Quakers

Brockmeyer? One of the few front to back wipers in the game. At 6'5'' he is tall for a catcher. I would think he would spend more time at 1st. He started hitting real well when I saw him against the Hops, but I worry about whether he will be able to handle the inside part of the plate with pitchers at a higher level.

I'd be a little surprised by that. I'd be very surprised. He'd essentially be skipping A-ball. I would too, but the Cubs will have an abundance of pitchers at KC. To get in the innings, some will need to go to Daytona, or remain behind at Boise.

Have we gotten any scouting on what Maples is throwing at Boise? At draft he was generally scouted as a late-1st or 2nd round talent, and the Cubs obviously paid him as a solid 1st rounder. The projection was for power fastball in time, although I don't think he was amazingly fast then; and for the possibility of a drop-dead curveball. At Boise, he's knocked the walks off, but his K's and hits-allowed are decent but not special, and he hasn't really been showing any WOW 10K/5IP type games. Back at Kane, I think there were a couple of reports; obviously many that he was super wild, but one in which he was low-90's, another that he was high 80's touching 90-91. But nothing incredible. While his walks have vanished, he's still usually having several "wildness" outcomes per game (WP, HBP....), three yesterday. I have no idea what's happening. Maybe they've told him to pretty much throw nothing but fastballs, work on getting a fastball you can throw for strikes this year, and we'll work the curve back in this winter? He wasn't controlling that at Kane, so still a huge step. Maybe he's been told to take a couple mph off, and can control it at 90, but if he tries to amp it to 92-94 he goes wild? Or maybe he's been nicely consistent, but the WP/HBP are occasional relapse pitches, or if he tries to throw a curve? Who knows. I guess I'm wondering if after all the injuries and tweaks, and since he was a projection guy in the first place, whether he actually has ever added velocity, or has the velocity more typical for a 6th rounder than a 1st rounder. And whether his curveball is anything to get excited about anymore. High ceiling? Or just a guy with chance at back-of-rotation stuff? I saw Maples during his first game for Boise. He was not getting close to the plate, but he was pitching in the mid-90's according to the scoreboard's radar. The start after I saw him was when he started to put up quality numbers. My impression was that he had good stuff, but needed to control it. My thoughts afterwards were that the pitching coach told him to work on his mechanics, do not worry about walking batters, and the Hoffner came in and shut the opposing team down. I really think that Maples is still a good prospect, but obviously we need to seem him pitch well against better competition.

again, i am happy with the way things are, but for purposes f discussion 1) new rule - no trading at seasons end until a team has dropped all non-keepers. ie they are below 2,000 pts, etc... just a thought

and they should in the long run.

I see that Brockmeier was played for Iowa today.

I really like Lockgart, but Boise to Iowa? Iowa is in Tacoma, so I'm guessing Lockhart was the only infielder that could get there quick enough. Makes sense. Lockhart is fun to watch though. Good defense and he has amazing bat control. I have seen him fooled on a couple of off speed pitches and occasionally he gets under the ball, but he normally makes contact and puts it where the defense can't reach it. I haven't seen any evidence of power, nor gappers yet.

I really like Lockgart, but Boise to Iowa?

Personally I do not see a great need to change the rules in regard to trading, but a couple of ideas 1) Get rid of the keeper points. Only minor leaguers and exempt players may be kept at the end of the season. I would extend the exemptions from 3 to 4 years. Allow only 5 keepers instead of 10. This way ALL established stars would be available for the draft. 2) Have some sort of waiver period where teams would have a chance to pick up a player. If they picked up a player they would have to keep them on their roster for the off season. (We tried something like this before and it didn't work) Again, just thoughts. I should like to point out the I originally obtained Cano from NSBB for Robbie Erlin and Danny Duffy I believe. NBB could not keep him because it would put him over the point limit. Correct me if I am wrong.

Well I seem to have made two bad trades, but here is my defense. I was going to lose Cano and Rameriz at the end of the season anyways, due to our keeper limit. By getting Braun and Teix I have two cheap keepers. What screwed me this year was a lack of pitching. Hultzen is a top prospect and I should be able to keep Duffy. So on paper this deal looks bad, with our keeper rules and me being out of contention, these trades were doable. I was going to lose these two players anyways. I offered them for several weeks on the trade page. These were the best two deals offered (actually the only deals offered). My team should be better at the start of next year than it would have been otherwise. Shoot, with luck and a low draft pick, I may be able to pick up Cano or Rameriz again in the first round. I'm not sure if you did but you really should mention on here if you're trying to trade players, not just the CBS website. Doesn't On-the-Block send an e-mail to each of the owners in the league? I may be wrong, but I assumed that everyone reads their e-mails.

After the trades my keepers should be C- Mauer 1b - Votto 3b - Arenado OF - McCutchen OF - Puig OF - Braun DH - Teix SP - Iwakuma SP - Harrison There are several choices for the 10th spot. Hart, Duffy, Montero, maybe Chapman, .... I still will be weak in pitching, but my offense has the potential to be good.

Well I seem to have made two bad trades, but here is my defense. I was going to lose Cano and Rameriz at the end of the season anyways, due to our keeper limit. By getting Braun and Teix I have two cheap keepers. What screwed me this year was a lack of pitching. Hultzen is a top prospect and I should be able to keep Duffy. So on paper this deal looks bad, with our keeper rules and me being out of contention, these trades were doable. I was going to lose these two players anyways. I offered them for several weeks on the trade page. These were the best two deals offered (actually the only deals offered). My team should be better at the start of next year than it would have been otherwise. Shoot, with luck and a low draft pick, I may be able to pick up Cano or Rameriz again in the first round.

Spokane's announcer had nice things to say about Brant's fielding.

That was my impression. When I saw him at Boise, he had a decent fastball, but he needed to work on his secondary stuff. I thought he might be useful out of the pen at some future date.

Have fun :)

Someone must be tired.

:)

Maybe, but the guy in the minors really didn't change the score. At this point there is no way that I am going to make the play-offs.

Nice I haven't seen the Z-man yet, but Skulina looks good. I liked Masek as well, although at times he had control issues.

Awesome. With Bryant and Hanneman, Boise should have a very good team by NWL standards.

Now he just needs to stay there for the rest of the season 8-)

I guess I suffered the consequences.

:eek: He's a bum.

Yep. I just want him to maintain good velocity and stay healthy. Hopefully he's learning how to pitch. I agree. His velocity is good, but he is raw. I would not be surprised to seem him start next year with Boise again. BTW - Anyone know the where-abouts of Blackburn?

They changed Dempster's start at the last moment. If someone with commish powers could take him out of my line-up...Otherwise I will have 4 starts for the week and suffer the consequences:(