The Yankees made two moves today, calling up righthanders Joba Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and sending lefthander Chase Wright and righthander Tyler Clippard back to Double-A Trenton. [...] Continue Reading »

Joba Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy are one step closer to the majors. The pair of Yankees prospects learned on Monday that they are being promoted to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre which overshadowed a fine performance by Trenton teammate Jason Jones.

Triple-A

Brandon Jones doubled and homered for his first hits since being promoted to Triple-A Richmond on Saturday as the R-Braves pulled off a split against Toledo. The first game was a completion of Sunday’s suspended game that was delayed because of a bomb threat.

[...] Continue Reading »

Orioles righthander Brandon Erbe has gone through some growing pains this season at high Class A Frederick. In his second full year, the 2005 third-round pick has scuffled through some tough outings, including Sunday’s effort at Kinston.

Erbe allowed five earned runs on six hits over just 4 2/3 innings in the Keys’ 9-3 loss to the Indians, but he showed his usual outstanding fastball velocity.

Erbe’s fastball sat in the low 90s, topping out at 96, and showed flashes of a plus slider and changeup. But like his season so far, Erbe lacked command or any kind of consistency. [...] Continue Reading »

Clay Buchholz looked much more comfortable in his second Triple-A start, Tampa’s pitching staff picked up its second no-hitter of the week and Rick Ankiel homered again.

Triple-A

Clay Buchholz was pretty good, but his teammates weren’t in an 11-1 loss to Louisville. Buchholz displayed a 93-96 mph fastball and solid secondary stuff as he struck out 10 in five innings. But Louisville scored nine runs over the next three innings as Chris Dickerson doubled and tripled and Joey Votto added three hits.

[...] Continue Reading »

Tulsa Drillers hitting coach Mike Coolbaugh died Sunday night after being struck by a line drive during the Drillers’ game at North Little Rock, Ark.

Coolbaugh was coaching first base when he was struck in the temple by a line drive off the bat of Tulsa’s Tino Sanchez. The Tulsa World reported that Coolbaugh stopped breathing and lost conciousness immediately. CPR was begun nearly immediately and he was quickly taken to a nearby hospital, but he was pronounced dead at 9:47 p.m. CT.

[...] Continue Reading »

A pair of Triple-A pitchers will miss at least two starts as they recover from injuries their organizations don’t consider serious.

Reds righthander Homer Bailey was placed on the minor league disabled list for the second time this season for the same ailment: a strained right groin. Team medical director Dr. Tim Kremchek examined Bailey last week, deeming the strain moderate, and will do so again in about two weeks. [...] Continue Reading »

Low Class A Greensboro outfielder Spike McDougall tied a South Atlantic League record Saturday, swiping five bases in the Grasshoppers’ 6-2 win against Lake County.
The feat has been accomplished in the league nine times, most recently by Greensboro outfielder Jeremy Hermida in 2003 when the club was known as the Bats and played in War Memorial Stadium.
McDougall now has 23 steals in 25 attempts for the Grasshoppers, and the 23-year-old is hitting .273/.375/.502 with 16 homers in 315 at-bats. [...] Continue Reading »

Just days after introducing 2007 first-round pick Joe Savery as the newest member in the Phillies fold, Philadelphia got bad news Saturday.

An MRI revealed Drabek’s elbow–which has bothered him on and off all season–has a damaged ligament and the 19-year-old will undergo Tommy John surgery Wednesday in New York.

In his first full season, Drabek went 5-1, 4.33 in 54 innings at low Class A Lakewood.

• Triple-A Richmond shortstop Brent Lillibridge delivered a ninth-inning grand slam off Aquilino Lopez to give the Braves a come-from-behind victory over Toledo, 8-5. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the International League, Buffalo lefthander Jeremy Sowers finally made a visit to the win column, tossing a nine-inning complete game six-hitter in the Bisons’ 6-2 victory against Syracuse. Sowers allowed a pair of runs—both unearned—walked three and struck out eight. It was Sowers’ first win since May 24 against Kansas City. [...] Continue Reading »

Short-season Vancouver lefthander Brad Hertzler only had 8 2/3 innings of pro experience under his belt since signing as the Athletics’ 15th-round pick a little over a month ago.

But that didn’t seem to matter even a little bit on Wednesday as the 21-year-old from Maine tossed five perfect innings in the Canadians’ 1-0 rain-shortened win against Spokane.

“I think he was ready to go back out there for more, I think all the guys were,” Vancouver manager Rick Magnante said, “but the Doppler wasn’t having any of it.” [...] Continue Reading »

Three news tidbits popped up in Wednesday’s minor league action, with one long hitting streak ending and two no-hitters, including a five-inning perfect game.

First, in the Year of the Hit Streak in the minor leagues, Rangers third baseman Chris Davis had his 35-game streak end Wednesday night during an 0-for-4 performance with high Class A Bakersfield. Davis’ streak tied the California League record set in 1992 by Athletics farmhand Brent Gates. [...] Continue Reading »

In April, Indians outfielder Trevor Crowe looked like a completely different guy than the player who hit .329/.449/.470 at high Class A Kinston in 2006.

After being promoted to Double-A Akron and enduring a not-so flattering stint at second base with the Aeros, the 2007 version of Crowe wasn’t even close to duplicating his performance with the K-Tribe or in the Arizona Fall League last year where he batted .329/.449/.405.

Another member of the 2005 first-round class of outfielders that includes Justin Upton, Jay Bruce, Jacoby Ellsbury, Cameron Maybin and Colby Rasmus, Crowe’s reputation took a major hit this year when he put up much more than simply disappointing .225/.315/.309 numbers before the all-star break. It was a huge red flag. [...] Continue Reading »

Get back on the Reid Brignac bandwagon while you can–in case you might have fallen off after the 2004 second-round pick batted just .254/.306/.419 prior to the all-star break at Double-A Montgomery.

In his first full season in Double-A, the 21-year-old has struggled to make adjustments to more advanced pitching, even with 2006 first-rounder Evan Longoria hitting behind him. [...] Continue Reading »

There was plenty of buzz around Pirates righthander Olivio Astacio during the season’s first half. The Dominican righthander (who turns 23 next week) went 1-1, 3.54 with 11 saves in 30 appearances at low Class A Hickory.

Signed by the Red Sox in 2002 out of San Pedro de Macoris, the 6-foot-6, 200-pound righthander’s body mirrors that of veteran big leaguer and current Phillie Antonio Alfonseca. [...] Continue Reading »

Chin-Lung Hu keeps piling up three-hit games, Michael Bowden outdueled Ricky Romero and no one is hotter than Lancaster slugger Brad Correll.

Triple-A

Reliever Edwar Ramirez made it to the major leagues with the Yankees thanks to an amazing strikeout to walk rate. The Nationals also have a reliever who is making a similar case for a surprise promotion. Winston Abreu struck out the side in his one inning of work last night against Richmond. With the three strikeouts, Abreu lowered his ERA to 0.80 in 33 2/3 innings. Even more impressively, Abreu now has 60 strikeouts and only 12 walks.

[...] Continue Reading »

This week’s installment considers all transactions reported between July 7-16.

Last week’s transactions available here.

Draft picks are presented alphabetically by position here, but to see each team’s draft in chronological order, be sure to check out our Draft Database.

For even more detailed information, like scouting reports for most players in the top six rounds, check out the fully-searchable subscriber-only Advanced Draft Database.

Don’t be alarmed by the high number of prospects who were placed on their clubs’ temporarily inactive lists. They were put there so that they could participate in the Futures Game.

Arizona Diamondbacks
Draft picks signed: RHP Barry Enright (2), RHP Michael Solbach (19)
Released: LHP Wascar Peralta
Reinstated from disabled list: C John Hester, 2B Matt Erickson

Atlanta Braves
Signed: RHP Cody Railsback, LHP Bryan Dumesnil
Draft picks signed: C Daniel Elorriaga-Matra (26), OF Rashod Henry (28)
Recalled: RHP Jose Ascanio
Placed on minor league disabled list: SS Chase Fontaine
Placed on 60-day disabled list: RHP Chen-En Hung
Reinstated from disabled list: RHP Phil Stockman, LHP Gary Hyde
Placed on temporarily inactive list: RHP Carl Hernandez
Option transferred: RHP Phil Stockman (Triple-A Richmond to Double-A Mississippi)
Rehabilitation assignment: LHP Gary Hyde, LHP Dan Smith (Rookie-level GCL Braves)

Ascanio, 22, got the call from Double-A Mississippi after he went 2-0, 2.44 with 53-16 K-BB in 66 innings. [...] Continue Reading »

Collin Balester and Clay Buchholz both had brief appearances in their Triple-A debuts, while Adam Boeve found that he’s headed to Triple-A, but not before he finished his stay in Altoona in style.
Triple-A

Justin Christian was struggling to a season to forget at Double-A Trenton. But despite a .235 batting average, the Yankees promoted Christian to Triple-A Scranton in June. It’s made all the difference in the world as Christian has hit .340/.380/.489 with 11 steals in 11 attempts in 21 games. Christian had two hits including a home run and stole a base as Scranton beat Indianapolis 8-5 on Monday. The Yankees won despite a rough start for Tyler Clippard who gave up four runs in 4 1/3 innings. [...] Continue Reading »

Guillermo Moscoso was perfect, Dellin Betances is headed to the doctor and little-used Asheville catcher Jhaysson Augustin has a memory for his scrapbook.

Triple-A

Felix Pie’s up-and-down season has him down in Triple-A Iowa again, which means his stats are up. Pie doubled and hit two home runs off of Omaha starter Luke Hochevar in Iowa’s 13-2 win. Scott Moore added two home runs of his own. Hochevar’s Triple-A debut wasn’t pretty thanks to the home runs. He gave up five runs in five innings, although he did strike out seven while walking one. [...] Continue Reading »

Ugh, we see it all the time—the great pitching matchup meltdown. Saturday’s was especially frustrating because we didn’t just read this one in a box score, but many of Baseball America’s team was present to see Triple-A Durham righthander Jeff Niemann take on Indians righty Adam Miller.

And were completely disappointed, by Miller at least. The Tribe’s No. 1 prospect returned from the disabled list in late June from a finger injury, and after pitching out of the bullpen twice, Miller allowed no runs over three innings. But heading into Saturday, the 2004 first-rounder has given up eight runs on nine hits over just five innings.

Miller continued to have trouble in Durham on Saturday, exiting after just 2 2/3 innings and allowing five runs on six hits.

Niemann wasn’t spectacular, but he earned his 10th victory of the season after allowing four runs on six hits with eight strikeouts over five innings in the Bulls’ 12-5 win over the Bisons.

• Futures Game MVP Chin-Lung Hu took another step closer to the big leagues after the all-star break, being promoted to Triple-A Las Vegas. Hu isn’t one to be bothered by those off-field distractions and homered for the second time in three games in the 51s’ 10-5 win against Salt Lake. Hu went 3-for-5 with three RBIs and a pair of runs scored while batting leadoff for Las Vegas. [...] Continue Reading »

Yankee outfielder Brett Gardner collected his first hits in Triple-A, as Scranton/Wilkes-Barre defeated Louisville 5-2 on Friday. Gardner, who walked twice in his debut Thursday, went 2-for-5 with a double and a stolen base.

Keeping in the Yankee vein, righthander Philip Hughes made another rehab start, this time at Double-A Trenton in the Thunder’s 6-5 loss to New Hampshire. Hughes allowed three hits and struck out six in three innings of work. [...] Continue Reading »