Tell us what you think of Bullpen Banter
I'm happy to announce that over the past several weeks, I've been working on a website with a few guys I've met over John Sickles and SBNation's website Minor League Ball.com. Myself (JDSussman formerly Metty5), Alskor, Gatling, and MrKupe have been putting together a baseball website called Bullpen Banter. Together, the four of us have posted well over ten thousand times on Sickles site and have had great experiences here. We aren't focusing on just minor leaguers or saber but we all are well versed in many areas including those two facets. We hope the site evolves into a nice community like you have here at BtB.
About Us from our site:
The Bullpen Banter Team is dedicated to providing outstanding baseball analysis from various points of view. Our website hosts both a chat room and a forum so our readers can constantly interact with a knowledgeable and vibrant baseball community. Each writer represents a different area in the country which provides a unique ability to gauge the thoughts of both the mainstream media and the fans in the region. Additionally, we are always open to new ideas and voices, so feel free to submit a guest piece.
Currently, we have our top 25 prospects written up. Here is a sample for Mike Stanton:
Notre Dame High School has produced its fair share of notable baseball players. The most famous include Cy Young winner Jack McDowell, 1968 first overall draft pick Tom Foli, and the general manager of the '92,'93, & '08 World Series champions, Pat Gillick. Giancarlo Cruz- "Michael" Stanton has the potential to be among those names with his combination of athleticism and elite power. Stanton is young but relatively polished for a former football star who didn't concentrate fully on baseball until being drafted by the fins 79th overall in 2007. Stanton has deposited 68 baseballs over the fence in first three seasons and is arguably the fourth or fifth best player today from his draft class.
Steve Kuperman: Grade A easy for me, No. 4 on my list currently. If he had played in the FSL the entire year nobody would be asking questions, as he managed to absolutely crush the ball in one of the worst hitters' parks in the minors while cutting his strikeouts substantially. The guy gets tons of praise for work ethic.
JD Sussman: I disagree with your point on Stanton's contact issues. While he has been great thus far, I foresee his contact issues and poor pitch recognition limiting him offensively. What keeps him ranked so highly is that he should have solid defensive value in both his arm and his range. For me, he has the highest bust rate of any player int he top 10. If those issues really hurt him, in a years time he could be pretty far down the list, despite his accomplishments at a young age. I have him slightly lower at 9.
Michael Herrick: I can understand you knocking Stanton down a few spots due to the contact/strikeout issues, JD. I know the High A stint is a SSS, but his K rate wasn't horrible there. I think as long as he's not rushed too far, too fast the plate discipline can improve some, at least into a somewhat manageable <30% type of range. I guess I tend to see him as more of a .260 hitter in the bigs as opposed to something in the .230 range. That power is just such a valuable tool though, I really can't see him lower than 5.
Al Skorupa: Strikeouts a concern? Yes. Special bat despite that? Absolutely.
His 80 power is something that we can be fairly certain will come with him to the majors. He does enough other things well to still project as an offensive force despite some questions about his contact ability, patience and strikeouts.
Stanton is plenty athletic and a good fielder. He could very easily end up the best major leaguer out of the top 5 prospects, but I'm not ready to bet on that just yet.
We will also be previewing the AL and NL East this week starting with the Nationals and Blue Jays.
Register and let us know what you think! You can also follow us on twitter.
Thanks!
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