Thanks to an infusion of high-profile prospects into the pipeline, there is a light at the end of tunnel in Pittsburgh. Scouting director Greg Smith has brought some elite talent into the system

, his 0.99 HR/9 rate could balloon. So, Greg Smith is a moderate-strikeout, moderate-walk, fly ball hurler headed to a ballpark known for giving pitchers nightmares. Add in the likelihood that his

Yes, I admit it. That's a pretty neutral headline. Doesn't tell you whether I think Lee Smith is worthy of the Hall of Fame. Because I don't really know. Smith appears to be more qualified than

The Rocket's glare. That's him at top left. Today is the 145th birthday of Skyrocket Smith, first baseman for the 1888 Louisville Colonels, and namesake of my next-born child. These Colonels

a light upon a matter of EVEN GREATER URGENCY, as well as acute personal interest. I write of the Fall of the House of Smith. Remember the halcyon days of the late eighties? (Unsettlingly, some

" anymore. But if the Angels are hoping that a good pen -- and Frieri and Smith hardly look to be the 2013 equivalent of Greg Holland and Kelvin Herrera in 2012 -- can make up for the run prevention

the guy to Brad Radke and, yes, Greg Maddux. They wrote, "His stuff, delivery, mound presence and pitchability are all major league quality now, and he should breeze through the minors." He did just

baseman, where his gap power would profile better. Follow List: Troy Channing, 1B/3B, St. Mary's; Johnny Coy, 1B/3B, Wichita State; Dan Gamache, 3B, San Diego; Mark Ginther, 3B, Oklahoma State; Greg

Greg Lorenzo OF 29.00 40 45.0 3.0 High Jaime Esquivel RHP 29.00 41 - - - Miguel Chalas RHP 30.00 42 - - - System Grade System Risk 50+ 50+ Grade 50+ Risk

in the Cape Cod League, where regular Cape attendee and blogger Greg Schimmel ranked him as the league's seventh-best pitching prospect, behind likely first-rounders Chris Sale and Brandon Workman, among

of who received the largest bonuses, their top two guys (Harvey and Forsythe) would top the list, followed by 24th rounder Erik Goeddel, fourth-round pick Cory Vaughn, and sixth-round pick Greg Peavy

patience, solid defense. They'll be hoping for production that looks like: Danny Tartabull on the athletic side, Greg Vaughn on the unathletic side. 11. Deck McGuire, RHP, Toronto Blue Jays Skills

. Follow List: Austin Dicharry, Texas; Erik Johnson, Cal; Braden Kapteyn, Kentucky; Andrew Kittredge, Washington; Greg Larson, Florida; Cory Mazzoni, NC State; Tyler Pill, Cal State Fullerton; Mark

the best of the offensive players has been catcher Cody Stanley, both for his offense (.394 wOBA) and defense (56 CS%). Neither Nick Longmire (.842 OPS) or Greg Garcia (.778 OPS) have been bad, either

the next season, sacrificing significant power for a much better contact rate. At that point, Greg White begins to start fitting the Bourn/Gardner mold of the .280 batting average with a high walk rate

11.00 11 - - - Stephen Piscotty 3B 11.17 12 50.0 3.0 High Patrick Wisdom 3B 12.86 13 50.0 3.0 High Greg Garcia 2B/SS 13.00 14 - - - Pete Kozma SS 13.00 15

On December 16, 1985, I entered this world. Less than a year later, on September 3rd, 1986, a rather scrawny right-handed pitcher named Greg Maddux made his major league debut with the Chicago Cubs

Greg: Greg with a miniature head: ... and trapezius implants. ...and clear, shameful evidence of amateur photoshopping. 

as starters. First-ranked Eckersley made 361 career starts, nine of the 15 pitchers above Smith — including recent ones such as Tom Gordon, Greg Swindell, and Kerry Wood — made at least 100 starts

, Greg Maddux, Joe Morgan, John Schuerholz, Ozzie Smith, Joe Torre Executives: Al Avila (Tigers), Paul Beeston (Blue Jays), Andy MacPhail (Phillies), Jerry Reinsdorf (White Sox) Media: Steve Hirdt

the Los Angeles Dodgers. In his first year of eligibility, Greg Maddux entered ___. Livan Hernandez recently announced his ___. During a winter storm in Atlanta, Chipper Jones

it And for the record they be saying Barry Bonds hit it Get it? - Fabolous, "Here's Another Hit" SP Greg Maddux See one of the keys to my success I switched up like Greg Maddux While maintainin my

than any season ever posted by Cy Young, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson, Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, Tom Seaver, Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux, or Randy Johnson, to name a few. Hint 2: it was said

Do not blame Greg Luzinski for being a killing machine: For he is but a hostage to his factory settings. The pits of his eyes are pellucid only at the moment of the kill. Stare into them

Greg Maddux crafted a Hall of Fame career using pinpoint control, changing pitch speeds and release points, and by out-smarting hitters, among other non-STUFF-based stuff. One can hardly say that he

ESPN reports that Greg Maddux will be joining the Rangers as a part-time special assistant. From the article: "I appreciate the Cubs and how they treated me," Maddux said. "Now I'll

Something somebody once said about Greg Maddux is he could throw a ball into a teacup. I don't know why a teacup was chosen to represent a small target, but it certainly conveys the intended idea

Greg Maddux officially becomes a Hall of Famer today, and the only controversy surrounding his election is that it won't be unanimous. He is, without question, one of the greatest pitchers of all

This is a question I have received a lot since we were made aware of Ryan Madson’s impending Tommy John surgery: who would I rather pick, Greg Holland or Sean Marshall? Some of my readers and twitter

the MVP honors to Kansas City Royals closer Greg Holland. The debate over the value of a closer is a recurring hot-button issue and, obviously, I sit on the side of the fence that preaches

With their offense sputtering, the Yankees called up first baseman Greg Bird from Triple-A last week in an attempt to potentially help matters. Bird is strictly a first baseman, meaning he's unlikely

be cause for concern. Anyways, after signing Ian Desmond to play first base and throwing a lot of money at perfectly pedestrian lefty reliever Mike Dunn, Colorado is bringing in right-hander Greg

brings us to Greg Holland and his curious decision to sign with the Rockies. Nicolas Stellini covered all the details of the one-year deal with a vesting option already. What I'd like to consider

An apology is due here, and I'm sorry. I whiffed on Seth Smith in my American League outfield rankings, even though those are mostly for 5x5 formats. I nearly blanked on him in my home league as I

In the first significant trade of the offseason, the Rays sent Mallex Smith and outfield prospect Jake Fraley to the Mariners for Mike Zunino, Guillermo Heredia and minor-league lefty Michael

Last week, I challenged you to come up with some Hall of Fame cap ideas for Greg Maddux. Vote for your favorite! 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Which hat should Maddux wear?

Yesterday, we talked about Troy Tulowitzki powering the Rockies resurgence in June. While he's the main reason, he's not the only cog in the Colorado offense having a good month. Seth Smith

With Jay Bruce on his way to Cleveland, the Mets have called up Dominic Smith to play first base for the remainder of the year. The Mets took Smith with the 11th overall pick out of high school back

. Just ask Vinny Castilla or Dante Bichette. Unfortunately for Seth Smith he’ll no longer have that luxury as he’s now a member of the Oakland A’s. Transitioning from Coors’ Field to the Oakland

With the fantasy playoffs nigh, here is a pair of outfielders who can help patch injury-induced holes in your lineup. Seth Smith (Yahoo: 32 percent owned, ESPN: 53 percent owned) While Smith

, the Royals gave the Brewers Will Smith. It's a low-profile transaction, considerably lower-profile even than the earlier Dexter Fowler trade, but what makes the trade worth taking about are the signs

. Something that could and should happen sooner is a trade of Tony Watson, and/or a trade of Will Smith. Both of them are veteran lefty relievers. I'm here to advocate for Smith. He's the one any contender

With the departure of Francisco Rodriguez, the Milwaukee closer role is Will Smith’s to lose. Smith took big steps last season improving his K%, BB%, ERA (or FIP, if that’s more your cup of tea

Episode 105 David Laurila, curator of the FanGraphs Q&A series, had the opportunity to speak with the late Greg Halman this summer at Fenway Park. While the audio wasn't originally intended

it was time to rebuild and sent Haren to the desert for six prospects: Dana Eveland, Carlos Gonzalez, Brett Anderson, Gregory Smith, Aaron Cunningham, and Chris Carter. Many had only heard of Eveland

Caleb Smith If I didn't give Smith a Quick Look, I feel I was failing. I watched the 26-year-old lefty's game from the 22nd (good camera angle) when he went 6 IP, 2 ER, 10 K's, and 0 walks

rate. If you're content to stash Iwakuma on the DL for a few weeks at the beginning of the season, he could be a nice injury-sleeper on draft day. LHP Will Smith, Milwaukee Brewers

be sharing their responses in these electronic pages. What follows is the product of a lightly edited email correspondence with Bryan Smith. In addition to being a bona fide prospect maven, Smith

“Let’s start with pins,” Adam Smith says. "You want pins? The little metal things? Cost a couple of cents each? Sure. But let’s say you can’t go to the store. Let’s say there is no store, so

become the closer of the present, Greg Holland is already making hitters take notice. Take, for example, these three hitters: Your browser does not support iframes. Sure, it was the Mariners

, though. How would it feel if the Cardinals were instead signing Greg Holland? I have some tables to show you. The Cardinals have actually been linked to Holland for some time, because Holland

If you read FanGraphs, you're probably familiar with Sean Smith's work. Mr. Smith is the progenitor of the CHONE projection system, hosted annually here at FanGraphs and also at his own website

. Seth Smith (ESPN: 10 percent owned; Yahoo!: 7 percent owned) It makes complete sense for a hitter who leaves Colorado for the spacious grounds in Oakland to have a higher OPS after he lands, right

Last night, Greg Bird played the hero, launching a home run off Andrew Miller for the only run of the game. For a lefty, just getting on base against Miller is a success, but going deep is pretty

For a very long time, Greg Holland was available as a free-agent closer. For a very long time, the Cardinals appeared to be in some need of a closer. Oh, at certain points, they expressed faith

Last night, with a 4-3 leading heading into the 9th inning, the Rockies called on Greg Holland to shut down his former team and provide the team with a much-needed win. With the Cardinals already

The last 15 months have not gone particularly well for Greg Holland. Coming off a solid return from Tommy John surgery with the Rockies in 2017 — albeit one with a lesser second half than first — he

Please note, for your records, that Mississippi Matt Smith is the newest contributor to NotGraphs and submitted his first, uh, submission to our electronic pages earlier today. Note, additionally

Right-hander Burch Smith has been traded from San Diego to Tampa Bay. "Will he start or not?" is a question a person might reasonably ask about that. What follows is an attempt to answer the question

Despite the prestige of being 2011's Most Average Player, Colorado Rockies outfielder Seth Smith has been the subject of trade rumors since the end of the season. Trading Smith might be a good idea

It seemed like only a matter of time until Seth Smith was shipped out of Colorado. The Rockies have depth in the outfield and the demand for a player of Smith's caliber was there. A suitor finally

This has been One Childish Possibility for Greg Maddux's HOF Cap. Important Update: Twitter-user to the stars Ryan Dunsmore has graced us with an artist's rendering of Maddux's plaque donning

The first domino has fallen following a cataclysmic 2011 season in Twins Territory, as General Manager Bill Smith was dismissed from the position on Monday. Philosophical differences were cited

The Tampa Bay Rays had 12 bunt hits in 2016, with Kevin Kiermaier’s four leading the way. Expect Mallex Smith to surpass both of those numbers this season — not just the individual mark, but the team

-- suggest that the character is based, at least in part, on Ozzie Smith. Because his peak ended before I was really aware of him, I never got a chance to see Smith with any frequency. But his