colbyjack

Alcides Escobar is 6-11 in his last 3 games, raising his average above the Mendoza line to .217. Let's hope he finishes strong, although the Caribbean season lasts until the end of December, so there's plenty of time for him to bump his numbers up. Hernan Iribarren and Brad Nelson both continue to hit the ball well, particularly vs. RHPs, although 4 of Nelson's 8 dingers are against LHPs, even if his overall success isn't as good vs. southpaws. Iribarren hit a 2-run shot 3 days ago, and drew 4 walks two days ago. He was 1-4 with a BB yesterday.

Thursday's games were cancelled due to "other." Is that Hawaiian for rain?

As noted above, Lorenzo Cain hit his 5th HR of the fall, a solo shot with 2 out in the 2nd inning. He also walked once and struk out once, and was 1-3 in the game. Lou Palmisano also continues to swing a hot bat, going 2-3 with a pair of doubles, his 4th and 5th this fall, while scoring a run, driving in a run and striking out once. Omar Aguilar recorded his second save this fall, as he continues to get more frequent work, by working yet another scoreless 9th inning. He did give up a hit, but he struck out 2 batters. 10 of his 13 pitches went for strikes. http://mlb.mlb.com/milb/s...008_11_13_peswin_perwin_1

A nice feature on Lorenzo Cain, and all of the Brewers that have participated in the AFL, is up on MLB.com: http://mlb.mlb.com/images/2008/11/13/CPPkkgnz.jpg Cain proving able with Javelinas A look at Brewers' prospects in the Arizona Fall League http://mlb.mlb.com/news/a...ws_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb PEORIA, Ariz. -- The trickle-down effect of the July 7 trade between the Milwaukee Brewers and Cleveland Indians that sent ace southpaw CC Sabathia to the Indians was felt all the way to the 2008 Arizona Fall League's Peoria Javelinas squad. When the original deal was struck, it saw Sabathia come over to Milwaukee for outfielder Matt LaPorta, right-hander Rob Bryson and lefty Zach Jackson, plus the ever-popular player to be named later. Initially, a few names were bandied about, among them third baseman Taylor Green and outfielders Michael Brantley and Lorenzo Cain. Green, the Brewers' 25th-round pick in 2005 out of Cypress College in California, was the organization's Minor League Player of the Year in 2007 when he hit .327 with 14 homers and 86 RBIs at Class A West Virginia. He batted .289 with 15 homers and 73 RBIs in 2008 at Class A Advanced Brevard County, making the midseason Florida State League All-Star team for the host Manatees and finishing runner-up in the Home Run Derby. Cain, a 2004 17th-round pick who signed as a draft-and-follow in 2005 out of Tallahassee (Fla.) Community College, played all three outfield positions in 2008 between Brevard and Double-A Huntsville, combining to hit .279 with 11 homers, 60 RBIs, 31 doubles and 25 steals. Brantley, the son of former big leaguer and coach Mickey Brantley, batted .319 with 28 steals this season at Huntsville at age 21. When the official announcement was made Oct. 3 that the Indians had acquired Brantley to complete the trade, it set off a sequence of roster moves that affected the Javelinas, just four days before the AFL got started. Green immediately was added to the roster to replace injured third baseman Mat Gamel, and Cain took the spot that would have gone to Brantley had he remained with Milwaukee. While the Brewers are loaded with talent in their system, Cain is one of their most intriguing sleepers. In his pro debut in the Arizona League in 2005, he was named the circuit's MVP after hitting .356 with five homers, 37 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. The next summer, his first full season, he batted .307 with 34 steals at West Virginia and led the South Atlantic League with 162 hits. In 2007 at Brevard County, he hit .276 with 24 steals. He was continuing to refine his game at Brevard County when news of the Sabathia trade came down, and with it the whispered rumors that both he and Green were on the short list to become future Indians. "At first, my agent was telling me I was in the trade talks, so it was kind of shocking, but things like that happen, so I was ready to deal with it no matter what," said the 22-year-old, who has been playing left field for the Javs. "Right before I moved up to Huntsville, I found out that I was out of the trade talks and I was happy. I just focused on baseball and tried to go out and play hard every day." In fact, Cain already was back home in Madison, Fla., just south of the Georgia border, relaxing and recovering from a mild hamstring strain that had shut him down in mid-August when the deal was finalized. Almost immediately, the Brewers called him to see if he'd be able to join them in Arizona on such short notice. "They gave me a choice and I said I was ready to go," he said. "At first, I wasn't supposed to do anything over the offseason except go home, work out, get stronger and gain a little weight. But we felt this would be the best thing for me, and since my hamstring healed I've been doing well so I'd say it's been working out." A little understatement from the soft-spoken Cain. After spending about a week working with trainer Tommy Craig to make sure the hamstring was good to go, Cain got into the lineup on Oct. 13 and has been one of the Javelinas' most feared hitters since then. He's hitting .375 with four homers, 10 RBIs and three steals in 14 games. Green's AFL story doesn't have quite as happy an ending. His campaign ended abruptly on Oct. 21 when, facing the Peoria Saguaros, St. Louis Cardinals prospect Tyler Norrick came inside with a pitch that hit Green in the face, breaking his nose. The story didn't end right there, though it would have for most players. Green, a Canadian whose biggest boosters especially love his "hockey mentality," was ready to trot down to first base and stay in the game with that broken nose. Even after he was held out for a few days and diagnosed with a non-displaced fracture, he was taking infield, ready to play, when a bad hop bouncer hit him -- where else -- in the nose. "We were taking infield and the ball popped up and hit him in the nose," Cain recalled. "It was like, 'Wow, of all things, that ball had to hit him there.'" This time, Green was shut down and underwent surgery. He will, of course, be back to his usual scrappy self in time for Spring Training. But it certainly was an eventful year for the converted third baseman, who did all he could to stay focused on his job at hand and not the possible change of address. "At first, I was kind of on the verge of wanting to know, but after a bit I got used to it," he said. "I was happy to see Michael get a great opportunity and wish the best of luck to him." Over the first two weeks of the season, Green was concentrating primarily on the shift from second base to third, though with the Brewers' glut of infielders, his future down the road could be as a do-it-all utility infielder. "It's a great opportunity," said Green, who was batting .333 in seven games when he was shut down, "and you have to take advantage of every opportunity you get." Other Brewers in the AFL IF Brent Brewer, who may have one of the most appropriate names in the game, was added to the Javelinas roster to replace Green. But Milwaukee didn't make the speedy shortstop a second-round pick in 2006 just because of his moniker. While his bat is coming around, he's a serious threat on the basepaths with 42 steals in 2007 at West Virginia and 31 this season between West Virginia and Brevard County. Though he hit just .213 to start the season with the Power, he batted .251 with the Manatees down the stretch. With Peoria, he was hitting .188 in five games. RHP Alex Periard, known to his teammates and coaches as "Frenchy," hails from Montreal and was a 16th-round pick out of high school in 2004. He was 11-10 with a 4.06 ERA over 150 2/3 innings this season between Brevard County and Huntsville, tying for third in the system in wins and eighth in ERA. At Peoria, he was 0-2 with a 9.42 ERA and 11 strikeouts against 11 walks over 14 2/3 innings. RHP Omar Aguilar could emerge as one of the top closer prospects in the organization and was showing why in Peoria as he'd yet to allow an earned run in nine games, fanning eight in 9 2/3 innings. His 17 saves between Brevard County and Huntsville ranked second in the system, and he combined for a 1.98 ERA and .177 opponents' average. After posting an 0.35 ERA for the Manatees, the 30th-round draft-and-follow sign from 2005 moved up to Huntsville, where he boasted a respectable 3.08 ERA. LHP David Welch, an Australia-born starter, was 11-4 with a 3.90 ERA at Huntsville in 2008, ranking second in the Southern League in wins and sixth in the Brewers system in ERA. He had a 3.43 ERA at Brevard County in 2007 and a 2.41 mark at West Virginia in 2006, so he's moved steadily and effectively up the ladder. With Peoria, he has a 5.40 ERA in 13 1/3 innings over 10 games. LHP Brae Wright has been on the taxi squad at Peoria after throwing 170 2/3 innings for Huntsville in 2008. His 3.59 ERA was fourth in the organization and seventh in the Southern League. A 2006 sixth-round pick out of Oklahoma State, he was second among Brewers pitchers with 120 strikeouts. At Peoria, he was shut down after seven games with a 5.87 ERA. C Lou Palmisano also began the year on the Javelinas' taxi squad, though he saw more active time as he filled in for missing or injured catchers both with the Javs and Mesa. He finally was activated for good when Angel Salome went home with a sore shoulder after just one game. Palmisano is on the comeback trail from knee surgery that cost him most of 2008, as he hit .297 with two homers in 27 games. He batted .256 with 11 homers and 63 RBIs at Huntsville in 2007 before the injury. Overall in Arizona, he was putting himself back on the map with a .324 average in 12 games. RHP Jeremy Jeffress was shut down with shoulder fatigue after his third AFL outing on Oct. 21, having posted a 12.83 ERA (though that more than doubled in the rough final outing in which he gave up six runs in less than an inning). The Brewers' 2008 Minor League Pitcher of the Year, he struck out 115 over 94 innings with a 4.31 ERA, mostly at Brevard but with a brief promotion to Huntsville. The club's top pick in 2006 out of high school in Virginia, his fastball is consistently clocked in the mid- to high-90s and sometimes triple digits. He's been working on his curveball and changeup to offset that heat while coming back from the onus of a few suspensions for non-performance-enhancing substances. He's just 21 and has a huge upside.

Today it's the Blue Jays turn. I like their top 3 guys, all of whom are knocking on the big-league door: http://www.baseballameric...rospects/2009/267166.html

http://www.dailycal.org/photos/20080630/102000-06.30.smith.CHOW-02.jpg Scouts are unsure where RHP/OF Blake Smith will eventually play as a professional. He profiles very well in both facets of the game, as here's a look at his numbers as both a hitter and as a pitcher: .298/.387/.504, 520 AB, 31 2B, 5 3B, 22 HR, 56 BB, 148 K, 12 for 21 SB attempts, 6 errors 6-0, 3.03 ERA, 47 games (0 starts), 4 saves, 65.1 IP, 48 H, 89 K, 28 BB, 1.16 WHIP He has a very good, powerfully built, athletic frame at 6'2", 220. He has long, strong legs that give him a very sturdy pitching base, and as a hitter he resembles Jeff Francoeur. So far during his career he has been used primarily as a reliever, where he excelled coming out of the bullpen for Team USA last summer while not giving up an earned run. He used a low-90s fastball, that occasionally touches the 94-95 range, and hammer curve to record his outs, and the Bears may choose to use him as a starter next spring due to the departures of two of their best weekend starters. However, they also lost their star closer, and may be tempted to use Smith in this role since the team also lost their three best hitters due to the draft, so they don't wear him down physically over the course of the spring. He was also second on Team USA in batting, home runs and slugging. He profiles perfectly in right field with his power arm/bat combination, and he exhibits a pretty good eye at the plate. His swing can get long with the tendency to whiff. I personally like Smith better as a pitcher, and think he could have very good value as a starter even if he is used as the Bears' closer next spring. His arm is relatively fresh, and in the right system he could really flourish.

http://assets.espn.go.com/photo/2008/0310/ncaa_davis1_300.jpg Kentrail Davis has always been able to hit, and was one of my favorite prospects available for the 2007 draft. A former Aflac All-American, he dropped to the 14th round in the draft after missing some time during his senior year after being involved in a car accident, which also effected his productivity. His affiliation with Scott Boras also creates questions about his signability, and as a draft-eligible sophomore he could slide yet again in next year's draft should he choose to maximize his projected payday durng his junior year at Tennessee. Davis is an exciting all-around offensive player. He is very well built for such a short (5'9") ballplayer, and is at his best lacing line drives from gap-to-gap while also having respectable home run power. He has a patient approach at the plate, and commands the strike zone well. Once he is on the basepaths he is a threat to steal, and he profiles as a left-handed version of Shannon Stewart. Davis could fit in almost any lineup as either a leadoff, two-hole or three-hole hitter. Despite having very good speed, his defense isn't as polished as his offense, as he's probably limited to left field at the professional level due to less than ideal instincts and a below average throwing arm. He was the best positional prospect of those that participated with Team USA last summer, and led the team in hitting coming off of his freshman year before leaving the team due to a wrist injury. Here are the numbers from Team USA and his freshman year for the Volunteers: .335/.443/.567, 233 AB, 9 2B, 3 3B, 13 HR, 28 BB, 63 K, 9 for 11 in stolen base attempts, 3 errors

My Crack of the Bat column this week focused on some of the more interesting groupings as they pertain to the 2009 draft: http://www.pgcrosschecker...2009_draft_groupings.aspx

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/05OH5AZ9JRedc/610x.jpg Baylor's Kendal Volz has been expected to be one of the top prospects available for the 2009 draft for several years now as he was part of a talented Baylor recruiting class a few years ago that includes Aaron Miller, Dustin Dickerson, Raynor Campbell and Shawn Tolleson. A strong and powerfully built righty listed at 6'5", 225 pounds, Volz is built like a linebacker with thick proportions and a strong lower half. His size allows him to pump his fastball consistently in the 90-93 range and he can touch the mid-90s, especially when used in shorter outings. He also throws a power breaking ball, somewhat in between a curve and a slider, that he's able to change the velocity in order to either drop it in the zone or bury it in the dirt. His mechanics aren't perfect, as he throws a little across his body and there's effort to his delivery. He may be better suited to a relief role, where he excelled serving at Team USA's closer, recording 8 saves and not giving up an earned run in 13 appearances, during the summer of 2008. While he does throw a changeup, his fastball and slurve are his best offerings, which may further suggest a permanent move to the bullpen. Here are his numbers from two years at Baylor, and his summers spent with Team USA and on the Cape: 10-15, 4.39 ERA, 51 games (34 starts), 1 CG, 8 saves, 203 IP, 219 H, 216 K, 99 BB, 1.40 WHIP

I hope that the Sabathia situation is resolved quickly so the Brewers don't get hung being unable to make other moves until they know where he stands. As much as I will always remember how dominant CC was, life will go on without him and the team can be successful without him. I'm sure the team is also prepared to move on without him, but I just hope they don't miss out on any other opportunities while waiting for an answer. While there are always FA bargains in January, I want to see Melvin be somewhat aggressive this year. If he's serious about adding more balance to the lineup I hope he's not afraid to make a potentially unpopular move on paper to make it happen and to make the team better. I also fear he won't add a legitimate closer with so many seemingly available. I fear the Yankees will sign both Sabathia and Teixeira. Not getting a first-round pick for CC would be a crime.

A big reason why this site was originally started back in 2001 was to focus on the future, and a phrase that has been used by people, including those with the Brewers, is "wave of talent." The first wave was to bring prospects such as JJ Hardy, Corey Hart, Dave Krynzel, Mike Jones, Ben Hendrickson and Brad Nelson to the Brewers. The second wave included Prince Fielder, Rickie Weeks, Tony Gwynn, Lou Palmisano, Manny Parra and Dana Eveland. The third consisted of Mark Rogers, Ryan Braun, Yovani Gallardo and Will Inman. Of course some of those prospects never panned out, some took longer to develop, and some didn't require much time at all. Now that the team has a "core" (another frequently used phrase when discussing a talent base) of players that helped the team reach the playoffs, I thought it would be interesting to look at that next wave of talent. Mat Gamel, Alcides Escobar and Angel Salome are already knocking at the big-league door, with all three spending some time with the big-league team in September. Hernan Iribarren and Brad Nelson are making a case to fill out the 25-man roster out of spring training next year. Brae Wright, David Welch, Derek Miller and Alexandre Periard could provide depth in either the starting rotation or the bullpen, while Jeremy Jeffress either profiles as a #1 or #2 starter or as a dynamic closer. Lorenzo Cain and Cole Gillespie offer OF depth, while Omar Aguilar, Luis Pena and Tim Dillard could all be in the mix for a bullpen job in the next year or two. In addition, Taylor Green and Jonathan Lucroy are advancing rapidly and could catch up to this wave of talent. I don't get the sense that people are as confident with this wave than they were with the ones that brought guys like Weeks, Hardy, Hart, Fielder and Braun to Milwaukee, yet this wave could go a long way in filling in some of the cracks (particularly bench and bullpen spots), while also replacing a few of the members from that initial wave that get too expensive, especially since all of them (minus Braun) are arbitration eligible. That could be different had we been able to track the progress of players such as Gamel, Salome and Green in the AFL and if Escobar was faring better in Venezuela. And how comfortable do you feel with the next wave after that, the players that will make up the Brevard County and Wisconsin rosters? The 2008 draft class may create it's own wave of talent given the extra picks and the focus on power arms. Overall, I think the system is very deep, but I am somewhat concerned about the perceived lack of impact talent that made the system so strong just a few short years ago. I may feel differently at this time next year if Lawrie is as good as we think he can be and if a few key pitchers step up in the lower levels (Scarpetta, Peralta and Nieves have already enjoyed big jumps in the P50). Can Braddock stay healthy? Can things start to click more for Brewer? Thoughts?

Jordan Zimmerman went to UW-Stevens Point.

CheezWizHed, I'm glad you enjoy these features. I did write a recap of the 2007 draftees last year after their first summer is pro ball: http://www.brewerfan.net/...wArticle.do?articleId=269 I'm not sure if I will have time to do a more complete recap a year and a half after they were drafted, but here's a quick rundown of the prospects of note (others may feel free to add any I am leaving off): • Matt LaPorta of course was traded for Sabathia. • Jonathan Lucroy hit very well at low-A and high-A after a good showing at this time last year in the Hawaii Winter Baseball league and is one of the team's top prospects. • Eric Farris started the year slow after arriving late to WV due to injury. He finished the year strong, but needs to show more power to be considered an everyday big-leaguer. • Caleb Gindl led the Pioneer League last year in hitting as an 18-year old, and finished this past year with a batting average above .300 after a slow start. He's currently playing in the HWB. • Dan Merklinger runs hot and cold, but still has good stuff for a lefty. • Efrain Nieves also runs a little hot and cold, but has improving stuff and was named one of the top prospects in the Pioneer League. • Kristian Bueno has been brought along more slowly than the others, but still is a name to keep an eye on, most likely with Helena next year. • Eric Fryer had a breakout season at WV. • Cody Scarpetta put up very impressive numbers in very limited time between Arizona and Helena this past year. He recently pitched a very good game in the HWB, where he replaced Mike Ramlow a few weeks ago, and is now one of the organization's top pitching prospects. • Chris Dennis has incredible raw power and is a sleeper among prospects to watch moving forward. • Donovan Hand has been aggressively pushed, pitching this past year for AA. • Erik Miller, like Bueno, has been brought along slowly, but has some interesting athletic talent. • Bobby Bramhall had a very good and somewhat overlooked season for BC this past year. He probably profiiles as a reliever/specialist down the road. • Zelous Wheeler has been a solid filler for the lower levels so far. • Ditto for Steffan Wilson. • Shawn Zarraga was the only Arizona Brewer to hit .300 this past year. He has big power and gives the Brewers a sleeper prospect at catcher in the lower levels. The DFEs from last year (the last year of the process) are pretty promising as well. Bryson was included in the Sabathia deal, Robinson has injury issues but is a talented pitching prospect when healthy, Haydel is arguably the fastest player in the system and hit just below .300 in his first full season, and Tyson got back on track after his demotion to Helena. As for the ones that got away, keep an eye on Rick Hague, a SS at Rice and Chase Reid, a RHP at Vanderbilt who will actually be draft eligible next June as a 21-year old sophomore.

Is Milledge now expendable? How about John Lannan? Would they offer Nick Johnson, Milledge and Lannan for Fielder and Cameron? No offense, but that's a pretty lousy return for Fielder, much less Fielder and Cameron. I like Lannan, but Johnson is one of the most least reliable players in the MLB, and Milledge certainly isn't making the most of his opportunities so far. I'd come up with a counter-offer, but I'm having a hard time doing so. The Nationals were a bad team for good reason: They're really lacking in talent. Even the most talented players in their system have some serious warts. Ryan Zimmerman is really the only player I would feel confident getting in return, and even he missed significant playing time last year due to a shoulder injury and is going to be arbitration eligible. Jim Bowden is one of the most unpredictable, not to mention one of the worse, GMs I have ever followed, but even then I would be surprised if he parted with Zimmerman, who is a huge fan favorite to the DC sports region.

No worries on Caleb Gindl, whose absence from the lineup a couple of times in the past few days, like Lorenzo Cain, is likely just part of a numbers crunch. He has an RBI single so far in today's West Oahu game, and yet another hit to the opposite field. More details later. Gindl finished 2-4, getting hits in each of his last two ABs, both of which went to LF.

In addition to Austin Jackson, I forgot about two other talented outfielders on the Javelinas roster that are all fighting for playing time, Drew Stubbs and Desmond Jennings. Both are top prospects with the Reds and Rays organizations respectively. Anyway, Cain didn't play today, nor did any other Brewers farmhand as the Javelinas fell to the Saguaros 3-2.

The Rays are still loaded, although their talent depth has had a significant switch from hitters to pitching the past 2-3 years, as now they are lacking in impact bats despite their wealth in power arms. http://www.baseballameric...rospects/2009/267162.html

The story is now up on the homepage: http://www.brewerfan.net/...Hops.do?dailyReportId=496

CaneFires clinch division title Hankerd hits grand slam in 6-3 triumph over BeachBoys http://mlb.mlb.com/news/a...ws_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb Cody Scarpetta struck out eight over five one-hit innings and Cyle Hankerd hit a grand slam Tuesday as the West Oahu CaneFires clinched the West Division title with a 6-3 win over the Waikiki BeachBoys. Scarpetta (2-2) allowed only a two-out single in the first to Giants' first-round pick Buster Posey and a walk, retiring 11 consecutive batters from the first through the fifth. He recorded seven strikeouts in one eight-batter span. The 20-year-old right-hander pitched in 12 Rookie-level games, making eight starts, between the Arizona League Brewers and Helena of the Pioneer League this season, going 2-0 with a 2.23 ERA. Hankerd staked Scarpetta to a quick lead when he emptied the bases in the opening frame. Fellow Diamondbacks prospect Mark Hallberg started the inning with a single, James Skelton (Tigers) walked and Miles Durham (Pirates) singled before Hankerd connected for his fifth Hawaii Winter Baseball homer. Hankerd is hitting .368 (14-for-38) with 10 runs scored and 18 of his league-leading 30 RBIs over the last 11 games. Orioles Minor Leaguer Tyler Henson stroked a two-run single in the second en route to his fourth straight multi-hit game for West Oahu (17-14), which nailed down a spot in Sunday's Championship Game. Hallberg was 3-for-5 and scored twice to raise his average to .352 over 31 contests. Waikiki starter Mitsuo Yoshikawa (3-2) surrendered six runs on seven hits and four walks with three strikeouts in three innings. Yonder Alonso had three hits, while fellow Reds prospect Todd Frazier and Yankees Minor Leaguer Damon Sublett each drove in a run for the BeachBoys (17-16), who remained a half-game in front of Honolulu in the HWB East. Box Score: What an awesome game for Scarpetta. Nice to see him settle down and pitch a dandy with playoff implications on the line. I've mentioned before that Waikiki has a college all-star lineup that includes players such as Buster Posey, Yonder Alonso, Roger Kieschnick, Todd Frazier and Damon Sublett, so shutting them down so convincingly is that much more impressive. Logan Schafer went 0-4. http://mlb.mlb.com/milb/s...008_11_11_wocwin_waiwin_1

I'm not sure if Gindl has a nagging injury or what, but he isn't in tonight's starting lineup, which stands out more than usual considering he was swinging the bat pretty well, and he sat two games ago while yesterday was an off day.. Schafer is taking his place in RF, and Cody Scarpetta is the starter tonight for the CaneFires. Details in the morning, unless some night owl (or a big Scarpetta fan that's willing to burn the midnight oil) beats me to them.

Lorenzo Cain continued his hot hitting going 2-4 with a K, bumping his fall average to .375. Alexandre Periard got the start today and pitched well, very well when you consider how bad his last three outings have been (14 ER in 5 IP). He still needs to cut down on the walks, but he only gave up one ER in 4 innings of work, and was in line for the win if it weren't for Mesa scoring 6 runs over the final two frames. David Welch had an extended relief appearance coming in after Periard. He went 3 innings, giving up 3 hits and 1 ER. Unlike Periard, Welch's line isn't too bad considering he has really had only one bad outing. If you take out an inning of his work from October 23rd in which he gave up 4 ER, his ERA this fall is 2.92. The law of averages of course doesn't allow that, so we have to live with his current 5.40 mark. Not sure about his move to the plate, or to first base, but he did pick off a runner today and the only stolen base attempt against him was also wiped out. http://mlb.mlb.com/milb/s...008_11_11_msswin_perwin_1

Instead of pulling the old thread back up, Tom McNamara has been named the Mariners' scouting director. Tony Blengino will continue to be Jack's right-hand man as his assistant GM. The Brewers have three crosschecker positions to fill now with McNamara's departure along with Seid and Montgomery being bumped up.

Eric Decker has recently been ranked the 91st best college prospect by Baseball America. He currently is playing WR for the Minnesota Golden Gophers, and is among the national leaders in receptions and receiving yards. As the Gophers prepare to take on the Badgers this Saturday in their annual duel for the Paul Bunyan Axe, Decker's status is uncertain, as he has a strained left ankle, originally suffered in Minnesota's game with Northwestern two weeks ago, and limited his playing time in Minnesota's loss against Michigan this past weekend. Give up football and focus on baseball, Eric. Your body will thank you when you're 40+.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/images/jturner08428309ab.jpg Jacob Turner started two prominent showcase events last summer, first taking the ball for the West squad at the Aflac All-American Classic, and then doing so again a week later at the Under Armour game at Wrigley Field. He looked a lot better during the Aflac game, but many of the pitchers looked worn down at the Under Armour event, which is no surprise after a long summer of performing at a high level, not to mention the travel involved. Turner also made a pair of starts for the USA Baseball 18U National Team, dominating the opposition by striking out 19 batters in just over 10 innings of work. I had the chance to see Turner in person last February as he attended the Perfect Game Indoor Showcase, where he showed perhaps the easiest and fastest arm in the nation, and that included the talented '08 prep pitchers that were also in attendance. He is a very similar pitcher to Tim Melville (who also hailed from Missouri), in that he has a very big, strong yet projectable build, and he is a fine overall athlete. Like Melville, he also commands the strike zone very well with his fastball, which sits in the low 90s and can touch 94. In addition to his command, his fastball has some nice, sinking life to it. He has great mound presence and works off of his fastball perfectly. Turner also throws a mid-70s curveball that is a plus pitch, as well as a really nice changeup. He commands his entire repertoire very well. His windup is slow and patient, but his arm is incredibly fast, as he uses his entire body well in generating velocity, with very good overall pitching mechanics. Signability likely will be an issue with Turner, who has committed to North Carolina and plans on using Scott Boras as his advisor. He presents the best package of upside and refinement of any prep pitcher available for the 2009 draft.

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0asP0oYbtCbGu/610x.jpg I was a big fan of left-handed pitcher Mike Minor when he was one of the top prospects coming out of Tennessee eligible for the 2006 draft. He slid to the 13th round due to his commitment to Vanderbilt, and at the time was pitching in the 85-88 range with an effortless delivery and refined changeup. Minor still appears to throw effortlessly, and his velocity now consistently sits in the 88-91 range, touching a few ticks higher on occasion. He commands his fastball extremely well, and also mixes in a very good changeup that gives him an excellent two-pitch arsenal. His changeup is thrown with the exact same arm speed and angle as his fastball, which makes it that much more difficult to identify, and gives him a legitimate out pitch against right-handed batters. His breaking ball hasn't progressed as well, and was the biggest mark against him coming out of high school. When I saw him pitch during his freshman year at Vanderbilt, when he quickly went from being a mid-week starter to the Commodores Saturday starter following David Price during weekend series, he was throwing a slider. Reportedly he started throwing more of a true curveball last summer while pitching for Team USA, and scouts were encouraged by that pitch's developement. His fastball-changeup combo is good enough to allow him to succeed, but mastering that third pitch could be the difference in him being a great starter as opposed to a good one. Minor follows some pretty good left-handed pitchers that have come out of Vanderbilt in recent years which includes the aforementioned David Price as well as Ryan Mullins and Jeremy Sowers. While he doesn't profile as a true staff ace due to the lack of intimidating raw stuff, it's hard to argue with his results, and few pitchers available for the 2009 draft command the strike zone as well as Minor does. Here are his numbers from college, which includes his two years at Vandy and two summers spent with Team USA: 21-8, 3.07 ERA, 51 games (39 starts), 2 CG, 1 save, 246.1 IP, 233 H, 233 K, 60 BB, 1.19 WHIP