Moving on up? The Minor League Promotion Speculation Thread

Very nice idea!

 

Jay Austin's back on the DL. His prospect status is pretty much dead, even if he's 22.

 

I'd llike to contribute a few thoughts of my own...

The Arizona State duo of Andrew Aplin and Brady Rodgers could see time in Lexington before the end of the season. It's pretty early, but I'm putting them in consideration to jump straight to Lancaster in 2013.

Oberholtzer turned it around a little before his promotion to OKC, where he's still trying to get the hang of things.

Jordan Schafer's .634 OPS is 2nd-worst among all major league outfielders, ahead of only Cameron Maybin. Barnes strikes me as possibly being one of those late-bloomer types. He's not on the 40-man roster, so that could pose a slight issue. There's about 2 or 3 pitchers on the 40-man that need to be outrighted off of it. Schafer has got to go.

Jimmy Paredes and Brett Wallace need to be up with the Astros for the entire 2nd half.

If Nick Tropeano dominates the California League, he'll be in Corpus in no time flat.

R.J. Alaniz couldn't beat the Lancaster effect forever. He'll take his lumps and be glad he's not there anymore next year.

The bullpen has been nothing short of disastrous. Lyon has repaired his trade value somewhat, so he could probably get flipped for a middling prospect or two. Myers has been roughed up, but he should get a decent haul. Bring up Jason Stoffel and Xavier Cedeno.

Delino DeShields to Lancaster. George Springer to Corpus by the end of the month. Matt Duffy or Erik Castro to Corpus as the everyday 3B (Castro would probably DH on the side as usual). Jose Martinez to OKC to become the everyday 2B.

Lexington's bullpen has some intriguing pieces in Dayan Diaz and Murilo Gouvea. They've done extremely well despite being old for the level. The two of them should be on their way up. Carlos Quevedo has been a revelation since transitioning to the bullpen. His plus command should help him survive in Lancaster. However, taking those 3 guys all at once would pretty much gut the Legends' bullpen, with only Evan Grills and Tom Shirley remaining. And I'd like to see Grills as a starter. Travis Ballew, Kenny Long, and Blake Ford could be possible replacements from Tri-City.

On to the more obscure... Michael Feliz to Greeneville from the GCL. I'm not liking the fact that he's coming out of the pen, but at least he's been stretched out. I'd rather see him start games.

Lance McCullers will be in Greeneville after a few GCL starts. That much I know.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>McCullers will join GCL Astros and then go to Greeneville</p>&mdash; Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) <a href="https://twitter.com/brianmctaggart/status/214818785562083329" data-datetime="2012-06-18T20:36:04+00:00">June 18, 2012</a></blockquote>
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Mitch Lambson could possibly play at least 3 levels this year? Why not? 15 scoreless to open the season. 5 hits, 21 strikeouts in his 15 innings. I get the feeling that might not be in Lexington very long, but if one of Gouvea, Diaz, or Quevedo gets promoted, he'll probably take their spot.

Sucks that Jio Mier got hurt. He was having a renaissance season. He'll make up for lost time in Lancaster, then get a couple of weeks in Corpus to finish out the season.

Uh... Mike Foltynewicz? I'll go with option 1. Although option 2 probably has the higher probability of occurring. If he's tough enough to survive Lancaster, then he's undoubtedly one of the top prospects in the system. He has the stuff, but his numbers suggest that regression is in store. Hopefully not in Lancaster. I was much more comfortable with sending Tropeano there, because he was a college product and probably would have handled the change in offensive environments in a less volatile manner. Granted, Modesto is a pitcher's park (compared to the rest of the other bandboxes), and we'll get to see how he fares in Lancaster this coming Friday.

Ariel Ovando's power hasn't quite materialized yet, but he should get some run in Tri-City or even Lexington before the end of the year. Adrian Houser should be in Tri-City to end the year. Brian Blasik's blazing start isn't guaranteed to last, and he's pretty low on the totem pole as an undrafted free agent. I hope he gets a crack at Tri-City though.

From the DSL.... I'm not even sure where to begin. All of them are raw. The most likely guys that I would pick to come stateside next year are Samil De Los Santos, Frangy Colon, Edwin Villarroel (pitchers), Frederick Serrano, Luis Reynoso, and Arturo Michelena (position players). Mesac Laguna has to come to the U.S. or else he'll be released. OF Jarico Reynoso looks like a burner in the making.

 

I predict that Brett Wallace gets promoted today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

He'll be up in few once Wandy is traded. Plus with the AS break he wouldn't have pitch for a while anyways.

 

that's a good point. probably the larger factor.

 

If Blasik could hit .372 with a .945 slugging percentage at the MLB level, I think I could learn to forgive him for his inability to walk.

 

GCL-wise.... you have the big 3, obviously. As I stated in my earlier post, McCullers will be there for a bit, then he's off to Greeneville, which I think might happen in August.

Correa could go that same route, then spend all next year in Greeneville.

Brett Phillips, with his 5 triples, is getting my attention. Once he fully matures, he could have quite a bit of power. 17 strikeouts in 41 at-bats is definitely an area of improvement, but he seems like he's willing to take a walk, too. Making his case for Greeneville early.

Everyone else has had pretty slow starts. That should change as the year progresses, as I can get a better read of where their tracks are headed.

Pitching-wise, Chia-Jen Lo is on the long road to recovery from Tommy John surgery. He was being touted as a possible closer before his career got derailed. Reymin Guduan is a hard-throwing (read as: wild) lefty that Jeff Luhnow seemed to like during his trip to the Academy.

Michael Feliz should get a crack at Greeneville at some point this year. He really held his own as a young 17-year-old in the GCL last season. This is his age 18 season; he won't turn 19 until after the minor league season concludes. Feliz has had prolonged relief appearances when Lo has started, and he's been terrific in that capacity. He needs to start.

 

It looks like their waiting until the AS break to bring Wally up which gets them a little look at Dominguez the next 4 games. Since Wallace was playing mainly at 3B, I can see them just switching spots after the break. I expect things to heat up in trade talk with Luhnow trying to move Wandy this next week so Keuchel can be brought back up without the 6th man rotation.

 

Hey everybody.... I am brand new to this site i happen to scroll through google and i ended up running into this site.... I was reading through the Minor League Promotion/ Spec page and saw a couple things on the Tri City Valleycats.... I am from Albany NY and i go to a lot of there games... so if anybody has question comments concerns please fire away and i will do my best to answer them....

I have seen/read some things about some of the TC guys on here and a lot of you seem to know a lot... so i figured i would throw in my 2 cents...

Andrew Aplin - This kid is tearing it up in TC... a lot of people around TC seem to think he is good as gone.. he wont be with TC much longer... Hes like a 5 tool player... I think in his 1st week of the season he had 2 or 3 triples... he has great plate discipline and he does a a lot of the little things to help the team win.... He also can run like a deer... he tracks down some pretty tough ball and he makes it look effort less.... Hes a guy to pay close attention to and will probably fly through the minor leagues.... I feel like this guy could play in the MLB's in a few years but idk if he will have a position... Hes a CF and i feel like hes gonna be stuck behind Springer unless they decide down the line to move him to a Corner OF position...

Jobduan Morales - Hes another guy i have seen talked about on here.. He is a nice piece... hes like a veteran to a bunch of young guys but hes not really catching to much anymore... Since they have signed Tyler Heineman hes been more DH and 1B then catching.... Hes got an ok bat but he like to swing at bad pitches and if he grounds out he doesn't hustle 1 bit down to 1st... Hes got a solid Arm behind the plate but hes gonna be more of a DH 1B caliber player than Catcher...

Austin Elkins - I really like this kid hes a grinder and will give you a 100% percent every night no matter what... He can hit and he can field and he will even swipe a couple bags for you... Hes been hitting 1st or 2nd in the lineup all year and hes been producing at the Top of the Lineup... Hes a guy that if somebody gets hurt or sent down he could be on his way up.... Also hes doesn't go by the name Austin anymore they now call him "Catfish"... i asked a couple nights ago about it and he said that what he was known as growing up... so hes now "Catfish" Elkins...

Dan Gulbransen - Another name i read about.... He started off pretty hot but has really cooled off lately.... Hes a trooper and a gamer thought.... The other night a guy hit a fly ball off the left field fence and Gulbransen at the track jumped for it and missed and fell right to the ground like knocked the wind out of him self and got right back up to pick up the ball and throw it in..... He stayed in the game and battled the rest of the night... He's a guy that likes to swing at bad pitches some times but also at the same time will have a nice eye at the plate... Has a good sense of the plate at times and then loses it at times.... Very Flexible and stretches before every game and does stretches standing on his head... Really down to earth nice guy wish him nothing but the best in the future...

Vincent Velasquez - I have seen him pitch once and he didn't do to well.... his first couple of starts he did really well and he pitches friday(7/6/12) and he didnt do to hot... Hes got a live fastball at 94 and a nice curveball and a 2 seamer but on this night didn't really have it.. 5IP, 3ER, 3BB, 4K's and giving up 1 HR.... not so hot... A couple people who have talked to Vincent said He has good days and bad days when it comes to his arm... Vincent says it hurts from day to day.... It seems as if he wont be in TC much longer though because there has been some chatter about moving him up a level to Lexington.... Overall a very nice guy though....

Brady Rodgers - He knows how to throw a baseball he likes to nibble on the corners and throws a lot of different pitches to get guys out... He got a live fastball in the low 90's hes just nasty with his pitches... This kid has a chance to move up with the ranks very quickly.. He is there #5 starter in the rotation and every 5 days hes goes out there and puts it all out on the line for the team.... He does run into some patches where hes dominate for 4-5 innings and then just dies out and then there is games where he will be dominate for 5-6 solid innings... But this kid is very nice kid... Hes got USA baseball cards and i have asked him to sign a bunch of times and everytime at the end i say thanks so much and he always responds with oh not a problem anytime... Hes very humble down to earth... Hes a great guy... Also an extra little tidbit on him... He was in the Little League World Series when he was 11-12 years old with a team from Texas.... Hes also a Houston boy and he was thrilled to be drafted by Houston and hes also loving it that Aplin was drafted by the Astros and they are rooming together here at TC...

Kenny Long - This Kid has been and a friend of mine baffled... His fastball clocked in at 70MPH... YES 70MPH and he gets guys out.... Hes like a lefty specialist and he is striking guys out left and right... Guys are over swinging on his pitches... and he throws a couple other pitches but I cant tell if there a Slider or Curve... My friend seems to think he throws a Knuckle curve screwball type of pitch cause its really hard to pick up on what he is throwing... I don't think this kid has much of a future having a fastball that plays at 70... but hopefully guys will start working with him and hopefully develop him into something better....

please feel free if anybody has questions about TC Valleycats i would be more than happy to answer any questions you might have....

Tri City had an 11 game win streak snapped on July 4th.. I believe that is a League Best so far.... Houston fans you will definitely have something to cheer about in Years to come...