Meet the Newest Tiger

Jeff Larish (1B, DET) -As Gary Sheffield heads to the DL, the Tigers have recalled the 25 year-old left-handed hitter. Larish, a 5th round pick in the '05 draft, has plus power and uses good bat speed and an uppercut swing to generate that power. While he can get pull-conscious, he does have all-fields power - he hit a career-high 28 HR in Double-A in '07. He also is willing to wait for his pitch and take a high number of walks. Despite his patient approach, he's only a career .267 hitter (.387 OBP, .511 SLG). Larish is a good defender at 1B with soft hands and an average arm. He has played some LF in the past, though he's stuck at 1B for all of '08. He will strike out due to poor plate coverage, but his power is good enough that he could land a starting role down the line.
STATS: Toledo (AAA) - 190 AB, .274/.369/.589, 10 2b, 16 HR

Source: BaseballHQ

Price beats Pedro

David Price is about to jump back into the ultra prospect status with this performance and with Bruce and Kershaw in the majors. He out dueled Pedro last night and he did it in grand fashion going 6 innings giving up only 2 hits striking out 9 and surrendering no walks or ERs. Pedro wasn't bad either going 6 giving up 4 hits 2 ER while striking out 6. Attached is the link to the cover story on http://www.milb.com/ about his performance. I will continue to provide updates on his outings throughout the season.


http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080529&content_id=405285&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp

Future vs. Past

Tonight in Vero Beach, Fl David Price will be pitching against Pedro. Pedro is rehabbing with Port St. Lucie. Price, 6'6 225lbs, who was the #1 pick in 2007 by the Rays has the potential to be a #1 at the MLB level. He was drafted out of HS by the Dodgers but he elected to attend Vandy instead (smart move because he signed one of the biggest contracts in the draft's history 3 years later). In his final year, which was his Jr. yr) at Vandy he was 11-1 with a 2.63 ERA and 194 Ks in 133 IP. He was a Golden Spikes finalist piled on many post season awards. He was shut down early this season from elbow soreness but he has made 1 start in which he earned the victory going 5 innings striking out 4 with 0 ER and walking 1. I don't have enough data on Price to look at trends in his performance but the Rays, who are stacked at pitching, will not rush Price to the majors and he will only benefit from the extra time in the minors. Price is currently owned by Sperl. I will provide an update from this outing after the game is final

Bruce Delievers

The much anticipated MLB debut of Jay Bruce lived up to the hype last night. Bruce went 3-3 with 2 singles and double with 2 BBs 2 RBIs, 2 Runs and a SB (12 Roto points). More importantly, he didn't have a K because his patience at the plate is his only negative to date. If you guys play in any other leagues and he is available, #1) that league is terrible and #2) pick him up ASAP. With Bruce making his debut and Cueto on the mound, the Reds only pulled 18,000 fans. Cueto got a cheap win and he didn't look as good as his line would indicate. He let up a bunch of hard hit FB and was on the right side of some great defense when Griffey threw out a runner trying to stretch out a double. The pitcher was up next and would have bunted to move the runner to third but with nobody on he struck out to end the inning. The following inning they hit for Cueto and then Dunn hits a ball that landed in Pittsburgh to give the Reds the lead. If you have any interest in MLB prospects the Reds are a great team to follow. I have attached a link to the 2 major newspaper in Cincy so you can get a feel for the hype that surrounds Bruce.

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=SPT04

http://www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/index/sports/pro/reds/index.html

Surging and Struggling Prospects

Rotoworld's Nate Stephens looked at the prospects that are helping and hurting their status that most through 30% of the minor league season complete:

Prospects Surging
#1 Matt Gamel-3B MIL
#2 Trevor Cahill- RHP Oak
#3 Jeremy Hellickson- RHP Rays
#4 Sean Doolittle- 1B Oak
#5 Thomas Hanson- RHP Alt
#6 Madison Bumgarner- LHP SF
#7 Jaime Garcia- LHP STL
#8 Ian Stewart- 3B COL
#9 Jake Arrieta- RHP BALT
#10 Max Ramirez- C TEX

Prospects Struggling
#1 Colby Rasmus- OF STL
#2 Steven Pearce- OF/1B PIT
#3 Eric hurley- RHP TEX
#4 Jose Tabata- OF NYY
#5 Matt Antonelli- 2B SAN
#6 Brent Lillbridge- SS Braves
#7 Reid Brignac- SS Rays
#8 Gio Gonzalez- LHP OAK
#9 Aaron Thompson- LHP FLA
#10 Brett Sinkbell- RHP FLA

It's Official: Bruce & Kershaw are Here

The Dodgers called up Kershaw and he pitched on Sunday against the Cardinals. His line had him with 2 ER but that really isn't the case because James Loney lost a ball in the sun and that runner ended up scoring. You are not awarded a error if you lose the ball in the sun. I watched his start and his fastball was around 94-97 mph and his curveball is straight nasty. He faces the Mets on Friday and I predict he will have a good outing due to the Mets having so many lefties in the line-up and the fact that they blow. After Kershaw has a couple of more starts I will revist my new 20 year old man crush with a player profile. The Dodgers stated that he is up for only 3 starts but I have a hard time believing that Schimdt will take his spot.

Jay Bruce begins his tenure in Cin this evening against Pittsburgh and most likely he will be playing out of position in CF. I can't imagine them sitting down Dunn or Griffey for an extended period of time. It is just about certain that Bruce will get the needed 130 ABS to enter the draft next season. This is going to make for an intreasting decision for Allied Powers.

Other notable call-ups:
Nick Evans Mets
Ian Stewart Col
Seth Smith Col

Updates

I mentioned that Cueto was throwing the wrong pitches and should shake off the catcher and throw what he feels comfortable with i.e. Fastballs. The Reds have told Cueto that he is not allowed to shake off a pitch during the game. Way to go Dusty!

There are rumblings that Jay Bruce and Kershaw are coming to the big leagues on Tuesday. I have a hard time thinking that Monday or Tuesday is not the Super 2 cut off date or the Reds' Brass is reading our Blog.

Volquez, Bruce, Cueto, Votto, and Bailey are a bunch of talented players that Dusty will atttempt to destroy.

Tune in tonight at 10:05 as Volquez takes on the Padres. If Volquez beans a fragile Padre I expect a major organ to rupture.

You Should Pay Attention to the Draft!

I know many, if not all of you except for Kyle, really don't pay attention the the MLB draft. I advise all of you to look at the results for the draft this season, June 5th-6th, because a handful of these young prospects will be future first round draft picks in our fantasy drafts. I was under the impression that it really doesn't matter who goes in the first round and if they are any good, they are years away from making a difference in the majors. Not so fast my friend! I have highlighted some picks from the 2001-2007 from the first round:

2001
#1 Mauer
#5 Teixeira

2002
#2 BJ Upton
#6 Prince Fielder
#9 Jeff Francis
#15 Kazmir
#16 Swisher
#17 Colbert Hamels
#25 Cain

2003
#1 Delmon Young
#7 Markakis
#19 Connor Jackson

2004
#2 Verlander
#12 Jered Weaver

2005
#1 Justin Upton
#2 Gordon
#4 Zimmerman
#5 Braun
#7 Tulo
#12 Jay Bruce

2006
#3 Longoria
#7 Kershaw
#10 Lincecum
#11 Max Scherzer
Note: BALT had the #9 pick and selected Billy Rowell

2007
#1 Price
#5 Wieters

As you can see the first round, especially 2005, generates serious fantasy value. You also need to look at the position that certain teams selected and how other prospects will fare. The best example of this is the fate of Reid Brignac (Naff), top SS prospect in Rays system and one of the top in all of MLB, because the Rays are 90% certain they will be taking Tim Beckham SS out of HS in Texas. I have attached a link to a Mock Draft from Baseball America and the link below it is an easy reference guide to all past drafts. I will make the second link one of our links of interest on the side bar.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/draft/mock-draft/2008/266117.html
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/history/draft/index.jsp

"Super 2 Rule" A.K.A. Evan Longoria Rule

The "Super 2" rule is the reason the Rays were going to leave Evan Longoria in the Minors until the beginning of June this season hadn't the team been hit with injuries. The official MLB rule is posted below but in simple terms, around the end of May to the the middle of June you are in the clear to bring up your fresh prospects and not have it count has a service year towards arbitration. Prospects that gain Super 2 status are eligible for salary arbitration in 2 years instead of 3. This is the reason why Ryan Howard inked a $10 Million dollar deal for the 2008 season with the Phils. The Phillies had to bring him up early because Thome had a bad back and went on the DL. This is a point of contention for Prince Fielder right now and this is probably his last season in MIL because they renewed his contract for this season at $650,000. People were comparing his situation the Howard's but it is a completely different situation because Fielder is not a Super 2 prospect unlike Howard. Fielder is eligible for arbitration after this season and his agent Scott Boras is licking his chops at the $ he will rake in on Fielder. Stud prospect Matt LaPorta(Kyle) would be in line to take over at 1st base if Fielder departs MIL.

This is the reason why we are not seeing Jay Bruce hitting balls out of Great American Ballpark yet. I was reading through the Dayton Daily News and found an article where Walt Jocketty, new GM of the Reds, stated he didn't know the exact date of the Super 2 prospect cutoff and he didn't want to bring Bruce if he wasn't going to play. WTF??? He better know the date because it is his job to know and let's be honest here Walt, Coery Patterson isn't exactly lighting the world on fire for you. Let's examine the player that in blocking Bruce:

AVG: .227
OBP: .272
SLG: .398
OPS: .670

A .272 OBP for your leadoff centerfielder? I have already profiled the stats of Bruce but here are some for a quick comparison:

AVG: .369
OBP: .397
SLG: .661
OPS: 1.058

Not really a close comparion and I understand that Patterson is facing much better pitchers, but the numbers for Bruce demonstrate that his underlying skills are way better then Patterson's. Bruce's SLG is only .009 points lower then Patterson's OPS (OBP + SLG).

Final Thoughts:
I really don't mind teams holding back players until they clear the Super 2 window but don't give lame ass excuses about not knowing the date or playing time issues. You will see more players making the trip from the Minors to the Bigs beginning in mid June.


On the official site of the MLBPA,
"A player with three or more years of service, but less than six years, may file for salary arbitration. In addition, a player can be classified as a "Super Two" and be eligible for arbitration with less than three years of service. A player with at least two, but less than three years of Major League service shall be eligible for salary arbitration if he has accumulated at least 86 days of service during the immediately preceding season and he ranks in the top 17 percent in total service in the class of Players who have at least two but less than three years of Major League service, however accumulated, but with at least 86 days of service accumulated during the immediately preceding season."

Pat's Prospect

Hayden Penn RHP BALT- Penn is the only prospect that Pat has in his farm system to date. Penn is from Santee, CA and stands at 6'3 200 lbs. The Orioles selected him in the 5th round of the 2002 draft and currently he is playing in the International League (AAA) for the Norfolk Tides. So far Penn has pitched in 9 games this season earning a record of 2-2 with an ERA of 5.20 in 53.2 IP. He has let up 58 hits, 31 ER, 8 HR, and has a KK:BB ratio of 30:21. Opponents are hitting .279 against him, righties hitting 3.12 and lefties hitting .240, but he is inducing 1.43 GB for every FB, which is a good sign when you are pitching in the AL East. His strike out numbers are down from 2007 but he he hasn't pitched enough innings to make a decision if he is going to project to be a strike-out pitcher at the next level. I think Penn is a little above average in a top tier pitching farm system. Baltimore has Albers, Olson, Liz, Patton (IR), and they are likely to select Brian Matusz with the 4th overall pick in this years draft. Barring any major injuries, Penn will not contribute significant innings in Camden Yards this season.

2007 Stats:
W-L: 2-2
ERA: 4.05
IP: 40
K: 42
BB: 11

Jay Bruce Update:

Last night Bruce went 3-3 with a Double, Triple, HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 0 K and 2 runs. This performance pushes his season average to .366 with a 1.060 OPS. Over the last ten games he is hitting a modest .611. If I were a Reds fan, I would be hoping for Griffey to hit his 600th and pack his shit for Seattle. I passed on him for Kershaw so this performance pains my soul.

Farm Update: Allied Powers

Jay Bruce OF REDS- The #1 ranked prospect in baseball, from Beaumont, TX, is living up to the hype thus far. Bruce is a left handed hitter was stands at 6'3 and weighs 205. This season he is hitting .352 with 8 doubles, 4 triples, and 7 HR. He is sporting an impressive .991 OPS and has 7 SB to go with his power numbers. He has been straight nasty over the last 10 games hitting .576 (19/33) with only 7 Ks to 4 walks. Plate discipline is the only negative you can find on Bruce as he has a 34:9 K:BB ratio this season. He kills both RHP and LHP equally with a .370 average against lefties and a .344 average against righties.

Bruce had a stellar year in 2007 as well:

.319 AVG 26 HR .962 OPS but he had 135 Ks with only 47 walks.

Many people think Griffey Jr. will get traded back to SEA after he hits his 600th HR in Cincy. There are too many marketing $ to trade him before that and once that happens Bruce may get the call to the bigs. The Reds have some really good young talent with Bruce, Volquez, Cueto, Votto, and Bailey.

Travis Snider OF TOR- Travis, #11 prospect in baseball, is trying to eat himself into a DH role, 5'11 and 245 lbs, but as of right now he is still an outfielder. His defense is such a liability right now that his offense has to be stellar for him to even think about the big leagues. Travis has had some off field issues in that he lost his mother in an auto accident on September 9 ,2007. He has self proclaimed "angry issues" stemming from the loss of his mother. He currently is playing in AA for the New Hampshire FisherCats in the Eastern League. He is a left handed power hitter who strikes out entirely too much. Currently he is hitting .225 with 8 HR, 19 RBI, and a OPS .765. He has a 56:19 K:BB ratio and has struck out in 40.6% of his ABs. This is his first experience with AA pitching and it will take time for him to adjust.

2007 stats:

He hit .313 with 16 HR and a .902 OPS. He had 129 K in 457 ABs (28.2%) with 49 BB.

I don't think there is any chance that we see him this season in Toronto

Jake McGee LHP TB- Jake is ranked as the #15 ranked prospect in baseball. He stands at 6'3 and weighs 190 lbs. He was raised in San Jose, Ca and currently is playing in AA for the Montgomery Biscuits of the Southern League. Tampa is loaded in their farm system with Price, McGee, and Wade Davis. They also have the first pick in this year draft and this is why Pedro Alvarez (3B Vanderbilt) will not be the fist pick as they locked up Longoria to a long-term deal. McGee is 3-2 with a 4.58 ERA in 35.1 IP. He has a solid KK:BB ratio at 36:16 and opponents are only hitting .217 against him. He much better in the wind up then out of the stretch with an ERA of .39 with the bases empty, ERA of 12.41 with runners on , and an ERA of 19.13 with runners in scoring position.

2007 stats:

175 Ks in 140 IP with a 3.15 ERA and only 39 BB.

The problem with McGee is that he is in a situation where he may be the 3rd best pitcher in the farm system but the Rays are very young in the starting rotation. Price is out with arm problems but he is due to come back soon. McGee is a long way off from the MLB unless he is traded as the Rays are now a contender.

Overall:

The Allied Pwers have the best hitting prospect in baseball and he is MLB ready. Snider is a high risk player who could pay huge dividends and McGee could be stuck in the system right now.

Spotlight is on Johnny Cueto

Johnny Cueto will be a topic of discussion for a long time and I want to provide the full story on Cueto. As we all know he was traded, along with Huff, by Korn to Lotocki for Roy Oswalt. So far Cueto has scored 63 Rotowire points, Oswalt has produced 71 points, and Huff is leading the pack with 105 points. Funny how the throw-in guy is leading the way, just like I predict that Jurrjens will be in the Beltran/McCann deal.

Johnny Cueto is a 22 year old RHP who was born on February 15, 1986 in San Pedro de Macoris, DR. He is listed at 5'10 and 183 LBS, but I have seen him pitch multiple times this season and he is probably closer to 5'8 then he is to 5'10.

So far this season Cueto stats look like this:
W: 2
L: 4
IP: 45.7
K: 46
BB: 11
ERA: 5.91
WHIP: 1.25
K/P: 9.1
K/BB: 4.2

Cueto has a very impressive K:BB ratio at 4.2 and his WHIP is manageable at 1.25. So the problem isn't throwing strikes but the strikes that he does throw are getting hit out of the yard (1.8 HR/9). He is much better out of the wind up then he is from the stretch as only 56% of the runners put on base by him are stranded. That is really low and that % should normalize closer to 70% for the season. That could bring a major improvement to his ERA, which is needed as the 5.91 ERA will not get you many W's. Righties are hitting .252 and lefties are hitting .275 against Cueto this season.

In a previous post (Jurrjens & Wang) I discussed the importance in keeping the ball out of the air as a pitcher. Cueto has allowed 46% of the balls hit against him to go into the air. This is a direct correlation to his high ERA. Keeping balls on the ground in even more important for him as he is playing in the band box called Great American Ballpark. The cautionary tale here is Cueto has performed much better at home then on the road with a 3.67 ERA at home and a 9.16 on the road. If he keeps allowing so many FBs at home his ERA will continue to suffer. He also likes day games 5.40 ERA vs night games 7.07 ERA

A very interesting fact was posted during the Reds/Mets game yesterday that Cueto has 35 swing and misses in his first 2 starts but only had 40 in his next 5 starts. Hitters are going to adjust more and more as they gain film and advanced scouting reports on his pitching.

Dusty Baker seems to be more carful with Cueto then he has with Volquez. Cueto has thrown a total of 729 pitches in 8 games, with only (1) 100+ pitch game, for an average of 91.1 pitches per outing while Volquez has thrown 5 straight 100+pitch games while throwing 709 pitches in 7 outing yielding an average of 101.2 pitches per game. Dusty even brought Volquez back into the game, during his last start, after 94 pitches and a 9 run lead after 6 innings. He finished the game with a carrer high of 118 pitches. I wanted to shove that toothpick right down Dusty's fat ass throat when I was watching the game. Cueto and Volquez (they played on the same team) both have logged innings in Winter Ball before the season. Cueto threw over 30 innings and went 4-1 with a 2.84 ERA. The DR Winter League could be the best baseball outside MLB. Those 30+ innings have to be accounted for when the Reds look at shutting him down, as they will becuase they will 45 games out of the wildcard. This is where Cueto has teamed up with Mario Soto, famed for having one of the best change-up ever. It seems like everytime Cueto had trouble they would bring up Soto from DR. Why not keep his ass up in Cincy for the whole year to work with Cueto and Volquez?

Cueto came into the season ranked as the #47 ranked prospect in baseball and #3 in the Reds orgainization behind Bruce and Homer. Before this season Cueto has only piched at total of 83 IP above A ball (Sarasota). Below is a breakdown of his career ML stats:
W: 14
L: 12
IP: 348.1
K: 357
BB: 82
ERA: 3.28
WHIP: 1.1o

After looking at these numbers you can undrerstand why he flew through the Reds organization at such an early age. He has a 170:34 K:BB ratio last season alone in the ML!

FINAL THOUGHTS
I think he has the stuff to remain in the roation this season and eventually the #2, behind Volquez. He needs to trust his stuff more and pound the strike zone with his fastball. His slider is the pitch that is getting hit out of the yard. I think the coaching staff that calls the pitches are dopes and Cueto needs to learn to shake his head left to right and throw his damn heater at anyime in the count. The best days are in the future for him and his owner.

Jair Jurrjens the next Wang?

The blog is not only for Minor League players but we will examine all young players that have the potential to become future first rounders. Lets look at the stats for the 22 year old Jair Jurrjens who came to Atlanta from Detriot in the Renteria trade.

Jair: W: 4 L: 2 IP: 44.3 K: 36 ERA: 2.84 WHIP: 1.08 BB/9: 2.8 K/9: 7.3
K/BB: 2.6 GB%: 53 FB%: 25 GB%: 22

Wang: W: 6 L: 0 IP: 45 K: 32 ERA: 3.00 WHIP: 1.13 BB/9: 2.6 K/9: 6.4
K/BB: 2.5 GB%: 54 FB%: 24 GB%: 23

GB%- % of balls hit that were ground balls
FB%- % of balls hit that were fly balls
LD%- % of balls hit that were line drives

Keeping the ball on the ground is key in maintaining a sub 3.50 ERA. The extreme example is Brandon Webb with a 63% GB rate so far this season. Wang is on the better team and will get more support from his offense but Jair will be a staple in the Braves pitching staff, along with Tommy Hanson (more on him later), for many years to come with Smoltz, Glavine, and Hampton on the way out.

Wang has never "caught on" with fantasy owners in our league until this season. I picked up Wang 2 years ago and traded him straight up to Naff for Nick Johnson (Howard was injured). Chad traded him to CO for the 2,678th pick in last years draft (Not sure what Chad gave Naff for him) while Chad actually started Zito this season!

Jair was involved in a deal this past week and it seems like Scott threw him in the McCann/Beltran deal to CO. Jair has the skills to become the best player in this trade and everything from his pitching stats to him being the "kicker" in a deal is very similar to Wang.

If you have any suggestions for topics please post on the forum or email futurefirstrounders@mail.com

New Detriot Outfielder

Jacque Jones was designated for assignment to make room for Matt Joyce. Let's look closer at his potential fantasy value:

Matt Joyce (OF, DET) Called up by the Tigers to platoon in LF with Marcus Thames after Detroit designated OF Jacque Jones for assignment. The LH hitter possesses slightly above averge power, predominantly to the pull field, with moderate bat speed. He lacks plate discipline and a consistent contact rate which should keep his BA suppressed. His average speed (4.2) is an asset in taking the extra base, but doesn't attempt many steals. The 23 year-old is an outstanding defensive outfielder with above average range and arm strength, making him capable of playing all three outfield positions. He will keep his platoon arrangement as long as he maintains a respectable OPS, as he hits at the bottom of the order.

STATS: 2008 Toledo (AAA) - 97 AB, .299/.367/.536, 6 2B, 5 HR, 2 SB

Source: Baseball HQ

Jo-Jo Earns Victory

Jo-Jo Reyes earned his first victory, of 2008, last night in an impressive outing against the Reds. This is the first Win for a Minor Leaguer in our new system. Congrats to Chad. Jo-Jo is not going to be a Minor Leaguer for long because Smoltz will be back as the closer so Jo-Jo could see a good amount of innings in the Atlanta rotation. Jo-Jo pitched 50+ innings last season for the Braves and registered a 6.22 ERA with a 1.678 WHIP. Lets look at his line:
5 IP
1 ER
4 Hits
3 BB
5 K

22 Rotowire Points

The big man threw 88 pitches but only 48 were for strikes. I would say over 95% of his pitches were fastballs that were ranging from 90 to 95 MPH. He threw only a couple change-ups, curveballs, and sliders. I bet his slider will develop into his "out" pitch. The only hitter that he didn't pump with fastballs was the left handed hitting Griffey Jr (Source: MLB GameDay). It is impressive that he only let up 4 hits while throwing so many fastballs but we was facing the Reds who for lack of a better term blow this year.

Yankees New Top Prospect

With Joba in the majors, Jose Tabata is now the prize prospect of the Yankee organization. He is a 19 year old right handed hitter out of Venezuela and plays all three OF positions. In A ball last season Tabata hit .308 with 5 HRs and 15 SB in 411 ABs. His power numbers were down due to a right hamate injury that required surgery. This season he was promoted to AA, Trenton Thunder, and currently he is hitting .198 with 13 RBI and 3 SBs. He has the same number of HRs as I do this year for the Thunder and his BB:K ratio is 10:23. When you throw this shit sandwich together you end up with a .297 OBP, .228 SLG and a .525 OPS (OBP + SLG). Hardly numbers that warrant the title of top prospect.

Jose's teammate and fellow outfielder, Austin Jackson, is the #2 prospect within the organization. With all the young pitching that filtered through the Yanks system recently (Joba, Kennedy, and Hughes), it is different seeing outfielders a top this list. These guys are not ready and 2009 seems like best case scenario with 2010 more likely.

This is the Yankees and these two guys will eventually be traded at the deadline for some washed up pitcher.

Jim's Prospects May 3, 2008

Jimbo has 2 members in his farm system in Wieters and Rasmus.

Wieters- See Photo on left. After being named the Carolina league Player of the Week on 4/14/08, he really cooled off. In his last 10 games he is only hitting .229 with 1 SB. He still is hitting a ridiculous .338 with 5 HR for the season. He is a switch hitter who can rake off both lefties and righties equally, .375 vs. left handed pitching and .328 vs. right handed pitching. Attention category players out there, he has a .986 OPS thus far. The one aspect of his game that hasn't come around yet is his speed. He has the potential to swipe 15 bags a season and he only has 1 SB this season with 1 CS. He can be compared to Russell Martin with more pop in his bat.

Rasmus- Every magazine loved him before this season and so far he has shit the bed. He is hitting a whopping .204 with a OBP of .310. He does have 5 HR but that only translates to 12 RBIs and a pathetic Slugging % of .361. He has 19 SO vs. 17 BB and with the performance of the St. Louis OF so far this season, it looks like Colby will spend the whole year in Memphis, barring any injuries, to fine tune his hitting. Interesting note: he bats left but hits lefties at .269 and righties .183. He has over 100 ABS already but you would expect those numbers to normalize as the season progresses.

Websites

I will continue to update the sidebar with useful links as I come across them. Please let me know if you use any useful Minor League sites (that is assuming that anyone else gives a shit).

First Inning- This website has links (right hand side of the website) to all the prospects in every organization.

Phuture Phillies- The site is dedicated to the Phillies organization exclusively.

Welcome

Gentlemen,

Since we are taking this league to another level, I have created this Blog to provide updates on everything Minor League Baseball. I will attempt to provide links to the best sites and provide my own anaylsis on given players throughout the season. I will begin posting updates on your farm systems this afternoon. If this turns out to be a dumb idea, then I will kill the blog and email everyone the updates. Lets not make this another rotowire forum but use this site to discuss and research the future prospects of fantasy baseball.

The email address for this site is FutureFirstRounders@gmail.com