Correct me if I'm wrong, but is it or is it not the Accepted Wisdom that if you want players with high upside you should be looking at high schoolers in the draft? At least with respect to position players.

When did this happen, anyway? Is it a new thing? Should we take it seriously?

Quietly, the Orioles have gone 18-13 in the second half. Their 2008 batting order is starting to take shape - they got to Mariano Rivera twice in the same series earlier this week. The O's also seem to have the makings of a decent pitching staff, as Jeremy Guthrie has been one of the best bargain-basement pickups in baseball and Garrett Olson earned his ticket to Baltimore faster than anyone anticipated. The Jays will see both of those guys this weekend, as well as (groan) Steve Trachsel. Hey, at least it's not Daniel Cabrera, right?

A long, long time ago, Mick presented his all-July 20 team, and it was pretty good. He's done other days too (like August 9, December 25, April 14, and the devilish June 6s.) But, were any of these teams the best? So, it's Friday and time for a challenge.

As the season winds down, we take our second last look at the hitters. The farm affiliates went 3-3 on Thursday.

One of these days - maybe tonight, who knows? - Scott Downs is going to come into a game with runners on base. And a graphic will go up on the screen, obliging Jamie and his amigo de soir (that's a mixed something) to make some sort of comment to the effect that Downs has allowed just 6 of 30 inherited runners to score this season.

The Dunedin Blue Jays, I mean. The farm affiliates went 3-1 last night.

Two more HRs for Travis Snider, making it 5 in 5 games.

Intrepid correspondent Robert Romano has provided this excellent Pinch Hit about the care and feeding of the polyester baseball cap. You can't get this kind of information just anywhere.

The Angels of Anaheim have the second-best record in baseball, but they're only 3 games ahead of Seattle. The Jays can do their part to help the Mariners make the playoffs by beating up on the Angels, a team against which they've won 37 of their last 54 home games. Los Angeles will send out their two weakest starting pitchers in the first two games of this series, but those two guys have a combined record of 10-1. Thursday's pitching matchup is a must-see.

Phil Rizzuto, known as "The Scooter," died this morning. Rizzuto was the oldest living Hall of Famer; he played for the Yankees throughout the 1940s and 1950s, won seven World Series rings and played in five All-Star games. He had been in declining health for several years and was living at a nursing home in West Orange, N.J.

He is also believed to be the only member of Baseball's Hall of Fame to perform on a best-selling album, as a voice in "Paradise By the Dashboard Light" on Meatloaf's Bat out of Hell album.

Holy cow, Scooter, you'll be missed in Batter's Boxes all around North America.

High-school hotshot pitcher Rick Porcello has apparently been signed to a 4 year major league contract with the Tigers for 7.3 million.  Does this make sense?  Hmm, let's see.  $1.825 million per year.  2 year development time.  50% chance of flameout/arm problem (the Roger Salkeld/Brien Taylor Experience). 25% chance of inconsistency/arm problems (the Kerry Wood Syndrome), 25% chance of greatness (the Dwight Gooden Goldmine).  $8-$12 million per year for mediocre starting pitching on the free agent market as your alternative.

Economists, start your calculators.

A light night on the Monday minor league scene saw the affiliates go 3-1.  The only blemish was an overtime loss in New York State.

 

The passing of the trading deadline in the BBFL saw a plethora of deals in Alomar, nothing going on in Barfield and an insurance deal by the leading Trembling Wilburys in the Carter division.

Saturday and Sunday updates are included in this MLU.  On Sunday the affiliates went 2-3, and on Saturday 2-5.   Josh Banks slipped back in his bid for a call-up, Brandon Magee also was hit hard.

Just three men in major league baseball history have gone by the initials "J.R." as their "first name." Just one of those, former Houston ace J.R. Richard was truly a star of Ewing Oil magnitude, so it's only appropriate that he played on a Texas-based ballclub. The others were J.R. House, a career .105-hitting catcher with the 2003-04 Pirates and the '06 Astros and J.R. Phillips, a .188 career hitter from 1993-99 with the Giants, Phillies, Rockies, and yes, the Astros.

So all three men named "J.R." played in Houston, where presumably plenty of Astrodome and Minute Maid photographers -- maybe even our own Named For Hank -- photographed them at work, leading to the obvious question ...