Mephistopheles

Bill James predicts a lot of things.

The online ranking has Samardzija listed as number three behind Veal and Pie. Notes on each 1.) Pie - much more optimistic on his power development than last year. 2.) Veal - seem to like his curve, pretty much pointing out three above average pitches. 3.) Samardzija - One Cub official compared him to Smoltz. They grade his slider as average presently. Velo: 91-94 consistently right now 4.) Colvin - Plus power, compare him to Finley and Shawn Green 5.) Gallagher - No 3 potential, sat 90-94 last year 6.) Patterson - Explosive Delino Deshields; question defense at second. 7.) Moore - ceiling is a lefty David Bell; trade bait 8.) Harvey - They don't know what to make out of his second half. 9.) Huseby - Sat 90-95 last season, potential for three plus pitches. Nice delivery and command as well. 10.) Pawelek

I didnt realize he picked, no PM and he didnt paste the rest of the draft 1-1) Albert Pujols 1-2) Jose Reyes 1-3) Johan Santana 1-4) Alfonso Soriano 1-5) Alex Rodriguez 1-6) Carlos Beltran 1-7) Ryan Howard 1-8) Miguel Cabrera 1-9) Carl Crawford 1-10) Chase Utley 1-11) Derrek Lee 1-12) Chris Carpenter 2-1) David Wright 2-2) Lance Berkman 2-3) Grady Sizemore 2-4) David Ortiz 2-5) Vladimir Guerrero 2-6) Manny Ramirez 2-7) Mark Teixeira 2-8) Travis Hafner 2-9) Derek Jeter 2-10) Carlos Lee 2-11) Matt Holliday 2-12) Carlos Zambrano 3-1) Jake Peavy 3-2) Aramis Ramirez 3-3) Justin Morneau 3-4) Joe Mauer 3-5) Paul Konerko 3-6) Miguel Tejada 3-7) Jason Bay 3-8) Hanley Ramirez 3-9) Jimmy Rollins 3-10) Roy Halladay 3-11) Brandon Webb 3-12) Dan Haren 4-1) Garrett Atkins 4-2) Ichiro 4-3) Vernon Wells 4-4) Brian McCann 4-5) Roy Oswalt 4-6) Felix Hernandez 4-7) Ben Sheets 4-8) Bobby Abreu 4-9) Jeremy Bonderman 4-10) Andruw Jones 4-11) Victor Martinez 4-12) Jermaine Dye 5-1) Michael Young 5-2) Robby Cano 5-3) Rafael Furcal 5-4) Francisco Rodriguez 5-5) Bill Hall 5-6) Cole Hamels 5-7) Brian Roberts 5-8) Joe Nathan 5-9) Adam Dunn 5-10) Ryan Zimmerman 5-11) Carlos Guillen 5-12) Chone Figgins 6-1) Daisuke Matsuzaka 6-2) Jim Thome 6-3) John Lackey 6-3) B.J. Ryan 6-4) Carlos Delgado 6-6) Billy Wagner 6-7) Rocco Baldelli 6-8) Rich Hill 6-9) Troy Glaus 6-10) Justin Verlander 6-11) Aaron Harang 6-12) John Smoltz 7-1) Ian Kinsler 7-2) Johnny Damon 7-3) Mariano Rivera 7-4) Jered Weaver 7-5) Huston Street 7-6) Brett Myers 7-7) Matt Cain 7-8) Scott Kazmir 7-9) Curt Schilling 7-10) Felipe Lopez 7-11) Hideki Matsui 7-12) Nick Swisher 8-1) Bobby Jenks 8-2) Jason Schmidt 8-3) Rickie Weeks 8-4) C.C. Sabathia 8-5) Dan Uggla 8-6) Juan Pierre 8-7) JJ Putz 8-8) Randy Johnson 8-9) Howie Kendrick 8-10) Rich Harden 8-11) Prince Fielder 8-12) Michael Barrett 9-1) Brad Lidge 9-2) Chris Young 9-3) Chipper Jones 9-4) Jeff Francoeur 9-5) Pat Burrell 9-6) Scott Rolen 9-7) Erik Bedard 9-8) Gary Sheffield 9-9) Trevor Hoffman 9-10) Richie Sexson 9-11) Barry Zito 9-12) Dontrelle Willis 10-1) Todd Helton 10-2) Takashi Saito 10-3) Mike Piazza 10-4) Delmon Young 10-5) Josh Beckett 10-6) AJ Burnett C - 1B - Mark Teixeira 2B - SS - Miguel Tejada 3B - Scott Rolen OF - Carlos Beltran OF - Rocco Baldelli OF - UT - SP - Ben Sheets SP - Cole Hamels SP - Brett Myers SP - AJ Burnett RP - JJ Putz

Scott Rolen means "Albert Pujols" in Russian.

Hey do you wanna trade that crappy Miguel Cabrera for SCOTT ROLEN!

1-1) Albert Pujols 1-2) Jose Reyes 1-3) Johan Santana 1-4) Alfonso Soriano 1-5) Alex Rodriguez 1-6) Carlos Beltran 1-7) Ryan Howard 1-8) Miguel Cabrera 1-9) Carl Crawford 1-10) Chase Utley 1-11) Derrek Lee 1-12) Chris Carpenter 2-1) David Wright 2-2) Lance Berkman 2-3) Grady Sizemore 2-4) David Ortiz 2-5) Vladimir Guerrero 2-6) Manny Ramirez 2-7) Mark Teixeira 2-8) Travis Hafner 2-9) Derek Jeter 2-10) Carlos Lee 2-11) Matt Holliday 2-12) Carlos Zambrano 3-1) Jake Peavy 3-2) Aramis Ramirez 3-3) Justin Morneau 3-4) Joe Mauer 3-5) Paul Konerko 3-6) Miguel Tejada 3-7) Jason Bay 3-8) Hanley Ramirez 3-9) Jimmy Rollins 3-10) Roy Halladay 3-11) Brandon Webb 3-12) Dan Haren 4-1) Garrett Atkins 4-2) Ichiro 4-3) Vernon Wells 4-4) Brian McCann 4-5) Roy Oswalt 4-6) Felix Hernandez 4-7) Ben Sheets 4-8) Bobby Abreu 4-9) Jeremy Bonderman 4-10) Andruw Jones 4-11) Victor Martinez 4-12) Jermaine Dye 5-1) Michael Young 5-2) Robby Cano 5-3) Rafael Furcal 5-4) Francisco Rodriguez 5-5) Bill Hall 5-6) Cole Hamels 5-7) Brian Roberts 5-8) Joe Nathan 5-9) Adam Dunn 5-10) Ryan Zimmerman 5-11) Carlos Guillen 5-12) Chone Figgins 6-1) Daisuke Matsuzaka 6-2) Jim Thome 6-3) John Lackey 6-3) B.J. Ryan 6-4) Carlos Delgado 6-6) Billy Wagner 6-7) Rocco Baldelli 6-8) Rich Hill 6-9) Troy Glaus 6-10) Justin Verlander 6-11) Aaron Harang 6-12) John Smoltz 7-1) Ian Kinsler 7-2) Johnny Damon 7-3) Mariano Rivera 7-4) Jered Weaver 7-5) Huston Street 7-6) Brett Myers 7-7) Matt Cain 7-8) Scott Kazmir 7-9) Curt Schilling 7-10) Felipe Lopez 7-11) Hideki Matsui 7-12) Nick Swisher 8-1) Bobby Jenks 8-2) Jason Schmidt 8-3) Rickie Weeks 8-4) C.C. Sabathia 8-5) Dan Uggla 8-6) Juan Pierre 8-7) JJ Putz 8-8) Randy Johnson 8-9) Howie Kendrick 8-10) Rich Harden 8-11) Prince Fielder 8-12) Michael Barrett 9-1) Brad Lidge 9-2) Chris Young 9-3) Chipper Jones 9-4) Jeff Francoeur 9-5) Pat Burrell 9-6) Scott Rolen

I thought if ARod wasn't the highest paid player he had an out clause. I didnt realize he had one no matter what. Maybe it was added when he was traded.

I'd post this in the 2008 prospect thread, but no one has made it. it looks like this year BA will have 1 scouting report in their college weekend dish. http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/college/features/263271.html Ill only post a small paragraph though, but it's over USD's Brian Matusz who shut down the Horns today. I didnt get to go, but expect to be out there tomorrow. I have a friend who does some scouting for the Horns, I imagine he was there. http://www.baseballamerica.com/images/bmatusz07267300.jpg

I ought to have good pitching if they're arms stay attached. That's not all that likely though.

Next Tuesday is when Ill probably get my fix. Rice is coming over here to play Texas State so Ill go out to see that game for sure. Then the next weekend I am going home for the Enron/Minute Maid/Astro College Classic. Great matchups there including Rice versus Vanderbilt. David Price will probably get that game, but Joe likes to pitch the Sunday games and that's on Friday afternoon. Houston. Rice, Vanderbilt, Arizona State, Baylor and Texas A&M are all there this year. Should be great! I'll might treck up to Austin (fifty minutes speeding away) this weekend to catch some of the UT/SD games. I've got lots of friends up there. Ill probably head backup for the Stanford weekend as well. Yeah Ill get my fix of about a dozen games before pitchers and catchers report <3.

Sorry to hear that. Maybe you can meet me in Houston in August. By then I'll be either in SA or Washington

Not only that they said he "struggles" to hit 30 homers. He hit 34 last year and 39 the year before. In fact in a season where he played in at least 50 games he's hit over 30 in ever season except one. where he hit 29.

C – 1B – Mark Teixeira 2b – SS – Miguel Tejada 3B – OF – Carlos Beltran OF – OF – Util – SP – Ben Sheets SP – Cole Hamels RP – JJ Putz RP – P - Brett Myers P – P – Ill take it

1-1) Albert Pujols 1-2) Jose Reyes 1-3) Johan Santana 1-4) Alfonso Soriano 1-5) Alex Rodriguez 1-6) Carlos Beltran 1-7) Ryan Howard 1-8) Miguel Cabrera 1-9) Carl Crawford 1-10) Chase Utley 1-11) Derrek Lee 1-12) Chris Carpenter 2-1) David Wright 2-2) Lance Berkman 2-3) Grady Sizemore 2-4) David Ortiz 2-5) Vladimir Guerrero 2-6) Manny Ramirez 2-7) Mark Teixeira 2-8) Travis Hafner 2-9) Derek Jeter 2-10) Carlos Lee 2-11) Matt Holliday 2-12) Carlos Zambrano 3-1) Jake Peavy 3-2) Aramis Ramirez 3-3) Justin Morneau 3-4) Joe Mauer 3-5) Paul Konerko 3-6) Miguel Tejada 3-7) Jason Bay 3-8) Hanley Ramirez 3-9) Jimmy Rollins 3-10) Roy Halladay 3-11) Brandon Webb 3-12) Dan Haren 4-1) Garrett Atkins 4-2) Ichiro 4-3) Vernon Wells 4-4) Brian McCann 4-5) Roy Oswalt 4-6) Felix Hernandez 4-7) Ben Sheets 4-8) Bobby Abreu 4-9) Jeremy Bonderman 4-10) Andruw Jones 4-11) Victor Martinez 4-12) Jermaine Dye 5-1) Michael Young 5-2) Robby Cano 5-3) Rafael Furcal 5-4) Francisco Rodriguez 5-5) Bill Hall 5-6) Cole Hamels 5-7) Brian Roberts 5-8) Joe Nathan 5-9) Adam Dunn 5-10) Ryan Zimmerman 5-11) Carlos Guillen 5-12) Chone Figgins 6-1) Daisuke Matsuzaka 6-2) Jim Thome 6-3) John Lackey 6-3) B.J. Ryan 6-4) Carlos Delgado 6-6) Billy Wagner 6-7) Rocco Baldelli 6-8) Rich Hill 6-9) Troy Glaus 6-10) Justin Verlander 6-11) Aaron Harang 6-12) John Smoltz 7-1) Ian Kinsler 7-2) Johnny Damon 7-3) Mariano Rivera 7-4) Jered Weaver 7-5) Huston Street 7-6) Brett Myers 7-7) Matt Cain 7-8) Scott Kazmir 7-9) Curt Schilling 7-10) Felipe Lopez 7-11) Hideki Matsui 7-12) Nick Swisher 8-1) Bobby Jenks 8-2) Jason Schmidt 8-3) Rickie Weeks 8-4) C.C. Sabathia 8-5) Dan Uggla 8-6) JJ Putz

Ill take August 2005 Wood. We can have 2003 GUzman and live to tell about it.

They used to be more open to other ideas, now it seems like they're fairly closed off to others. I do like a couple of peoples work still (namely Sheehan and Maury Brown) but they don't post all that much. I can get (a lot) of the exact same information and analysis at various blogs/sites/etc for free. Personally I think the articles at HBT are a lot better on average than BP.

Carlos Gonzalez is fine. In all of the minors it's probably Volstad.

It's all good for me, I re-upped today but decided to get the magazine as well. I won't be continuing my BP subscription that runs out this month though. They've gotten progressively worse the last year or two. I've had that subscription since 2004.

Exactly. For the first time last spring he didn't have to do spring football workouts and play baseball at the same time. His velocity jumped from topping out around 92 to topping out around 98-99 by the end of the season. He underwent quite a rapid change.

Yes you can, in fact we saw a glimpse of the difference last year.

And my BA subscription ran out today. Lame. They knew it was happening and pushed it back forcing me to re-up. I see how they work...

Personally I think you can take the stuff he's thrown previously and throw it out the door. We do not know how his football workouts affected his velocity and "jump" on his fastball (call it the Mark Prior 03 effect). The latter of which Samardzija didn't have regardless. So much of his offspeed development time has been hindered by his football commitments. He'd go months without pitching in the past so his offspeed junk never could develop any consistency. Given his plus-plus armspeed and his natural athleticism I would expect him to at the least develop an above average slider.

and to supplement your comments:

He will know with the Cubs lurking at three it would be advantageous to do that. I don't know if he's going to or not. If Price falls to the Cubs and Wieters does as well I would expect them to take Wieters over Price unless Price undergoes a Mark Prior transformation. If that happens I doubt his demands would make TB or PIT back down though.

Perhaps, but who knows the kind of contract he is going to be demanding in June. It's probably more or less Gammon's saying that he's the best prospect more than anything.