for the 3rd straight time….

but that was mostly just a throw away vote since I knew Hunter would win in a runaway and I knew a vote for anyone else was a throw away.

This one comes down to M-Per, NeRa and Font to me, and I’m having a devil of a time picking between them. All three are big time young power arms. All three have top of the rotation potential. All three have question marks.

I think I’m gonna have to go with M-Per. His numbers don’t look as good after that bombing he took on the 9th (1.1ip, 4hits, 4walks, 4er’s, 0k’s) but overall I’m still absolutely blown away by what he’s doing in Spokane at such a young age. This is a kid who won’t turn 18 until after he’s reported to spring training NEXT YEAR. And he’s more than holding his own in the NWL. That’s just stupid.

with dirkatron’s thumbnail.

We need more recs, Scotty!

+1

Been voting for him for a while now.

All the chatter these last couple threads has swayed me.

it’s time to trade a few away for Greinke.

Up yours, freedom haters!

at least not until I get to vote for Duran 10x….

Duran > Lemon > Vallejo, but it’s all pretty close. Duran hit .300 / .352 / .525 as a 22 year old in AA this year and doesn’t deserve to fall just because we brought him up too soon. Neither Vallejo nor Lemon can match Duran in terms of power, but atleast Lemon has the advanced plate approach. Lemon may not be steller defensively at shortstop, but neither was Kinsler. I’ve read all the discussion on here about Vallejo, but I’m just not convinced. Other than speed (and supposedly defense at 2b), there’s nothing that Vallejo really does well. Lemon also has a better pedigree than Vallejo: son of a big leaguer, and we picked him up in a later round and monewhipped him to keep him out of UT.

Also, I’m not ready to vote for any of the future relievers or the pitchers that are atleast 3-4 years away.

Oh, and are people voting for Mayberry as a joke? At this point, I’m at a loss for words.

That I just don’t know enough about how these guys are performing to make a judgment. If someone put up some stats of the leading candidates (perhaps focus on the top vote getters from the last round), it would help.

easily.

Wow, dead heat so far.

we need to go to at least 75. We’ll finish just in time to start the offseason polls.

Nickname suggestions: Courier New, Tahoma, Franklin Gothic Book?

Renny loooooves Bakersfield.

Martin Perez
Tim Murphy
Beau Jones
Robbie Ross – Has not signed yet.
Neil Ramirez
Wilmer Font – Has not pitched this season becasue of injures. Can throw as fast as 99mph.
Omar Poveda
Thomas Diamond
Warner Madrigal
Fabio Castillo
Wilfredo Boscan
Kennil Gomez
Cristian Santana
Ian Gac
German Duran
Jose Vallejo
Marcus Lemon
Joaquin Arias
Renny Osuna
Matt West
John Mayberry, Jr.
Mitch Moreland

The guy we stole from the Angels. Who’s only pitched for two freaking years, and has rebounded very nicely from his bombing in New York. He’s got good heat and a nice breaking ball. The kid is our 8th inning guy next year and may well push to be our closer in 2010. Everyone was all excited this past off season when we picked him up and now nothing. You guys and your what have you done for me lately itus…are going to piss him off.

Before the season, there was a player who Baseball America ranked as the #21 prospect for the Rangers, Mike Hindman and Evan Grant had at 18, Jamey Newberg had at 16, John Sickels and Scott Lucas had at 14, and the LSB community had at 13.

Anybody remember John Whittleman?

Bad year by almost all accounts, but now that Chris Davis is a first baseman and Travis Metcalf (.231/.268/.349 in Oklahoma) practically begging to be designated for assignment, is Whittleman the best third base prospect in the organization? Anyone think, at 21, he still has some upside?

I was just thinking about the third base situation, especially because it seems like Hank Blalock is gone in the next 12 months. I guess German Duran or Jose Vallejo could also take over at that corner; but keeping 27 year old Blalock, if feasible, is starting to sound like an interesting option.

Anyone got any thoughts?

is dead to me!!!

j/k i hope he turns the corner but his stagnation isnt good i dont see him in the top 20 at all.

Wilfredo Boscan just rolled an ankle backing up homeplate during the first inning fo the Spokane game. He was in some pain, couldn’t put any weight on it. He might be on the shelf a while. Yoon-hee Nam takes over with 2 outs gone in the top of the first inning. Time for a Kyle O’Campo promotion? Font supposedly was on the verge of getting assigned to Spokane – good time to put him in the rotation.

There’s something to be said about a first round talent who is finally slugging the way he should be in AAA.

I think this could be a safe spot for him on the list. Yes his fastball is a work in progress to get it where it should be, but with the way his curveball has progressed, hasn’t his value just raised from before when he got hurt? I don’t know about you guys, but I think we could start getting excited about this guy again come next year.

But I love the CBS College Sports Network. Right now they are showing the Belmont/Duke game from the tourney which I had totally forgotten about. And I am on the edge of my seat even though I know what’s coming. They basically show badass college football, basketball, and baseball games all summer. It’s random, but I needed to give that channel some love.

And….the refs are screwing Belmont as is always the case with the dookies.

the most underrated future beast on this list: Christian Santana.

http://www.carrolltonleader.com/articles/2008/07/22/carrollton_leader/sports/81.txt

For many athletes, making the United States Olympic Team is a dream come true.

For others the dream is playing sports professionally, or even better, coming up with the game-winning play.

Former Carrollton Creekview and University of Texas catcher Taylor Teagarden has now checked all of these off of his list. And he did it one week.

He’s in AAA, which most of the players on the list will never see. He’s athletic. He has a plus arm. He’s got plus plus power with the potential to hit 30+ HRs in the show. Hes got a decent approach at the plate and it seems like they have shortened his swing even more so this season. His 2005 OPS in Spokane was .779. The following year in Clinton his OPS was .834. After that in 2007 in Bakersfield his OPS was only .810. I would assume they really started to tear his swing down and rebuild it considering his #’s weren’t that impressive for the Cal League. He was for some reason promoted at the midpoint of the season to Frisco posting a .756 OPS. He started out this season in Frisco and had obviously figured something out posting a .834 OPS in 90 PA. Even though he has fallen off of late he is still posting a .823 OPS in Oklahoma.

I could list the numerous negatives but they don’t help my argument at all.