marty22

Nice battle by Braddock. Beaned the first batter on 0-2, then gave up a single up the middle. Got a pop up, flyball out, and struck out the last batter. 19 strikes, 6 balls. He sat at 90-91 according to gameday, but IMO that gun was a little slow, as it had Yo at 89-90 all day. Then again, it is still early in ST, so maybe they're not quite at full speed yet. Axford was at 93-94, on a side note.

PitchFX working for gameday as well, for those of you stuck in class (like me) who can't listen.

I don't want to rehash too much, but I keep coming back to this: Who's going to sign Fielder? The Yanks are locked in with Teixeira (although i guess they could sign him as a DH) and Howard, Pujols, and Gonzalez are all slated to be FA. Obviously, Pujols is likely to resign, but there are still 3 big-time players and I don't see that many suitors. As for the markets larger than MIL: Angels - Morales seems pretty solid thus far Tigers - don't have the money, and have Cabrera Blue Jays - Wallace will probably be entrenched at 1B Red Sox - This could definitely happen, though they seem more interested in Gonzalez Orioles - Stranger things have happened Giants - have Sandoval Seattle - Possibility here with Jack Z, but would they pay for his declining defense? CHC - this scares me to death PHI - You'd think Howard would be priority #1 Dodgers - They'll have tons of expensive arby players by then, but who knows This is not an exhaustive list, I was just kind of trying to paint a picture

I wouldnt be disappointed at all even though I wouldn't mind if they kept him around, but only if he is able to build upon his success of last year and prove he can come out of the pen in spring training. I would rather put Chuck Lofgren roster if he proves to have command, which will make him a good 2nd LOOGY. Plus we should have plenty of SP's in AAA.I feel like people are overlooking Narveson. I think he's young enough to harness his talents (and his stuff reminds me of Wandy Rodriguez, who also had unimpressive milb numbers and took awhile to develop), and most projections have him as a mid 4 ERA guy next year. Certainly could be a nice fill-in/long man, I just hope they don't cut him because they're saving that spot for Suppan. I understand Suppan is still a decent depth option, but I think it's worth the gamble that Narveson > Suppan

Very interesting points Dr. Funke, I didn't realize he'd improved all of his underlying hitting stats.

I always thought all players on the 40-man are automatically part of big league camp. Like Cain (who also wasn't mentioned), Salome is on the 40-man, and I think this explains why they weren't mentioned.

I agree with Invader, that the crew probably won't even bother to make an offer, but I'm in the camp that we should. His whole contract wouldn't even have to count against the "Major League Payroll". They could write some of it off to the draft budget, especially since we won't have many early picks this year because of not offering arby to our eligible players.

Tedaldtada29, I like the Uggla comparison for Lawrie. I think he does have that kind of 30 HR power upside, but the biggest difference is that I don't see him having the K% issues Uggla has. BA named him the best "Hitter for Average" in the system. Can't wait to see if they let him start at AA.

Ennder is right. We do wan't to compare Escobar's expectations with Hardy's 09 performance. Where you get in trouble is simply by looking at additions and subtractions while ignoring variance in the players that remain with the team (dropoff from McGehee and 2B, hopefully some rebound from Hart)

Could of had Igawa last year with Melky for Cameron. The problem is that Igawa is trash.I'm not saying I want him, but, taking his contract would offset their addition of Corey Hart's contract. We'd add a cheap pitcher (hughes), and pay Igawa's salary, leaving us at roughly the same salary level. Plus, Igawa is still probably a better option than a Mike Burns to be called up from Nashville in case of emergency.

additionally, I'd take Kei Igawa to even out the salaries, if its true that the yankees really are trying to shed some payroll.

I was thinking about Hughes as well. With the Yankees vacancy in Left Field, would Corey Hart make sense. How about a Coffey+Hart package. I'd be willing to chip in a mid-level prospect if we needed to, but I think Coffey+Hart makes some sense. Getting hughes would be huge for this team, both this year and for years to come.

Sorry if someone has already noted this here, but I find it very amusing that Jack Z is being labled as a "Pitching/Defense guy" after all the all-bat/no-glove picks he made here and the dearth of pitching prospects he left us with. Very interesting.

# Name Position 1 Alcides Escobar SS -- Top 10 Prospect in the Majors. ROY Favorite 2 Mat Gamel 3B -- 1/2 poor season from Gamel doesn't stop Votto/Markakis comparisons (look at MiLB #'s), but K's scare me 3 Brett Lawrie 2B -- If he repeats/improves, lock for number 1 prospect next year 4 Jonathan Lucroy C -- Blah, but does everything well, and he's a C so he gets a boost 5 Caleb Gindl OF -- Career MiLB line: .308/.385/.489 compares to Gamel's .302/.374/.487. Plus corner defense, I think I'm ahead on this guy, size concerns aside. Can't wait to see his slug% at Huntsville 6 Eric Arnett SP -- Can't wait to see him let off the leash. Nice to have a power AND polish pitcher for once 7 Amaury Rivas SP -- 3 solid offerings, wouldn't surprise me to see him in MIL in 2010 8 Angel Salome C -- Too much potential to ignore, but needs to stay healthy 9 Cody Scarpetta SP -- Plus FB and hammer curve, reduce the walks a little and he'll fly 10 Lorenzo Cain CF -- Same comment as Salome 11 Zach Braddock RP -- Billy Wagner lite, but you have to keep health & bullpen role in mind when ranking 12 Jake Odorizzi SP -- Wanted to rank higher, solid year this year will force it 13 Logan Schafer CF -- If he can repeat success at AA, with his plus Defense, he'll be top 5 14 Wily Peralta SP -- One of my favorites. His season was better than it looked, wore down in 2nd half when reached innings limit 15 Kentrail Davis CF -- Solely based on draft position, instrux reports 16 Mark Rogers SP -- Same idea as Braddock here 17 Jeremy Jeffress SP -- Even if stays clean, still has serious control issues 18 Taylor Green 3B -- Really needs to rebound, never has truly impressed me, more of a Koskie type (but apparently thats top 100 of decade now) 19 Josh Butler SP -- Pretty certain he'll be a solid #4 or 5, maybe this year. At worst good middle relief or setup potential 20 Del Howell SP -- Personal favorite. Mononucleosis hurt his stock, power lefty with tons of potential. My favorite 2009 draft pick 21 Nick Bucci SP -- Another personal guy, had to put him on the list somewhere

where do you get this number from? He's spent time in the minors each of the last two seasons, so I'd think he's somewhere around 2.6 years of service time, leaving him with 4 more where he's under team control. Your concerns about service time are legitimate, but I think I'd pull the trigger on Gamel for Morrow. According to Rotoworld his arbitration years are 2010-2012. I stand corrected. For the record, i hope i didn't come off as snarky, I was sincerely curious where you got that from.

where do you get this number from? He's spent time in the minors each of the last two seasons, so I'd think he's somewhere around 2.6 years of service time, leaving him with 4 more where he's under team control. Your concerns about service time are legitimate, but I think I'd pull the trigger on Gamel for Morrow.

Todd Zolecki of MLB.com reports that the Phillies are unlikely to resign Chan Ho Park. He pitched fairly well out of the bullpen last year, but last I heard was looking for an opportunity to start. The Brewers could offer Park a legitimate chance to compete for the 5th spot in the rotation, and the team would gain either their 5th starter or an extra power arm in the bullpen. What do you guys think of Park, and what would it take to sign him? I'm having a tough time figuring out what he would cost. link: http://twitter.com/ToddZolecki/status/6752330331

De La Rosa, and Seth Smith and I'm happy. I really think Smith has potential, but he gets caught up in the OF logjam in Colorado.

I really hope they don't trade either, but, obviously, it depends on the deal they'd be a part of. I was thinking the other day about how the Rangers dealt for Pudge last year, even though last offseason they had 4 players they thought were major league catchers (Saltalamacchia, Laird, Teagarden, Ramirez). I'd hate for us to ship off one of our catchers and have the other one flop; it seems like the rate of attrition for catching prospects is very high.

Yeah, obviously that was a mistake. Frankly though, and few will agree, but I think I'd place him behind Howell. I really, really like Gennett, Hall and Howell. Loved that we picked up guys who I believe are top 75 talents much further down, and guys who all have the ability to really contribute to this organization. Not just be Sept callups, but be mainstays. I'm very possibly overselling them, but we'll see So yeah, I guess I'd slot him 6th. Again, this is just a gut feeling, so I understand how some will think I'm just crazy. If he could possibly stay as a starter his value shoots through the roof IMO, but I don't believe he will. Hi and Tight, I think I might be with you; I'm really high on Howell. Heckathorn sounds like a reliever from almost every source I've read, even though I know it's early and the organization has taught the Changeup to many pitchers to make them starters, but Howell's power left arm has me very excited. We have to remember that Howell is more potential than results at this point, but I definitely see where you're coming from.

JB12, I don't always agree with your ideas, but I'm right with you on Ojeda and Amezaga. I hadn't thought of either, but they both are solid defenders, and Ojeda appears to have at least some idea of OBP skills. Amezaga's versatility is pretty incredible, as well.

I agree Al, and I'd hope they look at Calero, Donnelly, and Baez, as I could see those guys falling into the salary range you mentioned. Benoit is another guy (who you've mentioned) and we might even be able to get him on a minor league deal

Dotel wasn't offered Arb. I'd love to get him on a one-year deal, if there is some money left after the SPs are signed

804, I'm right with you on this one. I'd be surprised if Melvin doesn't go get one of these guys, and I'd add Saito to that list as well. There is a surplus of solid relievers to be had out there, which will drive down the price and make some bargains available. Beyond the guys you mentioned, you also have interesting names like Kiko Calero, Brendan Donnelly, and Danys Baez, among others. Edit: Octavio Dotel (if not offered arby), Chad Cordero as well

Thanks "And That". Can't wait