MLB Prospect Watch

Position Battles - Arencibia, Drabek, Hosmer, Craig, Mejia

• J.P. Arencibia entered camp with a good chance at winning the Blue Jays starting catcher job, and he has impressed enough thus far in camp to imply that he's heading in that direction, says Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com.  The Jays rotation also has two spots up for grabs and Kyle Drabek is an early favorite for one of them, according to J. Weitzel of Beerleaguer.com, while Larry Millson of Baseball America argues that Drabek should win one of the spots.
• Eric Hosmer was impressive in the Royals inter-squad game on Thursday, but manager Ned Yost said the first baseman has virtually no chance of making the team, according to Dick Kaegel of MLB.com.  Third base prospect Mike Moustakas does have a chance though.
• The Cardinals have a hole at third base to fill and Allen Craig is a prospect with a major league ready bat who moved from third base to the outfield and is now moving back.  He could be the answer to the Cards problems at the hot corner if his defense can catch up to his bat, says Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
• And from the "Is it last year again?" department, Jenrry Mejia looks impressive in Mets camp and could crack the Mets rotation, says Steve Popper of the Bergen County Record, but the player development side of manager Terry Collins should prevail and allow Mejia to head to Triple-A to continue his development.

 

 

Spring Training Battles - Belt, Arencibia, Brown, Astros, Indians

• Yesterday, we discussed the buzz surrounding top prospect Brandon Belt in Giants camp, but today we have some more details of Belt's chances of making the team this spring.  According to GM Brian Sabean, Belt will head back to the minors unless he wins a starting job, reports Chris Haft of MLB.com.  Essentially, the Giants don't want to stunt Belt's development by trapping him in a part-time role, so if he can't crack the starting lineup, he'll head back to Triple-A until he can.  Considering the team's handling of Buster Posey last season, it's reasonable to think that Belt will be heading back to Triple-A until June unless he has an incredible spring.
• J.P. Arencibia enters Spring Training with the Toronto Blue Jays as the favorite to take over the starting catcher duties, according to Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com.
• The more we hear from Phillies GM Ruben Amaro, the further it sounds like Domonic Brown is from being the team's starting right fielder on Opening Day, notes Jim Salisbury for Baseball America.
• Joining Jordan Lyles in Houston Astros Spring Training will be J.D. Martinez, Koby Clemens, Jiovanni Mier, and others, reports Brian Mctaggart of MLB.com.
• The Cleveland Indians announced their non-roster invitees today as well, with big prospect names such as Alex White, Jason Kipnis, Lonnie Chisenhall, and Drew Pomeranz among the notables, reports Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

 

 

Catching Up - Harper, Brackman

The baseball season may be winding down, but we're just getting our second wind...

• All good things are being said about J.P. Arencibia's work ethic, even though he's not seeing a ton of action in Toronto this fall, says Jordan Bastain of MLB.com.
• Perhaps surprisingly to some (although it shouldn't be to anyone who's paying attention), Bryce Harper has struggled in his first taste of professional action in the Arizona Instructional League, says Frankie Piliere of MLB Fanhouse.  Regardless of the fact that he's 17-years-old and facing pitchers who saw time in the upper minors, the most obvious reason for his early struggles is his timing, which is off thanks to not playing all summer.  The talent has been evident on the field, but not seeing a pitch for 3 months then facing Julio Teheran in your first at-bat just isn't fair.
• Andrew Brackman almost saw game action on Saturday, signaling that the Yankees could use him for an inning or two sometime this week, says Bryan Hoch of MLB.com.
• An Indians update from Indians Prospect Insider tells us that the team is confident in starting Jason Kipnis in Triple-A next season and that Nick Weglarz is recovering from a sprained thumb and will be able to play winter ball in Venezuela.
• And Jason Sickles has another installment of his Double-A transition segment, taking a look at Brewers 2B Brett Lawrie and Rays P Alex Cobb.

 

Prospects in Action - 9/16

• Matt Dominguez is showing off his first-round talent in the Southern League championship series, as the Marlins prospect homered and fueled the Jacksonville offense to victory on Wednesday night, reports Robert Emrich of MLB.com.
• Jeff Locke's strong performance carried the Altoona Curve to victory on Wednesday night, evening the Eastern League championship series at a game a piece, reports Danny Wild of MLB.com.  Locke came over to the Pirates organization in June of 2009 in the Nate McLouth trade and split this season between High-A and Double-A.  Saving the game for Locke was Daniel Moskos, who has settled in nicely this year as a closer.
• Jenrry Mejia is likely done for the season after straining a muscle in the back of his throwing shoulder, says Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.  I can't believe he got hurt after how careful the Mets have been with him all season.*
• Zach McAllister, who the Indians acquired late this season in exchange for Austin Kearns, led his Triple-A Clippers team to victory on Wednesday to take a 2-0 lead in the International League finals.
• Kyle Drabek had a successful major league debut, whether he got the win or not, says Pete Kerzel of MLB.com.
• See what can happen when you let the rookies play?  The Angels finally did, and Hank Conger showed off his skills both at the plate and behind it, says Lyle Spencer of MLB.com.
• Chris Carter is back in Oakland, and he's hoping this time around goes better than the first, according to Robert Falkoff of MLB.com.  No offense to Chris, but at 0-for-19 last time around, this time almost has to go better.
• Darwin Barney may not have been the biggest name in the Cubs farm system, but he's proving his worth on a team that will have a lot of open spots come next season, says Carrie Muskat of MLB.com.
• Cito Gaston is trying to get J.P. Arencibia into the Blue Jays lineup, but he's waiting until current catcher John Buck hits his 20th homer first.
• Getting into the lineup hasn't been a problem for Wilson Ramos, as the Nationals are alternating every other game with him and Ivan Rodriguez, says Guy Curtright of MLB.com, who also notes that Bryce Harper will begin his pro career this weekend at the Nats instructional league facility in Florida.
• Danny Duffy got the win on Wednesday, despite giving up 8 hits over 5 innings of work.  The Royals have to be pleased to get Duffy extra game action in the playoffs after his absence from the first part of the season.

*Sarcasm is so hard to get across successfully in writing.

Call-Ups and Other Prospect Movement

Notable prospects promoted today...

• Jenrry Mejia (NYM)
• Carlos Carrasco (CLE)
• Yonder Alonso (CIN)
• Jeremy Jeffress (MIL)
• Mat Gamel (MIL)
• J.P. Arencibia (TOR)
• Brandon Snyder (BAL)
• Freddie Freeman (ATL)
• Desmond Jennings (TB)
• Jeremy Hellickson (TB)
• Tyler Flowers (CWS)
• Brandon Allen (ARI)
• Cory Luebke (SD)
• Chris Nelson (COL)

In other news...

• Pat Vindette, the Yankees switch-pitching prospect, has been promoted to Triple-A, reports Mike Ashmore of The Trentonian.
• Dillon Gee should be joining the Mets this week, says Matthew Cerrone of MetsBlog.com.
• Mike Moustakas will not be called up by the Royals this month, says Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star, as the team is choosing to keep its prospects where they will be playing every day rather than have them sit the bench in the majors.
• No one is doubting Aroldis Chapman's abilities at this point, but Jack Moore of FanGraphs.com examines what his stint in the Reds bullpen this fall could do to his contract, and the amount of money he's owed, in the future.

And finally, MLB Prospect Watch would like to welcome Ryan Westmoreland back to the baseball diamond, as the Red Sox top prospect, who has missed the entire 2010 season due to brain surgery this spring.  Westmoreland is going to join the Red Sox Rookie-level affiliate in Lowell to re-acclimate himself to baseball life, says Pete Kerzel of MLB.com.