MLB Prospect Watch

Arizona Fall League Rosters Announced

The rosters for the 2011 Arizona Fall League season were announced yesterday, and as usual, the rosters included a plethora of big name prospects.  Below are the prospects you need to know, broken down by team:

Mesa Solar Sox

Cubs - Trey McNutt, Chris Carpenter

Orioles - Chorye Spoone, Joe Mahoney, Xavier Avery

Twins - Aaron Hicks

Pirates - Robbie Grossman

 

Peoria Javelinas

Padres - Jedd Gyorko, James Darnell

Brewers - Jed Bradley, Cody Scarpetta, Kentrail Davis, Logan Schafer

Cardinals - Oscar Taveras

Mariners - Danny Hultzen, Nick Franklin, Chih-Hsien Chiang

Mets - Reese Havens, Jefry Marte

 

Phoenix Desert Dogs

Indians - T.J. McFarland

Reds - Brad Boxberger, Yasmani Grandal

Blue Jays - Adeiny Hechavarria, Anthony Gose

A's - Michael Choice, Grant Green

Yankees - Corban Joseph, David Phelps

 

Salt River Rafters

Dodgers - Jake Lemmerman

Diamondbacks - Eric Smith, Ryan Wheeler

Tigers - Casey Crosby

Astros - Jay Austin

Rockies - Nolan Arenado, Tim Wheeler

 

Scottsdale Scorpions

Angels - Mike Trout, Hank Conger

Phillies - Tyson Gillies, B.J. Rosenberg

Red Sox - Brock Huntzinger, Will Middlebrooks

Nationals - Sammy Solis, Derek Norris, Bryce Harper

Giants - Brandon Crawford

 

Surprise Saguaros

Royals - Nathan Adcock, Wil Myers, Jeremy Jeffress, Christian Colon

Braves - Erik Cordier, Sean Gilmartin, J.J Hoover, Christian Bethancourt, Phil Gosslein, Todd Cunningham

Rangers - Neil Ramirez, Michael Olt

Rays - Tim Beckham

Marlins - Kyle Skipworth, Dan Jennings, Matt Dominguez

 

 

 

Prospect Action - Leesman, Martinez, Turner, Dominguez, Loux

• Charlie Leesman won his seventh game of the season, reports Jeff Elliott of the Florida Times-Union.  Fellow White Sox pitching prospect Jacob Petricka turned in an inconsistent performance in his first High-A start, notes David Heck of MiLB.com.
• The Pacific Coast League is known for having extreme offensive games from time to time and Thursday night was no different, as Johnny Giavotella's 3-for-5 day helped lead his Royals teammates to an 18-13 victory, despite two homers from Dodgers prospect Trayvon Robinson, according to Andrew Pentis of MiLB.com.
• Jacob Turner allowed three runs over seven innings of work to pick up a victory on the same night the Tigers announced they were moving fellow prospect, reliever Chance Ruffin, up to Triple-A, reports Mike Copper of the Erie Times-News.
• Alex Torres took a loss on Thursday night, falling victim to 3 errors by his Rays teammates, notes The Charlotte Observer.
• Carlos Martinez made his first Florida State League start on Thursday, and despite an inconsistent effort and control, the Cardinals prospect managed to allow just two runs in six innings while striking out seven, says Ashley Marshall of MiLB.com.
• Joe Mahoney hit a home run and fellow O's prospect Chorye Spoone turned in a strong outing, notes Jeff Seidel of BowiePatch.com.
• Marlins 3B prospect Matt Dominguez blasted a 9th inning grand-slam to lead his team to a 7-6 victory, reports Tim Grubbs of NOLA.com.
• Rangers prospect Barret Loux struck out 11 batters over six shutout innings of work, notes Robert Emrich of MiLB.com.
• Red Sox prospect Madison Younginer threw four shutout innings, says CatsCorner.com.

 

Big Day of Cuts - Harper, Rizzo, Pomeranz

Saturday saw a number of teams make significant roster cut downs as all teams approach the March 15th roster cut-down deadline (the last date a team has to assign an injured player to a minor league club - meaning that if a player is still in camp after that date and gets injured, the team can't send him to the minors, which is a risk teams are rarely willing to take for a few extra spring at-bats).  

Among the most notable moves was the Nationals re-assignment of Bryce Harper to Class-A Hagerstown, tweets Bill Ladson of MLB.com.  The move itself is not surprising, as it had already been reported that Harper was slated to begin his first full season in the South Atlantic League, but it does bring an end to an impressive two-week stretch from the 18-year-old Harper, who this time next year, could be legitimately competing for a roster spot.

As always, you can keep up-to-date on all the prospects who were in big league camp, and who still remain, on our spring training prospect page, Below is a list of the other prospects who were sent away from big league camp on Saturday:

• The Kansas City Royals re-assigned LHP's Chris Dwyer, John Lamb, and Will Smith to minor league camp, reports Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.  None of the three were on the 40-man roster.
• The Pittsburgh Pirates optioned RHP Bryan Morris to Triple-A and re-assigned LHP Rudy Owens to minor league camp, reports Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com.
• The Philadelphia Phillies optioned RHP Justin De Fratus, 2B Harold Garcia, 1B Matt Rizzotti and RHP J.C. Ramirez to Double-A and re-assigned Michael Schwimer to minor league camp, reports David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News.  Surviving the cuts for now, however, was reliever Mike Stutes.
• The San Diego Padres optioned RHP Simon Castro to Triple-A and re-assigned 1B Anthony Rizzo and 3B James Darnell to minor league camp, reports Corey Brock of MLB.com.
• The Baltimore Orioles optioned RHP's Brandon Erbe and Chorye Spoone to Triple-A and re-assigned catcher Caleb Joseph to minor league camp, reports Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com.
• The Cleveland Indians have optioned RHP Corey Kluber to Triple-A and have re-assigned RHP Nick Hagadone, LHP Drew Pomeranz, RHP Hector Rondon, LHP Kelvin de la Cruz, and RHP Bryce Stowell to minor league camp, reports Jordan Bastain of MLB.com.
• The Tampa Bay Rays optioned LHP Alex Torres to Triple-A, says RaysProspects.com.
• The Seattle Mariners have optioned 3B Alex Liddi and OF Carlos Peguero to Triple-A and OF Johermyn Chavez to Double-A, reports Larry Stone of The Seattle Times.
• The Boston Red Sox optioned RHP Stolmy Pimentel and SS Oscar Tejada to Double-A, and have re-assigned RHP Alex Wilson, C's Ryan Lavarnway and Tim Federowicz, and OF Che-Hsuan Lin to minor league camp, reports Ian Browne of MLB.com.

 

Prospect Potent Potables - 6/19

• Matt Hagen of The Hardball Times discusses where many of the 2010 draft picks are going to fall within his top-100 rankings, assuming they sign.
• People are beginning to change their opinions about Andrew Brackman, says E.J. Hagen of TYU.
• Ben Revere is making a name for himself within the Twins organization, reports Matt Stucko of MLB.com.
• Koby Clemens is taking to first base, but really just wants to hit, says Todd Traub of MLB.com.
• Chorye Spoone is almost back to his old self after arm surgery in 2008, according to Stephanie Storm of MLB.com.
• Marc Hulet of Fan Graphs.com takes a look at some of the top third base prospects from around the minors including Mike Moustakas, Miguel Sano, Matt Dominguez, Matt Davidson, and Cody Overbeck.

40-Man Roster Additions: American League

Yesterday, we listed the players added to the 40-Man Roster of National League teams.  Here are the American League additions:

Baltimore Orioles

• Brad Bergesen (P), David Hernandez (P) and Chorye Spoone (P), Wilfrido Perez (P) and Nolan Reimold (OF)
  

Boston Red Sox

• Felix Doubront (P), Hunter Jones (P) and Mark Wagner (C)
  

New York Yankees

• Michael Dunn (P), Anthony Claggett (P), Christian Garcia (P), Steven Jackson (P), Wilkins de la Rosa (P)and Eric Hacker (P).
  

Tampa Bay Rays

• Jake McGee (P), Dale Thayer (P), and Wade Davis (P).
  

Toronto Blue Jays

• Ricky Romero (P), Luis Perez (P), and Robert Ray (P).
  

Chicago White Sox

• Brandon Allen (1B), Jon Link (P), Jhonny Nunez (P), and Clevelan Santeliz (P).

Minnesota Twins

• Anthony Swarzak (P), Brian Duensing (P), Drew Butera (C), Wilson Ramos (C), Luke Hughes (3B), Deibinson Romero (3B), Trevor Plouffe (SS), Steven Tolleson (2B), and Armando Gabino (P).
  

Detroit Tigers

• Wilkin Ramirez (OF), Casper Wells (OF), Alfredo Figaro (P), Guillermo Moscoso (P) and Zach Simons (P).

Kansas City Royals

• Henry Barrera (P) and Brayan Pena (C)
  

Cleveland Indians

• Chris Gimenez (C), Carlos Santana (C), Trevor Crowe (OF), Jeff Stevens (P) and Hector Rondon (P).

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

• Anthony Ortega (P), Mark Trumbo (1B), and Rafael Rodriguez (P).
  

Oakland A's

• Ryan Webb (P)
  

Texas Rangers

• Jose Vallejo (2B), Omar Poveda (P), Willie Eyre (P) and John Bannister (P).
  

Seattle Mariners

• Greg Halman (OF), Steve Kahn (P), Gaby Hernandez (P) and Marwin Vega (P), and Michael Wilson (OF).