Thursday, September 1, 2011

Site Suggestion Box Now Open

It's been a while since one of these general site update posts, but the season is winding down so we'd love to get your input on what you liked, didn't like, want to see more of for next season? The biggest question has to do with the day-to-day content, namely the daily highlight posts and the roughly twice-per-week TEA Time/Notes posts. Do you guys like this system? A TEA Time/Notes post every day would be great but there isn't really enough content for that, so I think what we currently have works. But what do you guys like? Let us know in the comments (I, for one, love BurGi's statistical looks at the prospects). If there are any features you'd like to see, let us now.

Second note is along those lines: We're planning on doing another off-season guide this year, similar to the one last year. Anything in particular you liked or didn't like from last year's that you'd like to see changed? I have some ideas of my own but don't want to give too much away right now because we're still a long way away from putting the proverbial pen to paper.

Basically, if there's any general site things you'd like to discuss, we'd love to hear from you in the comments.

42 comments:

  1. In the offseason guide lets hear about some guys that had great years that weren't expected to have good years. Meaning NON top prospects. I would to love to hear about some other guys besides the same old same old each day. I want to hear about some lower round guys that are underdogs that are trying to make their way to the bigs.

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  2. These wrap ups are a little lenghthy. I'm still trying to get used to them. The site has really taken some big strides this season compared to last. Recognition within the area relly seems to be picking up. I would like some more updates on prospects that are coming off surgery. Maybe an interview with Jessie Hahn would be great. An interview with the boys that just signed from this years draft. Otherwise, nice work I visit daily.

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  3. I think the site is fine but I wouldn't mention Tyler Bortnick, The Princeton Rays, or the Hudson Valley Renegades anymore as there seems to be some sour apples out there who don't like them.

    Seriously, love the site.

    I'd like to hear more of the podcast interviews perhaps with someone like Bill James or a Tampa Scout in the future.

    Like Doug's new feature of all the related news stories.

    Always look for the next day's minor league wraps so that is a keeper.

    Love when Jim posts pictures.

    BurGi's comments have been appreciated.

    This has to be one of the best prospect sites in all of baseball so keep up the good work.

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  4. The podcast will be back soon-ish (with a microphone that allows you to actually hear my voice!) and I have some ideas for interesting guests, so hopefully that works out. I'll also try to get some Q&As similar to last year when Jim Callis and John Sickels took some questions for us.

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  5. Daniel....congrats to Tyler!!! I texted him yesterday on the AFL and post season All-Star selection! Brad

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  6. Brad - thanks for drafting Tyler. None of this would have been possible without you taking the chance. Hope you struck gold with the selection of Motter as well! Thanks again!

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  7. Daniel...Motter just got moved to Bowling Green last night.

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  8. Question I am not trying to pick a fight, just a question for the experts :)

    Craige Lyerly was supposely promoted to BG with Tyler Motter and Lenny Linksy, however, Lyerly is the only one not put on the roster yet. To me that doesn't make sense, since you only have 2 of your "true" outfielders. The guy that played LF last night has never (besides the game before) played outfield a game before in his life. So why wouldn't Lyerly be the first one to go on the roster. With the way lyerly was hitting in HV if he isn't going to play in BG why take him out of his comfort zone and let him finish the season strong in HV? I just don't understand the philosphy behind not putting him on the roster.

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  9. That's a good question, I don't know. BG could certainly use another outfielder. Maybe there was some kind of travel problem?

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  10. I asked Micheal Compton last night before the game (on my twitter acct) and he said Lyerly was there but hadn't been added to the roster yet. That's why I moved him back to the HV roster on the DepthCharts. Got the feeling it was just a numbers thing, sent 2 to DL and added 2, probably thought they could make one game w/ Estrada in LF. He may have arrived earlier than expected and they didn't have a corresponding move ready, just guessing on that. Should see a move later this afternoon. I just hope he does well after all of the hype around here :).

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  11. Yea me too lol. Especially since I am the one who has been giving the hype :) Thank yall for all you do!

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  12. Oh and thanks for checking on that for me.

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  13. No problem, I was serious about hoping he does well, and was just teasing you.

    Make sure to follow Micheal Compton of the Bowling Green Daily News on twitter. He always has pre-game, game and post-game info on home games and is planning on going on the road for the playoffs if the play Fort Wayne. Tom has him on the home broadcasts for a half inning or so usually too. Really nice guy.

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  14. Thanks. And I know you were just teasing :) Everyone has there favorites. Haha

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  15. Lyerly still not on roster as of 6:00pm eastern standard time. Looks like he wont be playing tonight either. Whether lyerly is good or not at least he is a TRUE outfielder. Little confused as to why he still isn't on it.

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  16. I am really confused about Lyerly, also. Hudson Valley left for CT Tuesday morning. Tuesday night, after the game, Lyerly was told he was being promoted to Bowling Green. He left straight from the away trip in Norwich, Connecticut,on Wednesday morning,(leaving all his belongings in Hudson Valley). This is NOT a paper move. So, can't figure out why he is not playing. HV could use him to finish out the season, especially if he's just going to sit the bench in BG!

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  17. Wow glad someone agrees with me. It makes NOT LOGICAL Sense???? Let the kid finish strong in HV instead of letting him sit the bench for the next possible 2 weeks doing nothing. I don't get it. I also, don't get if u didn't have room for Motter, Lyerly, and Lenksy why put Motter on the roster before lyerly? You don't need another shortstop u need an outfielder.

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  18. I mean they need to just send him back to HV!

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  19. He could have played last night and tonight in HV gone back to fishkill, ny packed his stuff and then leave. That makes no sense what was the rush in getting him there?

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  20. I am in total agreement with Anonymous 7:03. Love to see someone in TB or BG respond to that. Anybody out there? Oh, and Motter was put right into the lineup tonight.

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  21. Anonymous 7:25~ you are making tons of good sense. Poor kid left for BG with barely any clothes, etc. Perhaps you should be the one who makes decisions like this. lol Keep the comments coming!

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  22. Lol i am not saying I know everything about baseball but I love me some craige lyerly and their decision making right now makes no sense. I feel bad for the kid as well. I can not even understand the fact that Motter is playing and Lyerly isn't when he is a TRUE OUTFIELDER with damn good speed. I know Motter is not an outfielder and I am not saying he doesn't deserve to play, but why did you call lyerly up like that if your not going to use him? This looked like it was going to be his chance. Apparently it is his chance to postpone his trip home and ride the piie (I thought he learned enough about riding the pine last year when he started in HV) HAHA 17 for 20 on stolen bases.

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  23. did they run out of places to put him? u think they are going to cut him? send him home?

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  24. Somebody definately knows something because no one wants to respond to that subject besides Anons lol. Apparently something is up.

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  25. does anyone know what is going on?

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  26. i swear to god if wrigley isnt top 5 prospect for you guys next season i cant take this site serious anymore

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  27. Anon 8:30:

    Doug and I have both replied. I said I have no idea why he isn't playing and that he should be, given the BG need for an outfielder. Doug gave you what the Hot Rods beat writer had said.

    If either of us knew what was up, we'd let you know.

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  28. It was a joke. Sorry for the confusion. I didn't know that comment was going to be taken seriously. I know that yall try to stay out of continued talks like this. And doug did give me some great places to go for info on the hot rods. I know yall helped out. If I really thought yall knew and you weren't telling us I wouldn't continue coming to the site. Sorry for the confusion Kevin.

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  29. Ah, gotcha. No need to apologize :)

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  30. Love this site!!!! Visit daily for Scores and Highlights, but really enjoy the Notes and Touch 'Em All Time features. You guys did a great job covering the draft and am looking forward to any improvements you are planning. the only suggestion I would have is I would like to see something about the minor league coaches and the every day process these kids go thru to become big leaguers. Thanx for all you do. Michael D.

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  31. I agree that you guys do a great job with the site, and I am also a daily reader to keep up on what is going on with the prospects.

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  32. Maybe yall should have a section somewhere on the page for debats/player talks. That stays up all year long and people can comment as they wanted. Not a slam page(lol that we sometimes get carried away with) But a page for people takling about transactions, players they like, cuts, promotions, and etc.

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  33. Good site. Would like to see daily access to all Rays minor league box scores from this site. Also,it would be nice to have a weekly update on all Rays prospects.

    Paul

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  34. How about more features on player moves and potential moves? That is what I'm really interested.

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  35. Summarizing so far:

    - Cover non-prospects more in off-season: Other than our top prospects lists we cover whatever happens in the off-season. See the prospect guide from last year, almost all players are included. Transactions and fall/winter ball results are the primary focus.

    - Wrapups too long: are you crazy, I think the new wrapups are great! Read them aloud in your local sportscaster voice, seriously.

    - Interviews with current players: I never really have done those or wanted to. From my pov I'm worried the player would say something they shouldn't, and I don't want to be part of anyone getting in trouble. Can't really go into much detail/examples, but let's just say the less players talk/tweet/facebook, the better off they are.

    - No more Bortnick: We tried, buy he won't stop playing!!! Now he's off to Arizona...

    - HV vs. Princeton: After all that debate HV is 4 games under .500 and Princeton finished 8 below. Kind of took the wind out of the rivalry.

    - Podcasts: I like them a lot, glad to hear they are returning. The non-Kevin guy's voice scared my 2 year-old, thought he was a monster. Other than technical issues and the opinions of toddlers, they were great.

    - Lyerly, Lyerly, LYERLY: Poor, poor Craige, stranded in the woods of Kentucky without any clothes. Maybe Motter will help him out. Seriously though I'm glad when players like him have fans that remind us how they are doing. With over 300 players in the org we are sure to miss someone who deserves our attention. And then there is Henry Wrigley...

    - Minor league coaches: That actually was going to become a regular part of my TEAT things. I'll include them next year. Was going to call it Coach of the Day and at least post their bio from the press guide and add where they have been in the organization over the years. Glad to hear there is some interest as I wasn't sure there would be.

    - Player talk: For a couple of years we had a forum area where readers could create their own topics and discuss whatever they wanted. It kind of died out. One thing I was thinking of regarding transactions was make a post per month (or week) where we keep adding all the moves for that week/month and bump it to the top each time there is something new. Any interest in that or thoughts on how to do it?

    - Box scores: We could easily steal the code for the box scores and post them, as other sites have been doing this season. But that isn't really something any of us want to do.

    - Weekly prospect updates: Not sure if this is what you mean but we were working on a Top 30 list that would be updated continuously (or whenever we wanted, more like it). It's more graphical, with a pic and bio and latest news. It takes BurGi, Kevin and I's most recent rankings and averages them to create a top 30. It exists off-site, created it in May. But then the draft happened and we really never did anything with it. If we do add it it will have it's own button at the top of each page for you to pull it up, like with the depth chart and draft history.

    Thanks for the input, keep it coming!

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  36. i love your guys sacarastic remarks.(NOT) I can find my rays information elsewhere.

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  37. Isn't putting "not" at the end of a sentence a little sarcastic? And dated?

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  38. Craige Lyerly was just added to the Bowling Green roster a few minutes ago. HOpe he gets to play.

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  39. As a follower of prospects/draft info for years I am actualy quite upset with myself I didn't start following you guys before I did (sometime around June 2010 draft). Now I can say I check almost every day. So thank you for all of the work it must take to put this together and keep it updated.

    If I could add one suggestion...if you add a more recently updated Top Prospects list (ala BA Prospect Hot Sheet) maybe allow for some space for each of you to comment on each player and consequently why you ranked accordingly. If for no other reason except to see each of your takes on the respective players and how much they are progressing (or lets hope not regressing).

    Otherwise thanks again for all of the hard work and awesome site. Easy to navigate, good info, really just about everything a prospect follower could ask for. Go Rays!

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  40. thinking lyerly is probably just a back up so if someone gets hurt in the playoffs. if he gets a shot probably wont get the job done. i say send him home after the year.

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  41. agreed! way better guys than him in our organization

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  42. I like the site. Not much Canzler talk for the type of season he had. What's a guy got to do to get a Sept. callup?

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