biggentleben

They're the slide show variety, just to warn you! 1-25 26-50 51-75 76-100 101-125 And, for reference in this discussion, I did a top 100 Braves prospects list in October. Here is the link to the list, and there are links on that page to the more in-depth reviews of each player.

Holy cow, I'm not sure where you got your scouting report, but that's not Albies at all. He has a small frame. That's the one thing on the entire report there that's correct. Albies has ridiculous range and a plus arm at short. He was in AAA at 19 last year and moved ahead of Dansby Swanson in the org as both were still playing short due to his ridiculous raw skills at short. He does, however, have a bit of Raffy Furcal to him, with the tendency to air mail throws or rush throws while Dansby is so ridiculously cool, calm, and collected. That's why the move to 2B was made - nothing to do with Albies' inability to play SS, but that they could move Swanson/Albies together up to Atlanta quicker in that combination. Albies has tremendous bat speed and generates excellent power. He's the one guy I've ever heard the unicorn comp of Jose Altuve actually used on by a professional scout as he generates tremendous carry in his swing. I don't think there's 20 home runs there, but 30+ doubles, double digit triples, and double digit home runs is not a crazy thing to consider when he's at his peak. He also has very good contact skills using all fields. He was the Southern League batting title this year in spite of being out of the league for a lot of the year and getting docked points for the at bats he missed. People read the progression this year as him going to AAA and struggling to end the year, but that's not the truth at all. Albies and Swanson both started the year on absolute fire, were promoted before the end of April, Albies to AAA and Swanson to AA, and Albies reportedly was hazed mercilessly by the guys at AAA Gwinnett, a number of whom ended up released by the team in part for their behavior. He struggled out of the gate after the promotion, but he was hitting very well in AAA after the move to 2B in AAA when they moved him down to AA so they could play he and Swanson alongside each other as the prospective future middle infield in Atlanta for years to come. He would have received a September call up if not for a freak elbow fracture on a swing in the Southern League playoffs that ended his season.

Holy cow, this is an interesting read. The team backed away from Jose Quintana when it was insisted to get Albies plus Newcomb. I don't see that happening whatsoever. Wisler is younger than De Leon and has tremendous pedigree. He did not work well with McDowell, but the comp I put on him when the Braves acquired him was Brandon Webb when Wisler was on his best stuff. Blair needs some work as the Diamondbacks royally messed him up in his last year, and he just couldn't get fixed last year, but the talent is certainly there. He'll be 25 coming into the year, so he's the oldest of the batch being discussed. Albies is fun fodder, but his value right now is lower than it'd be due to the injury he suffered at the end of the year and the questions around that injury, so the team is quite unlikely to trade him unless he's valued as the top 10-15 prospect that he was consensus in the game before that injury. Some have backed away pretty strong on that ranking due to the freak nature of the injury and the location of it. I had some good discussions with medical people and baseball folks in and out of the Braves org before ranking him where I did in my top 125 prospects that came out this week. Right now, two guys I've talked with from BA and one from BP told me that putting together their personal top 100 lists, they considered up to 15 Braves prospects. There are quite a few elite guys that could be paired to headline a deal, but there are also quite a few that are no longer prospect eligible that could lead a deal as well. There's some bit of discussion that the Braves may cash in on Travis Demeritte's big publicity and scouting reports from the AFL to flip him in a deal due to org depth up the middle.

Goodness. It was my post suggesting to just put a lock and key on the thread that the moderator was responding to. It was something where multiple times I read a response and wondered if it just hadn't been stated in a way that rang true because numerous posters were posting similar comments, but it wasn't ringing true, and after trying a few different methods myself and finding that exasperating, I responded with the suggestion to simply close down the thread for the safety and sanity of those involved (I don't completely remember the post, but I probably had some attempt at humor regarding keeping everyone's sanity in the midst of an insane holiday season/winter/etc. or something as well). That post was removed, and it appeared that the post called most in question in this thread was in nearly direct response to my post based on the wording of that post. I certainly had no issue with my post being removed (and I didn't get a PM about that removal, but still not an issue) because I knew I wrote it from a point of frustration. I frequently run afoul of thought patterns here due to a very different view on the humor of Twins situations than many people who are more intensive fans do. Much like I find it entirely distasteful that nearly every time my team of choice is brought up (especially with those who weren't part of the crew who I posted with dating all the way back to the ESPN boards) that Hrbek/Gant becomes a "joke", while I find the situation not very funny at all for multiple reasons. We come to this forum with different views on things. I've received warning points in my times here, and I've had good discussions with moderators multiple times about posts being deleted, and I've also been quite upset about the brevity and reactivity to other comments, but having also been a moderator in forum settings before, I understand the thankless position they are all in, and while I won't "wear warning points with pride", I'll understand why they're there and attempt to have a logical discussion about a differing viewpoint on this site. For all the stuff that's come across this forum over the last year-plus, if this is the issue that really caused a fracas, then, well, wow. Somehow a thread about the election went all year long with plenty of reminders and nudging, but still survived the year, but discussing Chris Sale being traded leads to unrest. That seems an odd hill to take a stand upon.

Akin to Mason.... Having played through that **** show, the only real positive is that he brought in Alex Gibb to innovate the line play (and therefore the running game), but that was due to Gibb's son being on staff already when Mason came in and Mason being smart enough to promote him on the defensive staff.

Fleck feels like Glen Mason - hot coach of the moment, going to be hard to let it go because he'll likely still have success to a certain degree.

The image of Dansby Swanson diving for home on his inside the park home run is one I think I use every time I write about Swanson. Absolutely epic shot: http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/17/files/2016/09/9523879-dansby-swanson-mlb-atlanta-braves-washington-nationals-850x560.jpg

My last edit took out Charles Manson, and now he's in the hospital. Is it bad when you're upset because you actually were pseudo-cheering for that one?

Palmeiro isn't on the ballot.

I'm always curious how many people have been to the Hall. It is fairly difficult to argue the inclusion/exclusion stuff in the same light once you've been there and found that Barry Bonds is displayed more often and more prominently than his own godfather. The biggest display when I visited of any single player (outside of Hank Aaron, because it was the anniversary of 715) was a roughly 8' tall Pete Rose diving head first into a bag. Roger Clemens was in multiple places in the museum. Yet, when I visited, Harmon Killebrew, Warren Spahn, and Jimmie Foxx were only displayed on their plaques, which are essentially displayed in an elaborate walk-in closet that my wife walked right past and into the gift shop, not paying any mind to the plaques, which tells you just how they appear to the natural flow of the rest of the museum. Yet we spend hours typing up and researching hard core arguments about why someone should or should not have a plaque in a closet...Bonds, Clemens, Rose, Shoeless Joe, they're all on display in the Hall no matter the rotation of the Hall. Heck, McGwire and Sosa figure prominently as well, and I'm sure in 2018, they'll be featured quite a bit, whether or not they have a plaque.

Certainly, though I think there is plenty on the field to question him on. I could have good argument for getting rid of him for his on-field coaching.

I have 15 with IBWAA, and I have used every single one of those spots ever since visiting the actual museum. I'm all about a big hall at this point. The plaques are such an aside at the actual Hall that I have to wonder how much importance is really even put on them by anyone but the writers. Here's the article I wrote about why I prefer a big Hall.

Not terribly upset, but I don't think anything to do with the suspensions is reason to fire him. Frankly, there is plenty of reason to fire University personnel for their handling of that situation.

The winter of the Tyrell Jenkins hot potato continues. After being traded from the Braves to the Rangers, then DFA'd by the Rangers and being claimed by the Reds soon after, today he was DFA'd by the Reds and claimed by the Padres.

Hello, Jim Wacker!

Then you've somehow missed how they turned Rick Porcello into Victor Alcantara (via Gabe Speier, who was flipped for Cameron Maybin), Alex Wilson, Michael Fulmer, and Luis Cessna. That's a great trade already, let alone the future value they'll get from just Fulmer and Wilson.

Using J.D. Martinez immediately negates your argument. He was only signed to a major league free agent contract because that was the way to get him over other teams only offering a minor league deal. He was cut and signed two days later by the Tigers. It was no "big money" sort of deal. Please be honest and real about your examples if you're heading down this road. I also never once said they kept all their young players. I said they utilized them in their team or in trade and that the majority of their major acquisitions were via trade, which they clearly were if you look at that list. Free agents were very rare in their team structure.

A kick that bounces off the goal post, a ball that is tipped to the Gopher in the end zone, and they're going to end up winning this ball game.

I want to like this in agreement, but that's not the right sentiment by any means. Absolutely sorry to hear...

The first rule of 2017 is that we don't talk about 2016.

Not likely on anyone's list, but baseball site - John Barfield, former Rangers pitcher killed in a domestic dispute over the holidays... http://calltothepen.com/2016/12/27/former-texas-rangers-pitcher-john-barfield-killed-arkansas/

Because I have a feeling that quote hasn't been looked up, I'll post it...

They used Andrew Miller to acquire Miguel Cabrera. They make that trade every day and twice on Sundays, similarly with Smyly for Price. The team develops players for the purpose of trading or playing them. You can believe it or not, but they have had a tremendous track record with guys from other organizations that they acquired through trade. They have been mislabeled as signing so many guys via free agency, but be real about where their players have come from... Current "big contract"/starting guys: Trade - Miguel Cabrera, Ian Kinsler, Anibal Sanchez, Francisco Rodriguez, Jose Iglesias, Shane Greene, Anthony Gose, Daniel Norris, Matt Boyd, Michael Fulmer, JaCoby Jones Drafted/Developed - Justin Verlander, Nick Castellanos, James McCann, Steven Moya FA Signing (year) - Justin Upton (2015-2016), Victor Martinez (2010-2011), Jordan Zimmermann (2015-2016), J.D. Martinez (2013-2014), Mike Pelfrey (2015-2016), Mark Lowe (2015-2016) So, on the current roster, all but two FA signings on the team is from one offseason. Previous players that were "impact" players: David Price - Trade Yoenis Cespedes - Trade Rajai Davis - FA (2013-2014) Alfredo Simon - Trade Joakim Soria - Trade Cameron Maybin - Trade Austin Jackson - Trade Torii Hunter - FA (2012-2013) Max Scherzer - Trade Rick Porcello - Draft/Develop Drew Smyly - Draft/Develop Joe Nathan - FA (2013-2014) Joba Chamberlain - FA (2013-2014) Phil Coke - Trade Robbie Ray - Trade Prince Fielder - FA (2011-2012) Omar Infante - Draft/Develop Jhonny Peralta - Trade Doug Fister - Trade Joaquin Benoit - FA (2010-2011) Jose Valverde - FA (2009-2010) So, outside of a handful of free agents, the majority of big guys were acquired via trade, and that's how those prospects were used.

They have kept many over the years. They've also made the most of other teams' players (Scherzer, JD Martinez, Iglesias). However, when you don't have a spot for a guy, you develop him to the point where he presents strong trade value and then flip him. Really, who have they missed that they traded away?

I will just keep saying that the Tigers have a great reputation in the industry for their development of players. I had a quote in my recent system rankings on the Tigers that I heard in various ways from people around the game. Their system may not be deep in guys, but they get the most out of the players in the farm system.