Super Sunday Links 13 November 2011

by Timothy De Block on Nov 13, 2011 5:00 AM CST in Link Dumps

Before going on vacation I decided to put together these links for your viewing pleasure.

The MLB Draft

A Recipe for Competitive Imbalance | FanGraphs Baseball
Talking draft compensation via free agency.

Hard Slotting Is Bad For Baseball | FanGraphs Baseball
An article on the proposed hard slotting system for the draft.

Battle of the 2008 Top 100s | Project Prospect
Ratings and rankings on some of the National prospect evaluators.

Interviews

The Johnson behind the Johnson Effect
A wonderful interview with Bryan Johnson.

bcrnews.com | Happ reflects on 2010 trade, trip back to minor leagues in Princeton, IL and Bureau County, IL
An interview with J.A. Happ.

Astro Related Links

Appy Astros: Jose Altuve is the LVBP Player of the Week
Jose Altuve collects an award and officers shoot off rockets?

Ultimate Astros " Berkman calls potential for Astros move to AL ‘a travesty’
Your white knight?

Houston, we have problems (and fixes) | MiLB.com News | The Official Site of Minor League Baseball
Jose Altuve, Jimmy Paredes and J.D. Martinez proved to be positives in an Astros system that struggled on the field from Triple-A on down.

All Things Baseball

2011 Power Rankings In Graphs | FanGraphs Baseball
I thought it was interesting that even with the season the Astros had their value rose in the power rankings through out the season.

Bang for their buck
Which general managers have spent their money most wisely?

Money Wins: Is There Enough Parity In Baseball? | FanGraphs Baseball
A look at parity in the MLB.

October Pain for General Managers | FanGraphs Baseball
Some interesting notes about GM firings.

Happy 8th Birthday AN and SB Nation! - Athletics Nation
This article by founder Tyler Bleszinski discusses the creation of SB Nation.

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Comments

The MiLB “Houston, we have a problem…” article is informative. Hooks’ manager Lawless and minor league director Nelson are frank when they describe the weaknesses of Astros’ top minor leaguers. For instance, I didn’t know that Hinze’s defense around the 1st base bag is an issue. Chris Wallace has a ways to go in improving his defense. Martinez needs to pull the ball more. (“they’re [major league pitchers] not going to allow him to keep raking the ball into right field,” Lawless said.) Paredes is a better defender at 3d than Meyer, and he instantly looked more comfortable when he was switched to 3d base. Altuve has to become less aggressive in swinging at pitches. (OK, we knew that.)

by clack on Nov 13, 2011 7:44 AM CST reply actions

Mike Matheny is the new Cardinals' manager

He’s a former Cardinals catcher.

I wonder if the Astros will consider a former Astros catcher the next time they hire a new manager.

Astros fan for life

by Joe in Birmingham on Nov 13, 2011 6:07 PM CST reply actions

Brad Ausmus and Craig Biggio both former catchers…

by jmike on Nov 14, 2011 8:06 PM CST up reply actions

RE: Houston, we have a problem article...

I think the Astros’ farm system is 3-4 highly thought-of infield prospects away from being one of the best in the league.

When you factor in the youth at the big league level, the full season teams appear poised to be stacked with quality talent:

C- Castro, C Wallace, Heath, Pena
1B- B Wallace, Hinze, Singleton, Nash
2B- Altuve, JC Thompson, John Hinson, DeShields
SS- Wikoff, Villar, Mier, Neiko Johnson
3B- Paredes, Meyer, Kvasnicka, Matt Duffy
RF- Goebbert, Bailey, Santana, Jordan Scott
CF- Schafer, Wates, Springer, Austin
LF- Martinez, Steele/Gaston, King/Adamson, Meredith

The only players I’d REALLY like to see an upgrade on are Thompson, Hinson, Neiko Johnson, and Duffy. All of the others have 1 or more qualities that imho completely justify them as a prospect and worthy of a full time job in 2012.

The pitching staffs should be deep as well:

MLB/AAA- Lyles, Anuery, Clemens, Keuchel, Cedeno/Perez/Harrell/Sosa/etc
AA- Cosart, Oberholtzer, Buchanan, Seaton, Cisnero
A+/A- Folty, Bushue, Alaniz, Doran, Hallock, Tropeano, Armstrong, Houser, Dufek, Shirley, etc.

In the same thread as the position players, all of those guys have qualities justifying their status as prospects and their worthiness of a rotation slot.

If Houston can get fair value for Wandy and/or Myers, and has a solid 2012 draft, they should sit firmly in the top 10 of MLB farm systems by this time next year.

by Snake Diggity on Nov 14, 2011 11:49 AM CST reply actions

The farm could be deep in sewage water.

Another farm could be shallow in pure water.

It’s not a matter of how much talent you have, but the quality of that talent.

It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt.

by BustaPozee on Nov 14, 2011 6:04 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs

I disagree. I think farm systems should be measured by total output, both quality and quantity. Sure, a Lance Berkman is worth a TON of JB Shucks, but the Shuck types have value. Not only that, the nature of prospects dictates that the majority of players won’t succeed in the big leagues, so the “eggs in one basket” or “shallow pure water” approach won’t work.

I agree that Houston’s farm isn’t as top-heavy as some others, but there are quality prospects in the fold (Singleton, Cosart, Springer).

by Snake Diggity on Nov 15, 2011 9:14 AM CST up reply actions

We have a good amount of depth now

But we don’t have the #’s of impact talent that the best teams have.

Check out The Dream Shake.
Follow @PatrickHarrel

by Patrick Harrel on Nov 14, 2011 8:14 PM CST up reply actions

al?

if they approve new owner…and go to al… count me out….i am gone…..also, looks like wade will go and common sense and talent along with him…. being a fan is a choice and i have other choices…mike h

by Mike HJALM on Nov 16, 2011 11:46 AM CST reply actions 2 recs

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