Laika

* were they Dominicans lrn2english

I went to school with a couple of guys who had full beards at 13. You're being racist. Go f*** a goat!

I work probably within 20 minutes of where I'm pretty sure that he lives. I should just show up at his house tomorrow with a case of Blue, a bottle of Forty Creek, and a really weak offer in my back pocket for 10 drinks after hello.

Sammy and I could have easily split this week 7-7 with how close some of the categories are. The Turkey Bacon Club and Monte Cristo divisions are absolute dog fights this year... the other two... um, not so much.

Has Spanky responded to anyone's offers yet?

Prove it?

Another really exciting Vancouver kid is Miguel Castro. 6'5", throws gas, and putting up those numbers? Yes please

He's certainly ticking off a lot of the "should I get excited about a prospect?" boxes. ~ Very good age vs. level - check. (18 yrs, 5 months in A-, where the average age is around 21 yo). ~ With a .326 AVG this year and a .296 career AVG, it looks like he has a hit tool. So 'check' that. ~ His strikeout rate isn't concerning in any way and his walk rate is decent, so the approach looks at least decent. ~ 48 of his career 109 MiLB hits have been of the extra base variety. Career MiLB ISO of nearly .200. So "pop" = check. ~ Running enough to show that he could have plus speed. ~ He's still playing all of his games at SS, which might mean something. Most scouts don't give him any chance of sticking there, but if he could stick at 2B it would mean a lot for his chances of becoming a guy. Preseason Jason Parks: 7. Franklin Barreto Position: SS DOB: 02/27/1996 Height/Weight: 5’9” 174 lbs Bats/Throws: R/R Drafted/Acquired: International free agent, 2012, Venezuela Previous Ranking: On The Rise 2013 Stats: .204/.259/.333 at rookie level Bluefield (15 games), .299/.368/.529 at complex level GCL (44 games) The Tools: 5 potential hit; 5 potential power; 6 arm; 6 run What Happened in 2013: In his professional debut, the seven-figure Latin American signing was dynamic in the Gulf Coast League and finished the season as a 17-year-old in the Appalachian League. Strengths: Plus athlete; excellent hand-eye coordination; barrels the ball at the plate; hands are extremely impressive; good strength for present body; line drive stroke; hit tool could end up being plus; power could play to average; arm is plus; run is plus; impact potential talent. Weaknesses: Still raw in all aspects on the game; reactive see-ball/hit-ball approach; will chase and lose his setup; arm is strong but wild; actions aren’t smooth at short; glove unlikely to stick at short. Overall Future Potential: High 6; first-division/all-star Realistic Role: High 4; utility player/below-average regular Risk Factor/Injury History: High risk; short-season resume Bret Sayre’s Fantasy Take: He’s forever away, but Barreto has the raw ingredients to be a strong fantasy middle infielder (assuming he stays there). In what categories that future upside materializes is yet to be determined, but he makes for an interesting flier regardless. The Year Ahead: Barreto showed off his tools—especially his ability to put his bat on the ball—in his debut, and emerged as a legit professional prospect and not just an expensive amateur signing. Huge gap between present and future, and you will be hard pressed to find a source that likes his glove enough to project him at the position to the highest level. But he has more than enough arm for third and more than enough athleticism for the outfield, so the Jays have options should a move be required in the coming years. A return trip to the Appalachian League will be in order for Barreto, and given his precocious talent, this is must-see scouting in 2014.

Zen Bobrist!

Wow, I just realized how disappointing Xander Boogers has been, on both sides of the ball. I thought he was holding his own with a solid OBP.

Anyways, you can get blue in the face over-analyzing stuff like that about specific players. As anyone like Lichtman or Tango would say, "season-to-date performance only matter insofar as it affects ROS projections".

He had a .372 OBP in March but only had two homers in 22G when he strained his oblique and hit the DL. Since then he hasn't hit for AVRIDGE at all. To give an idea of whether or not a lot of it is a BABIP issue: GB/.138/.237 LD/.591/.724 FB/.109/.138 Bunts/.1000/.376 (only 2 events) Left # is Davis' BABIP on each event, right # is league average. If his oblique is still nagging and he's not swinging hard, I guess it could conceivably cause BABIP issues, but that's obviously a stretch.

But I don't even know where to find xBABIP. Does any site list it? I'm sure it's easily calculable based on LD/FB/GB/PO ratios, but that doesn't sounds very fun.

You're just mad because you never beat me h2h. Apparently Davis has a ~.350 xBABIP against his .260 actual BABIP. It doesn't explain the power drop, but take that FWIW.

If he wouldn't be the best, then he's essentially worthless.

Interesting organizational rule... you'd at least hope that it has some convincing information behind it (medical, biomechanical, injury risk, pitchFX, etc.), and it's not just some random limit pulled from the pea-brain of some dinosaur in the FO. If the risk of sudden injury is significantly higher in young pitchers after 30 consecutive pitches without rest, then we should be all for the rule.

He looked like a pretty sexy piece at this point last year. Lots of young arms hit year-long bumps in the road...

I'd be pretty pleased with a Headley get. Shouldn't cost too much at this point and Toronto could certainly use a buy-low IF bat with upside. How aboot a Headley + Benoit + Kennedy package? Haha.

Beeston. I believe (not necessarily firmly) that a lot of what ails the Blue Jays FO drips top-down from betwixt the crossed legs of this old coot.

Biggest surprise: Jake Arrieta Biggest disappointment: Danny Salazar Between these two dick-bags, I probably have the biggest SP disappointment and the biggest SP surprise of 2014. I guess it kind of cancels out. Salazar's peripherals are still pretty f***ing intriguing, and I don't think 80 innings in 2014 is enough to say "hur durr he's too hittable". It might be a small fix that he'll be able to make, and/or he might just be getting stupid unlucky. Biggest MiLB surprise: Stroman, Harvey, Renfroe, Manaea, and Nick Williams haven't really surprised but they've done virtually everything I could have realistically hoped they would this year. Getting Raimel Tapia at the end of the first round this summer was also a nice surprise. Biggest MiLB disappointment: I was bummed when the Yankees gave up on Jose Ramirez as a starting pitcher.

A rebuilding team could have Anthony Ranaudo for very little. Ex., we swap 3rd round picks.

Looks like I have the best farm out of any 100-win, division leading team! #TopOrg #1Org

I was sitting here thinking about offering my 2nd + more for a Jerko buy low, with Wright still missing time. Damn.

Havok gives Anibal, Holland, and pick 66 for Zunino, Cishek, and JBJr. Ouch

Nvm, was someone else