New slogans, jokes, Darth Vader, stadium news and a sentimental article about one man's 36-year journey to the big leagues. What's not to love about the minor leagues?

Even though MiLB rosters haven't been set yet, we still have plenty to talk about. Here's what is going on around the Pacific Coast League right now.

The El Paso Chihuahuas are set to begin their inaugural season and according to the team's radio broadcaster, Tim Hagerty, some of the players are already getting into the spirit:

Infielder Brandon Wood tells me the team wants to adopt an actual chihuahua to run around the clubhouse.

— Tim Hagerty (@tdhagerty) March 18, 2014

Also, in this interview with Padres manager Bud Black, Hagerty revealed that Black recently flashed the "Fear the Ears" hand symbol that the Chihuahuas have developed.

You might need to be over 30 to understand this joke from Cody Decker, an infielder in the Padres system:

Due to inflation, now they would be 5.8 Non Blondes....

— Cody Decker (@Decker6) March 18, 2014

Keeping with the Twitter theme, Tacoma Rainiers radio broadcaster Mike Curto (who writes an excellent blog about the Rainiers) tweeted about his recent claim to fame:

Twitter is a magical place. I just got tweeted @ by the Stanford trombonist who was crushed at the end of "The Play." #blessed

— Mike Curto (@CurtoWorld) March 20, 2014

The Sacramento River Cats can’t figure out whether to be overjoyed or frightened after being followed by @EvilDarthVader on Twitter:

.@EvilDarthVader just followed us. Awesome or alarming?

— River Cats (@RiverCats) March 17, 2014

The Omaha World Herald jumped aboard the NCAA basketball bracket craze and created one for Nebraska celebrities, who advance by popular vote. The first round pitted Bob Gibson vs. Alex Gordon (both of whom played Triple-A baseball in Omaha - Gibson with the Omaha Cardinals and Gordon with the Omaha Royals). Gibson won with 69% of the vote. Gordon didn't stand a chance.

Speaking of Omaha, Chris Jones (not the pitcher, despite the link to his profile) wrote a long feature for ESPN called A Long Journey to Spring about former Storm Chasers manager Mike Jirschele that is a must read. Jirschele played and then coached/managed in the minor leagues for the past 36 seasons before finally making it to the big leagues (where he will be a coach for the Royals this season).

The Colorado Springs Sky Sox posted a Q & A with manager Glenallen Hill on its blog. Hill is entering his second season at the helm.

All is not well with the Las Vegas 51s, for a couple of reasons. First, the Metshaven't decided whether or not they will renew their contract with the 51s for the 2015 season. And second, according to these twostories, Cashman Field isn't exactly ideal for baseball.

The Salt Lake Bees renamed their stadium Smith's Ballpark earlier this month. Smith's is a grocery store chain.

After last night's solid win over the Mariners, the Padres will play host to the White Sox this afternoon. Tyson Ross looks to throw around 90 pitches in his fifth Spring start. He struggled with the wind his last time out, giving up six runs on 12 hits against the Rockies. But he collected six strikeouts (doubling his Spring total) and issued no walks.

The White Sox split-squad team coming to Peoria will be led by Chris Beck on the mound. This is only his second preseason outing after he pitched three frames in his Spring debut over two weeks ago. He allowed two earned runs on four hits against the Royals. The highly-ranked prospect was moved to minor league camp two days ago, but he'll be back to make start against the Padres today.

Watch/Listen

Only radio for us today in the 8th to last game before the start of the regular season. The game will be broadcast on ESPN 1700 this afternoon with first pitch set for 1:05pm. You can also tune in via Gameday Audio or At-Bat.

After three straight televised night games, it's hard to go back to just radio today. But it'll be nice to listen to the sweet sounds of Bob Scanlan before the Aztecs do work this afternoon.

Lineups:

#Padres vs. #WhiteSox 1:05pmPT on @ESPNRadio1700#PadresSTpic.twitter.com/a1ZFZQOOtQ

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) March 22, 2014

GO FRIARS!! KEEP THE FAITH!!

Broadcast info:

Radio: ESPN 1700, Gameday Audio, At-Bat
Gameday

The Dodgers battle the Padres on March 30 and April 1-2 at Petco Park in San Diego.

The rotation is becoming clearer for the Dodgers' domestic opening series against the Padres beginning next Sunday, March 30 in San Diego. San Diego manager Bud Black announced his opening rotation on Saturday morning in Peoria.

The Padres will start Andrew Cashner in the series opener, a Sunday Night Baseball affair on ESPN, then have Ian Kennedy start the second game, on Tuesday, followed by Tyson Ross on Wednesday, per Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Casher, 27, was 10-9 with a 3.09 ERA last year in his first full major league season, with 128 strikeouts and 47 walks in 175 innings.

The Dodgers haven't yet announced their rotation for the three games in San Diego, but manager Don Mattingly told reporters before the opener in Australia that both Zack Greinke and Dan Haren are in line to pitch in the Freeway Series next week, per J.P. Hoornstra of the L.A. Daily News.

What happens this weekend at Camelback Ranch in Arizona will provide more clues as to the Dodgers rotation.

If Greinke and Haren remain on regular rest and pitch Saturday and Sunday in minor league games, they could line up to face the Angels at Dodger Stadium on Thursday and Friday, then pitch the second and third games in San Diego, assuming Clayton Kershaw starts the Sunday night opener.

That opens up the home opener for Hyun-Jin Ryu, who starts later Saturday night (Sunday in Sydney) against the Diamondbacks. Ryu could conceivably start the Saturday Freeway Series finale against the Angels in Anaheim, then open the home schedule on Friday, April 4 against the Giants.

Ryu was 7-4 with a 2.32 ERA in 15 starts at Dodger Stadium in 2013, with 79 strikeouts and 21 walks in 97 innings.

Using Ryu in the home opener would allow Kershaw to start the next day on five days rest, one of at least two straight starts on extra rest for Kershaw thanks to off days on the schedule early in April. Depending on when fifth starter Josh Beckett is slotted in, Kershaw could potentially start three consecutive times (April 5, 11, 17) on five days rest, holding true Mattingly's plan to give his ace extra rest whenever possible this season.

But nothing is official just yet on the Dodgers' side. We only know the pitchers they will face in San Diego.

Free agent acquisition to spend time on the DL before even making his regular season debut with the Padres.

Just as Padres seemed to be getting healthy (Chase Headley and Carlos Quentin have made Spring Training starts and Huston Street is pitching in games) news of another injury broke today. According to the San Diego Union Tribune's Dennis Lin (who I just met for the first time yesterday), the oft-injured starting pitcher Josh Johnson will be shut down for 10-14 days and will be out of commission for 4-5 weeks with a strained flexor tendon. With Opening Night just over a week away, that means a DL stint for the big right hander. Also according to Lin there are 4 candidates to replace Johnson in the regular season rotation: Matt Wisler, Donn Roach, Robbie Erlin and Jesse Hahn.

In addition to the regular season rotation Johnson's spot in the Spring Training rotation must be filled. He was scheduled to start in tomorrow's game. Instead Matt Wisler will toe the slab in what many will see as an audition to earn the regular season job. Wisler is one of the Padres' top prospects, but has never pitched above AA. If he does get called up his quick rise and ascension straight from AA would equal similar ascents by former Padres Jake Peavy and Mat Latos.

Despite Wisler's start tomorrow, Robbie Erlin might be the favorite for the job. Unlike Wisler, Erlin is already on the 40 man roster (as are fellow replacement candidates Roach and Hahn). He is also the only candidate with big league experience. Roach, like Wisler, has yet to pitch above AA and Hahn has never even pitched in either AA or AAA. Hahn was treated with kid gloves by the Rays and was rarely stretched out as a starter, but has a killer arsenal that projects to be able to get major league hitters out.

The injury certainly is bad news, but it makes for a new intriguing Spring Training storyline coming down the preseason's final stretch.

Update:

Talked to #Padres Josh Johnson today about his forearm soreness. "It feels sort of similar [to 2013, #BlueJays] but not as bad."

— Corey Brock (@FollowThePadres) March 23, 2014

#Padres Johnson: "It’s a huge setback. We were moving on the right path." Felt fine before last start. "It couldn't have gone any better."

— Corey Brock (@FollowThePadres) March 23, 2014

Black said Erlin and Wisler are the leading candidates to replace Johnson in the rotation. Roach would be a RP if he makes team. #Padres

— Corey Brock (@FollowThePadres) March 23, 2014

San Diego State basketball fans will be paying doubly close attention to tonight's NCAA Tournament game between Gonzaga and Arizona, as it is being played at Viejas Arena and the winner will go on to face the Aztecs in the Sweet 16. I don't know anything about basketball, so whenever I hear the names of teams I just think of baseball players who went to those schools. Arizona had a few names that came to mind, but I couldn't think of anyone who went to Gonzaga, so I decided to look them both up. Baseball Reference has a tool where you can view players by school, because Baseball Reference has a tool for everything.

Arizona blows Gonzaga out of the water with 77 major league players over the years, while Gonzaga boasts a respectable 17. Kenny Lofton gets all the ink this time of year since he played in the Final Four with the Wildcats back in '88, but I was more interested in scoping out the Padres who attended each school. Arizona wins that battle even more decisively, beating Gonzaga nine-to-one. Here are the lists (well, Arizona's list and Gonzaga's line); each player's name is followed by his position and the year(s) he played for the Padres.

Arizona:
Craig Lefferts, RP (1984-'87, '90-'92)
Ed Vosberg, P (1986, '99)
Jack Howell,3B (1991)
Kevin Ward, LF (1991-'92)
Trevor Hoffman, RP (1993-2008)
Jason Thompson, 1B (1996)
George Arias, 3B (1997-'99)
Cory Burns, RP (2012)
Nick Hundley, C (2008-present)

Gonzaga:
Jason Bay, OF (2003)

If not for those three games Jason Bay played before he went to Pittsburgh in the Brian Giles trade, this would have been a shutout. The volume of Padres past and present gives any Friar fan reason to root for the dirty 'Zonies. Then again, if you're pulling for Gonzaga, there's a good reason for that: Arizona has produced more Dodgers, too.

The Hawk patrolled right field like few others.

Andre Dawson is one of those legends. For some, he's "one" whose legend is embellished. For others, he's an under-appreciated great whose contributions go beyond the numbers.

Well, this article is supposed to be about numbers, but the Cub Tracks-er in me has to start with other links.

You know that Dawson is in the Hall of Fame.

But it took him nine votes to get in and some consider him to be the definition of a borderline candidate.

He won the MVP Award for the Cubs in 1987, though many consider that to be a poor selection.

Some even remember Dawson best for getting beaned by Eric Show and then attacking the Padres' hurler. Hawk talked about the incident as he got ready to enter the Hall.

Hawk was known as an intense competitor. He once went nuts on Cowboy Joe West. You MUST watch this clip, if for no other reason than to see a shirt WGN sportscaster Dan Roan was allowed to wear on the air.

On to the numbers.

Regardless whether you think Dawson deserves a spot in the Hall, he had a fantastic career. He played 21 total seasons, slashing .279/.323/.482, hitting 438 HR, driving in 1591 runs, and stealing 314 bases. His OPS+ was 119 and Fangraphs has him being worth 59.5 WAR. He was Rookie of the Year for the 1976 Montreal Expos, won the MVP for the Cubs, earned a spot on eight All-Star teams (five as a Cub), and won eight Gold Gloves on one of the strongest and most accurate outfield arms around.

Dawson spent six seasons as a Cub, his age 32-37 seasons. He famously joined the Cubs by offering the team a blank contract to help save his knees. That's a memory Dallas Green recalled with fondness.

As a Cub, Dawson hit .285/.327/.507 with 174 HR, 587 RBI, 57 steals (thanks Montreal's astroturf) with an OPS+ of 125 at a value of 17.2 WAR. The Hawk tapered off his last four seasons as he played out the string with the Boston Red Sox and Florida Marlins.

We loved the Hawk because he wanted to play for us and he appreciated Chicago. Six seasons is sort of a short stay, but it was plenty long enough for Dawson to play his way into Cub lore. What's your favorite Dawson memory?

Following yet another tie game, our Padres are hitting the road this afternoon to face the Rangers in Surprise.

Matt Wisler will get the ball against Texas in his fifth Spring outing. In his four prior appearances, the righty tossed 7 2/3 innings, allowing three earned runs on seven hits while striking out three batters. Today will be his first start, however, and he'll have a lot more on the line this time out. Originally scheduled to make the start today was Josh Johnson, but as we learned yesterday he is heading to the DL and will be out for at least 4-5 weeks. The highly-ranked prospect will now get a chance to make a case for himself to take Johnson's vacated spot in the rotation when the season starts in seven (!!!!!!!!) days.

Similarly, Rangers starter for this afternoon is also trying to earn himself a spot in his team's rotation. Joe Saunders will take the mound opposite Wisler. He's had two prior outings (one start) this Spring, pitching seven total innings and surrendering six runs (five earned) on ten hits and a walk. He has, however, also collected eight strikeouts going into Sunday's matchup.

Watch/Listen

The game will be available on The Mighty 1090, Gameday Audio, and AtBat for your listening pleasure. First pitch is set for 1:05.

Only a week of this nonsense to go

It's time for Joe Saunders to disappoint us. Either he's good and makes the rotation, or he's Joe Saunders. Regardless, you can see it on TXA-21.

Padres vs. Rangers at 3:05 CT today on @TXA21&@MLBTV. Or listen online: http://t.co/7zPojY9GdV#RangersSTpic.twitter.com/wVZ6EY3YdM

— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) March 23, 2014

#Rangers lineup vs. SD: Choo DH, Wilson SS, Fielder 1B, Beltre 3B, Rios RF, Martin CF, Choice LF, Soto C, Rosales 2B, Saunders P

— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) March 23, 2014

Go Rangers!

Promising Rangers second baseman Jurickson Profar will miss the next 2.5-3 months due to a shoulder injury. Check out the fantasy impact on draft day.

T.R. Sullivan from MLB.com reports this evening that Rangers second baseman Jurickson Profar will miss 10-12 weeks due to a torn muscle in his right shoulder. Here is more from Sullivan:

Profar felt the shoulder pain during Saturday's game against the Padres, and the injury might have occurred while he tried to turn a double play in the sixth inning. The second baseman showed up on Sunday feeling some soreness in the shoulder, so the Rangers sent him for an MRI exam, and the results showed a tear in the teres major muscle.

Profar, who was dealing with tendinitis in the shoulder for the four weeks of Spring Training, is not expected to need surgery, and the Rangers are hoping to have him back before the All-Star break.

The Rangers offseason is not going well, as they have experienced injuries to several of their starting pitchers, Adrian Beltre, Alex Rios and shortstop Elvis Andrus is dealing with an elbow injury.

Sullivan goes on to say that the team will look at internal candidates including Josh Wilson, Adam Rosales, Brent Lillibridge and possibly Rougned Odor. They could look at some external candidates as well, so it remains to be seen who they will use to replace Profar till the All Star break.

For those in re-draft leagues, I wouldn't draft Profar unless you wanted to utilize him as a bench or DL stash for three months. Those of you who own him in keeper leagues just have to bite the bullet for now, as any offer you receive for him will more than likely be of the low-ball variety.

The name Jeremy Baltz is one that we Padre fans need to become more familiar with. After his 2013 season spent with the Lake Elsinore Storm, batting .309 in 67 games with 10 home runs, he's most definitely proven himself a force to be reckoned with.

Twenty-three-year-old Baltz was originally drafted by the New York Yankees out of high school, but instead went to St. John's University and was later drafted by the Padres in the 2nd round of the 2012 June Amateur Draft. In his short time spent with our single-A affiliate he's blazed quite the trail, and though many Padres fans may not yet be familiar with his name, he has quite the following among minor league fans.

Baltz became a favorite amongst fans last season in Lake Elsinore, as well as in Forte Wayne the prior season. Fans love watching him play because his obvious love of the game comes through in his play. Baltz's dedication to each and every play and his effort on the field is a sight to see. No matter what angle the ball takes on its way out to the wall, you can expect it to be caught if it's heading in Baltz' direction.

This is a heads up to all Padres fans to keep an eye on this man's numbers. He's steadily working his way up to the 40-man and it will most definitely be an exciting ride to the top.

Today Chase Headley played within the Padres minors, and if it was anything like his time spent in the minors during the 2013 season, nothing but good will come from it.

Chase Headley played in today's game with the Padres minor league. Headley went 3 for 7, which is exactly what he was looking for to get him back to the top of his game, according to ESPN and The Associated Press.

In the 2013 season while Headley spent time rehabilitating in Lake Elsinore at the single A level with a thumb injury, many player expressed how grateful they were for their time playing with Headley. During on-field interviews last year, several Lake Elsinore Storm players expressed how they enjoyed getting to know Chase and that they felt it was healthy for them to spend time with such a positive player from their own affiliate. Which I am sure the same occurred in today's game as well.

Headley's character is one in which you would hope would rub off on the up-and-coming Padres. Headley is easily the current face of the Padres franchise and with his brief time spent with the minor today we can only hope that he inspires other players to strive for is level of grace.

I don't know about you, but I have trouble paying attention to spring training games in these final days before Opening Night. It's just so difficult when I know that a week from now I'll be shouting "BEAT LA" at the top of my lungs in Petco Park. But then Josh Johnson got injured and chaos reigned, and now I'm paying very close attention. Matt Wisler got what should have been Johnson's start against the Rangers today in a last minute audition for the rotation. Though Wisler had tremendous success in San Antonio last season, he got roughed up today. In 2.2 innings, he gave up 5 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks. The good news is that he gave up just one extra base hit, a double to Leonys Martin.

The offense looked much better than Wisler, buoyed by multi-hit games from Yasmani Grandal, Chase Headley, and Xavier Nady. The Padres also picked up 3 runs on blasts from Carlos Quentin and Will Venable (you know, America's Finest City's Sweetheart). Here's hoping they can keep those hot bats swinging into next Sunday.

Eric Stults will get the start tomorrow against the Cubs at 7:05 PM. March Madness takes a break until Thursday, so you'd better be here.

Wonko out-commented everybody, but he only got 1 rec to TTG's 3.

Can Gyorko spark the Padres?

Additions

Josh Johnson, Joaquin Benoit, Seth Smith, Alex Torres, Patrick Schuster

Subtractions

Luke Gregerson, Logan Forsythe, Jesus Guzman

Injuries

Chase Headley - Strained calf

Josh Johnson - Strained flexor, right forearm

Cameron Maybin - Ruptured biceps tendon

Yasmani Grandal - Torn ACL

Corey Luebke - Torn UCL, Tommy John surgery (performed in Feb. 2014)

Casey Kelly - Torn UCL, Tommy John surgery (performed April 2013)

Players to watch

Who's the best second baseman in the National League? Matt Carpenter's a third baseman now. Brandon Phillips still has a great glove, but his bat has been slipping the last two years. If Chase Utley's bone-powder knees don't completely cave in, he's probably the guy.

But what about Gyorko? In 125 games last year, he was worth just about as many wins as Phillips, Marco Scutaro, Neil Walker, and Daniel Murphy. Yes, that group -- 2.5 to 3.0 fWAR -- came in pretty far behind Utley and Carpenter, but again, Carp is at third now and Utley hasn't played in 150 games in a season since 2009.

Gyorko isn't a Gold Glove defender, and he might never flash SABR-tickling plate discipline, but he led NL second basemen in home runs -- second in baseball to Robinson Cano. And he did it as a rookie playing half his games in the parametric gulf of Petco. If he can reconcile his strikeout and walk percentages to better reflect what he did in the minors, he could have a huge season and end up being the centerpiece of the Padres offense.

Andrew Cashner

Cashner's been tabbed as the Padres Opening Day starter, and he deserves a chance to be that premier guy at the front of their rotation. Last year, his first full season as a starter, Cashner walked a career-low 2.42 batters per nine innings on his way to a 3.09 ERA in 175 innings.

He's been hyped by the scoutingwealth of baseball since Theo Epstein was in Boston, but up until last year, it was all ceiling and very little in terms of actual production. The expectations for 2014 are lofty after Cashner finally put together a strong season at age 26.

Burch Smith

It doesn't make any sense, except that those are birch trees. You could also suss out some kind of analogy about Smith having some aspects of his game that stand out and a few that seemed to disappear in his short run as a big leaguer last year, but I don't really want to. I just think it's funny.

Throughout the minors, Smith had defibrillating strikeout numbers. That part of his game translated to the majors. Unequivocally. He struck out 11.39 batters per nine innings -- or 27.5 percent, which is actually a better way to look at K rate -- but he struggled with his command, walking over 5 batters per nine -- or 12.6 percent. It was a small sample size, just 36⅓ in seven starts, but clearly, he'll need to whittle away at the free passes to have prolonged success.

If he puts everything together, he could be a huge breakout candidate for San Diego.

Outlook

San Diego's been a perpetual 70-win team since Adrian Gonzalez left. They need a "leader" with a bat in his hands, but the last good Padres team pitched with a staunch avarice. The bullpen was nearly impregnable and the rotation featured consistent arms at the top. They might be close to returning to that formula, but they're not quite there yet.

It's also pretty safe to say that the division has gotten much better over the last few years.

Maybe ...

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San Diego Padres

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Several external factors are going to have to break their way for the Padres to be able to compete with the Dodgers -- and the other three teams in the NL West. San Diego seems to be where they always are: Just a few guys away ...

But maybe this is the year it all falls together in perfect symmetry. Maybe Gyorko explodes and Cashner gels with some of the team's young starters to form a solid rotation. Maybe Josh Johnson only gets injured once -- he's likely to start the season on the DL. Maybe Chase Headley channels 2012 and Everth Cabrera channels 2013.

It's not like all of those channels have to be channeled for San Diego to make the postseason, but many will.

Soon

This team has already been mangled by injuries. Headley will have trouble putting up another big year in his walk season if he can't shake that tweaky calf. Corey Luebke, Cameron Maybin, and perhaps even Casey Kelly might simply be too fragile to make an impact in their careers -- but definitely not for the better part of this season.

If San Diego finds itself at the bottom of the division in July, a pseudo-fire sale might be in order to gear up for the next wave of prospects -- Max Fried, Austin Hedges, etc. Headley could bring back an impact player, but he'll have to be healthy and productive. He doesn't appear to be sticking around anyway, so why not trade him?

Mike Newman from RotoScouting, and formerly from FanGraphs and Scouting the Sally, stops by Fake Teams with a guest post today, offering insights into the differences between scouting and scouting for fantasy baseball.

This article was written by Mike Newman from RotoScouting. You can read more of his work at RotoScouting, so if you like what you read below, check out his new site.

ROTOscouting? Fantasy Baseball Scouting Reports? What?

The black and white world of baseball writing sucks. Prospects or MLB? Scouting or fantasy? Data analysis or scouting? It's as if somebody created bins and added the names of writers to each. Then, those bins are covered and padlocks are added to assure writers don't branch out into other areas.

In that world, fantasy baseball scouting reports aren't welcomed. This has been a frequent topic of conversation in six years writing about baseball prospects. It hurts credibility. It make scouting more difficult because there's a difference between fantasy baseball and MLB. That sentiment forced me to avoid writing about a game I've played since selecting Darryl Strawberry with the fourth overall pick in his first year with the Dodgers (1991).

In some ways, those who questioned the utility of combining scouting and fantasy baseball are right. They are different, and it takes work to separate the two. At ROTOscouting, MLB scouting reports and fantasy baseball scouting reports will be featured, allowing readers to learn the subtle differences between both.

Here's an example of a MLB scouting summary on Indians prospect Francisco Lindor:

"Francisco Lindor is a premium defender with the potential for multiple gold gloves. A premium athlete, he makes plays deep in the hole look easy. Off of his back foot, he fires missiles across the diamond and has value even if the bat fails to develop. On offense, Lindor's has strong contact skills, but the power tool is limited. Lindor is explosive and has the speed to steal 30-plus bases at the Major League level."

Lindor is a top-10 prospect in all of baseball, but was selected nearly 200 picks into the TDGX Experts League draft over at TheDynastyGuru.com. For those who haven't been following, it's a 20-team league with 40-man rosters and 35-keepers. Lindor slipped because of write ups like the one above? At last check, fielding percentage isn't a 5x5 category, so who cares about defense anyway?

Dismissing premium defenders in fantasy baseball is a generalization fueled by MLB scouting reports. Those pieces are so over the top positive about defense, it must be impossible for the bat to stack up. The result is a player who slides down draft boards due to perception and difficulty separating fantasy baseball value from MLB value.

All scouting reports are written with a goal of accentuating the positives about a player, while addressing weakness in the profile. MLB scouting reports focus on the whole player while fantasy baseball scouting reports only need to discuss what's relevant to fantasy baseball. The owner no longer has to draw his or her own conclusions because the report has a different focus.

Fantasy baseball scouting reports read differently:

"Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor has the ability to produce .285+ batting averages with 30 steals. At the top of a strong lineup, he'll reach base enough to be a consistent 100 runs scored threat. Home run and RBI totals will underwhelm, but three category shortstops are difficult to find. Plus, a gold glove defensive profile means Lindor is guaranteed to spend the bulk of his career at the position, as opposed to Javier Baez and Xander Bogaerts, two players who project to move off of shortstop eventually."

Sound a bit like Elvis Andrus doesn't it? The Rangers shortstop was drafted in round three of the TDGX draft and will be that team's shortstop for the next decade if the league sticks around. Until the arrival of BravesAndrelton Simmons, scouting contacts were unanimous in their belief Andrus was the best defensive shortstop in baseball. Yes, the 25-year old has also become a coveted player in 5x5 formats. When forced to focus on fantasy baseball impact alone, premium defense helps to boost the profile, not harm it.

This wasn't the only example of prospects with elite defensive profiles slipping either. Consensus top-30 overall prospect Austin Hedges of the San Diego Padresfell to me at pick #537. Later, top-100 overall prospect Christian Bethancourt of the Braves entered the fold after being selected #737.

But fantasy baseball scouting reports aren't the only reason to check out ROTOscouting. Our contributors include two former MLB operations employees, a pair of prospect writers from Bullpen Banter and three others with baseball blogging experience. Plus, we'll feature two writers who are new to baseball blogging, but have backgrounds in broadcasting.

Beyond daily pieces and live chats, ROTOscouting invites every amateur scout to contribute to YOUscout, our online scouting forms (Hitters, Pitchers). These are 100% free to submit and review. Consider it our version of crowdsourcing. At present, prospect writers who focus on scouting are held in high regard and deservedly so. However, they all had to start somewhere. We wanted to create a starting point for the next wave. When the MILB season begins, the scouting staff will use YOUscout to house scouting information for prospects who won't be included in long form reports.

At ROTOscouting, we've taken a "Field Of Dreams" approach to the new venture -- build it and trust subscribers will want to support a start up looking to cement itself in the industry. Whether it works or not, I've never been so excited about a project in six years writing baseball.

**A special thanks for Ray for providing me the sounding board. He has been a true friend in the industry.**

Later this week, our Padres will be breaking camp and heading back to San Diego to close out Spring Training at Fowler Park. But they still have a few game to get through before that can happen. Tonight they'll travel to Mesa to face the Cubs at their Spring Training facility. Eric Stults will get his fifth preseason start. He had a couple of rough starts at the beginning of the Spring, but has been pitching better as of late. Over his last two starts, he's kept opponents to three runs in 8 1/3 innings, striking out four along the way. After leading the team last year in innings, as well as wins, Stults look to follow up with a another solid season on the mound for San Diego.

The Padres had their starting rotation pretty much set until Josh Johnson's injury, but now they're looking at their options for their number 5 starter. Similarly, the Cubs still haven't announced their starting five going into Opening Day, but today's starter looks to be in the mix. Carlos Villanueva will take the mound for Chicago as he continues his audition for the 5th spot in the Cubs rotation. Villanueva has a 6.17 ERA over 11 2/3 innings this Spring. He's given up eight runs on 12 hits, but has also collected 15 strikeouts, which is the 3rd most among Cubs pitchers in Cactus League play.

Watch/listen

First pitch is at 7:05pm. Tonight's contest will be the first night game at the Cubs' new Spring Training facility. No Padres TV broadcast, but MLB.TV will have the Cubs TV feed. Otherwise you can listen in on The Mighty 1090, Gameday Audio, or At-Bat.

On Saturday morning at 11 am, "Fast" Eddie, the driver of the Fox Sports San Diego's  Fan Express Bus, picked us up our hotel in Glendale and delivered us to the Peoria Sports Complex.  With two hours to kill before the Padres game started, Dex, Rick (RJ's Fro) and I decided to separate from the rest of the group and walk to the back fields in search of Dex's brother-in-law Brooks Conrad.

If all goes according to plan Brooks will be starting at 3B for the AAA El Paso Chihuahuas. Although with news that fellow ASU grad and one-time top infield prospect Brandon Wood was just released by the team nothing is for certain.

On field 4 we took shelter from the sun and watched the grounds crew work as we waited for the players to take the field and start their warm-ups.  After about 20 minutes we decided to leave and grab a bite to eat before returning.  On our way towards the main complex we ran smack dab into Brooks and Travis Buck exiting the clubhouse.  They were on their way, as they said, "to kick the Mariners out of the home dugout".

Brooks was super chill, as always.  If he was starstruck or nervous from seeing two of the bloggers from the prior night's #BloggersTakeOver segment on FSSD, he didn't show it.  Brooks looked ruggedly strong.  It's probably different for Dex because he sees him more often, but I still think of Brooks as a middle school kid, so it's always a bit of a surprise to see him all growns up in a man size body.  He told us that he was having a good Spring so far and would be starting at 3B in the game at 1 pm.  We told him we'd be there to cheer him on, after we feasted on ballpark food.

After our brief meeting we entered the main stadium and bought pulled pork sandwiches and kettle corn with discretionary food money graciously provided by FSSD.  Dex  didn't know it then, but he was destined to carry that bag of kettle corn with him the rest of the trip and all the way back to San Diego.  He offered me some every 15 minutes, like clockwork.

Rooting for Brooks on Field 6. #BrooksWasHerepic.twitter.com/m20nIsZ1pK

— Gaslamp Ball (@gaslampball) March 22, 2014

Watching games on the back fields is a different kind of experience.  The bullpen pitchers were literally sitting behind us in the bleachers.  I, in turn, was sitting directly behind Rick.  He was easily annoyed by how loud I chewed the kettle corn just a few inches away from his ear.  I tried to tell him that it's part of the fan experience, but he wasn't buying it.

Watching the AAA team. So close to action. Feel like I have to whisper so as not to distract anybody. #bloggerstakeover#soundcarries

— Gaslamp Ball (@gaslampball) March 22, 2014

I recorded all three of Brooks' at bats, but for some reason I deleted all but the one where he struck out. Unfortunately he went 0-3 from what we saw.  He did pull one down the right field line, but it was juuuust foul.

Here's a video of Brooks being interviewed after the game.  Weird that he didn't give us a shout out.

The Cubs play their only home night game of the spring this evening.

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona -- The Cubs will meet the Padres under the lights at Cubs Park this evening, the first-ever night game at the new facility. I can tell you that the lights are all functional, and pretty bright, having driven by there a couple of weeks ago in the evening (on my way somewhere else), and they had the lights on. (Not sure why.) The Cubs are promising a fireworks show after the game.

Imagine that. A fireworks show after a Cubs home game.

Another thing I wanted to talk about before tonight's contest is this: We are one week away from Opening Day in Pittsburgh. Yet, even yesterday, there were random guys from the minor-league camp playing in the game. When are games going to start being managed even close to major-league quality? When do we get to see whether guys "on the bubble" are given chances to make the team, rather than see Wes Darvill and Zeke DeVoss play the final innings of spring-training games?

The lineup tonight is full of big-league regulars, but the reserves list includes more guys who have been cut and players and pitchers from the minor-league camp.

Decision time is coming, and it's time to get more playing time for the guys who will actually be on the 25-man roster a week from today, in my view.

Oddity: if you believe in the law of averages, this game has a fair chance of ending in a tie. The Padres have had five tie games in their 25 spring-training games so far this year, a very high percentage. The Cubs have not played a tie game this spring.

Cubs lineup:

Bonifacio 2B, Murphy SS, Rizzo 1B, Ruggiano LF, Schierholtz RF, Castillo C, Sweeney CF, Roberts 3B, Villanueva P

Speaking of who might be on the 25-man roster, still think Ryan Roberts has a shot at making it, as they continue to look at him at multiple positions. As you can see above, Mike Olt is among players listed as subs for tonight.

Padres lineup:

Cabrera SS, Venable CF, Headley 3B, Quentin LF, Gyorko 2B, Smith RF, Medica 1B, Hundley C, Stults P

Carlos Villanueva, who appears to have the fifth spot in the rotation, will start tonight for the Cubs. Also scheduled: Justin Grimm, Jose Veras, Brian Schlitter, Neil Ramirez and Jonathan Sanchez.

Lefthander Eric Stults goes for the Padres.

Tonight's game is on WGN radio with Pat Hughes and Ron Coomer. No TV for tonight's game.

MLB.com Gameday

Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.

For spring-training games, we'll have a first-pitch thread at game time and one overflow thread, 90 minutes after game time (because I know how you all like overflow threads!). For today's game, that will be 9 p.m. CT and 10:30 p.m. CT. These threads will not post individually onto the front page; instead, you can find links to them in the box marked "Chicago Cubs Game Threads" at the bottom of the front page. They will also appear in this StoryStream™. The pitcher box and regular-season stats will return on Opening Day.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

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