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?

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Toronto Blue Jays 2011 Minor League Review

Organizational Talent Rankings via Baseball America:

2012 (5) | 2011 (4) | 2010 (19) | 2009 (19) | 2008 (25) | 2007 (26)

2011 Affiliate Records

MLB: [81-81] AL East

AAA: [71-73] Pacific Coast League – Las Vegas

AA: [77-65] Eastern League – New Hampshire

A+: [79-61] Florida State League – Dundin

A: [77-60] Midwest League – Lansing

A(ss): [39-37] Northwest League – Vancouver

The Run Down

The Toronto system is talented and deep and surely among the best in baseball.  Most of the fantasy payoff is a year or more away from materializing, though.  Huge upside guys like Travis D’Arnaud and Anthony Gose seem primed to arrive in 2013, while Jake Marisnick and a slew of nice arms follow.  Clearly there’s reason for excitement here, but nothing immediate, so avoid these guys outside of deep keepers or dynasty leagues.  Do, however, be jealous of Blue Jays fans, as their prospects are likely much better than yours.  And this is after graduating guys like Lawrie, Drabek and Arencibia.  Jeez.

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At least that’s the creed that Francona and Epstein keep repeating to themselves as they sit in the fetal position on opposite corners of the clubhouse shower. Carl Crawford seems like a nice guy.  Something about the name Carl.  So innocuous.  “Hey, sis, what’s your new boyfriend’s name?  Carl?  I’m gonna like him on Facebook.”  That’s you jibber-jabbering with your family.  Because Carl seems like a nice guy could be partially why it’s so sad to see him struggle this much.  Doode better not stand too close to the Pesky pole in a lightning storm cause he will get struck.  That’s been his luck so far.  Franconian measures were taken to get Crawford going by openly mocking him with a lineup switch.  That never helps.  It’s like when you’re a teenager and your Mom makes an appointment for you to see a dermatologist.  Suddenly, you realize you’re not hiding your acne as good as you thought you were.  Crawford is really doing nothing wrong other than getting extremely unlucky.  That luck will turn around and he’ll suddenly look like the 2nd round pick he was in the preseason.  To misquote a cliche, get in now while the gettin’s not good.  Anyway, here’s some more players to buy or sell this week in fantasy baseball:

BUY

Justin Smoak – I just went over my Smoak fantasy.  I wrote it riding on the back of a bicycle through downtown Milwaukee while Shirley steered.

Please, blog, may I have some more?

Toronto Blue Jays 2010 Minor League Review
Overall farm ranking via Baseball America (2010)
2010 (28) | 2009 (19) | 2008 (25) | 2007 (25) | 2006 (25) | 2005 (15) | 2004 (8)

Record of Major and Minor League Team(s)
MLB: [85 – 77] AL East
AAA: [66 – 78] Pacific Coast League – Las Vegas
AA: [79 – 62] Eastern League – New Hampshire
A+: [72 – 67] Florida League – Dunedin
A: [70 – 69] Midwest League – Lansing
A(ss): [35 – 40] New York – Pennsylvania League – Auburn
R: [31-28] Gulf Coast League

The Run Down
My Blue Jays 2009 Minor League Review said, “[The] Blue Jays may be better than expected [in 2010].

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Toronto Blue Jays 2009 Minor League Review
Overall farm ranking via Baseball America (2009)
2009 (19) | 2008 (25) | 2007 (25) | 2006 (25) | 2005 (15) | 2004 (8)

Record of Major and Minor League Team(s)
MLB: [75 – 87] AL East
AAA: [71 – 73] Pacific Coast League
AA: [64 – 78] Eastern League
A+: [67 – 67] Florida League
A: [54 – 84] Midwest League
A(ss): [29 – 49] New York – Pennsylvania League
R: [30-28] Gulf League

The Run Down
The recent trade of Roy Halladay has made this piece a bit more interesting.

Please, blog, may I have some more?