Braun Going to California

Eureka! California finally found what hopes to be the missing piece to their potential playoff roster. In a four-player deal with the Plaza Lions, the Roadrunners added slugging left-fielder Ryan Braun to the team. California sent three top prospects to Plaza: Brett Lawrie, Jarrod Parker, and Anthony Gose. All three players were poised to make an impact in 2013, but the Roadrunners have an excellent shot at the playoffs this year (currently first in the AL wild card standings).

In 2011, Braun hit .285 with 20 home runs and 84 RBI after signing a four-year deal with the Lions. This year, he was on pace to top all of those numbers, hitting .313 with 14 home runs, 33 RBI, and 23 stolen bases.

The only player on the Roadrunner roster that can compare with that kind of offensive production is Josh Hamilton. After missing all of April, Hamilton has returned in a big way, leading the team with a .335 average, 8 home runs, and 34 RBI. He also plays left field, Braun's natural position.

"I have no issue making room for Brauny when he arrives. Torii (Hunter) and I will be more than happy to slide over a spot in the field if we can get some extra pop in our lineup." Braun will join the club for the last three blocks of the season, and will most likely hit right in front of Hamilton. That MVP-caliber righty-lefty combination -- along with their solid pitching staff -- should be enough to give California the edge in the AL playoff race.

If they miss the post-season again they'll be left standing on a hill in a mountain of dreams. They'll be wondering what could have been, and second-guessing their sacrifice of future talent for a shot at winning it all.

BRASSball Amateur Scouting - Lake Elsinore Storm at Lancaster Jethawks - April 15, 2012

Lake Elsinore Storm vs. Lancaster Jethawks

The family and I decided to catch some local Minor League Baseball action on Sunday, April 15, 2012. The Class A Advanced California League Jethawks (Houston Astros) play in our backyard, one valley over in Lancaster, California. The Lake Elsinore Storm (San Diego Padres) were the opponent as the Jethawks were looking to complete a sweep of the Storm, but fell short 7-5.

Cook County's Rymer Liriano

Three BRASSball amateurs were on display on Sunday: Rymer Liriano (Cook County) and Cory Spangenberg (Hessville) of Lake Elsinore, and George Springer (Plaza) of Lancaster.

Liriano went one-for-three with a walk and was caught stealing once.

Hessville's Cory Spangenberg

Spangenberg (pronounced "SPAN-JEN-BURG," not "SPANK-EN-BERG" like I thought) went one-for-five with a stolen base and strikeout.

Plaza's George Springer

The home crowd favorite Springer managed to only go one-for-four with a walk.

The biggest draw for the kids is the Jethawk mascot "KA-BOOM." He's walking around and mingling with the crowd frequently. If you want a kid-friendly, casual atmosphere, and a place with decent prices on food and parking, don't forget about your minor league clubs around the country. Go out and support the future of BRASSball!

BFSR 2012: Post-Draft Edition

Cook County's Danny Hultzen

The 2012 BRASSball season is well underway, so it's time to take a look back at how the 2012 draft impacted the BFSR standings.

The rosters, prospect rankings, and farm system standings were last updated on January 17, 2012. Since that time, there have been a handful of trades that impacted the scores of several teams. The Jacob Turner trade to Cook County, Jesus Montero being dealt to Myrtle Beach, and Santa Barbara acquiring Randall Delgado all influenced the scores of teams on both sides of the deal.

The completion of the annual 2012 BRASSball draft had the greatest impact on the scores. For those not familiar with what the score means, it is, in general, a way to quantify the BRASS amateur/minor league system in terms of player progression. In short, if you have an uncarded player that moves up the minor league ranking systems or even makes it to the majors at some point, your team is awarded "progression points." The total team score should forecast how a BRASSball team will perform in the future as the future stars become legitimate major leaguers.

Three Up
Cook County took over the number one overall position in the rankings after a successful 2012 draft. Not only did the Maulers seem to have two or three picks in every round, they snatched Jacob Turner (22.07) away from Tinley during the off-season. Their first two picks in the draft, Danny Hultzen (18.02) and Brad Peacock (14.17), combined with Turner, yielded an upgrade of 54.26 points to the team. The Maulers earned a league-high 267.87 point gain since January.

Myrtle Beach tumbled all the way down to the second spot in the standings. The Mermen amassed an additional 154.91 BFSR points due largely in part to the Jesus Montero (24.43) trade. Montero was the fourth overall prospect in BFSR behind Julio Teheran (25.38), Matt Moore (25.26), and Trevor Bauer (24.70). Their first-round pick, Addison Reed (19.13) and second-round pick, Andrelton Simmons (13.66) helped keep the Mermen near the top of he heap.

Simi Valley leaped nine spots from 20th overall to 11th overall. The Vikings used the draft to restock their minor league system and did so in a hurry. Wisely finding prospects in the middle of the draft that were ready to make the jump, they picked up Taylor Guerrieri (13.78) in the bonus round (between rounds three and four), Brian Goodwin (13.10) in round four, and Joe Wieland (12.98) in round eight. Those three, along with second-round pick Nathan Eovaldi (12.91), put the Vikings in the top half of the BFSR standings entering the 2012 season.

Three Down
Metropolis fell mightily from the third overall spot to fourteenth. The Avengers were the only club to actually lose points in the standings, trimming 12.03 points from their total. This was mainly due to the Jesus Montero trade that benefited Myrtle Beach. They spent their first-round pick on Cuban defector Yoenis Cespedes who was not ranked as a "prospect" and more of a free-agent-type. Metropolis, however, has positioned themselves for a run at the title in 2012 and are in full-on championship contender mode. Why bother rebuilding when you can try and win it all right now.

Tinley is caught in a tough position in terms of rebuilding and playing for the here and now. The Redbirds fell one spot to the cellar of the BFSR standings after dealing Jacob Turner to Cook County. They did improve, however, especially with the addition of Jemile Weeks (8.60) with their first pick (second, overall). However, the progressive prospects were few and far between with Louis Coleman (3.00) the only other mildly significant contributor. Although they finished with only 57 wins in 2011, the Redbirds hope to rebound and make a playoff run. If they start slow, look for them to start rebuilding in mid-season and begin to climb the BFSR standings quickly.

Florence gained the second fewest amount of BFSR points with 35.34 and fell seven spots in the standings. Their first-round selection of veteran Joe Mauer hurt their overall score even though the addition of Mauer clearly makes the River Bats better in 2012. The team of extreme drafting then selected college star Mark Appel in round two. Although Appel has no current BFSR value, he could be the first overall player taken in this year's MLB draft, which would put Florence right back on the map for player progression. Daniel Norris (13.30) and Todd Frazier (8.45) were solid pick-ups for the River Bats in the draft.

Current Standings
Here are the current BFSR standings as of April 1, 2012.

RANK	TEAM	BFSR POINTS
1	Cook County	469.94
2	Myrtle Beach	422.94
3	California	404.10
4	Parkland	338.21
5	Santa Barbara	325.54
6	Boston	302.61
7	Fremont	293.83
8	Plaza	293.73
9	North Georgia	250.56
10	Fleetwood	250.34
13	Springfield	244.00
11	Simi Valley	241.63
12	Brew City	236.29
14	Metropolis	219.61
15	Superior	213.90
16	Glen Allen	192.38
17	Hessville	189.31
18	Brooklyn	168.43
19	Lancaster	165.60
20	Latrobe	154.12
21	Florence	152.71
22	Schaumburg	147.42
23	SoCal	143.46
24	Tinley	100.22

BRASS Opening Day 2012

California's Roy Halladay Strikes Out 11 in Home Opener

There's no better way to find out if your club has what it takes to make a run at it than playing the defending champs in your home opener.

The California Roadrunners opened their 2012 campaign against the Springfield Isotopes. Springfield (105-57 in 2011) has captured the BRASS title in each of the past two seasons, and were hungry to start the new season off right in search of an unprecedented third straight league title. California (88-74 in 2011) fell short of the AL playoffs and made drastic changes in the off season in hopes to make up enough ground to make the post-season this year.

The Roadrunners scheduled their new ace, Roy Halladay for the home opener. Halladay went 20-6 with a 3.57 ERA and 207 strikeouts with the Latrobe Steel in 2011. The Isotopes trotted out Erik Bedard, who missed all of 2011 and was signed to a three-year deal this off season. The lineups were set. The hot dogs were burning. The beer was cold and expensive. It was time to play ball!

The game was tight through three innings. In the bottom of the fourth, the Roadrunners scratched out a run to take a 1-0 lead. Mike Aviles lead off the inning with a double. He then took third on a wild pitch by Bedard. Scott Sizemore struck out, but Brent Lillibridge hit a sacrifice fly to right that scored Aviles.

California got to Bedard once more in the fifth inning. Torii Hunter led the game off with a single, followed up by a double by left-fielder Jerry Sands. Aramis Ramirez was dealt an intentional walk to load the bases. Seeing an opportunity, Kosuke Fukudome was brought in to pinch hit for Jeff Mathis. Fukudome hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score Hunter, putting the Roadrunners up 2-0.

Two runs were all Halladay needed in this one. Clearly set out to please the sellout crowd of over forty-seven thousand in Southern California, he pitched an absolute gem. The Roadrunners were victorious with Halladay going the distance with eleven strikeouts and only one walk. The Roadrunners are off and running in 2012!

BOXSCORE: 2012 Springfield Isotopes At 2012 California Roadrunners   4/5/2012
 
  Isotopes           AB  R  H RBI AVG     Roadrunners        AB  R  H RBI AVG
  N.Morgan LF         4  0  2  0 .500     M.Aviles SS         3  1  1  0 .333  
  J.Thole C           4  0  0  0 .000   B-Y.Torrealba C       0  0  0  0 ----  
  L.Berkman 1B        3  0  1  0 .333     S.Sizemore 2B       4  0  0  0 .000  
  H.Pence RF          4  0  0  0 .000   E-M.Ellis 2B          0  0  0  0 ----  
  J.Posada DH         4  0  0  0 .000     B.Lillibridge RF,LF 2  0  0  1 .000  
  R.Zimmerman 3B      3  0  0  0 .000     J.Mayberry Jr 1B    3  0  0  0 .000  
F-R.Doumit PH         1  0  1  01.000   D-M.Moreland PH,1B    1  0  0  0 .000  
G-J.Hairston Jr PR    0  0  0  0 ----     C.Lee DH            3  0  1  0 .333  
  S.Drew SS           4  0  0  0 .000     T.Hunter CF         3  1  1  0 .333  
  M.Scutaro 2B        3  0  0  0 .000     J.Sands LF          2  0  1  0 .500  
  I.Suzuki CF         3  0  1  0 .333   C-R.Cedeno SS         1  0  0  0 .000  
                                          A.Ramirez 3B        2  0  1  0 .500  
                                          J.Mathis C          1  0  0  0 .000  
                                        A-K.Fukudome PH,RF    1  0  0  1 .000  
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---      
         Totals      33  0  5  0                 Totals      26  2  5  2
 
A-Pinch Hit For Mathis In 5th Inning
B-Subbed Defensively (C ) For Aviles In 6th Inning
C-Subbed Defensively (SS) For Sands In 6th Inning
D-Pinch Hit For Mayberry Jr In 8th Inning
E-Subbed Defensively (2B) For Sizemore In 9th Inning
F-Pinch Hit For Zimmerman In 9th Inning
G-Pinch Ran For Doumit In 9th Inning
 
Isotopes........ 0 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 0  -  0  5  0
Roadrunners..... 0 0 0  1 1 0  0 0    -  2  5  1
 
Isotopes (0-1)           IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET
E.Bedard LOSS(0-1)        6       4   2   2   1   7   0   3.00  A1 C5
S.Casilla                 1 2/3   1   0   0   1   2   0   0.00  C6 D3
B.Bray                    0 1/3   0   0   0   0   0   0   0.00  D4
Totals                    8       5   2   2   2   9   0
 
Roadrunners (1-0)        IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA  SCORESHEET
R.Halladay WIN(1-0)       9       5   0   0   1  11   0   0.00  A1
Totals                    9       5   0   0   1  11   0
 
ATTENDANCE- 47,159 DATE- Sunday, April 5th 2012 TIME- Night WEATHER- Average
UMPIRES- Tim McClelland, Larry Vanover, Mike Everitt, Mike Dimuro
T- 2:36
LEFT ON BASE- Isotopes: 7  Roadrunners: 5
DOUBLE PLAYS- Isotopes: 0  Roadrunners: 0
ERRORS- M.Moreland
DOUBLES- M.Aviles(1st), C.Lee(1st), J.Sands(1st)
STOLEN BASES- I.Suzuki(1st)
SACRIFICE FLIES- B.Lillibridge, K.Fukudome
WALKS- L.Berkman, Y.Torrealba, A.Ramirez
HIT BY PITCH- B.Lillibridge
STRIKE OUTS- N.Morgan, J.Thole, L.Berkman, H.Pence, J.Posada-2, R.Zimmerman-2,
             M.Scutaro-2, I.Suzuki, M.Aviles, S.Sizemore-2, B.Lillibridge,
             J.Mayberry Jr, C.Lee, R.Cedeno, J.Mathis, K.Fukudome
BALKS- R.Halladay
WILD PITCHES- E.Bedard
 
Roy Halladay reeled off a total of 11 strikeouts as the California Roadrunners
defeated the Springfield Isotopes by the score of 2 to 0 at Angels
Stadium.
 
Halladay(1-0) was simply too much for the Springfield batters.  He didn't give
up much, just 5 hits and 1 walk in 9 innings.  Both teams totaled 5 hits on
the night.  
 
Erik Bedard(0-1) ended up with the loss.  'Halladay gave us exactly what we
needed tonight.' Brendan Conrad said. 'When he threw the fastball he threw it
for strikes.  They were really fooled by his change.  Most of the time he had
them chasing it.'
 

BRASSball Farm System Rankings - Part III

Parkland's Julio Teheran

The BFSR rankings have been updated to reflect some recent changes to the system. I realized that highly-ranked prospects were being penalized too severely when advancing to the majors. The original theory of "a top prospect advancing to the majors is no surprise and shouldn't be awarded a significant amount of progression points" didn't make sense to me anymore.

In my previous post, I used Julio Teheran (Parkland) as an example. Teheran, in the old system, was being punished for being Atlanta's consensus top organizational prospect both last year and this year. I've now adjusted how points are awarded for players like Teheran, and Parkland has deservedly moved up the BRASS system ranking as a result.

However, I still wanted to make sure that my system remained focused on the theme of player progression. Therefore, arguably the top prospect, Bryce Harper (Metropolis), continues to only receive a minimal amount of points. The reason for this is because players that we draft that ultimately make it to the major leagues are more rewarded in this system. When (and not if) Harper is called up, he will then be most likely promoted to the top of the entire list because of all the factors involved over the past couple of years. This would then probably vault Metropolis up to the very top of the BRASS team ranking list as well.

Now that I'm satisfied with all of the various formulas, I have some ideas for some new lists. In January, look for some new pages like "Top Overall Progression Prospects" and "Top Prospects that Reached the Majors in 2011." I'll also put up a list of prospects drafted in the upcoming 2012 BRASSball Draft, and see how they compare to my rankings.

I'm still waiting for a handful of prospect ranking sheets to be completed before I start posting the individual BRASS team reports. Some MLB teams are well represented, while others are not. I want to make sure there's a decent balance of information available before I begin the final breakdowns.

California Roadrunners Unveil New Team Logo, Bullpen Coach

The California Roadrunners are pleased to announce they have a new team logo and color scheme beginning with the 2012 season. The new logo will be used in all future BRASSball publications.

The color scheme for the Roadrunners has also been modified for the upcoming season. The former "powder blue" and white has been replaced with navy blue, orange, and white. The new logo will also appear on the front of player caps, replacing what fans called "The Tick" logo from 2011.

Home uniforms will remain white, with blue lettering across the chest and player number in orange on the front. Lettering and numbering on the back will also be in navy blue. Road uniforms will be gray, with dark orange lettering across the chest and player number in blue on the front. Lettering and numbering on the back will be in navy blue. A thin orange stripe will also be present on both home and road uniforms.

Management is also pleased to announce the addition of bullpen pitching coach Kenny Powers. Powers will be solely responsible for the development of the Roadrunner relievers beginning in 2012. The former big leaguer appeared in 208 games during his career, saving 49 games as a rookie with Atlanta back in 2002. Powers, also known as The People's Champion, The Shelby Sensation, The Reverse Apache Master, The Man with the Golden Dick, Doctor Cock and Balls, La Flama Blanca, and The Bulletproof Tiger, will be called upon to provide leadership and guidance for a completely revamped Roadrunner bullpen. Powers also spent time with The Charros of the Mexican League, and California hopes that his diverse experience will enable him to sensitively work with pitchers on a cultural, political, and possibly even a spiritual level. 

BRASSball Farm System Rankings - Part II

Simi Valley's Freddie Freeman

I received quite a bit of feedback on my initial post about the BRASSball Farm System Rankings. Most of the response was positive, but almost everyone that contacted me wanted more details on how I arrived at assigning a score to each team. Before I get into individual BRASS team breakdowns, I thought I would share a little more about my analytic process that I applied, and provide some examples.

First of all, I want to make it clear that this list is never-ending, in a way. I mean, there are always prospect lists and updates being churned out. They're being revamped all the time with new information, updates due to Arizona Fall League performance, injuries, trades, and general change of opinion by the author(s). We fellow BRASS managers just can't seem to leave our rosters alone either.

For these reasons, I've decided to keep a dedicated page for the rankings for everyone's reference. I will post the last time the list was updated, and if there was a change to the team's overall points.

With every list, there needs to be a reason why one player is ranked above the other. As I stated in my previous post, most lists rely on opinions and educational guesses. I tried to put together a system that ranks prospects and young players based on statistics and "fact." However, I would argue with myself that my system is also about opinion because of how I chose to put it together.

Player Progression

Player progression is the number one contributor when assigning a score and rank to a BRASSball team. This doesn't mean that the individual player's low score makes him any more or less desirable, or indicates that the player will be a five-tool stud or a bust. In my mind, it's simply a measurement of a prospect's value when compared to what they were projected to do: make it to the major leagues. 

A player will score higher if they were ranked as a "top prospect" prior to the previous season and advanced to the major leagues in a way that removed the player as a "prospect." The removal is based on the player's appearance on annual top prospect lists and rankings.

Here's an example of three players from Atlanta, and how they scored in this system in terms of progression: Freddie Freeman (Simi Valley), Julio Teheran (Parkland), and J.J. Hoover (North Georgia).

Freeman was awarded a significant amount of "Progression Factor" (PF) points because he had an average 2011 prospect rank of 2 and advanced to the majors in 2011. Teheran is currently the #1 prospect in the Braves' system, but he was also the #1 prospect last year. While Teheran did advance to the majors with 19 2/3 innings pitched, his appearance on every prospect ranking list in the country hurt his PF score this year. Basically, yes, he's a top prospect and is projected to be great, so his advancement to the majors in 2011 (while being highly ranked in 2011 and 2012) is not that surprising. However, he will have a significant PF score next season if he is called up at any point in 2012 and plays himself away from the "prospect" label.

In fact, if Teheran does plays enough to no longer be considered a prospect, he'll be awarded more PF points than Freeman received this year. This is because a higher-ranked prospect that makes the majors is more-likely to contribute value to his team than a lower-ranked prospect.

Hoover's ranking, on the other hand, actually declined slightly and was not called up to Atlanta to pitch last season. Therefore, he actually lost PF points. This doesn't mean Hoover isn't a prospect or won't get called up. In some cases, a MLB organization strengthened itself at the top through trades or the draft. All it means is the prospect hasn't yet contributed a positive value to the long-term outlook of the BRASSball team.

Currently, Parkland's overall score is lower than you might think. What makes my system different than your traditional organizational ranking scheme is that I'm emphasizing more of what a prospect has done recently than solely on what a prospect is proposed to do. This has value in a Strat-O-Matic league where we speculate, manage, and play in two worlds: the previous and the current Major League Baseball seasons.