jacksonianmarch

Who do you think will finish the season as closer?

Oden is dominant. Consider this, the guy is absolutely nasty and he cannot even shoot with his shooting hand because of surgery!! We will see the real Oden by the time the league championships are going on.

he will be battling it out for who is the closer? Maybe closer to the DFA pile!

nabbing a guy with his resume and still with good stuff for one yr is something they should do, so long as they are caring more about flexibility than bottom line.

Q: So who is gonna win? A: All baseball fans! I love the Sb because it is a big party and a fun game to watch. But it is the official season change of sports. Hockey isnt big anymore. Basketball isnt very big either. NASCAR is big in the middle of the US, but not up here for the most part. Golf is good to watch, in the highlights. Our country revolves around football and baseball. And one football season ends, it will be baseball all day and all night. Finally, the long winter is nearing a close.

even the best of them have rough stretches and even the best have trouble with adjustments. Dont put out a statement about this kid that makes him sound inhuman. He is human, he will have his down games and he will be flappable at times, just like every player is. Hell, RJ fell apart in NY and he is headed to the HOF. It isnt crazy, it is a fact of life.

I doubt that he will bomb either. As you said, he is too polished to just flat out flame out. I just think his expectations are way too high for a guy who hasnt pitched in the bigs yet. He will have his ups and his downs and eventually we will see where he stands. Thing is, if he has a s***** april, sox fans at the stadium need to lay off him and let him feel his way through. Cause you know that Shaughnessy will be writing bad s*** about this guy from day 1, no matter how well he performs. If the guy throws a 2 hit shutout, it will be why didnt he get a no-no. That type of crap that boston newspapers are famous for (and what NY newspapers are starting to emulate with Lupica's s***** style). If the papers feed the minions and this kid struggles early, he could really implode. Remember, this guy has found an insane amount of love at his home stadium for 8 yrs now. How will he deal with 36K breathing down his neck if he loses to the yankees in his first start in NY.

It depends on the person who runs it. Pinstripes plus seems to be a good mix of it (as evidenced by their higher ratings of Gardner as he is close, but the very high rating of Montero without him even playing one DSL game). Diehard certainly looks like they value proximity vs ceiling.

50.) Jordan Craft, P 49.) Jose Capellan, P 48.) Kris Negron, IF 47.) Mike Jones, 1B 46.) Josh Papelbon, P 45.) Jon Still, C 44.) Zach Daegas, OF 43.) Dustin Richardson, P 42.) Felix Doubront, P 41.) Tim Cox, P 40.) Yahmed Yema, OF 39.) Mark Wagner, C 38.) Barry Hertzler, P 37.) Jeremy West, 1B/DH 36.) Mike Rozier, P 35.) Randy Beam, P 34.) Jonathan Egan, C 33.) Reid Engel, OF 32.) Christian Lara, SS 31.) Luis Soto, OF

I agree completely. Dont get me wrong, Crespo, I have said many many times that I am very hopeful for our kids below AA, but I dont start considering them in my teams plans until they get to AA. For the 3 guys in the draft who the scouting sites are billing as future aces, the ETA for AA is: Betances- starts in Charleston, may finish in Tampa. May hit AA by the middle of 2008. Chamberlain- starts in Tampa, may be in Trenton by mid 2007 McCallister- will start in Charleston, will likely not see AA until 2009. as for our first round pick, Kennedy will start in Tampa and may have some AA time this yr. So of the 4 highest touted pitchers out of that draft, 2 might actually show something in the higher levels this yr.

crespo, scout.com is made of 30 different rankers for the league. Sox diehard ranks the sox. Pinstripes plus rates the yankees. And BTW, Baseball america has similar rankings, and they are pretty reputable.

thanks mar. That was the point.

just to hammer home my point, Betances, Chamberlain and Kennedy all made it to the top 5 in an already impressive yankee farm system (especially for RHP). Obviously somebody thinks the draft was a good one. BTW, on Melancon, he was shelved for 2 months in college last yr with an elbow injury. This was why he fell. He tried to pitch through it in the minors and it just didnt work. He strengthened it, went to Hawaii and tweaked it again, requiring surgery. He hasnt been right all yr.

Crespo, I am calling ace potential. All of this is potential.

over 10K

Interesting draft now 6 months after the fact. A few things about that draft. Kennedy is still being ranked very highly by some people (Scout.com has him as the #6 yankee prospect ahead of Chamberlain by 5 spots whereas BA has him at 5 one spot behind Joba). Of note, scout.com made their top 50 list prior to the hawaiian winter league and admits that the Chamberlain should have been placed higher after his 46K 3BB performance. Kennedy's SR comes out in a week, Joba's was just posted today and it really looks like the yankees got a steal. Joba is expect to hit A+ ball in Tampa and may be in the majors by the end of 08/early 09. Kennedy had an up and down Hawaiian league, but he did K a very large amount of batters. He will start the yr in A+ ball at Tampa and is considered a fast mover, but his ceiling is not as high as Joba's. Another steal of the draft was Betances, who in short order, had his mechanics adjusted and is throwing in the upper 90s as an 18 yr old. He also has two plus secondary pitches but is considered to be a little raw and likely 3 yrs away. His control in rookie ball was extremely surprising this early, but Nardi Contreras was said to have never seen a young kid adjust so quickly. Kennedy/Betances/Chamberlain all made BA's top 5 prospects for the yankees, and that is saying something in a farm system that has Hughes, Clippard, et al. The ranking would have been moved back one slot if the list came out after the Sheffield deal as Sanchez would be the #3 or 4 prospect in the system behind Hughes and Tabata. Of note, other guys who impressed out of the draft pool are Melancon, McCallister, Kontos, Norton and McCutchen. McCutchen was suspended for Ritalin usage during the season after having an impressive debut, as he did not get it cleared through the MLB. He does have ADD after all (dont we all!). Of this group, McCallister is the highest ceiling prospect. A HS pitcher with a huge frame and good makeup (father was a scout, he grew up around MLB ) who came out of HS with a mid 90s fastball and a plus plus changeup. His ceiling is ace, the others in this group are not. Melancon is a closer of the future who was a late draftee due to elbow concerns. He had TJ surgery a few months ago and should be on track for A+ ball in 2008. The other pitching prospects include Casey Erickson who had a rough time in low A ball, Nick Peterson who dominated as a closer at SI but had a major issue with control, Medina had a good early run at the lower levels and may end up in Tampa to start the yr, Patterson made it up to Charleston before the yr ended, and Robertson was a late sign, but a very solid one. Robertson was drafted very late because he was a C-2 player with 2 yrs of eligibility left in college. He hasnt played a game in the minors, but is considered a late steal. The hitting end looks a bit crappy, although the INTL signing of Montero and a strong DSL class from last yr will potentially make up for that. Curtis projects nothing more than a 4th OF. Hilligoss is a very light hitting IF who may rely solely on good patience and average skills due to his complete lack of power. Fortenberry is the only other position player of note, and he projects as a 4th OF at best, maybe as a AAAA player. So overall, the 2006 draft was a solid draft for the yankees on the pitching end. Betances, Chamberlain, and McCallister all have ace potential, Chamberlain the closest to reaching it. Kennedy was a reach, but a very safe pick. He along with Kontos and Norton project as solid middle rotation pitchers. Unfortunately, the big lefty Del "Paul" Howell looks like he has committed to the U of Alabama rather than sign with the yankees. The only real disappointment in the short season came from Casey Erickson who had a near 5 era in rookie ball ( a predominantly pitchers league). The rest have made the proper advancement to be in the plans for the yankees minor leagues in 07. No clunkers as of yet.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2007/02/02/curt_answers_given/?page=1 beware, it is a shaughnessy article and he hates schilling. But it has schill at his candid levels.

and if he has a bad april, he'll be turned on by the masses. Granted, not you guys, the smart sox fans, but the pink hats in Boston who can now afford season tix.

DIEHARD 2007 TOP 50 PROSPECTS 50.) Jordan Craft, P 49.) Jose Capellan, P 48.) Kris Negron, IF 47.) Mike Jones, 1B 46.) Josh Papelbon, P 45.) Jon Still, C 44.) Zach Daegas, OF 43.) Dustin Richardson, P 42.) Felix Doubront, P 41.) Tim Cox, P 40.) Yahmed Yema, OF 39.) Mark Wagner, C 38.) Barry Hertzler, P 37.) Jeremy West, 1B/DH 36.) Mike Rozier, P 35.) Randy Beam, P 34.) Jonathan Egan, C 33.) Reid Engel, OF

scout.com has multiple divisions. The red sox division is diehard.com. Pinstripes plus seems to have a pretty good mix of Ceiling and Level while leaving out the DSL kids sans Montero. Diehard does certainly value level more than ceiling and they dont include any DSL kids either.

now that its narrowed down a bit, um, well, it isnt. What is your grandfather's name?

scout.com

Linda was under the table, if you know what I mean.

I had heard a rumor that Melky might actually be sent to AAA to start the yr so he can get regular ABs and Bernie would win the 4th OF spot. I hope it isnt true. I love Bernie, but he is a liability now.