Of the players who made their MLB debut with the Braves this year, who will have the best career?

Consider all aspects in your response, position played, peak years vs longevity, probability of reaching peak, etc....  

For this question, I am thinking peak years(if they are good enough) out weigh longevity.

The players that come to mind, in no particular order, are:

Charlie Morton, James Parr, Brent Lillibridge, Gregor Blanco, Francisley Bueno, Jason Perry

Did I miss anyone?

My order would be Lillibridge, Morton, Parr, Blanco, Bueno and Perry.  I believe Lillibridge will eventually start hitting again, despite his struggles all around this year. 

But, am I under-rating Blanco?  I don't see him developing into a starting OF on a playoff team.  What is the ceiling for Parr and Morton?  If they can actually harness their stuff, will they be more valuable than Lillibridge?

What is the deal with Yusmeiro Petit?  Will he get a shot at the bigs this year with Arizona?  Is he trade bait?

He has usually had fairly good minor league numbers.  He pitched well enough in spring training to make the big league ball club, but then was abandoned in the bullpen.  Ok, maybe abandoned isn't fair, but he wasn't getting many innings so he was sent down to AAA.  In Tucson this year, Petit has been fairly good.  13.2IP 13H 0BB 12K.   A 3.95 ERA isn't terrible. 

The D-Backs may not be a normal team, in that they don't currently have many questions in their rotation.  So, does Petit continue to pitch in AAA or will the DBacks eventually either call him up and install him in the rotation(should RJ get hurt) or the bullpen(and actually give him innings). 

Or, will they trade him and if so, for what?

FREE YUSMEIRO PETIT

I am in a simulation/replay league.  I am faced with a decision.  who do I like better, Jarrod Saltalamacchia or Yunel Escobar?

On my team I have a SS in Furcal and a C in Pierzynski.  This tells me that C is more of a need.

However, I am not contending next season and thus Furcal could be flipped for SP, which is a major need on my team.  Thus, getting Escobar is helpful.  However, I am already noting the downward spiral that AJ Pierzynski is undergoing, and long term I need a new solution at catcher.

My question to you minor league folks is this:  Who would you rather have on your team long-term, Yunel Escobar or Jarrod Saltalamacchia?

My thoughts on each player:

 Yunel Escobar hit very well this year in MLB:326/.385/.451.  Outside his stint at AA Mississippi, Escobar has a +.800 OPS at every stop.  His BABIP is very high, at .367 in MLB and .354 and .384 in his 2 minor league stops outside of Mississippi.  At this point, I would not think that this means he is getting lucky, but rather that he hits the ball hard(perhaps a high LD%? not sure where that data is..)  
  Thus, I think Escobar is bound to be good.  How good, I don't know, but certainly an above average MLB SS, if he stays there.

 Jarrod Saltalamacchia has had a lot of coverage.  He was the key acquisition in the Texiera trade, which says something.  His combined MLB stats this year are:  .266/.310/.422.  Not great, but he is young.  A concern is if he will stay at C.  If he becomes a 1B, he is of much less value.  

I am torn on this.  For the purposes of the poll, assume that both Escobar and Saltalamacchia are in a draft and you can choose between them.

Thank you for your votes, and I would appreciate comments.

I am in a simulation/replay baseball league.  I am owner of the Atlanta Braves franchise.  I will be adding Yunel Escobar to my roster, in the territorial phase of the off-season.

The Texas Rangers owner will be adding Salty.  

I am weaker at C(Pierzynski) than I am at SS(I have Furcal).

The Rangers could use a SS, and want the younger Escobar rather than Furcal in exchange for Saltalamacchia.  There may be other small parts to either trade to offset differences in value.

My question to you Braves fans is this:  Who would you rather have long term, Escobar or Saltalamacchia.   For this question, assume every aspect of the player matters(defense, offense, makeup, ability to stick at the position, etc...)  Also, assume that if you were blocking either player, you could move that player for another area of need.

In my case, I have Furcal at SS and several of the contending teams have asked about him.  I am hopeful that I could move Furcal to another team in return for SP, which I am extremely short on(Wakefield stands to be my #1 next season).  

Thank you for your comments and vote...

While he may not have the resume of a Tim Lincecum, or Phillup Hughes, Dan Meyer is making his 1st major league start tonight for the A's against the Royals.

Meyer did pitch in 2 innings of relief work a few years ago for the Braves, so this is not his major league debut.

What are your thoughts on how he'll do?  His AAA numbers have been good the past few starts, his walk rate is dropping and his k rate is maintaining.

His last 4 AAA starts(IP/H/ER/BB/K):

Jul 20 SLC  6.0 1 1 3 11
Jul 26 @MEM  7.1 5 0 1 2
Jul 31 @NAS  7.0 6 1 1 7
Aug 07 OKL  5.2 3 2 1 7

What is the community prediction for tonight?  My prediction is:

 5IP 6H 3ER 2BB 6K  and a no decision.

Dan Meyer is pitching for Sacramento in the PCL.  He has a somewhat severe home road split.  The stats courtesy of www.milb.com

      W L ERA G GS IP H R ER HR BB SO GO/AO AVG
Home 1 0 1.69 4 4 21.1 12 5 4 2 9 28 0.57 .164
Away 2 0 4.76 5 5 22.2 32 12 12 1 16 12 1.42 .364

I notice some big differences.  1st, the K/BB ratio is great at home, but terrible on the road.  H/IP is also greatly different.

The question I have, does anyone know if Sacramento is a pitchers park?  Or, are these results more flukey?  From what I have read, it seems the PCL is more of a hitters friendly league.

Additionally, the home starts are greatly influenced by his last 2 starts at home:
           W L ERA   IP  H ER BB K
May 31 ALB 1 0 3.60  5.0 3 2 3 9
Jun 05 ROU 0 0 1.50  6.0 3 1 1 11
his last road start
Jun 11 @FRE 1 0 5.40 5.0 7 3 3 4

Any thoughts on Meyer would be appreciated.

I know this is a minor league site, and that these players each spent the entire last season in the bigs, but they are both young(Murton is 3 years older than Francoeur, I think) and there is still some doubt about them long term.

Who will have a better career, Matt Murton or Jeff Francoeur?

Francoeur certainly has the hype as a young player, but Murton has had real good numbers in the bigs.  Francoeur plays a better defense, and I think by a lot.

Murton 2005  321/386/521 22K 16BB 140AB
Murton 2006  297/365/444 62K 45BB 455AB

Francoeur 2005 300/336/549 58K 11BB 257AB
Francoeur 2006 260/293/449 132K 23BB 651AB

I am in simulation/replay league where I can protect 1 player from my MLB affiliate who appeared in a game this MLB season and is not on another teams roster.  My team is the Braves.

I have the following choices for protection:

Hitters, Tony Pena, Martin Prado, Scott Thorman

Pitchers:  Kevin Barry, Wayne Franklin,  Peter Moylan, Chad Paranto, Ken Ray, Mike Remlinger, Jason Sheill, Travis Smith, Phil Stockman, Tyler Yates

My question is this:

Who should I protect?  I am not really thinking I'll get much help for next season(based on the 2006 actual season).  I am really looking longer term.  

I am debating between Prado and Thorman.  I think Thorman has the higher ceiling, but if Giles ends up being traded would Prado be the leader for the 2B job?

Secondly, what is Thormans future?  Is he going to be able to handle 1B if LaRoche is traded? Or, will he end up as an OF/1B in a backup situation?

Any reason to think about Tony Pena?  I don't think he will hit enough to be worthwhile, but am I mis-informed?
I appreciate you comments/thoughts.

Does anyone know where I can get the information on who started a specific minor league game?  The game in question is July 31st 2004 for the Beloit Snappers, then the Class A affliate of the Milwaukee Brewers.  I am curious about the Beloit starting pitcher that night, as it was the 1st and only minor league game I saw and if memory serves he did quite well.  Just curious if he has advanced much...

Thanks in advance for any help.

The Twins stadium plans have been

From the star tribune:

 A House-Senate conference committee this morning tentatively approved a new $522 million stadium for the Minnesota Twins, and Democrat and Republican leaders said the project likely had enough votes to pass on the House and Senate floor.

The entire article:

http://www.startribune.com/587/story/442967.html

I am very excited about this.  With all the backlash about the public paying for this, as a baseball fan I am happy.  Bring on outdoor baseball!