Athletics outfielder Grant Desme has retired to become a Catholic priest. A's farm director Keith Lieppman confirmed that Desme, who led the Arizona Fall League with 11 home runs en route to MVP honors, has given up the game.

Lieppman said Desme called A's general manager Billy Beane earlier in the week to inform him of his decision. Lieppman, who has since spoken with Desme, said the organization respects Desme's decision but will miss him on the field.

"To do that when you are at the top of your game, it's a powerful thing, and the organization has to respect that," Lieppman said. "Somebody will step up, somebody will take advantage of the opportunity they may not otherwise have gotten, but he will not be easy to replace. With the tools he has, he had tremendous potential. But I would imagine his potential is equally great on this new path considering his commitment."

Desme, 23, was the only player in the minor leagues to post a 30-30 season last year, with 31 homers and 40 stolen bases between low Class A Kane County and high Class A Stockton. It was the first full season for the 2007 second-round pick out of Cal Poly, who had missed most of his debut year and 2008 with wrist and shoulder injuries. [...] Continue Reading »

In wrapping up the Twins’ Top 30 Prospects for our Prospect Handbook—and if you’re reading something called the Prospect Blog, you really should buy the book—I had to make sure all the players’ vitals were correct. Height, weight, signing scouts (that’s an important one ’round here), that kind of thing.

Only one player required a follow-up e-mail to make sure I got the name right. But word from the Twins today is that their $3.15 million infielder from the Dominican Republic will officially be known as Miguel Sano. There had been some reports that Sano was going to use his mother’s name, Jean, as his surname. But one Twins official e-mailed back today that he’s chosen Sano. Considering Sano has gone through a rigorous investigation to sign his contract out of the Dominican this year, the Twins are relieved to have a name that they have confidence in, and that Miguel Sano won’t one day be revealed to be, say, Juan Manuel Gonzalez.

"The one good thing about this is that there was never any question about his identity," the official said.

Mike Stanton might have prodigious power, but first baseman Logan Morrison should be the next big bat to make a difference in the Marlins’ lineup.

Morrison, 22, is closer than Stanton to being ready to hit major league pitching. Morrison has above-average raw power, but what scouts consistently point to as his most impressive attribute is his approach to hitting. He has a flat swing, works the middle of the field, stays balanced and does an outstanding job with his pitch recognition, which is why he walked (63) more than he stuck out (46) in Double-A Jacksonville.

“He probably stood out more while I was there than Stanton,” said an American League scout. “But once you look at Stanton’s age (19) and look long term, you go with Stanton. Morrison just hits, and everything he hits he centers consistently.”

After missing the first two months of the season with a fracture in his right wrist, Morrison didn’t come back swinging for the fences. He stayed with his gap-to-gap approach and hit .277/.411/.442 in 79 games with eight home runs for Jacksonville. 

[...] Continue Reading »

Nothing is certain yet, but the Pirates have spoken with incumbent third baseman Andy LaRoche about working out at second base, with the hope that Pedro Alvarez can take over at third base in Pittsburgh by the middle of next season.

While LaRoche will have to adjust to learning a new position, the other question is whether Alvarez is capable of handling third base.

Not every scout is completely sold on Alvarez sticking at third base, but the answers from those who have seen the 22-year-old Alvarez this year are mostly that he can, at least for the next few years.

Internally, the Pirates call Alvarez’s defense a work in progress. There are some things in the field that he does well, some things he needs to work on and some things that will always limit him.

With Alvarez’s size (he’s listed at 6-foot-3, 235 pounds), most talent evaluators’ knee-jerk reactions upon looking at Alvarez’s body is to assume he’s better suited at first base. Alvarez’s conditioning has already been chronicled at length—first he supposedly showed up to instructional league after signing out of shape, then he reportedly showed up to spring training in much better condition—as if he were the Oprah Winfrey of prospects.

But after watching him play, several managers around the high Class A Carolina League saw enough evidence to believe Alvarez could remain at third base in the short term:

[...] Continue Reading »

There are a lot of power hitters in the minor leagues, but there aren’t many prospects like Marlins outfielder Mike Stanton.

Stanton can pull any fastball out of the park, but with his strength and ability to keep the barrel in the hitting zone for a long time, he can get caught out front or catch balls deep in the zone and drive them over the opposite-field wall, something he did eight times this year.

Several managers who faced Stanton this year recalled seemingly routine line drives he hit that appeared to have an extra gear on them as they traveled off the wall or even over the fence. Along with Stanton’s obvious physical gifts, Stanton receives praise from talent evaluators throughout the industry for his dedication to working on all facets of his game and ability to make adjustments.

“He has gotten better in all areas,” Double-A Jacksonville manager Brandon Hyde said. “His pitch selection improved, his baserunning improved, his defense has improved. Pitchers are real careful with him—he doesn’t get much on the white part of the plate.”

Stanton hit .294/.390/.578 in 50 games with high Class A Jupiter, then went on to bat .231/.311/.455 in 79 games with Jacksonville, combining for 28 homers along the way. And the praise from scouts around the Florida State League and the Southern League has been glowing.

“He’s going to be a franchise player,” said an American League scout. “I think he has a chance to be a five-tool guy who hits 40 home runs in the big leagues.”

[...] Continue Reading »

As a switch-hitter, Orioles third baseman Josh Bell should have the platoon advantage whenever he steps into the batter’s box.

There’s just one problem: Bell has an alarming platoon split.

Consider the enormous gap in Bell’s left/right splits this season between Double-A Chattanooga and Bowie:

vs. RHPs: .339/.417/.626 in 362 PAs

vs. LHPs: .193/.282/.259 in 156 PAs

It could just be small sample size, but Bell has shown a pronounced platoon split his entire career. Since Bell made his full-season debut in 2007, he has hit 41 of his 43 home runs against righthanded pitchers. He has plus raw power, but it only shows up when he bats lefthanded.

It’s no statistical fluke. Scouts who have watched Bell repeatedly say that Bell’s swing is much better as a lefthanded hitter. He struggles to lift the ball as a righthanded batter, to the point where he might be better served giving up switch-hitting.

[...] Continue Reading »

The last minor league game of the season takes place Tuesday in Oklahoma City, as the champions of the International and Pacific Coast leagues meet in the Triple-A National Championship.

Durham (83-61 regular season), champion of the IL, sends righthander Jeremy Hellickson to the mound against Memphis (77-67), the PCL champion. While one source has lefthander Jaime Garcia slated to start for the Redbirds, the Bulls’ game notes and the Memphis Commercial-Appeal have righthander P.J. Walters scheduled. Durham advanced by winning a five-game first-round series with Louisville before sweeping Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to win the Governor’s Cup, while Memphis swept Albuquerque and then Sacramento to claim the PCL title.

While Garcia and Walters are solid options, Hellickson gives the Bulls a distinct advantage, as the 22-year-old Iowan has been one of Triple-A’s best pitchers in the second half of the season. He has 18 strikeouts in 12 1/3 playoff innings, after going 6-1, 2.51 in nine starts for the Bulls. That stretch included 70 strikeouts and just 15 walks in 57 1/3 innings pitched. [...] Continue Reading »

Get a good pitch to hit is a ubiquitous tenet of hitting in player development systems across baseball. A walk represents success because it moves the chain along without costing an out, but the walk is an outcome of waiting for a good pitch to hit. A hitter with a tiny walk rate (particularly coupled with a high strikeout rate) in the minor leagues can be a sign of a hitter with pitch recognition issues.

Hitters can get by in the lower levels of the minor leagues with great tools and a terrible approach, but more advanced pitchers in Triple-A and the majors will pick them apart with superior stuff and superior ability to locate their pitches. (Conversely, polished hitters who rely on a selective approach in the lower minors but lack major league-caliber tools can also see their production dissipate as they progress, but for today we’ll just focus on the impatient.)

Can an impatient approach work for some players? Sure, but it’s rare to see and usually is reserved for the freakishly talented who have the ability to barrel up balls at an elite rate and have above-average power. So which hitters saw their prospect status take a hit because of their free-swinging ways? These four fit the bill (note that UIBB stands for unintentional walks, while I have removed intentional walks from each player’s plate appearances count):

[...] Continue Reading »

We recognized a handful of the great pro debuts by older players in the Rookie-level Appalachian League earlier this month. Since I’m ranking prospects for both that league and its Upper Rockies equivalent, the Pioneer League, it seems only fair to give them both equal play.

The tricky part about evaluating Pioneer League batters’ performance is the league’s high-offensive environment. It’s just a different brand of baseball than that featured in the majority of minor leagues.

Consider that the average Pioneer club scores 5.37 runs per game, compared with an average of 4.78 in the Appy. The average Pioneer batter hits for more (isolated) power than his Appy counterpart—.135 versus .127—but interestingly, the leagues’ home run rates are virtually identical at 0.7 per nine innings. Most of the extra offense appears to come virtue of singles, which is evident in the Pioneer League’s .273 league batting average—16 points higher than the Appy. [...] Continue Reading »

As most of you already know, Madison Bumgarner made his big league debut Tuesday night, pitching into the sixth inning with no decision in the Giants’ 4-3 loss to the Padres. That’s big news, for several reasons.

First, let’s appreciate that Bumgarner has been the best pitcher in the minor leagues the last two seasons—and it’s really not close. The lefthander is 27-5, 1.65 over 273 innings in 2008-2009, with 107 innings coming this year at Double-A Connecticut. Bumgarner has a sterling 256-to-55 strikeout-to-walk ratio overall and gave up just nine home runs in the minors, though he allowed a pair in his debut last night.

While Bumgarner maintained a sterling strikeout rate in the high Class A California League earlier this season, his rate dipped to just 5.8 per nine innings in the Eastern League. The main culprit for that decrease has been the decreased fastball velocity that was on display last night in the big leagues. He threw 76 pitches, according to MLB’s Pitch F/X data, and 48 were fastballs, most of which checked in around 88 mph. [...] Continue Reading »

With general manager Mike Rizzo no longer sporting an "interim" ahead of his title, changes have started coming to the Nationals organization. On Saturday, the Nationals fired farm director Bobby Williams and minor league hitting coordinator Ralph Dickenson.

Williams spent three years as the Nats’ farm director, the same length as Dickenson’s tenure. Former GM Jim Bowden had hired both men, making it absolutely no surprise that both were let go. However, former Reds manager Bob Boone, who came with Bowden to the Nats, remains as the assistant GM/vice president of player development.

With the seasons over for all their affiliates, the Nationals’ minor league teams finished with a .501 cumulative winning percentage at 380-378, the second straight winning season in the organization.

First base prospects have little margin for error.

Many of the best major league first basemen—Mark Teixeira, Miguel Cabrera, Kevin Youkilis, Jim Thome and Carlos Delgado, among others—began their careers at other positions.

There are exceptions, like Prince Fielder, but minor league first basemen usually have to have pretty special ability at the plate to become major league regulars, as first former top 100 prospects Jason Hart, Eric Munson and Calvin Pickering and others have found out.

High Class A Salem’s Anthony Rizzo is already at first base, but his skill set at the plate and in the field makes the Red Sox prospect more well-rounded than most minor league first basemen.

The lefthanded Rizzo, who turned 20 last month, reached base twice on a pair of line-drive singles to left field yesterday at Winston-Salem.

"The barrel of his bat is in the zone for a long time," Salem manager Chad Epperson said. "That’s special for a kid his age. So many guys that age are just flying open, flying open. He’s not—it’s in the zone for a while. He’s very mature for his age, on and off the field."

[...] Continue Reading »

ZEBULON, N.C.—When you think of 19-year-olds playing in the Southern League, the first name that comes to mind is Mississippi’s Jason Heyward, though he just turned 20. The second is probably Jacksonville’s Mike Stanton. The third? Well, there aren’t too many options, but it should be Tennessee’s Starlin Castro.

Just a year removed from playing 51 games in the Rookie-level Arizona League, Castro made his 2009 debut for high Class A Daytona (Florida State) and drew rave reviews. In 96 games for the Cubs, the 2006 international signee out of the Dominican Republic hit .302/.340/.391 with 17 doubles, three home runs and 35 RBIs. He also stole 22 bases in 33 tries. Castro’s rapid ascension through the minor league ranks surprised many, including himself.

"I was surprised when I saw my name on the roster to go to Daytona; I thought I was going to Peoria," Castro said in translation through Smokies teammate Robinson Chirinos. "After that, I expected to be in Daytona all year. But I did think I would move fast because I’ve worked so hard."

[...] Continue Reading »

With the 863rd pick in the draft, the Mariners selected outfielder Brandon Haveman, an outfielder from Purdue.

While Seattle’s 29th-round pick continues to terrorize Rookie-ball pitchers, his selection and subsequent assignment to the Appalachian League in June didn’t have quite the same impact as a handful of high school players taken at the top of the draft.

Remember, the Appy League is the domain of Orioles righthander Matt Hobgood (taken fifth overall), Astros shortstop Jionvanni Mier (21st) and Mariners catcher Steve Baron (33rd). It also served as home to Braves righthander Julio Teheran and Seattle shortstop Gabriel Noriega, a pair of 18-year-old international talents who pulled down high six-figures bonuses in ’07.

So with Appalachian League season winding down today, it seemed appropriate to take a look at a handful of the league’s top performers, players who have gotten their pro careers started on the right foot. But while these late-round ’09 draft picks were among the most productive players in the league, they may not factor highly—if at all—in our end-of-season prospects lists. The reason: their advanced age means that their tools may not develop much further. In other words, they may be as good now as they’ll ever be as pros.

Still, it’s better to hit (or pitch well) than not. And there’s nothing like a strong performance out of the gate to garner attention. [...] Continue Reading »

On the same weekend  that the Rays traded away their ace of the past, Jeremy Hellickson showed once again why there is hope that he could be an ace of the future.

Hellickson reached double digits in strikeouts for a third consecutive start. This one was his best start as a pro, and one of the best any pitching prospect has put together all year: eigh innings, one hit, two walks and 12 strikeouts in a 4-0 win against Gwinnett. A Brian Barton sixth-inning single is the only blemish that kept Hellickson from taking a no-hitter into the ninth. No Gwinnett baserunner reached second base against him. [...] Continue Reading »

GREENSBORO, N.C.—While Jordan Lyles is the best pitching prospect with low Class A Lexington (and arguably the best pitching prospect in the Astros’ entire farm system), a handful of other young pitchers threw for the Legends in their recent four-game series at Greensboro as well:

Ross Seaton, rhp: Seaton, 19, had the worst start of his career on Friday, allowing nine runs in 3 1/3 innings. Seaton allowed nine hits and three walks, striking out just two of the 22 batters he faced. Seaton’s ERA is still solid at 3.39 through 24 starts with just 2.6 walks per nine innings, though the 2008 third-round pick is averaging just 5.6 strikeouts per nine.

His fastball sat at 88 mph, ranging from 87-91 mph and touching 92 once. After racking up a high pitch count by the third inning, he was in the 86-89 mph range.

[...] Continue Reading »

An old baseball adage is that the hardest jump a player has to make in the minor leagues is the one from high Class A to Double-A. So what about when a player jumps straight from high Class A to Triple-A?

That hasn’t fazed Buster Posey, the fifth overall pick in last year’s draft who’s been tearing up the Pacific Coast League in August and looks poised to take over as the Giants’ big league catcher next season.

The Giants kept the 22-year-old catcher in high Class A San Jose to open the season. Not suprisingly, Posey had little trouble chewing up the hitter-friendly California League, batting .326/.428/.540 with 13 home runs over 291 at-bats. Posey still ranks as the Cal League’s leader in throwing out basestealers, having caught 31-of-63 (49.2 percent) in 64 games behind the plate.

Rather than send Posey cross-country to Double-A Connecticut, the Giants decided to promote him straight to Triple-A Fresno in mid July. Posey needed some time to catch up to the speed of Triple-A ball, hitting just .235/.333/.314 in his first 14 games, but he’s been on fire since the calender turned to August. Posey has homered five times already in August while raking to the tune of a .362/.441/.724 line in 58 at-bats.

"He’s got the whole package," Fresno manager Dan Rohn said. "He’s pretty disciplined at the plate. If he gets fooled once, he makes the adjustments. He’s made some nice adjustments to offspeed pitches at this time. He’s definitely got power to all fields. He’s a kid that’s going to just get better and better."

[...] Continue Reading »

While the parent Mets still wait for their first-ever no-hitter, one of the franchise’s minor league arms accomplished the feat Sunday while pitching for short-season Brooklyn.

Pitching on the road, 23-year-old righthander Brandon Moore held Aberdeen hitless for seven innings in the first game of a New York-Penn League doubleheader. While the game may have been abbreviated in length, the no-hitter still was the first in the history of the Cyclones, a Mets affiliate since their inception in 2001.

Though he relies on command and mixing his pitches, Moore was uncharacteristically wild during Sunday’s start, walking three batters and plunking another one. Those four free handouts were the most he had permitted in any of his 11 starts this season. Moore struck out six IronBirds batters during his no-hitter, even though three times this season he had fanned nine batters in a game.

“I really don’t think he was spotting his fastball like he normally does,” said Brooklyn manager Pedro Lopez, who also worked with Moore last year while with Rookie-level Kingsport of the Appalachian League. “He was working a lot of 2-0, 3-0 counts, but in the end he was able to make pitches to get those flyball and groundball outs.” [...] Continue Reading »

It took five at-bats, but Wil Myers wouldn’t have wanted his first professional hit to come any other way.

On Thursday night at Burlington Athletic Stadium, no more than 45 minutes away from Myers’ hometown of Thomasville, N.C., the 18-year-old catcher played in his second game for Rookie-level Burlington. The first had been as a DH. Slotted fifth in the Royals’ order, the righthanded-hitting Myers didn’t get a chance to bat in the first inning.

But as the second hitter of the second inning, Myers turned on an up-and-in, 91 mph fastball from Johnson City righthander Zach Russell and deposited it well over the left field fence. The confrontation played out thusly: He took a first-pitch fastball, check-swung at a curveball in the dirt and then took a fastball away. Russell actually held a 1-2 advantage when he threw his fourth pitch to Myers.

Not for long. [...] Continue Reading »

DURHAM, N.C.–Minor leaguers are prepared (and want) to change teams during the season. Yet White Sox righthander Dan Hudson’s experience has been more nomadic than usual.

Hudson, a fifth-round pick last year from Old Dominion, began the year in low Class A Kannapolis. Four months later, Hudson is in Triple-A Charlotte after stops in high Class A Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham. With a late-season promotion to Chicago still a possibility, Hudson will have crossed paths with nearly everyone in the organization.

Pitching yesterday at Durham, the 22-year-old Hudson allowed one run in five innings, surrendering two walks and six hits while striking out four. Through three starts with the Knights, Hudson’s ERA is now 2.81 in 16 innings with 12 strikeouts and five walks. On the season, Hudson has a 2.26 ERA in 139 1/3 innings with 154 strikeouts (third-most in the minor leagues) and 30 walks.

"He pitched pretty good considering that he didn’t have real good command of his pitches," said Knights pitching coach Richard Dotson. "He battled well and he showed an excellent changeup, so he did what he was supposed to do."

[...] Continue Reading »