March 2, 2011

BP Podcast

Episode 40: Keeping The Demons Away

by Kevin Goldstein

It's the big 4-0 as Jason joins us the his spring training home of Arizona. After tons of emails (including the best one ever), we talk about the recently published Top 101 Prospect List, and then I'm joined by Keith Law of ESPN to talk about how one goes about making a prospect list, while also discussing some players we differ on. Then it's our second ever listener of the week as Aaron Tassano joins us to explain how he ended up scouting baseball players in Korea for the Chicago Cubs. Then it's the good stuff with plenty of tales about house hunting and plumbing problems. As always, we hope you enjoy.

Note: We do alert you to the presence of the occasional adult language. Don't say we didn't warn you.

Up And In Episode 40: "Keeping The Demons Away"

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Contact Information

Email Us: podcast@baseballprospectus.com
Twitter: @kevin_goldstein; @professorparks
Skype Voicemail: kingclipon

Table Of Contents

0:00 Welcome, agenda review

2:52 Housekeeping: Email us, follow us on twitter, all that jazz

4:05 Emails!

• Keeping the demons at away
• More musings on the 20-80 scale
• Remembering the 2001 draft, and the value of Mark Prior
• How to take in minor league spring training camps
• Why Gerrit Cole isn't a Yankee
• Defining pitch sequencing
• Scouting the knuckleball
• They Might Be Giants and playing the podcast for prisoners

31:38 Not fun times in St. Louis

35:05 Breaking down the final Top 11: The Philadelphia Phillies

39:25 The Top 101 Prospects and Organizational Rankings

45:13 Jason's tales from Arizona

56:29 Special Guest Keith Law of ESPN on our respective Top prospect lists

• By the time I get to Arizona
• The geography of prospects
• The process of creating a prospect list
• Sources and a primer on how to manipulate us
• Same four guys at the top
• Differences on Aaron Hicks, John Lamb, Casey Kelly
• Throwing favorites at the bottom
• Going out on a limb on Brett Jackson and Jarred Cosart
• Figuring out Jonathan Singleton
• Gushing about the Royals
• Listener Gift: Guys who will be on next year's list

1:38:14: Listener Of The Week: Aaron Tassano, International Scout, Chicago Cubs

• How does one end up scouting in Korea?
• A primer on baseball in Korea and the level of talent
• Going from stats to scouting
• Looking beyond the classical Asian markets
• What is a discussion with someone in Korea without talking about StarCraft?
• Living in Korea
• We're friends!

1:58:38 Musical Guest: The Gary

2:00:18 What Are You Drinking? (includes bonus house hunting and video game stories)

2:12:29 The Week Ahead (includes bonus Skype-bomb of Steven Goldman)

Music is by The Gary, all rights reserved.

Kevin Goldstein is an author of Baseball Prospectus. 
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