1. Here's a Thought: Ranking the MLB Farm Systems: No. 30-26

    When I did my Top 100 Prospects series last week, I got a few requests to rank the minor league systems of the 30 major league teams. So here we are...

    Nathaniel Stoltz Written by Nathaniel Stoltz about almost 4 years ago 2,742 reads 34 comments

  2. Here's a Thought: Tommy Everidge Gets His Overdue Call-Up

    Tonight, the A's have purchased the contract of 26-year-old 1B/3B Tommy Everidge from Triple-A Sacramento. Get excited, A's fans. If you haven't heard of Everidge, he was a 10th-round pick of the A's back in 2004...

    Nathaniel Stoltz Written by Nathaniel Stoltz about almost 4 years ago 1,025 reads 1 comments

  3. Here's a Thought: It's Time for the Oakland A's to Give Cliff Pennington a Look

    With the trade deadline looming, the A's need to get rid of their veteran hitters and start getting a good look at the young players who will shape the franchise in years to come...

    Nathaniel Stoltz Written by Nathaniel Stoltz about almost 4 years ago 162 reads 8 comments

  4. Here's a Thought: Luis Castillo's Odd Approach

    When you think of hitters with good "plate discipline," who comes to mind? Adam Dunn? Jack Cust? Manny Ramirez? Bobby Abreu? Most guys lauded as having excellent "plate discipline" are power hitters who get pitched around often...

    Nathaniel Stoltz Written by Nathaniel Stoltz about almost 4 years ago 85 reads 6 comments

  5. Here's a Thought: And The A's Best Changeup Is...Santiago Casilla's?

    Hard-throwing Oakland A's righty Santiago Casilla has been lit up in 2009. He owns a 5.97 ERA, 5.65 FIP, and 4.83 xFIP. None are particularly promising. Casilla is a prototypical hard-throwing fastball-slider reliever with command issues...

    Nathaniel Stoltz Written by Nathaniel Stoltz about almost 4 years ago 101 reads 0 comments

  6. Here's a Thought: Tim Lincecum's Killer Changeup

    When you think of Tim Lincecum, the first thing you probably think of is great pitching. Lincecum is probably the best pitcher in the game today...

    Nathaniel Stoltz Written by Nathaniel Stoltz about almost 4 years ago 2,171 reads 5 comments

  7. Here's a Thought: Stop Believing In Homer Bailey

    Entering 2007, Cincinatti Reds righthander Homer Bailey was thought to be one of the top prospects in baseball. The big righty threw a mid-90's fastball and a curve that drew rave reviews...

    Nathaniel Stoltz Written by Nathaniel Stoltz about almost 4 years ago 227 reads 4 comments

  8. Here's a Thought: Brad Lidge Is Still Unhittable

    Much has been made of the decline of Philadelphia Phillies closer Brad Lidge. Lidge posted a 1.95 ERA and was 41-for-41 in saves last year. This year, he's got a 7.20 ERA and is 19-for-25 in saves...

    Nathaniel Stoltz Written by Nathaniel Stoltz about almost 4 years ago 215 reads 8 comments

  9. Here's a Thought: A Nine-Step Plan To Fix The Brewers' Pitching

    The Milwaukee Brewers have had the worst pitching staff in baseball this season, with a 4.82 FIP, .01 behind the second-worst Cleveland Indians...

    Nathaniel Stoltz Written by Nathaniel Stoltz about almost 4 years ago 373 reads 8 comments

  10. Here's a Thought: Examining Both Matt Holliday Trades

    Last offseason, the A's sent Carlos Gonzalez, Greg Smith, and Huston Street to the Rockies for Matt Holliday. Today, they unloaded Holliday to the Cardinals for Brett Wallace, Clayton Mortensen, and Shane Peterson...

    Nathaniel Stoltz Written by Nathaniel Stoltz about almost 4 years ago 444 reads 33 comments

  11. Here's a Thought: Are the Scouts Wrong About Vince Mazzaro's Curveball?

    "Mazzaro is still trying to find a reliable offspeed pitch. He didn't throw his changeup much last season, though it took a step forward and could become an average offering. His curve is more of a show-me pitch...

    Nathaniel Stoltz Written by Nathaniel Stoltz about almost 4 years ago 275 reads 4 comments

  12. Here's a Thought: How to Pitch to Each Hitter on the Oakland A's

    Before I spent the bulk of the last week on my Top 100 MLB Prospects list, I had been doing a number of studies to analyze how certain hitters were being pitched to and how they should be pitched to...

    Nathaniel Stoltz Written by Nathaniel Stoltz about almost 4 years ago 48 reads 0 comments

  13. Here's a Thought: Nathaniel's Top 100 MLB Prospects

    Over the last few days, I've been publishing my top 100 MLB prospects list in slideshows of ten players each. As a recap to the series, I'm writing this to publish the list in its completion and provide a set of links to each slideshow...

    Nathaniel Stoltz Written by Nathaniel Stoltz about almost 4 years ago 952 reads 22 comments

  14. Here's a Thought: Nathaniel's Top 100 MLB Prospects: #10-1

    This is the final entry of ten in my top 100 prospects series. If you'd like to read other entries in this series, you can check them out below: #100-91 - #90-81 - #80-71 - #70-61 - #60-51 ...

    Nathaniel Stoltz Written by Nathaniel Stoltz about almost 4 years ago 3,945 reads 61 comments

  15. Here's a Thought: Nathaniel's Top 100 MLB Prospects: #20-11

    This is part nine of 10 in my top 100 prospects series. If you'd like to read other entries in this series, you can check them out below: #100-91 - #90-81 - #80-71 - #70-61 - #60-51 - #50-41 ...

    Nathaniel Stoltz Written by Nathaniel Stoltz about almost 4 years ago 1,556 reads 5 comments

  16. Here's a Thought: Nathaniel's Top 100 MLB Prospects: #30-21

    This is part eight of 10 in my top 100 prospects series. If you'd like to read other entries in this series, you can check them out below: #100-91 - #90-81 - #80-71 - #70-61 - #60-51 - #50-41 ...

    Nathaniel Stoltz Written by Nathaniel Stoltz about almost 4 years ago 386 reads 4 comments

  17. Here's a Thought: Nathaniel's Top 100 MLB Prospects: #40-31

    This is part seven of 10 in my top 100 prospects series. If you'd like to read other entries in this series, you can check them out below: #100-91 - #90-81 - #80-71 - #70-61 - #60-51 If you ...

    Nathaniel Stoltz Written by Nathaniel Stoltz about almost 4 years ago 1,309 reads 17 comments

  18. Here's a Thought: Nathaniel's Top 100 MLB Prospects: #50-41

    This is part six of 10 in my top 100 prospects series. If you'd like to read other entries in this series, you can check them out below: #100-91 - #90-81 - #80-71 - #70-61 - #60-51 If you ...

    Nathaniel Stoltz Written by Nathaniel Stoltz about almost 4 years ago 1,538 reads 13 comments

  19. Here's a Thought: Nathaniel's Top 100 MLB Prospects, #60-51

    This is part 5 of 10 in my top 100 prospects series. If you'd like to start from the beginning of the series (prospects 100-91), go to http://bleacherreport.com/articles/220416-heres-a-thought-nathaniels-top-100-mlb-prospects-100-91#page/1...

    Nathaniel Stoltz Written by Nathaniel Stoltz about almost 4 years ago 1,012 reads 9 comments

  20. Here's a Thought: Nathaniel's Top 100 MLB Prospects #70-61

    This is part 4 of 10 in my top 100 prospects series. If you'd like to start from the beginning of the series (prospects 100-91), go to http://bleacherreport.com/articles/220416-heres-a-thought-nathaniels-top-100-mlb-prospects-100-91#page/1...

    Nathaniel Stoltz Written by Nathaniel Stoltz about almost 4 years ago 746 reads 0 comments

  21. Here's a Thought: Nathaniel's Top 100 MLB Prospects: #80-71

    This is part three of ten in my top 100 prospects list. If you'd like to start at the beginning of the series (players 100-91), you can check it out at http://bleacherreport...

    Nathaniel Stoltz Written by Nathaniel Stoltz about almost 4 years ago 1,301 reads 18 comments

  22. Here's a Thought: Nathaniel's Top 100 MLB Prospects: #90-81

    This is part two of ten in my top 100 prospects list. If you haven't seen part one (players 100-91), you can check it out at http://bleacherreport.com/articles/220416-heres-a-thought-nathaniels-top-100-mlb-prospects-100-91#page/1...

    Nathaniel Stoltz Written by Nathaniel Stoltz about almost 4 years ago 1,093 reads 0 comments

  23. Here's a Thought: Nathaniel's Top 100 MLB Prospects: #100-91

    Last year, I got an extremely positive response to my article "The Top 102 Prospects Who Have Yet To Play in MLB." I decided that it was time to do something similar, and rate the top 100 prospects this year...

    Nathaniel Stoltz Written by Nathaniel Stoltz about almost 4 years ago 1,256 reads 10 comments

  24. Here's a Thought: Will Inman and How to Evaluate Prospects

    "Evaluating prospects is a two-part process. You have to see what they're doing, and and then you have to find out how they are doing it...

    Nathaniel Stoltz Written by Nathaniel Stoltz about almost 4 years ago 509 reads 2 comments

  25. Here's a Thought: The Brian Dopirak Story

    Possibly my favorite thing about baseball is development patterns. In any other sport, players (barring injury) generally get better until their late 20s, have a peak of maybe four years, and then start getting worse...

    Nathaniel Stoltz Written by Nathaniel Stoltz about almost 4 years ago 1,348 reads 2 comments