Baseball America - Arizona Fall League: Top 20 Prospects

More AFL top prospects

ESPN.com - MLB - Down on the Farm: Desert gems

Top prospects from the Arizona Fall League

Yahoo! Sports - MLB - Baseball owners delay vote on Expos' move

Another delay - not suprising.

Yahoo! Sports - MLB - Baseball owners set to approve Expos sale

The proposed move of the Montreal Expos to Washington is set to be approved when baseball owners meet Thursday in Chicago.

Originally, owners also were to vote on the $223 million sale of the Milwaukee Brewers from the family of commissioner Bud Selig to Mark Attanasio. But the commissioner's office has not finished processing the transaction, making it likely approval will be delayed for several weeks.


Also, the Washington franchise is expected to announce their team name on Monday around noon. I'm hoping it's the Greys but I think they'll go with the Nationals. One thing is certain, they are off to a terrible start with the Guzman and Castilla signings.

Yahoo! Sports - MLB - Yankees slugger says he was target of extortion plot

New York Yankees star Gary Sheffield and his wife were the targets of a blackmailer who claimed to have embarrassing sexual videotapes of her and a musician, the slugger said Tuesday.

``I will not be blackmailed. I will not have my family dragged through the mud and filth,'' Sheffield said in a statement read by his Chicago-based business agent, Rufus Williams.

Kerry's Calculus: DeMacio & The Draft: Part IV - the latest in a great series chronicling the futility of the Orioles' past drafts.

BaseballNotebook.com - The Real Minor League Leaders Part 2: Translated stats for minor league pitchers.

The 2004 Scouting Report by the Fans for the Fans. This is year two of a project by Tangotiger to gauge the interpretation of a player's skill by the "common" fan. Check it out.

D.C. Baseball's White Elephant Is Running Wild (washingtonpost.com):

"Williams has peddled the stadium deal under a false pretense. Baseball will be a great spiritual and recreational addition but not a financial one. If you really want to define the mayor through baseball, look at his reaction when the Cato Institute published a briefing paper on the fallacy that stadiums bring big economic benefits to cities. 'I can't imagine why, with all the things happening in the world, the Cato Institute would take the time to analyze the impact of baseball in Washington, D.C.,' Williams said.
The answer is that the Cato Institute is a think tank with a serious interest in efficient municipal policy, and its scholars live and work and pay taxes in the District. The mayor's irritated dismissal of independent academic research was a truly defining moment. 'What struck me is, you've spent the last three years trying to get baseball here, with all the things wrong with the city, so where do you get off saying we shouldn't do one study?' Boaz said. 'He's clearly spent a larger percentage of his time on this than anything else.' "

BaseballNotebook.com - The Real Minor League Leaders Part 1

Translated minor league stats from David Luciani. See who's likely to make a splash in the majors in the future.

Baseball America provides an extensive list of the Free Agents and their classifications:

Below is the complete list of Type A, B and C free agents. An asterisk indicates that the player hasn't formally become a free agent yet (usually because there's a option involved that hasn't been resolved).

For a Type A player, the compensation is the signing team's first-round pick plus a supplemental first-rounder. For a Type B, it's the signing team's first-round choice. For a Type C, it's a supplemental second-rounder. However, if the signing team picks in the upper half of the first round, that choice is protected and it loses its second-round selection instead. Also, Type C players who have been free agents in the past don't yield any compensation.

Type A
Moises Alou (ChC), Wilson Alvarez (LA), Tony Batista (Mon), Carlos Beltran (Hou), Adrian Beltre (LA), Armando Benitez (Fla), Jeromy Burnitz (Col), Orlando Cabrera (Bos), Miguel Cairo (NYY), Vinny Castilla (Col), Royce Clayton (Col), *Roger Clemens (Hou), Rheal Cormier (Phi), Carlos Delgado (Tor), J.D. Drew (Atl), Cal Eldred (StL), Steve Finley (LA), Nomar Garciaparra (ChC), Mark Grudzielanek (ChC), Chris Hammond (Oak), Dustin Hermanson (SF), Richard Hidalgo (NYM), Jeff Kent (Hou), Steve Kline (StL), Corey Koskie (Min), *Al Leiter (NYM), Esteban Loaiza (NYY), Derek Lowe (Bos), Matt Mantei (Ari), Edgar Martinez (Sea), Pedro Martinez (Bos), Mike Matheny (StL), Kent Mercker (ChC), Dan Miceli (Hou), Damian Miller (Oak), Kevin Millwood (Phi), Matt Morris (StL), Jeff Nelson (Tex), Magglio Ordonez (CWS), Russ Ortiz (Atl), Carl Pavano (Fla), Troy Percival (Ana), Odalis Perez (LA), Placido Polanco (Phi), Brad Radke (Min), Joe Randa (KC), Edgar Renteria (StL), Richie Sexson (Ari), Paul Shuey (LA), Jason Varitek (Bos), Omar Vizquel (Cle), David Wells (SD), Woody Williams (StL), Scott Williamson (Bos), Jaret Wright (Atl).

Type B
Terry Adams (Bos), Antonio Alfonseca (Atl), Roberto Alomar (CWS), Rich Aurilia (SD), Danny Bautista (Ari), Dave Burba (SF), Chris Carpenter (StL), Matt Clement (ChC), Craig Counsell (Mil), Deivi Cruz (SF), *Mike DeJean (NYM), Elmer Dessens (LA), Brook Fordyce (TB), Chad Fox (Fla), Alex Gonzalez (SD), Juan Gonzalez (KC), Cristian Guzman (Min), Jose Hernandez (LA), Orlando Hernandez (NYY), Todd Jones (Phi), Barry Larkin (Cin), Curtis Leskanic (Bos), Cory Lidle (Phi), Jon Lieber (NYY), Jose Lima (LA), Tino Martinez (TB), Brent Mayne (LA), *Jose Mesa (Phi), Doug Mirabelli (Bos), Greg Myers (Tor), Hideo Nomo (LA), John Olerud (NYY), Antonio Osuna (SD), Todd Pratt (Phi), Steve Reed (Col), *B.J. Surhoff (Bal), Jose Valentin (CWS), Robin Ventura (LA), Ron Villone (Sea), Todd Walker (ChC), Gabe White (Cin), Dan Wilson (Sea), Paul Wilson (Cin), Esteban Yan (Det), Eric Young (Tex), Gregg Zaun (Tor).

Type C
Sandy Alomar Jr. (CWS), Carlos Baerga (Ari), Kris Benson (NYM), Henry Blanco (Min), Ricky Bottalico (NYM), Jermaine Dye (Oak), Shawn Estes (Col), Julio Franco (Atl), Troy Glaus (Ana), Todd Greene (Col), Ben Grieve (ChC), John Halama (TB), Roberto Hernandez (Phi), *Todd Hollandsworth (ChC), Travis Lee (NYY), Al Levine (Det), *John Mabry (StL), Ramon Martinez (ChC), Jim Mecir (Oak), Eric Milton (Phi), Mike Redmond (Fla), Desi Relaford (KC), Rudy Seanez (Fla), Aaron Sele (Ana), Ismael Valdez (Fla), Todd Van Poppel (Cin), Bob Wickman (CWS), Tony Womack (StL).