Jurickson Profar hit a grand slam on Sunday, says Jake Seiner of MiLB.com, just the second of the season for the Rangers top prospect. Profar has, however, continued to control the strike zone at the Triple-A level, drawing 10 walks in 13 games against 13 strike outs.
Kyle Gibson continues to alternate strong starts with poor ones. This time out, he struggled, allowing three runs in five innings while walking four.
Despite his struggles this spring, Bruce Rondon is pitching well in Triple-A, recording his third save of the season on Sunday. The Tigers reliever has yet to allow an earned run on the season and has walked just two batters in 7 2/3 innings.
Gerrit Cole managed to throw four scoreless innings despite walking five and striking out just two in the outing. It's the second time this season that the Pirates top prospect has had to leave a start early because of a high pitch count.
Double-A
Braves lefty Alex Wood threw seven scoreless innings on Sunday, writes Danny Wild of MiLB.com. Wood now has a 1.12 ERA over his first three starts, with 17 strike outs in 16 innings and just a pair of walks.
Kevin Gausman wasn't great again, allowing three runs (just one earned) in five innings in his latest start. The Orioles' 2012 first-rounder has allowed at least three runs in three of his four starts, including six each in two of them, but has struck out 21 batters in as many innings.
Dodgers lefty Chris Reed tossed seven scoreless innings on Sunday, lowering his ERA to 3.13 on the season. Reed's strike out rate has dropped to just 5.48 K/9 this season, but he's also lowered his BB/9 rate to a career low 2.74 in the early going this season.
High-A
Miguel Sano hit a home run on Sunday, his sixth of the season, but was ejected while rounding the bases for taunting the opposing team, notes Ashley Marshall of MiLB.com. The Twins top prospect his hitting .375/.438/.734 on the season and likely won't be in the Florida State League for long.
After a slow start, Alen Hanson broke out with a 4-for-5 game on Sunday to bring his batting average up to .242 on the season.
Low-A
Bubba Starling blasted his second home run of the season as part of a 2-for-5 day that saw the Royals prospect raise his batting average to .156 on the season. Starling has struggled to make contact in his first taste of full-season ball, striking out 26 times in his first 18 games.
Josh Bell also hit his second home run of the season as part of a 4-hit day and is now hitting .288/.325/.493 on the season.
Carlos Correa, last year's top overall draft pick by the Houston Astros, hit a pair of home runs on Sunday as part of a three-hit day and his first multi-homer game of his professional career.
Alen Hanson's bat has plenty of potential in it, enough that if he has to eventually move away from his current short stop position, he should still be able to be a productive major league hitter, but wouldn't it be nice if the Pirates could keep him at his natural position, where his bat would be an above-average asset?
That's what Pirates fans are hoping, but Tim Williams of PiratesProspects.com isn't so sure if Hanson will be able to stay there. Williams goes into good detail the problems that Hanson is having in the field (give the article a read for a great explanation into Hanson's struggles). I wanted to look at the developmental decisions his defensive issues may force the Pirates to make.
As Williams points out, it's not the tools or ability that are lacking for Hanson, but the consistency, with most of his errors and miscues coming on the more routine plays. This is a problem we see with a lot of young players. They have the ability to make great plays, but lack the focus and consistency to make all of the routine ones. And as a major league shortstop, you have to be able to make virtually all of the routine plays. Hanson is still quite young, so there's plenty of time for him to outgrow his lack of focus, but depending on how his bat develops, that window could shrink.
We saw this happen recently with Billy Hamilton. The Reds speedster played an erratic short stop for his first few years of the minors, and scouts were split on whether or not he'd ever be consistent enough to play the position in the major leagues. As his offensive game developed more rapidly, the point became moot, as the Reds realized that even if he could eventually be a good enough defensive short stop, the process of becoming so would take much longer than they wanted to wait for his bat. They moved him to center field after last season.
The same fate may await Hanson. Whether or not he can eventually develop into a good short stop may be rendered moot if his bat develops quickly. If he hits this season the way he did last year, the Pirates will want to get him to the majors soon, perhaps by the end of the 2014 season. He'll probably need more time than that do become a good enough short stop to play there in the majors.
If the Pirates see his bat developing quickly, he has the tools to shift to second or third base. A shift to third could coincide with current third baseman Pedro Alvarez shifting to first base, a move many see as inevitable. He also has the athletic ability to handle the outfield, but such a move would further diminish his overall value.
Hanson won't be 21 until after this season, so there's no need to rush either his bat or his glove. Having to move a potent hitter to another position because his bat is ready before his glove isn't the worst problem to have, but if the Pirates can be patient with Hanson, they could have the best of both worlds. But there is the chance that there is simply too much work here to be done.
AthleticsFarm.com analyzes the A's system, including the first home run of the year for Miles Head. Head is back in Double-A after spending the second-half of 2012 there, and is still working on his defense at third base, a project the A's refuse to give up on just yet.
PineTarPress.com recaps the Royals system, including rough days at the plate for Bubba Starling and Raul Mondesi. For Starling, this season is all about making more contact after striking out 70 times in 53 games last season.
Twins outfield prospect Oswaldo Arcia may have had the best all-around game of the night, going 2-for-4 with a double and a home run at the plate and also throwing out two runners at second base.
Diamondbacks prospect Matt Davidson did on Thursday night what Matt Davidson does best, hitting a ninth-inning two-run home run to lead Reno to a 5-4 victory, despite a home run earlier in the game from fellow hot-corner man and Rockies top prospect Nolan Arenado.
Zack Wheeler struggled in his Pacific Coast League deubt as the Mets top prospect allowed two earned runs and walking three while taking 86 pitches to get through 3 1/3 innings. He got plenty of run support from Travis d'Arnaud, who collected a pair of doubles in the game.
Danny Hultzen had no such trouble in his 2013 debut, as the Mariners lefty fanned seven batters over six innings of work. His control issues, which plagued him after his call-up to Triple-A last season, were no where to be found, as Hultzen walked just 2 batters.
Double-A
The Double-A debut of Mets pitching prospect Rafael Montero couldn't have gone much better, as the right-hander struck out eight over 5 2/3 innings of one-run baseball.
Taijuan Walker wasn't as sharp in his 2013 debut, striking out eight batters of his own over five innings of work, but also walking four and allowing four earned runs and a pair of home runs to Marlins prospects J.T. Realmuto and Derek Dietrich.
After emerging as a prospect last season, Aaron Northcraft was able to carry his success over to his first start of 2013, also striking out eight over six innings of shutout baseball.
Tigers first base prospect Aaron Westlake hit his first home run of the season as part of a 2-for-3 day at the plate. Yankees catching prospect Gary Sanchez went 2-for-4 in the victory.
The A's jumped Addison Russell all the way to the California League in his first full season but the 2012 first-rounder struck out three times in his debut. He also singled and walked.
Low-A
After posting a 6.26 ERA in the Midwest League last season, Padres pitching prospect Joe Ross got off to a much better start to the 2013 season, throwing five scoreless innings on Thursday night while striking out four.
Reds prospect Robert Stephenson was dominant at times but erratic at others en route to racking up six strikeouts over five innings, but also allowing three runs.
Byron Buxton did his job as a leadoff hitter in his full-season debut, getting two hits, scoring two runs and stealing a base for the Twins new affiliate in Cedar Rapids.
There are tons of rumors all winter that get speculated to no end, but with the news coming down that the Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks had a trade in place for Justin Upton, this one has gone past speculation.
Upton's veto of the trade makes it even more fun.
I could speculate trades between the Diamondbacks and virtually every other team in the league, and fans of each of those teams have spent the majority of this evening doing exactly that, conjuring up trades in their minds, fantasy baseball style, that end with Upton wearing their team's uniform. And why not? That's why we love the hot stove season.
With the relationship between Upton and the Diamondbacks seemingly at an unrepairable level, yet Upton holding the ace in his hand to kill any deal to the Mariners, real rumors have popped up surrounding Upton and half-a-dozen other teams. But there is one more team that should be in on these discussions, and it's a team that has the prospects to get a deal done - the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The trade that has been reported had four players heading to the desert - shortstop prospect Nick Franklin, relief prospect Stephen Pryor, major league left-hander Charlie Furbush, and one of the Mariners top-three pitching prospects Taijuan Walker, James Paxton, or Danny Hultzen. Despite reports of the proposed package being "substantial," if this is what it takes to land Upton, there could be more teams involved than were first previously thought.
Any team considering trading for Upton needs to ask themselves one question - can we make the playoffs in the next three seasons? Upton's contract runs through 2015, creating a window of opportunity for his acquisition. We know the amount of randomness that occurs once the playoffs roll around, but if the acquisition of Upton gets you a ticket to the tournament, it will be worth it.
The Pittsburgh Pirates have been rebuilding for over two decades, but their current efforts appear to be finally sending them in the right direction. Two straight seasons with strong starts but dramatic collapses have shown the league both the improvements they've made and the gap they still have yet to close.
Their farm system has made remarkable strides, especially at the top with two legitimate top-of-the-rotation pitching prospects in Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon. The Pirates are perhaps the only organization in baseball that has the same ability as the Mariners to offer a potential ace in a trade and still hold on to one for their own future (with the Orioles being the only other possible third team in that discussion).
That puts them in prime position to go after Upton.
The Pirates will need one of their two young horses if they want to avoid cutting off their nose to spite their face here, and Cole should be that man. Assuming he handles Triple-A as expected, he could be an in-house solution to reinforce their starting rotation this summer. The Pirates should not trade for Justin Upton if the cost is Gerrit Cole, but they have the depth to get a deal done without him.
Jameson Taillon is in the same class as the Walker/Paxton/Hultzen centerpiece that was reportedly accepted by the Diamondbacks, and could easily be the centerpiece of a deal sending Upton to Pittsburgh. The former second overall pick will likely begin the 2013 season in Double-A, but having just turned 21, there's no reason to think he won't be pitching in the majors by the time he's 22.
In place of Franklin, who some believe could be a borderline all-star shortstop but realistically projects to be a solid regular second baseman, the Pirates can't offer a player of Franklin's caliber that is anywhere near his proximity to the majors, but they do have Alen Hanson, who will be heading to High-A ball in 2013. Hanson, a potential all-star and a potentially dynamic player, has a higher ceiling than Franklin but is more of a developmental risk just given his distance from the majors. It's a different risk/reward scenario than Franklin, but Hanson is a player that most teams around the league would covet.
In place of Pryor, who is a powerful young reliever, the Pirates can offer Bryan Morris, a former first rounder who has fanned 8 batters per nine innings in his minor league career. He's a notch below Pryor in prospect terms - 25-years-old compared to Pryor being 22, and doesn't have the same minor league strike out numbers - but he's major league ready and could join the Diamondbacks bullpen this season.
Lastly, there's Furbush, a former minor league starter who took on a relief role last year and excelled in it. The Pirates have a ton of left-handed relief options, from Tony Watson, who proved himself as a major league reliever last season, to Justin Wilson, a hard-throwing pitching prospect who has started in the minors but projects as a reliever in the majors thanks to some command issues. It's just a matter of preference for the Diamondbacks.
I've tossed out a few names here, but only because they are the ones that were the closest to the pieces the Diamondbacks reportedly agreed to take from the Mariners. In addition to the prospects I've named, the Diamondbacks could have interest in outfield prospect Gregory Polanco (dynamic, but also far from the majors, and thus not an immediate problem to their already crowded outfield), Luis Heredia (young and far away but loaded with potential), Victor Black (upper-90's arm but control issues) and many more.
But regardless of the specific players involved, the Pirates have the ability to get a young, impact hitter to take their lineup to the next level without completely mortgaging their future, which is something not many teams can say. Their pitching staff isn't quite where it needs to be at the major league level, but a lineup like this can be a playoff lineup, even with the Pirates pitching staff:
1 LF Starling Marte 2 RF Justin Upton 3 CF Andrew McCutchen 4 1B Garrett Jones 5 2B Neil Walker 6 3B Pedro Alvarez 7 C Russell Martin 8 SS Clint Barmes
The Pirates have an opportunity to speed up their timetable for success without giving up their top prospect. If the Diamondbacks insist on the inclusion of Gerrit Cole, than the Pirates would be justified in their refusal, but they have the ability to get a deal done and hold on to their future ace. It's an opportunity they need to explore to the fullest possible extent if they ever want to change their reputation as a team that's not committed to winning.
