Each season I always manage to make at least one deal where I move a large amount of players, vastly altering the look of my team.  As I have mentioned before, trading players, and acting like a GM, is one of my favorite parts of fantasy baseball.  Thus, it is logical to see that I derive immense amounts of pleasure from trading big name stars.  To get a deal of this magnitude done, it requires extensive negotiations, a willing partner, and usually some adult suds to push the deal through.  (Sounds vaguely familiar to late-night exploits during my freshman year at U of A.)  Fellow writer and Denslow Cup league member, Dee, and I finally swung a deal through last night and if weight is the term I am using to describe it, this deal is heavy.  Let’s take a look and break down the trade.

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With nearly a quarter of the MLB season in the books, and some of the baseball’s best prospects now suiting up for their respective big league squads, it’s time to reflect on the performances of our Top 50 Prospects.  Today we look at 34-30, which includes: Kyle Gibson, Kyle Drabek, Yonder Alonso, Matt Moore and Lonnie Chisenhall.

34. Kyle Gibson, RHP, Minnesota Twins

Triple-A: 1-3, 4.25 ERA, 42.1 IP, 8 BB, 41 K, 1.181 WHIP, 6 HR (1.3 HR/9)

33. Kyle Drabek, RHP, Toronto Blue Jays

MLB: 3-3, 4.34 ERA, 56 IP, 37 BB, 38 K, 1.66 WHIP

32. Yonder Alonso, 1B/LF, Cincinnati Reds

Triple-A: .331/.393/.543, 15 2B, 3B, 5 HR, 23 RBI, 17 BB, 24 K, 5-for-7 SB

31. Matt Moore, LHP, Tampa Bay Rays

Double-A: 2-3, 3.28 ERA, 46.2 IP, 13 BB, 65 K, 1.029 WHIP

30. Lonnie Chisenhall, 3B, Cleveland Indians

Triple-A: .268/.362/.405, 10 2B, 3B, 3 HR, 23 RBI, 16 BB, 29 K

As I sat in the left field corner of Nationals Park last Friday evening, enjoying baseball, banter and beer with friend and colleague Jimmy Chiang, I was reminded once again that watching a baseball game live at the ballpark is one of life’s greatest pleasures.  The crack of the bat, the roar of the crowd, and even the occasional cry of “Get your ice cold [nine-dollar] beer here!” all make the ballpark a special place, even for those with only a passing interest in the game.

In my 24 years, I’ve been fortunate enough to visit the home venues of ten of MLB’s thirty teams.  While each may provide a different type of baseball atmosphere, some ballparks are certainly better than others, so as I wait to add to the list, I decided to rank the ballparks I have already visited.  Rankings are based not only on the quality of the parks’ bricks and mortar, but also on the experience each provides on any given night at the ballpark.  I am hopeful to one day compile a comprehensive list of all thirty ballparks, but now that I am a third of the way there, here is how each of the first ten stacks up:

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CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – As the sun set and the air cooled over Veterans Memorial Stadium on Wednesday, Kane County Cougar pitcher Sugar Ray Marimon (Low A-Royals) kept getting hotter. His fastball popped, his splitter vanished and the hometown Kernels, slogging under the weight of an eight-game losing streak, couldn’t connect. The 22-year-old Columbia native had held them hittless through seven innings, and it seemed to the few hundred fans still remaining that Marimon was on pace to notch a feat that’s sweeter than his first name: a no-hitter.

But after a Kernel reached on an overthrow by the third baseman with two out in the eighth, Kane County pitching coach Jim Brower abruptly pulled Marimon. The pitcher wasn’t hurt or tired – he had walked just two batters. But with only  four outs to go, he had barely eclipsed the 100-pitch limit that the Royals set for all minor league pitchers in the franchise.

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