thanks!

i got taken to task by several ranger fans who were die-hard kinsler loyalists, though - they thought i was kicking him on his way out of town

Enjoyed the piece, Bob. I think Detroit's financial contribution certainly evens the trade a bit, but I still think Detroit fared better. That said, I have a hard time seeing Fielder being an improvement on the basepaths.

I should have stated my baserunning argument more clearly - it's not Fielder who will be the upgrade over Kinsler on the basepaths, but rather Kinsler's replacement at 2B, Jurickson Profar. It was more a case of addition by subtraction.

A couple of things to write here, because A) I'm terribly bored, and B) Where else would it go?

1) Thanks to whomever pointed me in the direction of Joe Blogs. I read it daily (or at least catch up once a week). He's currently listing his top 100 players of all time.

2) I'm also currently reading A Well Paid Slave: Curt Flood's Fight For Free Agency In Professional Sports. It's extremely detailed, and now that I'm more than half-way through it I've discovered that it was written by a lawyer, not a sportswriter. I've never learned so much about antitrust laws and the courts system!

How about this block the plate issue?

I have mixed feelings. I get it, but aren't more conconcussions caused by foul tips? Seems like that's where they should be looking to improve safety.

I think I like the college rule if I understand it right: basically that they can still block the plate and force it, but if it's anything "upper body" its illegal. I feel like those hook slides and stuff at home are the most exciting thing in baseball and there's got to be a better middle point.

I'm interested in the farm systems, who would you consider to have the stongest over the next couple of years, outside of the Astros?

I think rankings like that are kind of a crapshoot. Like the highest ceiling prospects, the most "likely to become MLBers", or what does that mean? It's such a world of difference between low-A and AAA it seems unfair to group them all together.

That said, and I may be biased as a MN guy, but the Twins have a strong system now. I see a pattern of teams with top draft picks the past few years there.

How is COL?

Keith Law released his ranking of the farm systems last week. The full list was behind the paid subscription firewall but I know that his top three were the Astros followed by the Twins and Pirates. The bottom three were the Tigers, Angels and the Brewers.

I'd imagine the Cubs, Mariners and Redsox would also make the top 10.

Not saying this because they are my[sic] team, but the Bravos are always amongst the best farm systems as well. It's crazy how many pitchers they develop.

In terms of an organization's ability to develop talent in general, I'd agree that the Braves are very good and they certainly have a strong history of developing pitchers internally. That said, I don't think that their current crop of prospects is that highly regarded. Probably average, maybe slightly above or slightly below. The Cardinals are another organization that is very highly regarded for both their developmental capabilities and their scouting capabilities. I'd guess that they are just outside the top 10 right now though, just because of how many of their prospects have actually advanced to the majors in the last couple of years.

I subscribed to MiLB.TV last year and focused mainly on Memphis & Springfield. It was great to watch the likes Wacha & Tavares etc coming through.

Roach -

Baseball Prospectus just released their farm system rankings today:

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/artic ... leid=22906

Oh that is awesome, just what I needed. Thanks.

The 2015 trajectory is the most interesting to me. Strength in depth should the Pirates in the top 3 for years to come. I might focus on them.

Excited to be watching Marco Gonzales now. stalk.

it's about time

Interesting question posed on local sports talk the other day:

Be totally honest, when was the last time you watched a 9 inning baseball game start to finish on TV?

Like, saw every single pitch.

That would be the last year that the Astros were on Fox Sports.

RE: Astros 1-0. Lit Sabbathia's tits for him last night. Here we go, 162-0.

Last night. I probably watch about 140 games per year. I usually DVR them and don't watch live, which allows for fast forwarding through commercials, pitching changes, manager visits to the mound, etc. I usually do see every pitch when I watch that way. With live broadcasts, I probably don't because there's so much time with nothing going on that i'm likely to multitask and miss a far amount which I'll rewind and watch if I hear the crowd roar of the announcer indicate that I'm missing something significant. Its probably only a few times per season that I'll just stop watching a game all together before its over though.

Every time it's on broadcast television.

Well, the local team anyway.

went to the yankee game last night....watched it all....no chance doing that on tv these days, and I'm strangely OK with it.

lol Dov, could you see the "dirt" on Pineda's hand from your seat?