10th Annual Futures Game

During the MLB All-Star festivities, the 10th annual futures game will be played at Yankee Stadium. There are not that many players from our farm systems in this game:

Laporta (Kyle)
Carrasco (Scott)
Fernando Martinez (Scott)
Henry Rodriguez (Naff)
Max Ramirez (Allied)

This game is formatted as US vs. The World and this is the first year that this game will be televised and go nine innings. Below is the link for the Baseball America Podcast discussing the Futures Game. You can also search Baseball America on ITunes for the podcast.


http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/media/podcasts/

Billy Beane Inks Inoa

I wrote back in early June (Link Below) about Michel Inoa and how large this 16 year old's signing bonus would be. The wait is over and the Redsox and the Yankees were out spent by a crazy margin as the Oakland A's have signed Inoa and gave him a $4.25 million signing bonus. This is the richest deal ever for an international amteur that is not from Cuba. Billy "Moneyball" Beane sees something huge in this kid and he is one of the best at finding hidden talent. He is only 16 and it will be years to see if this investment will benefit the A's.



http://futurefirstrounders.blogspot.com/2008/06/time-to-doctor-those-birth-certificates.html

Tommy Hanson Tosses No-No

I have tried to stay away from my players as much as possible in the previous posts but I have to mention the performance of Tommy Hanson on June 25th. He threw a no hitter and had 14 Ks in the process. He plays in the Southern League AA for the Mississippi Braves (Atlanta is the parent club) and has a record of 7-4 with an ERA of 2.80 combined from single A and Double AA. He is a strikeout pitcher with 98 Ks in 90 IP and has only 30 BB on the season. Opponets are only hitting .174 off of him. He stands at 6'6 and weighs 210 lbs and grew u pin Tulsa, OK. Many experts have him pegged for the 2009 Atlanta rotation as the Braves will probably have some openings.

Wieters Promoted to AA

The Baltimore Sun is reporting that Wieters will be promoted to AA Bowie. Wieters was killing A ball and this is probably his final stop of the season. Wieters is currently owned by Jim

David Price is a Montgomery Biscuit

David Price (Sperl) has been promoted to AA as he will join Jacob McGee and Wade Davis with the Montgomery Biscuits. Price posted a 1.82 ERA in 34.2 IP in single A.

Jo-Jo Reyes (Chad) has surpassed the 50 IP benchmark for this season and will not be allowed to remain in Chad's farm system following this season.

Fernando Martinez (Scott) who has been out since May 14 has resumed baseball activities and will be playing in the Gulf Coast League before he heads back to AA.

Sports Illustrated had a 3 page article on Jay Bruce last week and for those he didn't get a chance to see it the piece basically stated how much the town of Cincy loves him and how much he loves Griffey Jr. He also talks about his 26 year old brother who is mentally challenged and how he helped his family when he received his signing bonus. It is a good read for those who subscribe. In the most recent SI issue they is an article featuring Dan Uggla.

Max Ramirez

Maximiliano R. Ramirez (Max) was born in Barquisimeto, Venezuela on October 11, 1984. He stands at 5'11 and weighs 175lbs and be bats and throws from the right side. Max was signed by the Braves as a non-drafted Free Agent on October 1, 2002. He was was traded to the Indians in 2006 for Bob Wickman and in 2007 he was moved to the Rangers for Kenny Lofton. It is rare to see a player in single A to get traded for a veteran straight up and it happened to him twice. Ramírez has been an All-Star selection in three different leagues - Appalachian (2005), Sally (2006), and Carolina League (2007). He also played in the 2007 Futures Game. He was named the Appalachian League Player of the Year in 2005. With Laird on DL for up to 6 weeks, Max is going to get his opportunity to impress. I am not sure how they will play this with Salty on the squad. I can see Salty getting more playing time at 1B and Max getting the time behind the plate. They also have the option of the DH. Max has been smashing hte ball this season for the Frisco Roughriders out of the Double-A Texas League. In 237 ABs this season he was hitting .363 with 16 2Bs, 17 HR, 50 RBIs, .457 OBP, .662 SLG, amd a OPS of 1.120. He also has ok plate patience with a 36:56 BB:K ratio. He was hitting .406 against LHP and and .356 against RHP. He was also stepping up in the clutch for the Roughriders as he was hitiing .394 with runners in scoring position. Ramirez has the tools to become a valuable fantasy option in the very near term. Max is currently owned by Allied Powers.

Site Updates

I have updated the site with ESPN fantasy Podcasts that are updated automatically, I have put the links to all the Cape Cod teams and popular Cape Cod Blogs. The reason I put the Cape Cod links on there is because this is the #1 summer league for prospects. Many first rounders from this season's draft are alumni from the Cape Cod League. I have also put links to the major sports talk radio stations and all of them stream live. I am new to the podcast world and I will be expanding on these functionalities later. At the bottom left I will post a poll question that will run weekly. I also have submitted our Blog to run advertisements at the bottom our the page. If any money is generated from these ads, I will put all the money into our league. I know most of you play in other leagues, so let your other leagues know of the site so our Blog and league become more widely known. There is a site counter at the bottom as well and we can monitor the amount of traffic we are receiving.

Future First Rounder or Fantasy Champ?

The little man located in the in the picture window is the newest member of the fantasy community. I have started a serious Sabermetric training plan for him and lets hope he has better luck then his dad.

Ask and You Shall Receive

According to Rotoworld, Chase Headley will be called up before the game on Sunday. It is nice to know that the Padres are reading this blog. I bet he will be inserted as the starting LF very soon.

Time to Doctor Those Birth Certificates!

Players who are 16 years old are eligible to sign with major league teams during the international signing period, which lasts from July 2 to Aug. 31. Players who turn 16 years old during the international signing period are eligible to sign with teams on their birthdays. The prize prospect is Michel Inoa a 6-foot-7, 205-pound righthander from Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic. The current record for an international signing bonus is $2.44 million that Willy Mo Pena received from the Yankees in 1999. It is believed that Iona is asking for $3.5 million and of course the Yankees and the Red Sox are interested in this young gun. I will provide an update later this summer on the international signings.

When Duty Calls

NORFOLK, Va. - A Naval Academy graduate drafted last week by the St. Louis Cardinals was denied a bid to play ball Thursday and ordered to report for duty. Mitch Harris, a newly commissioned ensign and Naval Academy graduate, must serve a five-year active duty commitment, Navy Secretary Donald C. Winter ruled. “He will report to his ship as ordered,” Cmdr. Jeff Davis, a Navy spokesman, told The Associated Press.Harris, a native of Ocala, Fla., who played high school ball in North Carolina, was selected in the 13th round with the 395th pick overall. The 22-year-old right-hander went 20-13 with a 2.51 ERA in four years at Navy, averaging 11.78 strikeouts per nine innings. He was the second-highest pick in program history.

Chase Headley is Ready

I am back from my posting vacation and I have been out of the minor league loop for a while. The biggest surprize to me is that Chase Headley is not roaming the OF yet for the Padres. Chase Headley is 6'2 and weighs in at 230 lbs and he played college ball for Tennessee and he currently is playing for the Portland Beavers (AAA) from the Pacific Coast League. He was selected in the second round of the 2005 First-Year Player Draft. He is a switch hitter who has played 3B before in his career. Most of his power comes from the right side of the plate with 11 of 12 of his HR are from the right side. For the season he is hitting .303 with 12 HR, 39 RBI, and a 31:63 BB:K ratio. He sports an impressive .926 OPS (.719 OPS from the left side and .996 from the right side). With Guert, Giles, and Hairston playing the OF currently, I think it is time for Chase to make the jump to the big leagues. In 2007 he had a .437 OBP which was the second highest is all the minor leagues. He was ranked #32 prospect by Baseball America before the season. Headley is currently owned by Kyle

Latest Jay Bruce Photo

Carlos Gonzalez

The Oakland A's have purchased the contract of Carlos Gonzalez before this weekend's action. Gonzalez is listed at 6'1 200 lbs and is from Maracaibo, Venezuela. He was playing in AAA for the Sacramento Rivercats and he was hitting .293 with 9 2Bs, 4 HR, 25 RBI, .351 OBP, .439 SLG, .790 OPS. He posted a 14:30 BB:K ratio in AAA. He hits and throws from the left side and has fared better against LHP, .318, then RHP, .283. He was originally signed by ARI but he was the key player for Oakland in the Haren deal. Oakland also got Dana Eveland and Greg Smith in the trade for Haren who are both in the rotation and doing pretty good. Gonzalez is still very young and needs to improve his BB:K ratio, but this was the negative on Bruce and he has a 5:1 BB:K ratio and a lofty 1.575 OPS for the Reds since his call-up. Don't expect another Bruce start for Gonzalez but he will be more then serviceable from a fantasy perspective. Gonzalez is currently owned by Scott.

2007:
AVG: .288
HR: 17
K: 109
BB: 38