Carlos Marmol regained the ninth inning duties Friday night as he was called upon to get the save against Boston. Manager Dale Sveum explained he needed more stability and consistency from the tail end of the bullpen. You can’t argue Marmol hasn’t consistently given poor Cubs fans multiple heart attacks (they’re from Chicago so they naturally have multiple attacks). Carlos didn’t waste any time getting back to his old ways; with a 3-0 lead he loaded the bases, walking a batter and giving up a hit.

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I got the sense from comments and other non-scientific criteria that people were looking to get a feel for Trevor Bauer.  Or at least get their grubby little hands on him.  I did say to buy him back in April and again in May, but who can remember that far; I can barely remember how this sentence started.  With a preposition?  I don’t know, let’s forget the whole thing and have a pina colada!  What, you don’t like coladas?  How about dancing in the rain?  Not into YoGa?  Yeah, his ERA is shizz.  Let’s see what Scott, our prospect writer (his actual last name), said in the past about Bauer, “Bauer profiles as a top-of-the-rotation starter with an upper 90s fastball and a devastating curve.  But all I keep thinking about is what Grey would taste like slathered in teriyaki sauce.”  Huh?  Not sure how that slipped through my strict editorial process.  In the past, I said about Trevor, “Bauer & Skaggs opened for Big & Rich.”  Well, that wasn’t the best quote from me.  Shoot me!  Now, you just shot your computer screen.  You’re silly!  On our preseason top 25 fantasy baseball prospect post, the only pitchers above him were Moore and Darvish.  Okay, Moore’s had some struggles, but those two names give you an idea of how valuable Bauer could be.  He’s blown through the minors about as good as anyone.  Right now, he’s sporting a 11+ K-rate and a low-2 ERA between Double and Triple-A.  The only concern for him is his walk rate (over 4), but he has the Ks to make up for it.  He looks like the pitching version of the hitters the Diamondhacks are famous for.  High Ks, crazy upside, might call crap on a table a Pu-Pu platter.  In 2012, I’ll give him the line of 7-5/3.60/1.30/100 in 90 innings, but there’s obviously room for huge upside (and risk of some downside (though the Ks will be good (how many parentheses am I inside of here (Anyone?

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Organizational Talent Rankings via Baseball America

2012 (15) | 2011 (2) | 2010 (9) | 2009 (6) | 2008 (8) | 2007 (15)

2011 Affiliate Records

MLB: [89-73] NL East

AAA: [78-65] International League – Gwinnett

AA: [61-79] Southern League – Mississippi

A+: [60-78] Carolina League – Lynchburg

A: [60-80] South Atlantic League – Rome

R: [39-29] Appalachian League – Danville

The Run Down

The Braves have maintained a top-tier farm system over the past few years, and it’s still a quality system, but it’s only a few graduates away from looking rather depleted.  Three of Atlanta’s top four prospects (Teheran, Delgado, Simmons) should push through to the bigs this year.  A couple more top ten guys should see significant time in Atlanta, too.  Teheran and Delgagdo are battling for a starting pitching role.  Both have outstanding fantasy potential.  Pastornicky and Simmons are battling for the shortstop role.  Both are rather boring for fantasy.  There’s little intrigue beyond that, for now.

Please, blog, may I have some more?