fourth season that the NL North has featured the same owners. Featuring a former World Series winner in Milwaukee, and defending division champion Scranton, it features to have some fierce competition.

Season 4 saw Scranton win the division for the first time with 95 wins, and Milwaukee finishing second with 92. Cleveland was in the hunt for a wild card berth up until about the 2^nd to last week, and finished with 86 wins, 3 less than what they won the division with in season 3. Buffalo brought up the rear of the division for the second straight year, finishing with 76 wins.

Milwaukee ended up getting swept in 3 games by Huntington, now the Charleston Chiefs. Scranton faired better sweeping the aforementioned Chiefs in 3 games, but lost in seven games to the world series runner up Washington Revolution.

The North has alwas been a close division, having the division championship always being decided by 6 games or less, and always going down to the last week. The north also features 4 of the 8 lowest NL payrolls. Both Milwaukee and Scranton have maxed out draft budgets, but Milwaukee as decided to forgo the International Market for the 2nd straight season. Cleveland and Buffalo have decided to spread their scouting budget evenly across all 3 areas. All four teams also have maxed out, or have nearly maxed out advanced scouting. It sure appears that they are continually building for the future and trying to win now at the same time.

Scranton SweetSwing’n AbbyMo’s

Scranton probably has the most unique team name of No Quitters II. Their success seems to rely on stellar defense, not walking a batter, and slugging the ball all over the place. The second youngest team in the North, with an average age of 26.7, they are ready to move on to the world series this year, returning all 25 players from their roster last year. Scranton’s roster features former number one pick Chuc k Parker hitting third. In his second full year in the ML last year Parker hit .289, with 26HR, and 103RBI. They also feature Matt West behind the plate and hitting fourth. Matt is able to absolutely obliterate right handed pitching.

The AbbyMo's rotation is the best in the division, featuring the ace, Carson Redmond. Carson was a former 19 game winner in Tacoma, and arrived in Scranton last year as a free agent, signing a 3yr - $54 million contract. Dante Adkinsson, Antonio Wallace, and Matt Carver are all solid in the rotation, and would be welcomed on any team, with the exception of possibly Tacoma. Don Martin leaves a little to be desired in the 5th spot, ratings wise, but has performed very successfully the last two years, combining for a total of 27 wins.

Opening Day Lineup
C: Matt West
1B: Trev or Duvall
2B: Tim G onzales
3B: Ramon Yang
SS: Charlie Lorraine
LF: Luis Silva
CF: Rod Freeman

RF: Chuck Parker

Rotation
Carson Redmond
Dante Atkinson
Antonio Wallace
Matt Carver
Don Martin

Closer
Douglas Dawkins

Notable Signings: None
Notable Departures: None

Prediction: Division Championship - Possibly 1st Round Bye

Milwaukee Timber Rattlers

The Timber Rattlers are making the transition of perennial division champs to rebuilding for the future. Having been "obliterated" by free agency this year, they are sticking to a budget and not going to go over. The team still has former MVP Quinn Morgan batting cleanup, and former CY Young winner Ismael Torres leading its rotation. Ted Alexander made a successful debut as the Timber Rattler's closer, winning the NL Fireman of the Year award and seeting the club record with 43 saves.

Milwaukee also features the fastest NL starting lineup according to the franchise rankings. Opposing catchers are going to be challenged keeping them from stealing bases as every position, with the exception of C and RF, features a guy with a speed rating over 75. The bench also features two guys who can come in and go from first to third faster than you can say "Rickey Henderson."

Opening Day Lineup
C: Luis Oropesa
1B: Quinn Morgan
2B: Cody Relaford
3B: Rob Be irne
SS: Eduardo Rosado
LF: Raymond Lombardi
CF: Ismael Reyes
RF: Preston Burkhart

Rotation
Ismael Torres
Hugh Lu ebbers
Orber Gutierrez
Bill King
Victor Encarnacion

Closer
Ted Alexander

Notable Departures: Ramiro Montanez, Darrin Burns, Olmedo Colon, Thomas Berra, Stephen Weaver, and Rafael Castillo

Notable Arrivals: Cody Relaford, and Preston Burkhart

Prediction: 2nd Place in the North. Possible Wild Card contender.

Cleveland Cuyahogas

Cleveland is another interesting franchise in that they won the division in Season 3, and have always finished above .500, but appear to also be making a transition to rebuilding. Hector Unamuno was the big free agent signing of this past off-season. Leaving Cleveland and signing with the Washington D.C. Revolution for a reported 5y - $59 million deal. It goes without saying that Hector holds every club pitching record. For Cleveland to try and compete in the division following Hector's departure they are going to need Jeff Gload to try and live up to his billing as a "Baseball America" top 100 prospect. They will also have to rely on quality starts from James Shave and Pablo Sanchez.

The Cuyahogas also feature 4 time all-star and 4 time silver slugger Delino Martinez. Sporting a career 179 HR and 544 RBI's, Delino is one of today's premier shortstops. Look for him to try and continue his streak of consecutive all star appearances this season as well. Cleveland's starting lineup also features a number of speedsters, featuring five guys with a rating in the 80's. It sure appears that NL North catchers are going to have their hands full trying to stop runners this season.

Opening Day Lineup
C: Anthony Swann
1B: O.T. Wagner
2B: Geraldo Chavez
3B: Brian Tomko
SS: Delino Martinez
LF: Aubrey Goldman
CF: Gary Crosby
RF: Placido Ordonez

Rotation
Jeff Gload
James Shave
Pablo Sanchez
Dennis Mercker
Lonnie Garcia

Closer
Ted Crede

Notable Departures: Hector Unamuno, Chili Wang, and John Dong
Noteable Arrivals: None

Prediction: Third place in the division. Hovering around .500 with a possible top 16 draft pick next season.

Buffalo Wings

Last but not least we come to the Buffalo Wings. After placing second in the division in Season 2, and having their pitching get decimated at the beginning of Season 3, they have been struggling to get back in contention ever since. Bufallo is also in a transition of sorts, having used to be one of the oldest, they are no one of the 4th youngest in the NL. They are not far off however, having placed 5 players on "Baseball America's" Top 100 list this year, with three of those coming in the top 20.

The Wings' rotation leaves a little something to be desired as they don't have an "ace," as they feature 3 starters with a control rating below 55, and only one above 80. The closer's role has been held firmly by Juan Perez since he was 21 year old rookie, but saves have been becoming scarce the past two seasons.

Look for Buffalo to try and rely on their hitting to overcome their deficiencies in pitching this season, but even this is going to have its own troubles. It appears that Brendan Green, Jon Peterson, and Brutus Fleming are going to have their hands full this season. For Buffalo to have any chance of competing those 3 are going to have to play at an all star level.

Opening Day Lineup
C: Hamish Lemke
1B: Brutus Fleming
2B: Jon Peterson
3B: Quilvio Encarnacion
SS: Brenden Green
LF: Darren Sele
CF: Mitch Redmond
RF: Homer Knoblauch

Rotation
Nash Blank
Jacob Yoshii
Justin Diaz
Sherm Robinson
Elroy Aven

Closer
Juan Perez

Notable Departures: William Takahashi, Bill Kozlowski, Lawrence Fetters, Michael Lee, B.C. Saenz, Bobby Dunham, and William Tanner
Notable Arrivals: Hamish Lemke, Homer Knoblauch, Brutus Fleming, Benji Fernandez, and Nash Blank.

Prediction: Last in the division. Top 16 draft pick next season, possibly top 10.

All NL North
C: Matt West - Scranton
1B: Trevor Duvall - Scranton
2B: Jon Peterson - Buffalo
3B: Brian Tomko - Cleveland
SS: Delino Martinez - Cleveland
LF: Luis Silva - Scranton
CF: Gary Crosby - Cleveland
RF: Chuck Parker - Scranton

Rotation
Carson Redmond - Scranton
Ismael Torres - Milwaukee
Matt Carver - Scranton
Antonio Wallace - Scranton
Dante Atkinson - Scranton

Closer
Ted Alexander - Milwaukee

All Defensive NL North
C: Anthony Swan - Cleveland
1B: Trevor Duvall - Scranton
2B: Jon Peterson - Buffalo
3B: Ramon Yang - Scranton
SS: Eduardo Rosado - Milwaukee
LF: Luis Silva - Scranton
CF: Mitch Redmond - Buffalo
RF: Preston Burkhart - Milwaukee

International sightings, day 1 regular season.

2008-03-06T12:13:00.000-06:00

The international signing season is off and running with 2 major signings: Tony Urbina and Hector Colome.

Urbina, signed by New Orleans, projects as an ace reliever by every definition of the word; stamina, health, control, splits, velocity, and 3 + pitches, Urbina is the whole package as a closer.
Signed for a miniscule (by the standards) 7.1 million dollar bonus, and a rather whopping 5 year Major League contract, he rates as one of the best signings I've seen in our World. My only question is how New Orleans got him to accept 5 years on an ML contact, because I've tried it and been rejected every time.

Colome, signed by Boston, projects as an, excuse the term, absolutely average ML 2B. Defense, hitting, speed, all rate good, not spectacular. The tipping point in this players development may be his outstanding make-up, or his weak health rating. signed for a, what, relative bargain?, absolutely average?, 8.8 million he looks to be a signing with good upside potential.

In addition, Toledo has signed 2 players, Delino Morales and Pasqual Lunar, which currently project career minor leaguers, very cheaply, and I like the signings. If you look closely at their ratings, if either caught a DITR in the future, the would definitely move up to (at least marginal) ML potential. In the meantime, improving your minor League teams with relatively cheap signings is a good long term strategy. It fosters a culture of winning at the MILB level, which has long term benefits to your franchise, for instance, getting in the play-offs and getting a little more experience at each level\year. Something to think about.

The Revolution Press Conference

2008-03-06T10:54:00.000-06:00

Billy LeBrock (Revolution Spokesman): "Ladies and Gentleman if you will please take your seats, we will get this press conference underway, I know you have a lot of questions. GM Danny X is ready to take your questions".

Trent McElroy (Sporting News): "Mr. X, everyone wants to know about your contract with Mr. Umanuno. Isn't giving a 5 year contract to a 35 year old a bit risky?".

MrDanielX: "Oh its risky. But no one wins championships by sitting on their butt and doing nothing. I talked to Hector and his doctors and we believe that he will be able to give us the quality innings for all 4 guaranteed years on his contract. We have a state of the art training facility and Hector has been in good condition."

Milhouse Landan (espn): "Has the organization moved on from the devastating World Series lost to Tacoma?"

MrDanielX: "Of course we have. Last year was a pivotal year for us. Our relocation to DC from Columbus, our improvement from 60 wins to over 100. We consider ourselves contenders for now on, and I think we have proved that we plan on being contenders with out signing of Hector Umanuno, and acquisitions of Sandy McEnerney and Mac Lee. We had the best pitching in the league and we think we go better, additionally we have improved on our sagging hitting and bench."

Stacy Sueng Lee (CNNSI): "Who will be your opening day starter?"

MrDanielX: "Angel... and Hector told me himself that he would have it no other way. Angel's performance last year was incredible and he says he is in great shape and ready to repeat this year."

Billy Leff (Washington Post): "How does it feel to start the season against division rival Augusta?"

MrDanielX: "We don't think too much of it. We bring the same intensity to every game. Of course the fans really get into the games against Augusta so we look forward to them pumping us up, and getting the season off on the right foot."

Billy LeBrock: "Thank you everyone! We will see you later on in the year!"

Opening Day Thoughts

2008-03-06T08:02:00.000-06:00

Here we are on Opening Day for the 5th season of No Quitters II. This column is more of a beat writer's comical look at the league and if you don't laugh during it you are probably dead...or Bill Belichick.

We begin by congratulating Tacoma and it's owner Threester on his season 4 World Series win, and second since the creation of the league. A really amazing accomplishment. His off-season was a pretty good success by adding Bill Sanford and his Paul Bunyan power. And that should develop more with his new trainer Brian Mcnamee. But enough about Tacoma I'll leave the rest to the season preview.

The most interesting signing (read "Paul Depodesta signing Juan Pierre's contract" interesting) was from our boy in the Capital MrDanielX. He signed Hector Unamuno to a 5 year deal for $59 million. He must have been tainted by being in DC. Oh well, Unamuno will help out this year but you have to wonder about last season when his is 39 and getting paid $12. I wonder if he knew that Unamuno recently started a relationship with Alyssa Milano, MrDanielX better have done his homework.

Though at least MrDanielX knew what he was doing. The idiot owner KingDime1332 was talking to some of his minor league staff to move players around different levels. Well instead of saying promote he said release and checked the wrong box and put Trot Locko on the wavier wire. I guess it pays to be literate.

Spring training served as a wake-up call to LCCooler hit .198 with a .260 OBP. But wait folks thats not it he also had a 2.22 WHIP and 10.66 ERA. And you think it couldn't get any worse right? Wrong, the man also had a .977 fielding percentage (worse in the Majors). That's right Lccooler decided to bring in only junior high girls softball players to spring training. Intriguing move, lets see if it pays off during the season.

And finally there are some new owners that deserve a welcome. Rawdk27, Tjeman, Will9899, Playboy33, Orabbi, Acroth, Fosco, and Pirateswin2 ( but definitely not in a row) welcome to No Quitters II.

NL South Preview

2008-03-06T06:11:00.000-06:00

Charleston Chiefs

New owner tjeman takes control over what was the Huntington Double Wides and moves them to Charleston. Season 4 saw the franchise make it to the playoffs for the third time, second time winning the division. They feel in the Division Championship game to the Scranton SweetSwing'nSeason. They only signed three free agents to the major league club but signed 24 players to bolster the minor league system. (3B) Orlando Molina with his 25 HR and (SP) Justin Jensen with his 13-9 record last year, resigned once they filed for free agency. The other signing was relieve pitcher Don Swift to a one year, 3.4m contract, as he can pitch anywhere in the bullpen. The only significant lose for the Chiefs was (CF) Edgar Ordonez who signed with the Huntington Blazers.

The Chiefs pitching staff hope to improve there numbers inside there new ballpark in Charleston. The staff allowed 832 runs which was 10th in the National League. Don Morgan will probably continue to be the workhorse for this team as he led the team with 283.1 innings pitch but needs to improve 13-18 record and 4.22 ERA from last year to be worth the 15.5m salary this year. Vance McDonald was the staff ace coming off his best year going 22-3, 2.34ERA, with 217 SO in only 227 IP. Last year the Chiefs played musical closers with just about everyone in the bullpen and hopefully this year they can find the consistent closer this year.

The Chiefs offense was outstanding last season, scoring 917 runs. The offense was led by All-stars 2B Edgar Cornejo, whose 1.017 OPS and 37 HRs balanced his double play partner SS Edgardo Ortiz with his .403 OBP. Catcher Larry Charleston will be behind the plate for his second season and hoping to reproduce his .310 batting average and 38 homeruns. The outfield has a good mixture of speed and power with Ryan Cox providing the speed, Miguel Nunez for the power and Magglio Elcano a good combination of both. Barring any major injuries this year, the offensive is expected to dominate the NL once again.

Charlotte Knights

The Charlotte Knights came within 4 games last year of winning the division. They are the youngest team in the division with an average age of 26.7 with only to players on the major league roster over thirty but they are in a great position to finally take the division title for the first time in team history. The Knights didn’t pick up anyone from the free-agent market and really didn’t lose anyone either. The Knights pick up the third overall draft pick from last season Lorenzo Feliz in trading pitchers Turner Venafro, Junior Yamamoto, Juan Estrada.

The Knights pitching staff was the best in the division. The staff allowed 760 runs which was 5th in the National League. Closer Einar Olivares had a career high 39 saves but also blew 15 saves as well. Henry Nathan it going to be looked at to lead the young rotation, as he had a great year with an ERA of 3.12 and a WHIP of 1.07, but could only get 9 wins. The rest of the rotation is going to be young but it will also be good.

The Knights offense was in par with the pitching staff, producing 832 runs, that was good for 5 in the NL as well. All-star (RF) Timothy Stokes was having a great year until an ankle injury slowed him down towards the end of the season. Up until that point he was hitting .357 with a .997 OPS. Stokes wasn’t the only star on the offensive with (2B) Vladimir Valentin, (CF) Dario Newfield, (LF) Phil File and (3B) Lorenzo Park becoming a killer knight’s row. They combined for 145 HR, 454 RBI and 378 Runs. (C) Chad Patterson was the favorite target of the pitching staff, as he didn’t make an error all season, with only 6 pass balls, while nailing 30% of all base stealers. His average was barely above the Mendoza line at .203 but he did 26 homeruns, with 54 RBI’s.

Jacksonville Hurricanes

The Hurricanes came in last place for the second straight year, so new owner playboy33 move the team away from Durham to find better luck in Jacksonville. The Hurricanes where tired of losing, so they reach out into the free-agent market and address there biggest concerns of offensive and starting pitching by picking up seven players, also getting three players in the rule 5 draft and picking another in a trade. (OF) Gus Martin was acquired in a trade with Philadelphia Phightins for two prospects Dan Douglass and Ivan Mercado. They also acquired (OF) Warren Richardson, (OF) Roger McCarty, (OF) David Yamakazi, (P) Cory Kraemer, (P) Clay Adams, (P) Geronimo Valdes and (P) Winston Williams, spending almost 85m on them. (P) Andrew Cooper, (P) Carl Kirk and (P) Malcolm McKay where picked up from the rule 5 draft. The GM was quoted as saying “it was time to reestablish the talent of the Hurricanes and to get back to our winning ways and through free agency, we have done that.”

The Hurricanes pitching staff always seemed out of place last year, finishing 14th in runs allowed with 879 runs. Closer Elroy Cogan became an all-star, but he was the only bright for the pitching staff, but his 8 blown saves and 5.24 ERA are a real concern for the team. The free-agent signings for Kraemer, Adams and Valdes each had solid years but are expected to improve and provide that much needed constancy in the rotation. Ben Roosevelt will anchor the rotation with his 9 wins and 1.26 WHIP, but will need to improve his 4.6 innings average per start last year. If bullpen can remain steady all year round the pitching should improve for the Hurricanes and lead them to a .500 season.

The Hurricanes offensive struggle all year, finishing 13th with 766 runs scored. The additions of utility man Martin (38 homeruns, 126 RBI), Richardson (55 homeruns, .984 OPS and .303 Ave), McCarty (.301 AVE, .367 OBP) and pinch-hitter Yamakazi (.321 AVE, 22 SB) will give the offensive much needed production. All-Star (3B) Artie Spence is looking to have big year with the newly added talent around him and improve upon his .391 OBP and 99 runs scored. The middle infield of (SS) Marino Aramboles and (2B) Miguel Reynoso won’t scare anyone with there numbers but they will once again be solid and with another year playing next to each other they should make a solid double-play combination.

Huntington Blazers

The Blazers fell from division champions to third place last year. New owner Will9899 moved the team from St. Louis to Huntington to fill the void left by the Double Wides. The Blazers was almost silent during the off season, only adding two players. The Blazers seem to be rely on the in house talent this year to get them back to being champions once again. One of the new players added was (OF) Edgar Ordonez who’s career .376 OBP should help. The other player is (P) Haywood Brewer who is hoping that a change from Las Vegas will help his 6.53 ERA from last year.

The Blazers pitching staff was average last year, finishing 7th in the league with 765 runs allowed. This year the Blazers seem to be rely on young talent to fill there staff, as Rafael Torres and Johnny Linden saw any significant time starting games last year. Veteran Ken Beltre, rookie Casey Timlin and young pitchers Alfonso Romero and Milt Greene are looking to fill the rest of the starting spots. The bullpen is young with only two players over 30 years old and real no closer as the beginning of the year. The biggest affect on the pitching staff is if they can keep teams from killing the score board the hitter friendly ballpark in Huntington.

The Blazers offensive struggle in St. Louis and there hoping the move Huntington will bring some life into it, as they finish with only 773 runs scored, which was good for only 12th. (1B) Mac Hyun provided the power 38 homeruns and 105 RBI’s as he was the only player to do so for the team. No one else hit more then 28 homeruns, 87 RBI’s and 87 runs scored. With the lineup filled with players in there early 30’s, (3B) Carlos Trinidad and (OF) Benito Polanco are looking to bring young hope the lineup and improve from last year. (C) Pat Montgomery is hoping that his 35 year old knees will hold up and he’s expected to bring along the young pitching staff and give young (C) Richard Matthews one more year to develop under his wing.

Predictions

Charleston Chiefs, 92-70 Wins.
Charlotte Knights, 84-78 Wins.
Huntington Blazers, 84-78 Wins.
Jacksonville Hurricanes, 81-81 Wins