Archive for November, 2009

One of the common arguments about valuing free agents is the fact that no deal is made in isolation.  For every player that a team doesn’t sign, there’s some alternative.  It’s almost certainly not an alternative they wanted to exercise and often it’s a substantial downgrade but establishing the baseline performance of that alternative gives us an idea of what the dropoff is.  Starting off, we’ll take a quick look at left field.

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A place holder for all the 2009 prospect lists.  The link at the header of the page will be converted to a catalog of 2010 lists including Baseball America, Kevin Goldstein, Fangraphs, John Sickels and Keith Law.  It will also have FR’s 2010 list for reference once it is compiled.

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I am stealing this gag from Lookout Landing.

Mark Hamilton looks like he’s taking that joke you made about his girlfriend in stride, but he’s secretly planning to let the air out of your tires when he gets a chance.

Thanksgiving coming up has delayed my plans to get back into writing but I’m thinking that the time off itself will help.  Until then, Derrick Goold loosed the BA top 10 on us.

Shelby Miller, RHP

Jaime Garcia, LHP

Lance Lynn, RHP

Daryl Jones, OF

David Freese, 3B

Eduardo Sanchez, RHP

Allen Craig, OF/1B/3B

Blake Hawksworth, RHP

Daniel Descalso, 2B

Robert Stock, C

It’s a solid list overall.  I think the inclusion of Hawksworth is a mistake and I probably won’t wind up with Freese as high (but I’m always pessimisstic on Freese).  Otherwise, there isn’t anything glaring that jumps out at me.

Surprise 7, Phoenix 4

• Tyler Henley was 1-for-4 with a double.
• Daryl Jones was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.

The first of many to come.

1. Lance Lynn
2. Jaime Garcia
3. Daryl Jones
4. Allen Craig
5. Eduardo Sanchez
6. Daniel Descalso
7. Adam Reifer
8. David Freeze
9. Bryan Anderson
10. Pete Kozma

This is an unconventional list in my estimation in large part because of the total absence of any 2009 draftees.  That said, we’re liable to see a ton of variation between lists given the turnover within the farm system last year.

Update: Nevermind, I’m illiterate: “(2009 Draft Picks/International Signees Not Included)”.  That said, excluding them feels a bit like a cop-out.

I missed a game over the last few days — calamity!

Surprise 11, Peo Saguaros 9

Surprise: 15-16, 2nd

• Tyler Henley was 3-for-6 with a triple.
• Gary Daley allowed 2 runs on 2 hits and a walk.  His AFL ERA stands at 8.03 — it’s been a rough fall for Daley.
• Adam Reifer struck out one in a scoreless frame.
• Scott Gorgenzola struck out 1 and walked 1 in a scoreless frame.

Marc Hulet has a post up at Fangraphs that’s worth a read.  You should be reading all the posts there but just in case, here’s the link.

And yes, I’m aware that posting has been minimal lately, my personal and professional life are intervening in unpleasant ways.  Hopefully things will pick up soon.

Update: The STL Cardinals twitter account has a tweet with the prospects being added to the 40-man roster.

1. Tyler Norrick
2. Adam Ottavino
3. Francisco Samiel
4. Bryan Anderson
5. Mark Hamilton
6. Allen Craig
7. Daryl Jones
8. Jon Jay

Surprise 6, Peo Javelinas 4

• Daniel Descalso was 2-for-5.
• Mike Parisi pitched 5 innings allowing just 3 hits and 1 ER.

Surprise 9, Mesa 2

• Daniel Descalso was 0-for-4 with a walk.
• Daryl Jones was 1-for-5 with 3 strikeouts.
• Bryan Anderson was 0-for-3 with a walk.

Surprise 5, Peo Javelinas 4

• Daniel Descalso and Daryl Jones both laid an 0-for-4 goose egg.

Surprise 2, Scottsdale 4

• Bryan Anderson was 1-for-3 with a walk.
• Daryl Jones was 2-for-4.  If you’ve been paying attention to the box scores, I’d like to highlight something that I think is really noteworthy.  I’m not one for reading much into the AFL stats because there’s so much variance.  I am encouraged to see DJ playing some CF.  I think it’s a mischaracterization to call him a corner outfiedler.  When I’ve seen him he’s had great range with an average or below average arm (setting aside some awesome throws I’ve seen from him).  So if you want to take away a positive this AFL season, be encouraged that DJ is getting time in center.