King

Pompey starts around the 40 minute mark of the video.

Cool, gonna have to re-watch this.

Yes, +1. David Rollins is semi-interesting too. He put up a good season in AA for the Astros last year and was taken by the Mariners in the rule 5 draft in December. 2011 Jays Draftee!

Justin Nicolino blows.

Tyler Gonzales was a 60th overall pick, received $750k. That's a significant investment, and not to be ignored because he was never a "top prospect". He's a bust.

Deck McGuire, Tyler Gonzales

Cubs getting in on this?

Elliotte Friedman @FriedgeHNIC · 2h2 hours ago 1) A few notes from Saturday headlines: Evander Kane had his shoulder surgery today...word is nothing found that extends timeline of return Elliotte Friedman @FriedgeHNIC · 2h2 hours ago 2) Don't be surprised if some teams who are out of the playoff race/don't need Kane now (but are interested in his services) see if they... Elliotte Friedman @FriedgeHNIC · 2h2 hours ago 3) can get something done before teams who are in it to win it can afford to make a trade. Could see the likes of BUF, PHI maybe OTT trying. Elliotte Friedman @FriedgeHNIC · 2h2 hours ago 4) Also hearing PHI could be moving someone from its overcrowded blueline soon.... Elliotte Friedman @FriedgeHNIC · 2h2 hours ago 5) @DamoSpin reports TOR expected to be very busy at deadline with no extensions close on Franson/Santorelli/Winnik and talk about Bozak. Elliotte Friedman @FriedgeHNIC · 2h2 hours ago 6) Our tennis correspondent also reports Dave Nonis (in Nashville and TB this week) remains GM through deadline, doing much of the legwork

Picture is over 4 years old, the article says.

This seems like an interesting book, for anyone who's interested in prospects (like I am). Found it from the author (72 followers lol) twitter bio. Called "Five-Plus Tools: The Past, Present, and Future of Baseball through the Eyes of a Scout" http://www.amazon.ca/Five-Plus-Tools-Present-Baseball-through/dp/1613216521 “Five-Plus Tools” is a scouting term that refers to a rare and elite type of amateur baseball prospect. A player with five-plus tools grades out well above average in all five skill areas, known as tools: hitting, power, running, throwing, and fielding. While most baseball fans critique players who are already on the professional level, a scout needs to find raw talent and figure out if they’re the “future.” In Five-Plus Tools, Dave Perkin, who was a professional scout and is currently the Major League Baseball Draft correspondent for Sports Illustrated, breaks down not only what all scouts are looking for, but also how amateur players are evaluated and recognized. Broken up into three sections, Perkin teaches the inner details of amateur scouting, using field reports on athletes he’s scouted over the years. Once the understanding of what a scout looks for is understood, Perkin delves into the current major leaguers and gives scouting insight on their game, skills, and influence on the sport. Finally, the hot-button issues in baseball are covered, including such points as Sabermetrics, baseball analysis, and an explanation of why few of yesterday’s heroes could succeed in modern baseball. ------ "This is as good a Scouting 101 book as you will find, for both casual and diehard fans who are unfamiliar what goes on in the trenches. Other scouts have tried writing books in the past but, quite honestly, few of them are literate and most paint an unrealistic picture. They simply romanticize their profession and peers. As a former MLB scout myself, I see where Dave Perkin is telling things that others don't want to; being a good friend of Perkin's over the years, I have seen many of them first hand. The book lives up to the title, sprinkled in are his views on a number of baseball issues and anecdotes of his run-ins with interesting figures like Wayne Gretzky and Frank Robinson. He gives controversial, but certainly informed, insight into how players of past eras would perform today including his opinion that the vaunted 1927 New York Yankees would go 0-162 if they were transplanted in time to 2014. (Yes, he said that!). Perkin is also dead honest with his dissenting opinion on the trends of baseball, namely the hiring of numbers people over baseball people for scouting and front office jobs. In full disclosure, I was interviewed for this book. If you know me, you may be able to pick out which bitter scout experience story is mine. (The first one talked about in that chapter, the scout who had the national supervisor who wouldn't let us consider drafting Justin Verlander with the first overall pick because "he couldn't get anybody out"." http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18210979-five-plus-tools

http://www.canadianbaseballnetwork.com/articles/didier-signs-bcs-stephens-jays-contract/ John Stephens is a diamond in the rough. That was the description longtime scouting legend and Toronto Blue Jays senior advisor and pro scout Mel Didier got from his son Bob Didier about the 21-year-old outfielder. Stephens didn’t come with much baseball experience, but he had a quick bat with some pop and Bob felt he was worth taking a look at. After taking in a few of his workouts, and bringing Toronto scout Bob Fontaine in for a second opinion, the elder Didier and the Blue Jays signed the native of Surrey, BC to a minor-league contract, making it official on Sunday. “He can swing the bat,” Didier said. “He’s got great bat speed and the ball jumps off his bat real good; better than most kids. Having not played a lot, we took one of our ex-professional pitchers and we threw him against [stephens] and he held his own.” Stephens played during his high school days at Earl Marriott High School in Surrey, but he left early to help take care of his mother who http://www.canadianbaseballnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/stephens-pic.jpg had fallen ill. When he did complete his secondary schooling, he moved on to a community college before once again leaving to assist his mother, who has since recovered. Between then and now, his baseball resume appears to draw a blank, searches only resulting in his British Columbia Premier Baseball League player page with statistics from 11 games with the Vancouver Cannons almost four years ago. But Stephens is playing now, and he first met Bob Didier when the former big-league catcher made a trip up north last summer to work with a group of local players in Vancouver. Bob is currently running baseball schools and passing on his knowledge of the game to the next generation, and his trip up north was to do just that. A group of those same players ventured out to Phoenix, Az., for continued instruction in the fall, just before American Thanksgiving in November. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound righty was one of them, and he made enough of an impression on the former backstop that Bob made his first call to his father. “He worked out with Bob and about the third day he had worked outside Bob calls me and he said, ‘You ought to come by and see this guy,’” Didier said. “’He can really swing the bat.’ He said, ‘He hasn’t played much baseball. He’s sort of a diamond in the rough.’ That’s what he called him… “He had not played baseball because his mother was very ill and he left high school before his senior year, when he was about 17 years of age. He took care of her, quit school and all of that…He hasn’t played a lot of baseball. He’s very inexperienced but he does have an outstanding bat.” In Mel Didier’s initial look, he was impressed. It wasn’t enough to keep him from walking away that afternoon in the fall, but it was enough to make him think twice about Stephens. “I went out and I looked at him playing and I watched him, and then the Canadian kids went home,” Didier said. “And I got to thinking about it. I’ve signed a thousand [plus] guys…and I was walking away from a guy who can really swing the bat. The most difficult thing to do in the game is to find good hitters. I thought this guy has a chance.” Bob informed his father that Stephens was going to be back in the Grand Canyon State after Christmas for five or six days, so if he wanted to take another look, he could. Mel did just that, and brought local scout Fontaine with him this time. “Lo and behold, he was exactly what I thought of him,” Didier said. “He can really swing the bat. Now, this was batting practice…[but] he has a really quick bat. He’s like a young boy coming out of high school because of his lack of playing experience; playing time. So I looked at him again and I got one of our other scouts, Bob Fontaine, who lives here, to come over and watch him. “He said, ‘We ought to sign him.’ We have nothing to lose – he’s a Canadian kid, he looks like he’s got a good attitude, he’s got good size, he swings the bat really well – so we’ll bring him to spring training, let him stay with the young kids and just play games every day…and then we’ll decide where he goes and what he’ll do. But we’re going to try to let him get game experience and that’s the biggest thing.” Stephens will get an early start at spring training, reporting to Toronto’s mini-camp beginning on Feb. 26. Usually reserved for more high-level prospects, the outfielder’s appearance at the camp is just to get him more time on the diamond heading into spring training and then extended spring training. “He’s going to the mini-camp as a favour to me because I want to try to give him as much experience [as possible],” Didier said. “I want to give him the experience of being there with the guys we have, learning something about the game, what it’s all about, the meetings you hold, the talk about the game itself, the actual coaching and techniques; all of that.” The veteran scout is looking forward to seeing what his latest sign will be able to do, and how much progression he can make over a full season of baseball. And then, who knows? “I like his attitude; I like his hitting ability,” Didier said. “But of course, a lot will depend on how much he can absorb from spring training through next August, and that’s why we signed him… “We hope that John makes it. It’d be a storybook kind of thing.” --------------------------- lol

Jays signed a random dude (literally) from BC named John Stephens Toronto Blue Jays Signed: RHP Tiago Da Silva (Carmen (Mexican)), LHP Luis Perez, SS Ramon Santiago, OF John Stephens (NDFA—Marriott HS, Surrey, B.C.) Traded: LHP Tyler Ybarra to Rockies for LHP Jayson Aquino A 29-year-old native of Brazil, Tiago Da Silva played in the Italian Baseball League from 2008 through 2013, only latching on in the Mexican League last year. He had a huge year with Carmen, though, winning ML reliever of the year honors after ranking second with 29 saves and finishing among the league’s elite bullpen arms with 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings, 1.2 walks per nine and a .197 opponent average. Da Silva doubled up on that dominating performance by leading the Venezuelan League in both strikeout (11.1) and walk (0.9) rates with Caracas. A 37-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio will get you noticed. Strictly speaking, 21-year-old British Columbia outfielder John Stephens isn’t a nondrafted free agent out of high school. We just don’t know exactly what he’s been up to since then, but he apparently has “very little baseball experience.” At some point, Stephens appeared on a roster in the B.C. Premier Baseball League. Alexis Brudnicki‏@baseballexis #BlueJays add another Canuck to list of off-season acquisitions, signing 21-year-old John Stephens from Surrey, BC to minor-league contract. Alexis Brudnicki ‏@baseballexis Feb 6 John Stephens is a 6'1", 195 outfielder with very little baseball experience, called a "diamond in the rough" by signing scout Mel Didier. Alexis Brudnicki ‏@baseballexis Feb 6 @Minor_Leaguer Same guy, still an outfielder. Hasn't played much, however. Story coming to @CDNbaseball!

PG Game Report too http://www.perfectgame.org/Articles/View.aspx?article=10880

http://www.bluejaysmessageboard.com/members/1429-I_sucked_off_BTSs_mom GD stop

Buster Olney ‏@Buster_ESPN 1m1 minute ago One official involved in the Shields bidding does not expect the final numbers will be as high as $80 million/4 yrs. We'll see.

misleading thread title

Matthew Chabot seems like quite the stud

Damn

Jets are in a good close game with the Blackhawks if you deprived Leafs fans want to watch entertaining hockey

Goldeyes traded Reggie Abercrombie (OF) today... Maybe clearing a spot for King Kal? http://goldeyes.com/abercrombie-dealt-to-sussex-county/ lol

http://i.imgur.com/oQrZMIZ.jpg

http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/62063556.jpg

Speculation here has it that this isn't the first incident Kane has had with the team this season, things probably boiled over, it's pretty obvious the rest of the team is frustrated with him based on whats come out. Being on a 4 or 5 game losing streak probably didn't help matters. As for the surgery, the team made him see a doctor when he got back in Winnipeg (thats why he missed practice on Thursday). Probably best for both sides if he gets the f*** out of here and is traded in the offseason at the draft or something like that.

Kyle Anderson, who used to be in the Jays org. almost strictly with Vancouver signed with the Goldeyes last offseason, so that was pretty cool. He only made about 4 or 5 starts and then got signed by the Diamondbacks. I saw one of them, dat 85 MPH fastball. Looks like he signed here again after getting released by the Diamondbacks in September.

I acquired Shane Greene in the BBDL for Martin Prado