Apparently Art Howe is not a fan of the way he was portrayed in the Moneyball movie. Howe was the manager of the Athletics during the moneyball era and worked under GM Billy Beane. In the story link below check out the pointed comments that Howe had to say about how he was portrayed in the movie. http://topprospectalert.com/2011/09/27/art-howe-is-fired-up-about-how-hes-portrayed-in-moneyball
Xander Bogaerts was signed as an international free agent by the Red Sox at the age of 16. Signed as a shortstop, Bogaerts may grow out of the position by the time he makes it to the big leagues, but he has impressed at the plate in his first year of full season ball. In his first year of pro ball, playing in the Dominican Summer League, Bogaerts hit .314-.396-.423 with 3 HRs, 42 RBI, 39 runs scored and 4 stolen bases. But what was most impressive was his plate discipline, as he owned a 37-30 K/BB rate in 239 at bats. His triple slash line stood out where the DOSL league average was .235-.334-.311, and he was only 17 years old in a league where the average age was just under 18.5. Bogaerts didn't hit for much power as his .423 slugging percentage indicates, but it appeared in 2011. More on Bogaerts after the jump: http://www.minorleagueball.com/2011/11/16/2559036/xander-bogaerts-the-next-elite-third-base-prospect
He’s a Hall of Famer, a 7x All Star, a World Series champion, and was the second African American player in baseball, and the first in the American League. Now Larry Doby will be honored with a postage stamp as part of a 2012 series featuring “Major League Baseball All Stars”. In the story you can see the stamp, and learn more about Doby through the words of Charleston RiverDogs president Mike Veeck, whose father Bill Veeck brough Doby to the Cleveland Indians in 1947. http://topprospectalert.com/2011/08/20/former-cleveland-indians-great-larry-doby-honored-on-u-s-postage-stamp
There are many things to like about the development path of Yasmani Grandal. Especially encouraging is how he answered the criticisms and perceived weaknesses in his game. He made vast improvements in his defense by achieving throwing out 34% the attempted steals against him. And by maintaining that .305 batting average, it shows that he has legit hitting skills and isn’t simply a power-hitter only. His hit tools translate to a major league middle-of-the-order bat, which is outstanding coming from a premium defensive position. Lastly, I like the fact that he was promoted from A to AAA ball in one year and improved his numbers with each change. The rapid ascension through the organization indicates that he doesn’t need a lot of development time and is very close to major league ready. However, his path to the majors is far from clear. Unfortunately for Grandal, there is another excellent catching prospect in Devin Mesoraco ahead of him in the system. Because of this, it is hard to know exactly where Grandal fits at Cincinnati at the major league level. This situation seems similar to teammate Yonder Alonso. Yonder seemed to be in the minor leagues well after he was major league ready because there was no room for him with the big club. One could see Grandal getting used as trade bait by the Reds and likely it would be beneficial to Grandal’s path to the majors. But if the Yonder situation is any indication, Grandal may end up in the minors throughout the 2012 season. Setting aside the question of Grandals path to the bigs, the makings are there for a successful major league career. Current progress leads me to believe he has the potential to eventually become one of the higher echelon catchers in the game. http://baseballinstinct.com/2011/11/16/prospect-instinct-yasmani-grandal-c-cincinnati-reds
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