The first Prospect Hot Sheet of the season has been posted, with Ryan Braun leading the way on the first Hot Sheet of spring.

While the Hot Sheet is now posted on the main site, feel free to leave comments here on who you thought was ranked too high, too low or left out. And remember, this isn’t a new Top 20 Prospects, this is a listing of which prospects are the hottest (and coldest) right now.

High winds and gusts of 50 mph tore the head off the wooden snorting bull that has adorned the left field wall at Durham Bulls Athletic Park for the past 13 years.

The bull had been a fixture atop the 32-feet high Blue Monster and is patterned after the original snorting bull that was built for and made famous by the movie “Bull Durham.” The bull’s eyes flash and smoke emerges from its nose when a Durham player homers. [...] Continue Reading »

Braves second baseman J.C. Holt went on the disabled list over the weekend with a hamstring strain and will miss an unspecified amount of time.

“There really is no timetable for a return right now,” a front office official from Atlanta said. “It’s more than just a day-to-day type injury.”

Holt, a 2004 third-round pick, impressed the Braves’ brass in the offseason when the 24-year-old batted .388/.453/.507 in the Arizona Fall League. He was hitting .394/.412/.424 in 33 at-bats at Double-A Mississippi so far this season.

In his place, the Braves called up infielder Diory Hernandez from high Class A Myrtle Beach. Hernandez was hitting .344 with five extra-base hits in 32 at-bats for the Pelicans.

We’re now a week and a half into the season, which means we’re getting to the point where batting average are more likely to hover around .280 than .500 or .100. And now we’re reaching the point where the question becomes whether Roberto Kelly’s Augusta GreenJackets will ever lose.

Low Class A

Augusta is now a perfect 11-0, as Adam Cowart continued the GreenJackets amazing run with six shutout innings to beat Charleston 4-0 on Sunday. The start sets an Augusta record, and is easily the best in pro baseball this season. Manager Roberto Kelly led the GreenJackets to the South Atlantic League championship last season, but this year’s group has been even better, thanks to an outstanding pitching staff (1.02 ERA). Cowart’s been a big part of that. He’s 3-0, with a 1.06 ERA with 10 strikeouts and one walk in 17 innings. Shortstop Brian Bockock and left fielder Tyler Graham have been key to the winning streak as well. Bockock, who went 3-for-4 on Sunday, leads the minors with 12 stolen bases, while Graham, who went 2-for-5 with three RBIs, is second in the minors with nine steals. [...] Continue Reading »

Indians third baseman Wes Hodges hasn’t played for three straight games due to what high Class A Kinston manager Mike Sarbaugh called a ‘tweak’ in his hamstring.

It must have been one bad tweak, since it’s always been tough to keep Hodges off the field—a hundred percent healthy or not.

During the 2006 second-round pick’s senior year of high school, Hodges—a natural righthanded hitter—broke the hamate bone in his left wrist. Not being able to hit righthanded, Hodges taught himself to hit from the left side.

And hit .430 that year. [...] Continue Reading »

TRIPLE-A

HIGHS: Ryan Braun’s easy power came alive in the Big Easy on Saturday, as the Brewers’ 2005 first-round pick belted three home runs in Nashville’s 14-1 win against New Orleans. Not to be outdone, Milwaukee No. 1 prospect Yovani Gallardo allowed just three hits over six innings and struck out 12 . . . Also in the double-digits in terms of strikeouts was Cubs righthander Carlos Marmol, who whiffed 10 in Iowa’s 8-0 shutout of Round Rock . . . Reds righthander Homer Bailey’s command wasn’t perfect, but he pitched five solid innings in his second 2007 start. Bailey allowed a run on three hits, struck out four and walked three over five innings in Louisville’s 8-2 win against Norfolk . . . Last year, Yankees righthander Matt DeSalvo went 1-6, 7.68 with 34 walks in 39 innings in Triple-A before being reassigned to Double-A Trenton. It appeared as if the 26-year-old was on a similar track after he allowed a pair of runs in his three-inning debut last week, but DeSalvo righted the ship against Pawtucket. Over six shutout innings, DeSalvo allowed just one hit and struck out eight in Scarnton/Wilkes-Barre’s 5-1 win. [...] Continue Reading »

TRIPLE-A

HIGHS: Mets outfielder Carlos Gomez collected another two hits in New Orleans’ 3-2 loss to Nashville on Friday, upping his average to .375. It was Gomez’s third multi-hit game of the season . . . It’s been a slightly different Craig Stansberry in 2007. An offseason waiver claim of the Padres from the Pirates, the fifth-round pick in 2003 out of Rice batted just .243/.345/.411 last season between Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis. But this season, the second baseman is hitting .312/.395/.438 at Portland. Stansberry went 3-for-6 with three RBIs in the Beavers’ 10-9 win against Fresno . . . Also riding a hot streak in the Pacific Coast League is Tucson infielder Jamie D’Antona. Though the 24-year-old played at catcher, first and third base last season, D’Antona has played exclusively on the hot corner so far this season. The 2003 third-rounder had another two hits in the Sidewinders’ 6-5 loss to Colorado Springs and is now hitting .625/.630/1.042 with six extra-base hits in just 24 at-bats . . . Braves outfielder Gregor Blanco parlayed a strong effort in winter ball in Venezuela into this season at Richmond. Blanco went 2-for-3 Friday in the R-Braves’ 6-2 loss to Indianapolis and is now hitting .421/.500/.474. [...] Continue Reading »

With Toronto left fielder Reed Johnson headed to the disabled list with a herniated disc in his back, the Blue Jays called up a prized prospect from Triple-A Syracuse.

The Prospects

Outfielder Adam Lind takes Johnson’s roster spot and, if his brief major league indoctrination–.367/.415/.600–is a fair gauge, Lind should have no trouble approximating the lost offense. The 23-year-old Lind opened 2007 in the minors to stay sharp with consistent at-bats, waiting for just this opportunity. [...] Continue Reading »

Cardinals’ 2006 first-round pick Adam Ottavino got hit around pretty good in high Class A Palm Beach’s 5-2 loss to St. Lucie on Thursday, even though he had decent command of his fastball, which was up to 96 mph.

Ottavino, who is 0-2, 2.00 over his first two starts in the Florida State League, hasn’t shown above-average secondary pitches in either outing, however. [...] Continue Reading »

Royals third baseman Mario Lisson ranked on the back end of Kansas City’s Top 30 prospects in 2005 and 2006, but fell off this season after a second straight year in the low Class A Midwest League.

But last year was the most time Lisson spent on the field, playing 130 games at Burlington and wound up hitting .263/.368/.421 with 13 homers in 463 at-bats.

Signed as a nondrafted free agent in 2002 out of Venezuela, Lisson was one of former Royals’ general manager Allard Baird’s favorite prospects. Still just 22 years old, Lisson is off to a hot start at high Class A Wilmington, coming off a 5-for-5 night on Thursday in the Blue Rocks’ 4-3 win against Kinston. [...] Continue Reading »

Last season was essentially a lost year for Marlins infielder Brad McCann.

After hitting .295/.355/.552 with 28 homers, 35 doubles and 106 RBIs in 2005 at low Class A Greensboro, the 2004 sixth-round pick out of Clemson found out quickly that the parks in the Florida State League aren’t quite as cozy as the Grasshoppers’ First Horizon Park. [...] Continue Reading »

A little more than a year ago, Reds lefthander Phillipe Valiquette left his teammates at low Class A Dayton to attend a funeral back home in Montreal.

The only problem was he never came back. [...] Continue Reading »

Major League Baseball announced that Phillies infielder Hector Made was suspended for 50 games effective today for testing positive for a performance enhancing substance.

Signed by the Yankees as a nondrafted free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2001, Made played nearly four seasons in New York’s system before he was traded to Philadelphia for catcher Sal Fasano last July.

The Blue Jays traded righthander Francisco Rosario, who was out of options, to the Phillies last week for cash considerations.

The interesting thing about this seemingly minor deal is that Rosario had a decent spring in big league camp, going 1-0, 3.00 over nine innings. And more than one scout had good things to say about the 26-year-old righthander, who ranked as the organization’s sixth-best prospect in our 2007 Prospect Handbook. [...] Continue Reading »

A look at minor league transactions covering March 31 to April 6. We’re experimenting with an expanded version of transactions that includes players who were optioned, called up to the majors, placed on the minor league disabled list and outrighted off the 40-man roster.

The end of spring training camp means all players have to be cut or assigned to minor league rosters or disabled lists.

See also: previous minor league transactions. Or check out the players who were optioned to the minors at the very end of spring training.

Arizona Diamondbacks
Released: 1B Jesus Cota
Selected to major league roster: RHP Micah Owings
Optioned to Triple-A: RHP Yusmeiro Petit
Optioned to Double-A: 2B Emilio Bonifacio
Placed on minor league disabled list: RHP Jeff Bajenaru, RHP Matt Fowles, RHP Donald Julio, RHP Kyler Newby, LHP Jared Doyle [...] Continue Reading »

Gio Gonzalez is off to a fast start with his former team at Double-A Birmingham.

A 2004 first-round supplemental pick of the White Sox, Gonzalez was dealt to Philadelphia in the Jim Thome trade at the end of the 2005 season. After spending 13 months in red pinstripes, White Sox general manager Kenny Williams brought Gonzalez back to the organization. After seeing every one of the 21-year-old’s starts in the Arizona Fall League, Williams dealt for Gonzalez and righthander Gavin Floyd in exchange for righthander Freddy Garcia.

It’s been so far, so good in Gonzalez’ return to the White Sox, two starts, two wins and 15 strikeouts in 10 1/3 innings at Double-A Birmingham. [...] Continue Reading »

Wednesday was all about pitching. Pitching prospects stood on mounds around the minors, with Chase Wright leading the way with a 10-K, seven-inning performance.

Triple-A

Devern Hansack was sent to Triple-A Pawtucket after a strong spring because the Red Sox wanted to stretch him out as a starter. He looked pretty effective on Wednesday as he fanned 10 in five innings against Durham.

Brian Bixler had four hits and Sean Burnett pitched effectively as Indianapolis beat Toledo. [...] Continue Reading »

Phillies righthander Kyle Drabek and Brewers righthander Jeremy Jeffress both signed for $1.55 million after being selected one pick apart in the 2006 draft–18th and 16th overall, respectively. Drabek’s makeup and Rookie-level performance (1.91 WHIP and 14 K in 23 IP) were spun into a bit of a caution flag in his debut, while Jeffress’ 100+ mph fastball and Rookie-level performance (1.62 WHIP and 37 K in 34 IP) attracted a ton of buzz.

Now, Drabek is fresh off a strong 2007 starting debut (6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB and 4 K), while Jeffress, who had some makeup issues of his own this spring, isn’t on a full-season roster. [...] Continue Reading »

Rockies lefthander Greg Reynolds finally got a chance to get a full outing under his belt on Tuesday, and he didn’t disappoint.

The 2006 No. 2 overall pick tossed seven shutout innings, allowed two hits and struck out seven in Double-A Tulsa’s 7-0 win against Corpus Christi.

Reynolds initially started the Drillers’ home opener last week, but a snowstorm shut the game down after three innings. Considering the weather on Opening Day in Tulsa, it was a little surprising that Reynolds took the mound in short sleeves in 30-degree temperatures.

“I didn’t know that,” Rockies assistant general manager Bill Geivett said. “And this is a Stanford guy.” [...] Continue Reading »

Triple-A baseball is home to hot shots, long shots and baseball lifers, its unique nature making it interesting on those levels alone. With that in mind, here’s a look at Louisville, the Reds’ top farm club, and home to two of baseball’s finest prospects. [...] Continue Reading »