Kuzul

In articles like this, many websites give readers a list of the best overall prospects at any given position, but the intention here is to focus on those prospects that are most likely to provide a significant fantasy impact in the 2011 season. Thus, a guy like White Sox prospect Dayan Viciedo—who should be beaten out by fellow prospect Brent Morel—is not on my list.

Ditto for Josh Bell in Baltimore, who has been blocked by the recent acquisition of Mark Reynolds.

Here is my list of the five third base prospects who will likely have the most impact at the major league level in 2011:

1. Mike Moustakas, KC
2010 Performance: .322, 36 HR, 124 RBI, 2 SB, 94 R (combined stats at AA and AAA)

Moustakas, 22, is clearly the best of the class of prospects at third base. He pummelled Texas League (AA) pitching to the tune of .347 with 21 home runs in just 259 ABs before being promoted to the Pacific Coast League (AAA). After his promotion to Omaha, he hit .293 with 15 homers (in 225 AB) and demonstrated that he is close to being major league-ready.

It has been suggested that “Moose” is capable of making an early-season jump to the major leagues in 2011, just as Mike Stanton (ATL) did last year, but it is likely he will either start the season as the Royals’ Opening Day third baseman or return to Triple-A for a full half-season.

He lacks plate discipline and while his selectivity improved in Double-A last year, he hit just .293 and drew only eight walks in the PCL—a league considered to be a hitter’s mecca.

I think he needs more seasoning before making the jump to the big leagues for good, so the betting here is he’ll start the 2011 season in the minors and make his debut with the Royals in July.

2. Brent Morel, CWS
2010 Performance: .322, 10 HR, 64 RBI, 8 SB, 65 R (combined stats at AA and AAA)

Morel, 23, has the inside track on Chicago’s third base job as spring training approaches. He was a September call-up last year and while he hit only .231 with 3 HR in 65 ABs, he showed his glove is ready for the big leagues.

The likelihood he sticks as the 2011 Opening Day starter increased when the White Sox signed DH Adam Dunn and re-signed 1B Paul Konerko and C AJ Pierzynski—their power capabilities in the middle of the lineup will permit the team to be patient with Morel’s offense while taking advantage of his defensive skills.

Mark Teahen started last year as the club’s third baseman but struggled at the hot corner and is being viewed as a super-utility player. Cuban defector Dayan Viciedo, who is known for his powerful bat, lacks plate discipline and defensive refinement and is still probably a year or two away from taking his place in the White Sox lineup.

Thus, Morel would seem to be the guy you want to target in your auction/draft. You can likely expect him to hit around .240-.250, with 15 HR (+/-).

3. Lonnie Chisenhall, CLE
2010 Performance: .278, 17 HR, 84 RBI, 3 SB, 81 RBI (at Double-A Akron)

Chisenhall is one of the best hitters in the minor leagues. He is a plus-hitter with excellent bat speed, a short stroke and solid power to all fields. He projects to hit for 20-plus HR in The Show.

He has accumulated over 600 plate appearances at Double-A and should start the season in AAA. His competition in Cleveland is not especially formidable, with Jayson Nix (.224 in 2010) and Luis Valbuena (.193) seemingly the only obstacles keeping him from taking over as the Tribe’s starting third baseman.

It is a near-certainty that he will be the Tribe’s starting third baseman by Opening Day 2012, but it would seem that a solid start in Columbus (AAA) could lead to a promotion after the All-Star break.

4. Zack Cox, StL
2010 performance: .429, 9 HR, 48 RBI, 11 SB, 67 R (at Univ of Arkansas)

Cox was considered one of the top hitters coming out of college last spring. He was selected by St. Louis out of Arkansas in the first round of the June draft (No. 25 overall) and will eventually take over as the Cards’ starting 3B.

The question is, whether the ballclub, starving for offense in a somewhat punchless lineup, is prepared to promote him to the major leagues in his first full professional season.

The organization considered promoting him late last season, but ultimately decided not to do so. But that doesn’t mean they won’t give him a shot this year in spite of the fact he played in just four pro games in 2010.

The club will likely start David Freese at third base as the team heads north out of spring training, but it’s entirely possible Cox will move through the Cardinals system quickly and join the major league team sometime after midseason.

He has exceptional bat speed and is projected to hit for a solid BA and 20-plus home runs, but I expect it will take a couple of years for him to get settled in The Show. I can only say, “buyer beware” if he makes the Cardinals in 2011.

5. Matt Dominguez, FLA
2010 Performance: .252, 14 HR, 81 RBI, 0 SB, 61 R (at Double-A Jacksonville)

The Marlins have already announced they are going to give Dominguez a shot to win the job at third base during spring training.

The former first round pick (No. 12 overall in 2007) was a shortstop in high school but has been transferred to third base due to the presence of Hanley Ramirez in Miami.

It seems like an awfully big step for a guy who hit just .252 in Double-A, but the Marlins are committed to their plan. He is an excellent defender with a plus arm.

Caveat emptor! As with Cox, I expect Dominguez will have a negative impact on his fantasy league owners in 2011.

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When Lou Pinella announced his retirement this past fall and the Chicago Cubs tapped career minor leaguer Mike Quade as their new manager, a storm of epidemic proportions befell the front office.

First, general manager Jim Hendry hired an unknown relative to continue the starving organization’s quest for its first World Series title since 1908. As if that wasn’t enough? Hendry also spurned one of the most popular Cubs players in franchise history, Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg.

While the decision boggled the minds of many fans, it wasn’t so much that Hendry made the decision, but rather how he made (and subsequently handled) the decision and its fallout.

Sandberg wasn’t immediately offered his previous post as the manager of the Iowa Cubs, where he was named the Pacific Coast League’s Coach of the Year in 2010. Instead, he was sent to pasture. A slight on one Cub is a slight on them all in this brotherhood of pain. Hurt by the perceived slight, Sandberg took an identical Triple-A job with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Needless to say: many Cubs fans were livid about the move.

From boycotts to threats of changing allegiances, many fans were huffing and puffing. Hendry had slighted one of their own. Sandberg set that perception in place the following week when he made his rounds on the talk radio circuit.

Hendry was a pariah in many bitter circles. They already struggled with the contracts Hendry had brought in (see Alfonso Soriano and Kosuke Fukudome) as well as some of the head-scratchers (see Milton Bradley). However, many believed the growing pains would be bearable under the leadership of one of the most popular Cubs in history.

Hendry stood at a crossroads, and he couldn’t do right. He signed power-hitting, defensive-minded first baseman, Carlos Pena, at the beginning of December. Fans wept. Hendry began negotiating a possible trade for Tampa Rays starter Matt Garza. Fans scoffed. Hendry faced a lose-lose situation, and the Cubs faced a crisis of image (no matter how many teary episodes of “Undercover Boss” team owner Todd Ricketts appeared on).

Then Ron Santo, arguably the most popular Cub of all time, passed away.

Former teammates, friends and fans swarmed to his funeral, paying respects to a guy who loved the Cubs as much as he loved oxygen. Pallbearers included Hall of Famers Ernie Banks, Fergie Jenkins and Billy Williams, and one such guest was taken aback by his return home to pay his respects.

That guest was “Kid-K” himself — Kerry Wood.

Before Santo’s spirit left the building, Henry and Wood promised to speak again about a possible return to Chicago. Wood was a free agent, having just played a major role in solidifying the New York Yankees bullpen. He was due a large payout in the range of $7-10 million, yet something pulled him back into the most masochistic love affair in sports.

Within a week, Wood was signing a hometown discount deal for $1.5 million, and the ire of Cubs fans began to subside. Less than a month later, the Cubs finally landed Matt Garza and also brought back Augie Ojeda and Reed Johnson,two other fan favorites who had left the organization, as non-roster invitees.

The angry Cubs fans began warming up to Hendry again, muttering things like, “I love you, Cubs, but I just don’t like you very much right now.” Classic signs of an abusive relationship. Suddenly, Hendry was being likened to the outlawed friend of a friend who was now welcomed over for Pay-Per-View fights and the occasional night out for a drink. Awkward, but tenable.

Appealing to their nostalgia, Wood serves as an olive branch to the fans. Coexisting isn’t nearly as fargone a conclusion as it originally seemed. The only other moves he’s yet to make are bringing back Lou Brock, Mark Grace and the ghost of Billy Sianis and his billy goat.

Making amends takes time, effort and a fan base who is willing to forget the last 102 years of futility because — say what you want about Cubs fans — their loyalty runs deep.

Hendry may still be in the doghouse, but it’s an upgrade from where he was three months ago: the outhouse. Only time will tell if the move saves his reputation in Chicago, or if he is shown to door to oblivion like those who have come before: Larry Himes, Ed Lynch, Dallas Green and John Holland. But this relationship’s going to take some time, and perhaps a few W’s in April, to return to the glory days of 2007 and 2008.

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Major League Baseball features some of the most talented athletes in the entire nation, and it has done so for over a century.  Over the years, stories are told about Major Leaguers having dominant seasons and becoming champions, but being a winner does not make a player unique.

In the history of baseball, there have not only been very talented players, but also very unique players whether it is a missing arm, or a job as a secret agent while regularly playing for a Major League team.  Many players are unique, but which players top them all?  Here is my list, hope you enjoy:

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While Joe Mauer and Brian McCann rate as the best-known offensive catchers in baseball, Geovany Soto was the best hitter in the league at that position in 2010.

Though he got only 387 plate appearances due to a mixture of injuries and managerial stupidity, Soto logged a career-best .890 OPS and socked 17 home runs.

He did all that despite batting mostly seventh and eighth for the Cubs. National League hitters performed nine percent worse than their overall numbers when batting in those slots in 2010, so if Soto had been batting fourth (where he belonged in a beleaguered Cubs lineup, and where batters were 17 percent better than their baseline in 2010), he might well have hit 22 homers and finished with an OPS north of .920.

For perspective, the last Cubs catcher with numbers in that strata was Gabby Hartnett, when he won the MVP in 1935.

Yet the Cubs elected to tender a contract to Koyie Hill this winter (for reasons surpassing any understanding) and then claimed catcher Max Ramirez off waivers from the Red Sox this week. Those two, along with prospect Welington Castillo, will ostensibly compete to become Soto’s backup in 2011.

But what if the Cubs have other ideas? Jim Hendry has never shown a special affinity for Soto, and the 2008 NL Rookie of the Year reached arbitration for the first time this season and got a $3 million, one-year deal. The Cubs could have offered a multi-year extension, but they chose to go year-to-year with their star catcher.

Would Chicago be willing to trade Soto and give the nod to either Ramirez or Castillo as the starting catcher? Almost certainly, given their budget constraints, the answer is yes. Soto should fetch a good price on the market too, with a number of potential contenders in need of a catcher.

Read on for five possible destinations for Soto.

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There are some athletes in today’s world of sports that will seemingly never play for a team other than their current club.

Certain players are synonymous with their teams, and wrapping one’s head around the notion that they may play for a different team is just not plausible.

The likes of Tom Brady, Kobe Bryant, Derek Jeter, Peyton Manning, and Albert Pujols could each be placed in this category.  

However, there was once a time when seeing Brett Favre, Michael Jordan, or Joe Montana in a different uniform was thought to be ludicrous.

Pujols is St. Louis. He has spent his entire career a Cardinal, brought them a title, is the face of the franchise, and his charitable work around the community has done wonders to endear himself to St. Louis residents.

Pujols is a free agent after the coming MLB season, and negotiations with the team have not been progressing, and a potential doomsday scenario is fast approaching for Cardinals fans.

Many members of Cardinal faithful would struggle to find the meaning of life in a Pujols-less world.

While it is quite likely Pujols re-signs with St. Louis to finish his career a Cardinal, there is the distinct possibility the best player in the game today takes a more lucrative offer to play elsewhere, ala LeBron James.

Here are the five most likely destinations if Pujols were to hit the open market.

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Whether you’re a Bears fan or just a fan of football, you’re aware by now of the Jay Cutler saga from the NFC Championship Game.

How injured was he? Should he have played through it? Could he have played through it?

Those questions all fall within the bigger picture of Jay Cutler, which is he’s a big-name QB who has his own way of doing things, and that rubs people the wrong way. That’s why it’s no surprise that so many who disliked him before he hurt his knee are eagerly jumping on him now.

The Chicago baseball player that has recently experienced his own version of “Cutler bashing” is Jake Peavy.

The Cy Young Award winner arrived on the South Side after rejecting a trade to the White Sox earlier in the season. While his motives for that seemed pure enough—he wanted to win in San Diego, where he had played his entire career—it still left a bitter taste in many White Sox fans’ mouths.

When Peavy did finally put on a Sox jersey and take the mound, he was nothing short of marvelous. He went 3-0 in three starts while striking out 18 in 20 IP and only giving up 11 hits.

Everyone should be happy, right?

Wrong.

Peavy started the 2010 season out poorly—very, very poorly.

April/March 0-2 7.85 ERA 1.84 WHIP

May 4-2 5.09 ERA 1.10 WHIP

Those numbers from a guy who is making $15 million per year aren’t good enough, and the majority of White Sox nation started turning on the right-hander.

“He can’t get it done in the AL.”

“Have you seen the numbers Clayton Richard is putting up?”

“We gotta trade this guy even if we have to eat some of the salary.”

These critics were only further fueled when Peavy announced that if the White Sox were going into rebuilding mode, he wanted to be traded.

Now I was a huge fan of the White Sox getting Peavy, and I didn’t overreact to his struggling because a pitcher of his quality is only going to struggle for so long before he turns it around. But when I heard him say that about wanting to be traded…I was ready to join the angry mob with torches that already seemed to await his every start.

Peavy turned it around in June and posted a 3-2 record to go with a 1.75 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP.

Our Cy Young had arrived.

All was forgiven. I could listen to sports talk radio in Chicago again without getting frustrated by the constant stream of callers demanding the most talented pitcher on the White Sox be traded for a bag of balls.

Until he got hurt.

That seemed to reopen the illogical bottle of hatred that had finally been closed up.

Now as we approach spring training, there are still wisps of steam coming out of that bottle, as people that I generally regard as smart baseball fans swear to me that Peavy just doesn’t have what it takes to pitch in the AL Central. That if the Sox make the playoffs he won’t be of use in the postseason (he sports an 0-2 record with a 12.10 ERA in two postseason starts). That he’s a bust and the Sox should cut bait and use the money elsewhere.

It’s just like Cutler.

Maybe it’s just a Chicago thing, or maybe this goes on in other sport cities. It seems that in Chicago we treat the most talented of our players with the unreasonable expectations of a spoiled child on his or her birthday. Not everything is going to be perfect. Jay Cutler isn’t going to be Peyton Manning when it comes to handling the media, and Jake Peavy isn’t going to be Greg Maddux when it comes to being the ideal pitcher.

But these two athletes are at the top of their respective games when it comes to talent. Unfortunately for them, my fellow Chicago fans may never recognize that.

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The answer to the headline is yes…and no.

In my third article of this 30 in 30 series, we take a look at the Chicago Cubs, one of the hottest teams in all of baseball at the end of last season.

Posting an impressive 24-13 record under interim manager Mike Quade at the end of last season, the question now for Chicago is no longer “Just how bad are the Cubs?” It has been replaced with the much more optimistic “Just how GOOD are these Cubs?”

The same team that was near the bottom of the NL Central for the entire season appeared to be a legitimate contender in September. But it was too little too late, and the Cubs finished the season with a 75-87 record.

One thing I will say about this team is that over the course of the offseason, the Cubs improved the most out of any team in the entire National League. Bringing in SP Matt Garza from the Devil Rays was a great move by the Cubs in order to stay on pace with the division leaders. 

The Cubs also signed 1B Carlos Pena who hit 28 home runs with 84 RBI. The main concern with Pena is his consistency at the plate, batting .196 last season. Even with Pena’s low BA, the Cubs now have a much-needed power bat in the middle of a fairly well-rounded lineup.

Here’s what the lineup and starting rotation look like for the Cubs right now.

C: Geovany Soto

1B: Carlos Pena

2B: Blake DeWitt

3B: Aramis Ramirez

SS: Starlin Castro

LF: Alfonso Soriano

CF: Marlon Byrd

RF: Kosuke Fukudome

SP: Ryan Dempster

SP: Randy Wells

SP: Matt Garza

SP: Tom Gorzelanny

SP: Carlos Zambrano 

CL: Carlos Marmol

This Cubs team is loaded with potential, but that’s the key word: “potential.” 

Castro is on the verge of becoming a star for this team. The very talented SS batted for .300 last season, ranking him 10th in the NL. He is also only 20 years old, and with the addition of Pena, his production should only go up this season.

When you look at this Cubs lineup, there are no real weaknesses, but the production of Soriano and Ramirez is going to be what makes or breaks the Cubs this year. 

It’s almost hard to believe that Soriano is only four years removed from an unreal season with the Nationals, in which he hit 40 doubles, 40 home runs and stole 40 bases. Injuries have since kept Soriano from repeating this type of production, and no one expects this same production out of him. However, if he can play the entire season, it’s not unrealistic to see him around 30 HRs and 80-plus RBI.

The starting rotation for the Cubs this season is one of the best in baseball. They have five quality starters, who should be able to keep the team in most games heading into the later innings of each game.

We all know what a healthy Carlos Zambrano is capable of, while Dempster and Wells appear to be locks at the top of the rotation after very productive 2010 seasons from both. 

Garza is the key here, and the Cubs gave up a lot to get him. With a 15-10 record, an ERA of 3.91, and 150 Ks last season, Garza is definitely capable of doing big things for the Cubs in 2011…but was the deal enough to get the Cubs back into contention? At this point it’s a very tough question to answer, and I believe that this club could be a big mover this season.

The NL Central is always brutal, especially this season. With the resurgence of the Reds, the always consistent Cardinals and the Brewers with newly acquired former AL Cy Young winner Zack Greinke, it’s hard to put the Cubs ahead of any of those three teams.

With that being said, don’t be surprised if I become a buyer of the Cubs stock sometime during spring training, and I will say this for Cubs fans…on paper you have one of the better teams in the NL. But as we’ve seen before, if paper wins championships, well, Steve Bartman would have never happened.

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With most of the top free agents now signed and teams starting to take shape as we approach spring training, I thought I would share my pre-pre-season perspective on the relative strengths, (and weaknesses), of all 30 major league teams.

I have broken the article down into three installments, and will publish one of the segments each day this weekend. Part I (yesterday) covered the three teams I view as the weakest in baseball… Part II (today) covers the teams in the middle of the pack… Part III (tomorrow, MLK Day) will preview the 10 best teams in baseball.

Without further ado, here is how I see things:

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The big news out of the Chicago White Sox camp this offseason was their acquisition of Adam Dunn. Dunn finally gives the White Sox the left-handed presence they have wanted for the past couple of seasons.

While Dunn might have been the headliner for the White Sox this offseason, he is one of the many moves they made concerning their bullpen. There has been a lot of changes to their pen, so let’s take a look at who is in, who is out, and where the chips may fall in 2011.

Out

Bobby Jenks, RHP: Last year’s closer was non-tendered in November and was signed by the Boston Red Sox in December. Jenks had a 4.44 ERA in 52.2 IP.

J.J. Putz, RHP: Putz was a valuable part of the White Sox bullpen in 2010, posting a 2.83 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, and 10.8 K’s/9 in 54 innings. He was a force in the eighth inning, where he posted a 1.04 ERA. He signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks to be their closer.

Scott Linebrink, RHP: Linebrink had a 4.40 ERA and struck out 8.2 batters per innings in 57.1 innings for the White Sox in 2010. He was traded to the Atlanta Braves in December and never lived up to the four-year, $19 million contract he signed prior to the 2008 season.

In

Jesse Crain, RHP: Crain appeared in 71 games for the Minnesota Twins in 2010. He posted a solid 3.04 ERA and 8.2 K’s/9 in 68 IP. Even as a right-handed pitcher, he held left-handed batters to a .198 BAA last year.

Will Ohman, LHP: The latest bullpen acquisition by GM Kenny Williams, Ohman signed a two-year, $4 million contract on Friday. Ohman held lefties to a .229 BAA and just five extra-base hits in 99 plate appearances with the Baltimore Orioles and Florida Marlins last season.

Already There

Matt Thornton, LHP: Perhaps the most solid reliever the White Sox have. Thornton struck out 81 in 60.2 IP in 2010 and is equally deadly on righties as he is on lefties. Righties only hit .203 against him and lefties hit .199. He is one of the better relief pitchers in baseball.

Sergio Santos, RHP: The converted SS has really found a home in the White Sox bullpen. Santos had a 2.96 ERA and struck out 56 in 51.2 innings with Chicago in 2010. He has a wicked splitter but does struggle with control.

Tony Pena, RHP: Pena comes into the game if the White Sox are up by five runs, down by five runs, or there are no other options. He is like an old fashioned “Swing Man”, as he did start three games in 2010. He had a 5.10 ERA in 100.2 IP.

Chris Sale, LHP: Sale was the 13th pick in the 2010 June Draft and then made his White Sox debut on August 6th. That’s called firing through a system. Sale didn’t disappoint when he got to the White Sox, as he posted a 1.93 ERA and averaged 12.3 K/9 in 23.1 IP.

Now that we have looked at who is in, who is out, and who remains, here is where I think the chips will fall for the White Sox bullpen in 2011:

Closer: Sale. With the addition of Ohman, a lot of people think that means Sale will move to the rotation. Unless the White Sox trade either Mark Buehrle, Edwin Jackson, Gavin Floyd, Jake Peavy, or John Danks, I don’t see how that can happen.

I think Sale remains in the pen and ends up the White Sox closer in 2011.

Eighth Inning Setup Man: Thornton. Thornton will take over for Putz in the eighth and he will be used against righties and lefties in that spot

Left-Handed Specialist: Ohman. Pretty easy call here. Ohman will be used to get a tough lefty out late in the game or if Thornton is unavailable to pitch that day.

Right-Handed Specialist: Crain. Crain held righties to a .228 BAA last season, so he will come on in the seventh to get a pair of righties out.

That’s how I see the White Sox bullpen shaping up. Overall, it looks pretty nasty and should be one of the top bullpens in the American League in 2011.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

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The MLB has benefited greatly off of imported talent.  A recent wave of Japanese and South American players have taken the game by storm.  

Today, about 27% of MLB consists of foreign-born players.  Great talents like Hideki Matsui and Ichiro were established already in Japan.  They still were able to make an even bigger name for themselves here in the States.  Many others from South American countries as well have “made it big” in America.  Collectively, these foreign-born plays add another dimension to the game.  

Baseball has become the most diverse sport in the world.  It’s no longer limited to the 50 states in America but has expanded across the globe.

A lot of scouting goes into finding talent overseas.  Teams with better international scouting tend to land such talent.  We’ve seen foreign players (who teams sometimes know little about) get some large contracts here.  Whether deservedly or not, many have had success in MLB.  

Here are the top five free-agent signings of foreign-born players.  

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