BA's Player of the Year and Lots More

Jason Heyward is Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year. No one who follows prospects is surprised. He is truly the total package. He has the tools to do anything on the baseball diamond. He has patience, discipline, developing power, baserunning skills, and a cannon right-field arm. I'm drooling over the possibilities of owning him in my leagues. Yes, I am the guy in your league obsessed with prospects. Fortunately, I have enough control to avoid letting it change my draft or auction...most of the time. The article compares him to Francouer which I think is pretty stupid statistically since he never did have any real patience at the plate.

Speaking of lack of patience, the Giants astound me. They have a nice stadium and resources but they still haven't got a clue how to build an offense. They have a lineup full of guys who hit for a decent batting average but without patience or power. Now, one or two guys like that (who also play excellent defense) would be okay. But a whole lineup of them (sans Pablo Sandoval and Bengie Molina) is just stupid. How does Brian Sabean keep his job? Lincecum could have won another Cy Young with just a little run support.

Our friends over at MLB Fantasy Prospects have a feature article on Jaff Decker. The article, #23 MLB Fantasy Prospect: Jaff Decker (OF, San Diego Padres) - Scouting Report is part of a series on the best prospects of 2009. It gives us the origins of Jaff's unusually spelled name. Who they call John Kruk Jr, a nice compliment unless he becomes a Baseball Tonight analyst... But seriously, add these guys to your RSS Feeds and follow them Twitter, it will be worth it.

I think the idea that Theo Epstein would make the silly offer to the Blue Jays described in this article is not based in reality. The Red Sox are probably one of the few teams that could survive after ravaging their farm system that way but Theo would never do it. He is just too smart.

Thanks AaronGleeman.com! I know for a fact that Fat Kids do indeed love bacon.



Baseball-Intellect takes a look at the injuries that have plagued pitching prospects in the New York Yankees system. I don't think this is a sign that the Yankees have a problem with their minor league coaches and trainers. I think it is more that the Yankees take chances with pitchers that in some cases they draft with the knowledge that they may eventually require surgery. The downside is a lot of wasted dollars (which the Yankees can afford) the upside is a deeper system with upside arms that the low-drafting Yankees would never otherwise get to draft.

Evil E is my favorite Fantasy Basketball analyst. His site RotoEvil.com is a must visit if you are serious about your fantasy basketball. His 50 Players to Target for the 2009-10 Fantasy Basketball Season is in progress right now. I can't wait for his Draft Guide...You should join his Free Fantasy Basketball Mailing List by signing up here.

Not to short change another of the lesser Fantasy Sports (just kidding) RotoRob.com has released their top 20 left-wingers as part of their Fantasy Hockey Draft Kit. Go see if he placed Alexander Ovechkin at number two, just for fun. RotoRob.com also has a Fantasy Basketball Draft Kit that you should be keeping up with.

Okay, to keep this from turning into an All-Sports Blog I will second Roto Think Tank's notion that you should roster Washington Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond. Not only is he playing well down the stretch he looks like the starting shortstop in 2010. He raised his walk rate in the minors this season to a respectable 10.1 percent while cutting his strikeouts to 17.4 percent. He is for real.

The Braves have accumulated quite the collection of starters this season. Tim Hudson is back from surgery and has been solid. They now have Derek Lowe, Javier Vazquez, Hudson, Tommy Hanson, Jair Jurrjens and Kenshin Kawakami all pitching effectively. They have a couple of holes on offense primarily in the outfield. I have a solid hunch that Heyward will take over in right field next season. Could the Braves trade a starter for a left fielder or first baseman this winter?

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