biggentleben

Not sure why this is in general baseball, not in the Twins specific discussions. If I were a team, I'd consider Nolasco the best investment of the three. Garza can't stay healthy enough to really warrant a 5 or 6 year deal, and definitely not at the money he'll want (reportedly $17M+ per). Arroyo is nowhere near the other two in talent, production, or stuff, nevermind that he's elderly in pitching life cycles. Nolasco is no Anibal Sanchez, but I think the deal he got from Detroit is a solid number for Nolasco.

Gophers ranked 23 in the coaches' poll and 25 in the BCS standings currently. The appearance in the BCS rankings is their first since TCF Bank Stadium opened.

We don't know yet, but you NEED a big win like this one to turn recruiting heads. Mason had his win over Penn State in 1999 that helped the program. This isn't quite on the same level as that win, but it will certainly help.

Mason was amazing at coaching his kids up. I remember in the early 2000s working at Grandma's in Minneapolis as an elder Badger backer came to shoot the breeze on a Saturday afternoon during the Battle for the Axe. His comment was that Mason did a hell of a job coaching up his boys, but at the end of the day, the talent level difference killed him against the big time schools. Mason was also a terrible situational coach, as evidenced by the 2005 Axe game and the 2003 Michigan game. I loved the guy and would have played my heart out for him any day of the week, but he got "his guys", which often meant missing out on top-end talent but having a very cohesive team.

Ignoring your teaser and parlay, you're sitting about .500 this week. You had to have been throwing things when KC kicked the extra field goal to end up at 40.

Yeah, I got the list of the available squads, but man are they crap. It'd be a 3-4 year rebuild minimum with either squad. $50 per season would mean $150-200 before I can even be competitive, let alone compete for a championship.

Here's an interesting comp - I read where a scout used a comp of what you saw from Evan Gattis this season. I believe Gattis has a chance based on his pedigree and past performance to have a much better OBP, but this season he posted a .771 OPS, 106 OPS+, 21 homers, but a .243/.291 BA/OBP line. If that's what Abreu is, he'll have a chance to post 30+ homers with his 65-75 grade power, but he'll likely be closer to a Chris Carter than a Paul Konerko sort of 30-homer guy.

Boston 7 games Someone second-tier usually ends up MVP, so I'll go with Jarrod Saltalamacchia

Pope John Paul II was making a lot of moves in that way as well in his final years. He was incredibly saddened by the cover-up of the cardinals with sex scandals but had little power at that time to affect change, he had discussed the idea of allowing married deacons full powers of communion of any other priest, and he was making some bold comments about financial living as a Christian years before the global financial turn.

I got a message about it, but I haven't had a chance to fire off an email quite yet. I'll get that done before the end of the evening.

Former Houston Oilers owner Bud Adams dead at 90.

He has cleaned things up in the last year or two, but there was a point where teammates and competitors couldn't stand him in Philadelphia, and the one of him on rehab where he big-timed everyone was a classic shot because of that.

You left out my favorite - Julio Teheran.

I do plan on expanding it this offseason, but I haven't gotten to it yet.

It was simply a 5 year mark, the time that a high school player hitting one level at a time would hit the majors (Rookie, low-A, high-A, AA, AAA). A number don't move at that pace, I realize, so I planned on expanding it this offseason, but I haven't gotten to that yet.

Here is an article I wrote this summer that's a bit Braves-focused, but it reviews the drafting of every team, and there are some that are simply better than others and some that are poor.

Some points as a Braves writer and fan: 1. You don't want Gilmartin. Think a lefty Alex Wimmers at this point. He's messed up in his motion, in his release point, in his grips, in his footing, and in his head. He will have to be broken completely down and rebuilt to be of any value. 2. The Braves aren't desperate to replace Uggla. They have options on hand to replace him in the short-term. In fact, one of the more intriguing hitters in AFL for the Braves is a guy who may be their 2B in 2014, Tommy La Stella. They have depth at the position within their own system, so they aren't going to offer much of value. 3. Beachy is nearly untradeable. Unless the 3B thrown in the deal was actually Sano, Beachy wouldn't be mentioned, and as crazy as it sounds, you might still not get the front office to move Beachy at that point. 4. All that said, Dozier's bat/flexibility/contract could intrigue the Braves for someone like a Cody Martin, David Hale, Aaron Northcraft, or someone like that. They also have a grouping of guys like Omar Poveda who would be akin to Scott Diamond in pitchability, but not a ton of stuff.

Of those, Martin is the only option, but no way you want to get Gilmartin right now. He is more than messed up right now in the head/windup/etc.

Utilize baseball-reference.com on anything to do with a player's background. Best site out there with draft background, in my opinion.

Just don't try to draft like the Rays have recently and have success. The first thing that's impressive about the Cardinals is their culture that no one is indispensable, no matter who you are, but the second is that they have had sustained success (only one losing season in the 2000s - and no 90-loss seasons) while utilizing primarily homegrown players in their roster and drafting in the last half of the first round each season.

While I appreciate this...I wish there was more definition behind this: Jerry Kill going to stay away from Minnesota to treat epilepsy - ESPN

It was a heartbreaking way to end the season with the team's primary strength (bullpen) letting them down multiple times in the series. It was interesting to compare and contrast the two rosters - coming into the season I said my heart wants Braves/Tigers in the World Series, but my head says Dodgers/Tigers. The Dodgers are built well for a playoff series with Kershaw/Greinke at the top and Ryu/Nolasco to round out a solid playoff rotation, especially if the latter two are pitching in LA. It was mentioned on one of the ESPN radio broadcasts of the games that the Dodgers' playoff roster boasted a 2013 salary of almost 3 times that of the Braves' playoff roster. The Braves were the youngest team in the National League this season and only the Astros were younger in all of baseball, so the next few years are bright in Atlanta. Glad to see them back atop the East this year, however!

As far as Rosario vs. Santana, I took off of ESPN's player rater, which goes by traditional 5x5 stats, the most common variety of the fantasy game. In that format, Rosario got a big boost in BA, where he led Santana by .024.

Scherzer preseason was seen in that 15-30 group of starters. I had one friend say that he and Jeff Samardzija were the same pitcher, but Scherzer would get more wins on the Tigers than Samardzija would on the Cubs. Samardzija stayed that same pitcher, but Scherzer took a huge step forward in control and consistency, two things that had plagued him until 2013.

So, I'm certain you've all waited with bated breath for my review of all of these: Rankings in parenthesis are the actual ESPN Player Rater final rankings at the position: Catcher 1. Buster Posey (7) 2. Joe Mauer (8) 3. Miguel Montero (28) 4. Victor Martinez (3) 5. Yadi Molina (1) 6. Brian McCann (14) 7. Carlos Santana (6) 8. Matt Wieters (13) 9. Salvador Perez (9) 10. AJ Pierzynski (12) Not in my preseason top 10: 2. Wilin Rosario, 4. Jonathan Lucroy, 5. Mike Napoli, 10. Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Analysis: Catcher turned into a very hit-and-miss position in fantasy this year. Everyone either had huge prolonged slumps or injury bugs that mad you have to dig down deep for players. Look for a move from Wilson Ramos next season, fully healthy and the sole owner of the catching job in Washington for 2014 (at the moment). First Base 1. Prince Fielder (9) 2. Albert Pujols (35) 3. Joey Votto (7) 4. Adrian Gonzalez (10) 5. Edwin Encarnacion (4) 6. Freddie Freeman (3) 7. Billy Butler (23) 8. Allen Craig (11) 9. Paul Konerko (48) 10. Mark Trumbo (12) Not in my preseason top 10: 1. Chris Davis, 2. Paul Goldschmidt, 5. Michael Cuddyer, 6. Matt Carpenter, 8. Eric Hosmer. Analysis: Davis blew up this year as did Goldschmidt. He was my noted omission in March, though I did have my call on Freeman work out. Keep an eye on Brandon Belt next season as he finished 16th this season with some pretty rough run/RBI stats. Second Base 1. Robinson Cano (1) 2. Ian Kinsler (7) 3. Dustin Pedroia (5) 4. Brandon Phillips (8) 5. Ben Zobrist (11) 6. Jason Kipnis (2) 7. Rickie Weeks (47) 8. Chase Utley (9) 9. Aaron Hill (21) 10. Jose Altuve (6) Missing: 3. Matt Carpenter, 4. Daniel Murphy, 10. Jed Lowrie Analysis: Carpenter became a runs beast, but this position generally played out as expected. The guy to watch in 2014 from this position is Jedd Gyorko who finished 16th in the player rater even though he missed some significant time and was taking his first cuts at 2B this season. Third Base 1. Miguel Cabrera (1) 2. Adrian Beltre (2) 3. David Wright (7) 4. Evan Longoria (6) 5. Brett Lawrie (27) 6. Chase Headley (20) 7. Ryan Zimmerman (9) 8. Pablo Sandoval (15) 9. Aramis Ramirez (25) 10. Martin Prado (13) Missing: 3. Edwin Encarnacion, 4. Matt Carpenter, 5. Josh Donaldson, 8. Hanley Ramirez, 10. Manny Machado Analysis: This position is incredibly deep as the NL HR champion didn't even make the top 10. Keep your eye on Matt Dominguez, who absolutely has the glove to stay in the majors but showed surprising pop this year to finish in the top 20 of 3B. Shortstop 1. Troy Tulowitzki (4) 2. Jose Reyes (12) 3. Hanley Ramirez (5) 4. Starlin Castro (24) 5. Asdrubel Cabrera (17) 6. Elvis Andrus (2) 7. Jimmy Rollins (16) 8. Derek Jeter (88) 9. Alexei Ramirez (6) 10. Ian Desmond (3) Missing: 1. Jean Segura, 7. Evereth Cabrera, 9. Ben Zobrist, 10. JJ Hardy Analysis: Segura was a first-half beast but faded hard in the second-half, so he's intriguing to consider for 2014. Andrelton Simmons is arguably the best defender in baseball, regardless of position, so he'll stay on the field, and he gave owners an unexpected amount of home runs this season. Outfield 1. Ryan Braun (89) 2. Mike Trout (1) 3. Matt Kemp (94) 4. Andrew McCutchen (3) 5. Giancarlo Stanton (59) 6. Carlos Gonzalez (12) 7. Josh Hamilton (52) 8. Matt Holliday (13) 9. Jose Bautista (32) 10. Jason Heyward (80) 11. Justin Upton (24) 12. Bryce Harper (41) 13. Yoenis Cespedes (45) 14. Adam Jones (6) 15. Carlos Beltran (21) 16. Jay Bruce (17) 17. BJ Upton (160) 18. Jacoby Ellsbury (4) 19. Shin-Soo Choo (15) 20. Austin Jackson (48) Missing: 2. Chris Davis, 5. Carlos Gomez, 7. Alex Rios, 8. Hunter Pence, 9. Jayson Werth, 10. Alfonso Soriano, 11. Michael Cuddyer, 14. Matt Carpenter, 16. Starling Marte, 18. Shane Victorino, 19. Coco Crisp, 20. Torii Hunter Analysis: Holy crap was that a mixed bag! Studs, duds, explosions, colossal implosions. Keep an eye on Leonys Martin who had some young player struggles, but he brings a very nice power/speed combo to the table and reminds many of a young Carlos Gomez. Starting Pitchers 1. Justin Verlander (41) 2. Clayton Kershaw (1) 3. Felix Hernandez (13) 4. David Price (32) 5. Jered Weaver (49) 6. Cliff Lee (4) 7. Stephen Strasburg (18) 8. Cole Hamels (39) 9. Adam Wainwright (3) 10. RA Dickey (57) 11. Zack Greinke (14) 12. Matt Cain (64) 13. Chris Sale (11) 14. Gio Gonzalez (42) 15. Jordan Zimmermann (10) 16. Madison Bumgarner (9) 17. James Shields (25) 18. Roy Halladay (293) 19. Josh Johnson (326) 20. Yovani Gallardo (94) Missing: 2. Max Scherzer, 5. Yu Darvish (an accidental preseason omission that I put around Cliff Lee), 6. Hisashi Iwakuma, 7. Jose Fernandez, 8. Matt Harvey (RIP), 12. Anibal Sanchez, 15. Aroldis Chapman (qualified in preseason here), 16. Bartolo Colon, 17. Mike Minor, 19. Mat Latos, 20. Clay Buchholz. Analysis: There is simply a ton of good, young pitching. Harvey and Fernandez joining the elite doesn't even take into account Shelby Miller, Patrick Corbin, and Julio Teheran, who also made the top 25 as rookies (Harvey was barely over limit). Watch for Alex Cobb, who finished 35 in spite of a nasty hit to the head on a pitch and has made a tremendous return to the mound. Relief Pitchers 1. Craig Kimbrel (1) 1.5* Aroldis Chapman (8) 2. Jason Motte (DNP) 3. Jon Papelbon (27) 4. JJ Putz (111) 5. Mariano Rivera (7) 6. Sergio Romo (11) 7. Huston Street (25) 8. Joel Hanrahan (352) 9. John Axford (159) 10. Brandon League (148) * If moved back to closer Missing: 2. Greg Holland, 3. Hisashi Iwakuma (qualified as RP), 4. Joe Nathan, 5. Koji Uehara, 6. Kenley Jansen, 9. Glen Perkins, 10. Jim Johnson Analysis: Other than Kimbrel and Chapman, you simply don't "pay for saves". Holland had a horrid start but a great finish and Jansen in a full season of saves is easily top 5 reliever material. Watch for Steve Cishek who had a great season finishing 12th on the player rater in spite of closing for a horrible organization. So there you go...my annual dose of humility. Fun to look back on!