Thanks for the recaps Tellitlikeitis! It's awesome to see Singleton and Springer living up to their top prospect billing. Even guys like Villar and Santana are coming around.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/...paign=Feed:+MlbTradeRumors+(MLB+Trade+Rumors) Marlins Acquire Justin Ruggiano From Astros The Marlins have acquired outfielder Justin Ruggiano from the Astros in exchange for minor league catcher Jobduan Morales, according to Alyson Footer of the Astros (via Twitter). Ruggiano, 30, appeared in 46 big league games for the Rays in 2011 before signing a minor league deal with the Astros in February. The outfielder was off to a strong start with Triple-A Oklahoma City this year, hitting .325/.409/.581 in 138 plate appearances. Morales, 20, spent the bulk of the year with Miami's New York-Pennsylvania League affiliate, hitting .272/.385/.450 in 52 games. The switch-hitter was the Marlins' ninth-round pick in 2009. Hummmm
AAAA guy for a switch-hitting catcher from short-season ball that looks like he has some offensive upside. On paper, I'd say not bad.
We definitely had(have) an abundance (logjam) at OF and a need at C in terms of minor league depth. We were just talking about this, hummmm? I like it also.
From scouring around Google, it looks like Morales was mainly a 1B/3B before switching to catcher. This suggests that he might have a pretty good arm. Still rather raw defensively, but as I said, he's got some offensive upside. And I would probably say that he might become the top offensive catcher in the system. Brief writeup on Jobduan Morales in a Jamestown Jammers game vs. State College Perfect Game on Morales Minor League Ball put his name in the "Others" section of their early top 20 for 2012. http://www.minorleagueball.com/2011/12/18/2644961/miami-marlins-top-20-prospects-for-2012 #1 on Seedlings to Stars' Best of the Rest for the Marlins
I'm surprised he wasn't assigned to the Marlins low A. It looks like he split time with another catcher in the NYP league last year (Austin Barnes), and they promoted Barnes to low A while keeping Morales in extended spring training (presumably to continue working on his defensive skills). Lexington has Roberto Pena, a 20 year old Puerta Rican catcher who is supposed to be good defensively but has been a poor hitter. Perhaps they can give each other tips? Presumably, this also triggers some movement in the system. Perhaps Brandon Barnes to AAA and Springer to AA?
What do we have with Matt Duffy down at LExington? Might be the best third base prospect in the whole system sadly.
A very good bat. 6'3", 227 at 23 means he's most likely maxed out physically. Duffy probably an acceptable defender despite 8 errors, although error tracking in Low-A seems pretty spotty.
This is definitely not a bad idea. But, Mike Kvasnicka went back to catching, so Morales' playing time might be sporadic at best. Barnes most likely got the assignment to Greensboro because he's a college guy that'll move relatively quickly through the Marlins system. With Morales' approach at the plate, I think he'd go to Lexington once extended spring ends. However, I wouldn't immediately rule out him repeating short-season ball in order to assess whether he's made sufficient enough strides on defense.
I would think Singleton could get to OKC by the trading deadline (after the team moves Lee or Wallace)
new addition to the farm: http://houston.astros.mlb.com/news/...tebook_id=32284768&vkey=notebook_hou&c_id=hou hard for that not to be a great trade for us, since we will never use ruggiano. gotta love luhnow. i feel myself becoming everything i hate in the morey lovers on the other side of the board.
Nice call. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search/%2523CCHooks">#CCHooks</a> OF Brandon Barnes (@<a href="https://twitter.com/TheBarnyard15">TheBarnyard15</a>) has been called up to Triple-A @<a href="https://twitter.com/okcredhawks">okcredhawks</a>, Good Luck Brandon!</p>— Corpus Christi Hooks (@cchooks) <a href="https://twitter.com/cchooks/status/206586560714510337" data-datetime="2012-05-27T03:24:08+00:00">May 27, 2012</a></blockquote> <script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Corpus Christi Hooks @cchooks #CCHooks OF Brandon Barnes (@TheBarnyard15) has been called up to Triple-A @okcredhawks, Good Luck Brandon!
