=== Prospect Insider ===
Not sure exactly when it was, that Jason Churchill hit another gear on the Minor League Autobahn and revved to 140 mph, but I like eeeet.
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I/O: Jason provides a non-premium 2010 prospect overview, and it pleasantly sets the context as to where the M's put their blue-chippers.
Cheney has only 5 of Jason's top 30; the AA DiamondJaxx have twice that, and as many are at A+ and A ball. SSI doesn't at all disagree with the observation that Cheney tends to be stuffed with players whose value is at org level, but this isn't unusual among MLB franchises.
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PI opines that Steve Baron -- a 1st-round pick -- "can't hit" and isn't overwhelming defensively, either.
They also opine that Julio Morban, given the notorious "9E" rating (10% chance of becoming an ML superstar) by BaseballHQ, will be held back a bit so that he doesn't have to carry his nagging injuries into the cold environs at Clinton.
This is the kind of 'net expertise that has 1990's media guys planning their retirements. Enjoy your last five years, Mr. Sahlinger. All y'all will have to defeat the best there is. The best there is, anywhere, as in. I suppose you know what your chances are of doing that.
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Of course, AA West Tenn's celebrity bushers get high ratings from PI as well as everybody else -- their 1-5 starters and closer are among PI's top 30, and you have Ackley, Triunfel and Liddi there into the bargain.
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=== Spectator ===
I/O: Wrote us a fun little article D-Jaxx Fever Begins! :- ) He said he wouldn't do it every day, which ruined the post for me.
Bring it, Spec. Name your price...
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CRUNCH2: The M's might very well be better off right now with Pineda if not even Hill in the Safeco rotation. Always makes me smile to think of AA hitters having to deal with aces who are major-league caliber.
The M's like Steve Baron more than other people do. Sure, he was a signability pick, but they could have taken him with their next pick, or their next one. They were afraid somebody else would grab him in their own top 40.
The Baron archetype is one of my least favorites, so I'm hardly biased in his favor.
He's a high school catcher, first of all, and he's a glove-first guy, among many other problems with the archetype. So what chance does an unremarkable HS hitter have of impacting ML pitching? SSI loathes the idea of orgs drafting technically-pleasing defensive catcher's who don't have a snowball's chance of ever hitting .200 in the majors.
Nevertheless I was surprised to find that I liked his swing, real well. And am willing to give the M's credit for enough intelligence to consider both halves of the inning on a 1st-round pick. Let's see if Baron shows flashes with the bat this year.
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Cheers,
Dr D