MLB Prospect Watch

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.

Prospect Acton - Hernandez, Cowgill, Brackman

• Carlos Hernandez had a rough day on the mound on Tuesday, as the Oakland A's pitching prospect allows six home runs in 3 1/3 innings reports The Sacramento Bee .
• Arizona Diamondbacks prospect Collin Cowgill hit for the cycle on Tuesday notes Daren Smith of MLB.com.
• New York Yankees pitching prospect Andrew Brackman fell apart in the sixth inning of his latest start, throwing two wild pitches and giving up four runs and walking three reports Richard Rosenblatt of the Charlotte Observer .

 

Prospect Action - Royals, Belt, Chisenhall, Harvey

• Thursday night played out the way that many expected this season would for the Royals top farm team, as Mike Moustakas homered twice, Eric Hosmer had four hits, and Danny Duffy threw six scoreless innings, reports John Parker of MiLB.com.
• Brandon Belt is back to his old hot-hitting ways in Triple-A, as he homered and doubled on Thursday, says Parker.  Belt is, however, seeing time in left field rather than at first base, possibly preparing him for his return to the Giants later this season.
• Indians 3B prospect Lonnie Chisenhall hit a two-run homer off of Braves prospect Mike Minor, notes Ashley Marshall of MiLB.com.
• Cardinals pitching prospect Jordan Swagerty threw six scoreless innings en route to a victory, says Andrew Pentis of MiLB.com.
• In other prospect action:
  • Diamondbacks OF prospect Collin Cowgill blasted two home runs.
  • A number of Red Sox prospects left the yard for Portland on Thrusday, as Ryan Lavarnway and Tim Federowicz both hit one and Will Middlebrooks hit two.
  • Mets pitching prospect Matt Harvey had the first rough start of his career, giving up 6 runs (4 earned) and failing to get out of the 5th inning.

 

Prospect Performances - Nats, Braves, Lyles, Rizzo

• Bryce Harper had a pinch-hit RBI single, but the real story for the Nationals was Danny Espinosa, who reached base safely in all four plate appearances, reports Josh Jackson of MiLB.com.
• Both Brandon Beachy and Mike Minor threw well again in a "B" game as they continue to compete for the Braves final rotation spot, notes David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, although Beachy did have one uncharacteristically wild inning, says Mark Bowman of MLB.com.
• Jordan Lyles gave up two runs in three innings of work, but the Astros prospect pitched better than his line would suggest, according to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com.
• Diamondbacks OF prospect Collin Cowgill blasted a first-inning grand slam off of Randy Wolf.
• Alex Liddi also hit a grand slam for the Mariners, notes Danny Wild of MiLB.com, and Dan Cortes threw a scoreless ninth inning in the victory.
• Trevor Reckling gave up seven earned runs in two innings of work after entering the game for the Angels in a tie ballgame, says Lyle Spencer of MLB.com.
• The Padres were led by a pair of rookies on Wednesday, as newly-acquired first baseman Anthony Rizzo homered and Cory Luebke allowed just one run over 4 1/3 innings of work, reports Paige Schector of MiLB.com.

 

Baseball America Prospect Hot Sheet

Baseball America has once again released their weekly hot sheet, with this week's edition featuring some new names to take the place of the list's regulars who have graduated to the majors.

• J.P. Arencibia
• Brandon Belt
• Dellin Betances
• Tyler Chatwood
• Mark Cohoon
• Tim Collins
• Collin Cowgill
• Jeremy Hellickson
• Aaron Hicks
• Brett Jackson
• Desmond Jennings
• Kila Ka'aihue
• Jordan Lyles
• Trey McNutt
• Matt Moore
• Angel Morales
• Xavier Paul
• Derrick Robinson
• J.B. Shuck
• Julio Teheran

This week's bottom four include Lars Anderson, Che-Hsuan Lin, Travis D'Arnaud, Chris Dominguez.