Fifty in-depth feature stories with huge photos and many with video of the hottest top prospects in baseball. Not your usual boring ranking system. Some very unconventional takes, but it has been more right on than the BA list because they take all of the factors of the player's movement, including depth chart, emotional and personal adjustment, etc. into account. A must read!

Jeff Simmons is back in Indy Lights. That is the good news... He has a ride, and he's doing well. That is also the bad news, in that he has been on the major league circuit, but hasn't been able to stick. Can he make it back to the major league circuit full time? Find out in the new SZ article on Simmons.

Good morning, Mr Bailey. Your mission, should you decide to accept it: Ignite the PawSox starting lineup. This webpage will self destruct in eight seconds. Good luck, Jeff. A feature by Tom Robinson on Jeff Bailey at SZ with large photos.

The Buffalo Bandits donned mohawk haircuts to go to war with the Portland Lumberjax for the NLL title game which didn't go Orange until it came down to the wire

SZ waited until the All-Star break to introduce the first class of the International Hall of Fame since 1964. The Triple-A league, celebrating its 125th year, inducted 27 players including Tommy Aaron, Hank's brother, Tommy Lasorda, Joe Altobelli (Rochester's "Mr. Baseball") and the ever-colorful Luke Easter.

Can Leilani Munter combine her need for speed with her green environmental views to make a successful racing career in the IRL? Can a Munter "Eco-Dream-Team" attract green sponsors to the Indy Lights series? The Divine Ms. M. who once doubled for Catherine Zeta Jones in the movies, is the first driver featured in the new minor/junior race series at the digital magazine SZ (MLN Sports Zone).

We're closing up the list for the MLN FAB50 Baseball 2008 in a few days, the sixth annual player ranking of those with great tools who are most likely to land in the major leagues in the next 12-18 months, and the MLN Ones2Watch 2008 list of players who will are moving through the lower depths of the farm and hitting the fast-track. We've been pleased that, while BA picks political darlings like Delmon Young as No. 1 two years in a row totally on prospect sheets, that we choose more practical number ones that go to the major leagues, like Felix Hernandez, Stephen Drew over the same duration. Last year's MLN FAB50 Baseball 2007 No. 1, Evan Longoria, likewise looks to be a good choice.

So who, in your opinion, will make it to the majors in the next 12-18 months? If you live in a minor league market, who have you seen that excites you to watch? We do our own research year-round, including spring scouting, asking scouts, managers, farm directors, and the like, but it is nice to hear from the fans, too. Sometimes you even toss us a player that, when we're on the fence about where they should go, gets the nod with a little help from their friends in the stands, if they make a good point.

The FAB50 comes out mid-July. We'll check back then!

Thanks!

Brian Ross

Sr. Editor

MLN Sports Group LLC

Publishers of MLN Sports Zone (SZ)

Brian Bocock started the season for the Giants at shortstop. Can he find his way back to the major leagues after his first cup of coffee? From the feature at MLN Sports Zone. Photo courtesy Fresno Grizzlies. copyright ©2008 MLN Sports Group LLC. All rights reserved. Used herein by permission. Creative commons with attribution.

With Omar Vizquel on the DL, the Giants reached down to defensive star Brian Bocock to open the season at shortstop. After 32 games tasting the cut air of a major league fastball, Bocock is back in Fresno, savoring the experience, and piecing together the next part of his career. An interesting look at the making of a career in this month's SZ.

The editors of this august publication have been bursting with joy that they have arrived at a deal to bring selected YB stories over to Fox Sports News. Many of you, apparently, are chafing at the bit for the opportunity to have your work featured over at Fox. If your work is good enough to be featured on a professional sports network, it is good enough to be paid for by a professional sports network. Fox is not OSC. It is run by the largest and richest media conglomerate in the world. Even if you are not being paid at the full rate that they would accord one of their professional blogging sports writers, they should still be paying you something for your words to appear in their system.

I have been a professional writer/editor for 28 years. I have been a publisher the last nine. We pay al of our writers for our content, and I would expect no less from a company hundreds of times our size.

Do not submit to the Fox deal unless YB can also get you some compensation for your services. Fox does not need your charity, and if your work is that good, you deserve more respect from them, and from YB, than that.

Sincerely,

Brian Ross

Publisher

MLN Sports

MLN Sports.com

The editors of this august publication have been bursting with joy that they have arrived at a deal to bring selected YB stories over to Fox Sports News. Many of you, apparently, are chafing at the bit for the opportunity to have your work featured over at Fox. If your work is good enough to be featured on a professional sports network, it is good enough to be paid for by a professional sports network. Fox is not OSC. It is run by the largest and richest media conglomerate in the world. Even if you are not being paid at the full rate that they would accord one of their professional blogging sports writers, they should be paying you something for your words to appear in their system.

I have been a professional writer/editor for 28 years. I have been a publisher the last nine. We pay al of our writers for our content, and I would expect no less from a company hundreds of times our size.

Do not submit to the Fox deal unless YB can also get you some compensation for your services. Fox does not need your charity, and if your work is that good, you deserve more respect from them, and from YB, than that.

Sincerely,

Brian Ross

Publisher

MLN Sports

MLN Sports.com

Los Angeles Dodgers pitching phenom Clay Kersahw sports illustration as seen at SZ, the digital magazine of minor league sports news. To see the full sized illustration go to the baseball section of SZ. copyright ©2008 MLN Sports Group LLC All rights reserved. Used herein by permission.

MLN Sports' senior editor Brian Ross gives you his shiny two on the ESPN-2 and MLB.com coverage of the draft, and utters baseball heresy by suggested that the draft be overhauled to include... gasp... International players and deal out day two to another organization... MiLB.

Not your father's draft report. A very different take from the normal five-tool humdrum on the Draft, what it means for the year and to baseball in particular.

Whataburger Field, home of the Corpus Christi Hooks ( Houston Astros AA Affiliate, Texas League) was voted the no. 1 ballpark or arena in North America by the fans in a poll conducted by MLN Sports for the June 2008 issue of the digital magazine SZ. Three ballparks and seven arenas made the top ten. In addition, fans voted for their favorite food, entertainment, and extras. The complete rankings at SZ.