Baseball

Madison Bumgarner is a hyped pitching prospect who fantasy owners have been waiting on since the day he was drafted tenth overall in 2007.  With a 27-5 record to go along with a 1.65 ERA and 0.97 WHIP in 273 minor league innings, who can blame them?

The Giants seemed reluctant to push the 19-year-old to the major leagues in 2009, but when the opportunity presented itself, it was hard to resist.  He made four appearances (one start), showing just what all the hype was about.  He posted a 1.80 ERA and 1.10 WHIP, striking out ten batters while walking just three.

2010 Top 50 Twins Prospects | #48 | Shooter Hunt

Position | Pitcher

Bats/Throws | Right/Right

Born | August 16, 1986 (Westwood, N.J.)

School | Tulane University

Height | 6'3''

Weight | 200 lbs.

2009 Ranking | 8th

The new year is finally here, and with the stroke of midnight on Dec. 31, 2009, the year 2010 was brought in with the usual fanfare and celebration.

Article first found at Boston Sox Journalism .

The original article is found at Boston Sox Journalism , the newest site dedicated to Red Sox journalism at it's finest.

Here we sit in the first week of 2010, and the Atlanta Braves still, seemingly, have a hole to fill in the outfield.

With a starting group currently composed of Cabrera-McLouth-Diaz (the Braves will probably end up taking the Hanson route with Heyward), you can kind of see why.

With that in mind, though, you have to think that the Braves aren't going to be looking to break the bank (sorry, no Matt Holliday ) since they could go to war with that group and be okay.

The Baseball America Prospect rankings were released last week, a list coveted by fans and media, but otherwise superfluous for the organizations themselves, who have their own rankings and plans for their players.

The Red Sox minor league system has some gems, but the conclusions that BA came to should be slightly disturbing. The list of the top ten prospects, as I say, seems strong, with names that we have heard regularly, such as Casey Kelly, the shortstop-turned-pitcher, and Jose Iglesias, the first round pick and shortstop of the future.

After spending his first seven seasons in the league across the bay with the Oakland Athletics, Barry Zito hit the jack pot with a seven-year $126 million contract with the San Francisco Giants.

When Zito signed what was then the richest contract of any starting pitcher in MLB history back in 2006, Giants fans were expecting to receive pitching worthy of top money. Unfortunately, they have yet to witness any long term consistency from Zito over the first three years.