MLB Prospect Watch

Alvarez Promoted to Pittsburgh

Pirates' GM Neal Huntington fired his biggest and last prospect bullet yesterday when it was announced that the team would be promoting top prospect Pedro Alvarez, reports Colin Dunlap of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  The move was a long time coming, as speculation and suggestion had building throughout the week, as had encouragement from Pirates' players.

Alvarez is as excited for the move as most Pirates' fans, but as Gene Collier points out, Alvarez's arrival won't fix the Pirates other issues.  Regardless, the 23-year-old third baseman instantly becomes the team's biggest power threat and interjects more youth into a lineup that now features three rookies playing regularly (along with Neil Walker and Jose Tabata).

Notable Prospect Performances - 6/10

It wasn't as memorable a night in Washington as the one before, but two prospects made their major league debuts Wednesday night, this time for the visiting Pirates.  Jose Tabata led off and had two hits, and Brad Lincoln started the game for the Buccos, in what was a much more traditional big league debut than the one witnessed 24 hours earlier.

• Pedro Alvarez had a monster day at the plate, perhaps attempting to prove to the Pirates that he should have been called up too.
• Another 3-hit day for Mike Trout.  Yawn.
• Twins' 3B prospect Miguel Sano hit his 2nd homerun of the season in Dominican Summer League Action.
• Don't look now, but Dustin Ackley's batting average is creeping back up towards respectability.
• The good Carlos Carrasco was on hand Wednesday night.
• And the good Randall Delgado seems to always show up.

Tabata, Lincoln Join Pirates

The Pirates will have a major league debut of their own to celebrate tonight, as they have promoted pitcher Brad Lincoln to the major league roster and he is expected to be the team's starting pitcher tonight in Washington, reports Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com.  It is also expected that OF Jose Tabata will be joining the team, although there is no indication whether he will be in tonight's lineup or not.

The moves correspond with the demotion of 1B Jeff Clement, and Tim Williams of BuccoFans.com speculates that Garrett Jones will slide into 1B and Tabata will take his place in RF.

Making Moves - 6/1

There was a lot of noteworthy prospect movement over the long Memorial Day Weekend...

• There's no way you could have missed it, but in case you did, the Nationals announced that the Stephen Strasburg Era will officially begin on June 8th, reports Bill Ladson of MLB.com.  He'll make his last minor league start on June 3rd.  We'll miss talking about him here at MLBPW, and something tells me he won't be back to the minors.
• Somehow, we can't say the same thing about Buster Posey with any confidence.  As Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle points out, the Giants have a decision to make once Mark DeRosa comes off the DL, and moving Posey back to the minors is still on the table.  So is having him catch more regularly.  Fellow Chronicle writer Bruce Jenkins explains just how stupid it would be to send Posey back to the minors.
• The Cubs called Andrew Cashner up to the majors and used him in their bullpen right away, reports Gordon Wittenmyer of Inside the Cubs.  Casher needed only one pitch to record his first and only major league out in his debut.
• The Pirates won't be promoting their triumvirate of prospects anytime soon, according to Chuck Finder of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  Quoting Pirates' GM Neal Huntington, Finder offers an explanation why Brad Lincoln, Pedro Alvarez, and Jose Tabata will remain in the minors for the time being, and frankly, all three explanations make sense.  Recent call-up Neil Walker is proving he belongs, however, and appears to be taking over at second base full-time, says Gazette writer Dejan Kovacevic.
• Scott Elbert is back in the minors after an uninspiring performance out of the Dodgers' bullpen over the weekend.
• Tyler Flowers could get a promotion despite his struggles at the plate, thanks to the White Sox desire to avoid A.J. Pierzynski's approaching 10-and-5 rights, reports Scott Merkin of MLB.com.
• The Indians have promoted hard-throwing lefty Nick Hagadone to Double-A, reports Tony of Indians Prospect Insider.

Pirates' Prospect News

After last night's drubbing, Pirates' fans are in need of some good news.  Luckily, their future is looking bright (at least brighter than their present and past) with a few potential major leaguers right on the horizon.

• The Pirates don't have the deepest farm system in baseball, but what they do have is some major league ready talent, reports Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com.  What Pirates' fans want to know is when Pedro Alvarez, Brad Lincoln, and Jose Tabata will be making their appearances at PNC Park, but there is virtually no chance any of them will be there before June.  Tabata is likely the furthest away of the three, but could still be in the big leagues by the end of the season.
• Tabata, according to J.J. Cooper of Baseball America, is faster than he looks.  Luckily, you don't have to look fast to be fast.  Tabata is stealing bases again for the first time since he was a teenager in the low minors, and that, coupled with a more consistent line drive stroke than in years past, has made Tabata look like the team's leadoff hitter of the future.  Of course he'll have to improve his walk rate and maintain his .340 career minor league BABIP to make that happen.
• Alvarez is the bat that no one doubts, especially after his hot May in Triple-A, reports John Wagner of MiLB.com.  Even his defensive work at 3B has improved to the point where there are no immediate plans to move him.  The only question at this point is what kind of hitter Alvarez becomes.  At the very worst, it appears he will fall somewhere in the Adam Dunn/Russell Branyan mold of Three True Outcomes hitters, but should be manage to cut down on the swings and misses and improve his consistency, he could become a dominant all-around hitter.
• The one name not mentioned here is Neil Walker, the Pirates 1st round draft pick back in 2004 who has gone from catcher of the future, to third baseman of the future, to potential utility player who can help the team in a number of different ways, reports J.J. Cooper.  Walker his hitting the ball well in Triple-A and has played 4 different positions so far this season.