davell

Yeah, that's where I'm at too. I like to see improvement from year to year and since Wilken has taken over, I've seen that for sure. We've got the ability to make trades for pretty much anyone that comes available at least, which is better than it had been recently. If I was going to nitpick, I'd like to see a few more power arms and maybe some bats with plus power upside. But, the system is solid and in my opinion, it's very deep too. While we don't have top 10 talent at the moment, we've got anywhere from 4-6 top 100ish guys with a few more top 200ish. Granted, theres a pretty steep dropoff from the 8-10 area, but outside of there, we've got 35-40 more guys that would have made our top 30 a few years ago in all likelihood, which is pretty impressive to me at least.......

I have done some recent scouring of other teams systems and allowing for who's graduated and who's been drafted to their systems, this is what I've come up with, as far as where we'll most likely rank at the end of this year...... Teams definitely ahead of us(no order) Tampa, Philly, Boston, Seattle, Atlanta, KC, LAA, Toronto, Yankees Teams on our level that we may or may not wind up higher than San Fran, Texas, Cleveland, Minnesota, Colorado, Oakland, Milwaukee, Cincy, LADODGERS, Nats To me, the following teams are CLEARLY below us at this point...... Houston, Cards, DBacks, Detroit, Mets, Pads, White Sox, Pirates, Orioles, Florida When all is said and done, I figure we'll wind up somewhere in the 13-17 range next year most likely......

I hate saying this, but I think we've seen the last of Cashner starting unfotunately.

The Cubs want Anthony Rendon really really bad. http://www.baseballrumormill.com/images/gallery/anthony-rendon-walks-away.jpg “Hello, Cubs fans, look at your team, now back to me, now back at your team, now back to me. Sadly, they aren’t me.” It looks like Buck Showalter doesn't want anything to do with Rendon anyway.

For roster management purposes, does this mean Jeff Baker is back next year? Or do we think we may try to save a mill or so, to go with Russ Canzler as a backup 1B, with Barney playing the backup roles of 2B, SS, and 3B.......Or maybe we nontender Baker and sign some cheap vet to back us up on the corners. Personally, I'd take option 3, since Ramirez will most likely miss some time anyway. But, I'd hold out til near the end of spring and sign someone who's willing to play for 1.5 or so, basically the same figure Baker would get through arb.

The funny thing about Grabow is though, you KNOW he'll be decent next year and dupe some other team(hopefully not us anyway) into giving him another multi-year deal...... Considering we owe him 4.8 mill next year, I can't even see us DFA'ing him, if he sucks, until August or so either. Bottom line: One way or another, Grabow is going to piss us off again next year.

Fielder wants 8-180 supposedly. I'm sure Gonzalez would be in the same range most likely. So, the question becomes this:(and I'm not sure where I fall on it honestly)Is it worth it, to trade for either of these guys(giving up some very quality pieces) AND resign them to huge deals. Instead of signing Dunn for 4-60 or something like that. And not losing anyone, other than a second round pick in return.

I hated Jim Edmonds with every fiber of my being when he was a Cardinal. When we added him, I didn't think it would work, to be honest. But, when it became apparent that it would, I changed my tune very quickly about him, as most here probably did. He was absolutely one of my favorite players during the 08 season. I think it's VERY funny that he keeps following and tormenting the Cards at this point. I don't care that he's on the Reds, I hope he sticks it to the Cards again.

Brett is 2-3 with a homer, a walk, and a K.......Rusin had a very economical start, 6IP 8H 2R 2ER 0W 4K, threw 71 pitches, 52 for strikes....... On a side note, Brandon Guyer is 3-4 with a homer and 2 steals.......He's having a VERY solid season. To be honest, I actually think he may be of more longterm help for the big league club than Colvin will be........

I like Greinke alot and think of him as a guy who could be the actual anchor of our staff. But, his 2008 season was an outlier and probably going to make him cost more because of it. That said, if he could be had for a package including one of Wells or Gorz, Jay Jackson, and Colvin, I'd jump on it. I figure that package sounds very light, but if you look for what teams have given up recently in trades for major pitching help, I figure this fits right in line. If it was a prospect only package, I'd send them Jay Jackson and Vitters(if he's wanted by them, but with Hosmer at 1B and Moustakas at 3B, they'd be looking at Vitters as a LF would be my guess) along with a Rhee/Raley/Rusin type guy. Vitters' value seems awfully low right now, so they may not even want him at all. Which means we'd have to give up one of Lee, Archer, or McNutt, which would hurt, if you ask me....... Bottom line, I'd love to have Greinke on our terms. But, if a team wants to outbid us, I'm not going "all-in" for him. Mainly because as a Cub fan, I could see him becoming a headcase almost immediately once he got here.

Midwest is the last league I'm looking up, since the short seasons of the Northwest and Arizona leagues can foul up the lists anyway, since a promotion could happen at any point and keep those guys from making the eventual requirements...... At any rate, the Midwest League is HUGE as it is, with 16 teams. The standouts include Aaron Hicks(not to me, but anyway) Will Myers, Mike Trout, Nick Franklin, Jerry Sands, Allen Webster, Shelby Miller, Jacob Turner, and Matt Davidson. TONS of others like Garrett Richards, Fabio Martinez, Chris Owings, Bobby Borchering, Ryan LaMarre(guess he signed very early) Jedd Gyorko(same with him) Edinson Rincon, Ian Krol, Gio Soto, Alex Colome, Tyler Skaggs, and MANY more make it seem basically impossible for us to get anyone on this list other than Hak Ju Lee and Trey McNutt......

I'm going to have to disagree here, I think. Chirinos had 306 at bats in AA prior to this season. But, he's shown himself very well last year in Daytona and this year in Tennesse as well. Soto had 736 very pedestrian at bats in Iowa before it clicked for him there in his third try as well. Definitely not saying Chirinos will ever be anything other than a backup C, but I do think I'd take him over Castillo. Chris Robinson wouldn't even enter into the equation for me anyway.

Not 45-50 games. Remember the minors seasons generally end the first week of September. Dee Gordon is a lock for the SL. Yeah, I think quite a few of those guys I listed are locks honestly. But, it does look like Teheran won't qualify anyway. Just did the FSL and was surprised at how talent deprived this league has been this season. Tony Sanchez, Matt Moore, Travis d'Arnoud, Kyle Gibson, and Wilmer Flores appear to be the locks from the other teams. With Anthony Gose, Tim Beckham, Corban Joseph, Melky Mesa, Dellin Betances, and Graham Stoneburner other VERY likely, to almost definites...... Brett, Archer, and McNutt appear to be locks here.......The lack of depth here SHOULD mean Junior Lake makes this list with a long shot of one of Rhee, Raley, Rusin, or Flaherty. Very shocked at how weak this league was......

Went through the Southern League and the standouts who are definites would be Mesoraco, Lawrie, Stanton, Minor, McGee, Ackley, and Pineda. This does not include guys like Dee Gordon, Withrow, Trayvon Robinson, Kenley Jansen, Alex Liddi, Brent Morel, Jerry Sands, Aaron Miller(who is struggling badly here) Amaury Rivas, Mark Rogers, Oz Martinez, Matt Dominguez, Colin Cowgill, Wade Miley, and possibly Julio Teheran, who just got promoted there and has 2 starts so far with probably 45-50 games left, I think? At any rate, Brett Jackson and Archer are locks. My honest guess is at least one and possibly two of Vitters, Carpenter, and Chirinos make it. Is it really possible Vitters misses the top 20 here?

You may be right about Diamond, I was staying away from guys who may be too old to be considered prospects. But, I just looked and last year they ranked some 25-27 year olds, so you're right. He'd be our second shot anyway. Although, with the guys who are there, I would still doubt it...... By the way, Moustakas already has 110 at bats there.

I just looked up the PCL. BA's requirements differ slightly from rookie status as it is, since as long as you spend 1/3 of the season there, they'll still list you on this list, even if you're a major leaguer...... Anyway, the ONLY hope we have for anyone on this list will be Jay Jackson. Some of the other guys that qualify for this league include Arencibia, B Wallace, Posey, Bumgarner, Morrison, Scheppers, Moustakas, J Castro, Carter, Bourjos, Conger, Halman, Ackley and Pineda. That's 14 right there, almost all of who should be ranked higher than Jay. Then, you have guys like Brock Bond, Brandon Allen, Mark Trumbo, and Blake Beavan. Plus, a bunch of other guys that would certainly keep a Darwin Barney off the list anyway......If Jackson makes the top 15, we should be happy here.

It's actually 130 at bats, 50 innings or 45 days before the rosters expand (September 1). It doesn't have to be 45 consecutive days. BA ignores the 45 day requirement which can be annoying. So, if you get called up July 17th and don't get 130 at bats, you're still considered a rookie heading into the next season?

He stole home for that SB, to boot. The Golden Era has begun........ :D Sorry. Raisin, I thought about that in the midst of posting and also remembering we didn;t get all that many guys in last year's top 20's.......I think I'm going to do some serious looking in those leagues later tonight and make a much more educated guess as to who we may get in......But, you're right for sure, we'll be lucky if we see alot of names, based on the amount of teams alone. One thing I'll say for sure though, next year's top 100 is going to be vastly different than this year's. Because there have been a ton of graduations and more that may happen as well, since guys seem to be getting called up left and right.......What are the qualifications again? Is it 150 at bats or 45 days straight in the majors for hitters and 50 innings or 45 days for pitchers?

I still think of Jay as a starter personally. He's pitching in a hitter friendly league for sure anyway, so hopefully that's one of the main reasons he's been averagish this season. As far as BA rankings go, here's my take for this upcoming season's lists: Guys that have a shot at making the top 100 would be Brett Jackson(definite top 50, possible top 30) Hak Ju Lee(definite top 100, possible top 60) Chris Archer(almost definite top 100, possible top 60 depending on how he finishes) Jay Jackson(50/50 for me, but BA seems to like him, which is why I think he still has THAT much of a chance) Kenneth McNutt(50/50 as well, maybe the lack of going deep hurts him possibly?) and I'll give Vitters a 50/50 shot as well, but they(and it seems like most) publications seem to be down on him. Although I think he's DEFINITELY still one of the top 100 prospects in baseball....... As for the top 20 lists, they'll be pretty interesting, if you ask me.....I think Jay Jackson is a lock to make the top 20 in the PCL, with Barney or Castillo having a VERY outside shot at making the tail end of the list. In the Southern League, we'll get Brett Jackson, Vitters will make it(although probably pretty low for now) Archer(who could be very high) and Carpenter will have probably a 50/50 shot to make the tail end as well. As for the FSL, we'll get Archer and Brett again, McNutt will be on there too, you'd certainly like to think Junior Lake shows up(but I guess we'll see how he finishes up and also how closely these guys are monitoring things as well) and if he keeps hitting, MAYBE Flaherty has a punchers chance to make the very bottom, although I doubt it......Oh, and depending on things, I guess Rhee has a shot too, but he needs to finish very strong. In the Midwest, we'll get Lee and McNutt, with possibly one or two of Wallach, Ha, and Jung(if he keeps up his last few starts, I could see him almost becoming a lock, although I'm not sure what kind of stuff he has honestly) In the Northwest League, I figure we'll get Kirk pn there, Szczur, if he has the PA's, and possibly one of Alcantara or Na, based on their age, more than their stats possibly. In the AZL, I doubt Golden winds up with the AB's, if he does, I feel confident He'll make it, Austin Reed is probably the only other shot we have.......

Man, I was looking forward to seeing his comments on Archer and McNutt, then realized he didn't have them in his top 20. Oh well, guess he pretty much has the same take on Vitters as most of us do anyway.

I just looked up the Pads attendance figures from the past 2 seasons. They are getting close to 26K this season per game and came close to 24K last season. I've never looked at this before, but it seems like 2K more isn't all that much of a spike for how good they've been. If that's correct, then maybe they won't face much of a backlash afterall?

I don't know about that. If San Diego either makes the playoffs or comes extremely close(which is almost a certainty) I could see them keeping him off the market until the 2011 deadline, IF they are out of the race. I think it would totally kill anything they've done positive to go ahead and trade him after this season, from a fanbase standpoint. And Hoyer probably hates that too, but sometimes it seems like these guys are hamstrung to satisfy the masses. As you said, I don't see them resigning him. But, my guess is they do everything they possibly can to make that happen, before conceding and putting him on the market too. And my guess is that they'll prolong it, to where it stretches into next season. To me, the Pads would have to get some very solid cheap major league talent, along with some very solid prospects, in order to make a deal over the offseason. I'm sure we'll inquire, but the more I think about it, the more I think our options THIS offseason are going to be Dunn and Fielder. For true upgrades anyway.

I could see Reed hitting the back end of BA's top 30, if he continues to pitch like he has.

With everyone knowing Lou is leaving, the youngsters are the only ones that will be out there fighting.(and Marlon Byrd) He should have waited to announce until after the season or we should be holding interviews and announcing the successor ASAP.(Which won't happen, since Hendry is going to want to interview Girardi and Torre)

Chone Figgins obviously gives us the speed we need at the top of the order that we've been missing.(I can hear Hendry now) Midway through the season, Hendry does his best Homer Simpson impression after realizing that Aramis' power in the middle of the order was much more important than the elusive speed/leadoff guy.