MLB Prospect Watch

Prospect Potent Potables - Castro, Familia, Lake, Yankees, Royals

• The White Sox hope that newly acquired prospect Simon Castro proves to be a manageable reclamation project, notes Mark Gonzales of BaseballAmerica.com, who also notes that the Sox have made a $250,000 investment in 17-year-old RHP Luis Martinez out of Venezuela.
• Joe Wieland and Robbie Erlin were acquired together by the Padres at last year's trade deadline, and Corey Brock of MLB.com suggests that both could make it to the majors this season.
• After a long 2011 season and a trip to the DL, the Mets didn't let Jeurys Familia pitch a lot in the Dominican Winter League this off-season, but as Andy McCullough points out for Baseball America, they still let him pitch a few innings to get him some experience coming out of the bullpen.
• Junior Lake may have tore up the Arizona Fall Leauge, but the Cubs' prospect's game is still largely hit or miss, says Mike Newman for FanGraphs.com.
• George King of Baseball America points out how Yankees pitching prospects Dellin Betances and Manny Banuelos are actually further away from the majors than they were this time last season, despite positive development since that time.
• The Royals have an array of prospects and veterans attending camp as non-roster invitees, and Paul Thompson of KingsofKauffman.com breaks down the chances all of them have of making the team's Opening Day roster, giving pitching prospect Mike Montgomery the best chance of all.

Prospect Potent Potables - Alonso, Vitters, Mendez

• Yonder Alonso wasn't going to be your typical power-hitting first baseman in any park, and certainly won't be in PetCo Park, but as Bill Center of The San Diego Union-Tribune points out, the spaciousness of the outfield in the Padres home park should play right into Alonso's line-drive hitting strength.
• Of the top-10 picks in the 2007 draft, only two - 3B Josh Vitters and P Casey Weathers - have yet to reach the majors, points out Carrie Muskat of MLB.com, who also notes that both are now with the Cubs and that this could be the year for Vitters to make the jump.
• Roman Mendez has been with two organizations and has had up and down years, but as Mike Newman points out for FanGraphs.com, Mendez has re-established himself as a legitimate pitching prospects in the Rangers organization with a strong 2011 campaign, bouncing back from a poor 2010 season.

More Opinions on Rizzo/Cashner Trade

Yesterday's trade between the the Cubs and Padres is getting mixed reviews.

• Baseball America has their usual full player scouting reports, but doesn't formulate too much of an opinion.  
• Paul Swydan of FanGraphs.com makes the case that the acquisition of Andrew Cashner makes the Padres better in three ways, but the entire argument seems a stretch to me.  One of his reasons, that the addition of Cashner to the Padres bullpen removes the temptation of using pitching prospects Casey Kelly, Joe Wieland, or Robbie Erlin in a relief role to start the year, may be true, but it is a completely secondary effect of the trade that could have been accomplished without Cashner by simply showing restraint.  And it's certainly no reason to trade a potential starting first baseman.  Fellow FanGraphs.com writer Jason Roberts is on the Cubs side of things, saying that "trading a reliever with injury and control problems for a young, slugging first baseman is almost always a good idea."
• John SIckles thinks Zach Cates has some nice potential, which only adds to the lopsidedness of this trade to the Cubs side.
• Keith Law of ESPN.com thinks the Cubs got a "slight edge" in the deal, going as far as saying that Cashner "could be the next Craig Kimbrel."

Perhaps I'm missing something with Cashner.  He does have a enticing power arm, and could end up being a very effective reliever for the Padres, not just this year but also in the future.  But he's never thrown more than 115 innings in a professional season and has battled wildness throughout his career.  He's essentially a two-pitch pitcher, having never been healthy long enough to effectively develop his change-up.  I don't see him having the repertoire or durability to ever be an effective starter long-term.  He could be a dominant reliever, but I don't see that as enough value for a starting first baseman.  Anthony Rizzo may never be an all-star (he reminds me a lot of Adam LaRoche), but he's still an effective piece.  Opinions are split on him and Yonder Alonso, and one clearly had to be traded, but the value in return could have been higher.

Padres, Cubs Swap Rizzo for Casher and Na

The San Diego Padres unclogged their roadblock at first base, trading prospect Anthony Rizzo to the Chicago Cubs for Andrew Casher and Kyung-Min Na, reports ESPNChicago.com and Bill Center of The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Rizzo became expendable after the team acquired Yonder Alonso from the reds in the team's first blockbuster of the off-season.  The acquisition of Rizzo for the Cubs presumably takes them out of the running for Prince Fielder's services.

For the Padres, the fact that they traded Rizzo is not surprising, but the return might be.  Cashner, who no longer qualifies as a prospect or for rookie status, is a power arm that was once one of the more highly touted pitchers in the Cubs organization.  He battled injury last year, however, and has had a history of them throughout his professional career.  He has made more than 11 starts in a season only once, and has never thrown more than 100 1/3 innings in a season.  Corey Brock of MLB.com tweets that the Padres could consider Cashner for a bullpen role, and that may be the best spot for Cashner to have success.

Kyung-Min Na is an athletic 20-year-old center fielder who has yet to play a full season in the minors.  Through 519 minor league plate appearances, he has a .244/.335/.284 line, showing a decent eye at the plate but absolutely no power, and good speed (26 steals) but no idea how to use it (15 caught steals).  His athleticism in center field could be a valuable asset for the Padres in spacious Petco Park, but he's a long way from being able to use it in the majors.

With the likelihood that Na could never make it to the majors, it appears that the Padres were content to trade Rizzo for a potential late inning reliever.  Despite Rizzo's extreme struggles in the majors last year, his value had not dropped to pennies on the dollar, which seems to be what the Padres got in return.

White Sox Acquire Simon Castro from Padres

The rebuilding process continues for the Chicago White Sox, as they traded outfielder Carlos Quentin to the San Diego Padres for two prospects, including pitcher Simon Castro, according to MLB.com.  Matt Eddy of Baseball America has a breakdown of the prospects involved, as does John Sickles.

The trade for the Padres is the second major move within the last month, having dealt ace Mat Latos a few weeks ago.  This move, however, involves the Padres sending prospects in exchange for a veteran player instead of the other way around.

Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tirbune thinks that this solidifies the center of the Padres batting order, which may be true but appears to be a change in direction for what was supposed to be a rebuilding team.

As for the White Sox, Castro is the main part of the return for Quentin, and was a highly-rated prospect in the Padres system entering the season.  He struggled mightily during 2011 season and will have to get his mechanics back on track to re-establish himself as a top prospect.