Off-season Divisional Prospect News

[TheCrew07]

I think Vogelbach is a legit prospect, especially considering the dearth of 1B prospects around baseball. The T-Rats just could not consistently get him out last year even with the exaggerated shifts, I developed a Buxtonesque level of disdain for him coming to the plate. He didn't look like any kind of athlete with that body type but he sure can hit, he surprised me.

 

Slimmer Vogelbach Has Big Plans

[TheCrew07]

Lots of divisional prospects mentioned here.

 

Top 20 Rookies: They’re More Vital To Success Than Ever

 

It's nice to see someone on a national level write this part of the article though as a small core of us have been talking about ultimate value for a long time...

 

■ Rookie classes seem to get better each year. Don’t expect that trend to change, because teams have concluded that they can receive more value—but not necessarily more production—from a rookie making the minimum than they can from a mediocre free agent on a multi-year deal.

[TheCrew07]

Randal Grichuk was acquired by the Cardinals this winter, he has the distinction of being the player drafted right before Mike Trout. In fact the top of that 2009 draft for the Angels was crazy good; Grichuk (24), Trout (25), Skaggs (40), and Richards (42). Actually they got Corbin (80) and Spence (110) before the 4th round as well, what an amazing draft... the Angels sure have fallen a long way. I really liked Kaleb Cowart (.580 OPS in 546 PAs) when he was in the ML but man was he awful last year, since 2009 only 3 draftees have seen big league action: Kalhoun (8th Rnd 2010), Maronde (3rd Rnd 2011), and Roth (9th Rnd 2012)... another guy I liked in the 2011 draft CJ Cron has had his OPS drop with each successive MiLB jump up (.746 in AA for 2013).

 

Grichuk Has Grip On New Shot

[TheCrew07]

Season Of Surprises For Bucs’ Cumpton

[TheCrew07]

Reds’ Soto Still Hoping To Catch On

[TheCrew07]

Cards Count On Taveras To Leg It Out To Bigs

[TheCrew07]

Topical discussion at the bottom regarding the Pirates forcing pitchers to throw a certain way (in this case Taillon), we discussed the Brewers doing this with Jungmann a while back.

 

Backfield Blog: Pittsburgh Pirates

[TheCrew07]

Reds' Hamilton makes leadoff spot his own

[TheCrew07]

Cubs' Baez exits game early with injury

[TheCrew07]

Cubs' Baez cut, headed for Triple-A Iowa

[TheCrew07]

Good for Jake, he ended up in a pretty good situation if he sticks, TB is always in the hunt.

 

Rays' Odorizzi to join starting rotation

[TheCrew07]

Buried in this story are updates on Jameson Taillon and Tyler Glasnow of the Pirates.

 

Buxton's MRI reveals no structural damage

 

Taillon is slated to get a second opinion on elbow discomfort dubbed "minor" by MLB.com's No. 16 overall prospect. The 22-year-old right-hander is expected to be shut down for a couple of weeks while awaiting further news.

 

"He reported the discomfort in the elbow a few days ago," Pirates general manger Neal Huntington told MLB.com. "Like we do with every pitcher, [we] wanted to make sure of what's going on in there. He had the MRI and the ligament is intact."

 

Glasnow has been dealing with lower back tightness that has prevented him from seeing any game action in Minor League camp. MLB.com's No. 27 overall prospect will begin the season on the disabled list but has begun throwing on the side to build arm strength. The 20-year-old right-hander is coming off a breakout season for Class A West Virginia, where he was 9-3 with a 2.18 ERA and 164 strikeouts in 24 starts.

 

While Glasnow's injury likely will delay the start to his Minor League season, Taillon's could postpone his arrival in the big leagues. While the Pirates anticipated a possible midseason callup for the former Futures Game participant, Taillon is not expected to join Triple-A Indianapolis until early May.

[TheCrew07]

Brewers Prospect Primer: Arcia gains steam

[TheCrew07]

Reds Prospect Primer: Stephenson soaring

[TheCrew07]

Pirates Prospect Primer: Polanco blossoms

[TheCrew07]

Cardinals Prospect Primer: Taveras adjusting

[TheCrew07]

Cubs Prospect Primer: Candelario thinks big

[TheCrew07]

Hamilton revs it back up for Reds

[TooLiveBrew]

Brewers Prospect Primer: Arcia gains steam

Nice to see some Brewers prospect love for once! The lack of a system makes that kinda rare.

[TheCrew07]

I have a great deal of venom for anyone would seriously blame a goat, curse, fan, or any other irrelevant issue on their lack of success so the way this article started almost lost me.

 

Ringolsby: Cubs Growing Promise On The Farm

 

“We also know you only get one chance to build the right way. You don’t want to change a seven- to 10-year run by not doing things the right way. Short-term moves can make people feel good, but ultimately it takes you the wrong way.”

 

Hoyer paused.

 

“If you look at the Cubs, there hasn’t been a long-term, successful run.”

 

Ya, we know the feeling buddy.

[TheCrew07]

PCL Preview: Enter the Chihuahuas

 

Baez was featured prominently in the middle of the article and the Sounds new ballpark briefly mentioned.

[TheCrew07]

Missed this...

 

Primer Addendum: Pittsburgh Pirates

Over at MiLB.com today, we’ve offered a snapshot look at all the teams in the NL Central and prospects of note from their farm system, including the Pirates. Those pieces can give you a nice idea of who’s who within those farm systems, but we know there are plenty of diehards out there looking for more. With that in mind, I’m going to empty out the notebook with some more thoughts and quotes on some of the top Pirates prospects below:

[TheCrew07]

Cardinal prospect love... the Springfield outfield is loaded.

 

Ask BA: The Best Outfield In The Minors

[TheCrew07]

Freaking St. Louis... more love after yesterday's Ask BA post.

 

Cardinals Stockpiling Outfielders

[TheCrew07]

Huntington Resists Temptation With Polanco