jim’s posterous

"You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline - it helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer."

-Frank Zappa

This brewery is doing a tasting in Waxahachie this weekend. With a quote on the front page of their site like that, can't be bad stuff.

Join the Fail Whale Madness Group to win awesome prizes and bragging rights with your loser friends.

I'll post prizes this weekend, gotta see what Walmart gots for cheap.

1. Jason Heyward, OF, Braves
Heyward is the best-hitting prospect in baseball, in both the short term (for 2010) and the long term. He has been a favorite of Braves manager Bobby Cox since last year's spring training, and he's in line to open the season as the Braves' starting right fielder, as long as the Braves don't try to get manipulative with his service time and send him down for a couple of weeks.

Heyward's bat speed is ridiculous, he walked as many times as he struck out last year, and Double-A pitchers were no match for him in 2009 even though he was only 19. He reported to camp this year with an extra 15 pounds of muscle, and stories have already been written about him denting cars in batting practice. Longtime scouts compare him to Darryl Strawberry as a player, yet he's the polar opposite of Strawberry in terms of personality, humility and work ethic. One negative is that heel, hip, oblique and hamstring injuries were problems at various points last season, so he does need to show he can remain in the lineup consistently.

Heyward profiles as a player who will eventually approach .300 with 30 homers and double-digit steals every year, but what will he do in 2010? ESPN.com's Keith Law has projected a career path similar to Justin Upton's, in which Heyward will hold his own his first year in the bigs (Upton slugged .463 as a 20-year-old rookie) before breaking out in his second. I wouldn't disagree with that, and even while "holding his own," he still could win the NL Rookie of the Year award.

2. Stephen Strasburg, SP, Nationals
Will he start the 2010 season in the majors? That's the big question. There's no doubt he's one of the Nats' five best starting pitchers right now, but is there a reason to push him when he could instead get his feet wet in the minors? Last fall, the word was that Strasburg would start the season in the minors no matter how well he pitched in the spring. Then, at the end of January, Nats GM Mike Rizzo said Strasburg would make the club if he had a great spring. In the first week of March, manager Jim Riggleman hinted that the first overall pick would be in the minors regardless of how well he did, then backtracked a little and didn't rule out his starting the year in the majors. Rizzo then intimated basically the same thing. What are fantasy owners to believe?

Strasburg's stuff is big-league-ready and will help him overcome the occasional command and control issues that are likely to crop up when he faces major league hitters for the first time. For all the hype about his fastball and breaking ball, one of the more intriguing things about Strasburg is that he has a "plus" changeup that was in his back pocket in college because he never needed it. That gives him three pitches in his arsenal that can make batters look foolish.

My guess is that Strasburg will do a little "affiliate tour" in 2010, starting at Class A ball, and build up a few starts before making his big league debut in early June. That's what we have based our projection for him on. Treat anything else as a bonus. It's possible that Strasburg could be a top-50 fantasy starter, even if he doesn't open the season in the big leagues. After all, Tommy Hanson was a top-30 starter last year despite missing the first two months. Either way, Strasburg should be successful almost immediately thanks to his superior stuff.

32. Lance Lynn, SP, Cardinals
The fifth spot in the Cardinals' rotation is up for grabs, and even if Lynn doesn't win it during spring training, he might get it at some point this season. A supplemental first-rounder in the 2008 draft, Lynn has cruised through the minors thanks to his good sinker and command of his secondary stuff, finishing with a 2.92 ERA in 22 Double-A starts last year. He doesn't really have an "out pitch," but can hit his spots and keep his mistakes in the ballpark, giving him a chance to have some sneaky value if he gets an opportunity.

Braves have top prospect, that's pretty cool. I'm really interested to see what Strasburg can do; hopefully he's not the next Mark Prior.

All the way down at #32, former Ole Miss SP Lance Lynn. Hopefully Lance catches on in the majors this year and gets some starts with Cardinals.

Another former Ole Miss starter, Matt Maloney, is down at #73.

Cool.

Thank you Underworld for the amazing wake up call, nothing like a little Juanita/Kiteless to get the blood flowing.

I own this DVD and this is just an amazing show.