MLB Prospect Watch

Position Battles - Royals, DeJesus, Francisco, Craig, Minor

• It appears that Tim Collins and Aaron Crow have secured spots in the Royals bullpen, according to Michael Engel of KingsofKauffman.com.  Engel also suggests that Nathan Adcock has an above-average chance of claiming a spot on the staff as well.
• Ivan DeJesus, Jr. is in the lead to be the Los Angeles Dodgers Opening Day second baseman, reports Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times.
• Juan Francisco is battling with Fred Lewis for the last spot in the Cincinnati Reds bench, says John Fay of the Cincinnati Enqurier.
• The only thing keeping Allen Craig off the Cardinals Opening Day roster would be the team's ability to give him enough at-bats, says Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
• Mike Minor lost his spring training battle with Brandon Beachy for the final spot in the Braves starting rotation, but if Jair Jurrjens can't make his first scheduled start, it will be Minor that takes his place, says David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

 

Prospect Action - Mariners, Turner, Royals

• The Mariners used a trio of pitching prospects to beat the Rangers on Tuesday, as Blake Beavan, Josh Lueke, and Dan Cortes all appeared in the game, reports Greg Johns of MLB.com.
• Jacob Turner was impressive in his first appearance for the Tigers against major leaguers this spring, retiring his final eight batters faced, notes John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press.
• Bryce Harper got his first spring hit, an opposite-field single to left, reports Bill Ladson of MLB.com.
• The Royals-Padres game was full of prospect action, as Aaron Crow, Mike Montgomery and Jeremy Jeffress all pitched for the Royals, and Simon Castro threw for the Padres.  Mike Moustaks drove in the go-ahead run for Kansas City with an eighth inning single, reports Dick Kaegel of MLB.com.
• Allen Craig homered, this time appearing in the game at first base for the Cardinals, notes Rick Hummell of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, as did Yonder Alonso for the Reds, who hit a two-run blast.

 

 

Position Battles - Arencibia, Drabek, Hosmer, Craig, Mejia

• J.P. Arencibia entered camp with a good chance at winning the Blue Jays starting catcher job, and he has impressed enough thus far in camp to imply that he's heading in that direction, says Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com.  The Jays rotation also has two spots up for grabs and Kyle Drabek is an early favorite for one of them, according to J. Weitzel of Beerleaguer.com, while Larry Millson of Baseball America argues that Drabek should win one of the spots.
• Eric Hosmer was impressive in the Royals inter-squad game on Thursday, but manager Ned Yost said the first baseman has virtually no chance of making the team, according to Dick Kaegel of MLB.com.  Third base prospect Mike Moustakas does have a chance though.
• The Cardinals have a hole at third base to fill and Allen Craig is a prospect with a major league ready bat who moved from third base to the outfield and is now moving back.  He could be the answer to the Cards problems at the hot corner if his defense can catch up to his bat, says Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
• And from the "Is it last year again?" department, Jenrry Mejia looks impressive in Mets camp and could crack the Mets rotation, says Steve Popper of the Bergen County Record, but the player development side of manager Terry Collins should prevail and allow Mejia to head to Triple-A to continue his development.

 

 

Prospect Potent Potables - Craig, Emaus, Pomeranz

• Allen Craig spent time in left field and first base last year in the minors, only to come to the majors and see the majority of his time in right field, and even a small one-inning cameo at second base, as the Cardinals attempted to get the 25-year-old prospect's bat into the lineup.  With Lance Berkman joining the team to take one corner-outfield spot, and Matt Holliday and Albert Pujols firmly entrenched in the other corner spot and first base, respectively, Craig will be shifting back to his original third base position this spring were the major league situation is much less settled, reports Derrick Gold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
• Bradley Emaus should be a main competitor in the Mets open competition for their starting second base job this spring, says Michael Diaz of MetsBlog.com, who compares the Rule V draftee to his competitors.
• Drew Pomeranz signed too late to make an official professional debut in 2010, but Indians Prospect Insider has a introduction to the Indians LHP prospect to get you ready for the highly anticipated start of his minor league career.

 

 

Prospect Hot Sheet

Baseball America once again has released their weekly prospect hot sheet, a breakdown of the past week's hottest prospects.  This week's list includes:

• Pedro Alvarez
• Chris Archer
• Brandon Belt
• Eric Berger
• Carlos Carrasco
• Lonnie Chisenhall
• Allen Craig
• Randall Delgado
• Tyler Flowers
• Todd Frazier
• Brad Hand
• Eric Hosmer
• Dan Hudson
• Brett Jackson
• Michael Kirkman
• Alex Liddi
• Wil Myers
• Jonathan Singleton
• John Tolisano
• Arodys Vizcaino

And of course, the flailing foursome this week, which includes Aroldis Chapman, Beau Mills, Phillippe Aumont, and Jefry Marte.