MLB Prospect Watch

40-man Roster Additions

40-man rosters were set this weekend in preperation for the upcoming Rule V draft.  The players listed below are now protected by their organizations and can't be selected.  This is not the complete list, but rather the list of notable prospects.  Teams with no players listed still protected players, just not any notable prospects.

 

Baltimore - Oliver Drake

Boston - Will Middlebrooks, Drake Britton, Che-Hsuan Lin

New York (AL) - D.J. Mitchell, Corban Joseph

Tampa Bay - Alex Colome, WIlking Rodriguez, Steven Vogt

Toronto - Travis d'Arnaud

 

Chicago (AL) - Charlie Leesman

Cleveland - 

Detroit - Casey Crosby

Kansas City - 

Minnesota - Oswaldo Arcia, Carlos Gutierrez, David Bromberg

 

Los Angeles (A) - Fabio Martinez, Jean Segura

Oakland - 

Seattle - Francisco Martinez, Carlos Triunfel, Chih-Hsien Chiang

Texas - Martin Perez, Neil Ramirez

 

Atlanta - J.J. Hoover

Miami - Dan Jennings

New York (N) - Robert Carson, Jeurys Familia, Wilmer Flores, Juan Lagares, Cesar Puello, Reese Havens, Kirk Nieuwenhuis

Philadelphia - Phillippe Aumont, Tyson Gillies, Sebastian Valle

Washington - Tyler Moore, Eury Perez, Derek Norris

 

Chicago (N) - Junior Lake, Josh Vitters, Matt Szczur

Cincinnati - Didi Gregorius, Kyle Lotzkar

Houston - Paul Clemens

Milwaukee - Caleb Gindl, Zealous Wheeler

Pittsburgh - Starling Marte, Rudy Owens

St. Louis - 

 

Arizona - 

Colorado - Christian Friedrich

Los Angeles (N) - Mike Antonini, Chris Withrow

San Diego - Rymer Liriano

San Francisco - Angel Villalona, Charlie Culberson

 

 

Potent Potables - Mariners, Angels, Gillies, Cole

• Mariners 3B Alex Liddi is apparently done for the winter after being released by teams in Venezuelan and the Dominican, reports Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times.  After a long season, that was extended by a major league call-up in September, fatigue is being cited for Liddi's winter struggles.  On a more positive note for the Mariners is the positive end to the 2011 season for Nick Franklin, who's regular season was riddled with injuries, notes Robert Emrich of MLB.com.
• Another prospect who's winter league struggles are being blamed on fatigue is Mike Trout of the Angels, who had a poor offensive showing in the hitter-friendly Arizona Fall League.  Sam Miller of The Orange County Register is the one doing the blaming here, and he also cited Jean Segura's progress in the AFL as well.
• Phillies OF Tyson Gillies is getting in extra at-bats in the AFL to make up for the significant time he's missed the past two years due to injury, notes Zach Berman of The Philadelphia Daily News.
• Gerrit Cole had no problem adjusting to his first taste of professional baseball, as the Pirates top prospect saw success in the AFL, says Dejan Kovacevic for Baseball America.

 

 

Arizona Fall League Rosters Announced

The rosters for the 2011 Arizona Fall League season were announced yesterday, and as usual, the rosters included a plethora of big name prospects.  Below are the prospects you need to know, broken down by team:

Mesa Solar Sox

Cubs - Trey McNutt, Chris Carpenter

Orioles - Chorye Spoone, Joe Mahoney, Xavier Avery

Twins - Aaron Hicks

Pirates - Robbie Grossman

 

Peoria Javelinas

Padres - Jedd Gyorko, James Darnell

Brewers - Jed Bradley, Cody Scarpetta, Kentrail Davis, Logan Schafer

Cardinals - Oscar Taveras

Mariners - Danny Hultzen, Nick Franklin, Chih-Hsien Chiang

Mets - Reese Havens, Jefry Marte

 

Phoenix Desert Dogs

Indians - T.J. McFarland

Reds - Brad Boxberger, Yasmani Grandal

Blue Jays - Adeiny Hechavarria, Anthony Gose

A's - Michael Choice, Grant Green

Yankees - Corban Joseph, David Phelps

 

Salt River Rafters

Dodgers - Jake Lemmerman

Diamondbacks - Eric Smith, Ryan Wheeler

Tigers - Casey Crosby

Astros - Jay Austin

Rockies - Nolan Arenado, Tim Wheeler

 

Scottsdale Scorpions

Angels - Mike Trout, Hank Conger

Phillies - Tyson Gillies, B.J. Rosenberg

Red Sox - Brock Huntzinger, Will Middlebrooks

Nationals - Sammy Solis, Derek Norris, Bryce Harper

Giants - Brandon Crawford

 

Surprise Saguaros

Royals - Nathan Adcock, Wil Myers, Jeremy Jeffress, Christian Colon

Braves - Erik Cordier, Sean Gilmartin, J.J Hoover, Christian Bethancourt, Phil Gosslein, Todd Cunningham

Rangers - Neil Ramirez, Michael Olt

Rays - Tim Beckham

Marlins - Kyle Skipworth, Dan Jennings, Matt Dominguez

 

 

 

Prospect Potent Potables - Skipworth, Harvey, Taylor, Gillies

• Kyle Skipworth was on the verge of being labeled a bust heading into last season, and while he still hasn't played like the sixth overall pick he was in the 2008 draft, he did redeem a good deal of his prospect value in 2010, notes Joe Frisaro of MLB.com, and the Marlins are prepared to be patient with his development.
• Mets fans haven't seen 2010 first-round draft pick Matt Harvey in action yet after the right-hander out of the University of North Carolina took until right up to the deadline to sign with the team last year, but Anthony DiComo of MLB.com says that the pitching prospect is ready to get his professional career started.
• Michael Taylor came to the A's last off-season with much fanfare, but his 2010 season was a huge disappointment.  Now, as he attempts to rebound in 2011, he knows he will be headed back to Triple-A for a do-over, thanks to a crowded outfield at the major league level, notes Jane Lee of MLB.com.
• Tyson Gillies had a rough 2010 on and off the field, battling injuries and legal trouble in his first year with the Phillies organization, but all of that is in his past, according to David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News, and Gillies is focused on regaining his prospect status.

 

 

Mini-Camps and Spring Training Invites

Many teams are holding winter mini-camps for their top prospects, especially those teams that play in warm weather cities or have indoor stadiums.  These mini-camps typically run around a week in length and include everything from on-field instruction to seminars on how to deal with life in the big leagues.

The Tampa Bay Rays will be holding their developmental mini-camp for the second straight year, with Tim Beckham, Alex Cobb, Derek Dietrich, Matt Moore, Alexander Torres, Alex Colome, among the more established prospects invited, as well as 2010 draftees Justin O'Conner, Josh Sale, Drew Vettleson also attending, according to Bill Chastain of MLB.com.

The Dodgers will also be holding a mini-camp in January, with prospects such as Chris Withrow, Rubby de la Rosa, Ethan Martin, Aaron Miller, Dee Gordon, Kyle Russell, Trayvon Robinson, and Jerry Sands among those invited, according to Ken Gurnick of MLB.com.

Teams are also beginning to announce their non-roster invites to Spring Training.  Some we already know, others are prospects within the organization that are not on the 40-man roster (all 40-man players are already invited to Spring Training).

The Phillies have announced their invites, with Phillippe Aumont, Tyson Gillies, Freddy Galvis and Mike Stutes making the list, according to PhuturePhillies.com.  The Pirates have announced their list, according to Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com, with Rudy Owens serving as the only notable prospect invite.  The Padres list includes newly acquired prospects Anthony Rizzo and Casey Kelly, according to Corey Brock of MLB.com.  The Brewers have added Logan Schafer and Caleb Gindl to their invite list, reports Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal.