There was a lot of noteworthy prospect movement over the long Memorial Day Weekend...
- There's no way you could have missed it, but in case you did, the Nationals announced that the Stephen Strasburg Era will officially begin on June 8th, reports Bill Ladson of MLB.com. He'll make his last minor league start on June 3rd. We'll miss talking about him here at MLBPW, and something tells me he won't be back to the minors.
- Somehow, we can't say the same thing about Buster Posey with any confidence. As Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle points out, the Giants have a decision to make once Mark DeRosa comes off the DL, and moving Posey back to the minors is still on the table. So is having him catch more regularly. Fellow Chronicle writer Bruce Jenkins explains just how stupid it would be to send Posey back to the minors.
- The Cubs called Andrew Cashner up to the majors and used him in their bullpen right away, reports Gordon Wittenmyer of Inside the Cubs. Casher needed only one pitch to record his first and only major league out in his debut.
- The Pirates won't be promoting their triumvirate of prospects anytime soon, according to Chuck Finder of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Quoting Pirates' GM Neal Huntington, Finder offers an explanation why Brad Lincoln, Pedro Alvarez, and Jose Tabata will remain in the minors for the time being, and frankly, all three explanations make sense. Recent call-up Neil Walker is proving he belongs, however, and appears to be taking over at second base full-time, says Gazette writer Dejan Kovacevic.
- Scott Elbert is back in the minors after an uninspiring performance out of the Dodgers' bullpen over the weekend.
- Tyler Flowers could get a promotion despite his struggles at the plate, thanks to the White Sox desire to avoid A.J. Pierzynski's approaching 10-and-5 rights, reports Scott Merkin of MLB.com.
- The Indians have promoted hard-throwing lefty Nick Hagadone to Double-A, reports Tony of Indians Prospect Insider.
