My impression last year was that the A's were down on him, and would give Daric Barton a good shot at the job. I do think Barton is more of a threat to more of Johnson's potential starts than is Sweeney.

Yep, although the prior two years (Derrek Lee in 2005, Chris Carpenter last year...Patton & Co was doing N.L. only at that point), the injuries didn't take place until after the season had started, and we would have been screwed in a more customary format.

Also snuck in for $1 in Sportsline. He's been going to tryout after tryout, reportedly throwing the same down-the-middle fastball he was throwing last year, minus about 5-7 MPH velocity. He might be toast.

Snuck in for $1 in the Sportsline expert auction. Conventional wisdom is that Lee's 2005 was a fluke, but it wasn't that long ago and it was not that far away. He's got the big contract, so the other chunk of conventional wisdom is that he should have the inside track in Cleveland. Aaron Laffey got the bigger endorsement, going for a hefty $3, while Jeremy Sowers was taken on reserve.

Chuck Lofgren is the Seabiscuit in this race.

that would stink - I guess that's one of the negatives of drafting early. Vlad at $36 is a significant portion of your salary - I'd suspect if something serious happened to him in the spring - your season would be over early.

He might be my next pick in the never-ending Sportsline reserve draft.

He probably won't even be thrown back in leagues with carryover farm systems.

The Patton & Company team has been in the Sportsline league since 2004. In the past two years, our first round pick (this is the first year for the auction format) has gotten hurt and missed significant chunks of time. Hopefully, we didn't put the whammy on Vlad by paying him $36.

From the McGee thread:

Actually, Wade Davis, the right hander in the triumverate is probably the most major league ready among the three, having already thrown 80 innings at AA with a 3.15 ERA, 81 Ks, 74 Hits, 30 BB, and only 3 HR against.

He only gave up 8 HR in 158.3 IP last year with 169 Ks and 51 BB. He's also a year older than McGee and Price, yet still very young.

As per Mike's request in the Andrew thread, here's Adam. Buried as he was in the database, injury risk that he manifestly is, he remains so highly thought of by scouts that he goes into the software as an R1: he will not make it through the first round of your reserve draft.

Ouch - hopefully this gets better as the spring goes on!!!

Vladimir Guerrero said his elbow is still causing him problems 4 1/2 months after he was limited to DH duties in the postseason.

Guerrero said in early December that he was nearly fully recovered from what was being called triceps tendinitis. However, it seems to no longer be the case. Even though it continues to bother him, Guerrero said he doesn't want to be a part-time DH this year. "No, no," Guerrero said. "I’m a right fielder

Gio Gonzalez went for $1 in Sportsline. He's now with the A's after being shipped from the White Sox to the Phillies back to the White Sox and then to the A's.

And if Price gets off to a fast start, he'll be an R1 in the Rays eyes in a hurry.

I wouldn't use a farm pick, but that's probably because I have bad memories of Ben McDonald.

I don't remember Joe Price, even though I was playing N.L. Roto in 1987 and 1988. But I was also in a shallow Stage One league where everyone bought starting pitchers, closers, and washed up pitchers in other roles. I'm sure I would have known who Joe Price was in 1987 if I knew then what I know now.

Adam Miller's another prospect who'll need a profile. John Sickels dropped him all the way to a B grade on his blog, saying that he'd give Miller "an A- or B+ if healthy, but I don't trust his elbow."

Unlike Wade Davis, David Price -- still waiting to make his pro debut -- isn't in the database. He's in the software as an R5.

I just unearthed Wade Davis from the hidden realms of the database. To speed up the searches, we do not show all of the minor leaguers who played last year, but if they played above Rookie ball, we have them.

Wade sure looks like the quintessential R2; i.e., more than likely will pitch in the majors this season and might even hold his own.

Baseball America calls him "the best bullpen arm you've never heard of," and it's true, I haven't.

How come?

He's going in the software as an R2.

Actually, Wade Davis, the right hander in the triumverate is probably the most major league ready among the three, having already thrown 80 innings at AA with a 3.15 ERA, 81 Ks, 74 Hits, 30 BB, and only 3 HR against.

He only gave up 8 HR in 158.3 IP last year with 169 Ks and 51 BB. He's also a year older than McGee and Price, yet still very young.

We'll eventually need a profile for David Price.

Sure, you could whittle things down to OPS+ time plate appearances and ERA+ times Innings Pitched, but then what type of game would it be anyway?

McGee is probably developmentally better than Price, just because he's already faced wooden bats, but given that the Rays have 3 of the top 10 minor league pitching prospects, they look like they are set up for great things in 2009/10 except TINSTAAPP.