MLB Prospect Watch

Prospect Potent Potables - Bauer, Gyorko, Turner

• Anybody who has followed the career of Trevor Bauer thus far knows that he is anything but your typical pitching prospect, but as Bauer tells Andrew Pentis of MiLB.com, the Diamondbacks prospect has an array of nine different pitches he uses to various degrees.
• Despite Jedd Gyorko's success in the minors, there is no chance of him bumping incumbent third baseman Chase Headley out of his spot in San Diego, says Corey Brock of MLB.com.
• The Tigers are hoping that Jacob Turner learns as much from his rookie struggles as Justin Verlander did when he got shelled in a few starts in his first stint in the majors, notes Anthony Fenech of The Detroit Free Press.  Turner is entering camp as the front-runner for the fifth spot in the Tigers starting rotation.

Prospect Potent Potables - Lavarnway, Borchering, Mets, Giants

• Ryan Lavarnway is trying to win a roster spot in Red Sox camp this spring despite the presence of Kelly Shoppach and Jared Saltalamacchia on the roster, and despite losing 20 pounds this off-season after contracting a virus while playing winter ball, notes Ian Browne of MLB.com.
• Former third base prospect Bobby Borchering is now an outfield prospect, as the Diamondbacks moved the former first round pick to left field during the instructional season this fall in order to fit third basemen Matt Davidson and Ryan Wheeler and first baseman Paul Goldschmidt all into their future plans, says Jack Magruder for Baseball America.
• The New York Mets have invited P Matt Harvey and OF Matt den Dekker to Spring Training, according to MetsBlog.com, but have not invited Zack Wheeler, who was acquired this past season in exchange for Carlos Beltran.
• The San Francisco Giants announced a number of prospect invites to Spring Training, including their last two first-round picks, OF Gary Brown and SS Joe Panik, and many more, reports Chris Haft of MLB.com.

Prospect Potent Potables - Flores, Diamondbacks, Phillies, Petricka

• Mets SS Wilmer Flores is having a nice winter in the Venezuelan Winter League, notes Toby Hyde of MetsMinorLeagueBlog.com, after having an uninspiring regular season.
• The Arizona Diamondbacks are prepared to enter spring training with an open competition for their final rotation spot, consisting of in-house candidates, according to Jack Magruder of Baseball America.  The candidates for the final spot include Wade Miley, Tyler Skaggs, Pat Corbin, Trevor Bauer, and Charles Brewer.
• The Phillies got nice contributions from rookie pitchers last season, and Matt Gelb of The Philadelphia Inquirer takes a look at which pitchers could follow the same path this year, including Phillippe Aumont, Justin De Fratus, Jake Diekman, Austin Hyatt, and Tyler Cloyd.
• The key to White Sox pitcher Jacob Petricka's development will be the progress of his off-speed pitches, says Mark Gonzales of Baseball America.

Prospect Potent Potables - Nieuwenhuis, Diamondbacks, Gennett

• There have been many conflicting opinions as to where Kirk Nieuwenhuis fits into the Mets future outfield plans, and Michael Baron of MetsBlog.com takes a look at answering that very question, who also notes that Wilmer Flores is coming on strong towards the end of the winter season.
• The Diamondbacks system is so deep right now that their Double-A rotation last season had prospects one through five, notes Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com, and that group should make the jump to Triple-A next season.
• In a very weak Brewers farm system, Scooter Gennett has established himself as a legitimate prospect, notes Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com.

A's Aquire Parker, Cowgill for Cahill

The Oakland A's sent established pitcher Trevor Cahill and reliever Craig Breslow to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for top pitching prospect Jarrod Parker, OF prospect Collin Cowgill and relief prospect Ryan Cook, according to the league.  Matt Eddy of Baseball America has a full scouting report on all the players involved.  Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic profiles the trade from the Diamondbacks side.

Parker is the key to this trade, immediately becoming the top prospect in the A's farm system.  A potential ace, Parker is a full season removed from Tommy John surgery and is still regaining his command, especially with his slider.

Reactions to the trade have varied.  Kevin Goldstein thinks it's a "really good trade for the A's," while Keith Law of ESPN.com doesn't think the A's got enough in return.  Zach Sanders of FanGraphs.com likes the deal for the Diamondbacks as well, and Athletics Nation thinks the A's got back "roughly 60%" of Cahill's value.