jtrinaldi

His defense will keep him in Cedar Rapids for a full year, likely a year and a half.

Rosario is the best pure hitter in the Twins system, however Sano is the better overall prospect because of his power

Kimes got cut. Baxendale will be used as a starter, he was limited to the Bullpen last year because of how much he was used at Arkansas

Baxendale is a starter, just used as a Bullpen guy last year because he reached his innings limit

It is a shame that Jeff Cirillo didn't get it

The Cardinals did it and only drew 1800 people, a complete failure (when with Quad Cities) The Brewers have done it once every year and normally draw between 10-15 grand. I have herd that the Cubs have interest in doing one, but are not motivated because Kane county is only a 45 minute train ride away.

He will be starting somewhere if he is released. Alex Smith is not on Jason Campbell/Kyle Orton level, he is far superior than both of those guys. He will probably get a 2 year deal with a team like the Jets/Chiefs/Cardinals who does not want to waste a valuable first round pick on a QB, in a defensive heavy draft this year.

Go Pack

really surprised this thread has lasted this long

Bux is not likely to start in CR. Should see him by June 1 though

I see it this way C/DH-Joe Mauer 1B-Travis Harrison 2B-Eddie Rosario 3B-Miguel Sano SS-Candido Pimentel/Danny Santana LF- Max Kepler CF-Byron Buxton RF-Aaron Hicks DH-Oswaldo Arcia

Cubs system is pretty good, but not as good as the Twins If you match it up: Baez vs Sano Almora vs Buxton Sloer vs Arcia These 3 are about even, after this it is a big drop off

CR Opening day should be Walker/Jimenez splitting time in Right Kepler in Left maybe.....just maybe Buxton starts in CF to start, but I think he will be in Ex ST. till mid-late May

In other news, I just got my Packers playoff tickets in the mail

The Twins have indeed cut Wang Wei Lin, and Corey Kimes Lin has spent the last 3 years with Beloit playing over 300 games with the Snappers, his best season was 2011 when he hit 276. Wish all the best for Lin and Kimes in the future.

I thought it was pretty harsh too. The Diamondbacks are #3 just because they have 3 aces? Well the Twins have an Ace, Two #2s, A Slugging Phenom, 2 Five Tool Center Fielders, A fantastic pure hitter, and a top 5 middle infield prospect. They also have the best rookie ball team in the Appy league, a solid International scouting department (Sano, Polanco, Minier, Arcia, etc.), and have been improving draft-wise. I think that tops the Diamondbacks, Jays, and the questionable #1 Mariners. Don't want to come off as mean-spirited, I just really disagreed with jtrinaldi's opinion. The Twins do not have a current ACE in their system. Gibson is a 2, Meyer and May are fringe 3's, and Berrios is likely a 3. Thus you have no ACE. The D-Backs and Mariners do have the best farm system, which will be depleted after this year when they all make their debut's. The Twins haven't develo[ed an ACE in such a long time, that fans forget how hard it is to develop one ACE, much less 2 or 3. The M's also have Zunino who is being compared to Jason Varitek, and other star Catchers. The core players of my Jays assessment are Sanchez,Syndergaard, D'Arnaud. I am probably overrating the Jays, Norris' Velocity has dropped a bunch since HS and last year (4MPH on his fastball that used to hit 96) .the Pirates should be #5. Lots of young Dominicans coming up, with 2 sure fire aces. I stand pat with 1-4, Should be Pirates 5,Twins 6. The only Aces in the MILB right now are Bundy Skaggs Bauer Bradley Taillon Cole T.Walker Aaron Sanchez Potentially Hultzen TBD this year : Guerreri,Fried,Snell

After this year, Kepler will be miles ahead of Harrison. Harrison has no set defined position, and will likely end up at 1st if he can get for enough power. His fielding at 3rd is atrocious

The Draft Picks that were in Beloit from this year were: Bax Taylor Rogers Melotakis Zach Jones Bax and Rogers will likely start in Cedar Rapids to start, while Melotakis and Jones should start in the Fort. Mason and Zach both sit around 96-99 and seem to have closing potential. One of the Dodgers scouts in Beloit said that if Jones was in the Dodgers system, that he would be moving very fast up to the majors.

6. Twins 5. Jays- They dealt Marisnick and Nic to the Marlins, but still have Sanchez and Syndergaard. Also have D'Arnaud and a lot of HS talent that will b developing this year 4. Rays- 6 of their top 10 are Pitchers. Guerrieri has potential to be an ace . The rest of their system is built up with pitchers/young hitters. 3. Diamondbacks- They have 3 ACES in Skaggs/Bauer/Bradley with Skaggs being the best, but the rest of their system is weak. 2. Rangers- The System speaks for itself. Profar,Olt, Perez, and a seemingly endless supply of top Latin American talent. I was considering putting them at 1, but their younger talent is about ready to play their first Full league season this year, after this year when Walker and Zunino make their Debut's, the Rangers will be #1. Texas lacks a real ace in their system as well, although Perez will be a good 2. 1. Mariners- Walker is an Ace, Paxton and Hultzen will top out at #2's (which is very hard to find these days), Zunino is a a star behind the plate and his bat backs that up. Maurer is regarded very highly in their system after his breakout year. This seems to be pretty spot on. I think graduation is going to hit the top six somewhat evenly this year. "Graduation" is going to hit the D-Backs,Rangers, Mariners the worst. Mariners: Depends how they handle Walker, they could bring him up in the middle of the year, otherwise Zunino,Hultzen,Paxton should all be up July. Without that core of guys, they will be dropping quite a bit. Rangers: Profar,Olt, Perez likely will be on their OD roster and contribute right away, after they had a cup of coffee in the majors last year. After those 3 graduate, it is Buckel, and a bunch of Young Latins/High School draft picks. Likely sitting at the bottom of the top 10 without those guys. Arizona- For Now, Bauer and Skaggs will be in the rotation to begin next year. Without those 2, they still have an ACE in Archie who is likely 3 years away, but not much else. Likely sitting at 20-23 once they lose those guys. Rays will graduate Archer, and have the #1 System. They have Hak-Ju Lee coming up at SS, but their Starting pitching between A+ and AA is amazing. They also have a few HS position players who were top prospects at the beginning of the year, but suspended. Once they get back, the Rays will be sitting nicely. Twins: Hicks and Gibson look like they will be in the majors to start next year, even without those guys, they have a stocked system. Kepler will be the guy to keep an eye on in Cedar Rapids. The Power in A and A+ next year for the Twins is what why the Twins are trying to get so much pitching. They want to had established starters by the time the Big Boys make their way to the majors. After Graduation, Twins will likely be sitting at #2 Jays D'Arnaud will be in the majors at some point next year. I am not a believer in Daniel Norris, but they have too much HS and Latin Talent coming up in A ball next year. AA has done an amazing job with getting young latins and HS'ers in the draft. After Graduation, they will be sitting at #4 behind the Pirates.

6. Twins 5. Jays- They dealt Marisnick and Nic to the Marlins, but still have Sanchez and Syndergaard. Also have D'Arnaud and a lot of HS talent that will b developing this year 4. Rays- 6 of their top 10 are Pitchers. Guerrieri has potential to be an ace . The rest of their system is built up with pitchers/young hitters. 3. Diamondbacks- They have 3 ACES in Skaggs/Bauer/Bradley with Skaggs being the best, but the rest of their system is weak. 2. Rangers- The System speaks for itself. Profar,Olt, Perez, and a seemingly endless supply of top Latin American talent. I was considering putting them at 1, but their younger talent is about ready to play their first Full league season this year, after this year when Walker and Zunino make their Debut's, the Rangers will be #1. Texas lacks a real ace in their system as well, although Perez will be a good 2. 1. Mariners- Walker is an Ace, Paxton and Hultzen will top out at #2's (which is very hard to find these days), Zunino is a a star behind the plate and his bat backs that up. Maurer is regarded very highly in their system after his breakout year. Not to be a huge homer but I think it could be argued that the Twins stack up pretty well with the Jays and Rays after adding Meyer and May. The D-Backs could move down if they pull the trigger on any of the rumored megadeals they've been rumored to be involved in. It looks like they're hellbent on moving Bauer or Skaggs for a premium shortstop. if the Rays trade Shields for Myers, Rays jump to 3 . If Rays deal Shields for Myers, and AZ trades either Bauer or Skaggs (Skaggs is the best one of the 2, and the Indians refused to make a deal for Asrubdal because they wanted Skaggs in it) this is what it looks like. I guess the whole wild card will be "Does Jupton get dealt". Apparently the Royals beat writer expects a Myers for Shields trade to be completed sooner rather than later. 1. Seattle 2. Tampa 3. Texas 4. Jays 5. Twins

6. Twins 5. Jays- They dealt Marisnick and Nic to the Marlins, but still have Sanchez and Syndergaard. Also have D'Arnaud and a lot of HS talent that will b developing this year 4. Rays- 6 of their top 10 are Pitchers. Guerrieri has potential to be an ace . The rest of their system is built up with pitchers/young hitters. 3. Diamondbacks- They have 3 ACES in Skaggs/Bauer/Bradley with Skaggs being the best, but the rest of their system is weak. 2. Rangers- The System speaks for itself. Profar,Olt, Perez, and a seemingly endless supply of top Latin American talent. I was considering putting them at 1, but their younger talent is about ready to play their first Full league season this year, after this year when Walker and Zunino make their Debut's, the Rangers will be #1. Texas lacks a real ace in their system as well, although Perez will be a good 2. 1. Mariners- Walker is an Ace, Paxton and Hultzen will top out at #2's (which is very hard to find these days), Zunino is a a star behind the plate and his bat backs that up. Maurer is regarded very highly in their system after his breakout year.

Here is mine, I am going off my opinion and what I have personally seen in the prospects 1. Sano 2. Arcia 3. Rosario 4. Buxton 5. Kepler 6. Meyer 7. Hicks 8. Gibson 9. Berrios 10. May

The Nashville Sounds new Owners recently bought the Sounds in hopes of getting a new stadium put up. There is now belief in Nashville, that the Owners will look to move the team, or sell it. Should they decide to sell the team, the belief around Nashville, is that the buyers would look to relocate the team. The Sounds stadium is in a Bad part of the city, and has been open for 36 years now, with minimal changes. The stadium is in a terrible part of Nashville. There is little land available to put a new stadium if they wanted to put a new one up. If the team eventually gets put for sale, might the Pohlad family buy the Franchise with intentions of moving it to St.Paul once the Rochester PDC expires? The difference between this situation and the MWL situation, is that the teams fly to their next destinatnion for their series'. Should be interesting to see how this situation between the Owners of the Sounds, and the City of Nashville plays out.

Ill go 1. Sano 2. Arcia 3. Rosario 4. Buxton 5. Meyer 6. Hicks 7. Gibson 8. Kepler

Who goes next? Willingham and Morneau at the Winter Meetings?