Baseball Is Back In Arizona!

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 11:04 am

Well, it's November 1st and naturally we're here in Arizona watching baseball games!!! Yes, the 2008 season has officially arrived as 135 baseball die-hards have assembled at the Phoenix Doubletree for Ron Shandler's 12th annual Arizona Fall League Symposium. It's three days of talking baseball 24/7 and seeing some of the top prospects in the game with seats right behind home plate. You can't beat it.

The NFBC will be well represented here this weekend. NFBC champ Terry Haney flew in today and I know Shawn Childs flew in yesterday. I convinced KJ Duke to drive up from San Diego and he will be here tomorrow. Let's see, we have Perry Van Hook, Todd Zola, John Menna, Gene McCaffrey, Brian Feldman, Lawr Michaels, Josh Paley, and many more in attendance. Should be fun.

I'm speaking on the evolution of fantasy games and rules changes along with other game operators. Should be fun to talk about the NFBC's growth and some of the additions we've made like KDS, Friday DL moves, etc., in front of a captive audience.

But best of all, two games tomorrow and two on Saturday!!! Bring on the prospects. Here I come.

poopy tooth · Post by **poopy tooth** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 4:16 am

Greg,

Did any of the prospects impress you? Anyone to look for in 2008?

Any Ryan Braun's?

[ November 06, 2007, 10:18 AM: Message edited by: poopy tooth ]

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 4:43 am

Originally posted by poopy tooth:

Greg,

Did any of the prospects impress you? Anyone to look for in 2008?

Any Ryan Braun's?

Solid question and I was going to post on this today. Last year the AFL had these top prospects there: Ryan Braun, Troy Tulowitzki, Hunter Pence, Mark Reynolds, Travis Buck, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Kevin Kouzmanoff, Dustin McGowan, Yunel Escobar and Jerry Owens. This year's class didn't quite seem to be at that caliber, but it wasn't bad.

Although he wasn't putting up eye-popping numbers in the AFL, Pittsburgh's Andrew McCutcheon impressed the most with his raw speed. He hit a triple to the RF gap on Friday night and it was like watching lightening on the basepaths. He's smallish in size and was batting 6th or 7th in the AFL instead of leadoff, but it's hard to teach speed. There's no doubt that he's not ready to start in the majors at this point, but he could be mid-season callup who impresses quickly.

Even more impressive to me was Washington OF Justin Maxwell, who looked like a man among boys on Saturday afternoon when he had two hits, two stolen bases and a throw from right field that was MLB worthy. The 24-year-old is 6'5", 225 who had 27 homers and 35 stolen bases at Class A last year before earning a callup to the big leagues. I don't know enough about him right now, but he sure looks good in a uniform, the ball jumps off his bat, he ran the bases like a gazelle and he showed a cannon of an arm. Washington has room for him and I'll be watching him closely this year.

Cameron Maybin and Mark Antonelli didn't play while we were there, but I think both could be worthy players in 2008.

Cubs' CF Sam Fuld can't be more than 5'8", but he is a gritty, young player who just looks like a ballplayer. He is fun to watch.

White Sox OF Ryan Sweeney shows promise, but he also shows holes in his long swing. Toronto OF Travis Snider hit some ropes and a lot of folks were higher on him than me, but I have to admit he doesn't get cheated at the plate.

Finally, John Mayberry, son of the former Royal by the same name, really looks good in a uniform and he made an outstanding defensive play on Friday afternoon. He needs to add more weight (something John Sr. never had any problem with), but this young kid has the look of a good player in 2-3 years. He's definitely not ready yet and has struggled in the AFL, but this was good experience for him and I trust he will be back in the AFL next year.

We'll rank our Top 10 AFL prospects for our first baseball magazine and have more info once the season ends, but those are my quick random thoughts this morning.

[ November 07, 2007, 08:22 AM: Message edited by: Greg Ambrosius ]

DiamondKing · Post by **DiamondKing** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 11:25 pm

Saw Maxwell against the Marlins.Often times you can be wrong.But,looked great in BP and just looked like a player.

Atlas · Post by **Atlas** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 2:21 am

"Even more impressive to me was Washington OF Justin Maxwell, who looked like a boy among men"

Greg

I appreciate the updates and I'm taking notes.

However, when you refered to Maxwell, did you mean to say "MAN AMONG BOYS" or are you implying that he truly looks younger than he is?

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 2:23 am

Originally posted by DiamondKing:

Saw Maxwell against the Marlins.Often times you can be wrong.But,looked great in BP and just looked like a player. He definitely looks like a player. I'll have to watch his progress this spring, but he's definitely on my list of sleepers right now. This team has a third outfielder spot waiting for someone to grab it and this guy could be the guy.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 2:25 am

Originally posted by Atlas:

"Even more impressive to me was Washington OF Justin Maxwell, who looked like a boy among men"

Greg

I appreciate the updates and I'm taking notes.

However, when you refered to Maxwell, did you mean to say "MAN AMONG BOYS" or are you implying that he truly looks younger than he is? Hah, my bad. That's what I get for writing fast and not checking for typos before I posted it. I did mean a man among boys and I've corrected it above. Thanks for the catch. However, he does look young and I was really surprised to learn yesterday that he's 24. I thought he was like 21. At this age, it's time to get him above Class A and near the majors.

Vander · Post by **Vander** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 8:13 am

Back in the 80's I saw quite a bit of single A players. The most impressive one I saw was Felix Jose. He really looked like a man amongst boys. Looking back though, he almost certainly WAS a man amongst boys as it was found out later he was much older than originally thought. he could fly and do anything on the field. Course that was against guys many years his junior. Once in the majors he really didn't stick out. Funny how those 30 year olds don't develope like you think when you thought they were only 24.

ToddZ · Post by **ToddZ** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 10:44 am

Greg -- You missed a prospect. Who can forget the gazelle like manner our own Shawn Childs chased down those foul balls behind the third base stands in Phoenix Municipal Stadium?

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 10:55 am

Originally posted by ToddZ:

Greg -- You missed a prospect. Who can forget the gazelle like manner our own Shawn Childs chased down those foul balls behind the third base stands in Phoenix Municipal Stadium? Good point. Our NFBC audience should realize that Shawn spent the entire AFL event chasing down foul balls, not scouting players. He chased after one that stayed on the roof of the concession stand in Phoenix, but on the very next pitch a foul ball came right back at him and he played it one bounce off the entrance area like he was playing the Green Monster and came away with a great souvenir. He tried to get Terry Haney to autograph it for him, but I'm not sure Terry ever did that!!

Of course, Shawn got one more foul ball the next night in Scottsdale, but that story isn't nearly as good!!

I swear Shawn pulled a hamstring muscle chasing those foul balls back-to-back in Phoenix as he wasn't nearly as active the next two days.

Todd, you should have seen him on Sunday at the sports bar we went to. It had off-track horse betting within the sports bar. That place was MADE FOR CHILDS!!

ToddZ · Post by **ToddZ** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 11:19 am

Todd, you should have seen him on Sunday at the sports bar we went to. It had off-track horse betting within the sports bar. That place was MADE FOR CHILDS!!

Of all places, I watched Pats-Colts from the Double Tree. And I was reminded again why I don't gamble (other than funding the new cafeteria at Krause/F&W Pubs with my NFBC/NFFC donations). I was actually HAPPY my team won that Sunday, and not partially pissed they did not cover.

[ November 08, 2007, 05:23 PM: Message edited by: ToddZ ]