Wasn’t able to check in on monday. Great update!

I’ve looking at the top 10 starting pitchers within our organiztion. Who’s yours? Thanks

I’ve been wondering about Dennis Raben and Jharmidy DeJesus, why neither showed up on a full season roster. Did they not make the cut or are they injured?

Raben has had a knee issue that kept him from breaking with a full season club. Initially, they weren’t sure if it was going to be something that required a season-ending surgery, but last I heard he was still rehabbing it and probably wouldn’t need to go under the knife. It will probably still take some time to get him back though.

de Jesus, the club simply decided he needed additional instruction working closely with the player development people, so they left him in extended. He should break camp with Everett again and then move up from there.

…former M’s farmhand Juan Sandoval, who still managed to post better numbers than the average pitcher in his league despite having only one functional eye.

So he’s halfway to being an umpire. Always good to have a backup career path.

Have you (or anyone else?) had the chance to gather any opinions as to how much of [Liddi's] improvement is sustainable? Is he turning himself into a legitimately good prospect, rather than the simply interesting project he’s always seemed until this season?

One thing Liddi’s always received good marks on is his work ethic. The tools have generally been there, it’s just a matter of getting them to translate into results. He’s worked closely with the M’s people in the instructional league pretty much every offseason, so I’m willing to consider that this is indeed a breakthrough and not a prolonged stretch of good luck. The M’s people apparently predicted good things from him this year, for whatever that’s worth. The strikeouts could still use some improvement, getting them down from once every fourth at-bat where they’ve been this year, but I’d like to see him challenged with West Tenn at some point this year, partially because I think he’s due to be put on the 40-man.

I noticed you pointed out that Rohrbaugh is still out. Any idea how much longer until he returns?

No idea. The press coverage isn’t especially good out of Jackson. I miss being able to read the San Antonio Express-News online and know everything that was going on with our double-A team.

Does anybody think Edilio Colina, the 2B at High Desert, is any kind of prospect? Why or why not? He’s only 20, and at 6′ could fill out and gain some power.

Colina’s in a similar position to his double play partner, Diaz, in that he was pushed to the states early without real results and is now coming into his own in the Cal League. That’s enough to demand closer scrutiny in his performances. While Diaz, I think, deserves to be talked up because he hits better on the road than at home, Colina probably can be overlooked because he’s inept on the road. His skillset over the years has mostly been to produce doubles and get hit by pitches to bolster his OBP. The first is useful, the latter, not so much. He has improved his eye numbers this year and that may be predictive of future development, but I’m just not that interested in him at this stage.

I noticed you pointed out that Rohrbaugh is still out. Any idea how much longer until he returns?

I’m wondering about Alex Liddi. He’s been a personal favorite of mine since I saw him in Cedar Rapids in 2007, and I’ve been hopefully checking his lines ever since. It’s been really great to see him catch fire this year, and even knowing that the environment has a good deal to do with his numbers, I’m optimistic that the improvement is real.

Have you (or anyone else?) had the chance to gather any opinions as to how much of his improvement is sustainable? Is he turning himself into a legitimately good prospect, rather than the simply interesting project he’s always seemed until this season?

Thanks again.