Nathan Rode: Hello again everybody. Thanks for coming out. Let's get to it.

Nathan Rode: Kulbacki is an intriguing prospect. His future is relying heavily on the progression of his power. If it can translate to wood bats well, then he could become an everyday corner outfielder. If it doesn't, he may be relegated to the bench. He was considered for the Hot Sheet this week, but as you can see it was a very good list and there were several players with outstanding weeks that were still on the board when we filled the lists out.

Jim Shonerd: Great to be here for another Hot Sheet chat.

Jim Shonerd: Stanton has improved tremendously. Early in the year, teams were able to jam him inside and get him out that way. But I had a manager whose team played Greensboro recently tell me that they tried and tried to do that but it doesn't work any more. Stanton has established himself as the SAL's second best OF prospect after Jason Heyward. Burgess has tremendous raw power and a great throwing arm in right field, but the strikeouts are an issue.

Matt Eddy: We like David Freese. Well, I do, at least. He's played very well for Memphis this season, showing a good all-around offensive game and playing a solid third base. The trouble for Freese this week was that we had so many 18-to-20-year-olds who performed well. He's an older prospect, but he's still a prospect.

Nathan Rode: Donaldson was on my watch list, but again it was a tough list to make. He and Spencer have been very good since moving over to Stockton. Donaldson is probably more of a prospect than Spencer, but both are legitimate enough to be considered week in and week out. I'd like to see Spencer keep it up for an extended period of time. His FSL weren't very good, granted it's a tough league to hit in. Just don't tell Logan Morrison that.

Matt Eddy: Wood is unique in that most players with his offensive profile play first base or the corner outfield. A few are third basemen. As a legitimate left-side-of-the-infield defender, though, Wood should get a look with somebody, somewhere.

Matt Eddy: The Angels are loaded on the left side, though, and only a trade could alleviate that. Chone Figgens, Erick Aybar and Maicer Izturis figure to be back with the club next year, unless one is traded. Wood probably will not figure into the first base mix because Kendry Morales figures to get the longest look there.

Nathan Rode: While I think he could handle because he's so advanced, you have to be careful. He's still just 19 years old. Barely a year out of senior prom. I'd put money on him getting bumped up next year, but would not be overly surprised if he gets a shot at it toward the end of this season. And, though it sounds silly, San Jose is in the playoff picture while Connecticut is 10.5 games out.

J.J. Cooper: Bogusevic was a legit five-tool prospect as an outfielder, so the decision to move him from the mound makes some sense. Here's his scouting report from when he was at Tulane: The injury also kept him out of the lineup for much of the first half, though scouts were running in to check out his bat as the draft approached. Bogusevic's size, swing and bat speed give him tremendous power potential from the left side of the plate. That power is still more raw and not as evident in games—he hasn't homered in 94 at-bats this spring—but it's there and he did have 10 home runs as a sophomore. He's also Tulane's fastest player, running the 60-yard-dash in 6.6 seconds during the team's scout day last fall. His arm obviously is an asset on defense as well. Bogusevic hit just .183 with wood bats in the Cape Cod League last summer, a performance partially attributed to fatigue from the grind of playing both ways during a long college season. So all of that makes sense, what doesn't make sense is sending him to Double-A so soon. The switch from pitcher to hitter is much tougher than the other way around. While Rick Ankiel has shown that it can be done, he spent a season in the Appy League, and then 51 games in low Class A before making the jump to Double-A. The Astros are asking Bogusevic to hit in Double-A after only 8 games in high Class A. That's a lot to ask for anybody. And while he's shown good power right now, you'd have to expect that he'll have some struggles over the rest of the season.

Matt Eddy: Longoria is not a fair comparison for most players; he's an MVP-in-waiting. Offensively speaking, Reynolds isn't a bad comp — high-power, low-contact — but Wood is much more athletic and probably could stick at shortstop through his prime years.

Matt Eddy: Probably not. The Jays may opt to let him get rolling in Triple-A next season before bringing him up. Syracuse lefty Brett Cecil, working out of the pen perhaps, is a better September bet.

Jim Shonerd: While it's true that Villalona will probably slip to at least fourth in the Giant's system behind Alderson, Bumgarner and Buster Posey (in some order), that shouldn't be taken as a sign that his stock has dropped. He's held his own as a 17-year-old in a full-season league where most of the other players are 3-4 years older than he is. Plus he just had probably his best month of the season in July, hitting .279 and lowering his strikeout-rate considerably.

Matt Eddy: For me, it was very close. One cannot construct a case *against* Matt Wieters. He's been that good.

Nathan Rode: It's simple actually. Mesoraco didn't have the plate appearances. Yes, he slugged better than Moustakas, but Moustakas had 33 plate appearances. Mesoraco had only 16. In the end Moustakas had a large sample size and we like to favor the guys that played a more complete week. Had Mesoraco continued his performance in another 5-10 trips to the plate, he'd be on here.

Matt Eddy: Moving from an up-the-middle position has hurt Walker because a player has to really produce right away if he's brought up to play a corner. The addition of Andy LaRoche hurts Walker's chances in Pittsburgh, but what happens when Pedro Alvarez signs?

Matt Eddy: There's something to that comp, but what's most frightening is that Davis is just 22. Howard debuted at age 24, but was not a regular until age 26. That's not Howard's fault, of course, but it does indicate how advanced Davis is.

Matt Eddy: If you hadn't checked recently, Davis has 10 bombs and a .676 slugging for the Rangers in 30 games.

Jim Shonerd: Almonte is a switch-hitter with five-tool potential, but he's only 19 and is still putting them together. He strikes out too much (12 times in the last week, 103 on the year) and his power all comes from the left side of the plate, where he has a more uppercut swing than he does from the right side. He's gotten better over the course of the season, although for Hot Sheet purposes we like to give preference to guys who've been more consistent over the course of the season.

Nathan Rode: Good power. Good hitter. Not so much on defense though. I'll give him a little break since I saw a very small sample size, but he didn't look very good at first base in the all-star game.

Matt Eddy: Don't count out Gallardo, assuming he makes a full recovery. He has the most potential in this group to dominate as a starter.

Matt Eddy: Niese was considered, and Murphy is set to join him in New Orleans after his promotion to Triple-A yesterday.

Matt Eddy: Murphy is a solid batting prospect, with a plus hit tool, outstanding bat control and average power. However, he may struggle to find a position at the big league level. Fortunately for him, the Mets don't have a ton of depth at first base or left field, the two positions furthest to the right on the defensive spectrum.

Matt Eddy: Minor league batters don't see lefties like Cecil too often. He's got well above-average velocity, a killer slider and two other pitchers he'll show on occasion. Yes, Cecil should do very well in Triple-A.

Matt Eddy: I like what the Pirates did, acquiring two high-end guys in Tabata and Morris and six other players they can plug into the major league mix whenever they want. Too, Brandon Moss and Dan McCutchen have more potential than most have given them credit for.

Matt Eddy: You'd definitely like to see the Marlins and Rangers give them shots in September. McPherson might have gotten a look this season, but the Marlins have gotten solid production from their corners. It's a similar case with Cruz, as the Rangers have had one of baseball's most productive outfields this season. It's almost like these Triple-A sluggers picked the wrong years to get hot.