Notes in a Minor Key: Recent Minor Moves: NL Central

Cubs:

Demoted C/1B/OF Jake Fox and P Mark Holliman from Iowa to Tennessee. Fox was squeezed out of playing time when Micah Hoffpauir was activated from the DL by the ICubs. Holliman was part of a mass shuffle that occurred when Rich Hill was sent down; he’s a finesse guy who…

Hall of Merit: Ranking the Hall of Merit First Basemen - Discussion

These are the Hall of Merit first basemen to be voted on (in alphabetical order):

Dick Allen
Cap Anson
Ernie Banks (just kidding, but if Deacon White allegedly is a third baseman… :-)
Jake Beckley
Dan Brouthers
Will Clark
Roger Connor
Jimmie Foxx
Lou Gehrig
Hank Greenberg
Keith Hernandez
Harmon Killebrew…

Hall of Merit: Election Results: HoM Voters Think Gibson, Bench, Berra and Carter are the Finest Among Backstops!

By unanimous decision, legendary Negro League slugger Josh Gibson was picked as the best catcher of all-time.

With strong support backing him, Cincinnatti Reds great Johnny Bench earned 94% of all possible points.

Close to Bench was New York Yankees star Yogi Berra with his impressive 90%.

Expos and Mets fan…

Notes in a Minor Key: Recent Minor Moves: NL East

Atlanta:

Demoted INF JC Holt from Richmond to Mississippi. Holt, a 2004 3rd rounder out of LSU, started the season in AAA, but hit just .215/.333/.228 in 26 games for the RBraves, and became expendable when Brent Lillbridge was returned to the minors.

Promoted P Tommy Hanson from Myrtle Beach to…

Sox Therapy: Minor League Thread: Josh Reddick vs. Lars Anderson

There seems to be a pretty wide consensus that Lars Anderson is a better prospect than Josh Reddick, but I wonder if it’s time for that to change. Prior to the season, Sickels had Lars as #4 in the Sox system, with a B+, and Reddick as #10, with a B-.…

Sox Therapy: Coco off to a monster start!

That headline may sound like a bit of an exaggeration. His gaudy .315 average masks a pretty mediocre .722 OPS (96 OPS+). But as I documented last year around this time, Coco has always been a slow starter. Consider these OPS:

Mar/April 2004: .211 .262 .316
Mar/April 2005: .253 .302 .354…

Sox Therapy: Farnsworth’s Suspension for Throwing Behind Manny’s Head Reduced from 3 Games to 0*

In a ridiculous decision today, an arbitrator reduced Kyle Farnsworth’s suspension from 3 games to 1 game. This was an idiotic decision on a number of levels:

First off, anyone who pays attention to baseball knows that a 1-game suspension will have almost no effect on a middle reliever. Having a…

Transaction Oracle: Blue Jays - Signed Wilkeron, Acquired Mench

Jays leftfielders have combined for 224/303/299, DHs for 197/295/314. Bonds could be a serial killer and still not be as unpleasant a situation for the Jays, whose GM's strategy for building the offense was to hide…

Transaction Oracle: Padres - Released Edmonds

Edmonds was an important part of the Padres offense. An important part of why the Padres been almost as bad offensively as the Giants, that is. Edmonds has had a great career (and would be a Hall of Famer…

Notes in a Minor Key: Recent Minor Moves: AL West

LA Angels of Anaheim:

Promoted OF Drew Toussaint from Rancho Cucamonga to Arkansas. Toussaint finally gets a shot at AA after spending two-plus season with the Quakes. He’s been around since 2004, and his debut season in the Pioneer League is still his best; he simply doesn’t make enough contact.

Placed…