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Staten Island, New York — There are always players that force you to watch.

When Cale Coshow takes the mound, there’s a lot going on, and it’s a study in “working it out.”

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Rather than link to something regarding the Royal baby, here is a video of the Queen (not actually the Queen, but close enough) taken from a classic movie.

On today’s agenda:
1. Mike Olt’s new home
2. A mostly new outfield in Miami
3. Paul Maholm to the disabled list
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We’re done! We’re finally done!

With the pitchers we come to the end of another exhausting week of ranking pitchers.

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Time to rank the closers!

Again, we’re going to the bullpen report guys to do the rankings — Alan Harrison, Ben Pasinkoff and Colin Zarzycki at your service.

Take a good look now, because any minute now things might change. The Brewers, Phillies, Mets, Astros, Marlins, Cubs, and Padres all look like they could sell a bullpen piece. Problem is, there are fewer identifiable buyers with that need. Detroit is obvious. Maybe the Braves could use a lefty. Maybe the Orioles would buy a closer. Maybe the Dodgers would trade for a reliever, Ned Colletti is crazy like that.

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Third base has to be the group with the most movement.

But mostly I love the ones that don’t move. Like Michael Young, ending a nine-player chain of movement. Yeah, he’s still Michael Young. And was Michael Young last time we ran the third base rankings. And then David Freese and Chris Johnson, okay, they’re older fantasy role-players that might not move much, but Trevor Plouffe and Juan Francisco are pretty much what we thought they were,too?

There are some nice names on this list. Could be the best in baseball, relatively, at the end of the year. At least on the infield.

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My ideal set of rankings has input from both human and computer sources. In our rankings, we have one set of ranks that are built on projections, meaning that overall our rankings are 25% computer. That’s low for me. But I know that our other three human rankers also use the computer projections to varying degrees, so the number is probably closer to 50% computer, which I like.

But, ostensibly, we have one computer ranker. Jeff Zimmerman uses a proprietary mix of ZiPs and Steamer projections, and then takes the plate appearance projections from our depth charts. Every once in a while a player won’t be updated on the depth charts — human error — but if we stay vigilant, this mix should produce the best computer-generated rankings you can find. The addition of depth chart information can do a lot to undo the biggest flaw in projections: they don’t always know who has the job.

One remaining avenue to deal with with respect to the computer rankings is what to do with the missing plate appearances due to projected injury. Zimmerman has done a lot to advance the state of injury projections, and some of that is now built into the various projections he uses. We know that past DL stints predict future ones, for example. And that age is a heavy factor. But once those PAs and IPs are gone, they can be replaced through the waiver wire.

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So the arbitrary and altogether not true halfway point is upon us and this allows everyone time to reflect on their squads and your respective successes and failures. As I do so, I’m reminded of what seems like an annual realization: There’s quite a bit of talent that goes under-owned. I’ve often fantasized about being able to amass an all-waiver-wire team at the break to see how they would compete for the remainder of the season. So as we celebrate our All-Stars during this infuriating break, let us also recognize the unsung.

For simplicity, I’m just going to use Yahoo! ownership rates, and I’ll touch on the best available talent that is owned at a 50% or less clip.

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While last year’s MLB Draft probably brought a bit more talent to the New York Penn League, the short season league is still ripe with top picks, returning guys showing improvement, and players that are emerging into the spotlight. The crop is more interesting this year.

This is a review of the league through twenty games, and there are similarities in overall team performance compared to 2012. One of them is the Hudson Valley Renegades and Tri-City Valley Cats once again fielding some of the most solid talent in the league, talent that’s rising to the challenge.

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There’s some decent movement in the shortstop rankings.

A lot of the movement was a long time coming. Larger samples have made the starts by Jean Segura, Everth Cabrera and Jed Lowrie more believable. Segura’s batting average came back to earth, but there are more reasons to believe in his power now. Everth Cabrera still doesn’t have any power, and is pretty bad with the glove, but his new contact rate now comes in a bigger sample now. Maybe he isn’t doomed to hit .250+ going forward. Jed Lowrie has managed to avoid catastrophic injury too. He’s one or two games away from a career high in plate appearances!

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At the beginning of the year, I thought this might be the worst position in baseball. It might still be when all is said and done, but there are positive things you can say about this group, too.

There are actually some great young players at the position. Jason Kipnis has zoomed to the top. Jose Altuve probably won’t ever be a true-talent top three guy, but for batting average and speed, he looks like a steady contributor. Kyle Seager is a find. Matt Carpenter was a favorite of ours, but he’s outproduced even our more rosy projections. Jedd Gyorko has a nice compact, fast swing and looks like he’ll have a bit of power. Anthony Rendon, well we have to see about his strikeout rate, but he’s looking good too. Nick Franklin! And maybe even Jurickson Profar.

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