We're going to start seeing some of the draftees making their debuts, especially with the short-season leagues starting up in a few weeks. News came late Sunday night that Javier Baez was being sent to the Cubs' low-A affiliate in the Midwest League, and we're likely to see a few more players who have yet to debut in the next couple weeks as well. All statistics are through Monday's games.

Midwest League

Aaron Sanchez (TOR) - 5 W, 0.53 ERA, 34 IP, 12 H, 17 BB, 41 K

Justin Nicolino (TOR) - 2 W, 1.03 ERA, 35 IP, 30 H, 4 BB, 35 K

Noah Syndergaard (TOR) - 3 W, 3.22 ERA, 36 1/3 IP, 33 H, 11 BB, 48 K

The Blue Jays' three headed pitching monster out in Lansing continues to put up rather ridiculous numbers, and I'm honestly starting to wonder how much longer all three of them will be in Low-A.

Javier Baez (CHC) - 2 for 4 (1 game only)

The Cubs' top draft pick from last year made his 2012 debut in Peoria, and played shortstop. We should have somewhat more meaningful numbers in two weeks for Baez.

Francisco Lindor (CLE) - .293/.341/.435, 29 R, 9 2B, 3 3B, 4 HR, 19 RBI, 11/15 SB, 13 BB, 29 K

Miguel Sano (MIN) - .246/.356/.519, 31 R, 10 2B, 2 3B, 12 HR, 39 RBI, 4/5 SB, 28 BB, 57 K

Sano is striking out in more than 25% of his at bats at this point, but is still showing a walk rate over 10% as well.

Archie Bradley (ARI) - 6 W, 3.06 ERA, 50 IP, 24 H, 29 BB, 51 K

Bradley probably needs to continue working on reducing his walks before he could be promoted to High-A. His last two starts have not been great, but he's still just 19 years old.

Kaleb Cowart (LAA) - .287/.341/.482, 27 R, 10 2B, 2 3B, 8 HR, 38 RBI, 5/8 SB, 14 BB, 35 K

Cam Bedrosian (LAA) - 6.35 ERA, 17 IP, 18 H, 12 BB, 8 K

A top draft pick of the Angels back in 2010, Bedrosian is coming back after missing the 2011 season due to Tommy John surgery. Someone to keep an eye on, but not really worth drafting in dynasty leagues until he shows that his control is back after the surgery.

A.J. Cole (OAK) - 1 W, 7.16 ERA, 49 IP, 76 H, 9 HR, 13 BB, 44 K

Cole struggled to start the season with High-A Stockton, prompting the A's to move Cole back down to Low-A last week. His first start in Low-A did not go well: 5 IP, 12 H, 8 R (5 ER), 2 HR, but with 6 strikeouts and 0 walks. He did make another start yesterday, which went much better. He lasted 6 innings, allowed 4 hits, 1 earned run, 3 walks and struck out 7. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come for Cole.

Austin Hedges (SD) - .282/.350/.509, 16 R, 10 2B, 5 HR, 24 RBI, 4/5 SB, 10 BB, 19 K

Joe Ross (SD) - 6.26 ERA, 27 1/3 IP, 33 H, 11 BB, 27 K

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Normally on Mondays, I would have a new prospect for you to take a look at who could be up in the Majors before too long. However, I attended a High-A game on Saturday night between the affiliates for the Diamondbacks and the Athletics. I had not been anticipating seeing so many prospects there, but I came away with a bunch of observations on a number of up and coming prospects in both systems.

David Holmberg (ARI)

Holmberg was the starter for the Visalia Rawhide on Saturday, and I came into the start thinking he was a decent pitching prospect. I came away with even more belief in his abilities, and will be previewing him more in-depth on Friday.

• He went 8 innings on Saturday night, and it appeared based on bullpen activity that the manager only considered lifting him in the 7th and 8th innings
• Holmberg throws a fastball, curveball, a changeup, and what appeared to be a cutter. I wasn't able to get radar readings earlier in the game, but he was still sitting 89-91 during his last inning on the fastball.
• He was showing excellent command early on with both his fastball and changeup, and appeared to be able to continue that for the most part as the game went on.
• He appeared at times to be just overpowering some of the hitters, but it was a bit hard to judge how much of that was his pitching and how much of that was poor approach by the hitters.

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Every Sunday I take a look at how some of the top prospects in the minors are doing, specifically the ones who are in one of the three AA leagues. We've seen some key prospects promoted in the last couple of weeks, as Trevor Bauer as moved to AAA, as well as Wil Myers and Jake Odorizzi. There are a number of prospects who could be moving up to AAA very soon, including Zack Wheeler and Matt Davidson. All statistics are through Friday night's games, courtesy of Baseball Reference.

Eastern League

Manny Machado (BAL) - .264/.360/.405, 16 R, 13 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 16 RBI, 4 for 7 SB, 22 BB, 39 K

Jonathan Schoop (BAL) - .250/.304/.333, 15 R, 7 2B, 2 HR, 12 RBI, 0 for 2 SB, 10 BB, 35 K

The future keystone combination for the Orioles has not been hitting great this season, but the two of them are also the two youngest players in the Eastern League. Barring some drastic improvement over the next month or two, I see both of them staying in AA for the full season.

Gary Brown (SF) - .250/.333/.293, 21 R, 6 2B, 1 3B, 16 RBI, 14 for 19 SB, 14 BB, 31 K

It is appearing more and more that the power he showed last year might have been more of a Cal League mirage than we thought at first. The speed will still play, but he may not be a 10+ HR bat in the Majors.

Aaron Hicks (MIN) - .241/.324/.395, 28 R, 8 2B, 1 3B, 5 HR, 25 RBI, 13 for 16 SB, 22 BB, 44 K

Zack Wheeler (NYM) - 4 W, 1.97 ERA, 45 2/3 IP, 27 H, 1 HR, 21 BB, 52 K

Wheeler has been dominant, and was recently included in Keith Law's top 25 prospects still in the minors. I think he'll be in AAA Buffalo before too long.

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The Rockies took shortstop Trevor Story with their second pick of the draft in 2011, and has been opening eyes so far with his performance in the South Atlantic League. But what will his performance look like for dynasty league owners, and is he worth taking high in minor league drafts coming up?

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Keith Law gave us the first update of the season to his top 25 prospects list, with Orioles' top prospect Dylan Bundy at the top of the class. You can find the whole article here (Insider req'd), but he also led a chat on Thursday as well. Here's his new top 10 prospects:

You can find my thoughts below, as well as some excerpts from the chat itself after the jump.

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it's Wednesday, and it's time for another (slightly abbreviated) look at some of the top performers in the 3 High-A leagues so far this year. We're starting to get to the point where we may see a few of these players get sent up to their AA affiliates, including a pair of pitching prospects who could force their way up toward the top of prospect lists.

California League

Billy Hamilton (CIN) - .311/.386/.467, 37 R, 9 2B, 7 3B, 1 HR, 13 RBI, 40 for 50 SB, 19 BB, 32 K

Hamilton has cooled off a bit of late (.190/.292/.333) in his last 10 games, but that doesn't seem to affect his speed all that much, as he was 7 for 10 on stolen base attempts during that time.

Chris Owings (ARI) - .333/.372/.574, 36 R, 13 2B, 2 3B, 9 HR, 21 RBI, 4 for 7 SB, 10 BB, 53 K

George Springer (HOU) - .333/.376/.594, 32 R, 8 2B, 4 3B, 9 HR, 33 RBI, 9 for 10 SB, 11 BB, 49 K

I wrote about Springer last week, and he has been completely nuts in his last 10 games, hitting 7 homers and posting a 1.701 OPS.

Tony Cingrani (CIN) - 4 W, 0.78 ERA, 46 IP, 28 H, 2 HR, 10 BB, 65 K

Cingrani seems a likely candidate for a midseason promotion based on his performance, and looking at his peripherals, he's not really due for that much regression. His strand rate is a bit high so far (82%), but the rest of his numbers look similar to his last season.

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Every Monday, I will be taking a in-depth look at a prospect who could be useful to fantasy owners as soon as this year. In today's case, the player in question has already appeared out at Dodger Stadium, and could be headed toward your stadium very soon. With the injury to Lance Berkman on Saturday night, and previous injuries to Allen Craig and Jon Jay placing all of them on the disabled list, the Cardinals called up mashing 1B prospect Matt Adams.

The Basics

Bats: Left
Throws: Right
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 230 lbs.
On 25-Man Roster: Yes

His History

Adams is one of those few cases where a player drafted in later rounds still manages to make it to the big leagues. He was drafted in the 23rd round by the Cardinals back in 2009, and has done nothing but hit early and hit often at every stop he has made in the minor leagues. At every single stop he has made, he has posted at least the following stats:

.300 batting average
.523 slugging percentage
.896 OPS

He's also posted 63 extra base hits in 2010 (22 homers), and 57 in 2011 (32 homers). So far in 2012, in just 37 games at AAA Memphis, he already had 19 extra base hits, including 9 home runs.

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The AAA levels have been busy in the past two weeks, as we saw a number of prospects move from AA up to their AAA affiliates. Some of the bigger names included Royals' OF Wil Myers and P Jake Odorizzi, and on Thursday we found out that the Diamondbacks' Trevor Bauer would be moving up to AAA Reno as well. Given that Bauer struck out 11, allowed just a solo home run and four other baserunners over 8 innings, I think he will be just fine with the new level. All stats are for all AAA levels, and are through Friday night's games.

Pacific Coast League

Anthony Rizzo (CHC) - .353/.416/.707, 27 R, 9 2B, 1 3B, 14 HR, 39 RBI, 2 for 3 SB, 14 BB, 31 K

I saw Rizzo twice last week when Iowa was here in Sacramento, and I'm of the opinion that the Cubs need to figure out how to teach him or LaHair to play a corner outfield spot, because the bat is more than ready. I wrote about Rizzo after having seen him on Saturday night, and on Monday he proceeded to hit an absolute bomb here in Sacramento and had a couple more well-hit balls. Now would be the time to start thinking about stashing him in 10 and 12 team leagues if you still can.

Josh Bell (ARI) - ..323/.393/.548, 20 R, 11 2B, 1 3B, 5 HR, 33 RBI, 1 for 4 SB, 16 BB, 25 K

Claimed by the Diamondbacks from the Orioles, Bell has been crushing it so far for Reno. It's hard to remember sometimes that Bell is still just 25 years old, and if the combination of Ryan Roberts and Cody Ransom continues to struggle, we could see Bell up in Phoenix before too long.

Matt Adams (STL) - .338/.373/.597, 19 R, 9 2B, 9 HR, 27 RBI, 1 for 1 SB, 9 BB, 27 K

The heir apparent for 1B for the Cardinals, Adams just keeps hitting and hitting well. I think Adams spends the majority of the season in AAA, as the Cardinals seem to have a wealth of options at the moment to play 1B. Adams homered twice in the game on Friday night against Las Vegas, and just continues to look more like a 25+ homer bat once he's in the Majors.

Travis d'Arnaud (TOR) - .293/.359/.453, 18 R, 10 2B, 6 HR, 17 RBI, 1 for 2 SB, 13 BB, 25 K

d'Arnaud is coming off of a two home run game on Friday night, but with J.P. Arencibia on pace for some ridiculous numbers from a catcher, d'Arnaud could be in Las Vegas for a while.

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The Twins took a shot back in the 2008 draft on a high school outfielder out of Connecticut in the 48th round, but weren't able to lure him away from his commitment to the University of Connecticut. That decision turned out much better for the player involved, as George Springer was drafted last year with the 11th overall pick by the Astros, and signed for a $2.525 million bonus right before the deadline. Springer finished his college career with 48 home runs, 76 stolen bases, and a slash line of .348/.469/.653.

The Astros were able to get Springer into 8 games with their short-season rookie league affiliate last year, but his full-season debut was this season with the Astros' High-A affiliate in Lancaster, CA. So far, he's been very good on the offensive side of the game, hitting .313/.362/.571 with 8 home runs, 26 runs, 32 runs batted in, and 8 stolen bases through Wednesday's game. He has shown a bit of a flair for the dramatic this point, as his first home run of the season was a grand slam, and also homered in 4 straight at bats across a doubleheader on May 11th. But he's playing in the California League, so all the numbers should be taken with a grain (or block) of salt. What could we expect to see from Springer as he progresses through the minors, and once he gets to the Majors?

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With the weather starting to warm up across most of the minor leagues, we're starting to see some of these hitters get going a bit more than they were in April. Every other Wednesday I take a look at some of the top prospects in the Low-A leagues, and we could be looking at a number of top 10 and top 20 prospects at the end of the season. All stats are courtesy of Baseball Reference.

Midwest League

Francisco Lindor (CLE) - .312/.358/.475, 23 R, 5 2B, 3 3B, 4 HR, 17 RBI, 11 for 15 SB, 10 BB, 19 K

Lindor has been hitting better of late, and I'm wondering if by this time next month he will already be at High-A. There really has not been any question about his defense at shortstop, and if he continues to hit like this he may need a greater challenge.

Miguel Sano (MIN) - .293/.410/.639, 27 R, 9 2B, 2 3B, 11 HR, 35 RBI, 2 for 3 SB, 23 BB, 42 K

Sano is leading the league in home runs so far, and I'm guessing we could see record numbers from him. I believe the Twins will leave Sano down in Low-A for the entirety of the season, to allow him to work on his defense at 3B.

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Every Monday I will be taking an in-depth look at a player who could potentially get called up to the Majors this year, and could be useful to fantasy owners as a result. In some cases, it could a top prospect (like today's), and in other cases it could be a player in the minors who would benefit from an opportunity in the bigs, especially if an injury or trade occurs.

Today's prospect is one who is already on his third organization despite being just 22 years old, and who has already lost his rookie eligibility due to 128 at bats in 2011 with San Diego. He has been absolutely destroying the Pacific Coast League so far this season, and could be in line for a call up to the Majors sometime after the All-Star break. That prospect is Cubs' 1B Anthony Rizzo.

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Every Sunday I will be taking a look at some of the prospects in AA currently, and many of the prospects there could be headed to the Majors in the next few months. We're already starting to see it somewhat, as pitchers Drew Hutchison (TOR) and Patrick Corbin (ARI) have been called up to the Majors already. All statistics are for the season, and are through Friday's games.

Southern League

Matt Davidson (ARI) - .309/.430/.545, 23 R, 11 2B, 6 HR, 19 RBI, 1 for 2 SB, 24 BB, 27 K

Nick Franklin (SEA) - 318/.373/.467, 12 R, 10 2B, 2 HR, 14 RBI, 1 for 2 SB, 10 BB, 16 K

Andrelton Simmons (ATL) - .304/.388/.391, 18 R, 6 2B, 2 3B, 15 RBI, 7 for 9 SB, 15 BB, 11 K

The long-term answer for the Braves at shortstop, Simmons nearly made the team out of Spring Training despite not playing above High-A before this year. Simmons isn't likely to give very much in terms of power for fantasy, but his approach appears to be good, and looks like a candidate to give some speed and a high batting average at a premium position.

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Every Friday I will be taking a look at a prospect in the lower levels of the minors who could be on his way up very quickly, either to a new level or up toward the top of prospect ranking lists. This week's prospect may be one of the biggest jumpers of all if he can continue his performance thus far. This prospect started the season on John Sickels' top 120 prospects list at #74. That prospect? Matt Barnes of the Boston Red Sox.

The Basics

Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 205
Age at End of 2012 Season: 22
On 40 man Roster: No

Have a question about this prospect or something else fantasy or prospect related? Send me a tweet over at Twitter @jasonsbaseball.

Read more about Barnes and what his fantasy value may be after the jump...

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It's Wednesday again, and that means it's time to take a look at some of the top prospects and performers at the High-A level. The weather is starting to warm in many of these areas, and with it we may start to see improved offensive numbers as well. All statistics are for all games played by the prospect at the High-A level so far, through Monday's games.

Carolina League

Jackie Bradley (BOS) - .366/.488/.538, 26 R, 8 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 19 RBI, 11 for 12 SB, 22 BB, 17 K

Bradley is really growing on me as a prospect, and I think we could be looking at another solid outfield prospect.

Xander Bogaerts (BOS) -.262/.333/.447, 9 R, 8 2B, 3B, 3 HR, 15 RBI, 2 for 3 SB, 10 BB, 19 K

Bogaerts is the youngest player in the Carolina League, and he may be struggling for the first time really. I'll be interested to see how he starts to play as the weather warms up.

Cody Buckel (TEX) - 3 W, 1.31 ERA, 34 1/3 IP, 19 H, 0 HR, 12 BB, 41 K

Buckel seems to me like a midseason promotion candidate, as he has been extremely dominant in the Carolina League thus far.

Matt Barnes (BOS) - 1 W, 1.50 ERA, 6 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 12 K

Barnes was promoted to the Carolina League after completely obliterating hitters at the Low-A level, and he may end up promoted again later in the season if he keeps up these types of performances.

Wilmer Font (TEX) - 0 W, 6.00 ERA, 12 IP, 9 H, 1 HR, 9 BB, 18 K

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Every Monday I will be taking an in-depth look at a player who could potentially get called up to the Majors this year, and could be useful to fantasy owners as a result. In some cases, it could a top prospect (like today's), and in other cases it could be a player in the minors who would benefit from an opportunity in the bigs, especially if an injury or trade occurs.

Today's prospect has been near the top of prospect lists pretty much since he was drafted, but is now starting to approach the Majors and will likely be moved up to AAA in the coming weeks. He is a prospect I wrote about at the start of the 2011 season, and one who will likely be patrolling right field for the Royals for years to come. That prospect is Wil Myers.

The Basics

Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 205 lbs.
Age as of End of 2012 Season: 21
On 40-man Roster: No

His History

Myers was a 3rd round draft pick by the Royals in the 2009 draft, but his draft round did not really tell the story of his perceived value. Keith Law projected him at the #12 spot prior to that draft, but obviously he fell in part due to signability concerns. When he was drafted, the Royals had intended to keep him as a catcher. He spent both the 2009 remainder and the entirety of the 2010 season catching. He crushed at the plate, hitting .369/.427/.679 with 5 home runs in just 22 games in 2009, and .315/.429/.506 with 14 HR and 12 SB in 126 games between Low-A and High-A in 2010.

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Every Sunday I will be taking a look at some of the top prospects and top performers at the AAA level. Right now it's becoming extremely clear that there are a lot more "top prospects" in the PCL to take a look at, and even a few of them could be headed up to the Big Leagues shortly.

Pacific Coast League

Alex Castellanos (LAD) - .366/.477/.746, 18 R, 7 2B, 4 3B, 4 HR, 11 RBI, 7 for 9 SB, 12 BB, 17 K

The Dodgers have moved Castellanos to 2B, and Kevin Goldstein is encouraged by his performance thus far at the position. Take the numbers with a grain of salt as usual, but it's encouraging that there may be someone to take over at 2B long-term for the Dodgers.

Yasmani Grandal (SD) - .361/.500/.583, 9 R, 2 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 10 BB, 7 K

Grandal missed time early in the season with an injury, but he has been crushing the ball (including a 3 hit game on Friday night).

Anthony Rizzo (CHC) - ..373/.418/.627, 18 R, 5 2B, 7 HR, 24 RBi, 1 for 2 SB, 7 BB, 21 K

Rizzo continues to hit (.378 in his last 10 games), but so does Bryan LaHair for the big club.

Leonys Martin (TEX) - .347/.423/.520, 13 R, 8 2B, 3 HR, 11 RBI, 7 for 13 SB, 12 BB, 16 K

Shelby Miller (STL) - 3 W, 5.09 ERA, 23 IP, 30 H, 5 HR, 12 BB, 29 K

Miller is leading all starting pitchers in the PCL with an 11.3 K/9, but the home run totals are a bit concerning this early in the year. But it is the PCL still.

Brad Peacock (OAK) - 3 W, 3.24 ERA, 33 1/3 IP, 31 H, 2 HR, 13 BB, 32 K

If Tyson Ross continues to struggle in his starts, I could see Peacock being the next pitcher called up from Sacramento.

Mike Montgomery (KC) - 2 W, 4.55 ERA, 27 2/3 IP, 32 H, 2 HR, 11 BB, 21 K

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Well, it's Saturday, and that means that there is probably going to be a baseball game on your television or radio at some point in the day. I would hazard to guess that a majority of our readers have a favorite team of their own, but but also tend to be fans of baseball in general. This got me thinking - What things would be on a baseball fan's "bucket list"? The idea here is to come up with tasks/things/etc. that sort of transcend specific team allegiances, and are things that fans of baseball in general should try to do at least once in their lifetime.

We want you to add things in the comments that you think might belong on this list - remember that there isn't necessarily a right or wrong answer, as every fan has had different experiences that have been viewed in different manners. The goal here is to find things that transcend team allegiances. As an example, I am not a Dodgers fan, but I think every fan should listen to Vin Scully call a baseball game, regardless of their allegiances.

The key with any suggestions is this: Each item should be repeatable (ie, if you suggest it, I could go do that tomorrow or sometime soon). The example I gave our writers is that you can watch the video of the "Shot Heard Round the World" from 1951, but you cannot go back and sit in the stands for that specific game. The other key is that it doesn't have to be something that you can known when you sit down that it will happen, like a clinching playoff victory or a no-hitter. These are things that are still repeatable, but not predictable.

I reached out to our writers here at Fake Teams, and asked for some of their suggestions on this. You can find theirs (and my own) after the jump...

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Every Friday I will be taking a look at a prospect in the lower levels of the minors who could be on his way up very quickly, either to a new level or up toward the top of prospect ranking lists. This week's prospect is pretty well known at this point, but his performance is starting to catch up to the reports. That prospect? Detroit Tigers' 3B prospect Nick Castellanos.

The Basics

Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 210 lbs
Age as of End of 2012: 20
On 40-man roster: No

His History

Castellanos was the Tigers' first round draft pick in the 2010 draft, and ended up signing for a bonus north of $3 million. He appeared in 7 games that year for the Tigers' GCL affiliate, and was given a full season assignment in the Midwest League for the 2011 season. He got off to a slow start last year, as he hit just .188/.232/.219 in the month of April there. That could be partially attributable to playing in cold weather primarily for the first time. From May 1st on, he hit .330/.386/.469 with 44 extra base hits. For the season, he finished with a .312/.367/.436 slash line.

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Every other Wednesday I will be taking a look at the two Low-A leagues, and some of the prospects in each of them to see how they are performing. All statistics are for the month of April, and are courtesy of Baseball Reference.


South Atlantic League

Tyler Austin (NYY) - .357/389/857, 23 R, 7 2B, 4 3B, 9 HR, 25 RBI, 2 for 3 SB, 5 BB, 19 K

Craig wrote about Austin on Tuesday, and I had honestly no clue really who he was or how crazy his numbers had been so far this month. He is currently leading the SAL in home runs, is 3rd in RBI, and 8th in batting average (realistically that is probably 5th, as 3 players ahead of him have played in only 9 games each compared to the league's 22-24). Definitely someone to watch as the season progresses.

Alen Hanson (PIT) - .410/.441/695, 28 R, 10 2B, 4 3B, 4 HR, 14 RBI, 10 for 14 SB, 6 BB, 23 K

Just 19 years old, Hanson has really announced himself on the prospect scene. Whether or not he can continue some version of this performance remains to be seen though, as he has already set a career high in home runs in a season, and is well on his way to doing the same in stolen bases (24 is his season high). I don't think he gets moved up any time soon, as they have been playing him exclusively at shortstop, and the performance numbers thus far don't look all that great (11 errors in 79 chances for a stellar fielding percentage of .861)

Trevor Story (COL) - .276/.398/.566, 20 R, 3 2B, 2 3B, 5 HR, 15 RBI, 2 for 3 SB, 14 BB, 19 K

The Rockies' 1st round pick last year, Story has been playing primarily shortstop, but also has appeared in 7 games at 3B. Long-term, I have to imagine that the Rockies will have to make a decision whether Story or current SS Troy Tulowitzki may be in line for a position change, but unless Story shows he can't play the position, they really should just leave him there for now.

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Every Monday I will be taking an in-depth look at a player who could potentially get called up to the Majors this year, and could be useful to fantasy owners as a result. In some cases, it could a top prospect (like today's), and in other cases it could be a player in the minors who would benefit from an opportunity in the bigs, especially if an injury or trade occurs.

In today's case, I'm taking a look at a prospect who is probably not going to be up in the Majors this year, but he's already reached AA despite his young age and could be up at some point in 2013. Unfortunately, he may be most well known around baseball as the minor league guy from Spring Training. That prospect is Cardinals' right fielder Oscar Taveras.

The Basics

Bats: Left
Throws: Left
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 180 lbs
Age at End of 2012 Season: 20
On 40-Man Roster: No

His History

Taveras was signed by the Cardinals out of the Dominican Republic in 2008 for $145,000. He spent the 2009 season in the Dominican Summer League and did not make his stateside debut until 2010. He spent 7 games in the Gulf Coast League, but was sent to short-season rookie ball in Johnson City, TN for 56 more. He started to show up on prospect radars after his performance there, hitting .322/.362/.526 with 8 home runs, 13 doubles, and 3 triples in just 53 games.

He was sent to the full-season Midwest League, where he proceeded to win the batting title with a .386 batting average. He also hit 8 home runs and drove in 62 runs in just 78 games there, despite being just 18 years old for most of the season. The organization challenged him by sending him to the Arizona Fall League after the 2011 season, where he hit .307/.312/.403 with a home run, and no walks against 12 strikeouts.

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Every other Sunday I will be taking a look at some of the top prospects in the AA leagues, and many of the prospects there could be headed up to the bigs over the next few months. No up-to-date stats really this time around, as I will be traveling over the weekend and unable to update prior to this posting.

Eastern League

Drew Hutchison (TOR)

Hutchison was called up late last week by the Blue Jays after 3 starts with AA New Hampshire. He's made two starts for the Blue Jays thus far, with his last start on Thursday being solid. He threw 5 innings, gave up 6 hits and 2 earned runs, but struck out just 2 batters.

Manny Machado (BAL)

Machado is hitting just .236 (through Thursday's game), but has been showing decent plate discipline with 5 walks and 8 strikeouts in his last 10 games.

Sebastian Valle (PHI)

Craig wrote about Valle last week, and for me the concerns are very similar. He has just 4 walks against 20 strikeouts thus far in the season in just 53 at bats.

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Every Friday I will be taking a look at a prospect at one of the lower levels of the minor leagues who could be jumping into the upper echelons of prospect lists with a solid performance this season. This week I will be taking a look at Yankees' 3B prospect Dante Bichette Jr.

The Basics

Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 215 lbs.
Age as of End of 2012: 20
On 40-Man Roster: No

His History

Bichette was the Yankees' top draft pick from last year's amateur draft. He signed almost immediately after the draft, and was able to get into 54 games last season. He was primarily in the Gulf Coast League last year, but did end up appearing in 2 games in the NY-Penn League before the end of the season. Combined, he hit .335/.440/.507 with 4 HR, 48 RBI, went 3 for 7 on stolen base attempts, and drew 31 walks against 43 strikeouts there.

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It's Wednesday again, and that means it's time to take a look at some of the top prospects and performers at the High-A level. At this point, I would honestly say that the three High-A minor leagues may have the most interesting pitching prospects of any of the levels right now. You have last year's top draft pick, as well as a number of high-ceiling types in both the California and Carolina Leagues. All statistics for hitters are for the last 10 games and all statistics for pitchers are season long. All stats are courtesy of MILB.com, and are through Monday's games unless noted otherwise.

Florida State League

Nick Castellanos (DET) - .371/.400/.486, 4 R, 4 2B, 5 RBI, 2 BB/5 K

Just 20 years old, Castellanos is hitting .386 on the season, and does have a home run as well. The more Castellanos hits, the more likely I think it is that the Tigers use him as a trade chip to get what they need for a post season run.

Christian Yelich (MIA) - .400/.514/.800, 9 R, 2 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 1/1 SB, 7 BB, 6 K

Yelich missed time early with an injury, but has really come back with a vengeance since returning on April 15th. He came into the season as the consensus top prospect in the Marlins' system, and it is looking more and more like he could be a top outfielder for fantasy purposes once he gets there.

Marcell Ozuna (MIA) - .176/.243/.235, 4 R, 1 3B, 3 RBI, 2/3 SB, 2 BB/7 K

Jake Marisnick (TOR) - .214/.313/.381, 5 R, 2B, 3B, HR, 4 RBI, 3 BB/6 K, 3 SB

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Every Monday I will be taking an in-depth look at a player who could potentially get called up to the Majors this year, and could be useful to fantasy owners as a result. In some cases, it could a top prospect (like today's), and in other cases it could be a player in the minors who would benefit from an opportunity in the bigs, especially if an injury or trade occurs. You can take a look at the previous reports below:

4/2/12 - Nolan Arenado
4/9/12 - Jarrod Parker
4/16/12 - Trevor Bauer

Today's prospect is actually one who was just called up late last week, and who could get a shot to take over a rotation spot for the Brewers due to the Chris Narveson injury. That prospect is right handed pitcher Wily Peralta.

The Basics

Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 240 lbs.
Age at End of 2012 Season: 23
On 25-Man Roster: Yes

His History

Signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2005, the Brewers were actually extremely aggressive with Peralta, sending him to their Rookie League affiliate in Arizona for his professional debut in 2006, despite being just 17 years old. Extremely raw, he gave up 28 earned runs in 38 innings pitched, struck out 28 and walked 20. Peralta missed the entire 2007 season after having Tommy John surgery, and was sent to short-season Rookie ball in 2008. He pitched much better there, posting a 3.07 ERA and 36 strikeouts against just 8 walks in 29 1/3 innings. He finished up that season by making two starts for the Brewers' low-A affiliate in the Sally League, but threw just 5 innings.

He spent the full season in 2009 in Low-A, making 27 appearances (15 starts), and notching 118 strikeouts in 103 2/3 innings pitched. The walks were a bit concerning, as he posted a rate of 4 per 9 innings that year. Despite that, his overall performance was solid, and the team moved him up to High-A Brevard County to start the 2010 season. His strikeout rate dropped there, but his walk rate did as well (75 K, 40 BB in 105 IP) and was moved up to AA Huntsville for 8 starts to finish out the season. His ERA didn't reflect it (3.61) his struggles with control (29 K/24 BB in 42 IP), and he ended up repeating AA to start 2011.

Peralta really consolidated his gains in 2011, as he both improved his strikeout rate and his walk rate over 119+ innings at AA. He finished out last season by making 5 starts for AAA Nashville, he struck out 40 and walked just 11 in 31 innings. He was originally sent to AAA to start the season this year, but was called up last week after Kameron Loe was placed on the bereavement list.

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Every other Sunday I will be taking a look at the AAA level, and in many cases these are prospects who could very well be in the bigs sometime this year. We're starting to see injuries, and it may not be long before we start seeing more callups. All statistics for hitters are through the last 10 games (through Friday), and season-long statistics for the pitchers. All stats are from MILB.com.

International League

Will Middlebrooks (BOS) - .395/.435/.837, 6 HR, 13 R, 19 RBI, 3 BB, 5 K

Middlebrooks is killing everything in front of him, as 7 of his last 10 games have been multi-hit ones, and has homered in his last 3 games as well. He's unlikely to be up in the Majors unless current 3B Kevin Youkilis ends up on the disabled list for an extended period of time.

Lonnie Chisenhall (CLE) - .378/..391/.689, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 1 BB, 11 K

Domonic Brown (PHI) - .275/.310/.425, 5 R, 4 2B, 5 RBI, 2/4 SB, 2 BB, 6 K

I am still not entirely sure what the Phillies are hoping that Brown will show them to allow him to play left field for them, but it seems extremely unlikely that he'll be up in the Majors any time soon.

Jeurys Familia (NYM) - 1-1, 6.59 ERA, 13.2 IP, 15 K, 12 BB, 15 H

Matt Harvey (NYM) - 1-1, 6.83 ERA, 19 IP, 19 K, 11 BB, 24 H

Harvey pitched better in his last start (Friday night), but the walk numbers across starts are slightly concerning. I watched some of his second-to-last start, and his command was all over the place during that game (hence the reason he ended up going just 3 2/3.

Julio Teheran (ATL) - 2-0, 2.19 ERA, 12.1 IP, 12 K, 6 BB, 8 H

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Every Friday throughout the season, I will be taking an in-depth look at a prospect who is in the lower levels of the minors who may not be ready in the next season or two, but should be front and center on the radar of dynasty league owners. So far I've taken a look at Rangers' prospect Cody Buckel and Diamondbacks prospect Archie Bradley. Next up is a shortstop in the Reds system, Billy Hamilton

The Basics

Bats: Switch
Throws: Right
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 160 lb
Age at End of 2012 Season: 22
On 40 Man Roster: No

His History

Hamilton was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2009 amateur draft out of a high school in Mississippi. An extremely raw player, Hamilton was sent to the Reds' Rookie League affiliate in the Gulf Coast League, where he hit just .205/.253/.277, but stole 14 bases in 17 attempts. He was then shipped up to their other Rookie League affiliate in Billings for the 2010 season, where he hit .318/.383/.456 and 48/57 on stolen base attempts in just 69 games. The Reds moved him up for his first stint in full-season ball in 2011, and sent him to their Low-A affiliate in the Midwest League, in Dayton, OH. He played in 135 games, splitting time between shortstop and second base, and hit .278/.340/.360. Oh, and he went completely nus on the basepaths, stealing 103 bases in 123 attempts.

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Low-A is absolutely chock full of top prospects getting, in most cases, their first professional experience. Every other Wednesday I will be taking a look at the performance of some of the top prospects in both Low-A leagues, as well as some of the top performances of the previous two weeks. All stats are through the games of 4/16 (Monday), unless otherwise noted:

South Atlantic League

Dylan Bundy (BAL) - 9 IP, 15 K, 1 BB, 0 ER (includes Tuesday's start)

Bundy finally showed SOMETHING other than outs, as he walked a batter in his start last night. The calls for him to be moved up to High-A should continue, especially if he doesn't get challenged soon by the Low-A hitters. I will say that I would like to see him pitch more than 3 innings in a start soon.

Alen Hanson (PIT) - .392/.436/.784, 15 R, 6 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 4 SB, 4 BB, 11 K

Talk about some a crazy performance in the short time frame. Hanson has shown the speed before, but hasn't hit more than 2 homers in a season.

Gary Sanchez (NYY) - .385/.442/.487, 4 R, 4 2B, 4 RBI, 2 SB, 4 BB, 10 K

Sanchez is repeating the High-A level this year, and it sounds like at least part of the reason he is back is due to maturity concerns.

Brian Goodwin (WAS) - .375/.524/.813, 5 R, 1 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 2 SB, 5 BB, 3 K

Goodwin is currently injured unfortunately, but he could be a steal for the Nationals at the 34th overall pick last season.

Mason Williams (NYY) - .327/..340/.490, 6 R, 4 2B, 2 3B, 3 RBI, 6 SB, 1 BB, 2 K

Trevor Story (COL) - .333/.432/.639, 9 R, 2 2B, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 1 SB, 5 BB, 9 K

Jose Campos (NYY) - 3 W, 16 IP, 18 K, 4 BB, 1 ER (0.56 ERA), 5 H

The second player the Yankees received as a part of the Jesus Montero trade, Campos has been electric thus far, and I'll be interested to see if he can A) keep this up, and B) if he gets promoted to High-A by midseason. Either way he clearly is more than just a throw in at the back end of that trade.

Jose Fernandez (MIA) - 1 W, 11 IP, 18 K, 4 BB, 2 ER (1.64 ERA), 5 H

Matt Barnes (BOS) - 1 W, 10 IP, 16 K, 2 BB, 0 ER, 3 H

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Every Monday I will be taking an in-depth look at a player who could potentially get called up to the Majors this year, and could be useful to fantasy owners as a result. In some cases, it could a top prospect (like today's), and in other cases it could be a player in the minors who would benefit from an opportunity in the bigs, especially if an injury or trade occurs. You can take a look at the previous reports below:

4/2/12 - Nolan Arenado
4/9/12 - Jarrod Parker

Next up is one of the many pitching prospects in the Diamondbacks system, and one that is probably the most unique of the bunch, Trevor Bauer.

The Basics

Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 175
Age at End of 2012 Season: 21
On 40-Man Roster: Yes
Options Used: 2 (2011, 2012)

His History

Trevor Bauer was drafted out of UCLA with the 3rd pick in last season's draft, and signed surprisingly early for a top 5 draft pick. Bauer signed in late July, with a $3.4 million bonus and a Major League contract received from the Diamondbacks. As a result of this, Bauer was able to make 7 starts between High-A and AA. The final numbers don't reflect how well he pitched, as he gave up 10 earned runs in his last start of the year in just 1 2/3 innings pitched. If you take that start out, he threw 24 innings with a 2.63 ERA to go along with nearly 15 K per 9 innings.

Bauer is viewed with a lot of curiosity based on his training regimen and his use of extreme long-toss (sometimes upwards of 400 feet). It did not necessarily ease some organizations' concerns given the high volume workload he threw his final season in college (130+ IP in each of his last two seasons), but the upside of nearly 14 strikeouts per 9 innings clearly didn't dissuade the Diamondbacks.

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Every other Sunday I will be taking a look at some of the top prospects and top performers currently at the AA level, and at the moment there are quite a few of the top prospects split amongst the three AA leagues. Note: These statistics are for all games through Saturday 4/14, unless otherwise noted.

Texas League

Kolten Wong (STL) - .464/.545/.750, 6 R, 1 2B, 3 3B, HR, 7 RBI, SB, 5 BB, 3 K

I get the impression that Kolten Wong could be playing 2B for the Cardinals by season's end.

Oscar Taveras (STL) - .286/.306/.629, 3 R, 4 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 1 BB, 7 K

Taveras clearly doesn't seem to be phased by skipping a level to AA, as he continues to hit extra base hits all over the place.

Nolan Arenado (COL) - .371/.450/.543, 6 R, 6 2B, 7 RBI, 3 BB, 6 K

Jonathan Singleton (HOU) - .357/.455/.571, 8 R, 4 2B, 1 3B, 4 RBI, 5 BB, 7 K

Wil Myers (KC) - .333/.366/.641, 6 R, 3 2B, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 1 SB, 2 BB, 14 K

The 14 strikeouts so far are a bit concerning, but he had a killer game on Saturday night, and I think he could be in AAA before the end of the month.

Jake Odorizzi (KC) - 5 2/3 IP, 10 K, 3 BB, 4 ER, 4 H

Keyvius Sampson (SD) - 9 1/3 IP, 10 K, 1 BB, 2 ER, 7 H

A.J. Griffin (OAK) - 11 IP, 16 K, 2 BB, 0 ER, 2 H

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