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An awesome reader on Rotoprofessor, named John, left an enlightened comment on our Rookies post. He writes:

"What about Mark Trumbo? Had a good spring. Has an opportunity. Any chance he sticks with the Angels after Morales is healthy?"

This is really becoming quite a habit. It feels like every time I do a post on a group of players, I'll omit at least one person worth discussing. I wanted to check Trumbo's backstory, but first responded to John on with the following:

"Excellent point, John. Mark Trumbo certainly looks like he deserves an opportunity. Last season in AAA he went .301/.368/.577, with 70 extra base hits (36 HR’s). It’s a good hitting environment, but doing that as a 24-year old is impressive.

To answer your question, though, I don’t think he will get everyday AB’s after Morales gets back. LF, RF, 1b, and DH will be taken by Wells, Hunter, Morales, and Abreu.

Maybe Trumbo will get a lot of playing time if he rotates into those four positions as the veterans get days off or have injuries of their own to deal with.

Trumbo’s projections don’t jump off the page, so roster him with cautious optimism.

Bill James: .270 BA, .318 OBP, 18 HR
ZiPS: .248 BA, .298 OBP, 21 HR
Marcel: .253 BA, .324 OBP, 5 HR"

Finding that Trumbo is a local kid helps with rooting factor.

Too bad Trumbo can't play 3rd

He was a high-school kid from nearby Orange, CA, when the Angels drafted in the 18th round.

The reason he was available so late in the draft is not because of questionable tools or abilities. In fact, he was an enticing dual-threat, as a player who could hit for power and pitch in the low-to-mid-90s. He wasn't selected any earlier because teams were certain that it would take a lot of money to lure Trumbo away from his commitment to a USC scholarship. Rolling the dice, the Anaheim Angels drafted and signed the kid with a $1,425,000 signing bonus.

Good for them. It's always good to have truly homegrown talent on the Major League roster. It's very organic.

Hey folks, so we've never done this before...

The Braves are reloading, and Freddie Freeman is a big part of it.

I wrote a fantasy article, for Rotoprofessor.com, taking an in depth look at the projected 2011 Major League rookie class. We didn't want to just rate upcoming rookies, or tell roto players whom to target in drafts. Instead, the idea was to look at which appealing rookies are the ones to stay away from. Too many times in the past, I've had a rookie, or four, on my roster who just weren't ready for prime time, so to speak. So, it's not like we're staying safe and saying "Don't draft Darwin Barney". Rather, we're trying to stay disciplined by avoiding upside hype because some high-prized prospects aren't ripe for the picking.

If you get a minute, please check out the post here on Rotoprofessor and let me know either here, or there, if you have any feedback.

Spoiler alert!

The details are in the Rotoporofessor column, but these are basically the groups we put the players in...

Draft (all leagues): Jeremy Hellickson, Freddie Freeman and Craig Kimbrel

Draft (most leagues): Aroldis Chapman, Danny Espinosa, Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Mike Minor

Watch (pick up if given opportunity): Mike Moustakas, Brandon Belt, Julio Teheran, Jesus Montero, Tyler Matzek, Manuel Banuelos, Desmond Jennings and (with a bit more trepidation) Lonnie Chisenhall and Dustin Ackley.

And... drum roll please...

Intriguing but Avoid: Chris Sale, Kyle Drabek, Domonic Brown, Michael Pineda, J.P. Arencibia, Brett Wallace, Chris Carter, Cory Luebke, and Matt Dominguez.

Note: Mike Minor and Cory Luebke are slowly moving into the Watch list from different directions.

Cory Luebke keeps sounding like a better and better option.

If we don't share again until next week, have a great weekend!

We got such a positive response to our birthday post last week, and today is a monumental birthday, that we decided to do it again. This is going to be a long one, September 23rd is a monumental day for the great game of baseball; check it:

We remembered Bo Diaz in this post.

Old School South Siders may remember Bruce Howard.

Happy Birthday, Chile!!!

Chris Turner of the California Angels

I wonder if Osh knows Danny Coombs

Dan Shannon looked better in person.

Doc Smoot, no relation

Farmer Weaver looks like a bad mother ------.

Frank Parkinson is one of many Philadelphia Phillies born today.

George Scott played in 3 All-Star games, won 8 Gold Gloves, and was the 1966 American League Rookies of the Year.

Gavvy Cravath had a remarkable career.

Jack Meyer is representing The ILLadelphia.

Jim Lemon played for some really bad teams.

This is Joe Gunson of the 1889 Kansas City Cowboys

Joel Peralta is looking good in LIFE Magazine

Johnny Logan made four All-Star teams.

Not that he would have ever known, but Johnny Moore had a nice 110 Career OPS+.

Lee Andrew May turned 68 today.

I saw Mike Remlinger at Mia Francesca a few hours after a game once. He seemed like a really nice Dad.

How awesome does Mike Smith look?

Pat Bourque primarily played for the A's and Cubs.

This is the old baseball card for Peaches Graham of the Boston Doves

Ramon Ortiz is 38 and still trying to play.

Ray Kremer's first name was Remy. For his career, he played 10 seasons, all in Pittsburgh, and went 143 - 85 with a 3.76 ERA.

Sam Bowens looks like he's not there to mess around.

This is Tony Pena, Jr - former Royals Shortstop, current minor league relief pitcher. (exciting!)

Danny Moeller looks like he enjoyed DC a hundred years ago.

Mark Buerhle turned 32 today. Perfect.

The following is a collection of notes that I typed into my blackberry a couple of weeks ago amid a 30+ hour trip to the first stay of our trip in Nusa Dua, Bali. Earlier today, my friend asked for details about the flight which reminded me that I jotted some of my thoughts down into my blackberry. If you're interested, at all, please feel free to peruse the mindless thoughts of a mildly stressed, red wine infused, and cramped traveler:

I'm sitting on an airplane, flying halfway round the world to my honeymoon in Bali, and reading about the Negro Leagues. (I know. I know. If you had a nickel for every time you heard that one.)

Kids, ask your teachers about Turkey Stearnes.

The Negro Leagues are fascinating. Somehow, I'll find a more efficient and entertaining way to share the best of what I read over this trip.

I don't mean to get off track here, but it has been a long flight, and we're not even halfway there.

Some good news, Cathay Airlines is pretty sweet. They have outstanding, genuinely friendly people as flight attendants. The in-flight entertainment system here is outstanding.* There are about 90 movies to choose from, including some Hong Kong classics. Cathay has New Releases like The Social Network and Morning Glory, as well as modern day classic films like Miller's Crossing and The Big Lebowski. There are current and older TV shows, children's programming, and interactive games. The system are hundreds of music CD's, and you can save songs or entire albums to playlists. I currently have a playlist lasting 8 hours and 17 minutes, which is not bad for having about 7 hours left on the flight.

*If it works.

Now that's a good flipside song.

Oh jeez, music just transported me mentally from 'here' to 'there' in less than two minutes. Bob Dylan got to me again. This has been the umpteenth thousandth time that I've heard Queen Jane Approximately, and yet I was blown away again only about 1:45 into the tune.

It has been obvious to me for years and years that I am growing up to become a full blown curmudgeon, especially musically. Most of the music I like is older than I am, but I generally like about one or two new songs each year. In my playlist, I have relatively recent contributions from Florence and the Machine and Mumfred and Sons. Where are the Avett Brothers?

Tonight, let's close out with the maestro:

Then take me disappearin’ through the smoke rings of my mind
Down the foggy ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves
The haunted, frightened trees, out to the windy beach
Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow
Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free
Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands
With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves
Let me forget about today until tomorrow

In our most recent latent form of narcissism, here's a quick glimpse at people who share a birthday today.

"Did you ever hear of the Seattle Seven? That was me... and six other guys."
- The Dude, The Big Lebowski, 1998

There are seven active Major League managers with less than four years of experience. They're a tight group of tenured managers, as they all have less than two years of experience. Brad Mills managed 162 Astros games last year, three will be making their Major League managing debuts on Opening Day, and the other three have less than 100 Major League games on their resume.

Here's whom we're talking about:

Brad Mills, 162 games, .469 Win%
Edwin Rodriguez, 92 games, .500 Win%
Kirk Gibson, 83 games, .410 Win%
Mike Quade, 37 games, .649 Win%*
John Farrell, 0 games
Don Mattingly, 0 games
Ron Roenicke, 0 games

*Quade's winning percentage is incredible. We'll get back to it.

With the help of Baseball-Reference, I decided to take a quick jaunt through the professional upbringing of baseball's newest managers.

Brad Mills is okay in my book because he played for Felipe Alou in the Minors and Hall of Fame manager Dick Williams in the Majors for a beloved team that used to exist called the Montreal Expos. Alou's history is far too mystical and legendary to get into, while Williams's branch comes from the Hall of Fame managerial tree of Walter Alston, including a dash of Pepper Martin.

*~*~*~*

Edwin Rodriguez was signed as a 19-year old amateur free agent by the New York Yankees in 1980. His Rookie League team in the Yankee organization was managed by Carlos Tosca. Edwin Rodriguez had a cup of coffee with the big team in '82 and crossed paths with current honoree Don Mattingly there and in Columbus before getting sent to the San Diego Padres as a PTBNL for John 'The Count' Montefusco. The 1983 Columbus Clippers were managed by Johnny Oates and played future managers like Mattingly, Edwin Rodriguez, Butch Hobson, and Buck Schowalter.

Edwin Ramirez spent three seasons following the trade as the 2nd baseman of the Las Vegas Stars. In 1984, Edwin teamed up with double-play partner Ozzie Guillen. In '85, it was Randy Asador who was later traded for Mitch Williams.

The Stars were managed by Bob Cluck, a good minor league pitcher with a Career 3.06 ERA across four levels and 506 innings pitched. One year in Cluck's playing days, 1972, he was managed by an all-glove, no-hit, Cuban middle-infielder turned minor league manager, named Tony Pacheco.

If anyone wants to write what is probably as exciting book about a real life minor league baseball team, those mid-80's Las Vegas Stars teams also had John Kruk and Benito Santiago to keep things interesting.

Edwin Ramirez's last season as a player was 1987, and he was managed by Charlie Manuel. I'd love to put him right along with Ron Gardenhire and Ron Washington under Charlie Manuel in the Ned Hanlon Managerial Tree. As we shared in this boring post, one of the branches of the Ned Hanlon tree was:


It takes a second look to realize that the seasons he played for Bob Cluck on the Padres Triple-A team in Las Vegas, the Padres themselves were playing for aforementioned Hall of Fame manager Dick Williams. Edwin played sparingly for the big league club in '83 and '85, and he was probably at Spring Training under Williams each season. Dick Williams played for, among others, Walter Alston.

*~*~*~*

Kirk Gibson immortalized his legend with unbelievable and unforgettable heroics in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series. That was his first season in Tinseltown, after ten years in the Tigers organization. His apprentice references are certainly impressive, with glowing recommendations come from Jim Leyland, Sparky Anderson, and Tommy Lasorda.

*~*~*~*

You'd be smiling, too.

Mike Quade enters the season with a .649 Career Major League Winning Percentage. He has only managed 37 Major League games, so it is an incredibly small sample size and means about nothing. It is still remarkable to consider that only five people have managed more than 37 games with a higher winning percentage, and they all last managed over 120 years ago:

1874: Dick Higham, 40 games, .725 W%
1879: George Wright, 85 games, .702 W%
1876: Mase Graffen, 56 games, .696 W%
1890: Count Campau, 42 games, .659 W%
1871-75: Dick McBride, 252 games, .654 Win%
2010: Mike Quade, 37 games, .649 Win%

Quade is a tough guy to argue for. His resume pales in comparison to Gibson's when the only luminary instructor that stands out from his past is Johnny Lipon. At least that places Mike Quade on the Ned Hanlon tree through a different branch than legendary, John McGraw's.


*~*~*~*

Moving on to the true rookie managers...

John Farrell looks like he's enjoying himself...

John Farrell was never groomed by a Hall of Fame manager to one day play the same role; his lineage doesn't jump out at you like Kirk Gibson's. When I decided to focus on his relationship with Terry Francona, since Farrell was his pitching coach the last few years, I looked closer at the 1988 Indians, when John and the man they call Tito were teammates. The manager of that squad was Doc Edwards. He was in his second season as a Major League manager, although he'd managed 13 years in the minors before.

John Farrell has never managed at any level of professional baseball, but it doesn't really look that hard. Does it?

Howard Rodney "Doc" Edwards was born in Red Jacket, West Virginia in 1936. He got his chance in the big leagues as a 25-year old Indian, then played for the Kansas City A's during Eddie Lopat's brief shot as manager. Lopat was a starting pitcher for the Yankees for eight seasons, including when they won five straight World Series from 1949 to 1953. Those eight seasons were the first of Casey Stengel's managerial career.

So, in this way, John Farrell is also on the legendary Ned Hanlon branch as so:

How much of Billy Martin's personality stayed with Donnie?

*~*~*~*

Don Mattingly, of course, is in the Yankee lineage of Ned Hanlon that we shared in our post from January. Mattingly, like Farrell, hasn't managed at any level.

*~*~*~*

Ron Roenicke is the new manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, and he was a pretty good player in the '80s. It wasn't really appreciated back then, but he retired with a .353 career OBP. His career minor league numbers were very impressive.

He played for Tommy Lasorda at the beginning of his Major League career and Pete Rose at the end.

As with Dick Williams, playing for Lasorda puts you into the Walter Alston tree in a snap:

Ron Roenicke seems like a nice man.

Lasorda's tree has so many more names, like Davey Lopes, Bill Russell, Dusty Baker, the aforementioned Johnny Oates. and more.

Just for fun, I tried to quickly run up the managerial ladder to see which of the Big Five (Ned Hanlon, Walter Alston, Connie Mack, Cap Anson, and Harry Wright) I could connect him with if I used Pete Rose.

The reason it may be fun, if you like baseball enough to get this far in this post, is because it's a lot like playing the Kevin Bacon game, where you connect actors by costars in movies, but we're doing it by people with whom they were managed. Number of games is a factor in trying to gauge what kind of influence a manager has had on a player.

This one was quick, and just for fun, but here's how we connected Ron Roenicke to Cap Anson.

*Cassani's full name was Jack Dempsey Cassani, if you want to infer anything about his personality from the inspiration for his name.

I'm going back to work for the first time since the Bali experience. I'm happy to report that while I did not see any baseball fields, a very nice Balinese friend named Parka told me that people do play baseball on Bali. Have a great day and week everyone!

A quick note before we get started. We'll likely be offline for the next couple of weeks because we'll be going on a two-week before-the-season-starts getaway to the other side of the world.

I'm not sure if they have baseball fields in Bali, but I guess we're about to find out.

LaPorta's got Power

Yesterday afternoon, I printed out the ESPN Mixed Positional Cheat Sheet so that I could look for sleepers and busts while riding the subway.

At the risk of losing some competitive advantage in fantasy leagues this year, here's what I'm thinking at the end of February.

First Basemen
Sleeper: Matt LaPorta
The prize from the C.C. Sabathia trade may be a late bloomer, but he's going to get more and more opportunities. Now, this isn't really relevant, and it may not even reflect how important LaPorta is to the Indians, but I thought it interesting enough to see that last season the Indians went 49-61 in games LaPorta played. In the 49 wins, LaPorta had 201 Plate Appearances, a .378 On Base Percentage, and .557 Slugging. In the 61 losses, LaPorta stepped up to the plate 224 times, accruing an anemic .241 OBP and .193 SLG.
Other sleepers: Kila Ka'aihue and Ike Davis

Bust: Ryan Howard, Phillies
There is a good chance that taking Ryan Howard will help your team win a title this year. He always hits lots of homers and should drive in plenty of RBI's. The issue is that he is an overrated, one-sided player, who struggles versus lefties.  Giving him the benefit of the doubt, he improved against southpaws in 2010, but for his career his triple slash line versus lefties is a paltry .232/.314/.452. (.303/.401/.636 vs righties).

Second Basemen
Sleeper: Neil Walker

Neil Walker can hit.

We got turned onto Walker's game late last season, much after his debut. At first, we thought he was just another replacement, or worse, level player the Pirates called up to play out the string of games in their 18th consecutive losing season.

Upon further review, Neil Walker looks like a real player. He produced a 118 OPS+ last year, which is very good for a rookie, a second baseman, or a Pirate.
Other sleepers: Bill Hall, Sean Rodriguez, and Tsuyoshi Nishioka

Bust: Brian Roberts
Okay, so maybe Brian Roberts has been a bust the last couple of years because of injuries and possible deterioration from steroid use. The reason he made this list is because I feel that roto players are still hoping for a bounceback season. Maybe it'll come, but I'd be wary that the steroid use was real and the back and neck injurie Roberts seems to battle aren't going anywhere.

Should we go on a longer limb with our bust caution? I also thought about Chase Utley. He has battled injuries the last couple of years, but still performed very well whenever possible. It could help that Ryne Sandberg is now coaching the Phillies triple-A squad and giving Utley pointers on how to excel at the keystone position in his mid 30's. Still, father time is undefeated and one of these years, Chase Utley's production is going to plummet. When that happens, I'd much rather own the next Neil Walker.

Third Basemen
Sleeper: Scott Rolen

We gave up on Rolen a few years too soon.

I'm probably a year late here, as Rolen went undrafted in most leagues but performed at near All-Star levels. He made our list because he's going undrafted again, and I don't see why he can't, like Jake Taylor in Major League, have one more good year in the sun. He's in a wonderful hitter's park, has a manager who embraces veterans, and is a fantastic athlete and walking, talking Hall of Famer.

Bust: Michael Young
First of all, we do not know how a player who's played the infield for 10 years will perform when asked to essentially pinch hit four or five times a game. The transition to DH can be daunting for a lumbering outfielder, let alone a player who has played 2nd, 3rd, and short. Young carries an additional risk of being traded. He has requested a trade, and we do not know if that will be good or bad for his future playing time. It is conceivable to see him get sent somewhere to play 4 or 5 games per week, which won't help many fantasy owners.

Shortstops
Sleeper: J.J. Hardy
Hardy is always the SS I think should get more love from fantasy owner, and although he never really proves me right, I still think he has a career year hidden somewhere in his bat. No, I don't think we'll get mid-90's Garciaparra numbers, but he could produce decent ratios with 80+ runs/rbi's and 20+ HR's. He's on the Orioles now, and they have what looks to be a halfway decent lineup.

Bust: Derek Jeter
Okay, okay, I hear you. It's too easy to dump on the man after his worst season in baseball, when he's on the wrong side of 35. I'm not enojying this, Yankee fans, but the point remains that Jeter is widely considered the 4th best Shortstop, when he could very well finish ranked somewhere in the 8 to 12 range. At least, if he's healthy, he'll probably score more Runs than anyone other than Hanley and Tulo, due to the lineup he's in. If Elvis Andrus leads off or if J-Ro stays healthy in Philly, they would probably score more than the Captain, too.

Catchers

Salty is ready for his career to take off.

Sleeper: Jarrod Saltalamacchia
The catcher position is chock full of sleepers. In fact, I wanted to write this as a tie between Salty and the Yankees' Russell Martin. If you really find yourself in a pickle on draft day and need to go deep for the catcher position, why not gamble on these former stud prospects who happen to hit in two of the most revered lineups in Baseball? Unless you play in a 2 catcher format, pickings will probably not be so slim at the end of your draft. In that case, I'd rank another handful of sleeper catchers as: Matt Wieters, Mike Napoli, Chris Iannetta, and J.P. Arencibia. I'm about 90% sure that Iannetta will not be picked in the Top 11 catchers, and he's underrated.

Note: if you see any mention of the Yankees adding Jesus Montero to their 25-man big league roster, see if you can pick him up. If you're in a keeper league, drop whatever you're doing and go get him.

Bust: Joe Mauer
Haters, don't hate. We love Joe Mauer. As the dude would say, we're using the royal we, the editorial we. Let me rephrase, we love Joe Mauer's game. The way he plays and carries himself. We love Joe Mauer and are beside ourselves when thinking about that beautiful swing. We've had Joe Mauer in our keeper league for over three years. Hopefully, he'll have another MVP season, and he really could. I expect him to be an All-Star again, but since he is the #1 catcher, he has the furthest to fall if he busts out. He would be the biggest bust if he did bust, and I don't see why he's any less of an injury risk than Victor Martinez, Brian McCann, or Buster Posey. After that, you get to Carlos Santana, Geovany Soto, and Miguel Montero before the Napoli, Wieters, Posada, Kurt Suzuki, and Carlos Ruiz groups.

Designated Hitter

Adam Lind's luck is gonna change!

Sleeper: Adam Lind
Bust: everyone else
This isn't a position on a normal fantasy team. These are the guys who do not qualify for any position because they play DH in real life. Fantasy players who have someone like Lind, Big Papi, Jim Thome, or Travis Hafner on their team must play them at the Util position, drastically impairing lineup flexibility. The funny thing is, Adam Lind wound up being an enormous bust last year. I expect that less than 4% of teams with Adam Lind won their league championships. He was dreadful, and that was when he still qualified for the Outfield in fantasy. I think he's going to bounce back closer to 2009 levels, plus he's going to spend some time playing 1st base, which means he'll earn eligibility there after a few weeks.

Outfield
Sleeper: Jason Heyward
The question of positional scarcity and depth is extremely vague when talking about Outfielders. I mean, how deep do we have to go to talk about sleepers? Heyward, of course, is not a sleeper in the traditional sense of the word. He was a rookie All Star last season. We showed how his BB% was the 4th highest of anyone who's played over the last 25 years, and that was his rookie season. In addition, we're finding out this spring that he basically played injured all year, last year. Jason Heyward had an all time great rookie year, but I feel as though he's being terribly underrated by the masses. ESPN has him ranked as the 14th best outfielder, but if he played last year with lower leg injuries and a bad thumb, and can stay healthy this year, he'll likely finish in the top 3.

Not your idea of what a sleeper means? That's okay. I like Dexter Fowler, Manny Ramirez, and Logan Morrison, in that order. How about Alex Gordon? This will could be the year Alex Gordon breaks out.

Dexter Fowler is like: "I'm ready!"

There's a plethora of prospects and guys who could blossom if given enough playing time. It's tough to guess which of these guys will get regular at bats, but these are the one's we'll be keeping tabs on: Brandon Allen, Chris Carter, and Kyle Blanks.

If you're in an OBP league, how about Kosuke Fukudome? Career .368 OBP is not too bad.

Long-term keeper leagues will want to look at guys like Bryce Harper, Mike Trout, Jason Repko, and Ben Revere.

Bust: Josh Hamilton
Say no to drugs, people. Josh Hamilton is The Natural. Hyperbole aside, he is an amazing talent. Last season, he hit .359 with 32 Home Runs. He turns 30 on May 21st, but years of using and abusing drugs like cocaine, alcohol, crystal meth take a toll. Hamilton is more 30, going on 36.

It's getting pretty late, and I have got to get going to the airport. We'll look at pitchers after coming back from Bali. So, we'll probably be disconnected for a couple of weeks, although we may see a tweet, or a few, from various airports around the globe.

Earlier this evening, I read about Miguel Cabrera's apology from Tribune New Services. It sparked me to comment right away that I hope Cabrera cleans himself up and resumes his Hall of Fame career. As a courtesy to you, faithful readers, here's the crux of the HOF 'gument.

He's still only 27 years old, and Baseball-Reference's similar batters through Age 27 are:

Miguel Cabrera keeps Rare Company

Frank Robinson (930) *
Hank Aaron (928) *
Ken Griffey (922)
Hal Trosky (891)
Mickey Mantle (884) *
Albert Pujols (883)
Orlando Cepeda (879) *
Al Kaline (870) *
Andruw Jones (862)
Joe Medwick (861) *

(*) signifies Hall of Famer

Figuring that Ken Griffey, Jr and Albert Pujols will be Hall of Famers, that makes eight out of ten. Andruw Jones has a chance to make it in, and Hal Trosky was a great young player who was basically finished when he was 28.

I've been a big Miguel Cabrera fan since his amazing debut as a 20-year old. Looking at the names in the list above also doesn't just shout "Hall of Fame", these are Small Hall guys. Henry Aaron, Mickey Mantle, Griffey Jr, Pujols, Kaline: All Time Heroes.

Keep your nose clean, MiggyCab. When you and the Tigers head back to Motown, maybe you can ask Eminem for some advice.