Prospects Plus: Your Future Game Primer

One of my favorite events is baseball is just about here. Sunday is the MLB Future game and here is a preview of the event. OTWT will be posting a notebook late Sunday night.

Happy Fourth of July.

Rocking my Landon Donovan shirt as a way of honoring the Fourth of July.

The ball is here, so the EPL season is near

NHL Draft Notebook

Here are some thoughts on the recently completed NHL Draft.

1. The Devils know how to make an impact when they are hosting. Wow never say that coming. 

2. If you have a top defenseman available you have to take him, they are harder to find than forwards so Avalanche fans beware on passing on Jones. 

3. How good a junior team was the Halifax Moosehead, very few teams could match up with the that team.

4. Is it me that its weird to be watching the draft late on Sunday after, the last affect of the lockout. 

5. By the way the Dallas Stars new logo is as bad as it gets. That is what happens when you have a team in Dallas.

6. The so Flyers finally get their defenseman. I think that I might pass out after hearing they drafted a d-man in the first round. Don't worry they will probably trade him before he makes it to the NHL. 

7.This tweet sums up how the Flyers have to handle its newest defenseman: "@TheOrangeNBlack: The key to Morin? Patience. Hopefully the Flyers have learned their lesson and let him develop. Will be a player in time."

8. You start to get to the middle of the first round and the estimated arrival time for these players goes from 13-14 to 15-16 to 16-17. That means that most of these kids are projects and need times. 

9. I think that I might fall over, the Flyers used their first two picks on defensemen. 

Sometimes recruiting experts are wrong

In 2003, high school quarterbacks Anthony Morelli and Chad Henne where the talk of football recruiters. Fast forward a decade later and it's laughable that these two where the top of any list. Shows how many misses there are in recruiting.

Professinal Tailgating: I go to too many games

It's one thing to be a Level 1 badge on Foursquare, its another to be a Level 6. Being a Level 6 basically means that you are nut job. So last week during the travels, I became a Level 6 ESPN Foam Finger. Over the years, I've been to numerous Eagles, Rutgers, Phillies, Nationals, and BlueClaws games and my Foursquare check ins show that.

The badge is given for badge given for people who follow ESPN and then check in at sporting venues around the country. To break this down, it means that I may go to too many games. Maybe I should slow down.

Professional Tailgating: All Rain Game

Last night, I headed to the South Atlantic League All Star Game and boy was I disappointed. Got there at 7 and left at 830 because the game was delayed by rain. So here are some rain photos of a fun night in Lakewood.

Professional Tailgating: One Down One To Go

Last night, I headed to Citizens Bank Park to see my Nationals drop a heart breaker to the Phillies. But on the bright side it was dollar dog night and I saw a big running around the outfield. 

Two days of baseball fun

Nationals at Phillies tonight. South Atlantic League All Star Game in Lakewood tomorrow night. Not a bad two days of baseball.

More meaningless soccer games?

With club league games, club domestic cup games, club European games, international friendlies, international qualifiers; a soccer players season can be a little long. Now clubs are looking at taking their teams on tour after the season, how much is too much. Now Rupert Murdoch wants global summer football tournament. This could only be a bad thing, players need time to rest and right now that time is really limited. So please no.

Prospects Plus: Did the Nationals get first round value in Ward

The Nationals theory of drafting high upside players was shown again in the third round of this years draft. In the third round, the Nationals drafted Oklahoma high school third baseman Drew Ward. So what, you say.

Up until a month ago, many thought that Ward would be a member of the 2014 draft. But that all changed after Drew, who is committed to Oklahoma, graduated early from high school and petitioned to be part of this years draft. After MLB ruled in favor of the Drew, many scouts scurried to see what he was about. 

According to Baseball America,  Ward has a big, strong frame and has a sweet swing from the left side. He plays shortstop for his high school, but fits best at a corner position because of his below-average speed.

Many in the scouting community, had Ward pegged as a 2014 first rounder. The Bleacher Report pegged him as the 13th overall pick to the Padres in a really early mock 2014 draft. 

While the season may not be going as planned, Nationals GM Mike Rizzo always takes the player with the best upside and it looks like he may have gotten a future first rounder for the prices of the third rounder. Now that is good business.

Is Porto really the best run club in Europe

They win trophies, they make a profit on most transfers. Could Porto be the best run club in Europe. You really can make that point and the people at Smash Report make that exact point . 

"The method is very simple to follow,'' the story says. "They scout young talent, sign them at a good reasonable price, develop them and finally sell them at a huge sum of amount. It more like seems an easy procedure but has a lot of problems which can go against their favor as well."

Who could lie with them. Besides making a profit with the selling of players the Portuguese power have also made 15 million euros by letting managers move on. They are printing money and trophies. 

Prospects Plus: West Virginia's Stetson Allie

Name: Stetson Allie
Position: First Baseman
Team: West Virginia
Prospects Status: Unranked in Baseball American list of top prospects in the Pirates organization. Was listed as ninth best in 2012, when he pitched.
Stats vs. Lakewood on Friday night: 1 for 4 with a home run and 2 RBIs

Positives: Big strong powerful looking player. At six foot two inches and a 220 pounds, Allie looks more like a linebacker than a first baseman. During the game he an approximately 430 foot home run to center field. Last year, Allie was a pitcher last year but struggled with control and the moved to first base.

Negative: Allie was a huge bonus baby coming out of high school. The Pirates signed him for $2.25 bonus to keep him from his commitment from North Carolina. He has raw power but still learning to be a professional hitter. He is a couple of years away.

Prospects Plus: OTWT MOCK DRAFT

It's almost time for the MLB Draft and the scouting staff at OTWT has been busy breaking down film on these propects. Here is our mock first round (hopefully, it will be better than last years):

•  1. Houston Astros: Mark Appel, P, Stanford
• 2. Chicago Cubs: Jonathan Gray, P, Oklahoma
• 3. Colorado Rockies: Colin Moran, 3B/1B, UNC
• 4. Minnesota Twins: Kohl Steward, P, Texas HS (pictured right)
• 5. Cleveland Indians: Kris Bryant, 3B, San Diego
• 6. Miami Marlins:Hunter Renfroe, OF, Mississippi State
• 7. Boston Red Sox: Clint Frazier, OF, Georgia HS
• 8. Kansas City Royals: Austin Meadows, OF, Geogria HS
• 9. Pittsburgh Pirates (M. Appel - unsigned): Braden Shipley, P, Nevada
• 10. Toronto Blue Jays: Trey Ball, P, Indina HS
• 11. New York Mets: Austin Wilson, OF, Stanford
• 12. Seattle Mariners: Dominic Smith, 1B, California HS
• 13. San Diego Padres:JP Crawford, SS, California HS
• 14. Pittsburgh Pirates: Nick Ciuffo, C, South Carolina HS
• 15. Arizona Diamondbacks:Ryne Stanek, P, Arkansas
• 16. Philadelphia Phillies:Robert Kaminsky, P, New Jersey HS
• 17. Chicago White Sox: Jonathan Denney, C, Oklahoma HS
• 18. Los Angeles Dodgers: Sean Manaea, P, Indiana State
• 19. St. Louis Cardinals: Reese McGuire, C, Washington HS
• 20. Detroit Tigers: Billy McKinney, OF, Texas HS
• 21. Tampa Bay Rays: Bobby Wahl, P, Ole Miss
• 22. Baltimore Orioles: Aaron Judge, OF, Fresno State
• 23. Texas Rangers: Ian Clarkin, P, California HS
• 24. Oakland Athletics: Jonathan Crawford, P, Florida
• 25. San Francisco Giants: Chris Anderson, P, Jacksonville

Prospects Plus: West Virginia Josh Bell

Name: Josh Bell
Position: Outfielder
Team: West Virginia Power
Prospect Status: Sixth ranked prospects in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. Former second round pick.
Stats vs. Lakewood on Friday night: 1 for 4 with two strikeouts

Positives: Bell looks the part of the a major league player. Bell stands six foot four inches call and looks like he has an amazing left handed swing. During an at bat during the game on Friday night, Bell found out approximately 10 pitches before striking out. Bell has great patience.

Negatives: Since Bell was in high school he has been under scouts scrutiny. During the 2011 draft, Bell sent out a letter to all 30 teams telling them not to draft him because he was committed to University of Texas. During the draft the Pirates drafted him in the second round and paid him $5 million to sign. That amount has always put a target on his back. There are not many negatives to his game but he is going to take time for him to develop. He is currently spending his second year in South Atlantic League, which is never good.

Prospects Plus: Going Retro Bryce Harper

Hey who is this former College of Southern Nevada star.Bryce Harper looks so young in this photo.

You don't know what got till its gone

For the last decade and a half Fox Soccer has been the voice of the Barclays Premier League in this country and that ended on Sunday. It's going to be sad not to have the EPL on FSC. While FSC has made it's mistakes over the years if it was not for them the EPL would not have the footprint that it has in this country.

I remember the days of the premier league having one match a week on pay per view I remember having to watch the games on my girl friend fathers chipped box and that was less than a decade ago. The one game that I remember from that pay per view era was the game that Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira getting into their tunnel bust up at Highbury. That seems like a lifetime ago at this point.

On the last Sunday of the season, you could watch every game that played. That just seemed like a dream 10 years ago. 

Next year the Premier League will be on NBC Sports.The plan is to show every game on a bunch of devices. So good luck to them next year, but lets not forget what FSC has done for soccer in this country and the impact that they have had on Premier League in this country. Because of them names like Rooney, Terry, Wenger, are as well known as James, Brady and Kane.

Overkill on Golden Balls

So yesterday David Beckham said goodbye to soccer. This morning I woke up and checked the beIn sports app to see what the soccer schedule was this weekend and to my surprise the first four stories where tied to Golden Balls. I'm for covering his retirement but don't you think, that is a little overkill.

Maybe Gus Johnson is not that bad; I'm just a Euro Snob

Its been three months Fox unveiled Gus Johnson as its voice of soccer and it has come with mixed reviews. Some say he is ok, while other say he is terrible. I think that I sit somewhere in the middle between disaster and good start.

Here is my question, is the issue with Gus Johnson tied to the fact that most American soccer fans are Euro Snobs and I include my self in that. Will any American voice be treated with the respect that we give people like Ian Darke or Martin Tyler. The answer is simply no. Hey look the voice of American soccer is Ian Darke, not exactly your typical American. American soccer fans don't want Dick Vitale on the call and that is exactly what Gus is doing. We like announcers to take it slow and allow the game to breath because most American soccer fans are just Euro Snobs.

I listened to Gus's call of Ben Watson 91st minute winner in the FA Cup final vs Manchester City and it was a good call. It was not your typical English call with flowing pros, it was a call full of emotion and gave you an idea of how much of an upset it was.

While Gus has some work to do, he is getting better. Maybe us Euro Snobs who love European soccer should maybe give Gus a chance.

Cover Story: Maple Leafs Collapse

The Maple Leaf looked like they where heading to the conference semi-finals and then the roof fell in and the Bruins stormed back. Today papers in Toronto are as depressing as they can be.