Farmers only reboot

but he’s been horrible in Chattanooga. I think I got swept away in a small sample size. I guess now I’m most excited about Daryl Thompson. He doesn’t have the pedigree of Homer, but he’s moving in the right direction at least. It’s really hard to be excited about Homer at this point considering the year he’s having and his reluctance to talk about it.

Maybe if Mesoraco keeps raking for a month or two I’ll get interested in him, and there’s always Todd Frazier, who’s probably the best hitter left in the system but has been without a home on the field since his promotion to Sarasota.

There’s really no wrong answer to the question, unless your answer is Todd Coffey.

But it’s been a really nice surprise to see that he’s been having such a solid season. If he can eventually grow to be a solid contributer in the bullpen, he would be the piece that could tip the Volquez-Hamilton trade into a clear win for us. Of course, Hamilton could keep being the next Mickey Mantle, which would make things tougher.

is the S silent, or what? this dude looks like an on-base machine, but he’ll be 25 in august. i cant really find much on him, but it looks like he’s probably been hurt a few times over the years. anyone have more info on him? is this guy legit or is this little spate of avoiding outs a fluke?

I love Roenicke’s stuff, and even if he can’t completely get his control together, I think he’s got the ability to be a dominant force in the pen. Gotta love those power arms, and he’s definitely a power arm.

I’m also a huge fan of Frazier’s bat. He has a solid eye and good power, and although he strikes out too much and doesn’t have a true position, I think he’s gonna rake. I’m guessing he eventually ends up in the outfield for us, putting up consistent .850+ OPS numbers in left.

The rest of the prospects in the farm don’t do a ton for me. There are definitely some solid major leaguers left, but I think all our star potential is pretty much in the majors by now, other than Homer—and as I’ve expressed in the past, I think he’s gonna be an irritatingly inconsistent force throughout his career, with periods of absolute dominance and periods of no control and a whole bunch of runs being scored on him. It’ll all even out to him being a flashy but more or less average pitcher.

Thompson hasn’t convinced me that this is anything more than a hot streak yet. His minor league history and his scouting reports just don’t support these kinds of results. I think he can be a solid major league starter, but I’d be surprised if he was a front of the rotation guy.

I’m still not sure what to think on Stubbs, but I’m certainly not impressed. His bat might play well enough to make him a solid starting CF in the majors, but it’s just as likely in my eyes that he’s relegated to back-up duty due to his inability to make consistent contact or hit for the power that he supposedly had. At least he can take a walk.

Maloney is a guy that I don’t think has much resembling a major league future. His control and stuff are both mediocre, and if he gets by as a major league starter, it’s only because he’s left-handed and not because he’s actually particularly good. He could be a decent reliever though, if that added a couple MPH to his fastball.

Mesoraco’s definitely full of potential, but it’s still too early to get excited about him. But I’m definitely hopeful and intrigued on that front, as he’s really been knocking the cover off the ball since his slow start and all the reports on his defense are great. It’d be nice to have a real catcher who can both hit and field, instead of the ones we have now who can do either one or neither.

Waring’s gonna have to prove himself to me at higher levels before I get very high on him. He has prodigious power, but he strikes out at a ridiculous rate and doesn’t walk much.

Valaika and Turner are pretty much where they’ve been since we’ve had them for me. Should be solid major leaguers, not sure either will be somebody special but I think they’ll at least be able to hit some.

Travis Wood has had a resurgence of sorts this year. I’d like to see him do it in AA as this is his second time through the pitcher-friendly FSL, but it’s nice that he’s healthy and striking some guys out again. He just turned 21 in February, so he still has plenty of time.

We seem to have some potential relievers down in the minors as well, although we’ve seen this before in Medlock, Shafer, Guevara, etc. Herrera is interesting if only because he’s so unique, but I’m not sure his pitching style lends itself to sustained big league success. Viola has had an awful start to the year so far but he’s still flashing some great stuff. Sean Watson continues to give up way too many homers, and his walk rate is way up this year meaning they aren’t solo shots. Jeffords is nasty but I’ll need to see more than 25 innings of respectable control before he sells me on him. Ramon Geronimo has been lights out so far this year and was pretty good last year as well, but he’s 24 and in A-ball, so he needs to show something at higher levels.

A studly young catcher would certainly be a nice piece for the puzzle.

Also Maloney and Thompson are peaking excitement for me. Homer, in my mind, really has to prove to me he isn’t the next Matt Belisle. But I am really hoping the kid gets it together in the next year or two.

Kevin Barker really impressed me as to how hard he hit every ball Monday night in Columbus. I realize he isn’t a prospect but the ball was jumping off his bat.

this is a question probably best directed towards you.

Is there a BABIP+ stat?

poblano, a political blogger who has done the very best primary predictions this campaign season (based mostly on demographics and previous results and not polling data) came out from anonymity today. Turns out he’s Nate Silver from Baseball Prospectus. My mind is blown.

Both baseball and politics are data-driven industries. But a lot of the time, that data might be used badly. In baseball, that may mean looking at a statistic like batting average when things like on-base percentage and slugging percentage are far more correlated with winning ballgames. In politics, that might mean cherry-picking a certain polling result or weaving together a narrative that isn’t supported by the demographic evidence.

Nate Silver is the creator of PECOTA. I am totally blown away that he’s also poblano.

He’s given up 2 hits and no runs through 5. It’s never too early to start thinking about future Farmers!

Some blog linked on BBTF ranked the 100 most valuable sports blogs. #1 with a bullet is Deadspin (see Bissinger asplode) at $16mm. The internet money valuations are based on “links, PR, traffic rank, and other factors,” which should be around “10-20 times monthly earnings.”

Several SB Nation sites make the list, but not RR. An investigation of the dental plan sounds in order.

....K/W ratio and having only surrendered one home run so far this year. Oh, yes, and the fact he’s doing this at 24, instead of 32.