Ozzie Ball

Game 6: Peoria Javelinas at Mesa Retherford DHing, batting 5th Viciedo playing 3B, batting 6th.

Game 5: Peoria Javelinas vs. Scottsdale Jordan Danks playing RF, batting 2nd C.J. Retherford playing 2B, batting 5th

Game 3: Peoria Javelinas at Peoria Saguaros Viciedo playing 3B, batting 5th.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Oct 15, 2009 -> 05:25 PM) Sauer's K/BB numbers are very, very good overall, but I think that stat is pretty much useless anyway. His overall numbers are definitely good, but his H/9 is high and his K rate is below 8. Control and deception make up that K/BB ratio, but his H/9 shows he's hittable. What happens in the higher levels where he's throwing the ball over the plate to better right-handed hitters? He'll still get that sink on the ball, and he'll still get that deception, and the HR/9 rate should be pretty low for Sauer throughout his minor league career, but he'll give up more line shots as he climbs. I just don't think he is a starting prospect and I don't think his arm is enough to rank him above some of our other relief prospects. The K/BB ratio is great but it isn't sustainable, especially as a starter because lefties have hit him very well. Firstly I disagree strongly with your K/BB comment, the ability to strike out batters and not walk batters is pretty key in my opinion, obviously you still need to look at the K/9 and BB/9 separately because you could have a 5:1 K/BB with only a 5 K/9, but on the whole, K/BB is a very good indicator of pitching ability. One year of H/9 data doesn't show he's hittable, it shows he was hit. Batting averages fluctuate greatly and can be affected by many factors that a pitcher cannot control, namely team defense and luck. His BABIP against was high and his line drive percentage was low, that doesn't add up. I'd be willing to bet significant money that his H/9 will fall next year despite playing at a (presumably) higher level. I would not look at H/9 rates, if you have a high strikeout rate and a low walk rate then, chances are, your stuff is good regardless of the H/9 (age to league relevance permitting).

Game 2: Peoria Javelinas vs. Surprise Jordan Danks playing RF, batting 3rd. C.J. Retherford playing 2B, batting 6th Justin Cassel starting.

http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune....rdan-danks.html

Game 1: Peoria Javelinas vs. Surprise Viciedo in the lineup, playing 3B, batting 3rd.

Schedule added to first post, thread pined. I was thinking we'd use this for everything AFL, unless someone was thinking of making individual gameday threads?

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Oct 11, 2009 -> 07:18 PM) There's no way in hell I'd trade Floyd or Danks over Hudson. I too have been impressed with Danny, but Jesus Christ people! He's not the prospect that Project Prospect is saying he is and he hasn't done anything yet to show he's even half as valuable to us as each one of Floyd and Danks are. If/when Hudson shows he can be as good in the Majors as Floyd and Danks have been, then you can put him in that category. All I know is that if some other GM held Hudson in such high regard as Danks or Floyd, then I immediately open trade talks with that guy. Agreed, on both points.

QUOTE (son of a rude @ Oct 9, 2009 -> 04:29 PM) As far as im concerned, Feliz has already proven himself in the majors. 1.74 ERA, .677 WHIP, 39 strikeouts in 31 IP. He can easily be one of the best closers in the league. And that's where the argument for Hudson can be made, if you only project Feliz as a reliever and Dan Hudson as a mid rotation starter, which prospect is better? I'd also have to say that it is somewhat naive to consider a pitcher proven based on just 31 innings pitched. He had an uncharacteristically low walk rate in hid brief Major League stint which I wouldn't expect him to carry on into 2010, added to that his strikeout rate, especially if he moves to the rotation, is likely to decrease, his BABIP of .185 is a near certainty to rise and his LOB% of 84.9% is also likely to decrease. Feliz could be great but he certainly is not proven.

There were some points given for his ranking that high in the chat:

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Oct 8, 2009 -> 05:25 PM) No Retherford or Shirek. Not so surprised with Shirek, but I thought CJ had a shot. A lack of tools/upside plus a stacked league was always going to make it difficult for him.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prosp...009/268974.html

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prosp...009/268965.html

The Mets claim Jack Egbert off waivers. http://twitter.com/NYPost_Mets/status/4376521687

A decent amount of Sox related questions in the chat:

Continued... http://futuresox.com/frontpage/?p=1541

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Sep 22, 2009 -> 01:33 PM) Anyone know which of our minor leaguers become free agents this offseason? Or who can point me to a place to find out? I'd think some of the AAA guys, like Egbert and maybe Torres, would be eligible. Fernando Hernandez is the one I'm semi-certain will be a FA.

2009 stats: Team League W L ERA G GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB SO GO/AO AVG KAN SAL 4 3 3.80 8 8 0 0 0 45 48 21 19 2 7 30 1.55 .265 WS CAR 6 2 4.23 14 14 0 0 0 78.2 84 43 37 7 22 25 2.07 .284 TOTAL 10 5 4.08 22 22 0 0 0 123.2 132 64 56 9 29 55 1.88 .277 Strikeout rate was disappointing but ground ball rate remains good. Coming back from Tommy John I would consider this a successful season and I would expect him to get better next year (as that's what normally happens for TJ recoverer's).

Infante's season was ended early by injury, here are his 2009 stats: Team League W L ERA G GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB SO GO/AO AVG KAN SAL 3 5 3.26 15 15 0 0 0 88.1 76 37 32 4 37 75 1.54 .239 WS CAR 1 2 7.84 6 5 0 0 0 20.2 18 20 18 3 23 10 1.00 .243 TOTAL 4 7 4.13 21 20 0 0 0 109 94 57 50 7 60 85 1.40 .240

Regular season over and it was a disappointing one for Upchurch: Team League W L ERA G GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB SO GO/AO AVG BRI APP 3 10 6.95 13 13 1 0 0 66 94 53 51 8 17 42 2.20 .338 Things to remain positive about: • Youth • Ground ball rate • Strikeout to walk ratio 2.47/1 • 4.48 FIP (not great but much better than his 6.95 ERA)

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 12, 2009 -> 04:46 AM) Beckham might need a rehab stint. We're still on this, really?

23 games in, 5 years left on his contract. Are we really having this thread already? He hasn't been good since the trade, but he isn't this bad, we have 5 and a half seasons worth of data to prove that and since he's only 28 there's no reason to think he's in decline. Maybe he'll never be an .850+ OPS player again but there's no reason to think he won't chip in a few .800+ OPS years with great defense.

QUOTE (scenario @ Sep 12, 2009 -> 04:19 AM) Yeah that .235 batting average is really blowing up my skirt. Some run correlations from last year: 2008 Batting Average - r = .679 On Base Percentage - r = .834 Slugging - r = .903 OPS - r = .944 Batting average just isn't important when you have OBP, SLG and OPS.

Because it needs to be said, again, Nix>>Getz by a large margin. QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Sep 12, 2009 -> 04:00 AM) If only he could hit RH pitching. We'd have a pretty good player on our hands. We already have a good player on our hands.