Fantasy baseball notes from the FPF

Kudos to the boys at Baseball HQ. They did a fine job organizing the annual First Pitch Forums event in Phoenix. It was educational, it was beneficial, it was social. If you're a hardcore fantasy baseball player and have never been, you might be missing out on something here.

KFFL fantasy guru William Del Pilar and I really enjoyed the trip. The affair featured many of fantasy baseball's top minds, along with a few scouts or folks with scouting experience. Many thanks to BBHQ head Ron Shandler for the hospitality he demonstrated.

The backdrop of the get-together is the Arizona Fall League. Some of baseball's better prospects (mostly position players, with emphasis on their work at the dish) gather here to get in some extra work for various reasons. It's not all top prospects, mind you, but some big names take this stage.

Some of the kids with whom you might be familiar include:

• Baltimore Orioles catcher Matt Wieters
• Milwaukee Brewers third baseman Mat Gamel
• Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Travis Snider

The AFL featured a few big leaguers, too. Off the top: Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Clay Buchholz, New York Yankees starter Phil Hughes, Arizona Diamondbacks hurler Max Scherzer and San Francisco Giants infielder Kevin Frandsen.

A few notes and observations from play in the AFL this past weekend:

• More than a couple of evaluators remarked that Texas Rangers first baseman Justin Smoak was easily the best hitter they had seen in the AFL thus far. Note: Exciting hitter plus Rangers Ballpark in Arlington equals attention from all of us.
• Florida Marlins first baseman Logan Morrison was earning plenty of praise himself. Although he has yet to play above high Class A, look for him to get a shot this spring now that the Fish have traded Mike Jacobs to the Kansas City Royals.
• Defense is not the name of the game. We witnessed eight errors in the first game we attended, between the Scottsdale Scorpions and Surprise Rafters - and we left after 6 1/2 innings. We surmised that it might have had something to do with the wickedly bright lights at Surprise Stadium.
• Wieters doesn't take charge when he wears a mitt, and his arm leaves a lot to be desired. He looks like a future designated hitter (maybe first baseman?) if he doesn't make vast strides behind the plate.
  Wieters is impressive and imposing with a bat in his hands, though. In one at-bat, he demonstrated his ability to go with the pitch, slicing a double down the left-field line from the left side. He's probably considered the top prospect entering 2009.
• Cleveland Indians third baseman (it doesn't seem right to put such a label in front of his name) Wes Hodges is worse - far worse - with a mitt than Wieters. At the last second, he actually called off Wieters on a pop-up in foul territory, only to come up empty when he flopped for it, face first.
  Later in that same contest, though, he cranked a home run that - I'm fairly certain - landed in the Grand Canyon. I heard several pops and a splash, so I'll just assume that's what it was.
• Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Ivan De Jesus makes the difficult play look easy and the routine play look anything but.
• Colorado Rockies outfielder Eric Young Jr. has a little pop in addition to his aggressive approach and speed on the basepaths. Patience is a virtue he's looking to acquire, though. One of the panelists noted that he swung at the first pitch in all five of his at-bats in one game and then avoided such leadoff heresy in the next.
• Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Shelby Ford didn't earn much praise, but he has the makings of a solid leadoff hitter. He seemed to play within himself and demonstrated a solid stroke from both sides of the plate. With eight walks and only five strikeouts in 68 at-bats, he's obviously fairly disciplined. He left the game Friday after he was plunked on the hand.
• Baltimore Orioles hurler Chad Thall isn't likely someone you'll ever hear about again, but boy, was he nasty for two innings. He struck out the first four hitters he faced with relative ease. It appears as if control and consistency are huge hurdles for him.

Other names to keep an eye on in the next year or so:

• Atlanta Braves catcher Tyler Flowers
• St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Brett Wallace
• Philadelphia Phillies infielder Jason Donald
• Atlanta Braves pitcher Tommy Hanson
• Baltimore Orioles hurler Brian Matusz

In general, the play in the field was bad. A few more errors in the couple of other contests we watched were evidence that stadium lighting wasn't solely at fault.

The World Series is over, but baseball season isn't far from gearing up for 2009. By the way, how 'bout those Philadelphia Phillies? I don't know if you heard, but, according to Chase Utley, they're "world [expletive deleted] champions." I suggest that you YouTube that one.

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insightful info. eye out for follow-ups on players mentioned.

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