by Todd Lammi

Sticking with the theme of keeper leagues, I want to share some of my favorite free links for finding information on minor league players. Some of these may already be familiar to you, but hopefully some will provide you with new sources of information as you prepare for your fantasy baseball draft.

http://sports.espn.go.com/fantasy/baseball/flb/story?page=mlbdk2k9topprospectspt1 – If you are looking for rookies for this season as well as the future, Jason Grey of EPSN has his top 100 list available. I have played against Jason in several NFBC leagues in Las Vegas and he is a tough competitor in auction leagues. He has some really good insight into players along with recommendations from time to time. If Jason is speaking on fantasy baseball, I am always listening.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=law_keith&id=3840355 – Also of ESPN, Keith Law has his top 100 prospect list up as well. The top 25 are free to read, the next 75 require an ESPN insider subscription.

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/ – great place for finding career minor league statistics. Pitcher stats include hr/9, k/9 and bb/9 ratios.

www.minorleagueball – site by John Sickels, has a good selection of current prospects as well as prospect retro section which will hopefully give you some insight into current major league players and how their minor league performance transferred to the big leagues. Also has prospects per team which tend to draw quite a few comments so if you like discussing the minor leaguers of your favorite team, this is a good site for you.

http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/ – if you play in an AL or NL only league, this is a must reading site to give you a look at player contracts. It is helpful to review contracts that are expiring after the current season so you can determine people that may be potentially traded depending on the team they play for. Because you lose players in the off-season that are traded in most leagues, this site will help you avoid that potential problem from year to year.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/ – a lot of the information in Baseball America is subscription content, but there is a free Ask BA section where staff members answer questions that can provide some insight into players as well as a weekly Hot Sheet once the minor league season starts.

www.minorleaguebaseball.com – the official site of minor league baseball.