The Brewster

It's that time of year (already)...the annual BBA Trade Value Series! Inspired by FanGraph's annual MLB Trade Value series, which was inspired by -- if not ripped-off from -- Bill Simmons’ NBA trade value column on ESPN.com back in the day. We've had a handful of new BBA/UMEBA GMs since last season's feature, so here's the rundown: The concept is to put together a ranking of the most valuable individual assets in the game, which is a different discussion than who the best players in the game are. Age, contract status, salary, injury history, and position scarcity all come into play, not just the numbers on the back of the players' baseball cards.

This year's installment is the fourth edition -- while FanGraphs has only done one version in the same timeframe...losers! -- in an attempt to figure out which players have the most value in the league heading into the upcoming 2042 trade deadline. Essentially, the best way to look at a player’s placement on this list is to ask “Would you be able to trade him, straight up, for any of the guys listed ahead of him?”

You can check out last year's list in these forum posts.

In years past, we've jumped right to the list but this time I wanted to simply highlight a group players who just missed the Top 50. With the majority of players from the "super drafts" of 2037 and 2038 either firmly intrenched in the the BBA or making their long-awaited debuts this season, the talent level of young hitters and pitchers in this league is incredible. There are several players who missed out of the Top 50 that could certainly help carry a franchise on their backs to the playoffs and a Landis Series win. Additionally, because of the influx of these players, there are fewer prospects without major league experience in the Top 50 then ever before. The time between 2039-2050 or so could end up being the Golden Era of Brewster talent, certainly in the modern era (since 1995).

So here is the group of fifty more studs, in simply alphabetical order, that earned Honorable Mention honors this year.

A few notes about what you'll see below:

• Ratings (OVERALL/POTENTIAL) and age are as of July 21, 2042

• Players selected in the 2042 First Year Draft were not considered for the list due to lack of professional experience

NAME	TEAM	POS	AGE	OVERALL	POTENTIAL	'41 RANK
Wilson Alomar	Rockville	LF	21	60	60
Yasir bin Lutfi	Seattle (AAA)	SP	22	50	70
Aarnoud Budding	Chicago	1B	22	65	70
Fernando Castillo	Vancouver	RF	25	65	70	30
Robert Chenoweth	Yellow Springs (AAA)	1B	22	50	80
Keith Dean	Atlantic City	2B	29	60	60
Arthur Dempster	Rockville	SP	33	70	70
Timo Dooley	Omaha	SP	22	55	70
Rex Foster	Yellow Springs	LF	22	70	70
Mal Fountain	New Orleans (A)	3B	21	40	75
Tomás Guillén	Charm City	CF	21	65	65
Pedro Guzmán	Phoenix (AAA)	LF	21	50	80
Chandler Hall	Edmonton	SP	23	70	75
Shawn Huber	Las Vegas	CL	30	75	75
Stewart Illingworth	Atlantic City	LF	23	60	60	35
Pankratz Isekenmeir	Phoenix	3B	23	65	65
Timmy Karnes	Des Moines	SP	21	50	80
Roelof Klooster	New Orleans	C	23	65	75
Renato Lacerda	New Orleans	CL	24	80	80
Eru Likiliki	Nashville	SP	26	60	65	17
André Ly	Omaha	RF	22	70	75
Dave Martin	Rockville	SP	33	60	60
Ramón Martínez	Brooklyn	CL	21	60	80
Ernest McBride	Hawaii	1B	21	70	80
Francisco Medina	Calgary	RF	27	60	60
Juan Medrano	Louisville	SS	21	60	75
Robert Menzies	Edmonton	SS	21	70	75
Yorikane Miyamoto	Madison	SP	22	60	65
Amayas Moelling	Chicago	SP	23	65	80
Jorge Nevárez	Charm City	SP	24	60	75	41
Orlando Ordóñez	Omaha	CF	22	65	75	46
Joël Ottoboni	Calgary	CL	22	80	80
Jerry Pacy	New Orleans	SP	26	55	55
Ramón Pagán	Valencia	CF	25	55	55	38
Stan Palácios	Louisville	SP	23	55	55
Lorenzo Palácios	Rockville	LF	28	65	65	14
Tomás Ramírez	Yellow Springs	SP	23	60	70
Ernesto Ramos	Yellow Springs	SP	27	60	65	26
Todd Rice	Seattle	CF	23	60	60	22
Luis Rojas	Charm City	SP	27	65	70
Po-sin Shi	California	CF	25	65	65
Manobu Shimizu	Madison	RF	21	75	80
Ron Shiplack	Hawaii	C	21	50	75
Jeffrey Smith	Vancouver	RF	23	60	80	21
Reggie Vargas	San Fernando	RF	22	60	65
Manoell Whanon	Las Vegas	CF	21	60	60
Tai hoi Wie	San Fernando	1B	31	70	70
Jim Wilkinson	Charm City (AAA)	SP	22	55	70
Motonobu Yamashita	Boise	SS	23	70	70
José Zúñiga	Jacksonville	1B	26	70	70	16

(Sorry, Recte...Ata didn't even make HM)

It’s fine, he’s a two trick pony now.

im proud to have the only Frick League guy over 30 (and 1 of only 4 in the league).

This is always fun.

I'm not sure if it's good or bad that's not a River Monster on that list...

Always excited for this series every season. You always do a great job with it. The real question is where Luis Maldonado will end up. In the top 50 or out of the top 100. Cue Randy rant please.

crobillard wrote: ↑

Fri May 01, 2020 12:35 pm

Always excited for this series every season. You always do a great job with it. The real question is where Luis Maldonado will end up. In the top 50 or out of the top 100. Cue Randy rant please.

if maldonado is anywhere near the top 50 the list is invalid.

EDIT: having been a big fan of the original list that simmons did, i know the way it is supposed to work is that in a one for one swap you would in theory say yes to trading the lower player for the higher player. There are so many guys on the HM list that i would never think of trading for maldonado straight up.

lol aw shucks. So who is missing from this top 100 that shouldn't be in the top 50? On my team, I dunno if anyone is making the top 50 aside from Donadoni maybe. Espinosa is really good, but if Menzies didn't make it than I doubt Espinosa will. Not sure.

It's hard to cut a guy who projects to 60 homers.

especially one that doesn't hit doubles

crobillard wrote: ↑

Fri May 01, 2020 1:25 pm

lol aw shucks. So who is missing from this top 100 that shouldn't be in the top 50? On my team, I dunno if anyone is making the top 50 aside from Donadoni maybe. Espinosa is really good, but if Menzies didn't make it than I doubt Espinosa will. Not sure.

Well you're just going to have to tune back in then, wontcha?

the other interesting thing will be how recent extensions for guys like french and ramos changed their ranking. Maybe joe will be nice enough to share where they would have slotted in before those deals were signed...

Well, I had French trending down because he was getting more expensive with fewer years of team control:

2039: #1
2040: #2
2041: #5
2042: ????

For this year's list, as you mention, it's finding the balancing point between being locked up long term (generally a good thing, albeit the inherent risk) but with a large AAV (albeit below market value). Had French not signed the extension and gone into 2043 on the last year of his deal, I probably would have put him 30-40 strictly due to risk for a team that could potentially trade for him.

Manobu Shimizu was lost for season early this year

CTBrewCrew wrote: ↑

Sat May 02, 2020 9:39 pm

Manobu Shimizu was lost for season early this year

He's got a shot at the Top 50 one day if he can bounce back from it. Madison needs him and Allende as much as any team needs their top two hitters.

jleddy wrote: ↑

Sat May 02, 2020 9:50 pm

CTBrewCrew wrote: ↑

Sat May 02, 2020 9:39 pm

Manobu Shimizu was lost for season early this year

He's got a shot at the Top 50 one day if he can bounce back from it. Madison needs him and Allende as much as any team needs their top two hitters.

Yeap, and if we get some pitching, and some defense, and some prospects....we might just have a team