TheHurl

The Phils owner David Montgomery interview "I had no idea that Amaro Jr. could make me poor, but he has pics of me with a crack whore so making changes isn't possible"

The Tigers. Not to mention the Cubs aren't afraid to pursue and overpay top free agents. I think $35M comes off the books next year which brings them below $60M for a team that has been as high as $145M.

there is too much competition for the 1.

Where is everyone's limit on acquiring a Headley type. Stroman Norris Sanchez Pompey Nay Osuna DJ Davis Alford Low A or below guys with some upside Nolin Jimenez Burns Low A guys without as much upside Deck Dantzler Schimpf For me it's somewhere around Osuna/DJ Davis and below...but I think we can somehow get him for less.

He more than micro-managed and was hands on. He let his political views and personal opinions ruin the team. He fought with players, coaches, management and the board.

http://www.bluejaysmessageboard.com/threads/3505-The-Best-Midseason-Prospects-Top-50-Baseball-Prospectus

Kris Bryant says hello. His K-rate is concerning too...his swing lacks the loft of a Gallo but he swings pretty damn hard. I see him hitting 45 2B's along with his 35+ HR's. Whereas Gallo is much more likely to hit 45 HR's

Hendricks and Straily as short term back end types. Edwards and Johnson as high end potential. Tseng and Torrez as wildcards. It's certainly not bare and they have stuff to trade still.

Like Harold Ballard for the Leafs

emume • 24 minutes ago Was Aaron Sanchez still within discussion? JJCooperBA Mod emume • 19 minutes ago Absolutely. Early permutations had him on the list. But concerns about poor control and very poor command in the end knocked him off...would have easily made the list if it went 75 deep.

An upgrade is an upgrade. Defense is a shade behind Lawrie since 2012 but still a top 10 3B defensively. Projected to be worth 1.4 fWAR for the rest of the season and moving to a much better situation. He doesn't hit lefties as well as righties so it doesn't solve a match up problem that the Jays have

With quick snip write-ups Rk. Player Pos. Team The Skinny 1 Byron Buxton of Twins Wrist injury has ruined his season, but his long-term potential remains unblemished. 2 Kris Bryant 3b Cubs Power has been just as advertised, while his defense has been better than expected. 3 Carlos Correa ss Astros Broken leg has to heal, but he was ready for Double-A when the injury occurred. 4 Joey Gallo 3b Rangers Gallo’s swing and plate discipline have improved while the power has always played. 5 Addison Russell ss Cubs Missed half the year with a hamstring problem; remains an elite all-around shortstop prospect with his new team 6 Francisco Lindor ss Indians Rare safe and elite prospect as a plus defender who can hit at the top of the order. 7 Javier Baez ss Cubs Long-term potential is still as an elite regular, but he has to moderate his swing-from-the-heels approach. 8 Jon Gray rhp Rockies Hasn’t dominated as much as scouts would like, but has refined his changeup. 9 Miguel Sano 3b Twins Won’t play this season due to Tommy John surgery, so he can commiserate with Buxton. 10 Dylan Bundy rhp Orioles Stuff is bouncing back post-Tommy John surgery, and he should be full speed in 2015. 11 Lucas Giolito rhp Nationals Possesses some of the best pure stuff in the minors, just needs to refine it and stay healthy. 12 Archie Bradley rhp Diamondbacks Elbow injury slowed him, but his stuff is back; now he just needs to improve his command. 13 Julio Urias lhp Dodgers Precocious 17-year-old with plus stuff and advanced feel is dominating high Class A hitters. 14 Blake Swihart c Red Sox Better bat potential, improved defense have made Swihart the game’s best catching prospect. 15 Henry Owens lhp Red Sox Pitched a rain-shortened no-hitter on Opening Day, and he has remained nearly unhittable ever since. 16 Corey Seager ss Dodgers He’s not a shortstop, but as a sweet-swinging lefty with power, he’ll be fine at third base. 17 Austin Hedges c Padres Still an excellent catching prospect, but as with many catchers, his bat is catching up to his glove. 18 Joc Pederson of Dodgers Power/speed prospect will force the Dodgers to clear room for him—or trade him—before long. 19 Noah Syndergaard rhp Mets Las Vegas + elbow problems + banged up shoulder have slowed the progress of the Mets’ top prospect. 20 Robert Stephenson rhp Reds Mediocre season for 21-year-old who needs to develop more consistent command. 21 Tyler Glasnow rhp Pirates Will the control get better? Hitters hope it doesn’t because they can’t hit him. 22 Raul A. Mondesi ss Royals At some point production trumps potential, but as an 18-year-old in the Carolina League he oozes potential. 23 J.P. Crawford ss Phillies Four shortstops in the top 10 will be graduating before long, and Crawford looks ready to take their place. 24 Jameson Taillon rhp Pirates Another Tommy John casualty who has to wait till 2015 to return to pitching. 25 Daniel Norris lhp Blue Jays Nice combo: lefty with three potential plus pitches (fastball, slider, change) and an average curve. 26 Kyle Zimmer rhp Royals Scouts around baseball love him when he pitches, but they sure want to see him get on a mound. 27 Jose Berrios rhp Twins Berrios has always had good feel, but his stuff just keeps getting better to go along with it. 28 David Dahl of Rockies Last year’s disciplinary demotion is old news as Dahl shows he can be a power-hitting center fielder. 29 Jesse Winker of Reds Bat-first outfielder is one of the better pure hitters in the minors and has excellent power potential. 30 Kohl Stewart rhp Twins Yes, Stewart has frontline stuff, but his advanced feel and smooth delivery are just as impressive. 31 Hunter Harvey rhp Orioles Hit a June hiccup, but his combination of plus fastball and plus curveball have blitzed the South Atlantic League. 32 Alex Meyer rhp Twins He’ll likely always have command issues, but Meyer’s fastball/slider combo is enough if he just throws strikes. 33 Arismendy Alcantara 2b Cubs Hard not to like an athletic middle infielder who can play short in a pinch and has power and speed. 34 Luis Severino rhp Yankees Yankees’ breakout prospect is a long way from big leagues but has three potential above-average pitches. 35 Josh Bell of Pirates In the year of the prospect injury, Bell is a rare example of a prospect returning to health and improving. 36 Braden Shipley rhp Diamondbacks Athletic pitcher with above-average fastball and changeup has a delivery that allows him to repeat consistently. 37 Nick Kingham rhp Pirates He’s not flashy, but with a repeatable delivery, solid stuff and some feel, he fits as a mid-rotation arm. 38 Jimmy Nelson rhp Brewers There are few healthy pitchers in the upper minors with stuff and results this year, and Nelson leads the way. 39 Hunter Dozier 3b Royals Surprise top-10 pick last year doesn’t look so surprising now, with bat and defense to profile at third base. 40 Kevin Plawecki c Mets Mets might have a tough choice between catchers Travis d’Arnaud and Plawecki down the road. 41 Matt Wisler rhp Padres Improved changeup has helped him against lefties, which was his biggest to-do item. 42 Clint Frazier of Indians Season has been less than one would hope for a top-five draft pick, but he has shown flashes in his first full year. 43 Austin Meadows of Pirates Sound familiar? A Pirates prospect whose season has been ruined by injury. 44 Aaron Blair rhp Diamondbacks Big righthander has improved his curveball to go along with lively fastball and excellent changeup. 45 Jorge Alfaro c Rangers Amazing tools, but he still has a lot of refinement ahead; his receiving in particular is inconsistent. 46 D.J. Peterson 3b/1b Mariners He’s not a third baseman long-term, but Peterson has a short stroke that provides hits and power. 47 Dalton Pompey of Blue Jays Toolsy center fielder’s bat has caught up to rest of his tools in a breakout start in the Florida State League. 48 Brandon Nimmo of Mets Nimmo keeps adding size and strength, and his excellent idea of the strike zone remains his foundation skill. 49 Stephen Piscotty of Cardinals Fast-moving outfielder gets lost in Oscar Taveras’ shadow, but his hit tool is impressive as well. 50 Maikel Franco 3b Phillies As great as Franco’s first half was last year, he has been equally poor this year; long-term outlook remains bright.

While Pompey's ranking is impressive I've talked about this before with BA. They move up a few guys 20 to 30 spots to get them somewhere in the 40 to 50 range to say they are the first to rank the player. Safe to say if he keeps up his current numbers he'll be around this range at the beginning of next season but if he slips at all he'll be around 70 to 75. Plawecki, and Aaron Blair are the same thing. It's part of the reason they don't include guys like Betts, Taveras, Polonco that would easily still be eligible. I think it was GD that said something like Norris is way more valuable than Severino. Seems like if the Cubs were asking for Severino for Valbuena it's not that unreal to think a 2B is going to cost us Pompey or Norris.

I think I've watched full one since 1991. But probably parts of most of them.

last 30 days Jays 9-19, Rays 17-12 (17 and 8 in the last 25)...uh oh! Anyone remember last July? Date the Rays pass the Jays??? I'll say August 24th.

Does BP not include MLB players or did they leave off Betts?

They have one, maybe two starters I'd trust and they are going to keep him on a pitch count all year. Their top 3 in the pen are all on pace for 75+ innings (Britton on pace for 90) and if they drop back to reality along with the the starters taking a step towards their peripherals (xFIP 4.40) I can see the pitching approaching the worst in the majors. If they stay healthy all year I can see the O's hovering between 2 and 7 games over .500 and that might be good enough to win but this is not a great team. Steve Pearce who I suggested the Jays go for in the off season as he would have been a perfect fit here (only a Davis injury eventually cost him being here, blocking what would have been AA's best move of the season)...but he can't keep hitting righties at this pace (OPS'ing a full 200 points higher than his career rates). Even with a hot Pearce, the O's offense is probably equal with the Jays and without a significant deal their pitching is way behind. There is so little about this team that is legit in my mind.

It's funny how some fans just assume that a team will lose every game while Lawrie and EE are out. This is still a weak division and should remain that way all season. Headley improves this team...may as well do it depending on the price.

As always I hate BP's pitcher rankings...like their batter rankings.

It's so hard to say...get rid of AA and keep Beeston and he's going to hire one of the idiot former GM's who are in AA's ear anyway. Fire Beeston and not AA we are still not going to get well thought out value moves and have to go through more waiver wire moves and home run trade attempts. I voted AA because I figure Beeston's liver only has a couple more years of functioning anyway.

Randy Johnson light...

not sure if this belongs here or in around baseball but it must be seen.

Amanda would never do Japan.

Full no trade.

yep last year it was pitching depth by keeping so many relievers around and having all those spots used up for pitchers out for the season...this year it was offense. No one expects injury replacements to match a Lawrie, EE or Bautista when out...but at least they should have some sort of role on the team (defensively, handedness split, multiple positions) all most smart fans asked for was a couple win starting 2B to push Macier into that multi position role and Goins to the minors where he can maybe add some semblance of a hit tool. Handedness wasn't addressed well having Francisco, Lind and Rasmus not being able to hit lefties and Gose as one of the replacements not able to hit them either. Tolleson has been a handedness surprise but he'd have more value to this team as a depth guy if we had a real 2B.