Tucson Mexican Baseball Fiesta
Prospect A-Z had a tough letter yesterday in Q, and the subject was Padres reliever Kevin Quackenbush. He has the potential to pitch in middle relief for San Diego in a year or two, but that might be his ceiling. He made his pro debut with Eugene in the Northwest League and dominated, so the Padres promoted him to the Midwest League where he again dominated. From there, the entry deviated to a discussion...
Yesterday’s Prospect A-Z featured Nationals starter Matt Purke. Purke was expected to be one of the top picks in the 2011 draft, but a shoulder injury in his sophomore year at TCU greatly diminished his stuff and his draft stock. His usual 91-94 MPH fastball and sharp slider became 81-84 MPH and flat. Statistically, he was still very good, but the talent he displayed all throughout high school and in his freshman season at...
Prospect A-Z takes a back seat to the book any day, so hopefully no one missed it too much. As a refresher, the last entry was about future Rays ace Matt Moore. After dazzling minor leaguers and prospect watchers from April through August, he was promoted by the Rays to help out in the bullpen, but he eventually worked his way into the rotation and became Tampa Bay’s game one starter in the playoffs....
For the first time this week, Prospect A-Z didn’t cover a shortstop… kind of. Casey Kelly in the San Diego organization played both ways until 2009 when the Red Sox, his original organization, made him finally focus on pitching. Allowing him to play shortstop at the start of his career was a courteous move by Boston to convince him to sign instead of going to play QB at Tennessee, and I’m sure the large...
Will it be three shortstops in a row? Jurickson Profar of Texas was the subject of yesterday’s Prospect A-Z. The Rangers already have a very good shortstop in Elvis Andrus, but it’s not a deep position around the league, so there’s nothing wrong with having a top prospect at the same position. Profar could develop into a better hitter while still providing quality defense, albeit not as well as Andrus. That’s still years away...
Yesterday, Prospect A-Z covered Jose Iglesias, Boston’s Cuban shortstop prospect. He’s a tremendous fielder but really struggled at the plate in 2011 at AAA. He’s still young enough to improve and become an every day player in the majors, and 2012 will be a pivotal year for him. It’ll be his second chance in AAA, and Marco Scutaro will be in the last year of his contract. His career parallels fellow Cuban Adeiny Hechavarria,...
Yesterday, we reviewed Grant Green, the A’s prospect and former first rounder converting from shortstop to centerfield. After a great pro debut in 2010, Green’s offensive suffered from a pretty substantial decline with AA Midland in 2011. He should be able to handle center and at least be an okay defensive player, and if his power comes back, he could be a quality regular for the A’s who are in desperate need of offense...
Yesterday, I broke away from the typical format for this feature and analyzed where Yoenis Cespedes might land. In my mind, there are 5-7 serious contenders, acknowledging that all 30 teams would love to have him. Cespedes probably gained a lot of cache with fans for his entertaining scouting video, but he’s had that same cache with scouts and front offices for years with his impressive tools and athleticism. I ended up writing twice...
Joe Savery. I had this posted at Philly Sports Central last week, but I thought this audience would like to see it too. Savery is an intriguing player and to me, unfortunately only came in 7th place on our relief pitcher of the year ballot last week. May 23rd, 2011. This was a great day for the Phillies. Chase Utley made his return to the lineup after missing nearly two months with a knee...
It’s Awards Week here at Bus Leagues, that annual event in which we unveil the seasons that our voters determined to be the best in Minor League and Independent baseball. This year, we have nine awards to give out: Player of the Year, Starting Pitcher of the Year, and Relief Pitcher of the Year for Full-Season Minor League Baseball, Short-Season Minor League Baseball, and Independent Baseball. In the Independent Baseball awards announced yesterday, Ronnie...
