Milestones

Am I the only one that goes through the career records to check them out periodically? Maybe I am, and maybe that proves how big of a stat nerd I really am. Maybe I'm not and there are other big stat nerds out there like myself. Well since I had the season story lines article written up and lost it all, I just couldn't bring myself to go back through a write it all again, but I figured I needed something to put up in it's place. This should be somewhat interesting, especially for those that don't check the records out or just don't have the time.

First off, I didn't realize how good of a player Will McCarthy has been. Earlier this season he became Pine Tar's career leader in homeruns by passing Lloyd Patrick who had 641. He's now up to 654 with time to improve it. It also looks like during the AM cycle on 2/13 with a 2 run homer he became the first player in Pine Tar to reach 2000 RBI's.

Also this season, Rafael Cervantes, became the first player to 100 career triples. Also, during the AM cycle on 2/13 he passed up Eric Presley to become the all time stolen base king of Pine Tar with 702.

In a not so prestigious milestone, Ivan Silva became the all time leader in losses by passing up Barry Gibson's old record of 159.

The last one of note is Ebenezer Brett passing up Warren Hargrave as the all time wins leader. He's old and likely to not reach the 300 mark, but he is only 28 away.

I'm sure there are other milestones that I just can't see from looking through these lists of top 5's, and I do know that there are some that are close to being hit and could by the end of the season. I just figured I'd post these to give you guys something to read about for now.

Season 18 Draft Review

I know that I'm a bit late on this, but if it's any compensation, I've been working on it for a few weeks. I've been doing a little bit each chance I get, which obviously hasn't been many. Well, here it is.

Season 18 Draft Review
Pick	Player	Team	Offense	Defense	Pitching
1	Jo-jo Frandsen	Vancouver	A+	C	-
Frandsen is a very good top of the draft pick here. He should develope into a .300 hitter with 25+ homer power. His eye at the plate will put him close to a 400 OBP, and the guy could use that to steal a lot of bases. He's a leftfielder/firstbaseman in the field, but it's not a strong suit of his. His durability and health could be an issue.
2	Omar Carrasco	Louisville	B+	C+	-
Carrasco should become a good hitter in the future. He has a good eye and some decent pop. He should be a .290 hitter with 25+ homer potential. His speed on the bases should get him some steals as well. He projects as a corner outfielder, but doesn't have a very good glove.
3	Carlos Zorrilla	Oklahoma City	A-	B+	-
Zorrilla is a very well rounded player. He could be a good hitter with a really high OBP. He has 30 homer potential and could be a 30/30 guy. He has a great glove but lacks great range. He's ideally a really good corner outfielder that could play center. There are concerns about his ability to stay healthy.
4	Octavio Armas	Iowa City	B+	C+	-
Armas should be a good hitter in his carreer. He has decent power and the ability to get on base. He lacks speed. He'll be a decent corner outfielder. The team better not tick off this guy though, he has a temper of 0.
5	Junior Yang	Tampa Bay	A-	A-	-
The run at offense at the top of the draft continues with this pick. He should be a really good hitter with awesome contact and power. He has decent abilities on the bases and should steal a few. His glove is really good, but he lacks the range for shortstop. I see him as a really good thirdbaseman. There are some concerns about his health.
6	Ryan Wilkins	Kansas City	-	-	B+
Wilkins should be a solid starter in the future. He has good stamina and control. He has decent splits and real good velocity projections. His fastball is a good 1st pitch and he has a good slider and curveball to go with it.
7	Giovanni Magnuson	New Orleans	-	-	A-
Magnuson looks like a good prospective starting pitcher. He has good control and splits. He doesn't have good velocity, but should force a lot of groundballs. He has a real good 4 seamer and curveball with a decent cut fastball. His drawback would be his lower stamina and durability.
8	King Ashburn	Colorado Springs	A	A	-
I like the value Colorado Springs got with this pick. Ashburn should be a solid hitter with 300 potential. He has really good speed as well and should steal some bases. He has 15 homer power and a decent eye. Ashburn should be a good centerfielder and has a good arm for that position. He likely won't win gold gloves, but he does have a good enough glove for center.
9	Houston Graves	Helena	A	C	-
I really like Graves. He has very good contact and a good eye at the plate. He should be a 300+ hitter regularly. He has great base stealing potential as well. He lacks good power, but should still be able to reach double digits. He is likely destined to play left field or firstbase. He isn't going to be known for his defense. One draw back for him is going to be his ability to stay healthy.
10	Ralph Hatcher	Seattle	A	B-	-
Hatcher is a good pick at #10. He has good contact and real good power. He should be able to hit in the 290's and knock out close to 40 homers. He is not a speed threat. His glove and arm is good enough to be a solid rightfielder, but he won't contend for any gold gloves.
11	Shane Osik	San Juan	-	-	A
Osik was a steal at this spot. He has good control,great velocity and he's a groundball pitcher. He'll be real tough on right handed hitters and fairly tough against lefties. His first pitch curveball should be real good and his fastball and change up are decent.
12	Eddie Burns	Cincinnati	D+	A	-
Cincinnati went for defense with this pick. Burns is a great glove at short with excellent range and an even better arm. While he has good contact, he really lacks power and likely won't hit for even a decent average. His great eye at the plate will help some, but he's no threat offensively and even lacks speed.
13	Jake Ashley	Dover	B	B	-
Ashley projects as a good hitter with a good glove. While he isn't great at either, he is a well rounded player. He has average contact ability with little power. He should hit for a decent average and has a good eye. He doesn't have much speed but is great at making decisions on the bases. He could be a fill in shortstop, but he has the glove to play just about any other position above average.
14	Donnie Friend	Durham	B	C+	-
At this point the draft has fallen off a bit. Friend is a solid pick, but no superstar. He lacks good contact, but has 20 homer power. He can hit righties well and has a good eye. He's an average hitter. He has a decent glove and range and would be a good secondbaseman or really good corner outfielder.
15	Eddie Stevenson	Tampa Bay	B-	C+	-
Stevenson is another draft pick of an average player. He has decent contact with little power. He should hit for a decent average, but lacks the eye at the plate to bat at the top of a lineup. His glove is average for a thirdbaseman, but he'd be a pretty good rightfielder as he has a good arm.
16	Bert Heiserman	Scottsdale	B+	D+	-
This pick is solid. Heiserman should develope into a real good hitter. He has a bit lower contact, but his power is great. He likely won't hit for a very high average, but he has a real good eye. He also has great speed, but his base running is suspect. He isn't a defensive player, but could play left field or firstbase.
17	Dewayne Rivera	Salem	C	C+	-
Not a good pick here, but it looks like Rivera isn't going to sign and Salem will reap the benefits of another 1st round pick next season.
18	Julian Preito	Fargo	B-	A+	-
Preito is a really good pick at 18. He should develope great range and a really good glove. He should have a good arm as well and will be a gold glove caliber shortstop. He has lower contact, but good power. He should hit righties good and do decent against left handers. His eye isn't very good, but he'll hit well for a shortstop with the fielding capabilities that he possesses.
19	Yadier Cora	St Louis	B	B-	-
Cora has decent contact and lower power potential. He should hit decent against righties, but will struggle against lefties. He has a good eye though and should get on base. He has decent range and a decent glove. He should be a future secondbaseman or left fielder.
20	Victor Waner	Anaheim	-	-	A-
Waner is a good bullpen arm. He has good stamina and durability for the pen. He should have real good control and should cause fits for right handers. He has a good first pitch fastball and a decent slider.
21	Greg Parrott	Boston	C+	A	-
Parrott is a steal at pick 21. He has good contact, but lacks any sorts of power. He should hit right handers pretty good. He has a below average eye at the plate. His speed and baserunning should allow him to become a great base stealer. His range is real good and his glove is good as well. He has a decent arm, and better than average for a centerfielder.
22	Donovan Nolasco	Chicago	-	-	C
I really don't like this pick. Nolasco has all the tools except one big one and that is control. He will never have good enough control to be effective in the majors. His splits are decent and he has a couple great pitches, but without the control it's just not going to be enough.
23	Bryan Edwards	Charlotte	B-	C	-
It's obvious at this point that the talent in the draft is dropping off. Edwards has good contact and power, but he'll struggle to hit well. He does have a good eye at the plate though. His speed and base running are decent and he could steal a few bases. He has decent range, but not much of a glove. I see him as a left fielder.
24	Henry Coscarart	Milwaukee	C-	A	-
While Coscarart isn't a real good player, I do like what he offers as a future ML player. He isn't much of a hitter, but he does have a good eye and should hit decent against lefties. His positive attribute will be his glove. He has good range, a good glove and a good arm. He'll be a good option at shortstop.
25	Joaquin Gutierrez	Hartford	-	-	C+
Gutierrez has the potential to be a decent starter in the majors. His control will never be good, but he should dominate left handed hitters and do ok against righties. He has decent velocity and 3 good pitches. His fastball is real good, his slider is good and his curveball is a good pitch as well. I see him as a low end of the rotation starter.
26	Kevin Griffiths	Philadelphia	B-	D	-
At pick 26 this is a good pick. Griffiths doesn't project as an all star, but he should be a helpful piece in the future. He has good contact and double digit homerun power. He should be a 270+ career hitter and his eye is decent. He isn't a very good base runner. He should be a solid firstbaseman, but he doesn't have the glove for anywhere else.
27	Esmerling Gil	Pittsburgh	-	-	C+
Gil projects as a starter with good durability. He has low control, but good splits. His velocity isn't very good, but he has some good pitches. His fastball is solid, his curveball is a good 2nd pitch, the change up is solid for a 3rd pitch and he has a decent 4th pitch slider.
28	Napoleon Hampton	Pittsburgh	B-	B-	-
With back to back picks, Pittsburgh went offense with this one. Hampton should be a decent hitter that should hit in the 270's and add some homers with that. His eye isn't very good so his OBP won't be very good. He has some speed, but his base running isn't good enough to make him a threat. He has decent range and glove. He could play left field really well, but being a left hander will leave him there.
29	Fausto Cantu	Jacksonville	C	C+	-
Cantu has decent contact, but not much power. His splits are on the lower side, and his eye isn't very good either. He does have real good speed and base running which will help him get on base some. His range is decent and he has a good glove for thirdbase. His arm is solid for that position as well.
30	Bartolo Ethier	Mexico City	D	C+	-
Ethier doesn't look like a future major leaguer to me. The lack of depth in the draft is starting to show. Ethier has low contact, a little bit of power, but won't be much of a hitter. His eye is decent but not good. He has decent range and glove and his arm is solid. He could play third or right field, but the hitting problems may keep him from reaching the big leagues.
31	Bernie Ramos	Trenton	B	C	-
As soon as it looks like the good players are gone then Trenton grabs this guy. Ramos may lack good contact, and has only decent power, but he should hit righties and lefties real well and he has a really good eye. He has a decent glove with some range and a good arm. I could see him playing second base or a corner outfield spot.
32	Stephen Salmon	St Louis	C	A+	-
I really like this pick. Salmon won't hit for contact and lacks power, but he has good splits and a good eye. He should be a decent hitter. The plus to his game is defense. Gold glove type defense. He has great range, a great glove and a great arm. He could win multiple gold gloves at shortstop.
33	Howard Tartabull	Jackson	-	-	B-
Tartabull has good stamina and durability projections. He has really good control, should be real good against left handers and decent against righties. He has low velocity and below average pitches that bring his value down. I think Tartabull will be a solid major league starter.
34	Glenn Durbin	Mexico City	-	-	C-
Durbin really has some of the tools to be a solid major leaguer, but his control is just too bad. He has the stamina and durability to pitch a lot of innings. His splits are good and he has good velocity. He has a real good Knuckleball and a solid curveball. I'm interested to see if he can ever be a solid big league starter.
35	Harry Munson	Nashville	-	-	B+
With the last official first round pick Nashville got a steal here. Munson has the stamina and durability to rack up 250 innings a season. His control is a bit low, but not too low to affect him. He has real good splits and good velocity as well. He's not much of a groundball pitcher though and his pitches are below average. Munson should be a solid major league starter.

Top Offensive Prospects

Ok, well the pitching prospects had a few glitches to them so I'm sure these will as well. Due to time constraints and other things that I'd like to get done for the blog, I'm going to leave the pitching prospects as is. If anyone notices anything with these that need changed then let me know. This is a work in progress and any suggestions will lead to a more solid report down the line. Keep in mind that these are just being done as something to keep the blog interesting and they are not anything solid to go by.

My analysis of the offense prospects isn't good. In my previous post I had mentioned that the offensive ratings were always higher than the pitcher ratings, but that wasn't due to talent. It was a way that I set the ratings up. Once again, there aren't very many top notch prospects in the minors. I still need to do more analyzing of teams major leagues though. It could be that teams are bringing these guys up earlier and that makes it appear as though there aren't that many good prospects. One last thing that I wanted to note, these prospects are players that were in the minors when I did my player pull and that was before the 20th game of the season. It also does not include any of the IFA signings this season.

Top 20 Offensive Prospects
Rank	Player	Team	Offense	Defense	Rating
1	Benny Navarro	Seattle	A+	C+	92.6
Navarro is the most well rounded position prospect in the league. He should hit for average with some good power, a good eye and will steal a good amount of bases. His defense is solid and he projects as a secondbaseman
2	Chris Young	Nashville	A	A-	89.7
While Navarro is the most well rounded hitting prospect, Young is the most well rounded prospect. He will hit really good with some speed and projects as a good shortstop with average range
3	Raymond Petrov	Trenton	A	A-	89.3
Petrov should be a pretty good hitter with some speed as well. His glove is great with average range for shortstop. The difference between him and Young is minimal
4	Alan Wilson	Chicago	A	C-	87.2
Wilson has good contact and power and should light up right handers. His great eye for pitches will give him a real high OBP. He projects as a corner outfielder
5	Olmedo Johnson	Fargo	A-	B+	85.5
Johnson is a hitter that lacks power, but should get plenty of hits and draw alot of walks. Add his speed and baserunning to that and he should score 100 runs regularly. He has a good glove, but he doesn't project as a real good shortstop
6	Pedro Reyes	Colorado Springs	A-	C+	85.3
Reyes projects as a corner outfielder with real good hitting potential. He is a contact hitter that will rarely strikeout, has a good eye for drawing walks and hits for power. He may struggle against right handers
7	Yusmeiro Veras	Seattle	B+	A-	85.1
Veras has average contact, power and eye, but has really good splits. He should especially hit well against lefties. He is a burner on the bases and should steal quite a few of them. His defense is real good and he projects as a thirdbaseman
8	Benito Rodriguez	Trenton	A+	D	84.4
Rodriguez will be a great contact hitter with good power. He has an average eye, but his splits are good. He also has great speed, but his baserunning will get him caught stealing some. He projects as a left fielder/first baseman
9	Saul Trevino	Fargo	A-	C+	83.7
Trevino is a solid hitter that will hit great against left handers and good against righties. He has an above average eye as well. His speed and base running could lead to a lot of stolen bases. He has great range, but his glove will likely leave him as a corner outfielder/second baseman
10	John Satou	Louisville	B+	B+	82.7
Satou has real good contact with average power and eye. His splits are good and he'll likely hit for a good average. His speed and baserunning are good, but not great. He projects as a third baseman with a real good glove
11	Charles Yoshii	San Juan	B+	C+	81.4
Yoshii projects to have solid hitting. He has a really good eye and all his other numbers offensively are slightly above average. He has elite speed with average base running. His glove and range leave him as a corner outfielder that can play center in a pinch
12	Elroy Epstein	Kansas City	B-	A-	80.7
Epstein has good contact and splits and should hit for a good average, but he lacks much power. His eye is average. His speed isn't very good, but he has good base running. He projects as a real good thirdbaseman/ second baseman that could play average shortstop
13	Matt Jaha	Boston	A	C	80.7
Jaha should be a very good hitter for average with some power and a high obp with an excellent eye. His speed and baserunning are a negative for him. He projects as an average catcher
14	Billy Haynes	Durham	B+	D+	80.5
Haynes should have great contact with decent power. His splits and average eye will allow him to get on base and hit for average. He lacks speed, but his base running is good. Defensively he has strange numbers. I've never seen a player with that range and arm with such a bad glove. He's destined for left field/first base or DH even
15	Miller Hunter	St Louis	B+	D+	80.3
Hunter would have ranked much higher if he could hit right handers. His contact and power are good and he'll kill lefties. He has low speed with good base running. He projects as a left fielder/ first baseman
16	Rafael Unamuno	Charlotte	A-	D	80.1
I like this guys hitting potential. Good contact, power, splits and eye. His speed and base running hurt him. He projects as a left fielder or really good firstbaseman
17	Vic Sanchez	Durham	B	B	80.0
Here is another good prospect from Durham. He has decent contact and power with average splits and eye. His base running and speed are average. He projects as a solid third baseman
18	Fausto Espinosa	Louisville	B+	D+	79.6
Espinosa lacks good contact or power, but his splits are good and he has an elite eye. He has decent speed and great base running as well. He projects as a corner outfielder
19	Mario Manning	Colorado Springs	B-	A-	79.4
Manning has lower contact and power with average splits and eye. His speed and base running are good. He has a really good arm and likely projects as a third baseman or fill in shortstop
20	Sun-Woo Lee	Durham	B-	A	79.2
Lee's contact is fairly low, but he has decent power. He'll hit right handers and struggle against lefties, but he has an above average eye. He lacks speed and his base running is below average. He has real good range and a decent glove and arm. He projects as a slightly above average shortstop

Pitching Prospects

Here is my first post about prospects. Keep in mind that these are based on my advanced scouting, which is set at 20 million, so it's fairly accurate. I've also done this using my own formula based on things I've learned about this game through my own and from others. There are too many to list names, but I do want to thank anybody that has helped give me input to come up with my formulas. Now I know some are going to say,"but you've never won a championship," and my response to that is, just because I have an idea of what a good player is, doesn't mean that I can get them or have the luck on my side come playoff time. To give a little bit of insight on my formula's and not give away everything I'll give you guys some hints. First thing I want to be very clear of, these are put together based on a players abilities. I put very little consideration into stamina, durability, makeup and other things like that. A good owner can get the most out of a player regardless of that. Some players may be ranked higher than a player of less ability that can play more games. I also put a heavier consideration of abilities based on right handed splits due to a high average of right handers in the game. This is a pitchers report, but when I do the position players, I want to be clear that a heavy emphasis has been put on hitting. I know that some stud defenders will rank lower than some would rank them, but an offensive player with some semblance of defense can play positions that benefit them. It's a thing about the game that I don't like, but it's a reality. Another thing I've noticed by doing the ratings is that there was no way to make a stud pitcher rated higher than a stud hitter/ fielder. So my ratings are based on a sliding scale to get a better measure of a players worth.

Here's a little analysis of the pitching prospects that I've come up with. There are very few stud pitchers in the minors right now. I guess that's a good thing, but if injuries pop up or players don't pan out due to many factors then the quality will drop even farther. I think WIS really needs to assess how they do the draft. There just aren't enough of these types of players popping up that can make up the difference if these guys don't reach their potential. A little farther down the list is the group of solid to good major leaguers. I would say there is about 2 to go around per team of solid up to stud pitchers. Since there are 11 pitchers on the average team in a world then that isn't a good ratio. Of the pitchers that made my list as possible major leaguers that aren't really solid, but could have a role there are about 6 per team. Now we are at 8 per team. That leaves 3 spots per staff. I'm guessing there should be enough young arms in the majors now to make the difference, but that requires 6 below average pitchers per team. That's how I analyze the situation and I feel like season 18 is a good time to get an idea about how worlds will turn out after the original set of players are retiring. With that, here is my top 20 pitching prospects.

Top 20 Pitching Prospects
Rank	Player	Team	Rating
1	Roberto Lopez	Durham	92.8
Lopez lacks starter stamina, but has all the tools to dominate for 5 to 6 innings
2	Orlando Cruz	Durham	89.0
Cruz is a lot like fellow Durham farmhand Lopez in that he lacks the stamina to pitch deep into games, but he'll dominate while he is in the game
3	Hipolito Owen	Boston	89.0
Owen has a bit more stamina and durability than the top 2 guys on the list and should be a pretty dominant pitcher that can get 6 great innings a game
4	Sticky Farquhar	Iowa City	89.0
Sticky has great stamina and durability to go along with great pitching ability. He could be a regular allstar and Cy Young candidate
5	Rock Randall	St Louis	88.4
Here is another future star. Randall will dominate for many seasons and should rack up a few Cy Youngs
6	Sean Shipley	St Louis	88.1
Shipley has a bit lower stamina than fellow St Louis minor leaguer Randall, but should be just as dominant against opposing hitters
7	Brendan Taylor	Iowa City	88.1
Taylor's biggest downfall is his stamina, but his great durability will get this guy in the game quite often for 3 innings to shut down opponents every other day
8	Vinny Napoli	Chicago	88.0
Vinny ranks at the bottom of elite starters in the minors and should have a great carreer. His stamina is low, but high durability will allow him to pitch 200+ innings a season
9	Nash Casanova	Boston	86.4
Casanova will be a dynamite closer in the future. He has all the tools to close out even the best of hitters
10	Victor Maranon	Durham	85.4
Maranon has the pitches and velocity to rack up the strike outs. He should be another key starter for the future of Durhams rotation
11	Bo Carter	Tampa Bay	83.4
Carter has good stamina, but lower durability. He should be a pretty good starter in the future that should make a few all star appearances
12	Geronimo Osuna	Trenton	83.3
Osuna has the tools to keep opposing hitters down, but his low stamina and durability won't allow that to happen too often
13	Joe Grace	Durham	83.3
Grace is the fourth Durham pitcher on the list. His biggest downfall is his pitches, but he should still be a big part of this future rotation
14	Geraldo Molina	Kansas City	83.1
Molina has the tools to be a very solid pitcher in this league. His lower stamina and durability will likely only allow him to max out at 180 innings a season
15	Alberto Blasco	Colorado Springs	82.7
Blasco should turn out to be a really good closer in this league. There aren't many of them on this list and he should see a few all star appearances due to that
16	Mitchell Hayes	Nashville	82.4
Hayes has the abilities to be pretty good in the future. He lacks good stamina or durability. He'd likely excel as a setup man
17	Desi Hernandez	Charlotte	82.3
Hernandez is another pitcher that could excel as a setup man due to low stamina and durability. He has all the other tools to be a good pitcher though
18	Heinie Hutton	Scottsdale	81.8
Hutton will be a really solid starter for Scottsdale. He has the stamina and durability that will allow him to be a real good starter in Scottsdales rotation
19	Jamie Saito	Fargo	81.7
Saito has a bit lower stamina for a starter, but he can get it done in shorter stints. He has a real good pitch selection and velocity, but his splits aren't great
20	Orlando Sanchez	New Orleans	81.7
Sanchez should be a pretty good starter for this team. He has good splits and pitches, but lacks velocity and gb/fb. His biggest negative is his health rating