Milwaukee Brewers

From my friend Matt's blog, check it out at www.brewcrewexpress.blogspot.com: Lets take a look at your 2007 Milwaukee Brewers teamm

C: Johnny Estrada/ Damian MillerAnalysis: This is a very strong core, Estrada former all star catcher had a very decent average with a .301 average. Miller is a very good backup who can fill in when need be.

1B: Prince FielderAnaylsis: Fielder is a beast he hit 28 homeruns with a good .271 average, he is going to be a very good 1B when he developes.

2B: Rickie Weeks/ Craig CounselAnaylsis: If Weeks stays healthy he can have a monster year. He has the power and speed and contact to be a 5 tool machine. Counsel is very nice backup at 2B, SS, 3B.

3B: Corey Koskie/ Craig CounselAnaylsis: If Koskie remains the 3B, and gets over the post concussion he can be a very fine 3B, plays solid D and can hit.

SS: J.J. Hardy/ Craig CounselAnaylsis: Hardy is a question mark, he hasnt proven he can hit in the majors and has been injury prone.LF: Geoff Jenkins/ Kevin MenchJenkins if he can figure out how to hit lefties may be a fine

LF. If he cant than Mench is there to do that. Jenkins is good at hitting Righties.

CF: Bill HallOne of the most underrated player led the league for homers in the shortstop posistion and has good speed and needs to work on contact.

RF: Corey HartHe has the potentiol to be a 5 tool player, he has excellent power, speed, and contact as well as plays good D.

Starting 5
1. Ben Sheets- if healthy one of the best pitchers in the game.
2. Chris Capuano- very underrated and was a all star last year.
3. Jeff Suppan- very good in the postseason and provides good leadership.
4. Dave Bush- another underrated pitcher and is gonna be good.
5. Claudio Vargas- a solid 5, better than Davis imo.

Bullpen
CL: Fransisco Cordero- one of the most dominating closers in the game with the Brewers.
SU: Matt Wise- if healthy another good reliever.
SR: Jose Capellan- very young and talented.
SR: Derrick Turnbow- if can get his act together can be very good.

Grades Lineup: B Defense: C Starting Pitching: B+ Bullpen: C+ Overall Grade: B Prediction 88-74
In my opinion, I think the Brewers have a solid team that combines awesome youth specs like Hardy and Hart with veteran leadership. I also believe that they have a few too many question marks in the bullpen and a few other spots. My prediction for the Brew Crew is 85-77.

Wily Mo Pena

Just Figured I wanted to write an article on a player that I really feel is capable of great things. Wily Modesto Pena, the rightfielder who plays currently for the Boston Red Sox, is a player that in my opinion will become a superstar if only given a starting job every day. He has tremendous power, leaning back with all 6'3" 216 pounds of himself, and unleashing on the ball. Last season he logged a mere 276 AB's, hitting .301 with 11 HR and 42 RBI's. He has only really played everyday in 2004 with the Cincinatti Reds, playing in 110 games hitting .259 with amazing 26 HR's. There were rumors this offseason that San Diego might be shopping Scott Linebrink just to try to get big Wily, but all talks have been discinegrated. If a small market team traded for Pena and gave him the playing time he deserves, I would almost guarantee a .268 35 95 season. This guys is the real deal, and still extremely young at 24. Give Wily a try and you won't be dissapointed.

Spring Training Pics

Thanks to MLB Rumors at Blogspot.com

Tim Lincecum

2006. The MLB forces the San Francisco Giants to keep their 1st round draft pick, the first time in a long while. The Giants are a team notoriously known for trading away their first round picks, depleting their farm system, which is now rated lower than any other team by countless sites. But in this particular draft, the Giants were about to make their draft pick, the first time their scouts had experienced this is quite awhile. They decided to select the Washington Huskie phenom pitcher Tim Lincecum. Lincecum was known for his distinguishable wind-up and deadly curveball. He had just come off a season where he posted a 12-4 record with a 1.94 ERA. In 2006, Tim played 6 games for the San Jose Giants and posted a 2-0 record and a 1.95 ERA. Now, in 2007, Lincecum is atop the Giants best prospect list and looking at potentially being in the National League Rookie of the Year award this year. IF Tim has any kind of good season, the Giants rotation will finally be filled, as they were desperately looking for a 5th starter. My prediction for Lincecum's rookie year is a 4.52 ERA with 140k's in 130 IP.

Daisuke Matsuzaka A Phenom or Flop?

Dice-K, a great nickname for the proclaimed "Japanese Johan", right? At first sight, one would think so after looking at his amazing strike-out numbers in the Japan leagues, but that won't always convert into great numbers in the major leagues, the best baseball players on this earth. The Red Sox surprised everyone this offseason by bidding 51.1M, about 13M over every other bid, just to talk to Daisuke. They, as well as their fans, hope Matsuzaka is worth the money because he could easily flop and put Boston in a huge money problem. My prediction for Dice-K is a 3.9 ERA, and 192 IP with commanding K numbers and a good WHIP. I'm not too high on the hype, and believe that his numbers will drastically rise after this year, just as most players from other countries fall into after the rest of the league finds out how to hit them. By the end of Daisuke's contract I predict that this ERA will be around 4.96, but still with some good strikeout numbers. Comment me with what you think about this post, I want to know what you guys think, even though this conversation has happened many times every day.

Tongue to Washington

Ronnie Belliard was signed late last night by the Washington Nationals. The Nationals didn't even have to guarantee Belliard a major league contract, but got away with a measly $750,000 minor league contract. Ronnie could of gotten lots more money if he would of had the luck of being in a free agent market with less secondbaseman, but he was not granted this luck but he was rather in a market overpowered with 2B'man. Cleveland Fans still love Ronnie from the time he played in Cleveland, nicknaming him "tongue" because he fields the ball with his tongue sticking out, reminiscent of Michael Jordan. I give this deal a 6 out of 10 because major league players that had some trouble in the previous season still have a great chance of being pretty good.

Boof Bonser

Ahh, back to that tragic day in the life of Giants fans. On this particular day, their GM gave away Francisco Liriano and Joe Nathan along with some throw in no-name pitcher in Boof Bonser for catcher A.J. Pierzynski. Liriano ended up being an excellent pitcher while Joe Nathan is one of the dominant closers in the league. But that 3rd piece in the deal, Boof Bonser, is now turning heads after an amazing season with the Minnesota Twins. Boof, who legally changed his name from John, came out of literally no where to become a pretty great pitcher, one so good that he was the Minnesota Twins', a team built on pitching, number two starter in the playoffs. A great story is the one of Boof Bonser, who literally came out from the sky and is now one of the great starting pitchers in the majors. He is also giving the Giants another headache just thinking about him.........

Replying to a Question......

Giantsfreak1080 wrote: Whats ur expert opinion on the lack of a regulated true baseball sal cap. Teams like the yankees, whether its effective or not, just completely throw off the balance of the league when it comes to marketing franchises and recruiting and bringing in players- and just generally building franchises. The players that come fresh out of the draft are truly undecided as to where they are going to end up. This is because they don't like to play for the royals or the devil rays. The players who end up on these big market teams become greedy. It is truly disgusting sometimes how football players give much more to charity, yet they have shorter careers, get payed less, get beat up, never stop their workout/conditioning routines, don't have the luxury of staying in new york for 4 days, getting a day off and then hopping a bus over to philly for 6 days. Baseball players generally give much less to charity, yet they have it alot harder than football player do....not to mention they can get jacked up on steroids and the commish walks by bonds in the hallway with the stuff and says "hey , how are you doing mr. bonds." --------------------------My answer to this is i don't agree with you when you stated that the "yankees just completely throw off the balance of the league" because the Yankees just have a different way of handling business. They'd rather sign older proven players than try their luck will prospects. This method is not by all means the greatest way of doing things, but it has been working for them recently. About the baseball and football players, I agree with you and believe that baseball players should do much more with their communities since their job isn't nearly as hard as many jobs out in the real world. Their job is to entertain fans and try to win championships, a measly job to most people. Also, baseball players make tons more salary than football players, meaning they shouldn't care about reaching out to fans. Thanks for the question Giantsfreak and if anyone has any questions please send them to me and I'll be glad to reply to them

Homer Bailey

Cincinatti has a great young SP!?!?!?!? Cincinatti fans should cheer when they hear "Homer Bailey". Why? well maybe because Homer is only 21 years old and already has some major skills. These skills include a 98 MPH heater and a Zito-like 12-6 curve. But Homer Bailey also has a pitch in his repertoire that Zito will never have, a slow-looping 11-5 slider that will buckle the knees of some (Right handed batters) and slide through the backdoor of others (Left handed batters). These 3 pitches, not including a pretty good change-up Homer possesses, give Bailey more stuff and polish than any other SP in the minors. From what i've heard, Homer will start the season in AAA but will get called up to the bigs very early on in the season. With the numbers he posted in AA, he should be in the majors already. 7-1 1.59 ERA and 77k's in 68 IP's say one thing 'monstrous', and that is a word that many scouts use when talking about Homer. Now the only thing left to do is show the world that Homer is ready and willing to be a Major League Pitcher.

2007 Amateur Draft

June 7th and 8th is the 2007 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft. This is where the lowly teams stock up on great prospects to be powerhouses (hopefully) in the future. I, with help of Baseball America, have complied a list of my predictions for the 1st round:

1(TB). David Price LHP from Vanderbuilt, David will be the the first LHP drafted 1st since 1991.

2 (KC). Matt Wieters C/CL from Georgia Tech. Wieters is a switch-hitting catcher with pretty amazing power. He was also a closer for GT and threw 98 mph on his fastball.

3(CHC). Andrew Brackman RHP from North Carolina State, Andrew is a staggering 7 feet tall and is able to throw 99 mph.

4(PIT). Rick Porcello RHP from Seton Hall Prep

5(BAL). Matt Harvey RHP from Fitch HS in Groton, Conneticut. Harvey looks like a very well polished right hander.

6(WSN). Daniel Moskos LHP from Clemson. Moskos was used mainly as a relief pitcher, but most scouts say he has enough endurance to start.

7(MIL). Joe Savery LHP from Rice. Sleeper pick, but all depends how he comes back from a shoulder injury.

8(COL). Michael Burgess OF from Hillsborough HS in Tampa. Went to same high school as Gary Sheffield and is said as the closest thing to Sheffield there is. Amazing bat speed and power.

9(ARI). Julio Borbon OF from Tennessee. Acclaimed as the next Johnny Damon. Once drafted, will miss about 8-10 weeks because of an injury.

10(SFG). Josh Vitters DH (any position) from Cypress, CA. Vitters is the best hitter in high schools period.

11(SEA). Jake Arrieta RHP from Texas Christian. 0.27 ERA in last summer's college national team.

12(FLA). Jason Heyward OF from Henry Co HS in McDonough, Georgia. Huge power, considered to be the next Fred McGriff.

13(CLE). Ross Detwiller LHP from Missouri State.

14(ATL). Matt Mangini 3B from Oklahoma State.

15(CIN). Blake Beavan RHP from Irving Texas High School.

16(TOR from TEX). J.P. Arencibia C from Tennessee.

17(TEX from HOU). Josh Fields RHP from Georgia. Best fastball and slider in college.

18(STL). Jack McGeory LHP/1B from Roxbury Latin HS in W. Roxbury,Massachussets. Best LHP in high school.

19(PHI). Madison Bumgarner LHP from S. Caldwell HS . in Hudson, N.C.

20(LAD from BOS). Cole St. Clair LHP from Rice

21(TOR). Nick Schmidt LHP from Arkansas. Would be much higher but worked too hard last summer with Team USA. Another Sleeper.

22(SFG from LAD). Matt Dominguez 3B from Chatsworth, California. More power than Vitters, but still much worse in every other hitting category.

23(SDP). Michael Main RHP/OF from Deland, Florida HS.

24(TEX from LAA). Justin Jackson SS from Roberson HS in Ashville, North Carolina.

25(CHW). Neil Ramirez RHP from Kempsville, Virginaia HS. Top spec in Cal Ripken's summer college league.

26(OAK). Ryan Dent SS/2B from Wilson HS in Los Angeles. Top leadoff prospect in high school ranks.

27(DET). Todd Frazier SS/OF from Rutgers. Raw power, nothing more.

28(MIN). Kentrail Davis OF from Theodore, Alabama HS.

29(SF from NYM). Sean Doolittle 1B/LHP from Virginia.

30(NYY). Eric Elland OF from Lamar HS in Houston, Texas.

Wow what a list, including a 7 footer flame thrower!! The best player i.m.o. in the draft is Josh Vitters who is predicted to go to SF. He has major hitting skills and is very polished.

Andrew McCutchen

"Athleticism, polish combine in exciting package". Those words graced the headline of the newest Baseball America's Pittsburgh Pirates top prospect list. This player, Andrew McCutchen, is only 20 years old and already has risen to the top of the Pirates prospect list, and is most likely going to see some Major League talent in early to mid September. When he was drafted, barely in 2005, the Pirates had no clue how fast this young center fielder would improve and mature. Andrew hit .291 with 14 HR's and 22 SB's in 2006 with the low A Hickory team. He then got the transfer to AA Altoona and hit .308 in 78 AB's. McCutchen will most likely start the year in AA and leadoff for the club. Baseball America also says that Andrew has "gold glove potential", meaning that Andrew is a 5-tool player. He is already getting compared to the likes of Carlos Beltran and Alfonso Soriano. In my opinion, I think Andrew is slightly less in the power category, but more in the speed category. Hopefully McCutchen will prosper and be a great centerfielder with the revamped Pittsburgh Pirates who added first-baseman Adam LaRoche also in the off season.

Alex Gordon

Alex Gordon is looked at my so many prospect websites as the best prospect in all of baseball, and I couldn't agree more. RotoAuthority has Gordon predicted .275 average with 20 HR's 72 RBI's and 15 SB's. I have Gordon predicted around there but at .282 with 21 HR 70 RBI and 12 SB's, still numbers that WILL give Gordon the American League Rookie of the Year award next year, beating out Daisuke who is bound to have a horrid season with all the hype. The Royals, who also have power hitting Billy Butler, have all the pieces necessary to be a power house in a few seasons and Gordon has a huge role in this process. Good Luck Alex!

The Angels!

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim open up training camp with 3 injuries to SP's (Jered Weaver, Kelvim Escobar, and Bartolo Colon) but still have huge hopes for the upcoming season. After Arturo Moreno guaranteed that the Angels would acquire a huge bat this off season, the team failed to accomplish this goal, but still got 2 good to very good hitters to bolster the offense. Gary Matthews Jr., who I guarantee will not have a slouch season like some people say, and Shea Hillenbrand, a player who I adore very much because of his combination of contact and power. But just as Matthews stated "you can score all the runs you want, but without pitching and defense, you will be sitting at home in October", and the Angels sure do have some great pitching. Already considered by many by having the best bullpen, the angels signed 32- year old Justin Spier, who had a commanding season last year for the Blue Jays, and Darren Oliver, the LHP who also had a great season for the NYM last year. These acquisitions give the Angels the best 7-8-9 punch in baseball by a far margin. Once Colon returns to the rotation, in late April, the Angels will be the AL West leading team. I say this because both OAK and TEX lost huge pieces in Barry Zito, Frank Thomas, and Carlos Lee. In my eyes, the Angels should win the AL West and move up to even the American League Championship. But this is just a prediction, just like anything that people write about this time of year.

The Royals!

In the season of 2007, every teams enters spring training with a head full of excitement. The Kansas City Royals came into camp with an even different feeling, the feeling of redemption. For the last few years, lets face it, the Royals have been around the worst teams in the entire Major Leagues, but this year I have a feeling this is all gonna change. First of all, the new GM Dayton Moore made some amazing moves this off season including signing an actual major league SP to ace the rotation and a relief pitcher who could actually close out some games.
These moves including one of the best moves of trading inconsistent reliever Ambriox Burgos to the New York Mets, acquiring young right-handed Brian Bannister. Bannister was very high up in the Mets rotation last year, but an injury put him down last year and kept him down for the rest of the season. But this year, he says he is feeling great and ready to help KC's rotation. My prediction for Bannister is a 4.06 ERA with a 9-10 record. This will help the rotation tremendously because Bannister will hopefully build of this success, moving on towards the 2008 season.
That was a very great deal for Kansas City, but nothing can be better than the two pitchers Moore signed this off season, Gil Meche and Octavio Dotel. Some people would argue that they overpaid for the pitcher, an estimated 5 yr $55M deal, but Dayton says that Meche has commanding stuff and feels like he will have his best season of his career this year. Dotel is a relief pitcher with very good power, an amazing 79 k's to only 50.2 IP in 2004, who can surely close out some games for the Royal blue. My prediction for Dotel is 3.92 ERA with 65k's with 23 saves.