Parks reminds me of a young Charlie Lau, from the Max Dugan era.

Clint Barmes + Angry Deer Meat = Broken Collarbone. (fyi '05)

I would take Kershaw. He's a lefty, plays in a pitchers park, no real injury history, and he is as nasty as can be on the mound.

Don't you think empty averages can be taken with a grain of salt? Martin Prado had a pretty empty batting average in the Minors. Just looking for your thoughts, and if that is something that can hold a prospect back?

Great read Jason !! I love how you make a story out of your scouting reports. This, in my opinion, separates the great writers, from the average writers. A story, behind the story. Thanks again, and like MichavdB said above, great start to my Friday as well !!

Nice article Jason. I love this one especially, because so many "experts" out there have questioned Fredi's bullpen management this year. One expert will say "he should have brought in Kimbrel with a tie game on the road in the 10th" (even though he pitched in the previous 4 of 6 games). Another expert will say, "he's going to burn Venters out before the year is up". Etc, Etc. So whats too much, or not enough? Who really knows? The way I see it, and from what most other people say, relievers are pretty much a dime a dozen, good for a few years, then fades away (with a few notable exceptions). I would say managing your pitchers would have to be on a day to day basis. I think a good manager knows if a guy is getting worn down or not. Lots of good debates over stuff like this. Thanks again Jason !!

Frickin nice article man. Thanks Professor Parks !! Just curious, how many teams play (are represented) in the complex league?

Yet another great read at bp. Grazi Jason!! Enjoy your podcasts with the never sarcastic KG as well.

I guess nobody remembers greater than, less then, equal too signs? KG said 30/30 is a possiblity for Wheeler, what did Carlos do last year? 30/30? All I was asking is where is he at on the CarGo level, my frickin gosh man.... Ask a simple frickin question to the guy who is the head expert on the site for minor leaguers and I get a "C'mon" !! I don't read the stat lines everyday in the minors, I don't follow the frickin Rockies prospects. Would it have been that hard to type < ? Ya know, KG, not everybody is an expert, as you are...

You tell me, your the frickin expert.....c'mon !!

Tim Wheeler > = or < Carlos Gonzalez

I enjoyed this article, up until the last sentence. I like Manny too, but really, is baseball worse? I don't get it?

Thanks for explaining that process. Very good info. Wasn't Brandon Phillips a rule 5 pick as well? He turned out pretty good.

Not trying to kiss up here, just pointing out the facts. This is by farone of the best reads here at BP. Domo Arigato, Mr Perrotto, Domo !!! (bet you've never heard that one before)

Thanks for a great article Jay. And like many others, my thoughts and prayers are with the Japanese people. Couldn't imagine what any of them are going through?

I have to admit, I do like the injury projection system. But I HATE the name chipper for it. Show Larry some respect, the guys a future hall of famer, a super star in his prime, and a tried & true first class dude. He restructured his contract, to stay on one team. He moved to left field when the Braves needed a left fielder. I mean seriously, with all the data you have at your hands, could you not have come up with a different name? Chipper is atleast willing to step on the field if he is hurt, most guys will take a week off & think nothing of it. Sorry for the rant, hope I got my point across !!

What the Fantasy folks really need is a cheat sheet(check list), for drafting. A simple, one or two page sheet listing the top 50 players or so at each position and a page of SP's and RP's, followed up by the top 100 prospects. Printer friendly of course.

As for the "quick cuts" section, maybe you could make that your blog or part of your blog? Or, similar to Rotoworld, they put out a daily dose column, that is similar to your quick cuts section. I was thinking you could make that an article all in itself. I look forward to that section of UTK, just like I look forward to looking at box scores everyday. Can't wait to read it!!!

I just seen on Rotoworld that Jose Reyes could be out for a month with his Thyroid condition. That seems like an awfully long time? I have a thyroid condition (overactive), and the medicine they gave me started working really quickly. From some of the reading I have done, everyone has different reactions to an overactive thyroid. I thought I was having panic attacks for about a year or so. My heart would flutter like crazy. One other symptom, that could be bothering Reyes, is that it can cause you to stare for no reason. (Graves Disease). The medicine they gave me was tapazole & propranalol(sp). The side effects I have noticed since taking the medicine is I feel tired alot, and I gained weight. My thinking was that, he might be out a couple weeks, to allow the medicine to start working. I've been taking this medicine for over a year now, so it isn't a matter of normalizing his thyroid quickly, maybe they're saying a month because of the side effects its causing him? Just thought I would share my experience with everyone.

I love the quick cuts section. I wish that could be a full on piece !!! Thanks Will

Pikapp383.... Some of us old folks grew up reading the box scores in the newspaper. That is without a doubt my favorite thing to do during baseball season. However, I don't like flipping through box scores at work on the net. I would rather click on the Rundown, print out very easy to read box scores, and have them right at my fingertips. Not sure why the negativity, this is a very good thing in my opinion. Hats off to BP for adding the Rundown !!!! (Just another reason to renew my subscription)

The Heater is a great addition, does that include the box scores they do everyday? Those are very nice. You can get all the scores & stats on one, two sheets of paper.

The new Fantasy section sounds great. BUT !!! We need printer friendly cheat sheets to take to our draft. I've used PFM the past couple years, but it is such a pain in the butt to print the PFM reports. Not to mention I have to flip through several sheets of paper to find what I may be looking for. So anyway, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, make some cheat sheets where I can get all the players on one, maybe two pieces of paper. I like the way Marc has been putting the players in tiers. That would be an ideal format I think.

That was a great article. Well done. Although, I disagree with the Ryan Howard statement a little. He may have people getting on base in front of him, but Howard still has to knock them in.

Man, I can honestly say, that if you were not on this website doing the work you do, I would not have a membership at BP. Not that I don't like Christina & Will's info(and the other writers), I do. But honestly, you're the reason I subscribe. Thanks K.G.

Injury Analysis Projection System - IAPS or Team Injury Analysis Projection System - TI-APS Hope I win !!!

Sorry if someone already put in this idea. I'm a Fantasy Player. I have used your PFM in the past. However, it is not printer friendly at all. It would be nice to use that as a check list at my draft, without having to flip thru 15 pages of players. The other thing is a Fantasy Checklist. That is one of my most important tools at a draft. It would be really nice if you guys could put together some checklists for us Fantasy players. Or if you don't want to mess with any of that, just put together a simple fantasy magazine. If Ron Shandler can do it, I know you guys can do it. You could get anywhere from $5 - $10 a magazine (depending on how much content you put in it). Thanks for listening !!

I'll guess, $21.9 million.

Thanks for the rankings Mark. Just wanted to voice my opinion on what woudl really help us fantasy geeks. I play in a 16 team roto league and I have to say that the 20 players just isn't enough. I would like to use BP's rankings, but the only way to do that is to use the player value meter and that is far from printer friendly. A cheat sheet is the way to go here. A printable one page list with the top 40 or so players at each position (minor leaguers included). Then a printable one page list of SP's & RP's. I guarantee that would get printed/viewed a whole lot of times.

I agree with Joe. The Braves were definitely missing a big bat this year. They gambled on Francouer and he failed them again. One other point I wanted to throw out there, is the batting caoch. I loved Pendleton as a Brave, and maybe this has nothing to do with him, but the Braves bats have been well below mediocre the past few years, maybe they should have dumped him and brought in a better batting coach? He obviously isn't getting through to the majority of these hitters. Anyway, just my two cents. Good piece Joe !!!

Very nice piece of work. One of the best articles on BP. Way to go John.

I think I agree with the majority in that Ryan Howard is definitely not overrated, maybe slightly underrated now. He is showing some blazing speed this year with two triples and 4 stolen bases. Not to mention he will hit over 40 homers again. The main point I wanted to make about the HR Derby. Is that the HR Derby is for the kids Joe. Do you know how bad my kid is waiting for the HR Derby tonight? He is six years old, and thats all he has wanted to see for the past week or so. Since he watched Josh Hamilton in a rerun the other day. The HR Derby, needs to be there, every year for that reason alone, the kids.

Great article Joe. Nice to see Bobby get a little praise once in a while.

Looks like the Nats called Dukes back up. Why did they even send him down?

I'm really interested in who the ptbnl could be. Any ideas floating around as to what players are in the mix for that title? It seems any team in the league could have made that very same deal. Why Chris Perez? Is he that good? I bet GM's around the league are kickin themselves in the a** for missing out on that deal.

FINALLY....Tommy Hanson will make his season debut this Saturday. Can't wait to hear Kevin's comments on the promotion. On a side note, it sucks the way Glavine was let go, but I'm all for it, if it makes the Braves better. And from everything I have read, Hanson is definitely the way to go, struggles or not.

Love the Minor League Update column. It would be even more brilliant if you included the "year to date stats" under yesterdays stats. Thanks for the hard work Mr Goldstein.

So should Manny change his sign to "Manny being Manly"?

Professional sports has seen Donte Stallworth kill someone from drunk driving, and now, Nick Adenhart is killed by a drunk driver whose license was already suspended etc.. How many more people have to die, before the laws on drinking and driving change. The laws on drinking and driving and killing someone are weak. My cousin was killed by a drunk driver and the driver was out of prison in 4 years. Just doesn't seem fair.....

I've used the PFM, I believe the last 3 years in my drafts. If this hasn't been mentioned, here goes. Please set it up so that there are printer friendly versions available, or set it up so that it will put all the dollar values into a cheat sheet for us (hitters by positions and pitchers). Thanks, just my two cents.

I just drafted in a 16 team mixed keeper draft. Here's some things that have worked for me. First thing I do is I go through my cheat sheet and mark a value I am willing to pay for that player. I used BP's PFM, and I think that is a good basis for setting my (your) own values. I also try to use Ron Shandler's "LIMA Plan". Drafting heavy on offense, then targeting pitchers that excel in different categories. Sometimes targeting #3 or #4 pitchers on good teams, while usually getting atleast one ace, one dominant closer, and one good catcher (if you use two). The last thing I do is take the amount I am allotted to draft with (I think $250 is kind of an industry standard?), and I will put a dollar amount next to each position I need to fill, untill I equal the $250. This will give you an approximate idea on where you will need to spend your cash. Sorry if someone posted something like this already, I didn't read everyone's comment. I did read then one comeent where the said do not drink and draft. Ignore that person. If you're half way intelligent (you are) & drink in moderation, it'll make draft day alot more fun and help to make the day go by a little quicker. Good luck and thanks for always answering my questions when I send them to you.

I believe if you give someone something to shoot for, they are going to be more willing to try and achieve it. As far as me not signing free agents, I beg to differ. I'm one of those who "WOULD HAVE" signed Barry Bonds. You're telling me Barry wouldn't be doing everything in his power to prove something?

If I were a GM, my contracts would be heavily based on incentives. The whole "what he did last year or the year before" method doesn't seem to motivate the player to perform at his highest level.