It looks like the Giants are going to move Pablo Sandoval from catcher to either first or third base, with general manager Brain Sabean telling BA correspondent Andy Baggarly in November that Sandoval could get the majority of playing time at third.

But should the Giants totally abandon Sandoval’s development behind the plate?

Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve seen that Sandoval has ranked as one of the game’s best at erasing base stealers the last two seasons and only committed nine passed balls per 120 games in 2008. And that’s despite playing only one game at catcher between 2005-2006, as the Giants moved Sandoval from catcher after 33 games there in the Rookie-level Arizona League in 2004 before re-converting him to a backstop for 2007.

Yet Sandoval spent time at first and third base in his big league callup in 2008, is playing exclusively at first base this winter in the Venezuelan League (where he has lambasted the league with a .396/.449/.677 line in 214 plate appearances) and appears likely to be headed to a corner infield spot in San Francisco in 2009. So why the rush to move Sandoval away from catcher?

Sandoval, 22, is listed at 5-foot-11, 245 pounds, and having seen him in person, that looks accurate. He’s not tall, but he has a very thick build. If you trust the accuracy of height and weight information (and if this is any indication, maybe we shouldn’t), then there has never been a starting catcher who has weighed at least 245 pounds.

That doesn’t mean it can’t happen.

Before 6-foot-4 Cal Ripken Jr., there were only a handful of shortstops in baseball history who were at least 6-foot-3. Since then, Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Troy Tulowitzki and Hanley Ramirez have come along.

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I was flipping through a magazine the other day when an advertisement caught my attention.

The ad was for a product that promised me the ability to be able to slam dunk a basketball. All I had to do was I follow this company’s training program designed to increase my vertical jump and buy its specialized sneakers designed to build strength in my calves, presumably growing them into full-blown cows. 

Now, I’m about 5-foot-10. The only hoop I’m ever dunking on is one that says "PlaySkool" on the backboard. I might add a couple of inches to my vertical leap if I worked at it, but my physical limitations mean I’ll never Be Like Mike.

Even some of the best athletes in the world have their limitations to how much they can improve, and in baseball that might be especially true at a position as physically demanding as catcher. Certain aspects of catching—agility, footwork, hands, body control—can improve to various degrees, but scouts say that there’s a limit to how much room for growth they feel comfortable projecting a player in different areas. A 19-year-old catcher with a 40 arm on the 20-80 scouting scale might be able to improve his arm strength a tick or two, but he’ll almost never develop a 70 arm. A big, lumbering young catcher might be able to make some strides with his lateral mobility, but he probably won’t get much more agile with age.

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Catcher Max Sapp, the Astros’ 2006 first-round pick, has been in the hospital for more than two weeks with a case of meningitis, according to a report in the Houston Chronicle. Sapp, 20, underwent surgery for a severe sinus infection and contracted the illness. His breathing has been assisted by a respirator.

Sapp hit .200/.282/.294 with four home runs and 29 RBIs in 74 games with low Class A Lexington in 2008. He signed for $1.4 million out of Bishop Moore High in Orlando, Fla., but has struggled at the plate in three years as a pro. He’s battled hip and back injuries during his career and has yet to hit better than .241 in any of his three seasons.

This week’s installment considers all transactions reported by MLB between Dec. 16 and Dec. 23. The previous installment is available here.

Atlanta Braves
Released: RHP Eligio Lagua, RHP Eliezer Murillo, RHP Matt Timms, LHP Tim Ladd, LHP T.J. Wohlever, OF Mike Elkerson, OF Chad Maddox

Baltimore Orioles
Signed: C Chad Moeller, 2B Melvin Dorta, OF Dave Krynzel

The Brewers’ first-round pick (11th overall) in 2000, Krynzel lasted exactly one homestand with the Diamondbacks last season, appearing in four games for Triple-A Tucson, three times as a pinch-hitter, before drawing his release in early April. He played in just 23 games in 2007, his first season with Arizona after an offseason trade, so the 26-year-old needs to make up for lost time.

Chicago Cubs
Signed: SS Andres Blanco [...] Continue Reading »

With the Arizona Fall League and Hawaii Winter Baseball seasons finished—and in the HWB’s case, permanently—the Caribbean leagues take the over the winter ball spotlight.

Those leagues can be extremely competitive with major leaguers, former big leaguers and advanced minor league prospects playing every day. But for some of the less advanced players, there is the Liga Paralela, which is essentially a minor league for the Venezuelan League, giving some of the younger Venezuelan players an opportunity to play in their home country during the winter.

The most interesting players in the league are the players who signed during the 2008 international signing period. Those players don’t play in the Dominican Summer League or the Venezuelan Summer League, so the Liga Paralela can provide a first glimpse at some of the year’s top Venezuelan signings, as it did last year with Mets shortstop Wilmer Flores.

International scouts say the quality of the league has improved over the last few years to become an indicator of whether players are ready to make the leap to a rookie league in the United States the following year.

"You get a lot of A-ball and a couple of Double-A players who are not able to play with their winter counterparts, so they go down and pitch in these leagues," said one international scouting director. "So when guys perform well in the Paralel league, we use that as a barometer to see if they are able to handle the next step."

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Major League Baseball has suspended two more players for positive steroids tests.

The league announced today that it had suspended Yankees catcher Damien Taveras and Orioles righthander Ambiorix Suero 50 games each after testing positive for performance-enhancing substances.

Taveras, 19, tested positive for Stanozolol, an anabolic androgenic steroid frequently referred to as Winstrol. Taveras hit .229/.333/.325 in 166 Dominican Summer League at-bats.

Suero, 17, tested positive for Boldenone, another anabolic androgenic steroid. He appeared in six games in the DSL this year, allowing six runs and 11 walks with seven strikeouts.

Pirates righthander Bryan Morris had surgery to repair a ligament in his right big toe and will miss at least the first month of the 2009 season, Pirates correspondent John Perrotto reports. The 21-year-old Morris joined the organization at the 2008 trade deadline in the three-team deal that sent Jason Bay to the Red Sox and Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers.

The Dodgers selected Morris out of Motlow (Tenn.) CC with the 26th overall pick in the 2006 draft, but he struggled with his control in his debut, walking 40 batters in 60 Pioneer League innings. Following the season, he had Tommy John surgery that knocked him out for the entire 2007 campaign.

Morris returned to the mound in April 2008 to pitch effectively for low Class A Great Lakes. He went 2-4, 3.20 with 72 strikeouts and 31 walks in 82 innings before his trade to the Pirates. He made three largely ineffective starts for low Class A Hickory after the trade.

This week’s installment considers all transactions reported by MLB between Dec. 5 and Dec. 15. The previous installment is available here.

Rule 5 picks are listed below with the player’s original club, so that you can see which teams were the most picked-over in the draft. Because so many of these transactions are already covered in our Rule 5 draft and Trade Central packages, the commentary here is light for now.

Atlanta Braves
Signed: RHP Lance Niekro
Rule 5 selection: OF Carl Loadenthal (Mets, AAA)

Baltimore Orioles
Signed: RHP Fredy Deza, C Billy Killian
Traded: C Ramon Hernandez and cash to Reds for 2B Justin Turner, 3B Brandon Waring and OF Ryan Freel
Removed from 40-man roster: RHP Fredy Deza, C Guillermo Quiroz
Rule 5 selection: RHP Rocky Cherry (Mets, ML)

Boston Red Sox
Released: RHP Terumasa Matsuo
Traded: RHP Beau Vaughan to Rangers as player to be named in trade for RHP Wes Littleton [...] Continue Reading »

A junior circuit that will shadow the Arizona Fall League became closer to reality late Tuesday when Hawaii Winter Baseball announced that its contract with Major League Baseball would not be extended.

The junior circuit, not yet given an official name, would in essence shift the format of Hawaii Winter Baseball to the Phoenix area and coincide with the AFL, which next season will be in its 18th year.

HWB owner Duane Kurisu said general managers of major league teams voted for the move at the winter meetings in Las Vegas. The AFL has become thought of as a finishing school and is comprised of Triple-A and Double-A players, with each of its six teams allotted only one player from the Class A level. The HWB allowed less experienced players to get winter league experience as well, and it became a popular first stop for several first-round picks with Joba Chamberlain, Ian Kennedy and Matt Wieters making their professional debuts in Hawaii.

Now with the demise of the Hawaii league, that role will be moved to Arizona, allowing teams to cut down on travel costs to scout and evaluate the league. One baseball official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the new league had yet to be formally announced, indicated last week that the junior circuit would be played in the spring training homes within the Cactus League framework. [...] Continue Reading »

“I just didn’t think (the trade to the White Sox) would happen this soon. I was just talking to my parents. They’re a little upset about it, but I know it’s probably good for me, considering there’s a designated hitter [in the American League]. That’s another position I can possibly play. That’s definitely a plus.” -White Sox catcher Tyler Flowers, after being traded by Atlanta.

We’ve written before that the minor leagues currently have a wealth of talented catching prospects, headlined by 2008 Baseball America Player of the Year Matt Wieters. A catcher is ranked among a team’s top prospects in five of the 14 American League organizations, including top prospects Wieters (Orioles) and Carlos Santana (Indians). 

Not all of these prospects will pan out, and odds are that not all of them will still be catchers five years from now. Accounting for the probability of a minor league shortstop moving to second base in his projection isn’t close to the seismic magnitude of a catcher having to move to first base or DH. While catchers’ arms are usually strong enough for third base, their first-step quickness, range and agility—often part of the reasons they might have had to move off catcher in the first place—are usually better suited for first base. Occasionally an athletic catcher like Brandon Inge can make the move to third, but more often it’s a sharp slide down the defensive spectrum (and, at times, it’s a move to the mound, a la Carlos Marmol and Troy Percival).

[...] Continue Reading »