TheCrew07

BA's Weekly Prospect Chat

Mass linked Hunter Morris' appearance on the hot sheet yesterday, but did you catch the rest? No. 2 JAVIER BAEZ, SS CUBS Team: low Class A Peoria (Midwest) Age: 19 Why He's Here: .435/.435/.870 (10-for-23), 1 2B, 3 HR, 5 R, 3 RBIs, 0 BB, 3 SO, 2-2 SB The Scoop: The Cubs passed over several college arms to draft Baez with the ninth overall pick in 2011, and he has not disappointed in his first full season as a pro. Batting .308/.374/.526 with seven homers through 37 games, the Puerto Rico-born shortstop has hit safely in each of his last eight games and has homered in two of his last three. Despite just average speed, he has also stolen 14 bags this season. With bat speed that has prompted comparisons with Gary Sheffield and Hanley Ramirez, Baez has tremendous upside and could move quickly through the minors, especially if he continues to produce like has at the plate. IN THE TEAM PHOTO While Anthony Rizzo was bashing his way to Chicago, SS Arismendy Alcantara's excellent season for high Class A Daytona may be an even more promising development. After all, Rizzo's power surge isn't much of a surprise, but Alcantara's emergence as a rangy shortstop who can hit is a very pleasant surprise for the Cubs. The 20-year-old hit .400/.500/.850 this week and is slugging a very respectable .447 this season while swiping 25 bags in 29 tries in the Florida State League. I agree with Ted from the top minor league system thread, I'm certainly glad the Astros are leaving the division.

I liked many things that he said, I'm sold, I should probably take a closer look at the Twins.

Taveras brings Futures power to Texas Cards' No. 3 prospect goes deep, plates three on 4-for-5 night By Sam Dykstra / Special to MLB.com http://www.milb.com/images/2012/07/12/Qx4GU5Qm.jpg Oscar Taveras leads the Texas League with a .984 OPS through 81 games this season. At the beginning of the week, Oscar Taveras was showing the globe just what he could do with the bat. The Dominican Republic native represented the World Team at the Futures Game in Kansas City delivered an RBI while playing all nine innings in his team's 17-5 loss to the U.S. squad. But his most impressive feats came before the game. The left-handed slugger launched a homer deep over the Kauffman Stadium batter's eye in center field during pregame batting practice and later added another blast that reached the park's famed fountains in right center. On Thursday, Taveras showed he didn't leave his power back in Kansas City. The Cardinals' No. 3 prospect went 4-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs as Double-A Springfield routed Northwest Arkansas, 7-0. The center fielder notched RBI singles in the first and second innings before singling again in the fourth. After striking out in the sixth, he went deep for the first time in a game since his Kansas City display, homering the opposite way to left field off Naturals right-handed reliever Patrick Keating. The blast, which barely went over the fence, was Taveras' 18th of the season, putting him into a tie for fourth in the Texas League with San Antonio's Cody Decker. That's a vast improvement over his eight-homer output for Class A Quad Cities last year, but according to Springfield manager Mike Shildt, that's not a big surprise. "You've got to figure they are going to make adjustments to him, and he's going to make adjustments," Shildt told the Springfield News-Leader. "Oscar's got a real barrel ability. His barrel finds the ball, and he's got real good hands. So he's got the ability to hit them where they're pitched. "But we're not constantly trying to have him hit the ball the other way. He's always hit the ball to all fields." After collecting four hits for the second time this season, MLB.com's No. 84 prospect also improved his batting average to a circuit-best .331 -- the stat's highest mark since May 12. His .984 OPS is also tops in Texas while his 66 RBIs are second, trailing only Nathan Freiman, also of San Antonio. Taveras wasn't the only Cardinal to produce offensively Thursday. Fellow Futures Game player and second baseman Kolten Wong was 2-for-5 with a double and a run scored. Right fielder Chris Swauger went 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs. Cardinals' No. 7 prospect Trevor Rosenthal scattered four hits and a walk and struck out six over six shutout innings. .

Final: DSL Brewers 3, DSL Braves 2 (10 Innings) DSL Brewers Box Score Another well pitched affair, a pretty common theme thus far for the DSL squad. This time out it was Eduard Reyes who went 6 strong innings allowing just 3 hits, 1 run, 0 earned, with 2 walks against 5 strike outs. Victor Diaz followed and hurt himself with an error in the 9th eventually being replaced by Felix Paulino who let the tying inherited runner score, but the bats came back and scored a walk off win with a walk. Juan Ortiz led the way offensively going 3-4, with a 2B, and a walk, the double was the only XBH for the good guys in the game. The other multiple hit games were from Francisco Castillo who went 2-4 with a BB and Yunior Santana who went 2-3 and also walked once. Both Reyes and Diaz managed errors on pick off attempts, Carlos Pena had a throwing error, and Ortiz had a fielding error. Ortiz and Castillo both stole a base and were caught stealing during the contest. DSL Brewers Play By Play After the teams traded runs in the 2nd the Brewers jumped ahead in the 4th. DSL Brewers Bottom of the 4th Juan Ortiz doubles (8) on a fly ball to right fielder Iosif Bernal. Jose Dicent strikes out swinging. Yunior Santana singles on a ground ball to center fielder Nisandro Cleofa. Juan Ortiz scores. Carlos Pena singles on a ground ball to left fielder Jose Morel. Yunior Santana to 2nd. With Yunior De La Cruz batting, wild pitch by Francisco Gonzalez, Yunior Santana to 3rd. Carlos Pena to 2nd. Yunior De La Cruz grounds out, third baseman Juruengelo Tielman to first baseman Eugenio Diaz. Alejandro Mendoza strikes out swinging. The relievers didn't have a very good 9th. DSL Braves Top of the 9th Eugenio Diaz singles on a ground ball to center fielder Francisco Castillo. Offensive Substitution: Pinch runner Jesus Heredia replaces Eugenio Diaz. With Jose Morel batting, throwing error by Victor Diaz on the pickoff attempt, Jesus Heredia to 2nd. Jose Morel pops into unassisted double play, second baseman Alejandro Mendoza. Jesus Heredia doubled off 2nd. Offensive Substitution: Pinch hitter Miguel Rivero replaces Cristian Palacios. Miguel Rivero singles on a ground ball to right fielder Yunior Santana. Offensive Substitution: Pinch hitter Ibrahim McKenzie replaces Alexander De La Cruz. Ibrahim McKenzie walks. Miguel Rivero to 2nd. Pitcher Change: Felix Paulino replaces Victor Diaz. Nisandro Cleofa singles on a ground ball to left fielder Juan Ortiz. Miguel Rivero scores. Nisandro Cleofa to 2nd. Ibrahim McKenzie advances to 3rd, on fielding error by left fielder Juan Ortiz. Luis Monasterio grounds out to first baseman Elvis Rubio. Do they mob the base runner at the plate after a walk off walk? DSL Brewers Bottom of the 10th Yunior De La Cruz flies out to left fielder Miguel Rivero. Alejandro Mendoza singles on a ground ball to center fielder Nisandro Cleofa. With Francisco Castillo batting, wild pitch by Jesus Jones, Alejandro Mendoza to 2nd. Jesus Jones intentionally walks Francisco Castillo. Pitcher Change: Jesus Saldeno replaces Jesus Jones. Raphachel Colatosti flies out to left fielder Miguel Rivero. Elvis Rubio walks. Alejandro Mendoza to 3rd. Francisco Castillo to 2nd. Pitcher Change: Enrique Medina replaces Jesus Saldeno. Juan Ortiz walks. Alejandro Mendoza scores. Francisco Castillo to 3rd. Elvis Rubio to 2nd.

This is an interesting twist to the Beras story... MLB bans three over false date, drugs Rangers' Beras provided false birthday, suspended one year

Well said. I'm on record as preferring pitching but I do fear what kind of pitching we'd get back, and I especially fear a bullpen arm. I'd rather get the best talent available rather than try to force our way into a SS or SP, I'd readily take potential impact talent anywhere with the exception of a relief prospect. We have plenty of fringey SPs from a results standpoint who would likely make nice BP candidates as their stuff would play up in the pen.

Lame... now I'm dumping a double header. Sorry Tedaldtada.

The DSL still hasn't popped so I'm going to listen to Dead Sara one more time and head to bed. I'll catch it in the morning if it's up before I go. Yes I like chick rockers, always have, nothing cooler than a female lead who brings it.

another day another Hamilton story Hamilton blazes trail in Double-A debut Cincinnati's top prospect triples, steals a base for Pensacola By Robert Emrich / Special to MLB.com http://www.milb.com/images/2012/07/11/rrVjYYCh.jpg Billy Hamilton stole 104 bases in 82 California Leagues games. (Ricky Bassman/MiLB.com) Billy Hamilton is so fast, he can steal even when the other team knows he's going. The Reds' No. 1 prospect stole second and smacked an RBI triple in his Double-A debut as Pensacola fell to Chattanooga, 5-1, on Wednesday. After striking out in his first two at-bats, Hamilton reached base in the sixth inning on a forceout. With the Minor League leader in stolen bases (104) on first, the Lookouts paid careful attention to Hamilton, having pitcher Matt McGill throw over to first three straight times. With an 0-1 count, the Lookouts called for an well-timed pitchout as Hamilton took off for second. The 21-year-old shortstop still beat the throw, giving him his first Southern League stolen base. Two innings later, Hamilton collected his first hit with the Blue Wahoos, tripling home David Vidal with two outs. Hamilton has had an action-packed month. After reaching 100 stolen bases for the second straight season on July 2, the 2009 second-round pick hit a two-run triple for Team USA in the Futures Game on Sunday. Overall this season Hamilton is batting .323 with 79 runs scored, 10 triples and 105 stolen bases in 83 Minor League games. McGill improved to 7-4, fanning seven and allowing three hits over six shutout innings for the Lookouts. Luis Nunez was 3-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs and Gorman Erickson drove in a pair of runs for Chattanooga.

more links available at the main story PCL shuts down IL, ends All-Star hex Eleven pitchers toss five-hitter; Myers gets RBI, named MVP By Guy Curtright / Special to MLB.com http://www.milb.com/images/2012/07/12/rR8ANMA8.jpg Wil Myers shares the Minor League lead with 27 homers across two levels. (Rinaldi Photos) BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Pacific Coast League won the Buffalo chicken wing-eating contest at the Triple-A All-Star Gala. And that proved to be an omen. The PCL kept munching 24 hours later and took a bite out of the International League's recent domination of the Triple-A All-Star Game, claiming a 3-0 victory Wednesday night before a capacity crowd of 18,025 at Coca-Cola Field. "There wasn't a lot of emotional speeches," said Las Vegas' Marty Brown, the PCL manager. After the PCL had lost three straight and seven of the previous nine showdowns with the IL, maybe the players didn't need one. Eleven pitchers held the International League to five hits, and the two runs the PCL scored in the top of the first inning proved more than the host team could overcome in the 25th edition of the Midsummer Classic. The PCL has the reputation as a haven for offense with little pitching, thanks to hitter-friendly ballparks. "That's not necessarily the case," Brown said. "It is a lot different this year." The PCL also happens to boast one of the Minor Leagues' top hitting prospects, and he proved to be a key to Wednesday's victory. Wil Myers of the Omaha Storm Chasers went 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a run scored to claim MLB.com's Star of Stars honor for the winning team. "Nothing rattles him. He's going to be a good one," Brown said. The Royals' outfield prospect delivered an RBI single in the first inning and scored the PCL's final run after a leadoff double in the fourth. "It was great to win the MVP award, or whatever you call it," said Myers, who collected two hits and three RBIs on Sunday in the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game in Kansas City. Myers also was on the winning side in that game as Team USA rolled to a 17-5 rout of the World team. Wednesday's game was anything but a slugfest. The PCL totaled eight hits and each team struck out 11 times. Buffalo Bisons right-hander Matt Harvey was named the IL's Star of Stars. He was the only pitcher to work two innings and he did not allow a hit. "He made some pretty good hitters look ordinary," said IL manager Mike Sarbaugh of the Columbus Clippers. "He has plus stuff." The crowd was the third-largest in the history of the Triple-A All-Star Game. The record remains 20,725 in 1991 at Louisville's old Cardinal Stadium. A crowd of 19,500 attended the inaugural game in Buffalo in 1988, when the stadium capacity was larger because of bleachers in right field. Buffalo was the first city to host the game twice. Next year's event will be held in Reno, Nev. "This is a magical place for baseball," said Brown, who played in the inaugural Triple-A All-Star Game and went on to manage the Bisons for three seasons. The PCL scored twice in the opening inning against Lehigh Valley's Tyler Cloyd, who is 8-1 with an IL-best 2.01 ERA. Oklahoma City's Mike Hessman followed singles by Reno teammates Adam Eaton and Jake Elmore with a sacrifice fly and Myers singled up the middle after Tacoma's Luis Jimenez walked. The PCL added a run against former National League All-Star Zach Duke of Syracuse in the fourth. Myers came around on a two-out double by Tim Federowicz of Albuquerque. Harvey, the Mets' No. 2 prospect, followed Cloyd and pitched two hitless innings. He struck out two, hit a batter and threw a wild pitch. At 23, Harvey was the youngest player in the game. He is No. 31 on MLB.com's list of the Top 100 Prospects after being selected seventh overall in the 2010 Draft. "The crowd was electric," said Harvey, who is 7-4 with a 3.39 ERA for the hometown Bisons. "I'm glad I got out of it scoreless. I had a good curveball, but I was a little wild." The IL threatened in the second against Fresno's Eric Hacker but came up empty. Ryan Lavarnway of Pawtucket singled with one out and Buffalo's Valentino Pascucci, who won Monday's Home Run Derby, doubled off the left-field wall. But Lavarnway was trapped off third on a grounder by Columbus' Cord Phelps, and Rochester's Pedro Florimon struck out. The IL got two runners on with none out in the seventh, but Albuquerque's Josh Wall retired Lehigh Valley's Kevin Frandsen on a fly ball to left field, struck out Syracuse's Corey Brown and got Indianapolis' Starling Marte to bounce into a forceout. PCL starter Graham Godfrey got the victory, working around a first-inning infield hit by Leslie Anderson of Durham. Anderson was the only IL player to get two hits, although Pascucci walked three times. Reno's Jonathan Albaladejo came in to get the last two outs with a runner on to record the save. "They got off to a good start and we couldn't put anything together," Sarbaugh said. Gameday Jim Henderson got to pitch a third of an inning and struck out the only batter he faced to end the 8th.

Pretty self explanatory. Midseason Prospect Reports: AL and NL Central edit. I should add that the subscriber link has break outs on every player, snip its below.. Lance Roenicke & Scooter Gennett were also mentioned. edit 2. Just caught that it was written by TH, I really hate that he writes all the Brewer stuff, I'd rather one of the pseudo impartial staffers write up the Brewers.

I can cover you the 21st and 28th, that's not an issue.

Personally I don't think this is a good move at all. If you want a bullpen arm you grab Henderson and give him a shot. You don't take your #1 prospect who needs work on his command and stick him in the bullpen where he doesn't have the opportunity to get regular bullpen sessions. Sure he could jump into the rotation, but then it would be all the hassle of not being stretched out. In fact he's not even stretched out now. As for limiting his innings? To what end? Do people not realize he barely pitched at all in June? He needs to reach 160 innings this season so he's in position to go 180+ next year when he'll really be needed. If this is a one week thing... maybe, maybe I could get behind it. It would have to be extremely temporary, but I don't like where this is going at all. The rationale/justifications being used in this thread don't really make any sense from any kind of macro or developmental point of view. This is exactly how legitimate starting pitching prospects end up being wasted as closers like Jonathan Papelbon. He doesn't need his innings further limited, that happened enough on it's own already. He needs further development as a pitcher, pitching out of Milwaukee's bullpen does nothing to help in that regard. Finally the Brewers have other relief options that deserve a shot like Hand and Henderson who are at the end the of the development cycle already.

I think that if you want player who profiles as an impact player it's going to be a straight up trade for guy in A or A+. Remember the team getting the rental doesn't get draft picks anymore. Is one legit prospect better than 2 draft picks? It depends on who's doing the drafting and how high the picks are but in most cases "a bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush"... Give me the prospect.

Well it would at least be nice for them to have the chance to get eliminated in a one-game wildcard playoff. The Royals are not that bad, that have an ascending young team and will graduate even more impact players to MLB next season. It might not be next year, but they are definitely on the upswing, they just need Montgomery to regain his mojo and Odorizzi to be Odorizzi. They already have Butler, Moustakas, Hosmer, and Escobar up in the majors. Will Myers is a stud and will make his debut this year, that's a nice core to build around. Butler is the oldest player of that bunch at 26. Alex Gordon never turned into a stud, but he's putting up an OPS in the upper .700s, he's a solid contributor. Hosmer has struggled this season but was pretty darn good in 2011 as a 21 year old in MLB, he should at least be a .750 OPS player moving forward. The real problem in KC is pitching but both Montgomery and Odorizzi are in AAA this year and should join the rotation next season. John Lamb will return from TJ surgery next season and will probably be in AA again as just 22 year old even though he lost a year, will likely bump to AAA after the break and be back on track for 2014 debut. Jason Adam is also on track to start next season in AA as 21 year old, I could see him in KC by 2015.

I was thinking about my long drawn out response, and I could have made it much easier. As far as being competitive, I'm not looking to win a season, I'm looking to beat the system and establish Milwaukee as a power organization in MLB. The ultimate goal of winning a WS will be shared between myself and many people, but how we get there is a completely different idea. The prevailing wisdom in baseball is that if a small market gets "close" they need to go for it because they might not get another chance, but from where I'm sitting that's just playing into the hands of the larger market teams whom carry all of the advantage in the first place. It shortens the competitive window significantly when a small market team trades for rentals or short duration players, those impact players hit FA and become impact players for the highest bidders. The way to beat the system is to control costs by acquiring wins at far below market rate, the easiest way to do that is to control the most valuable commodity in the game which is young impact pitching. I don't see myself competing with the NL Central or National League, I'm raging against the system. Like I said when our position players and Gallardo finally all arrived my focus switched to maintaining success over a long period time and building a team that could legitimately compete for a WS year after year. It was then I realized how dire the pitching situation was and it was that revelation that started my disdain for Melvin. As I became more aware of how key pitching is to baseball, my entire focus towards the Brewer organization began to change and through my research I found teams that were building the way I wanted the Brewers to build. Baseball isn't either advanced metrics or scouting anymore than it is veterans/free agents or prospects, the answers to the most important questions are all in that middle ground. Many teams have proven that young players can and will succeed and contribute to WS appearances and titles, you don't need to have a veteran team to win a WS or sustain success. There are simply more and I would argue better solutions available than the tact Melvin has taken. I say again that when you're simply looking to be average or better at every position because most teams are going to have holes in their roster then you are simply building to be mediocre and that's exactly what Melvin has done. That level of mediocrity directly led to Sabathia, Marcum, and Greinke... not fate, not wisdom, not an aggressive nature, just simply one man's philosophy on baseball and how to ensure that he never makes a mistake like the Justin Thompson trade again..

Final Game 2: DSL Brewers 4, DSL Blue Jays 0 (7 Innings) DSL Brewers Game 2 Box Score Woohoo Gian Rizzo returns! It was a short outing though, only 2 innings, hopefully he's on his way back from a minor injury. 20 year old Eliezer Montano was pretty fantastic though pitching the final 5 scoreless innings allowing just 3 hits and 2 walks against 5 strike outs. Montano also picked off 2 base runners today, I love all of the pick offs coming out of our system this year, it must have been a huge point of emphasis through the spring. The Brewer bats didn't do much until exploding in the 7th for the 4 runs which won the game. All 4 runs came on Alejandro Mendoza's GRAND SLAM! Raphachel Colatosti was the only hitter with a multi-hit game going 2-3 out of the 9th spot in the order, though he managed to get picked off of first. Carlos Belonis and Juan Ortiz both sole bases in the contest, the 19th and 7th respectively. DSL Brewers Game 2 Play By Play What else would I highlight? DSL Brewers Top of the 7th Juan Tejada remains in the game as the left fielder. Elvis Rubio flies out to left fielder Juan Tejada. Jose Dicent singles on a ground ball to left fielder Juan Tejada. Yunior De La Cruz walks. Jose Dicent to 2nd. Carlos Pena singles on a fly ball to center fielder Luis Martin. Jose Dicent to 3rd. Yunior De La Cruz to 2nd. Pitcher Change: Simon Paulino replaces Francis Eduardo. Alejandro Mendoza hits a grand slam (1) to left field. Jose Dicent scores. Yunior De La Cruz scores. Carlos Pena scores. Raphachel Colatosti singles on a ground ball to center fielder Luis Martin. Francisco Castillo grounds into double play, second baseman Deiferson Barreto to shortstop Ronniel Demorizi to first baseman Angel Rojas. Raphachel Colatosti out at 2nd.

Final Game 1: DSL Blue Jays 4, DSL Brewers 1 (7 innings) DSL Brewers Game 1 Box Score Juan Santiago got the start in game 1 going 5 IP allowing 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, and a balk against 6 SO. Miguel Diaz pitched the final 2 innings allowing 2s across the board. edit. Both pitchers also picked off a base runner, completely forgot to mention it until I was doing the game 2 summary. Carlos Belonis had a stellar first game going 3-3 with 3 singles and 3 stolen bases, no other Brewer hitter had multiple hits or an XBH. However Belonis was caught stealing home and picked off of 1st. Alejandro Mendoza stole a base of his own and of course added an error because with every positive in this first game came a negative. DSL Brewers Game 1 Play By Play It was the Belonis show in the 1st. DSL Brewers Bottom of the 1st Francisco Castillo grounds out, pitcher Jonathan Torres to first baseman Cesar Barazarte. Raphachel Colatosti flies out to right fielder Juan Tejada. Carlos Belonis singles on a ground ball to left fielder Leudy Garcia. With Elvis Rubio batting, Carlos Belonis steals (16) 2nd base. With Elvis Rubio batting, Carlos Belonis steals (17) 3rd base, Carlos Belonis scores. Throwing error by catcher Andres Sotillo. Elvis Rubio walks. Jose Dicent singles on a ground ball to first baseman Cesar Barazarte. Elvis Rubio advances to 3rd, on throwing error by first baseman Cesar Barazarte. With Yunior Santana batting, Jose Dicent steals (1) 2nd base. Yunior Santana strikes out swinging. Santiago was on cruise until the 5th... DSL Blue Jays Top of the 5th Andres Sotillo walks. With Juan Tejada batting, Andres Sotillo advances to 2nd on a balk. Juan Tejada singles on a line drive to left fielder Elvis Rubio. Andres Sotillo to 3rd. Luis Martin singles on a ground ball to center fielder Francisco Castillo. Andres Sotillo scores. Juan Tejada scores. Luis Martin to 2nd. Throwing error by second baseman Alejandro Mendoza. Rolando Segovia strikes out swinging. With Edwin Fuentes batting, Luis Martin steals (2) 3rd base. Edwin Fuentes flies out to center fielder Francisco Castillo. Angel Rojas flies out to center fielder Francisco Castillo. A missed opportunity to answer back and tie the game. DSL Brewers Bottom of the 5th Kevin Martinez flies out to left fielder Leudy Garcia. Francisco Castillo singles on a ground ball to left fielder Leudy Garcia. Raphachel Colatosti grounds out, third baseman Angel Rojas to first baseman Cesar Barazarte. Francisco Castillo to 2nd. Carlos Belonis singles on a fly ball to center fielder Luis Martin. Francisco Castillo to 3rd. With Elvis Rubio batting, Carlos Belonis picked off and caught stealing 2nd base, pitcher Carlos Rodriguez to first baseman Cesar Barazarte to shortstop Edwin Fuentes.

Topps names June Players of the Month Hunter Morris is listed as are some other divisional prospects, again worth a click.

Eight Futures Game Highlights Worth a read.

Top Pitching Performances Over The Weekend, July 6-8 Mark Rogers is on the list but not commented on.

BA's Draft Database Some pretty big names still haven't signed and the deadline is rapidly approaching. The most relevant to us at this point would be the 1 divisional and 2 remaining league signings, #8, #9, and#16 picks overall. The Pirates haven't signed Appel, the Marlins haven't signed Haeney, and the Nationals haven't signed Giolito... in case you aren't familiar with the names all are pitchers. Only 6 first round picks remain unsigned

subscriber piece, a good read Teams Still Finding Ways To Sign Top Preps

same here Pitchers of the Week For the week ending July 8