The MLBDD community is growing by leaps and bounds, and it's high time we break the ice. Since we have such a big net of teams, beat writers, experts, analysts, PR departments, and sometimes-accurate rumor mongers, it's easy to get lost in the shuffle.

What do we want to know? Nothing you wouldn't tell a friend. I'll start:

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The Ramrod Dynasty League is having their 3rd annual minor league draft. We are a Dynasty league going into our 9th season composed of 10 teams, each with a 25 man roster. We keep our entire roster from season to season. To supplement not having a draft we created the Ramrod Minor Affiliates, a 15-man minor league roster. All players on our minor affiliate roster must be in professional baseball, and must be in the minor leagues.

The rules for our draft are simple, each team may draft any player not already on another teams R.M.A. roster. Drafted player must have ZERO games played in the Major Leagues. We extended our R.M.A. rosters from 5 players last season to 15 players this season, so we have set up a 15 round draft board. Trades were made in season so the draft order is not identical round to round. 

Our league is composed of Giants, Athletics and Cubs fans (also posted on their blogs) and we are all homers. For instance, the draft has already started and Gary Brown was taken #2 after #1Trevor Bauer. If you are interested in a minor league draft taking place over the course of a couple of weeks (there are no time constraints between picks) be our guest and come check us out. We are a introspective bunch, so don't shy away from leaving any advice or constructive criticism in the comment section, it is open to everyone.

The Draft Is Here: ramroddynastyleague.com

Last week Dave Cameron of fangraphs speculated that the Giants could trade Tim Lincecum this offseason in an attempt to gain some big time salary relief, allowing them to sign a couple of big time offensive free agents (e.g. Jose Reyes and /or Carlos Beltran, as well as receiving a key prospect such as Jesus Montero in a trade.

The thought went something along the lines of: Yankees and Red Sox need pitching help, Giants are at the limit of their payroll, Tim Lincecum is getting more expensive every year, and the team desperately needs offense to compete....

Lincecum has an approximate surplus value of $20 million, he has two years of arbitration left. Despite big arbitration contract awards, he probably still projects as a 5 WAR type of pitcher; Add to it that the Free Agent pool of starting pitchers is extremely thin, the Yankees or Sawx might be willing to overpay for the privilege to acquire the former 2 time Cy Young Award winner. Part of Cameron's assumption also included the Giants sending Aubrey Huff and his albatross contract to whoever acquires Lincecum, freeing up around $25 million worth of salary space for the Giants to then go and pick up a Prince Fielder or Jose Reyes type. Lincecum's production would be difficult to replace, but if you are able to pick up Montero and Reyes or Betances/Nunez/Sanchez and Fielder are both moves that improve the Giants.

The reason this type of move is being speculated is because the Giants are unwilling to go above the $125 million payroll mark. Trading Lincecum could free the space needed on the payroll, improve the team going forward and Giants fans would most likely continue to sell out all of its home games, sell merchandise, and keep them competitive for the next 4 to 5 years even without one of its marquee players on the team any longer. But the team could also just go over their self imposed payroll limit, sign a Fielder or Reyes type and absorb the cost once Barry Zito, Aaron Rowand and Aubrey Huff's contracts come off of the books in 2014. It would be a couple of years of financial sorrow for the sake of winning. But the case with the Milwaukee Brewers, nothing like that of the Giants is completely different.

If premium pitching is so scarce this off-season, then why arent thoughts like this being presented with the Brewers and Zack Greinke?

The Brewers need to remain financially prudent to both compete and survive. Being in the smallest market in major league baseball, the 3 million fans they have drawn 3 of the past 4 years most likely only produced one profitable year for the organization (that being this year, were two playoff series generated a ton of income for the franchise). Not only do the Brewers have the small market problems that the Giants or Yankees or Red Sox do not, they also have a roster that was built for an "all in" type of season in 2011, and though they still should compete in 2012, is designed more for driving off of a cliff after this season.

Zack Greinke is set to make $13.5 million in 2012, after which point he will become a free agent. The going rate for him is probably a bit above the 5/$85 contract that Jered Weaver signed this past season with the Angels. Greinke could sign a contract like this, but he would be leaving around $30 million on the table compared with what he could probably get in free agency. And even if Greinke did agree to a contract like this, the team has $40 million committed to only 4 players going forward in 2013. I doubt they would like to go 5 players $55 million.

Moving Greinke frees up $13.5 million of payroll space and replacing him may not be as difficult as it may seem. They could make one of the following trades, then sign Edwin Jackson to a 4/$40 million type of deal and use remaining funds to shore up other weaknesses. The Brewers will need a new First Baseman with Prince Fielder’s departure via Free Agency, and they need a SS and 3B as well.

The following is a list of possible suitors for Zack Greinke (or Tim Lincecum for that matter):

1. Yankees would send Montero + for 2 years of Lincecum, they might send him to Milwaukee for 1 year and send a long a 4th OF or bullpen arm to cement the deal.

2. Red Sox might be willing to send Jose Iglesias and Josh Reddick for a year of Greinke to solidify their pitching staff.

3.White Sox might send Davan Viciedo and Chris Sale, given that Kenny Williams tends to over pay for vets.

4. Indians would perhaps send Lonnie Chisenhall, seeing as how they have shown a willingness to send prospects for proven vets with the Drew Pomeranz/Alex White for Ubaldo Jimenez trade last year.

5. Reds could send Yonder Alonso and Yasmani Grandal if they felt the need to go "all in".

6. Angels could send Mark Trumbo/Kendry Morales and Tyler Chatwood to keep up with the Rangers and then possibly sign Fielder as a Free Agent.

The big "if" of course lies in "if the contra team would make that trade in order to compete for one season, and then send such players over Milwaukee's way. The Yankees and Red Sox would do it to retain competitive advantages over each other, the White Sox might do it because they need a front line starter after the majority of their rotation left this season due to FA, The Indians survived with an average 3B last season and if they felt Greinke gives them a better shot at winning in 2012 than Chisenhall would for the next 6 years, they could make that move. The Reds would only do it if they felt they could win in 2012, and the Angels would do a deal like this simply to keep track with the Rangers and have a shot at a playoff spot.

Each of the possible moves improves the Brewers for next season (or at the very least lets them be where they would with Greinke) and gives them cheap production for the following 5.

The Lincecum thoughts were because they don’t want to pass a payroll limit out of convenience not need. The Giants don’t really NEED to make a move to improve themselves; they could absorb a couple of financial losing seasons for a couple of years and hold onto Lincecum for those rides.

The Brewers SHOULD do a deal like this because it is financially and baseball smart. It saves money, it improves production, and the horizon for winning stays out in the future instead of abruptly ending on September 30, 2012 when Greinke is no longer a Brewer.

Now i have these arguments all the time with my friend. I a jays fan argue that Romero is as good as Price. He seems to think its not even close at all. I think they are both close but i definitly think Romero deserves some respect.

Here are Prices stats after 3 years:

                                          W                L                 ERA             CG          WHIP             SO             Avg        

2009                               10               7                  4.42              0             1.35              102          .241       

2010                               19              6                  2.73               2             1.19             188          .221       

2011                               12            12                  3.36              0             1.12              208          .229        

Total numbers             41            25                 3.34               2             1.19              510           .227     

Now lets compare, here is Romero's numbers:

2009                              13             9                   4.30            0            1.52                   141        .284        

2010                              14             9                   3.73            3            1.29                   174        .242         

2011                             15              9                   3.02            4            1.16                   169        . 217       

Total numbers           42              28                 3.61            7              1.31                  484         .246       

Now as a guy who fallows Romero alot one of my favorit pitchers, i realise that Price may be a bit better. But the fact that my friend says it isnt close makes me argue this and show the stats. It's definitly close and isnt an obvious pick if you ask me.        

There have been many cy young candidates this year going from c.c to Verlander to Weaver, its really a race till they end. Each player dominates there respective places. As these would be my top three guys at the moment i feel like there are alot of other players catching up. lets take a look at some of the stats that these pitchers have put out.

C.C Sabathia.  17-7 with a 2.93 ERA  184 K's and a 1.16 WHIP. Clearly these stats could win you a cy young. I have to feel with about 40 games left sabathia will get at least 7 more starts. As long as he stays healthy he could definitly get 20 21 wins. If he can keep up this pace he should win 20+ games and have 200+ strikeouts. This would definitly make him a favorit to win they award.

Jared Weaver. 14-6 with a 2.10 ERA  158K's and a 0.97 WHIP. Clearly his record is worse then sabathia's but his statistics are a little better. he might have a bit less k's but his ERA and WHIP do alot of talking if in his next couple of starts weaver can get 3 or 4 more wins and one or no loses he will definitly be a favorit. WIth and ERA this low if he can get 200+ strikeouts. and around 17 wins i think he gets it. Alot of people think wins and records mean alot but to me you cant take that into play on an award like thise just like last year. King Felix went 12-13 and still won it. Obviouisly playing on the M's he is going to lose more then if he played with the yankees or red sox.

Verlander. Definitly my favorit at the moment i have to say he is leading the charge with his statistics.  18-5 with a 2.31 ERA  205k's and a 0.88 WHIP. I think his stats speach for themselves. with a great record and definitly a pace to get 21 or even 22 wins, if he can do this keep his era under 2.50 and whip under 1 he will win it i promise. This guy already has 205 strike outs he is looking to get 2.50+ he leads the league in WHIP, Strikeouts, wins and second in ERA.

Other notable guys that i think have outside shots are guys like Dan haren. 13-6 with  2.98 ERA  156K's and a 0.98 WHIP. Ricky Romero 12-9 record may not be that impressive but an ERA of 2.73 is also 149K's and a WHIP of 1,10.

UPDATE 7:02 ET: Joe Strauss just tweeted this:

Regarding S. Miller suspension: If you are 20 years old there are certain things you're not allowed to do. And certainly not multiple times.

Unless Joe is talking about getting a rental car here, one has to assume this suspension is due to the use of alcohol.

According to the KSDK News Twitter feed:

The St. Louis Cardinals have suspended Shelby Miller, the Cards top pitching prospect for violating team rules.

Miller is currently pitching for the Cardinals Double-A affiliate in Springfield and missed his start on Thursday. Updates as they come.

The Minnesota Twins have signed 50th overall pick Travis Harrison, as first reported by Kendall Rogers of Perfect Game USA. The USC commit signed for $1.05 million, according to Baseball America's Jim Callis.

One of the best power bats in the country, scouts can not wait to see what the 18-year-old can develop into. Only 18 years old, Harrison can develop into a middle-of-the-order bat any team would love to have. While being considered one of the best bats in the country is no small feat, Harrison will have to move from the hot corner. A sloth defensively, it's hard to imagine Harrison playing anywhere besides first base.

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As trade season heats up, here's a fun exercise to get the juices flowing. -jbopp

Lets say you were given a Major League expansion team to run. (obviously this is all hypothetical) You are allowed to pick ANY 3 players in all of baseball to anchor your team. These 3 players would come with 10 year contracts. Who would you choose to anchor your team for the next 10 years? Here are my 3.

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http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/expanding-mlb-playoffs-focus-on-fairness/#more-53038

As this Dave Cameron (FanGraphs) column explains, much of the realignment conversation is rooted in this idea that uneven divisions is inherently unfair.

I'd like to propose that, yes, that's true, but if that premise is a valid one--that the game is suffering from some inequities keeping some number of teams every year from competing for a championship, and further, that those inequities are solvable--then, why would we stop at realignment?

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It would appear that way.  For them to jump out in front without Choo hitting like normal is very promising.
The play in a terribble division.  Masterson appears to be a 20 game winner in the making . Sizemore is back and they have a great bullpen.  The will need to be buyers at the trade deadline, because of some serious holes.  They need a 2nd baseman and possibbly a 1st baseman.  After the first two starters, the rest are weak . Lets hope ownership will recognize this chance to put fannies back into the seats at the Jake, and commit to spending some serious money to improve the team this year.  I miss the 90's when Cleveland was an electric pulsating Baseball town.