Inside Pitch

"I have a belly button"

The type of clutch postseason player that posts a career postseason OPS more than 100 points below his career regular season numbers?

Ellis, Alcaltara, Gatto and Smith all got overall 45 grades. Probably means they are interchangeable in the rankings.

I don't think there is a player more universally reviled by the Cuban exile community in Miami than Puig. You'd think his last name was Castro.

Well in Victorino's case it's a guy who has been slightly worse in the postseason than his career average in the regular season and who owns a career .533 OPS in three different WS appearances.

It wouldn't shock me one bit to find out that MLB in an effort to make the game more "lively" has juiced the balls again. It wouldn't be the first time they made a stealth move like that.

What a weird trade. Team in need of pitching trades away valuable pitching prospects... adds 50 Mil in salary to do so....

Stop being excited for him. A guy suddenly putting it all together only happens in other organizations. All BS aside, this might be one of the more intriguing developments of 2015. The kid never gave up, I want very badly for all that hard work to pay off for him..

Offensively.... they remain a conservative team in regards to their promotions -- particularly given their tendency to draft college players. The reason it seems they are more aggressive than in the past has more to do with the shift from HS talents to college players -- but when compared to other organizations they are relatively slow to promote guys.. A case can be made they have been more aggressive on the pitching end of things, but it's not as pronounced as with other organizations. Personally, I don't really have a problem with it, players need only be ready when the MLB team needs it. The one place this hurts the team is when it comes to prospect rankings where young guys at higher levels are often given a pass on poor performances.

Keep in mind he is 17, or was when he was drafted. Guys like that can look awful statistically -- in most cases they aren't really being touted based on performance and what they currently are as much as they are what they could be. Vega is doing horribly too and yet my buddy in the Yankees organization tells me he may have one of the biggest upsides in that league. I've always said I look at the player then look at the numbers to see if what I see is translating into performance but I have typically ignored awful starts in rookie ball for teenagers Conversely when you see a teenager tearing a league up, you follow a bit more closely.

Now I want graham crackers

Its all about Neil Peart.

Joyce DL maybe?

He's only had 94 at bats total...

No, no no..... There is an order to these things. Failure to follow the proper order can lead to disaster. Call your loved ones and tell them you love them -- impending doom is certain.

Is he better than Matt Joyce?

He's not Matt Joyce

He catches more crap than he should but his OPS for that era wasn't that impressive by 1B/DH standards, he was a good but not elite hitter.. His career OPS+ as an Angels was 117. Basically he was as good as Kole Calhoun has been this year.

Strad, I'm just seeing this today -- condolences to you, your brother, your entire family. My Dad passed away 8 years ago today. Like you I thought the world of my father, I completely relate to what you guys are likely feeling. For the longest time I struggled to watch baseball as it had always been the one thing in my life my Dad and I never argued about... baseball was the one thing we both loved dearly it had always been the thing that could bring us together... The 2002 postseason will always be special to me both because it was the Angels first WS and because I got to see every game in the series with my Dad. I remember the moment when they clinched, I looked over at him and his eyes were misting, and he was just shaking his head, a hint of a smile on lips. A look of bewilderment and satisfaction.... You've done a beautiful job of conveying the love and admiration you have for your Father, it seems pretty clear many lessons were taught, and that the apple did not fall far from the tree. Thanks for letting us know a little bit about who your Father was.

Big Cowgill

So, our down years count -- their down years don't. 24-9 the last two years -- meaningless.

If Dustin Hoffman played him in a movie it would be called Rain Fan.

Yeah -- every interaction I ever had with him was really pretty positive. He's always been noted for hating autograph seekers because they tend to turn around and sell them.. He used to flat out refuse to sign for anyone by kids.

You really need to add a few songs to your playlist.

Your recollection of things is awful. Joe Torres was a 17 year old HS pick that peaked in rookie ball. It took him three years to progress to High A, where he was awful then got hurt. He was 22 years old by the time he was back in high A and again was awful, where he posted an ERA over 10.00 in his age 22 and 23 seasons.