Dave Saltzer

What no one is really talking about is the most offensive part of the team .  .  . the fact that so much wealth has grown around Washington DC to make the Redskins one of the most valuable and lucrative sports franchises. Now that is offensive!

I find it hard to believe that no one else has an opinion on this issue.

This article is getting a lot of love on the interwebz! Great job, Dave. 

Where?

More from one of the contacts at Louisville Slugger:

Thanks for sending the link to your piece. Well done! I will share with others here as well as our contacts with MLB in NY.

I'm excited to start seeing what the guys in Orem can do. There's going to be some talent on that team!

Thanks for the writeup.

Good article, but Tony Gwynn used a completely white ash bat 99% of the time. In fact you will not find hardly one image of him using anything but the white ash if you use 'google images'.

I am aware that Tony Gwynn used a white ash bat (if I recall one of the smallest ones ever used). That doesn't mean that the Tony Gwynn finish isn't how I described it. To be sure, earlier today I contacted two sources at Louisville Slugger. Here are their responses:

I very much agree with the second person that it was a very sad day for all of baseball.

So, there you have it. Gwynn used one finish, and in his honor, they named the two-toned finish in his honor. He transcended the game and was given an honor few will ever get. He will be missed.

Thanks for the story, Dave..

We lost one of the ALL-TIME greats of the game. RIP, Big T.

I am a dipper, but I would love to see MLB join forces with the anti-tobacco folks to school young people on the dangers of this garbage. I've only been using the crap (I call it my Crack) for about 10 years, and will be stopping soon. I will take a day-off per month until I do quit from the s$!^ to honor Big T.

Good luck with that! I am a big believer in making something productive to honor someone. That's a great way to do it. Let us know how it goes.

Didn't see it and just heard the news and didn't see the other thread. This one is a big shock to me. Please delete this thread.

Wow! This is a shocker. Baseball seems to be losing a lot of its greats this year. I remember watching him play and hit, just such a beautiful thing to watch.

RIP Tony Gwynn. Thanks for the memories.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2098741-baseball-hall-of-famer-tony-gwynn-passes-away-at-age-54?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial&hpt=hp_t1

I look at them every day and appreciate them very much. Thanks for all the work! I'll look forward to your return.

Biddle signed as a 27th pick in the first round with the Phillies. 

 

My point was it was not a weak draft. How deep of a draft is up for debate.

A draft that is not very deep is by definition weak. But if you want to argue semantics, technically yes, it wasn't very deep at all.

As for Biddle, sorry, was thinking Beede from 2011. My mistake.

lol nice try.

 

Bryce Harper, Taillon, Machado, Pomeranz, Deshields, Choice, Grandal, Sale, Lee, Biddle, Yelich, Aaron Sanchez, Syndergaard, Ranaudo, Walker, Castellanos, Workman, Gyorko, Smyly, Simmons, Dietrich, and that's just round 1-2.

Harper--1st overall pick. No shot at him.

Taillon--2nd overall pick. No shot at him.

Machado--3rd overall pick. No shot at him.

Colon--4th overall pick. No shot at him and 25 years old in AAA.

Pomeranz--5th overall pick. No shot at him.

Loux--6th overall pick. No shot at him and not playing.

Harvey--7th overall pick. No shot at him.

DeShields--8th overall pick. No shot at him.

Whitson--9th overall pick. No shot at him and unsigned. Drafted 11th round this year--indicates a big drop in performance.

Choice--10th overall pick. No shot at him.

McGuire--11th overall pick. No shot at him and 25 years old in AAA.

Grandal--12th overall pick. No shot at him.

Sale--13th overall pick. No shot at him.

Covey--14th overall pick. No shot at him and still in low-A.

Skole--15th overall pick. No shot at him and still in AA.

Simpson--16th overall pick. No shot at him and in Independent Ball.

Sale--17th overall pick. No shot at him.

If you are going to argue, at least use people we had a shot at. So, if you are going to criticize the draft pickings, you have 12 picks out of 64 between when the Angels picked at the end of the 2nd round one of whom turned down 1st round money to go to college (Biddle). That leaves you 11/64 successes and 53 out of 64 failures. And, that's ignoring what the Angels got from that draft--Bedrosian who has the stuff to be a future closer or 8th inning guy, Lindsey who is 22 in AAA on a bad team with no lineup protection or pitching (making it easier to pitch around him), and Cowart who is still in development (I am ready to give up on Bolden). Are you going to tell me that the other teams who picked the 53 other players after the Angels all did better? 

It was a weak draft. Talk to any professional scout and he will tell you the same.

That draft is a very large reason why we have a bottom 5 prospect system in baseball.

 

Even the Cowart pick is looking worse and worse

tdawg87: Saying it's a very large reason while ignoring the much larger effects on the rankings from the lack of a 1st round pick for 2 years, the effects of picking low in the draft for many years because the ML team did well, and the effects of the talent traded away for ML talent means that this person thinks that it is the reason why the rankings are so low. I've said what I've said what I think of the national rankings (don't agree that we are dead last, but aren't far from it). Many of the national ranking publications get caught up a lot more in the ranking of the picks in the organization than other factors. 

2010 was a bad class. Lots of prospects failed. Lots of teams did not do well that year. It was the WRONG year to have 5 picks between the 1st and 1st supplemental round. But to even say it was a major reason why the farm is ranked last is fallacious. It was a chance to restock the farm in ways to improve the rankings that didn't work out. But, it didn't cause the shortcomings with the farm system. It's like saying a team lost a game 6-3 because they didn't hit a grand slam with bases loaded. The failure to hit the grand slam isn't why they lost the game--the game was lost when they gave up the 6 runs.

Of all the prospects that year that we didn't take, the one I was most frustrated by was Walker. At the time I remember saying that I wanted to draft him and was confused by Clarke and Bolden over him.

Some of you are ridiculously harsh. That draft is not THE reason why our system is ranked poorly. Not having a 1st round pick for 2 years in a row, winning at the ML level resulting in lower overall picks in every round, and the trades that we made had a much bigger impact on our rankings by national publications.

Going into the 2010 draft, everyone said it was a weak class. And, with hindsight, it has proven to be a weak class. That was NOT the year to have 5 picks between the 1st and 1st Supplemental round. Lots of teams had their first few picks go bust that year. But to blame all of our farm system's issues on that is just fallacious.

I appreciate the organizational update and report. Thanks!

Good news- Ellis gives up only one hit in his outing today

Bad news- he walked 3 and that hit was a homer. Out after 21/3 and gave up 5 runs

Thanks for the update.

If Dickey Stephans Park in Arkansas continues to do serious damage to Angels hitting prospects, why do the Angels insist on renewing the minor league contract for that franchise year after year?

It doesn't do "damage" to the hitters. It means that fans need to understand the effects the park has on the prospects playing there. Big difference.

Should be interesting to watch the Super Regionals Ole Miss - Lafayette matchup. Our 3rd rounder, Chris Ellis, will be taking the mound and facing our 10th round pick, outfielder Caleb Adams. The game will be on tomorrow night on ESPN 2.

Good call. Who do we root for?

Okay folks, I'm done for a while and probably won't be able to do this tomorrow.

Uh-oh folks, Caleb Adams aspires to be a . . . lawyer! Yikes!

Player

avg

gp-gs

ab

r

h

2b

3b

hr

rbi

tb

slg%

bb

hbp

so

gdp

ob%

sf

sh

sb

sba

po

a

e

fld%

----------

Adams, Caleb

.387

64-60

212

66

82

17

7

11

42

146

.689

45

10

56

1

.509

2

3

6

12

110

1

1

.991

10

299

Adams, Caleb

U Louisiana Lafayette (LA)

LF

R/R

JR

6'0" 185lbs DOB: 01/26/93

From BA--appears the velocity may have improved from 2 years ago, which explains why he wasn't drafted then

Like Young, Jr. RHPs Trey Teakell and Jordan Kipper give TCU additional starting options if necessary, or they could serve as strike-throwing long relievers or setup men. Both work at the bottom of the zone with a fastball that reaches 91; Kipper has an effective short slider, and Teakell’s breaking ball has improved significantly.

From 2 years ago (October 2012)

RHP Jordan Kipper (Central Arizona) - Kipper is a tall (6'4, 210), sturdy pitcher w/ a projectable frame.  He has been drafted twice before (out of high school and after his frosh season), but decided to return for his sophomore year.  He has committed to TCU.  Overall, he was fairly unimpressive.  He came from a H 3/4, SWU that has some questions, as he has a hook in his delivery and doesn't really engage his lower half.  Stuffwise, he attacked with a FB at 86-88 with run and sink, but dropped to 83-84 range in the 2nd inning.  His CH was his best secondary at 80-83 that had fade and sink w/ gd armspeed which he was around the zone with.  His SL was a spinner that broke gradually when right.  Doesn't really have an out pitch and projects to me more as a reliever.

Hoping he added some velocity.