Kid in the Candy Store - MLN FAB50 Baseball 2006 - A Tribute to Minor League Fans

OPINION - I love the dog days of summer. Sure it's hot enough to melt Pamela Anderson's chest, but with the summer heat comes the sizzle of the Minor League News MLN FAB50 Baseball 2006 ranking of top fast-track players, and the companion Ones2Watch™ list of developing talent with a bit more time on the farm.

There used to be a time, before we started drawing the attention to the farm system players and teams that they so rightfully deserve, that guys like Omaha's catcher, Matt Tupman or the Braves' shortstop Yunel Escobar, might have been all but invisible to anyone other than industry professionals and the ultra-hard core baseball fan.

One low-rent minor league owner of the ancient school once told me: "Minor league fans don't know baseball. They only watch what you shove under their noses, and forget about everything but the moon bounce and BerdZerk after they leave the gate."

I heartily disagree. My kids remember Marlins catcher Matt Treanor from our stint in Albuquerque, when he was the catcher for the Isotopes. 

When Hunter Pence is a big deal in Houston, folks in Corpus Christi and Lexington will have that big smile on their faces when they think that one of their players is playing for the Astros. They really are their players, too.  They develop in your town, and you take ownership of them: They're your hometown heroes.  Minor league fans are like the leading-edge music fans who seek out and embrace new talent. 

Why have an MLN FAB50? For all the people in those towns great and small who get minor league baseball, and even for those professionals who are getting hipper to the way that we rank players, even if  conventional wisdom says that the Baseball America beauty pageant is the definitive source of baseball wisdom?

After all, as BA editor John Manuel has pointed out to me, they do this "all year" and we're a multi-sport publication that lacks that 'focus.'

Of course, we do it all year, but... don't tell John... He'd be crushed. 

Our no. 1 FAB50 pick in 2005 was Felix Hernandez, who is pitching for the Seattle Mariners and made the cover of ESPN The Magazine this Spring.

Their top pick in 2005, Delmon Young, had a melt down with an umprire earlier that year, and went back to Durham.

This year's melt-down, the now infamous bat-tossed-'round-the-world, hurled at an umpire, resulted in the most scandalous act of violence to grace a baseball field in some years (See Devil Ray, MLN SportsZone, 04.27.06). He's still in Durham, complaining to USA Today® about how the management of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays handle him. Boo hoo.

So the answer is no: BA tracks baseball players one way, not the only way. Their rankings are used by the MLB owners for player negotiations.  Their picks are more on technical merits, and seemingly influenced at least a little bit by the heady knowledge that their rankings are used by teams for salary negotiations.

The MLN FAB50 employs a little more practical, independent, unconventional wisdom.

When we rank talent, we look at the reality of the marketplace, and the best places to move up into professional baseball. Newsflash: They're not the big clubs in New York, although clubs in Chicago and L.A. are becoming remarkably interested in rediscovering their farm systems.

Don't send me the flame emails, either, Yankee Fan: You stand more chance of being struck twice by lightning and having an IRS audit naked in a field at the same time than being a Trenton Thunder player usurping a New York Yankee from an infielder's slot in 9.95 of 10 years.

If you play for the Florida Marlins, Pittsburgh Pirates, Los Angeles Angels, Washington Nationals, Milwaukee Brewers, and others, you stand far better chances to advance than in the artery-clogged depth chart of  the Yankees.

The alchemy of moving up the ranks to the majors is as much cult of personality and the egos of the people behind the picks as it is about the player and their abilities. Dioner Navarro didn't generate FAB50 numbers in 2005, but he had the Dodgers outright endorsement as catcher of the future, so who were we to argue?

Signing bonuses are a reality factor too. Picks in the Ones2Watch like Matt Tuiasosopo and Justin Upton can have pretty average seasons and still advance. Their clubs have millions in signing bonuses tied into them. Perform at mega-star level or not, signing bonus babies usually make the majors, no matter how many 'How could they have paid so much for this guy" emails that we receive.

Speaking of 'fan' mail and takes in the blogosphere, many of you had some refreshing takes on some of our 2005 picks that I got to enjoy over the winter...

"How drunk were you when you picked Ian Kinsler as a future major leaguer?" wrote one 'fan.' Apparently not as drunk as the Texas Rangers front office that promoted him.

"Dioner Navarro is the worst defensive catcher that I've ever seen," wrote another.  Send him your regards in Tampa Bay.

There was email that had constructive criticisms:  Those of you who live in markets around the CAL and SAL wanted more on the players at the earlier levels of development, and we listened: The new Ones2Watch™ was fully deployed in 2006, a new place to showcase players who will spend at least two years more to develop to major league potential. 

The beauty of lists is that they make the stuff of good arguments at a bar over a beer, or around the house with a beer, or at  the office, which at our office would still mean that you're having a discussion over a beer. 

Some of you will agree with us, just as many won't.  The proof is in the promotion, though. Our record has been pretty good. 64% of our players went up to the majors by the beginning of the season, or moved up one or more classes in the minors. 32% remained at their class level, with 38% of those players getting cups of coffee periodically throughout the season in the majors. One player suffered a season side lining injury and one Freshman Forty player went down a class with an injury.

If you're a more hard-core minor league or major league fan, a fantasy or rotisserie leaguer, or a relative of one of these players, the release of the MLN FAB50 is a trip to the candy counter.

Speaking of eye candy, if you're a kid, a case of arrested development, or a kid at heart, check out our newest set of digital trading cards in the player galleries and grab a few for your virtual card collection. 

For the other 90% of minor league fans, who just enjoy going out to the park and catching a few games every year, let the MLN FAB50 Baseball 2006 rankings be your equivalent to TV Guide for the Ballpark.  Those guys who play on your home town team, or who may be headed there, are worth paying that ticket money to come out and watch.  If you're a casual fan who only comes out to a few games a year, make a note when some of these players will be visiting your city, and buy your tickets then.  MLN FAB50 players are exciting to watch!

My last word on the MLN FAB50 Baseball 2006 is: 'THANKS.' 

Thank you to every club in major and minor league baseball that contributed ranking ballots, photos, and access to the players.  The MLN Ralphie awards for media/pr people at the clubs are coming, and those of you who went the extra mile have been duly noted.

Thank you to our  talented freelance writers: Dan Hickling, Mike Scandura, C.J. Carlson, Jim Mandalero, Jason Blasco, Jarrod Ulrey, Chris Hadorn and Bob Matuszak who put a lot of hours into making this compendium of players the best one yet. The biggest thank you, though, goes to our resident draft expert and baseball-obsessed Guru of the Diamond, Lary Bump, whose prognostications and voice at the editorial table this year made the MLN FAB50 2006 the best yet. 

The last thank you, of course, goes to you, our readers.  You have made the MLN FAB50 lists for baseball and hockey the hottest new sports resource out there.  We had over 53,000 hits world-wide within the first three hours of the ranking's publication, and it mushroomed from there.  Five years ago we were lucky if 53,000 of you found us in a year, let alone three hours.  If you've missed out, then all you have to do is click on the link below, and you'll be there!

http://www.minorleaguenews.com/baseball/features/articles2006/08/fab50/00.html