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...
For the record, I have never met Jedd Gyorko, and I assume he’s a nice guy. Nick Franklin was the subject of yesterday’s Prospect A-Z. He’s the Mariners shortstop with a bit of a schizophrenic scouting report. Prior to the 2009 draft, he was an athletic shortstop that would provide defense and a little hitting. After the 2010 season, he appeared to be a power hitter that may not be able to stick at...
The first week of Prospect A-Z wrapped up on Friday with Edwar Cabrera, MILB’s strikeout leader in 2011. He doesn’t have the top of the rotation stuff like previous leader Matt Moore does, but his great changeup allowed him to dominate A-ball this year. That’s not to say he doesn’t have ML potential, but at his best he’ll be pitching at the back of a rotation and not the front. AA will be a...
Yesterday, we went behind the plate to talk about Travis d’Arnaud, Toronto’s catcher on helium last season. He’s gone one level per year in his ascent to the majors, and he could break in with Toronto by the end of 2012. He’s a solid all-around player who may not stand out in any area, but he’ll be good in all of them. At the time of his trade to Toronto along with Kyle Drabek...
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...
Yesterday, we reviewed one of the Rockies’ top prospects, third baseman Nolan Arenado. He’s been a solid, above average hitter throughout his minor league career so far, and his defense on the hot corner is improving. In an ideal world for the Rockies, he develops into a middle of the order slugger to complement Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez. While that’s probably a couple years away, today’s player could reach the majors sooner than...
Over at Rays Prospects, the great staff will soon be wrapping up a great offseason feature, Prospect A to Z. Every day, one writer covers a prospect for each letter. For example, Chris Archer was the representative for A. It’s a great opportunity to talk about some different players, so I’ll be ripping off their idea and doing it leaguewide. They’re not necessarily the best prospect for each letter, just a guy I preferred...
Last week, I looked at the six Cal League teams that made the playoffs. That leaves four more to review before I can finally put the 2011 season in the books after the painstaking amount of time it took me to finally get to this. Before the season, I made some playoff predictions. Some turned out okay, North Division 1. Visalia (second half winner) 2. San Jose (first half winner) 3. Modesto 4. Stockton...
The season ended about a month ago with the Lake Elsinore Storm being crowned champions. It was just their second outright championship in the team’s 18 year history. They defeated the Stockton Ports, the team that owns the most championships among active Cal League teams. For anyone that started following the league recently like me, it’s a surprise that honor doesn’t belong to San Jose. The championship series didn’t have the drama of last...
(This interview was printed in our second book The Bus Leagues Experience Volume 2, currently available on Amazon for only $8.) This Part 3 of our extensive interview with Miami-based baseball historian Kurt Schweizer. Part 1 and Part 2 are available here. You can find more of Kurt’s efforts on his Original Miami Marlins Facebook page, his feature story on growing up on Miami baseball, and his photo essay of Miami Stadium. Bus Leagues Baseball: Have you...
2012 05 14 Scranton Wilks Barre/ Empire State Yankees vs Pawtucket Red Sox
