Comments on: Keith Law’s Top 100 prospects list is out

By: brainofj01

brainofj01 — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 15:17:23 +0000

Oh, and just so you know, Mark Hulet of fangraphs.com rated Syndergaard behind Sanchez BEFORE he was traded. Why do you hate Law so much? Do your research before you bash someone please.

By: brainofj01

brainofj01 — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 15:14:43 +0000

There are plenty of people that aren’t very high on Syndergaard, if you’d actually look for prospect analysis, instead of going by what YOU think, or claiming a particular author has bias, based on one not very well done piece.

Via Mark Hulet, of fangraphs here:

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/syndergaard-brings-big-heat-to-new-york-mets/

“his secondary pitches are still raw and currently project as average offerings, which tempers projections for his overall ceiling. I spoke with a talent evaluator for my recent Jays Top 15 prospect list and he said this of Syndergaard’s stuff: “The curveball has come a long, long way… it is, at times, average,””

By: paperlions

paperlions — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 00:55:50 +0000

What consensus? The guy that does rankings for MLB doesn’t do a particularly good job, his rankings are always based on hype. Who really thinks Syndgaard is an elite talent who opinion is based on more information that Law’s? I am not saying he is right, but every write up of Syndgaard says the secondary stuff is NOT there. Being in the top 100 means that, on average, a guy is a top 3 organizational prospect….that is no insult for a guy that has yet to reach A+ ball and that has no secondary pitch that rates as even a show me pitch, much less an average one.

By: thebadguyswon

thebadguyswon — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 00:11:48 +0000

Keith Law’s opinion of Syndergaard is not congruent with the consensus opinion. Someone’s wrong. My guess is Law.

By: paperlions

paperlions — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 23:27:14 +0000

Actually, Law gives his reason for his ranking. Syndergaard has never been able to develop even an average breaking ball, and the stuff he has (FB/CH) right now isn’t good enough to be elite against MLB hitters if he doesn’t even have a show me breaking ball. Typically, breaking balls are either in the wrist or they are not, if Syndergaard can’t throw one….he probably doesn’t belong in the top 40 considering his current distance from the majors and ceiling.

….but then, that is always a person’s choice, isn’t it? You can objectively evaluate all presented information/opinion in order to decide what you think, or you can reject information that isn’t consistent with what you want to be true and fish around for opinions that are more similar to your hopes and dreams, truth be damned.

By: Ben

Ben — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 22:21:44 +0000

Keep raging against the dying of the light, my friend. I respect you for it.

By: thebadguyswon

thebadguyswon — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 22:15:12 +0000

I’ve got plenty of toilet paper. I don’t need Keith Law telling me Noah Syndergaard ranks #93 overall, when two other prospect mavens have him in their top 40. Something tells me if Aaron Sanchez was the pitcher traded in the Dickey deal, Syndergaard would be in the top 30 and and Sanchez would be #93. Keith Law is a biased idiot.

By: nategearhart

nategearhart — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 22:13:51 +0000

“Stealing stuff is a shitty thing to do” should be all the “compelling” reason you need, but it sounds like you’ve convinced yourself that access to television, movies, and other forms of digital content is some sort of inalienable right. Just because a thing exists doesn’t mean you’re entitled to have it.

By: Ben

Ben — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 21:49:18 +0000

(And for that matter, what with a new generation of 500 dollar 3D printers, soon physical objects will be able to be pirated. This is one of those “get with reality” things. You can bleat about intellectual property all you want, but it’s rapidly becoming moot conceptually and practically. So offer compelling reasons to pay for them. I’ve offered some ideas above.)

By: Ben

Ben — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 21:44:56 +0000

Err, *or* we can be sanctimonious about it. Not and!

By: Ben

Ben — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 21:41:30 +0000

Derp–*or* be sanctimonious about it. Not and.

By: Ben

Ben — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 21:40:42 +0000

The fact is that digital and analog goods are not alike. I agree that it’s theft, but we’ve also moved into an era in which digital artifacts are not treated the same as analog artifacts, and never will be. So we can either accept that reality, and we can be sanctimonious about. I’d love to pay for it, but companies actually make it difficult to purchase their products. Netflix is fantastic, but why is their no TV/movie equivalent of Spotify? My 10 bucks on a month for Spotify premium is probably the best money I spend, and has radically decreased the amount of music I download.

By: nategearhart

nategearhart — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 21:29:12 +0000

“When there’s no reasonable way to obtain it legally I have no problem doing it illegally.”
Talk about entitlement. We’re not talking about food and shelter here. I can’t afford a Cadillac; I don’t get to acquire one illegally.

By: jarathen

jarathen — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 21:27:21 +0000

Yeah, well I don’t have cable, so there, ESPN.

By: Ben

Ben — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 21:21:56 +0000

Nope. When there’s no reasonable way to obtain it legally I have no problem doing it illegally. And the fact is, HBO makes more money allowing a certain rate of piracy and charging exorbitant cable fees than they would charging more reasonable a la carte pricing to a larger customer base. Which is fine, that’s how their business model works. So I’ll just play my part in it.

By: nategearhart

nategearhart — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 20:32:03 +0000

So it’s ok for YOU to steal stuff, as long as you want it bad enough. Got it.

By: churchoftheperpetuallyoutraged

churchoftheperpetuallyoutraged — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 19:15:41 +0000

Speaking more in general terms, pay attention to how each group does it’s rankings. For instance, this is one of Klaw’s guidelines:
When ranking players, I consider scouting reports on players — usually my own, supplementing with conversations with other scouts and front-office executives as needed — as well as performance, adjusted for age and context. I’ve made one adjustment in my ranking philosophy in recent years, favoring higher-upside prospects over lower-ceiling prospects who are closer to the majors. This better reflects how these players are valued now by front offices and scouting departments, and gives me a chance to deliver more information on prospects whose names or scouting reports might be new to you.

That bolded section could make some player’s rankings vary wildly over the different publications. Also, it’s one thing if you are reading BPro’s Jason Parks (nee KG) or ESPN’s Klaw where it’s one person doing the entire set of rankings, or BA/Fangraph who use a group of people to do them.

By: cur68

cur68 — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 19:05:02 +0000

Now, now boys. Lets be fair. Craig’s got an extra “to” in his first sentence. So he’s as capable of making a comment error as anyone. Lets see if he stands in solidarity with his commentary brethren and leaves it in or if he pulls a fast one and edits it. Depending on what he does, we can judge him:

Is he Blogging’s Greatest Monster (The ARod of Blogging)
or
Is he Just Another Victim of The Man

By: phillyphreak

phillyphreak — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 18:56:55 +0000

Am I the only one who doesn’t always get the Fangraphs prospect rankings? Or am I just living in a world of confirmation bias? I appreciate the work the prospect guys do there, it’s just not on the same level as the others from what I’ve read.

By: churchoftheperpetuallyoutraged

churchoftheperpetuallyoutraged — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 18:50:16 +0000

fangraphs new webdesign is godawful. It’s like they took queues from deadspin and said, “we can make a worse webpage!”

By: paperlions

paperlions — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 18:44:07 +0000

Exactly.

By: Kevin S.

Kevin S. — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 18:37:29 +0000

And Law voting the way people wanted him to wouldn’t have changed the outcome.

By: paperlions

paperlions — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 18:32:23 +0000

Everybody knows Law hates the Cardinals because of his CY vote that one year in which he ranked the best pitcher #1 and the best pitcher won….or something.

By: jwbiii

jwbiii — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 18:11:35 +0000

Have you read Fan Graphs? They’re not so easy to find unless there’s one on the front page. If not, open any post and then click on Marc Hulet in the Authors box. The Rangers are up today.

Hmm. You still have to click on Hulet to get the rest. Last year every prospect column linked to the series.

I’m happy with the comments from Sickels and Hulet and just the free lists from BA and BPro. Hulet lists 15 prospects per organization and Sickels usually lists more, so you will almost always have some comments on the players on the BA and BPro lists.

By: Ben

Ben — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 18:03:09 +0000

I should amend my statement, because it’s important–I want it in one spot. I don’t want to have to scrounge across Hulu+, Netflix, Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, every channel’s site, etc. One site. Everything. Huge fee. No ads. Sign me up now. In the meantime, torrents.

By: paperlions

paperlions — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 18:02:47 +0000

My bad, you are right, it is “minorleagueball.com” (no base in there).

By: churchoftheperpetuallyoutraged

churchoftheperpetuallyoutraged — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 17:51:06 +0000

Dear lord baby jesus, I thought 23 comments would be filled with claims of bias and other nonsense, not whether paying for content is justifiable or not.

By: Ben

Ben — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 17:48:19 +0000

Yes, but mostly because of format. I’d love to pay a huge monthly fee to have every bit of television and the movies I want to watch available online with no ads, but they often aren’t, so I pirate them. I don’t own a TV, I don’t want to own a TV, and I want to stream everything. Unfortunately, there are such huge walled gardens that piracy is the best option. Even for someone who wants to pay.

By: 18thstreet

18thstreet — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 17:47:23 +0000

You can edit your comments right up until the moment you hit “post.” I’m not saying that I never make typos, but when I do, it’s my fault.

By: ame123

ame123 — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 17:46:32 +0000

Love minorleagueball and Sickels rankings.