EVIL~! alkeiper

Wow, I think SD's farm system is ranked way too low. Including Barfield, they also have a major league ready catcher in Humberto Quintero and Freddy Guzman, who will be the Padres centerfielder (either in 06 or when Roberts goes down). They also have Xavier Nady and John Knott. I would also rank SP Tim Stauffer as their top prospect. I think Freddy Guzman's overrated as a prospect. He's got speed but not much else going for him. Quintero has NO plate discipline to speak of, and a .314 career minor league OBP. Knott's a good hitter, but he's 26, and unlikely to improve further. In fact, all three of those guys are old for prospects. Nady's got 449 MLB at bats under his belt, so he's well out of the prospect realm. And there's really not much left. The Padres suffer from the problem that their best prospects reached the majors, so their cubboard is bare. Still, they are in good shape because Khalil Greene and others are going to be around a while.

Graman had bad stats in the majors, but it was only five innings. In AAA, he struck out 129 batters in 131 innings, with just 53 walks. Now, I don't know if he can be a successful starter, but he's at least good enough to pitch in some team's bullpen. Anyone who strikes out a batter an inning at AAA has something going for him.

Depth. They have more prospects rated B- or above than any other team. Besides Guzman, they have Delwyn Young, Chad Billingsley, Edwin Jackson, and Greg Miller. Since Mauer's in the majors for good, he's effectively off the prospect charts. Yes, there's not much else. They have a few blue chippers (Hernandez, Jeremy Reed, and Shin-Soo Choo, but NO depth. In fairness though, Jose Lopez would've helped their ranking if he hadn't been called up last season. Quentin's a few months younger than Jackson. Jackson hit 301/367/456 in AA El Paso last season. Not bad. Quentin hit 357/443/533. Quentin played in the same places as Jackson last year, and outhit him. That's gotta put Quentin a notch ahead. I probably should've pushed the Yankees down a notch, since I forgot they traded Navarro when I entered the data. Still, they have Duncan, Cano, Chien-Ming Wang, Alex Graman, and Melky Cabrera. Jamar Walton posted a sterling .590 OPS in rookie ball. He's got alot to prove before he benefits the Marlins' farm system. The other five guys are nice, but almost any farm system in baseball can at least claim five players of similar quality. Stokes has effectively stagnated in the minors, as little has developed outside of his power. Except for Hermida and Olsen, I don't see any players that I could feel confident in saying they SHOULD reach the majors. Sorry. The Phillies have a few players in the low minors who could develop, but nothing concrete. Buck Shaw I've never heard of. Keep an eye on Michael Bourn. He posted a .433 OBP in Single A, along with 57 steals in 63 attempts. He could be the Phillies' future center fielder. Also, I'm looking forward to seeing if Jake Blalock (Hank's brother) can advance in the system. Keep an eye on Phil Humbar, if and when he signs (he might've already).

muhahaha I could've picked Delmon Young, but that wouldn't have been much fun.

Flik will likely run his H2H league. Dr. Tom usually handles an official TSM league. I'm not doing the AL/NL only leagues this year. After that its up in the air as far as any other leagues go.

Since I got John Sickels' Minor League Prospect Book in this week, I figured I'd do rough rankings of what teams have the best prospects. These rankings aren't the most refined in the world, and if you feel your team deserves to rate a spot or two higher, I will not argue the point. If you guys have any questions, feel free to ask. 1. Los Angeles Top Prospect: Joel Guzman, SS 2. Minnesota Top Prospect: Jesse Crain, RP 3. Anaheim Top Prospect: Dallas McPherson, 3B 4. Oakland Top Prospect: Dan Meyer, SP 5. Colorado Top Prospect: Jeff Francis, SP 6. Milwaukee Top Prospect: Richie Weeks, 2B 7. Cleveland Top Prospect: Adam Miller, SP 8. Boston Top Prospect: Hanley Ramirez, SS 9. Tampa Bay Top Prospect: Scott Kazmir, SP 10. Kansas City Top Prospect: Denny Bautista, SP 11. Toronto Top Prospect: Brandon League, SP/RP 12. Atlanta Top Prospect: Andy Marte, 3B 13. San Francisco Top Prospect: Matt Cain, SP 14. Seattle Top Prospect: Felix Hernandez, SP 15. Chicago White Sox Top Prospect: Brandon McCarthy, SP 16. Arizona Top Prospect: Carlos Quintin, OF 17. Pittsburgh Top Prospect: Ian Snell, SP 18. Texas Top Prospect: Ian Kinsler, SS 19. Chicago Cubs Top Prospect: Brian Dopirak, 1B 20. Houston Top Prospect: Chris Burke, 2B 21. New York Yankees Top Prospect: Eric Duncan, 3B 22. St. Louis Top Prospect: Anthony Reyes, SP 23. San Diego Top Prospect: Josh Barfield, 2B 24. Florida Top Prospect: Jeremy Hermida, OF 25. Philadelphia Top Prospect: Gavin Floyd, SP 26. Baltimore Top Prospect: Val Majewski, OF 27. Cincinnati Top Prospect: Edwin Encarnacion, 3B 28. New York Mets Top Prospect: Yusmeiro Petit, SP 29. Detroit Top Prospect: Justin Verlander, SP 30. Washington Top Prospect: Michael Hinckley, SP

I imagine sometime later this month, when Yahoo opens up the Fantasy Baseball Leagues.

That .378 looks mighty flukey and in a small sample compared to his career .334 OBP. Yes. I do think his true level lies somewhere around .350 or so.

Umm, Hairston had a .378 OBP last season. That's better than any Cub regular hit. Considering the Cubs posted the 11th best OBP in the NL, they desperately needed a productive player in that category. Hairston provides it. What amuses me is that the "true" Sosa only showed up when Dusty Baker arrived. Coincidence?

This move right here would guarantee parity, with everything else being equal.

From what I've heard, the Burnitz deal is 1 year, $5 Million. I'm not entirely sold, but Burnitz is a useful stopgap, and the Cubs can replace him after the season, if need be. And for those of you thinking "No Magglio?", I have serious misgivings about the health of his knee.

Yes, there is a division worse than AL East. The division to their immediate left. By worst division I think he means the toughest division to win.

Sure it is. If anyone has a topic they'd like to discuss, they're more than welcome to start a thread.

Has anyone seen the Hot Stove Heaters at ESPN.com? Tim Kurkjan's column today claims Jason Jennings is the best hitting pitcher in baseball. Even without adjusting for Coors, Jennings' raw stats are not as good as Livan Hernandez's. Picking Brooks Kieschnick would be cheating. Wes Obermueller went 15 for 39, but that's just one season. Over a career, Jennings has the best raw stats, but Livan's gotta be number one.

Matches are almost all in full, as far as I can tell. Andre's matches usually ran short anyway, so there isn't much need to adjust to fit space. Flair's career is well covered. I think his working reputation is alright. Funk definately will get the short shrift as a worker, since his best matches occured in the 1970s. In fact, I think almost all U.S. wrestlers get short-sighted if they did not have their best matches on supercards, particualrly if their careers span both eras.

Agreed. Those are some very stupid assumptions.

I think people tend to underrate Burnitz, since he had such a poor season in New York in 2002. That season is the only season since 1997 that Burnitz failed to hit 30 home runs. Even considering Coors Field, Burnitz's OPS+ was better than Sosa's last season.

Oops. Corrected.

Ok gang. I've posted the Andre review at TSM (link's at the top of the forum). Feedback is encouraged and appreciated.

You know what, forget what I said earlier. Cole Hamels WILL play in the Super Bowl!

Ok. Here's my review... Kidding. I've got it in the works, and should have it posted shortly.

So did I actually. Not with Incandenza though.

For what it's worth, Burnitz has compiled 180 at bats in Wrigley, with a .256 batting average, .357 OBP, and 14 home runs.

Detrimental? Why do Shaq's teams keep reaching the playoffs, improving when he arrives, and becoming worse after he leaves. I don't think the Heats conference leading record is a coincidence.

Ugh. I'll be stunned when he actually pitches. He only compiled 16 innings last season.