Last year, I had some controversial picks in my top 100 which proved to be good picks. These included Troy Tulowitzki at #3 prospect overall, Dustin Pedroia at #18 (didn't make most top-100 lists, including BA's), with Longoria, Upton and Braun higher than most any other list, and Chris Davis in my top 100. I haven't compiled a top 100 this year, but here are the top 50 position players (with 20 pitchers added just for flavor at the end)...   more »

We finally have a new Facebook group for Baseball Digest Daily! Click on the link (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9030265271) and sign up now. There's a discussion board and EVERYONE can post pictures, videos, scouting information, etc.   more »

I'm very excited to announce our newest writer here at BDD...Mr. Dave Rouleau! Dave is an Associate Publisher for Inside the Dome (Scout.com), and his passion lies in player development and statistical analysis...   more »

BDD is once again looking to add a few writers to join our staff. While the positions are non-paying, they do offer some nice perks...   more »

If you are new to Baseball Digest Daily or just haven't signed up for our free newsletter, you don't know what you're missing!

If you would like to be among the first to hear about trades, free agent signings, and breaking news, enter your email address in the sign-up box on the right hand side of the home page. We'll deliver the news to you via email as it happens!

Some examples of events heard first this week by BDD subscribers include...

- The Tampa Bay - Minnesota trade involving Delmon Young and Matt Garza

- The Royals signing of Yasuhiko Yabuta

- The Reds signing of Francisco Cordero

And that's just a taste or what you'll  get. During the Winter Meetings and at the trade deadline, action and alerts will come at you fast and furious. During the season, we'll present our extremely popular "Short Stop" daily recaps! So don't miss any of the action. Sign up for BDD's free newsletter today! You'll be the most informed baseball fan among your friends!

Thank you to all who have already donated!!! It is greatly appreciated.

 

Goal: $1,500

Received: $525

 

As most of you know, a few times a year I run a little donation drive to help us cover some of the costs at BDD. I honestly don't like doing this, but every little bit helps. This year, more than ever, I'm asking for support. The annual cost for stats is now over $2,000, and that doesn't include any programming or modifications needed on the site. 

 

So if you enjoy the tracker (and the soon to arrive lefty-righty splits!), articles, news updates, minor league analysis, and everything else we do (for free!), we would be extremely grateful if you could donate whatever you're able. We will accept donations through PayPal or by check or money order. Instructions are below.

 

PayPal

PayPal donations can be made by using any credit card or bank account. Visit PayPal.com, sign in or setup a new account, and "Send Money" to joechris96@aol.com

 

Check or Money Order

Please make check or money orders payable to:

 

Joe Hamrahi

Baseball Digest Daily

124 Bishop Lane

Holbrook, NY 11741

 

BDD Talk Radio (Special Edition)

 

I had the opportunity today to speak with one of my favorite journalists in the game...Jamey Newberg of The Newberg Report. Jamey is well known for his fabulous coverage of the Texas Rangers, his daily newsletters, and his annual bound edition of the Rangers year in review. The Newberg Report has a tremendous following that even gathers together once a year at the Ballpark in Arlington to celebrate the team they love.

 

Today in this pre-recorded special edition of BDD Talk Radio, Jamey talks about the season that was, the job Jon Daniels is doing, and what we can expect to see in the near future deep in the heart of Texas. Click on the link below to listen to the show.

 

 

Co-host Craig Brown and I have had some fantastic guests over the past several weeks including A.J. Hinch, Director of Player Development for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Rangers GM Jon Daniels, Tampa Bay Devil Rays Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations Gerry Hunsicker, Kansas City Royals GM Dayton Moore, and a variety of star bloggers and reporters from around the web. You can listen to an archive or download a show by clicking on the button above. You can also subscribe to the podcast via iTunes.

 

Featured Articles and Blog Entries

 

Dean Jones Jr. takes a look at Matt Holliday BEFORE he became the NLCS MVP. Check out Dean's article right here: Before Becoming the MVP, What Was He Like?

 

Rob McQuown wonders whether the Cubs are any better under Lou Piniella than they were under Dusty Baker in The More Things Change...

 

In the Speedsters Triple Crown, Scott Edelman examines the art of stealing bases, scoring runs, and legging out triples...or as Scott calls it, you guessed it, the Speedsters Triple Crown!

 

On the blog, Bill Chuck provides some interesting facts leading up to the Rockies first appearance in a World Series. See what Bill has discovered in Roctober!

 

 

League Championship Series Recaps

 

Game recap and quotes are posted on the blog.

 

 

Arizona Fall League, Prospects, and College Baseball Reports

 

Minor league and college baseball coverage is back in full swing with the start of the Arizona Fall League. Check out our daily prospect coverage at BDD! As in the past, we provide plenty of links, news, and prospect updates.

 

 

 

- A new writer joins the BDD team!

If you missed our interview with Kansas City Royals GM Dayton Moore this morning, do yourself a favor and check it out! It’s really good stuff. Head on over to Blog Talk Radio and listen online or download the podcast…I hope all you guys out there realize now that there’s no such thing as a jinx…especially in Boston!!! Lighten up you guys J…I was surfing around the web yesterday and checking out a few player sites when I came across the Yankees’ Phil Hughes and Detroit’s Cameron Maybin. On Hughes’ site, there’s a link to our top 100 prospects from last year in which Phil came in at #2. And on Cameron’s site, not only is our article mentioned in his news section (“The Next Great Detroit Centerfielder?”), we’re also listed as one of his “Related Sites” along with Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball, Yahoo, and Wikipedia! Great stuff!

 

Many people have asked why we are downsizing BDD so I figured I’d address the topic briefly. There are 3 main reasons…1) Lack of time, 2) Cost, and 3) Not enough regular article contributions. I realize the newsletter is a great resource for many people, but it takes an enormous amount of time that I just don’t have anymore. The player tracker is very popular, but the cost of our stats feed (and programming) is approximately $2,500 per season. I just can’t pay that bill anymore. If someone wants to sponsor our site or generate a fund raiser to bring in the necessary dollars, I’ll be happy to continue the player tracker. And finally, while we’ve had a number of top notch article contributions, we have not had enough regular stand-alone contributions that don’t require editing. And again, either time or money comes into play when we talk about editing articles. So there you have it.

 

Thanks and have a great holiday weekend everyone!

 

For those of you who might have missed it, I appeared tonight on Blog Talk Radio with the guys from Sox and Pinstripes and David Pinto from Baseball Musings. It was a fun time for all, and I really enjoy chatting with the guys. You can access the archived audio by clicking on the Blog Talk Radio link above or by downloading the attached file.

 

In the spirit of Jay-Dell Mah's At the Plate rookies and prospects page, we present to you BDD's new web site portal dedicated entirely to the minor leagues, rookies, and prospects. We will cover news, notes, links, and of course, top prospect lists!

 

As many of you know JDM has taken a leave of absence from his website. So, with Jay's blessing, we've decided to pick up where he left off.

 

You may access the new minor league portal by going to the main page at www.baseballdigestdaily.com and scrolling over the "Minors" menu tab. From there, you'll be able to check out all the news and prospect lists.

 

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please let us know. We're not aiming to replace JDM. We just want to continue his tradition of great work and provide a place for minor league enthusiasts to get their daily fix. Enjoy!

Final results of recently closed polls on BDD

Who were the big winners of this off-season?
Chicago Cubs
122   29.2%
Boston Red Sox
112   26.8%
New York Yankees
77   18.4%
Los Angeles Dodgers
65   15.6%
San Francisco Giants
22   5.3%
Chicago White Sox
20   4.8%

 

 

Does Bert Blyleven belong in the Hall of Fame?

Yes

279   77.1%

No

83   22.9%

 

 

Who is the top prospect in baseball today?
Alex Gordon
218   37.3%
Delmon Young
144   24.6%
Philip Hughes
130   22.2%
Homer Bailey
55   9.4%
Brandon Wood
38   6.5%

 

 

What is your favorite baseball web site (besides BDD of course!)?
Other
107   28.6%
MLB.com
76   20.3%
Baseball Prospectus
57   15.2%
Baseball America
49   13.1%
The Hardball Times
33   8.8%
Baseball Think Factory
23   6.1%
Fox Sports Baseball featuring Ken Rosenthal
19   5.1%
Baseball Musings
10   2.7%

There are a few new articles we posted this week that are worth checking out…

 

Bill Chuck starts things off with I’ll Have Mine Rare. Bill takes a detailed look at the facts surrounding Boston’s improbable back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs on Sunday night.

 

Then, in his traditional eloquence, Dean Jones Jr. looks back at the past weekend in college baseball with his NCAA Weekend in Review.

 

Finally, Scott Edelman reviews the closer problems in the National League and wonders…who among the men is Closer Material?

There are some big things happening at Baseball Digest Daily, and I felt that it was about time I fill you all in on the details. First, I want to thank everyone for their support. You guys (and girls!) have been great. We're receiving recognition far exceeds what I would have expected when we first started this site three years ago. I am proud of where we are. I feel there still is a lot of work to do, but I am confident we will continue to grow and provide a fantastic resource for baseball fans and professionals alike. As I write this today, our mailing list not only includes several hundred fans, but also includes team media directors, minor league team owners, professional players, members of XM Satellite Radio's "Baseball This Morning" show, and various other members of the media.

 

We have established relationships with 90% of all Major League teams and are proud to consider many of the people in the front offices our friends. We now cover college baseball and will soon expand our already solid minor league coverage. Our writer/reporter network has grown from one (me!) to about a dozen with 7-8 new writers about to come on board. We have our own freelance photographer and expert web designer. So as you can see, we're moving full speed ahead.

 

Now for some of the more juicy details! Over the next few weeks we will begin to introduce the following:

 

1) New Staff: 7-8 new reporters/writers will be joining the team to cover all things baseball...from the minors to the majors and everything in between

2) Moderated Chat: We will have the ability to conduct chat sessions similar to those at Baseball Prospectus and ESPN. Readers will be able to submit questions to a special guest (player, front office member, celebrity, etc.) and have them answer. All chat transcripts will be archived for future reference.

3) Podcasts: We're also going to introduce Podcasts at BDD! Pretty soon you'll be able to download interviews, news, and all kinds of updates.

4) Expanded Minor League Coverage: Many of you are familiar with Jay-Dell Mah's At the Plate rookies and prospects page. If you are, you also know that Jay has taken an undetermined leave of absence from the site. So, with Jay's blessing, we've decided to pick up where he left off! In the upcoming weeks (possibly days!) we will be rolling out a new section of BDD that will emulate the work of the great JDM. We will cover minor league news, notes, links, and of course, top prospect lists!

 

Additional more subtle changes will enhance the Baseball Digest Daily experience. We will continue to fully support the Player Tracker, offer daily and historical stats, provide breaking news alerts, and recap all the action from around the league. Interviews and articles will be published more often, and there will be no shortage of new content.

 

It's an exciting time for us at BDD. We hope you continue to support us and spread the word about the site.

 

Thanks again!

Joe

Well we made it through the last few days! Moving site hosts, email servers and all that other junk is never easy. There are plenty of delays, miscommunications, and mistakes. I think we are finally past all that now. We can get back to concentrating on baseball! But before we move on, I want to outline a few things about stats, newsletters, email, etc.

 

1) Stats – Stats will generally be updated both by 7:30 AM EDT each day. That means both the regular statistics and the tracker statistics. There are rare occasions when are stat feeds are bad. Unfortunately there’s nothing we can do in those circumstances, but we’ll do our best to get the day’s numbers up as soon as possible.

 

2) Newsletters – Newsletters will go out each and every evening unless I mention otherwise. They will include everything from the previous night’s scores, home runs, and recaps to the upcoming probable pitchers, a list of our new articles, and whatever else I can fit in nice and neatly.

 

3) Email Delivery & Opt-In – As most of you are aware by now, moving to a new mail server means we need everyone to confirm their membership to the mailing list. So, if you receive an email from BDD News, it is indeed from us! Just click on the link to confirm your free membership and you’re done! About half of you have already confirmed your account. If you know anyone who has received the verification message, but hasn’t confirmed his membership, please tell him to do so immediately.

 

If you don’t confirm your email address, you won’t receive the daily newsletter or any other important notices!

 

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

 

For those of you wondering, 2007 STATS ARE NOW LIVE! That’s right, even the tracker stats have been updated through last night’s opening game. Thanks again to Luis for making this happen.

 

One quick note for players who changed teams during the offseason…the team name associated with these players will not change until they play their first game for their new team.

 

If you find any error, please let us know as soon as possible by emailing info@baseballdigestdaily.com.

 

Enjoy!

Thanks to my great programmer, Luis Garcia, we cleaned up a number of items on the site the past few days. We also added a new bulk email messenger. As part of the process, we need everyone to confirm their membership to the mailing list.

 

So, if you receive an email from BDD News, it is indeed from us! Just click on the link to confirm your free membership and you’re done!

 

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Here are a few clarifications regarding the Player Tracker:

 

Daily Newsletter

 

With the season just a little over a week away now, I would like to fill in everyone on what to expect and when.

• Articles – Articles are the heart of BDD and our writers will continue to provide stimulating and informative content on a regular basis.
• Interviews – There will be no shortage of interviews once the season begins. We are sure to bring you up close and personal with major league players, minor league players, executives, game makers, authors, and more!
• Blog – News, notes, and commentary whenever and wherever. Keep up with the baseball world and share your thoughts.
• Daily Newsletter – The HTML newsletter will be back in full force as we give you a snapshot of league action each and every day. Scores, home runs, and probable pitchers are just a few of the many tidbits you’ll get delivered to your inbox each and every day. And don’t forget about…
• “Short Stops” Around the League – Daily recaps of all the league action...Otherwise known as "the fastest minute around Major League Baseball!" An intro to each day’s summary will appear in the newsletter with a link to all the recaps on the BDD site.
• Player Tracker – The best and only free tracker on the web is back! Create an unlimited list of teams and players to follow. Track them for a specific day, week, month or season, and sort by any available statistic!

 Important Notes – Please Read!

1. Even though the season begins on April 1^st, stats for 2007 will not begin to appear until a few days later. We will be busy correlating stat feeds and making sure the 2007 system is working smoothly before the traffic really begins to pick up.

2. That said, I encourage everyone who plans to use the tracker to log on over the next week and make sure you can get in to the system. While you're there, double check your teams and rosters.

Reminder: Your username is an email address, but it's not necessarily your current email address. It’s the email address you used when you originally signed up for the tracker. For example, if I originally signed up as joe123@aol.com, that would be my username forever, even if I changed my email address to joeh@gmail.com.