Hi Indians fans,

I recently did a Q&A with Tony Lastoria of Indians Prospect Insider.  Tony answered questions about Indians in extended spring training who may play for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers this season including Alexander Morales, Carlos Moncrief and Mike Rayl.  He also mentioned Kevin Fontanez, Trent Baker and Elvis Araujo as candidates to play for the Scrappers.  I have posted the full Q&A on my blog, which is devoted to following the Connecticut Tigers and the New York-Penn League.  Here is the link:

http://cttigerden.wordpress.com/2010/05/26/previewing-the-mahoning-valley-scrappers/

Hi Red Sox fans,

I recently did a Q&A with Mike Andrews of SoxProspects.com.  Mike answered questions about Red Sox in extended spring training who may play for the Lowell Spinners this season including David Renfroe, Madison Younginer and Brandon Jacobs.  He also answered a question on Randy Consuegra and mentioned Jason Thompson and Bryan Peterson as candidates for Lowell's roster.  I have posted the full Q&A on my blog, which is devoted to following the Connecticut Tigers and the New York-Penn League.  Here is the link:

http://cttigerden.wordpress.com/2010/05/18/stedler-division-rivals-lowell-spinners/

Hi Nationals fans,

I recently did a Q&A with Brian Oliver of Nationals Farm Authority.  Brian answered questions about Nationals in extended spring training who may play for the Vermont Lake Monsters this season including Graham Hicks, Michael Taylor and Naoya Washiya.  He also mentioned Derrick Phillips as a sleeper who could have a good season in Vermont.  I have posted the full Q&A on my blog, which is devoted to following the Connecticut Tigers and the New York-Penn League.  Here is the link:

http://cttigerden.wordpress.com/2010/05/17/stedler-division-rivals-vermont-lake-monsters/

Hi Yankees fans,

I recently did a Q&A with Greg Fertel of pendingpinstripes.net.  Greg answered questions about Yankees in extended spring training who may be assigned to Staten Island.  He gave a scouting report on Slade Heathcott, mentioned J.R. Murphy and Kelvin De Leon as candidates for Staten Island and answered a question about Bryan Mitchell.  I have posted the full Q&A on my blog, which is devoted to following the Connecticut Tigers and the New York-Penn League.  Here is the link:

http://cttigerden.wordpress.com/2010/05/16/previewing-the-staten-island-yankees/

Hi Orioles fans,

Jordan from oriolesprospects.com answered some questions for me about Orioles in extended spring training who will likely play for Aberdeen when the New York-Penn League season begins.  He mentioned '09 draftees Mychal Givens and Cameron Coffey as likely candidates, he gave a scouting report on Jarret Martin, and he said he thinks Michael Ohlman will be sent down to Aberdeen.  I posted the full Q&A on my blog, which is devoted to covering the Connecticut Tigers and the New York-Penn League.  Here's the link:

http://cttigerden.wordpress.com/2010/05/15/previewing-the-aberdeen-ironbirds/

I've posted a Q&A with the Crawfish Boxes' own David Coleman about Astros prospects in extended spring training on my blog.  In it, David talks about Telvin Nash, Erik Castro, Bubby Williams and several other prospects who may play for the Valleycats this season.  My blog focuses on the Connecticut Tigers, but I am posting previews on other teams in the New York-Penn League's Stedler Division.  Here is the link:

http://cttigerden.wordpress.com/2010/05/10/stedler-division-rivals-tri-city-valleycats/

Andy Seiler, author of mlbbonusbaby.com, was kind enough to answer some Tigers related draft questions for me.

I've posted the full Q and A on my blog, cttigerden.wordpress.com.  He said Addison Reed, DeAndre Smelter and Tyrell Jenkins are some power arms that may interest the Tigers in the supplemental first round.  He also said former Tigers draftee Barret Loux may be available and speculated who may drop out of the first round do to signability concerns.

Brayan Villarreal of the Tigers is a prospect that will likely start getting a lot more attention soon.  He's got great stuff including a mid 90s fastball and a nasty slider.  In two starts this year in High A, he has a 17 to 1 strikeout to walk ratio in 9.1 innings.  Obviously that type of ratio is unsustainable, but it will be interesting to see how he performs the remainder of the season.

Who are the best players in your team's system who were left off the 40-man roster and are now eligible to be selected in the rule 5 draft?  I'll start with my team, the Tigers:

C James Skelton: An OBP machine with quick feet and solid defensive skills behind the plate.  I'm very disappointed the Tigers didn't protect him.  Teams with an opening at backup catcher would be wise to give him a look.

RHP Luis Marte: When he's healthy, he's got a low 90s fastball that he can bump into the mid 90s and a decent curveball.  However, he hurt is elbow midseason and was only throwing 88-91 mph when he came back.  He has also battled soreness in the Arizona Fall League.  He might be worth the gamble if he can say healthy.

RHP Jay Sborz: A former 2nd round pick who struggled mightily in his first few years in pro ball.  He figured it out this year however, and pitched very will out of the bullpen in High A.  He's got a mid 90s fastball.

Edit: It turns out that Marte is NOT rule 5 eligible yet.  My apologies.

Giants 9th round pick, Ryan Verdugo of LSU, is pitching on ESPN2 right now.  He had a pretty rough first inning.  He's pretty much a two pitch guy (87-90 mph fastball and slider).

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Has the Connecticut Defenders roster been announced yet?  I'm not a Giants fan, but I live very close to Norwich and go to a lot of Defenders games.  If it has been announced, who's on it?  If not, who do you guys think will be on it?  Any information on these players would be helpful as well as I'm not too familiar with the Giants system.  I want to know about the 2008 version of this team before they take the field.  The 2007 version was terrible, but Eugenio Velez and John Bowker are both good players that I enjoyed watching.

Also, who are the candidates for a mid-season promotion to Connecticut?  Is anyone being held down in San Jose until the weather warms up in CT?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

Just for fun, I put the guys the Tigers traded away this offseason in parenthesis in the spots they would have been in.  It really shows you how much weaker this system is post Cabrera and Renteria trades.

(Cameron Maybin)

1. Rick Porcello

(Jair Jurrjens)
(Gorkys Hernandez)
(Dallas Trahern)

2. Jeff Larish
   
3. Danny Worth
   
4. Michael Hollimon
   

5. James Skelton
   
6. Virgil Vasquez
   
7. Scott Sizemore
   
8. Casey Crosby
   
9. Yorman Bazardo
   
10. Matt Joyce

According to Ken Rosenthal, the Tigers and Marlins are talking about a potential blockbuster that would send Cabrera and Willis to the Tigers.  Maybin and Andrew Miller are mentioned as guys that could be sent to Florida.  Thoughts?

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7525396

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Could you guys rank the following outfielders:

Carlos Gonzalez, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jordan Schafer, Dexter Fowler, Wladimir Balentien, Desmond Jennings, Gorkys Hernandez, Austin Jackson, Fernando Martinez, and Jose Tabata

This is NOT fantasy related.  You dont have to rank all of them, but maybe you could just give me your opinions on some of the guys that you are familiar with.  Thanks

is the player the Tigers will receive from the Cardinals for Mike Maroth.  Can anyone shed any light on him?  He's supposed to have good stuff and is a former 1st round pick but his numbers have been bad.  What kind of stuff does he have?  Does he project better as a starter or a reliever?

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The Denver Post has reported that the Tigers sent scouts to watch Joe Koshansky and Ian Stewart.  Here's the link:

http://www.denverpost.com/rockies/ci_6465082

Can any Rockies fans comment on what they might want from the Tigers that would be reasonable?  Any chance a deal between these two teams also includes Brian Fuentes?

The Michigan Wolverines defeated #1 ranked Vanderbilt today and have advanced to the super regionals.  What an upset.  Vanderbilt brought Price in as a reliever and freshman Alan Oaks homered off of Price in the 10th inning to give Michigan a 4-3 lead which was held in the bottom half of the inning by junor reliever Michael Powers of Michigan.  BTW, Oaks was the 50th round pick of the Tigers last year but he opted to go to school.

Who do you think is the best HS pitcher in the draft this year?

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Chris Cody

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The Tigers' Michael Hernandez is turning into a decent prospect.  What's amazing about that fact is that he was undrafted and was signed by the Tigers after he impressed them at an open tryout.  He is a 23 year old outfielder who is currently playing advanced A ball in the FSL for the Lakeland Flying Tigers.

Last years stats in the pitcher friendly Midwest League
87 games, 349 ab's, 40 runs, 97 hits, 19 2b, 3 3b, 13 HR, 63 rbi's, .278 avg, .318 obp, .461 slg

This years numbers in the FSL
17 games, 62 ab's, 8 runs, 22 hits, 10 2b, 1 3b, 3 HR, 14 rbi's, .355 avg, .406 obp, .694 slg