Tucson Mexican Baseball Fiesta
Our second international free agent was profiled in Prospect A-Z yesterday with Nippon Ham righty Yu Darvish. The Rangers won the posting auction for exclusive negotiating rights with him, and it seems likely that a deal will get done at the end of the negotiating window. They’re a team in need of pitching after losing Cliff Lee and C.J. Wilson in free agency in consecutive years, and Darvish has the potential to be a...
I hope everyone had a good holiday. Last week, Prospect A-Z wrapped up with Tyler Skaggs, the lefty Arizona received from Anaheim in the Dan Haren trade during the 2010 season. Skaggs has emerged as a very good pitching prospect and has advanced through the minors quickly. Just three years after he was drafted by the Angels, Skaggs could make his ML debut sometime in 2012. He was a part of a rotation at...
We got back to shortstops yesterday, generally focusing on Tampa Bay’s Hak-Ju Lee. Just a year after being acquired from the Cubs in the Matt Garza trade, he became the team’s best shortstop prospect and best prospect among all position players. His athleticism, solid bat and nice plate approach makes him one of the top shortstop prospects in the game, and the Rays hope he can hit at the top of their lineup soon....
I hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend. The short week wrapped up with Washington lefty Bryan Harper. It was a poor attempt at baseball humor because obviously his brother is the real prospect, not Bryan. Most of the post focused on a couple other things: the Harper brothers’ teammates at the College of Southern Nevada in 2010 and other teams that have drafted or acquired brothers of their highly paid draft picks. It’s...
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, 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...
Trevor Bauer was the subject of yesterday’s Prospect A-Z feature. The former UCLA standout raised his draft stock throughout his junior season with complete game after complete game and strikeout after strikeout. His stuff improved, and he was no longer a solid prospect with an odd routine, he’s a top talent. The Diamondbacks took Bauer third overall, two picks after UCLA teammate Gerrit Cole was taken by Pittsburgh, the first time since 1978 that...
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...
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 heard whether or not the Marlins will recognize any of the extensive history of Miami baseball or the...
This is Part 2 of our interview with Kurt Schweizer. You can find Part 1 here. Bus Leagues Baseball: When did you start documenting the end of Miami Stadium? KS: Well, I knew, going back to about the early-90s, that its days were really numbered. There was a fight to save it from demolition, that was led by a couple of the producers of the documentary and I was involved with that. But, that...
