Ball Boy Blog

Overall: The Dodgers have a deep, deep well of MiLB talent, the best team in baseball in my opinion that could win it with just their hitting or their defense/pitching. Well, they have every box checked for now and will most than likely win the 2020 WS and be in the NLCS or WS for many years to come. One guy that has all the well wishes from me is OF Conner Joe after being diagnosed with Testicular cancer in March and undoing surgery. We wish for a speedy recovery and a return to baseball and full health for this man.  I like to talk about prospects and guys to watch in this section and the Dodgers have no lack of excellent talent on the rise in the Minors. So, if they ever did want to cut payroll and go young. They could still compete. In other words, their championship window is a long one. A few guys to mention are IF Gavin Lux who should be the 2B for now and the future for the Dodgers. In terms of rotation, they have Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin who are looking like future ro...

AL West Team: LA Angels Last Year Record-72-90- Sub.500 finish Shoutout: If you need to make some extra cash during COVID-19 try Stash-It. The business is like AirBnB but for the self-storage industry. So people can rent out their garage or storage shed, and even their driveway for others to use. If you have space, list it on their website. It’s completely free and they only make money if you do. You set the price! You set the terms! Use the promo code "YOUNG" and use your storage space to make some easy money! Stashitselfstorage.c om Impact Arrivals Anthony Rendon(3B)-6.3WAR,2x Silver Slugger, 34HR,126 RBI,319 Avg Julio Teheran(SP)- 2.9WAR, 3.81ERA, 174IP,10+Wins 5/7 Seasons Jason Castro(C)- 0.7WAR, 13HR, .232BA,30RBI- Dylan Bundy(P)- 2.5 WAR Matt Andriese(P)- -0.1WAR Impact Departures Kole Calhoun-AZ Losing-2.3 WAR, Gold Glove Defense, 33HR, 74RBI Contacts Selected Hector Yan(P), Ryan Buchter(P) Key Non-Roster Invitees to watch: Luiz Gohara(P), Andes Alcanta...

Overall The A's are always rock solid and better than they are given credit to and I think that's due to the coaching and the system they have in place for getting the most out of the talent they have. They use the low budget and the years of control they have of players as much as they can. But I fully expect them to be in 2nd place in the West and in the Playoffs for whatever the 2020 season looks like. The A's were business as usual for the winter. The only signing was P Jake Diekman and exercised an option of P Yumeiro Petit. No big or sexy signings for the A's which is normal. The A's have been a low budget team and SS Semien could have played his last game for the A's if there isn't a 2020 season. Both sides want to get a deal done. But it's hard to see them doing so. Looking down the line at the guys who are young and upcoming for A's are OF Ramon Laureano, C Sean Murphy, P AJ Puk, P Jesus Luzardo all look to be emerging as building blocks ...

Overall  The Giants are in my opinion WAY behind in their rebuild. Bumgarner should have been traded two years ago. They haven't had any FA signings of recent memory go right for them to get prospects back. They need to hope to sell on some on their vets to get some prospects back. The only guys I am honestly excited about is Joey Bart. Giant fans, LEARN HIS NAME, go buy his card now and he will be your next Buster Posey. Those are big shoes to fill but Bart has the right talent to do it. The team optioned a couple guys who showed flashes of potential in 2019 in P Shaun Anderson and OF Steven Duggar. Don't be shocked to see both these guys back up with the club in 2018 because of how the rotation is shaping up to be and I don't think the Giants should bank of NRI Billy Hamilton for the season in Center. In terms of young talent, I really do not see the Giants with a lot of capital invested in their young guys or many promising guys to invest in. with many vets underperfor...

Overall Looking forward to the future for the Astros it's interesting as they have a lot of guys slowly moving towards free agency and the back end of their prime years. But they have some new guys coming into replacing: Young arms in Forrest Whitley, Jose Urquidy, Bryan Abreu, Christian Javier, Enoli Paredes, and Brandon Bielak are all on the rise for the Astros.  Another guy is IF Abraham Toro who has hit well in the minor league level and struggled in Spring action and if he can get it together we will see him get called up in 2020 or even make the team due to the suspension. Speaking of young guys still, they optioned C Garrett Stubbs P Blake Taylor and IF Jack Mayfield were all optioned to AAA In small news, AJ Reed did retire at only 26 years old and looked like he was going to have quite a decent career in the MiLB and found himself on the White Sox and had a 40% strikeout rate. Hopefully, he turns it around and maybe comes back from retirement. But either way, I wish hi...

Overall We could also be seeing some of the guys acquired in the Paul Goldschmidt and Zack Grienke trade be coming to make an impact for Dbacks- The likes of IF Andy Young, P J.B. Bukauskas, 1B Seth Beer C Carson Kelly. Also, C Daulton Varsho is in like for a platoon with Kelly should something happen to Vogt or Kelly. Two guys I am honestly surprised got optioned are Taylor Clarke and IF Kevin Cron- with Cron being more surprising than Clarke. Overall the Dbacks are in a really good spot right now with their talent. They have enough in my opinion over a 162 game season to be the favorite for the NL wildcard spot because unless half of all the Dodgers got hurt. Then they would win the NL West. But that's probably not happening. But don't be surprised for the Dbacks to be making some noise. Shoutout: If you need to make some extra cash during COVID-19 try Stash-It. The business is like AirBnB but for the self-storage industry. So people can rent out their garage or storage...

AL West Team Houston Astros- Last years record:107-55 Won Division Shoutout: If you need to make some extra cash during COVID-19 try Stash-It. The business is like AirBnB but for the self-storage industry. So people can rent out their garage or storage shed, and even their driveway for others to use. If you have space, list it on their website. It’s completely free and they only make money if you do. You set the price! You set the terms! Use the promo code "YOUNG" and use your storage space to make some easy money! Stashitselfstorage.c om Key Arrivals Martin Maldanado-Resigned-1.4WAR,213BA, 12HR, 27RBI Joe Smith-RS- .7WAR, 1.8 ERA over 25IP, 20SO Key Departures Gerrit Cole-6.8WAR, 20W,212IP, 2.5ERA Will Harris- 2.1WAR, 60IP, 1.5ERA, 4SV Wade Miley- 2.0WAR, 3.98ERA, 168IP, 140SO Jake Marisnick- 1.2WAR, 10HR, 233BA Contacts Selected Nivaldo Rodriguez(P), Enoli Paredes(P), Taylor Jones(1B), Christian Javier(OF), Kent Emanuel(P) Key NRI to watch- Forrest Whit...

Overall The Rockies already have some long term deals in place with German Marquez and Nolan Arenado so why shouldn't Jon Gray and Trevor Story get some long term deals. These 4 are the core for the Rockies so let's see it happen!  Granted Story only got a 2-year deal. But that doesn't quite seem long enough in my opinion Some young guys the Rox are looking to step up and become long pieces Brendan Rodgers, Sam Hilliard, Raimel Tapia Yonathan Daza-who was optioned to AAA. Ben Bowden. If the Rox did move Arenado, which would be a terrible idea. They have Josh Fuentes- Arenado's own cousin and Tyler Nevin and Colton Welker who all appear as options. Overall I want nothing for the best for Rox this season and going forward, but their window is not there right now as they have much better teams in the Dodgers, D-Backs, and Padres who are much further ahead of them in terms of contention opportunity. Sorry Rox fans, you have one of the best players to ever play 3B in Nola...

Overall The Rangers have 1.5MIL in bonus money for the International signings. This should bode them well to land one of the best players in the pool this year. Look for them and Fradidel Liriano to connect and for the young SS to make a quick rise to the MLB. The Rangers have a couple current players they should soon be leaning on in rookies in IF/OF Nick Solak and P Joe Palumbo to start making an impact this season and going forward.  The Rangers also have a couple guys they should look to extend in Gallo and Calhoun both would be worthwhile. While the likes of Lance Lyn and Mike Minor to hopefully get traded and the teams to get some young talent in return. Speaking of young talent the team did option P Taylor Hearn and OF Scott Heineman to AAA, where both just look to get their footing and then soon be in the mix for MLB spots. This team has a lot of interesting pieces with their mix of ages and the kind of players they have. They have guys knocking not he door at AAA and a ...

AL West Team Texas Rangers Last Years Record-3rd place at 78-84 Shoutout: If you need to make some extra cash during COVID-19 try Stash-It. The business is like AirBnB but for the self-storage industry. So people can rent out their garage or storage shed, and even their driveway for others to use. If you have space, list it on their website. It’s completely free and they only make money if you do. You set the price! You set the terms! Use the promo code "YOUNG" and use your storage space to make some easy money! Stashitselfstorage.c om Key Arrivals Kyle Gibson(P)-0.29WAR,4.84ERA,160IP,160SO Jordan Lyles(P)- 1.7WAR, MIL-2.45ERA, 58.2IP, 56SO Robinson Chirinos(C)-3.81WAR 17HR, 238BA, 58RBI Todd Frazier(3B)-2.2WAR 21HR, 251BA, 67RBI Cory Kluber(P)- -0.4WAR 5.8ERA, 35.2IP, 38SO Greg Bird(1B)- -0.3WAR 35AB Some of the guys they got in trades were: OF Steele Walker, 1B Sam Travis, OF Adolis Garcia Key Departures Nomar Mazara(OF)- 0.7WAR, 19HR, 268BA, 66RBI Delino ...

I feel a lot of hardcore baseball fans get asked a lot, "How do you enjoy baseball?" followed by the comment, "It's so slow and boring. I always fall asleep." Then the next comment that's made is "I don't even watch the game if I go to it, I just go to hang out. Well, to me, that just means you don't understand all that baseball brings into someone's life. You can never understand what baseball has done for me in my life, so I want to share that with you. Today I am going to share why I love baseball and what it has taught me and what I still learn from it today. Before we get into, I want to give a special shoutout to my friends over at Stash-It. The business is like AirBnB but for the self-storage industry. So people can rent out their garage or storage shed, and even their driveway for others to use. If you have space, list it on their website. It's completely free, and they only make money if you do. You set the price! You set the te...

AL West Team: Oakland Athletics Last year Record: 97-65 Won AL WC Shoutout: If you need to make some extra cash during COVID-19 try Stash-It. The business is like AirBnB but for the self-storage industry. So people can rent out their garage or storage shed, and even their driveway for others to use. If you have space, list it on their website. It’s completely free and they only make money if you do. You set the price! You set the terms! Use the promo code "YOUNG" and use your storage space to make some easy money! Stashitselfstorage.c om Impact Arrivals: Jake Diekman(RP)-0.16WAR, 4.62ERA, 62IP, 84SO Tony Kemp- (IF)-0.2WAR, 8HR, 212BA TJ McFarland(RP) Buddy Reed(OF) Vimael Machin(2B) Impact Departures-All over 32 Tanner Roark(P)-2.0WAR, 4.35ERA, 165IP, 158SO Blake Treinen(P)- -.03WAR, 4.91ERA, 15SV, 58IP, 59SO Homer Bailey(P)- 1.9WAR, 4.57ERA, 163IP, 149SO Brett Anderson(P)- 2.7WAR, 3.98ERA,176IP, 90SO Jurickson Profar(2B)- 0.8WAR, 20HR, 218BA 2021 Free Agent...

Overall: The Chi Sox have an insane amount of young talent Michael Kopech(P), Nick Madrigal(2B), Danny Mendick(IF), Zack Collins(C), Seby Zayala(C),  Zack Burdi(P), Ian Hamilton(P)- all could be making an impact here in 2020 and into 2021. Another big thing the Chi Sox has extended their young core but has more pieces like Giolitto, Reynaldo Lopez, Dylan Cease, Michael Kopech, Carlos Rodon all pitchers. For position players Nomar Mazara, Nick Madrigal. I am really excited about this team and their soon to be a very competitive team in the AL Central right next to the Twins. They're young, they have guys in their prime like Grandal. They made a bunch of moves this offseason to just make them better and get guys at the right time. Baseball has a weird set of age to see where guys hit their prime years and how long they last. It should be a good next few years for the South Siders as their contention window opens. Shoutout: If you need to make some extra cash during COVID-19 try...

Overall: The Cubs have quite a few guys who could use an extension if the Cubs want to stay relevant and in a good way. For everything that is good, lock up Kris Bryant and stop talking about trading him. Lock up Javier Baez- he is the face of that team and just fantastic. Gey Wilson Contreras(C) and Kyle Schwarber(OF) new contracts. They have plenty of young guys who they could sign for cheap in Nico Hoerner(IF), Victor Caratini(C), Iann Happ(OF). The did do a deal with David Bote which I hope is the first of many for the Cubs. Look out for Nico Hoerner, Robel Garcia start to make an impact at the plate and in the field. Adbert Alzolay, Cory Abbott, Tyson Miller, Justin Steele- look to make an impact in the Rotation for the Cubs. James Norwood, Dillion Maples, and Duane Underwood Jr all to start having an impact in the Cubs pen. The Cubs are in a weird place. Like their division has gotten tougher and I feel they got a little complacent in competing and saw their team as a lock. I ...

AL Central Team: Chicago White Sox Shoutout: If you need to make some extra cash during COVID-19 try Stash-It. The business is like AirBnB but for the self-storage industry. So people can rent out their garage or storage shed, and even their driveway for others to use. If you have space, list it on their website. It’s completely free and they only make money if you do. You set the price! You set the terms! Use the promo code "YOUNG" and use your storage space to make some easy money! Stashitselfstorage.c om Fact Check The White Sox were the first team to put players’ last names on jerseys in 1960. Nancy Faust was the White Sox organist in 1970, the first organist to play pop music in a ballpark Key Arrivals Yasmani Grandal(C)- 2.47WAR Dallas Keuchel(SP)-2.05WAR Edwin Encarnacion(DH)-2.08WAR Steve Cishek(RP)- 1.78WAR Gio Gonzalez(SP)-1.85WAR Nomar Mazara(OF)-0.7WAR I love, love, love all these moves. The Chi Sox are ready to compete with the Twins for the Divisio...

Thank you for hanging in there guys. Now let's talk about my opinion on Pete Rose and how the all-time hits leader in the MLB wraps into this fiasco. Before I get too far into this, I want to stop and give my support to Stash-It: The business is like AirBnB but for the self-storage industry. So people can rent out their garage or storage shed, and even their driveway for others to use. If you have space, list it on their website. It’s completely free and they only make money if you do. You set the price! You set the terms! Use the promo code "YOUNG" and use your storage space to make some easy money! Stashitselfstorage. Pete Rose Career: Alright, let's get into this, as you and I both know Pete Rose is the MLB all-time Hits leader. Which is no small accomplishment in my opinion, don't you think? Coming in with over 4200 hits. This was accomplished in his 24th season when he was a player-coach for the Reds. Then like a lot of people already know he had been betting...

I am so excited to talk about this, I have a very strong opinion on this topic and I know a lot of people do as well. Shoutout: If you need to make some extra cash during Covid-19 try Stash-It The business is like AirBnB but for the self-storage industry. So people can rent out their garage or storage shed, and even their driveway for others to use. If you have space, list it on their website. It’s completely free and they only make money if you do. You set the price! You set the terms! Use the promo code "Young" and use your storage space to make some easy money! Stashitselfstorage.c om Astros: Where do I even start on how I feel about the Astros? Well as a Seattle Mariners fan I haven't liked them for a few years. But that's just from a division rival standpoint. Honestly, I think what they did was lower than the Blacksox scandal. I believe it to be worse than anything Barry Bonds and other PED users did and 10x worse than what Pete Rose did.  A recap of what...

Overall Overall, this is another rebuilding team that I am surprised optioned its two best prospects in Hayes and Tucker. But look for them to lock up some young talent and contend in a few years. I really hope Archer can be the ace of that will go down as one of the worst trades the Pirates ever did as the talent they gave up in Glasnow and Meadows are turning out to be pretty good MLB players with solid careers on the horizon. I also would love to see Bell continue to just rake and be a force no one wants to pitch too and I hope they lock him up in his prime. I can see his NL Central becoming very, very competitive in the next few years. Hitting The Buc's have engaged in extension talks with OF Bryan Reynolds, IF Kevin Newman, Ke'Bryan Hayes. Obviously, JOSH BELL needs a new deal after signing a 4.8Mil arbitration salary, he is going to cost a pretty penny, but there has yet to be a deal made with any of these players. Gregory Polanco, coming off shoulder surgery that li...

Overall: This team has so much promising talent that's nearing readiness: Pitchers- Matt Manning, Casey Mize, Beau Burrows, Alex Faedo, Bryan Garcia, Anthony Castro, Rony Garcia, Position players: Isaac Paredes, Willi Castro, Sergio Alcantara, Daz Cameron, Jake Rogers. Like there is a wealth of pitching talent and other talents on this team. The future is bright for this team as it looks to have the next best pitching staff in the MLB, give it a few years and then be really happy you got through the Miguel Cabrera era. Hitting: Miguel Cabrera, oh man what is there to say about this guy. Honestly, he is going to go down as an all-time great hitter. But I mean he is 36yo and ya know still has 132MIL owed through 2023. Which is 3 more years. His best years are more than likely behind him, the twilight of his career is in full swing. Let's hope to see maybe some old manpower come in the next few years and as he serves as DH for the rebuilding Tigers, who won't be in content...

AL Central Team: Detroit Tigers Shoutout: If you need to make some extra cash during COVID-19 try Stash-It The business is like AirBnB but for the self-storage industry. So people can rent out their garage or storage shed, and even their driveway for others to use. If you have space, list it on their website. It’s completely free and they only make money if you do. You set the price! You set the terms! Use the promo code "YOUNG" and use your storage space to make some easy money! Stashitselfstorage.c om Fact Check Had he not been vacationing in Hawaii, Babe Ruth would have become the manager of the Detroit Tigers. During the 1933-34 offseason, team owner Frank Navin knew he needed a winner in his dugout. He had a talented young team, built around Charlie Gehringer and young slugger Hank Greenberg. But the Yankees were still the class of the league and everyone was chasing them. Yankee slugger Babe Ruth was near the end of the line and New York was ready to part ways w...