MLB Prospect Watch

Roster Cuts - Cards, Reds, Giants, Montgomery

• The Cardinals optioned Tony Cruz to Triple-A and re-assigned Lance Lynn to minor league camp, reports Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, but as Goold wrote in Baseball America, Lynn could be back in St. Louis at the first sign of trouble.
• The Reds have optioned Yonder Alonso, Todd Frazier and Zack Cosart to Triple-A, says Mark Bowman of MLB.com.  Last week they also optioned Yasmani Grandal to High-A and Phillippe Valiquette to Double-A.
• The Giants optioned Darren Ford to Triple-A and re-assigned Jackson Williams to minor league camp, says Chris Haft of MLB.com.  Last week they optioned Thomas Neal and Conor Gillaspie to Triple-A and Ehire Adrianza and Francisco Peguero to Double-A.
• Mike Montgomery was re-assigned to minor league camp, says Robert Emrich of MiLB.com, and will start the season in Triple-A.  Last week, the Royals re-assigned fellow top prospects Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Danny Duffy and catching prospect Salvador Perez.
• The White Sox optioned Tyler Flowers to Triple-A and re-assigned Jordan Danks to minor league camp, says Tom Singer of MLB.com.

 

Prospect Performances - Viciedo, A's, Dominguez, Indians

• Dayan Viciedo paced the White Sox with three hits on Tuesday, and catching prospect Tyler Flowers added a home run.
• Michael Taylor hit his second homer of the spring for the A's, one of two hits on the day for the OF prospect, raising his batting average to just .150, says Robert Emrich of MiLB.com.  Short stop prospect Grant Green singled in his only at-bat, while 2010 first-rounder Michael Choice went 1-for-2.  Anthony Rizzo doubled in the game for the Padres.
• Matt Dominguez hit his second homer of the spring, showing the Marlins that his bat is catching up with his glove, says Jason Beck of MLB.com.
• Ryan Lavarnway hit a two-run homer to help the Red Sox win a split-squad game on Tuesday, says Josh Jackson of MiLB.com.
• Cory Vaughn hit a game-tying two-run homer in the 9th inning, but the Mets lost in extras, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.
• It was good news and bad news for the Indians on Tuesday, as third base prospect Lonnie Chisenhall continued to hit everything in sight, knocking four more hits and raising his batting average to .550 for the spring, reports Robert Emrich of MiLB.com.  Unfortunately, fellow prospect Alex White struggled mightily on the mound for the Tribe, giving up four runs and seven hits in two innings of work.  Corey Kluber was even worse, allowing four runs in one-third of an inning.

 

Position Battles - Montero, Harper, Trout, Montgomery

• Despite the presence of Jorge Posada and Russell Martin, as well as backup Francisco Cervelli, the Yankees insist that Jesus Montero has a good chance to make the Yankees roster, says Bryan Hoch of MLB.com.  The claim does seem plausible when you consider Martin's recent injury history and Posada's advancing age and move to designated hitter.  The team should be able to find at-bats for Montero 2-3 games per week.  Meanwhile, Andrew Brackman has been listed as one of the dark horse candidates to grab a spot at the back of the Yankees rotation, says Hoch, but the team insists it would prefer to send its young pitchers back to the minors for now.
• You have to love the kid's desire.  Despite the announcement that he would likely be spending the entire season in the minors and had no chance of making the Nationals Opening Day roster, Bryce Harper says that that is his goal anyway, according to Bill Ladson.  The comments were not made in defiance or with any negative connotation, but rather demonstrate the high standards to which Harper holds himself.
• Entering his first full season with the Indians, LHP Zach McAllister is likely ticketed for Triple-A, especially after having struggled at Columbus after being traded by the Yankees in August, reports Jordan Bastain of MLB.com.  Also heading to Columbus are top prospect Alex White and Lonnie Chisenhall, regardless of their performances this spring, says Stephanie Storm for Baseball America.
• Despite the absurdity of the speculation, the Angels have had to continually reject the idea of Mike Trout making their major league team this season, insisting instead that he will head to Double-A, at least to start the season, says Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times.
• Aaron Crow is likely headed to to Double-A, but given the Royals incredibly inexperienced rotation, he is battling with an outside chance at making it, says Dick Kaegel of MLB.com.  Mike Montgomery is an even longer shot to make the Royals rotation after missing part of last year due to injury, but if he stays healthy this year, he could be in Kansas City before season's end. 
• Josh Donaldson got a taste of the majors last season, and he enters this spring trying to win the A's backup role behind Kurt Suzuki, according to Jane Lee of MLB.com.
• Last year's season-long slump lowered the White Sox confidence in catching prospect Tyler Flowers, causing them to re-sign veteran A.J. Pierzynski, and essentially punched Flowers' ticket back to Triple-A this spring, notes Scott Merkin of MLB.com.

 

 

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.  

More Call-up Fun

Aroldis Chapman is coming to Cincinnati.  And he's bringing his 105-mph fastball with him.

• The Reds have in fact announced that Chapman will be joining the team and could pitch out of the Cincinnati bullpen as early as tonight, reports John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer.  This gives the team one month to see if the young Cuban is reliable enough to make their post-season roster.
• Cory Luebke should be among the first Padres prospects called up tomorrow, says Bill Center of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
• Braves fans may think they're ready for Freddie Freeman's arrival, but David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has a primer on Freeman, just to be sure.
• Carlos Carrasco will be heading to Cleveland tomorrow and should make a start some time this week, according to Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
• The White Sox have a few options in the minors but a crowded 40-man roster, notes Future Sox.com as they speculate which Sox prospects might get the call.  Their guesses include Tyler Flowers, Stefan Gartrell and Dayan Viciedo, who already spent some time with the big league club, but not Brent Morel, who is not on the 40-man roster.