In today's Baltimore Sun, Phil Rogers discusses the Tigers' process leading into the 2004 draft, where they had the #2 pick and Greg Smith was the team's scouting director.

Justin Verlander was 7-6 with a 3.49 ERA at Old Dominion that year, and walked about five batters per nine innings.  The Tigers believed that he had the best stuff in the draft, but had struggled to repeat his delivery at ODU.  Other pitchers such as Jered Weaver, Philip Humber, and Jeff Niemann were rated higher by some scouting services.  But Smith liked Verlander's stuff too much.

In an email last week, Smith referenced a "lack of consensus'' within the Tigers' scouting staff about Verlander. But he was convinced that the powerful right-hander would rise above Weaver and Humber, who probably were safer picks, so he stuck to his guns.

"If the main focus had been on current performance, his value certainly would have slipped and moved him down the board,'' said Smith, now the Pirates' scouting director. "… We believed there was more in there yet to be harnessed.''

It goes without saying that the writeup on Verlander leading into the draft reminds us of someone, and probably goes a long way toward explaining that Gerrit Cole is being seen as the Pirates' pick at 1.1 tomorrow.

Ummm, OK.  Here is a short piece from Conlin of the Philadelphia Daily News, who was watching the Phillies in extended spring training and was impressed by Heredia.  Obviously his physical stature stands out ("The poised, 6-6 righthander looked closer to 20 than 16), but the piece mentions his retiring or Carlos Ruiz, and his mom's reaction.  Neat little story, and really nice to see a 16 year-old Pirates prospect getting a mention in an out-of-town paper.

I figured I'd start a new minor league thread, since tonight features a game all of us will want to keep an eye on.  Jameson Taillon makes his first professional appearance for West Virginia tonight against Bryce Harper and Hagerstown.  First pitch is at 7:05, although it hasn't been announced whether Taillon will be starting.  Either way, I'm guessing we won't see more than three or four innings from him.  Once again Tim Williams of Pirates Prospects will be live tweeting the proceedings from Charleston.  Also, I don't want to look too far ahead, but Appalachian Power Park will host none other than Dennis Haskins, aka Mr. Belding later in the week, because why wouldn't they.

Elsewhere, Brad Lincoln starts for Indy in a matinee against Norfolk at 1:00.  Altoona is in Harrisburg tonight at 7:00, with Jared Hughes taking the hill for the Curve, and Bradenton takes on St. Lucie at 7:05.  The starting pitcher is listed as TBD, but based on their rotation it should be Kyle McPherson, who is off to an excellent start, with a 1.14 ERA and a 22:0 K/BB ratio in 23.2 IP.

Since we've got a rainout in Pittsburgh, I figured we could start a minor league thread.

Rudy Owens is starting tonight vs. Toledo at 7:00.  Hopefully he keeps up his impressive start to the season.

Altoona and Richmond are underway, no score in the bottom of the 1st.  Jared Hughes takes the hill for the Curve, and Tim Williams of Pirates Prospects is there, live tweeting the proceedings.

Kyle McPherson is starting for Bradenton against Fort Myers at 7:05.  West Virginia and Kannapolis are rained out.

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BA's Ben Badler has a piece on Cuban defectors who have signed contracts with big league clubs since the beginning of 2010.  I'm not a BA subscriber, so I can't see any specifics, but Badler mentioned the Bucs in a tweet regarding the article:

Not sure if it's been reported elsewhere yet, but the Cuban story also has scouting info on a P the Pirates signed for $600K

UPDATE:  Tim Williams at Pirates Prospects has us covered:

The Pittsburgh Pirates agreed to terms with Cuban right handed pitcher Cesar Lopez for $600,000 in September. The deal is still pending the result of Lopez getting his visa.

Badler mentions that Lopez is 20 years old, and is a sinker/slider pitcher who can run his fastball up in the low 90s.

 

For a PTBNL.

Duke was 8-15 with a 5.72 ERA in 2010. The Pirates designated him for assignment on Friday.

I'm a bit surprised they got anything for him, although I can't imagine in will be much more than an organizational guy, maybe a fringe prospect.

Good luck to Zach.

UPDATE by Charlie: Yeah, I wouldn't expect the Pirates to get anything at all here. It doesn't sound like the Diamondbacks are planning to take Duke to arbitration - they're just going to use the week or so that they have before the arbitration deadline to negotiate a deal. The PTBNL is really just the price the D'Backs were willing to pay for the right to be the only team allowed to negotiate with Duke for a week.

UPDATE by Charlie: The link above actually says the Pirates will get "a mid-level prospect" who is eligible for the Rule 5 draft. They'll wait to complete the deal in case the player actually get selected. That's better than I thought the Pirates would do. We'll see how this turns out. Still, don't expect much This list of Rule 5-eligible players that Bernie6 posted is pretty slim pickings. If the Pirates are getting a Rule 5-eligible player, I'd bet on a pitcher, maybe someone like Josh Ellis, who throws sidearm and is very good against righties, or Wes Roemer, a potential starter. Calling either of these guys "mid-level" prospects would probably be somewhat generous, but they are prospects.

Per DK.

He put up a half-decent 4.39 xFIP for the Nats last year, but hasn't struck out a bunch of batters since his first full season in 2007.  He also spent a good amount of time on the DL over the last couple of years.  Not too exciting, but I suppose he's worth consideration as a candidate for the back of the rotation; I just hope this isn't a direct replacement for Duke in the rotation.

Here it is:

Five-Star Prospects
1. James Taillon, RHP
2. Stetson Allie, RHP
Four-Star Prospects
3. Luis Heredia, LHP
4. Tony Sanchez, C
Three-Star Prospects
5. Rudy Owens, LHP
6. Bryan Morris, RHP
7. Starling Marte, OF
8. Jeff Locke, LHP
9. Diego Moreno, RHP
Two-Star Prospects
10. Colton Cain, LHP
11. Zack Von Rosenberg, RHP

And 12-20:

12. Mel Rojas, Jr., OF
13. Zack Dodson, LHP
14. Alex Presley, OF
15. Gorkys Hernandez, OF
16. Chase D'Arnaud, SS
17. Andrew Lambo, OF
18. Nick Kingham, RHP
19. Josh Harrison, INF
20. Quincy Latimore, OF

So, the three teenage pitchers acquired at the end of the draft signing period are the top three prospects in the system according to Kevin Goldstein.  Let's compare his list to the Community Prospect List we voted upon here at BD back in September (conveniently also a Top 20 if you include Honorable Mention players):

1.  Jameson Taillon
2.  Tony Sanchez
3.  Bryan Morris
4.  Rudy Owens
5.  Stetson Allie
6.  Starling Marte
7.  Jeff Locke
8.  Luis Heredia
9.  Andrew Lambo
10.  Zach von Rosenberg
11.  Colton Cain
12.  Justin Wilson
13.  Chase d'Arnaud
14.  Exicardo Cayonez
15.  Mel Rojas

Honorable Mentions: Jarek Cunningham, Brock Holt, Gorkys Hernandez, Diego Moreno, Evan Chambers

It looks like we prefer performance to projection, at least compared to BP.  Certainly a couple of big differences; we're higher on Lambo and Cayonez (who doesn't make BP's top 20), whereas Goldstein is higher on Moreno and Dodson (who doesn't make BD's top 20, and never really entered the discussion as I recall).

Per DK;

http://twitter.com/Dejan_Kovacevic/status/24405580264

Here are Leroux's career numbers.  I suppose he strikes out a fair number of batters, but I can't say I know much about him.  Can anyone shed some light?

Do you think Neal just gets bored sometimes and scours the waiver wire for guys like this? Just wondering what he sees that the Marlins may not have.

I need to write 75 words.  I think this will do it.

With the Pirates off tonight, I figured I'd start a minor league thread for tonight's games.

The only true pitching prospect starting tonight is Jeff Locke for Altoona. He faces off against Bowie at 7:05 EST.

Dana Eveland takes the hill for an Indy team that is becoming less interesting to follow every day. The Indians play Louisville at 6:00.

Bradenton takes on Port St. Lucie at seven, with Brian Leach starting for the Marauders. Bradenton has a two-game second-half lead in the division with four games left.  Hopefully the Bucs' Class A+ club can make the playoffs for the second straight year.

West Virginia takes on Rome at 7:05 with Phillip Irwin taking the mound, and Tyler Waldron goes for State College against Auburn at 6:35.

I usually buy my Bucs tickets the day of the game, so I'm not too familiar with the different ticket packages they offer, but maybe some of you are familiar with the Smart Circle Card.  For $40 you can get vouchers for four free game tickets, anywhere up to the $26 seats, as well as seven Buy One Get One Free Vouchers.

Anyway, I was grabbing lunch today near my house, when a younger kid (I don't know if he works for Smart Circle or is a Bucs intern or whatever) stopped me and asked if I was interested in buying one of these cards.  As the season is winding down, the price has been knocked down to $25.  So I bought one.

Anyway, it was just bizarre seeing a kid walk up and down Liberty Ave. in Bloomfield stopping random pedestrians and asking if they're interested in Pirates tickets.  Never seen anything like it.

Oh, and it is a good deal, of course.  You just bring the vouchers to the ticket window the day of the game.  They are valid for any game except for the 8/7 game that's followed by the George Thorogood concert.  The kid left his cellphone # on the back of the card, so if anyone's interested, let me know and I'll pass it along to you.

Back in February, Charlie wrote a piece concerning an column by Jay Cipriano of the Centre Times Daily, in which Cirpiano harped on former Pirates that "could have" been still playing in Pittsburgh.  You know the drill: McLouth, Bay, and Sanchez could've played with McCutchen, Alvarez, and Lincoln.  Lather, rinse, repeat.  Charlie commented on this sort of logic:

Well heck, if this is the game we're going to play, then forget McLouth--the Pirates could have started 2010 with an outfield of Bay, McCutchen and Barry Bonds, who had about as good a chance of sticking with the Pirates until now as Bay did. I bet Bonds could still hit some homers!

Well guess what, Charlie? Today's your lucky day! I give you today's column by Cipriano:

Yup, it's a 25-man roster consisting entirely of former Pirates.  You have the usual suspects, like Bay, Freddy, Aramis (McLouth is omitted this time, for some strange reason), and of course the new breed of Former Pirate Superstars like Joey Bats and Matt Capps.  Cipriano alleges:

This team could be better than the current real Pirates, Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers and Houston Astros. With big second halves from Ramirez, Wilson and Sanchez, and a move for a high-end starter, it possess the bullpen, infield and outfield depth to compete with the Reds and Cardinals.

Now, when looking at the roster, the offense would undoubtedly be better, with guys like Bay, Jose Guillen (who would oddly be platooning in Cipriano's world), etc.  And the bullpen would be solid.  But that rotation is pretty putrid, and there is only one catcher on the roster.  Also, the catcher is Jason Kendall.  So while this team would likely be better than the current Pirates, they'd be hard pressed to compete with the Reds or Cards.  This is maybe a .500 team in my eyes.  If someone wants to do an analysis looking at WAR, be my guest.  (I'm looking in the general direction of the Lone Star State.)

So, I was curious as to how much this team would cost, and went to Cot's Contracts to look up the salaries of each player, and see what kind of payroll this club would have.  The total payroll?  $127,416,500.

Spelled out, that's one hundred twenty-seven million, four hundred sixteen thousand, five hundred dollars.

In Spanish, that's cientos veintisiete millones, cuatrocientos dieciséis miles, quinientos dólares.

So for $127M, you have a rotation of Arroyo, Wakefield, Gorzo, Jeremy Guthrie, and Oliver Perez.  And they're pitching to Jason Kendall.  But remember, they could compete with a move for a high-end starter!  Too bad the Mariners already dealt Cliff Lee, otherwise the Bucs could move a couple of players from their non-existent farm system to get him!

Indy was shut out by Toledo today, 3-0.  Only two hits for the Indians (by Jose Tabata and Kevin Mellillo), and 9Ks.  Brad Lincoln got the loss but pitched well, going 7 innings and giving up 3 runs on 4 hits (one HR), and struck out 10 while walking one, which is really nice to see.

Altoona is off today.

Bradenton takes on Dunedin at 7:00, with Aaron Pribanic starting for the Marauders.

WV takes on DelMarVa at 7:05.  Nathan Baker gets the start for the Power.

Also, the VSL Pirates season started today.  MiLB had the first pitch at 11:30 this morning, but have no other info.  I guess it's a bit different getting info from Venezuela; are there any other sources for VSL box scores, or will we have to wait a while?

So, I figured I'd start at minor-league thread for today, since Altoona is already at it with Harrisburg (Nats), and Bradenton and WV are playing tonight, a few hours after the Bucs put up three hits and go out meekly to Cincinnati.

Altoona and Harrisburg are scoreless through five.  Justin Wilson going for the Curve, giving up just two singles while striking out 4 and walking 2.

Brad Lincoln takes the hill for Indy against Rochester (Twins) at 1:00, Aaron Pribanic pitches for Bradenton against Daytona (Cubs) at 7:00, and Nathan Baker goes against Hagerstown (Nats) at 6:35.

Another minor league thread for today, because, well, why not.

Indy takes on Lehigh Valley (Phillies), first pitch at 1:35 ET.  Mike Crotta is making his first start for the Indians.  After pitching really well in Altoona (25.1 IP, 1.78 ERA, 14 H, 16K, 3 BB), let's hope he continues that in AAA.

Altoona is in Harrisburg (Nationals), first pitch at 2:00 ET.  Justin Wilson faces off against Stephen Strasburg, who is making his last start before being promoted to AAA Syracuse.  Strasburg has been as advertised, with a 0.52 ERA and 23K/3BB in 17.1 IP.

Bradenton is home to Charlotte (Rays) at 1:00 ET.  Aaron Pribanic starting for the Marauders.

WV takes on Greenville (Red Sox) at 4:00 ET.  Kyle McPherson taking the hill for the Power.

Another West Coast game, so here's another minor league thread.

Indy trailing Lehigh Valley 10-4 in the 7th.  Donnie Veal struggled, giving up 7 runs (6 ER) in 5.2 IP.  He walked 4 with only 1 K.  Pedro is 2-3 with a triple and two RBI, and was caught stealing.

Altoona leads Harrisburg 3-0 in the 6th.  Derek Hankins has pitched 5 scoreless, giving up just two hits, with 2 Ks and 2 BBs.  Alex Presley is 2-2 with 2 RBI.

(FYI, Stephen Strasburg is starting for Harrisburg tomorrow, and it will be his last start for the Senators, as he is being promoted to AAA Syracuse after the game.)

Bradenton trails Charlotte 7-6 in the 8th.  Jeff Locke gave up 4 runs (2 earned) in 5 IP on 4 hits (one homer).  He struck out three and walked one.  Diego Moreno continues to eviscerate FSL hitters.  He pitched two perfect innings and struck out four.  His line for the year: 15 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 23K, 1 BB.  That's absurd.  You have to think he'll be in Altoona soon.  Jeremy Farrell, Eric Fryer, and Calvin Anderson each have two hits for the Marauders.  Starling Marte is back in the lineup and is 1-4.

WV leads Greenville 4-0 in the 8th.  Nathan Baker pitched 6 scoreless, giving up 3 hits, striking out 4 and walking one.  Jesus Brito and Evan Chambers have homered for the Power (Brito's second consecutive game with a homer).

With the Bucs playing late again tonight, I figured I'd start a minor league thread for tonight's games.

Indy and Pawtucket are tied at 3 in the bottom of the 4th.  Brad Lincoln is struggling again, having given up 3 runs in 3 IP on 6 hits and 3 BBs.  He has 3 Ks.  Pearce has two doubles in his first two ABs.

Altoona and Harrisburg are scoreless in the 2nd.  Jared Hughes starting for the Curve.  Chase D'Arnaud and Matt Hague with singles in the 1st, but that's it.

Bradenton and Charlotte are scoreless in the 2nd.  Bryan Morris starting, 2 scoreless so far with 1 H, 1K, and a wild pitch,

WV and Greenville are scoreless in the 2nd.  Hunter Strickland starting for the Power.