On the free-agent market, all the focus has been on John Lackey. On the trade market, the talk has been about Roy Halladay. The consolation prize for teams seeking a top-flight arm may come out of Atlanta.
The Braves have two of their top starters on the block, Derek Lowe and Javier Vazquez, and there's little doubt that at least one of those two pitchers will be moved, according to multiple major league sources. With strong resumes for both, there should be teams lined up for their services.
One source said that the Braves intend to move one of the two pitchers, and who goes will depend on the offers they receive.
It can be frustrating to be a Florida Marlins fan as star after star is sent on their way to richer organizations. One thing has remained constant, however. The talent continues to flow throughout their player development system. They draft well, coach well, and even without shelling out the big bucks, they find talent through international free agency.
Maybe they have trouble holding onto these guys once they blossom into big-league stars but there is no end in sight to their seemingly endless pipeline of young talent. So, as we continue to examine farm systems that could have an impact on 2009 and beyond, Florida has to be taken into account. No, it will not be dealing away any prospects but the outstanding minor-league depth once again will allow it to sell off its more expensive major leaguers.
Prospects exist to help their team fortify their future, be it years down the road, or, in some cases, the not-so-distant future. These prospects can become valuable chips in blockbuster trades. Each team with a player on the block this offseason will come to the negotiating table with stacks of detailed scouting information on the prospects of buyers out there like the New York Yankees.
So, what should teams like the Blue Jays, Tigers or any other club rumored to be in talks with the Yankees be looking to get in return? We'll take a look from a scouting perspective at just what potential trade partners should be looking for as they sift through the crop of New York prospects, with a focus on some who may be flying under the radar.
In Advanced Scouting, MLB FanHouse's professional talent evaluator breaks down offseason moves from a scouting perspective.
It hasn't taken long for the Hot Stove to get heated up as we roll past the World Series. Some key players have already been locked up and some high upside trades have already gone down. What do these moves mean for each club involved and how will the players dealt respond to their new homes? Just as significant, how important will the prospects dealt turn out to be?
From Mark Teahen headed to Chicago, to the Carlos Gomez for J.J. Hardy swap, to Bobby Abreu's new deal with the Angels, each move had a distinct impact. Perhaps the most interesting of these, however, was Jeremy Hermida being shipped to Boston. For the price of a pair of young lefties, the Red Sox took a gamble that may prove very worthy.
In Advanced Scouting, MLB FanHouse's professional talent evaluator breaks down the playoffs from a scouting perspective.
The approach was there, the execution was there, but Pedro Martinez's stuff was just short of allowing him to completely shut down the New York Yankees. All in all, the Phillies have to be more than pleased with just a few runs in six innings for their veteran right-hander. At least for a little while, he had the Yankees eating out of the palm of his hand.
It can't be said enough: The best way to stop New York's lineup is often by allowing their patient approach to work against them. Martinez has the type of command and moxie to pull off such an approach. By letting Martinez consistently get ahead 0-1 and 0-2, you give him multiple pitches to play with and different ways of getting you out.
In Advanced Scouting, MLB FanHouse's professional talent evaluator breaks down the playoffs from a scouting perspective.
Unless you are a fan with a rooting interest in this World Series, it's nearly impossible to not appreciate how good of a matchup this World Series is. Both the Phillies and Yankees have dominant aces they can rely on, sluggers that pound the ball with the best of them, and tenacious hitters who seem to make every at-bat an epic battle.
In such an even matchup, it's difficult to find glaring edges for either club, and that is where advanced scouting can come into play. Knowing how to pitch a certain dangerous hitter in order to neutralize him or what to look for against a particular pitcher could be what wins or loses a potentially tight series such as this. So, where are those holes each team can exploit and what will it take for them to come out on top?
In Advanced Scouting, MLB FanHouse's professional talent evaluator breaks down the playoffs from a scouting perspective.
Pointing a finger at a manager is an easy thing to do after a heart-wrenching loss. Sometimes the hard truth of a loss is little more than a lack of execution by the players. The Angels' Game 5 victory came down to a poorly executed pitch from the hand of Phil Hughes. That simple of an answer might be difficult to swallow, but that single offering has, at best, delayed the Yankees' return to the World Series.
Make no mistake, New York is at this point in the postseason because of the performance of its young relievers. But, youthful mistakes and jitters cost the Yankees dearly Thursday night. Until Game 6 begins on Saturday night, the pitch every Yankee should be replaying in their head is a fastball in a 1-2 down the heart of the plate to Vladimir Guerrero.
In Advanced Scouting, MLB FanHouse's professional talent evaluator breaks down the playoffs from a scouting perspective.
The contrast between Tuesday night's starting pitchers could not have been more stark. CC Sabathia was efficient, mixed his pitches and threw nothing but strikes. Scott Kazmir, on the other side, never seemed to find any kind of rhythm and essentially played right into the strengths of the Yankee lineup.
New York's lineup is difficult enough to navigate without giving them any assistance, and assistance is exactly what Kazmir gave them. If you intend to have success against them, you must establish a secondary pitch in the early innings. Especially given the issues their lineup has had against the breaking ball in the early part of the ALCS, Kazmir's ability to locate his slider was going to be crucial to his outing.
In Advanced Scouting, MLB FanHouse's professional talent evaluator breaks down the playoffs from a scouting perspective.
It's easy to be pessimistic after a team suffers a crushing loss, mostly because fans and broadcasters alike like to zone in on intangibles like momentum and the players' psyche. But if you are a New York Yankees fan and looking for reasons to be worried, there are some perfectly logical and tangible ones to focus on.
From the performance of Joba Chamberlain, to many of the Yankee hitters' struggles against the breaking ball, to the decision most New York fans will be screaming about, the removal of David Robertson from the game in the 11th inning in favor of Alfredo Aceves, there are more than enough tangible reasons to be concerned about the Yankees. And from a scouting standpoint, there are certainly points of intrigue in New York's weaknesses.
In Advanced Scouting, MLB FanHouse's professional talent evaluator breaks down the playoffs from a scouting perspective.
Was it the pitching or the offense's inability to produce? It's the question we always want the answer to when pitching shuts down a lineup over an extended period. In Game 2 of the ALCS, we watched two teams scratch and claw through extra innings to push runs across. Of course, there can never be a completely definitive answer, but Saturday night there were some instances where there were some answers.
In Joe Saunders, the Yankees faced a pitcher that generally thrives on throwing first-pitch strikes and changing speeds. And in A.J. Burnett, the Angels faced a pitcher that must be forced out of the strike zone to get him out of his groove. One could argue that both lineups could have done a better job with their approach against these pitchers.
On the free-agent market, all the focus has been on John Lackey. On the trade market, the talk has been about Roy Halladay. The consolation prize for teams seeking a top-flight arm may come out of Atlanta. 
It can be frustrating to be a 
Prospects exist to help their team fortify their future, be it years down the road, or, in some cases, the not-so-distant future. These prospects can become valuable chips in blockbuster trades. Each team with a player on the block this offseason will come to the negotiating table with stacks of detailed scouting information on the prospects of buyers out there like the 
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