http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/ The Home For Baseball Insiders Mon, 25 Mar 2013 16:56:43 EST en-us http://www.baseballamerica.com/images/baonlinelogo4.gif http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/ 96 9 1 http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/ask-ba/2013/2614898.html Content: •Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports asked me an interesting question over the weekend. He noted that the Cardinals were No. 1 in our evaluation of minor league talent—those rankings are in our current issue and should go online this week—and wondered how many teams had occupied the top spot within two years of winning the World Series. Baseball America has rated farm systems since 1984, and only three other organizations have pulled off that double. The Blue Jays ranked No. 1 in 1993 after winning a championship in 1992, the Marlins captured the 1997 World Series and the top spot in our ratings in 1998, and the Yankees had the best farm system in 2000 following titles in 1998 and 1999. The good news for St. Louis is all three of those organizations had subsequent World Series championships in their near future (Toronto in 1993, New York in 2000 and Florida in 2003). •I had just about completed today's Ask BA when Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reported that the Brewers will sign Kyle Lohse, pending a physical. Lohse is the last remaining compensation free agent on the market, and assuming the deal gets completed, Milwaukee would give up . . . Mon, 25 Mar 2013 13:47:39 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/ask-ba/2013/2614898.html http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/ask-ba/2013/2614884.html Content: I'm off next week, so there won't be another Ask BA before the regular season starts on March 31 with the Rangers visiting the Astros. So let's get my predictions for the 2013 season on the record today. I'm calling a repeat of the 2011 World Series: How realistic are Mike Trout comparisons for Clint Frazier? Do you think he has a legitimate chance of going No. 1 overall in the upcoming draft? Chris Kurtz Rocklin, Calif. An outfielder from Loganville (Ga.) HS, Frazier may have moved ahead of crosstown rival Austin Meadows of Grayson HS as the top high school prospect in this year's draft. But any Trout comparisons are a bit much and he probably won't be the top choice in the 2013 draft. However, neither of those statements should be construed as a knock on Frazier, who delivered two homers when he matched up against Meadows last week. He looks like a future star. Based on his major and minor league performance to date, Trout could be a once-in-a-generation type of talent. He's a 6-foot-1, 220-pounder with top-of-the-line speed and hitting skills, not to mention at least above-average power and center-field ability. While Frazier is more highly . . . Mon, 18 Mar 2013 16:51:12 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/ask-ba/2013/2614884.html http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/ask-ba/2013/2614838.html Content: As we've detailed several times, Stanford righthander Mark Appel turned down $3.8 million from the Pirates after they drafted him eighth overall last year. Though he has less leverage now because he's in his final year of college eligibility and it's hard to fathom that he'd hold out again and re-enter the 2014 draft, he's putting himself in position to get more than $3.8 million this summer. Appel, who entered the year as Baseball America's top-rated prospect for the 2013 draft , struck out a career-high 15 in seven innings while taking a tough 3-2 loss against Nevada-Las Vegas on Friday night. His stuff is as good as ever, and he's dominating like scouts always have thought he should. He's now 2-2, 1.20 with a 43-6 K-BB ratio and .160 opponent average in 30 innings. Appel will be attractive to a team that wants a college pitcher who can arrive in a hurry—that's just about any club—and also to anyone looking to spread their bonus pool money around. Because of his reduced leverage, it's unlikely that he'll command full pick value at the top of the draft. Could the Astros wind up drafting him No. 1 overall, just a year . . . Mon, 11 Mar 2013 15:44:17 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/ask-ba/2013/2614838.html http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/ask-ba/2013/2614805.html Content: I'm in the minority at Baseball America, but I just can't get excited about the World Baseball Classic. From my perspective, the tournament is a bunch of glorified exhibition games in which players aren't in peak form and several of the top stars have bowed out. The best part is catching glimpses of the best international prospects, many of whom Ben Badler and J.J. Cooper noted here . I don't see any way to stage an international tournament that would include all of the best players from the top baseball nations. Shutting down MLB for 7-10 days in the middle of the year would compromise the regular season, and a tournament wouldn't work at the end of the long seasons here and elsewhere. The WBC may be the best we can do, yet it still hasn't captured my interest. In last week's Ask BA, you ran a list of all the players who received mentions from BA editors on their personal Top 150 lists (as part of the Top 100 Prospects process), including how many editors named them and their highest ranking. That breakout is my favorite thing you do now. It's very insightful. Could you do the same for . . . Mon, 04 Mar 2013 13:54:46 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/ask-ba/2013/2614805.html http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/ask-ba/2013/2614782.html Content: I missed the unveiling of Baseball America's annual Top 100 Prospects list last week because I had jury duty. So I'll try to make up for that by tackling some Top 100-related questions here. During the Top 100 chat, J.J. Cooper mentioned that you could provide a list of all the players who received votes but didn't make the list. Can you please do that? Tracy Keinast Myrtle Beach, S.C. The first step in our annual Top 100 process is for BA editors to submit personal Top 150 lists, which we crunch together in a spreadsheet and then let the arguments begin. This year, seven editors provided Top 150s, and 195 different players appeared on at least one list. Eight players made all seven Top 150s but fell short of the overall Top 100: Cardinals first baseman Matt Adams, Pirates outfielder Josh Bell, Braves catcher Christian Bethancourt, Mets shortstop Gavin Cecchini, Rays righthander Alex Colome, Cubs outfielder Brett Jackson, Red Sox catcher Blake Swihart and Brewers righty Tyler Thornburg. Just to clarify, I listed those eight alphabetically and they are not the eight prospects who came closest to making the list. The highest ranking on any individual list went to . . . Mon, 25 Feb 2013 13:55:55 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/ask-ba/2013/2614782.html http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/ask-ba/2013/2614738.html Content: • Baseball America will unveil its annual Top 100 Prospect report online tomorrow, along with some combination of chats, podcasts and maybe even a Google+ Hangout. In an unfortunate coincidence that I didn't realize until two days ago, I have jury duty tomorrow, so I'll miss most of the festivities. I'll see if I can record a BA podcast today, and maybe I'll host a Twitter chat at @jimcallisBA on Wednesday. • The NCAA Division I college baseball season began Friday. Aaron Fitt provides exhaustive recaps every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, allowing you to stay on top of everything that's going on. There were a number of upsets on the opening weekend, though No. 1 North Carolina won both of its games against Seton Hall. • The Indians agreed to a four-year, $48 million contract with center fielder Michael Bourn, formerly of the Braves, last Monday. As a result, Atlanta gets a first-round compensation pick (currently No. 31) and the first round now increases to 33 selections. Cleveland's competitive-balance lottery choice in the supplemental second round (which had been No. 69) also disappears. The Braves gain roughly $1.67 million in bonus-pool money for the top 10 rounds, while the Indians . . . Mon, 18 Feb 2013 12:59:06 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/ask-ba/2013/2614738.html http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/ask-ba/2013/2614695.html Content: Though I can look out my window and see snow in my backyard in suburban Chicago, it warms my heart to know that the baseball season is about to begin. The college baseball season, that is, which kicks off Friday. The first weekend of play features two matchups between teams ranked in Baseball America's preseason Top 25. No. 9 Stanford (featuring three first-team All-Americans in righthander Mark Appel, first baseman Brian Ragira and outfielder Austin Wilson) visits No. 18 Rice (led by a talent pitching staff fronted by juniors Austin Kubitza and John Simms, sophomore Jordan Stephens and freshman Kevin McCanna). No. 13 Mississippi (with a pair of potential first-round righthanders in Bobby Wahl and Mike Mayers) plays host to No. 14 Texas Christian (loaded with talented sophomores such as first baseman Kevin Cron, lefty Brandon Finnegan and outfielder/righty Jerrick Suiter and standout freshman such as lefty Alex Young and righties Mitchell Traver and Riley Ferrell). Two other matchups caught my eye. Unranked Minnesota has a pair of prominent draft prospects in lefties Tom Windle and D.J. Snelten, so they could pull an upset series win at No. 12 UCLA. And who's responsible for scheduling Coppin State (1-53 last season) . . . Mon, 11 Feb 2013 15:49:44 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/ask-ba/2013/2614695.html http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/ask-ba/2013/2614647.html Content: The 2013 draft order won't be finalized until the last two compensation free agents, Michael Bourn (Braves) and Kyle Lohse (Cardinals), sign contracts. And teams still haven't received the assigned pick values for 2013, which will rise at the same rate that MLB's revenues did last year. But the draft order is all but complete, and multiple sources have told me that they expect the pick values to rise by 6-8 percent. So here's a look at where each team's bonus pool for the first 10 rounds stands as of now, both in terms of the 2012 values and with an increase of 7 percent. Yeah, it's a little over the top, but I keep a spreadsheet of the rankings and BA Grades from the Prospect Handbook. In looking at the 2012 vs. 2013 grades, many grades this year are five points lower. Was there a conscious choice to bring all of the grades down a notch? I'm not sure who had the biggest drop, but I did notice that Astros shortstop Jonathan Villar went from 65/High in the 2012 Handbook to 50/High this year. Who are some other players with big climbs and drops? Jeff Anderson Brooklyn Park, Minn. . . . Mon, 04 Feb 2013 17:47:27 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/ask-ba/2013/2614647.html http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/ask-ba/2013/2614587.html Content: The question I've been asked more than any other in the past week is whether the 2013 Prospect Handbook has shipped. The answer is yes. If you've ordered directly from Baseball America, your book has left our Durham headquarters. Not only will you get it a couple of weeks before it will show up in bookstores, but you'll get our annual bonus supplement with a 31st prospect report for each team, as well as a pack of five Bowman prospect cards. Now on to questions that require longer answers . . . The reported Mariners package for Justin Upton was significantly better than what the Braves gave up for him, wasn't it? Dexter Sobrepena Renton, Wash. How much does the Justin Upton trade affect the overall strength of the Braves system? They gave up five guys but no real stud prospect. Christian Thomas Bozrah, Conn. Where would shortstop Nick Ahmed rank on the Diamondbacks Top 10 Prospects list? Ben Montierth Katy, Texas What players would fill the Braves Top 30 Prospects spots vacated by Zeke Spruill (No. 9), Nick Ahmed (No. 11) and corner infielder Brandon Drury (No. 27)? Keith Hudson Syracuse, N.Y. I didn't like either the Upton trade . . . Mon, 28 Jan 2013 10:45:10 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/ask-ba/2013/2614587.html http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/ask-ba/2013/2614564.html Content: There was very sad news on Sunday, when former Miami coach Ron Fraser died at age 79 from complications from Alzheimer's disease. When I was Baseball America's college beat writer from 1989-97, talking to him was one of the highlights of my job. College baseball wouldn't be anywhere near the same if not for The Wizard of College Baseball. When Miami hired Fraser to coach its baseball team in 1963, he had a $2,200 salary, a converted shower for an office, a cow pasture for a field and a mandate not to spend any money. So he raised funds himself and generated interest in the Hurricanes program with such stunts as introducing college baseball's first batgirls (the Sugarcanes) and having his team wear green gloves on St. Patrick's Day. He met Miami businessman George Light, who became the principal donor in the building of Mark Light Field (in memory of his son, who died of muscular dystrophy), which opened in 1973 as college baseball's first modern facility. By 1977, Mark Light Field had become Mark Light Stadium, replete with an electronic scoreboard and concrete bleachers. Fraser paid off the stadium debt by hosting a $5,000-a-plate dinner on the infield, with . . . Mon, 21 Jan 2013 15:10:10 EST http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/ask-ba/2013/2614564.html