MLB Prospect Watch

Prospect Potent Potables - Angels, Sanchez, Orioles, Cubs Invites

• Sam Miller of The Orange County Register cites a Baseball Prospectus article (subscription needed) that breaks down the things that could go wrong with the Angels top prospects.  Miller's article has the quote on Mike Trout, explaining his potential troubles against right-handed pitching, based on his struggles in the majors last season.
• Pirates C prospect Tony Sanchez apparently had another off-the-field incident, occurring during the instructional season in Florida this past fall, reports Rob Biertempfel of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.  Sanchez allegedly broke his jaw in a bar fight, although he was not hurt a few weeks later at a team mini-camp.  Sanchez has already had jaw issues, missing much of the 2010 season after breaking his jaw getting hit by pitches.  He also was suspended for three games last season after ripping umpires on his Twitter feed.
• The Orioles have announced their second South Korean high school signing in the past week, inking Seong-Min Kim, a 18-year-old left-handed pitcher, reports Jordan Tuwiner of Orioles-Nation.com.  Just two days ago, the team announced the signing of 17-year-old South Korean lefty Kim Sung-min.
• The Cubs have announced their spring training invites, says Adam McCalvy of MLB.com.  Among the prospects invited are outfielders Brett Jackson and Jae-Hoon Ha, and pitchers Jay Jackson, Trey McNutt, and Dae-Eun Rhee.

Prospect Action - Jackson, Belt, Drake

• Cubs OF prospect Brett Jackson doubled and scored a run in his first Triple-A game, notes Ashley Marshall of MiLB.com.
• Mariners prospect Jharmidy DeJesus recorded four hits and three RBI's on Thursday, says The Seattle Times, while LHP prospect James Paxton struck out 11 batters in his Double-A debut, reports David Heck of MiLB.com.
• Elih Villanueva got roughed up in his latest start, but fellow Marlins prospect Matt Dominguez did hit another home run, notes Tim Grubbs of NOLA.com.
• Brandon Belt is getting his swing back in Triple-A, turning in a perfect night at the plate on Thursday and making his case for a return to San Francisco, reports David Heck of MiLB.com.
• Oliver Drake tossed a complete game in his return to Double-A, and the Orioles prospect fanned ten batters in the process, reports Danny Wild of MiLB.com.

 

Prospect Hot Sheet - 4/22

Baseball America released their weekly Prospect Hot Sheet yesterday, with a number of new names not featured in week one.  Making an appearance on this week's list are:

• Mark Cohoon
• Jaff Decker
• Danny Duffy
• Jedd Gyorko
• Yasmani Grandal
• Billy Hamilton
• Brad Holt
• Jae-Hoon Ha
• Eric Hosmer
• Brett Jackson
• Tom Koehler
• Jefry Marte
• Marcell Ozuna
• Jacob Petricka
• Anthony Rizzo
• Jonathan Schoop
• Eric Thames
• Alex Torres
• Kolbrin Vitek
• Alex White

Appearing on the bad part of the list this week are Zack Cosart, Yorman Rodriguez, Joe Cruz, and Trevor May.  Decker and Jackson are the only players to appear on both lists thus far this season.

 

Baseball America Prospect Hot Sheet - 4/15

Baseball America released their first edition of the Prospect Hot Sheet on Friday.  The weekly segment, released every Friday during the minor league season, is the best way to see who the hottest players are from the past week.  This week's list includes:

• Alex Cobb
• Jaff Decker
• Jeurys Familia
• Paul Goldschmidt
• Matt Harvey
• Slade Heathcott
• Brett Jackson
• Brett Lawrie
• Zach Lee
• Devin Mesoraco
• Shelby Miller
• Jesus Montero
• Mike Olt
• Martin Perez
• Drew Pomeranz
• Neil Ramirez
• Keyvius Sampson
• Jerry Sands
• Mike Trout
• Jacob Turner

Unfortunately, each list includes prospects who are not so hot, and this week's list mentions Alex Liddi, Travis D'Arnaud, Alex Wimmers, and Nick Castellanos.

I will be keeping a season-long tally of how many times players are mentioned on the Hot Sheet, and standings will be posted on the side bar of this site next week, once we have more than one week's worth of points.

 

More Roster Cuts - Rays, Cubs, Kelly, Mejia

• The Tampa Bay Rays optioned Chris Archer, Desmond Jennings and Alex Cobb to Triple-A and re-assigned Tim Beckham to minor league camp, says RaysProspects.com.
• The Chicago Cubs optioned Rafael Dolis to Double-A and re-assigned Josh Vitters, Brett Jackson, Jay Jackson, Chris Carpenter, and Trey McNutt to minor league camp, reports Carrie Muskat of MLB.com.
• The Milwaukee Brewers optioned Mark Rogers to Triple-A, says Adam McCalvy of MLB.com, despite the fact that Rogers was a candidate to take the open starts in place of injured ace Zack Greinke.  The Brewers felt that Rogers would not have his pitch count up high enough by Opening Day to take the spot in the rotation.
• The Colorado Rockies optioned Chris Nelson to Triple-A, reports Steve Foster of InsidetheRockies.com.  Nelson was competing for a utility spot.
• The San Diego Padres optioned Cedric Hunter to Triple-A and re-assigned top pitching prospect Casey Kelly to minor league camp, says Corey Brock of MLB.com.
• The Mets have optioned Jenrry Mejia to Triple-A, says Matthew Cerrone of MetsBlog.com.