Link Hangout – Minor League Heavy Edition

Nick Maronde and Kaleb Cowart made top pitching and hitting prospect lists, Who were the top Minor League performers and, Mike Trout plus WAR equals Justin Bieber? Minor League players are the top currency in baseball, Kaleb isn’t going anywhere, hopefully Maronde is staying put too.

Don’t look so mad Trout, it’s just the Bieb’s

Preliminary Top 50 Pitching Prospects List for 2013

Nick Maronde cracking the top 50 is a pretty cool deal considering how thin our system is these days. Of course, Tyler Skaggs coming in ninth makes you wonder where he would slot in next year, assuming he is ready by then for a full time slot in the Diamondbacks rotation. I’m going to cut myself off here because if I don’t, I’ll go on for hours about how awesome Nick Maronde is.

Preliminary Top 50 Hitting Prospects for 2013

Kaleb Cowart comes in at 31 on this list which is great for him and his fans. What is surprising is that, with the year that C.J. Cron had, I expected him to hit this list too. Apparently, Minor League ball hates his OBP too. Cowart is the future at third base for the Halos (So please stop asking for Chase Headley). He’s also my Nick Maronde of hitters, so I’m going to stop now before I write a novel.

Los Angeles Angels Top Minor League Performances

Look who that is up top, oh, it’s Nick Maronde. I have a problem, and I’ve accepted that. Scott Stedman over at AngelsWin.com knows his minor leaguers. If you need your minor league fix on a regular basis like I do, follow him on twitter at @Scott34NA. The big surprise on this list for me is Randal Grichuk. I haven’t necessarily lost faith in him, I just see a Brandon Wood type when he gets to the big leagues.

Angels in the Arizona Fall League

A lot of kids and then….Bobby Cassevah? Bobby is taking Maronde’s place on the Scorpions roster. The exciting part about the AFL this year will be to see what Cowart and Grichuk can do going up against some of the best prospects in all of the Minor Leagues. Fingers are crossed that they don’t keel over like Mike Trout did last year in the Fall League.

LET’S TALK ABOUT WAR, BABY

Tired of trying to convince people that sabermetrics are not the devil? Need a new and inventive way to make WAR more fun? You’re welcome.

Memorize this swing, because in 2014, you’re going to be seeing it, a lot.