Gird your loins – we’re going to be navigating positions battles in each division. Today I’m talking about the NL Central, which loses the Astros this year, so you can basically knock off five wins from each team’s 2012 win total. It feels like this could be a close race for the first couple months until the Reds replace Dusty’s toothpick with bubblegum at the trade deadline. There’s also a good amount of both young and rebound pitchers spread out across the division, so this could be a boon for late round draft picks in mixed leagues. Am I telling you to draft a pitching staff solely from the NL Central? Those are your words, not mine. Although I kind of wish they had been my words (you quick thinker, you). You can also read about the position battles for the NL East and the AL Central. Anyway, here are some of the position battles to watch in the NL Central:
Please, blog, may I have some more?Jeff Locke
Pittsburgh Pirates 2011 Minor League Review
Organizational Talent Rankings via Baseball America:
2011 (19) | 2010 (15) | 2009 (18) | 2008 (26) | 2007 (19) | 2006 (19)
2011 Affiliate Records
MLB: [72-90] NL Central
AAA: [76-68] International League – Indianapolis
AA: [64-77] Eastern League – Altoona
A+: [74-63] Florida State League – Bradenton
A: [69-69] South Atlantic League – West Virginia
A(ss): [31-44] New York-Penn League – State College
The Run Down
With the first overall pick in the June draft, the Pirates selected Gerrit Cole and gave him $8 million upon signing. Although I’m partial toward Trevor Bauer – Cole’s teammate at UCLA and third overall pick in June – Cole is probably a safer option, given his projectable frame and mechanics. And while I doubt he’ll arrive before 2013, it’ll be fun to watch him destroy batters in Double-A (Cole was clocked at 102 MPH a month ago in the Arizona Fall League). In addition to Cole, the Pirates’ system has quite a few high-ceiling arms: James Taillon, Luis Heredia, and Stetson Allie all profile as frontline starters. Unfortunately, though, they’re rather far from arriving in Pittsburgh. Offensively, the Pirates’ system doesn’t have too much to be excited about for 2012. Starling Marte has great potential and could yield some fantasy value, but I’m afraid we’re still a year or two away from him being viable option. Josh Bell is probably Pittsburgh’s most promising offensive prospect, but the 19-year-old switch-hitting outfielder is a long ways off. Until Cole arrives, there’s no one draft-worthy here.
Please, blog, may I have some more?
The top 50 fantasy baseball prospects list aims to provide a list solely for fantasy baseball purposes. Due to fantasy baseball’s immediacy of statistical production, players are not necessarily ranked based on tools or projections far into the future, but instead, current production.
Please, blog, may I have some more?
Wouldn’t say this is crunch time as much as this is “Your nuts are in a cracker and the season’s closing in and squeezing tight so you better just throw any pitchers that are available because you need stats — stat!” time. The line for last week was 80 IP, 4.05 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 50 Ks and 3 wins. Not a great line, but if you throw out Lannan and Francis because you had better sense than me and didn’t start them. The line comes down to 3.42 ERA and 1.37 WHIP. To recap, these aren’t guys I’d drop anyone worthwhile to get, these starters are meant for streaming purposes and all of their ownership in ESPN is under 50%. These streamers are in no particular order. Also, in the final month of the season, managers juggle their lineups more, so there’s no guarantee all of these guys are listed on the right day. Anyway, here’s some borderline starters for this week in fantasy baseball:
Friday, September 16th
Philip Humber – It’s really slim pickins on Friday for under 50% owned starters. I’m not a huge fan of Humber but compared to some of the other schmohawks, well, here he is.
Please, blog, may I have some more?The top 50 fantasy baseball prospects list aims to provide a list solely for fantasy baseball purposes. Due to fantasy baseball’s immediacy of statistical production, players are not necessarily ranked based on tools or projections far into the future, but instead, current production.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Pittsburgh Pirates 2010 Minor League Review
Overall farm ranking via Baseball America (2010)
2010 (16) | 2009 (18) | 2008 (26) | 2007 (19) | 2006 (19) | 2005 (18) | 2004 (11)
Record of Major and Minor League Team(s)
MLB: [57 – 105] NL Central
AAA: [71 – 72] International League – Indianapolis
AA: [82 – 60] Eastern League – Altoona
A+: [76 – 62] Carolina League – Bradenton
A: [65 – 74] South Atlantic – West Virginia
A(ss): [33 – 42] New York Pennsylvania League – State College
R: [29 – 30] Gulf League
The Run Down
After another “they are who we thought they are,” (thank you Denny Green) type of season for the Pirates, 2011 does pose a few bright spots.
Pittsburgh Pirates 2009 Minor League Review
Overall farm ranking via Baseball America
2009 (18) | 2008 (26) | 2007 (19) | 2006 (19) | 2005 (18) | 2004 (11)
Record of Major and Minor League Team(s)
MLB: [62 – 99] NL Central
AAA: [70 – 73] International League
AA: [62 – 80] Eastern League
A+: [73 – 66] Carolina League
A: [67 – 70] South Atlantic
A(ss): [38 – 38] New York – Pennsylvania League
R: [29 – 31] Gulf League
The Run Down
Trades to the Yankees and Red Sox in 2008 (Xavier Nady, Damaso Marte, and Jason Bay) reaped benefits in 2009 as five of the eight prospects played a role for the Pirates (Craig Hansen, Jeff Karstens, Andy LaRoche, Brandon Moss and Ross Ohlendorf).
