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January 29–February 12, 2016

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BY J.J. COOPER

Swapping prospectsDisregarding whether they would approve it,

what would be five prospect-for-prospect trades you could envision helping both teams moving forward?

MATT HUML, LOUISVILLE, KY.

Thanks, Matt, for a great question. Prospect-for-prospect challenge trades rarely happen. More often prospects

are traded for big leaguers, but that doesn’t mean we can’t sketch out some realistic trades (on paper at least) that move prospects who can help both teams. Space won’t permit me to break down all five trades here, but here’s a look at the top proposal as well as four other trades that make some sense.

Red Sox trade 2B Yoan Moncada to Mets

for LHP Steven Matz and SS Luis Carpio.

This is the blockbuster of all these offerings. Moncada is one of the best position pros-

pects in baseball. Matz is among the best pitch-ing prospects in the game. And a swap would help fill needs for either team. Moncada could be the Mets’ long-term answer at second base (where Neil Walker has been acquired as a short-term Daniel Murphy replacement), and his versatility means he also could become a rangy, explosive center fielder. That’s not an option in Boston, which currently has Mookie Betts and Jackie Bradley Jr.

For the Red Sox, the only risk in acquiring Matz is his injury history. Stuff-wise, he’s a frontline starter who has demonstrated that in the big leagues. And he has thrown 150-plus innings each of the past two seasons, so many of those health concerns have been somewhat alleviated.

Initially this deal did not include Carpio, but a scout surveyed about the trade said he felt that Moncada is a significant enough tal-ent and Matz has enough injury concerns that he believed the Mets would have to include an additional piece. Carpio fits the bill as a middle infielder who is far enough away (he played in the Appalachian League last season) that his ETA would be closer to the 2019-2020 window where Boston may eventually start looking for middle-infield help.

PROPOSAL 2: Pirates trade OFs Austin Meadows and Willy Garcia to Reds for LHP Cody Reed.

PROPOSAL 3: Rockies trade 3B Ryan McMahon and SS Pedro Gonzalez to Astros for SSs Alex Bregman and Nolan Fontana.

PROPOSAL 4: Cardinals trade RHPs Luke Weaver and Sandy Alcantara to Cubs for SS Gleyber Torres.

PROPOSAL 5: Royals trade OF Brett Eibner and RHP Pedro Fernandez to Cubs for 1B Dan Vogelbach and 2B Arismendy Alcantara.

The most obvious minor league logjam is the Pirates’ surplus of outfielders. A swap with the Reds would help both teams. Other deals could get Vogelbach into a DH role, give the Cardinals a long-term answer at shortstop and bring the Astros a third baseman who could round out their infield.

BY VINCE LARACINISOMO

Chris Correa, the Cardinals’ former scout-ing director who was fired in July after just six months on the job, pleaded guilty on Jan. 8 to federal charges related to his involvement in hacking into the Houston Astros’ computer network.

Correa entered his guilty plea to five charg-es of unauthorized access to a protected computer in front of U.S. District Court Judge Lynn Hughes in Houston, as part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors.

The maximum penalty on each of the five counts is up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and restitution. Correa’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 11.

“Yes, your honor, I accept responsibility for my mistakes,” Correa told Judge Hughes, according to the newspaper.

Correa said he broke into the Astros’ com-puter system based on suspicion that the Astros had acquired data from the Cardinals. Current Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow worked for the Cardinals before taking over in Houston in 2011.

According to the federal indictment, Correa accessed the email account of one Astros employee, and the accounts of that employee and another in the Astros’ proprietary data-base known as “Ground Control.” Neither of the Astros employees was identified.

In the plea agreement, the estimated value of the information Correa acknowledged accessing was set at $1.7 million, and the amount of information he would have at least had access to was enormous.

“We have secured an appropriate convic-tion in this case as a result of a very detailed, thorough and complete investigation,” U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson said in a state-ment. “Unauthorized computer intrusion is not to be taken lightly. Whether it’s preserving

the sanctity of America’s pastime or protecting trade secrets, those that unlawfully gain pro-prietary information by accessing computers without authorization must be held account-able for their illegal actions.”

The Cardinals had no comment after the court appearance, though general manager John Mozeliak did speak about the after-math for the Cardinals at a press conference announcing the signing of Korean reliever Seung Hwan Oh. He said he did not expect any other Cardinals employees to be impli-cated, but that Major League Baseball might still impose penalties on the organization.

“I imagine it’s certainly a possibility,” Mozeliak told Baseball America correspon-dent Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “But I can’t speak for” the commis-sioner’s office.

In a statement, MLB said, “Major League Baseball appreciates the efforts of federal law enforcement authorities in investigating the illegal breach of the Astros’ baseball operations database, and identifying the perpetrator of this crime. We anticipate that the authorities will share with us the results of their investi-gation at the appropriate time, and we will determine what further actions to take after receiving all the relevant information.”

Correa, 35, was promoted to scouting direc-tor in December 2014. Last June, The New York Times reported that the Cardinals were being investigated by the Justice Department for hacking a network of the Astros’ that housed proprietary databases. That probe stemmed from the leak of information about trade discussions and other personnel deci-sions involving the Astros that were published on Deadspin.com and other websites.

Correa was placed on a leave of absence before being fired in July.

Goold first reported the story. A source told Goold that Correa admitted hacking into the database but said it was to verify that the Astros had stolen proprietary data.

Correa had worked for the Cardinals since 2009 in statistical analysis, first as a qualitative analyst, then as manager (and later director) of baseball operations. He had been involved with the Cardinals’ drafts and had gained scouting experience.

Correa admits to hacking

IN THIS ISSUE: Two-

way stars Micah Owings

and Brian Bogusevic lead

Tulane to the No. 1 pre-

season ranking.

» ALSO: Tennessee’s Luke

Hochevar and Nebraska’s

Alex Gordon also star on

the college landscape.

FEBRUARY 13

2005

News travels fast in New Orleans.“The thing you have to realize about this

town is it’s the largest small town in America,” Tulane coach Rick Jones said. “If I have green beans for lunch, 15 people know about it by 6 o’clock in the evening.”

So it’s no surprise that before Jones woke up on the morning Baseball America named Tulane the preseason No. 1 team, he already had eight voicemail messages waiting on his cell phone.

Tulane lost in the super regional at eventual national champion Cal State Fullerton a year ago, but returns eight of its top 10 position player and five of its top seven pitchers from that club. Plus it brought in the nation’s No. 4 freshman class before adding All-America righthander/DH Micah Owings as a transfer from Georgia Tech.

That nucleus prompts fans to talk about the College World Series and Omaha—a place Tulane has gone only once, in 2001. That club won a school-record 56 games behind Jake Gautreau, Michael Aubrey, Tony Giarratano and James Jurries.

“If you look back at ’01, we had a lot of players that are now playing professionally, Jones said. “This club is as talented, but a little deeper and has a little more experience.”

Things start, as they do with most winning baseball teams, on the mound. Tulane returns three of its top four starters from 2004 in Brian Bogusevic, J.R. Crowel and Billy Mohl.

Owings gives them four established juniors.

The wait is almost over. The college

season is just around the corner and

our annual College Preview will get you

ready to map out the road to Omaha.

We’ll have the Preseason Top 25 and our

Preseason All-America Team, as well as

the skinny on which prospects to keep

an eye on for the upcoming draft as we

head into the spring.

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DepartmentsBusiness Beat .................................................... 8

Prospect Pulse ................................................... 9

International Affairs ........................................ 10

Winter Wonders ............................................... 10

Organization Reports....................................... 22

On Campus ...................................................... 28

Scoreboard ...................................................... 29

Features

» AL WEST TOP 10 PROSPECTS

Astros: Reed has eyes on first base ............... 12

Angels: Ward leads thin L.A. crop .................. 14

Athletics: Barreto buoys revamped farm ...... 16

Mariners: Jackson looks to rebound ............. 18

Rangers: Gallo ready for round two .............. 21

» AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST FEATURE

Astros’ winning ways in the minors

translate to the majors .................................... 11

ColumnistsJerry Crasnick .................................................... 4

Peter Gammons ................................................. 6

Tracy Ringolsby ................................................. 6

John Manuel...................................................... 7

Jayson Stark .................................................... 31

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4 BaseballAmerica.com January 29–February 12, 2016

LEADING OFF

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As Justin Upton accrued the necessary service time to move closer to free agency, two questions pre-dominated. How many teams would pursue him, and how high would the price tag soar?

Amid the incessant news vacuum since Upton first appeared

on the market, the lack of buzz has generated a different question: Where is the love?

The planets all seemed to align properly for Upton as free agency beckoned. He hit the open market in November as a 28-year-old, three-time all-star who could provide con-sistent production at a time when offense is extremely hard to find.

Two months into the process, the market was lagging enough that his agent, Larry Reynolds, released a statement to dispel the notion that Upton might be willing to con-sider a one-year “pillow” contract and go back on the market again in a year.

“We are not considering shorter-term deals at this time,” Reynolds said. “The goal has been and will continue to be a long-term contract for Justin Upton.”

Timing is inevitably a factor in free agency, and Upton’s isn’t the greatest. He hit free agen-cy in a winter when teams prioritized pitching, so a lot of money came off the board. David Price, Zack Greinke, Johnny Cueto, Jordan Zimmermann, Jeff Samardzija, Mike Leake and Wei-Yin Chen will make a combined $913.5 million over the course of their next contracts, and MLB clubs have spent about $1.3 billion overall on starters and relievers.

Upton incurred a double whammy with the presence of a bountiful outfield market this offseason. Teams in search of a bat could choose among Upton, Jason Heyward, Yoenis Cespedes, Alex Gordon and Chris Davis, who is being pitched by agent Scott Boras as a potential corner outfield placeholder until a first base opening arises.

The White Sox, Orioles, Angels, Cardinals, Tigers, Rangers and Red Sox have been men-tioned as potential landing spots for Upton. But they all seem either lukewarm about sign-ing him, resistant to committing to a six- or seven-year deal or content to wait in hopes that the price will drop.

Fredi A FanUpton’s stint in free-agent purgatory has

been perplexing to some people in the indus-try. The roster of puzzled bystanders includes

Fredi Gonzalez, who managed Upton in Atlanta in 2013 and ’14. Upton averaged 28 homers and 86 RBIs per year and won a Silver Slugger award as a Brave. To this day, when he has a particularly productive game at the plate, Gonzalez will see the box score and shoot him an “attaboy” text.

“He’s been one of my favorite players that I’ve managed in my career,” Gonzalez said. “He shows up at the ballpark every day ready to play. He’s respectful. He knows the game. He’s a great teammate and clubhouse guy. He puts out 20-plus home runs and 100-plus RBIs, and people are like, ‘He could do more.’ Well, you know what? If he does 20 homers and 100 RBIs for the next 10-12 years, he’ll be one of the premier righthanded hitters in the big leagues. That’s a hell of a career. I think there are a lot of teams missing the boat on him. I really do.”

Why the prolonged wait for Upton? Market forces and economics are part of the story, obviously. But it also appears he’s a victim of some industry biases and a narrative beyond his control.

The Weight Of ExpectationsFrom the moment Upton wowed scouts at

Long Beach State’s Blair Field as a 14-year-old shortstop at the 2002 Area Code Games, he was destined to be a prisoner of hype. The Diamondbacks drafted him No. 1 overall in 2005 and signed him to a record $6.1 million bonus, and he made it to the majors at age 19.

“The term ‘five-tool prospect’ doesn’t seem strong enough for Upton,” Baseball America wrote in 2007. “He does everything excep-tionally well and already has the body and composure of a big leaguer.”

Fast-forward nine years, and Upton’s top Baseball-reference.com comparables include Ruben Sierra, Larry Hisle, Jayson Werth, Adam Jones, Jason Bay, Preston Wilson and Carl Everett. While that’s nice company, those names fail to elicit the spine-tingling euphoria that the early buzz heralded.

Since his first full season, Upton ranks eighth among MLB outfielders with 173 home runs and 12th in slugging percentage at .478. Upton has spent the past three seasons playing at Turner Field and Petco Park, ballparks that are more favorable to pitchers, in lineups that don’t afford him a lot of protection. But those qualifiers only do so much to temper the per-ception that he’s failed to live up to the hype. He’s in the mold of Eric Davis, who spent much of his career dogged by the realization that he wasn’t “the next Willie Mays.”

“The problem with Justin is other people’s unrealistic expectations of Justin,” said a long-time MLB executive. “He was the top pick in the country, and people expected this guy to be

Superman throughout his career. They expect-ed him to be a guy who hits 35 homers with 100-some RBIs and a high average every year, and honestly, I don’t think he has that type of ability in him. Who does? It’s pretty rare.”

The DemeanorAfter getting knocked for everything from

his temper to his body language in the low minors, Upton has worked hard to maintain an even keel, yet now he’s being penalized for a different reason—he’s soft-spoken and reserved by nature, and some talent evaluators equate that with a lack of passion.

It doesn’t help his cause that his older broth-er, Melvin, went into a career death spiral after signing a five-year, $75 million deal with the Braves in 2012. Could Justin be a victim of guilt by association?

Those concerns aren’t necessarily shared by Upton’s former coaches and managers, who say he routinely runs out balls and plays with effort. If the ultimate barometer of caring is taking the field, Upton’s commitment is beyond dispute. Since 2011, he ranks 13th among MLB players with 762 games played. He’s fifth among outfielders in that stretch, behind only Andrew McCutchen, Adam Jones, Ichiro Suzuki and Jay Bruce.

Gonzalez, for one, thinks the team that signs Upton will get its money’s worth. During their time together, Gonzalez and Upton dis-covered they were both wine connoisseurs. If things work out in the end, the skipper will gladly collect the booty for his endorsement.

“I hope he gets a contract and reads this article, because I’ll get a bottle of Pinot Noir from him,” Gonzalez said, laughing.

As the spring training reporting date for pitchers and catchers draws near, it’s still too early to start popping corks and planning news conferences. Justin Upton’s free agent adventure has dragged on longer than anyone expected. There could be more waiting and a few more anxious moments to come.

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Justin Upton’s wait for a new contract proved

far longer than anyone anticipated

Upton’s free agency doesn’t follow script

BIL

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ITC

HEL

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IN SHORT | PEPPER



LEADING OFFEDITED BY JOSH NORRIS

Pioneer, HOFer

Irvin Dies At

Monte Irvin, one of Major League Baseball’s

first black players and the second-oldest living

Hall of Famer, died on Jan. 11 at his home in

Houston. He was 96.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and

Museum made the news of Irvin’s death public

on Jan 12.

“Monte Irvin’s affable demeanor, strong con-

stitution and coolness under pressure helped

guide baseball through desegregation and

set a standard for American culture,” said Jeff

Idelson, president of the Hall of Fame.

“His abilities on the field as the consummate

teammate are undeniable, as evidenced by

World Series titles he contributed to in both

the Negro and Major leagues, and a richly-

deserved plaque in Cooperstown. He was on

the original committee that elected Negro

Leagues stars to the Hall of Fame, something

for which the Museum will always be grateful.”

Irvin played eight seasons in the majors for

the Giants and Cubs and was elected to the Hall

of Fame in 1973. Irvin later became a scout for

the Mets and then spent 17 years in the com-

missioner’s office.

Anthopoulos Lands

With Dodgers

Alex Anthopoulos, who stunned the Blue

Jays and baseball by walking away from

Toronto after its first postseason appearance in

22 years, has been hired by the Dodgers as vice

president of baseball operations.

Anthopoulos, 38, will assist in all aspects

of baseball operations, the Dodgers said in a

news release.

“We are thrilled to be bringing Alex on

board,” Dodgers president of baseball opera-

tions Andrew Friedman said in a news release.

“Farhan (Zaidi), Josh (Byrnes) and myself all

have longstanding relationships with him and

believe his experience and perspective will be

tremendous assets to our organization.”

Anthopoulos in October left the Blue Jays,

rejecting a five-year extension to stay, accord-

ing to Blue Jays’ chairman Edward Rogers. The

decision came shortly after former Indians gen-

eral manager Mark Shapiro assumed his role

as president and CEO of the Jays. Anthopoulos

was expected to work closely with Shapiro

before his surprise decision.

Anthopoulos denied there was any friction

with Shapiro, saying he just didn’t feel it was a

“fit” to remain in Toronto.

MLB Promotes Bean

And Hires Pride

Major League Baseball on Jan. 7 named

former big league outfielder Curtis Pride as

its new Ambassador for Inclusion, while the

incumbent, Billy Bean, was promoted to vice

president for social responsibility and inclusion.

Pride, 47, who is deaf, played parts of 11

seasons in the majors for the Expos, Tigers, Red

Sox, Braves, Yankees and Angels after being

drafted by the Mets in the 10th round in 1986

out of William & Mary. His best season came in

1996 with the Tigers when he hit .300/.372/.513

in 95 games.

“Curtis Pride is an inspiring example of deter-

mination and an outstanding role model for

kids and all those who overcome challenges,”

commissioner Rob Manfred said in a news

release. “He will offer a valuable perspective

as we continue efforts to foster an inclusive

environment for anyone who plays or is a fan

of our sport.”

Mets executive DePodesta jumps to NFL’s Browns

BY VINCE LARACINISOMO

Paul DePodesta, a front office baseball executive since 1997 and most recently the Mets’ vice president of scouting and player development, is changing teams—and sports.

DePodesta was hired by the NFL’s Cleveland Browns as chief strategy officer, as the team made over its front office and coaching staff. According to a team news release, DePodesta will be responsible for “assessing and imple-menting best practices and strategies that will provide the organization with the compre-hensive resources needed to make optimal decisions.”

He and new general manager Sashi Brown—a Harvard graduate like DePodesta—will report to owner Jimmy Haslam.

“We are fortunate to bring in Paul, an extremely talented, highly respected sports executive who will add a critical dimension to our front office,” Haslam said in a news release. “His approach and ambition to find the best pathways for organizational success transcend one specific sport and his experi-ence as a high level sports executive make him a terrific addition to the Cleveland Browns.

“Paul has invaluable experience in manage-ment and leadership with a number of highly successful sports teams,” Brown said in a release. “His ability to create better processes and systems throughout organizations, his use of data as a tool to produce better outcomes, and his relentless focus on looking for inno-vative ways to create more success will be a strong asset as we look to be as comprehensive as possible in our decision making.”

DePodesta had been with the Mets since 2011, first as assistant to GM Sandy Alderson, whom he worked with in Oakland and San Diego.

“Working with Sandy, Paul put into process a new approach toward player development throughout our organization. Ownership and all of us at the Mets thank Paul for his tire-less efforts. We look forward to seeing Paul’s continued success with the Browns,” Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon said in a statement.

DePodesta has been thought of as the most likely heir to Alderson, who is undergoing treatment for cancer this offseason.

“Paul completely reorganized the Mets’ scouting and player development functions and had an extraordinary impact in both areas, but he was also directly involved in our trade and free agent acquisitions. His com-mitment to excellence and his passion for innovation will be missed by the Mets and all of baseball. I wish him well with the Browns,” Alderson said in a statement.

DePodesta, 43, played wide receiver at Harvard and broke into baseball as an assis-tant in baseball operations with the Indians.

“Cleveland and football have always held a special place in my heart,” he said in a release. “It was 20 years ago this month, after pursing my first love of football and looking at every possible job in the NFL, that I got the big-gest break I could imagine—a job offer from the American League Champion Cleveland Indians. As excited as I was then, I am even more excited now to return to Cleveland and to try to help the Browns.”

DePodesta’s cross-sports move is not with-out precedent. Longtime college and pro foot-ball coach Lou Saban worked as president of the Yankees in 1981 for George Steinbrenner, who was a friend of Saban.

USA Baseball unveils loaded NHSI fieldBY HUDSON BELINSKY

USA Baseball announced the 16 teams par-ticipating in the 2016 National High School Invitational, and the field is loaded with qual-ity high school teams as well as elite prospects, including outfielder Blake Rutherford and lefthander Braxton Garrett.

Seven of Baseball America’s Preseason High School Top 100 Prospects will attend the tournament in Cary, N.C. from March 23-26: Rutherford (No. 3), Garrett (12), shortstop Carter Kieboom (17), righthander Zach Hess (24), shortstop Daniel Bakst (26), outfielder Josh Stephen (81) and righthander Greg Veliz (90).

Huntington Beach (Calif.) High. is the only team returning from the 2015 NHSI, having lost in the semifinal round to eventual cham-pion San Clemente (Calif.) High. Huntington Beach brings back most of its top talent, including potential 2017 first-round pick Hagen Danner. Danner will team up with 2017 transfer lefthander Nicholas Pratto and 2016 righthander Logan Pouelsen to form one of the most potent rotations in the nation. All three pitchers possess advanced command and athleticism, making Huntington Beach the early favorite to win the tournament.

Even with its pitching staff, Huntington Beach will see plenty of competition. North Broward Prep (Pompano Beach, Fla.) has 10 seniors bound for college baseball, and Veliz has the quick-twitch ability to dial his fastball up to 96 mph. Veliz will team up with Evan McKendry and Anthony Masiello to form one of the top rotations in the tournament.

The First Academy (Orlando) won the 2014 NHSI, and will return to Cary with a deep, talented roster. Senior Garrett Milchin is committed to Florida as both a third base-man and righthanded pitcher. Junior short-stop and Notre Dame commit Cash Case will also play a key role, as will sophomore outfielder Kendrick Calilao and freshman righthander Joseph Charles.

The first NHSI took place in 2012, when Mater Dei High (Santa Ana, Calif.) took the inaugural crown. Mater Dei repeated as champions in 2013, and will return to Cary for another chance at national supremacy in 2016.

This year, Mater Dei’s best player is Stephen, a lefthanded hitter with exceptional timing and a quick trigger. Stephen has shown the ability to handle elite pitching in the past, and could set the table for Mater Dei against some of the nation’s top arms at NHSI.

Poly Prep (Brooklyn, N.Y.) will represent the northeast at the event this year. Led by senior infielders Bakst and Anthony Prato, the Blue Devils are coming off a 19-4 season. Bakst, a Stanford commit, has proven himself to be one of the best righthanded hitters in the 2016 draft class. Bakst will play third base this spring, with the surehanded Prato manning shortstop. 2017 Nicholas Storz has a physi-cally imposing 6-foot-6 frame and his fastball can already reach into the low 90s. Storz is committed to Louisiana State. As a hitter, Storz brings excellent raw power to the plate, and should have an impact for Poly Prep.

With Kieboom at shortstop and righthand-er Zac Kristofak on the mound, Walton High (Marietta, Ga.) also has a chance to compete for the NHSI championship. Walton is com-ing off an excellent 2015 season, in which it finished as the Georgia 6A state runners-up. Kieboom, a Clemson commit, is one of the nation’s best pure hitters, gifted with excep-tional vision and timing.

The other schools participating in this year’s NHSI are: Allatoona High (Acworth, Ga.), Bingham High (South Jordan, Utah), Chaminade College Prep (Canoga Park, Calif.), Flanagan High (Pembroke Pines, Fla.), Florence (Ala.) High, Houston High (Germantown, Tenn.), Liberty Christian Academy (Lynchburg, Va.), Rocky Mountain High (Fort Collins, Colo.), Trinity Christian Academy (Jacksonville, Fla.) and host school Topsail High (Hampstead, N.C.)

PERSPECTIVE | Paul Trap [email protected]


BOSTON

Of course Aroldis Chapman is a gam-ble, a huge gamble.

He also is the most prolific strikeout reliever that ever strolled out of a major league bullpen, and the Yankees add to a dominant bullpen that included Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi immedi-ately named Chapman the closer, with a suspension pending for his involvement in an alleged domestic violence incident.

When Brian Cashman made the deal, he and Hal Steinbrenner knew they’d

hear from people repulsed by domestic violence. They know Chapman could be suspended by Rob Manfred. They know there is a chance something will go haywire in New York.

But they got the most overpowering reliever in the history of baseball from the Reds for practially nothing. And if Chapman is cleared of the domestic issues, they get something significant for something insignificant. You take that chance.

Hey, the Texas Rangers, who twice have taken on Josh Hamilton, recently signed Matt Bush, who had been out of baseball since a drunken driving incident in Florida landed him in jail. Bush will be 30 on Feb. 8 and hasn’t pitched in four years, but he served his time, worked for one last chance and costs the Rangers nothing. They take that chance.

Bullpens are more important than they’ve ever been; don’t think the Dodgers didn’t want to acquire Chapman, they just could not see taking the risk, especially as the news of his personal problems had just come out and was hot. Even with Clayton Kershaw, the Dodgers envision the majority of their games being set up so starters get 15-18 outs, the bullpen gets

most of the third and fourth trips around the order, and by the time April rolls around the Kershaw-to-Kenley Jansen, 12-man staff will be aligned.

When Chris Archer pitches, the Rays bullpen usually isn’t asked to awaken until the seventh or eighth inning. Most other games, the starters go twice around the order, when Kevin Cash begins the assembly line to the 27th out, usually with Brad Boxberger, and guys such as Steve Geltz and Xavier Cedeno are important pieces to their season.

This is life in the American League East, where four of the five ballparks often seem like squash courts. Buck Showalter has aligned his pitching masterfully, using optionable contracts for a Norfolk shuttle that creates the illusion of a 15-man staff to get to Zach Britton and Darren O’Day. So they lose Wei-Yin Chen? They’re paying O’Day $31 million for the next four years for what he does and who he is.

Dave Dombrowski attacked the Red Sox pitching with an alpha/omega plan. Yes, David Price is getting $217 million. But Dombrowski traded four prospects to get three years and $37 million of an elite closer in Craig Kimbrel, traded a 200-inning starter to get Carson Smith for the eighth inning and has Koji Uehara, Junichi Tazawa, Robbie Ross, Steven Wright and possibly Matt Barnes.

And, remember, the Yankees have Jacob Lindgren to replace Justin Wilson, which enabled the deal for Luis Cessa.

A New BallgameWe’ve seen the Tigers go get Wilson, Francisco Rodriguez,

Mark Lowe and Mike Pelfrey. Houston, which was deep in middle relievers, paid heavily for Ken Giles. Washington has moved on three power middle men, while trying to stagger two closers. The Cubs have three, maybe four relievers who can be starters. Oakland has signed or acquired four relievers, some of

whom may have July trade value.The Yankees have given up little and took on poor public

relations to back a questionable rotation with three of the great, power back-end relievers on the planet, with adequate sixth and seventh inning bridges. Let’s say they go into the final 10 games of the season in a scrum with the Orioles, Blue Jays and Red Sox, and in six or seven of those 10 games—scheduled in Toronto and at Yankee Stadium with Boston and Baltimore—they can go Andrew Miller in the seventh, Dellin Betances in the eighth and Aroldis Chapman in the ninth.

You take that chance.

Yankees see Chapman risk as one that’s worth taking

TOM

ASS

O D

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SA

The cost in terms of prospects for Aroldis Chapman was light

Peter GammonsColumnist, MLB Network

DENVER

Tom Mooney was working at the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach, Calif., in 1981, rubbing shoulders with the wealthy, still wanting to live his life-long dream of being involved in baseball.

“It was all I ever wanted to do growing up,” said Mooney, who had played the game through junior college

and coached at the high school and American Legion levels.

And the next thing Mooney knew, he had walked in the back door and found himself very much involved in baseball. Mooney was a Seattle Mariners area scout in 1987, and he put in the first and the strongest recom-mendations for the franchise on a high school prospect named Ken Griffey Jr.

The Mariners used the first overall pick in the draft that June to select and sign Griffey, who became the first homegrown Mariners player to be elected to the Hall of Fame.

It was a moment that Mooney, who is now with the Brewers and about to embark on his 33rd season in pro scouting, can cherish as well.

“I am happy for him, and I’m happy for Senior,” Mooney said in reference to Griffey’s father, who played 19 years in the big leagues. “His dad was still playing with the Braves back then, and if they had a Monday off, he’d fly home to Cincinnati on Sunday night and

spend (Monday) with his son.”And Mooney knows plenty about being

down to earth himself. Working at the Balboa Bay Club provided him a chance to meet one of the members, George Argyros, who had just purchased the Mariners prior to the 1981 season.

“That’s how I got my foot in the door,” Mooney said. “George eventually hired me as a personal assistant. I’d pick him up in the morning, drive him around, run errands for him. I did that for a year. I guess it was like waiting tables in a steakhouse in New York City (and) going to auditions on Broadway.”

The two quickly developed a good relation-ship.

“My first day on the job, George asked me, ‘Tom, what do you want to do for a job?’ ” Mooney said. “I told him I wanted to work in baseball, and he laughed. ‘There’s no money in baseball. Why would you want to do that?’ ”

Having developed the relationship with Argyros, Mooney finally got his opportunity in baseball. He joined the Mariners in 1984 as an area scout.

Lack Of Trust“It wasn’t the best relationship (with the

baseball people),” Mooney said. “At first, they thought I was George’s spy. They decided to send (me) to Ohio and see what happens.”

What the baseball people soon discovered was that Mooney was all they could ask for.

He was a tireless scout, intent on being a success in the baseball world, and he wel-comed the advice of the veteran members of the scouting staff, particularly Bill Kearns,

who became Mooney’s scouting mentor.His first major test came in 1987, with the

Mariners holding the No. 1 pick in the draft and Mooney providing the initial evaluations of Griffey.

“Tom was very strong on Griffey,” said Dick Balderson, a scouting director with the Royals who had become the Mariners’ general manager prior to the 1985 season. “And Roger (Jongewaard), who was our scouting director, was so experienced and a very good evaluator and was just as committed to Griffey. They both said Griffey was the best player in the draft, and it turned out Griffey was far, far superior to anybody else.”

And there was more. Griffey and his fam-ily wanted him to be the first player taken in the draft.

When the conversations about the potential signing bonus began before the draft, that fact was critical. The Mariners signed Griffey for a $160,000 bonus, which was about $30,000 or so less than Mark Merchant with the Pirates, the second pick.

Griffey, however, had the distinction of being the first player selected. And more importantly to his father, his son was going to a franchise that did not have a lot of depth in the minor leagues, which meant Junior was going to have the opportunity to get to the big leagues quickly.

The son wasn’t concerned about the differ-ence in signing bonuses. He assured his father that he would more than make up for that $30,000 difference in the long run.

He was right. Griffey was in the big leagues to stay less than two years after he was drafted, following a road that has taken him

to Cooperstown, where he’ll be enshrined with the rest of the best to have ever played baseball.

And Mooney?He is smiling, remembering that 1987

draft, when he also scouted righthanded pitcher Dave Burba, who was the Mariners’ second-round selection. And Mooney is still enjoying his life in baseball.

“It’s worked out nicely,” said Mooney.Griffey would have to agree.

Griffey proved himself and his scout

Ken Griffey Jr. and his family wanted him to

be the first player taken in the 1987 draft

TOM

DIP

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MAJOR LEAGUES Close-out sale

Tracy RingolsbyColumnist, MLB.com

John ManuelEditor in Chief Baseball America

johnmanuel

@baseba llamerica.com



No division in base-ball has less history than the American League West. Only the Athletics existed before 1962; Oakland is their third stop. The A’s and the Angels (2002) are the only ones to have won World Series championships; every other division has at least three past cham-pions.

The Rangers came close in 2010 and

2011, losing back-to-back World Series. The Mariners have had some of the greatest play-ers in baseball and division history—heck, at one time they had Ken Griffey Jr., Randy Johnson, Edgar Martinez and Alex Rodriguez on the same roster, for three seasons. Houston has its own history, including a World Series appearance in 2005, but most of it came in the National League.

The division-champ Rangers and wild-card Astros made the playoffs in 2015, beating out the Angels, who won 98 games in 2014 but 13 fewer last season. Oakland continued its recent slide—the A’s won 96 games in 2013, 88 in ’14 and just 68 in ’15. Seattle fired GM Jack Zduriencik en route to its 10th losing season in the last 13 years.

Looking at the division with this issue’s Top 10 Prospects lists, it’s impressive to see the two best farm systems also belong to the organizations with the two best big league ros-ters. The Rangers have a nice mix of veteran contributors (from team leader/future Hall of Famer Adrian Beltre to Shin-Soo Choo and Prince Fielder) to young potential stars such as second baseman Rougned Odor and cover boy Joey Gallo. Texas could soon have the best one-two rotation punch in the division as Yu Darvish returns from Tommy John surgery to join Cole Hamels.

Last July’s acquisition of Hamels—who’s signed through 2018 at a reasonable $23.5 million per year—was a master stroke by the Rangers, and brought a needed ace to keep up with the Astros. Houston has reigning Cy Young Award winner Dallas Keuchel to go with emerging star Lance McCullers Jr., who has the stuff to be a 20-game winner. Houston also has the division’s top talent in shortstop Carlos Correa.

Both clubs have much more talent on the way. Gallo, Lewis Brinson and Nomar Mazara are the kind of young hitters the Rangers need to supplement their core of 30-somethings, and the Astros have power arms such as right-ies Francis Martes and David Paulino to go with envious depth, even after trading four prospects for closer Ken Giles.

International DeficitThat’s a major problem for the rest of

the division, particularly for the Angels and Mariners, who have two of the worst farm sys-tems in baseball. The Angels’ best teams from 2004-2009, when they won the division five times, fused free-agent pickups like Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter with a homegrown core from draft (Jered Weaver, Mike Napoli, Howie Kendrick) and international (Erick Aybar, Francisco Rodriguez, Ervin Santana) success stories.

The franchise still benefits from draft wins such as Class of 2009 products Mike Trout and Garrett Richards, but internationally, the Angels are a shell of their former selves, with few international products on the horizon. They haven’t been a major factor internation-ally since firing then-international director Clay Daniels and most of the scouts in his department in 2009 over bonus-skimming allegations.

When the Angels have developed prospects, such as 2014 first-round pick Sean Newcomb, they have traded them for big leaguers. And the Angels usually have winning teams in the majors, so they pick toward the back of the first round—when they don’t forfeit first-rounders after signing free agents—and have smaller bonus pools.

New GM Billy Eppler knows they have to win now, because the farm system isn’t ready to deliver much help.

“The team is trying to be good now,” said lefthander Chris O’Grady, who spent four years in the Angels system before the Reds selected him in the major league phase of the Rule 5 draft. “It’s like the Yankees almost, they’re expected to be good every year . . .

“As a minor leaguer coming up in that sys-tem, it’s hard to make it to the majors and it’s harder to stay there, because you’re expected to succeed right away.”

Rebuilding Again In SeattleSeattle, meanwhile, has hired ex-Angels

GM Jerry Dipoto, who has tried to rebuild the big league club on the fly since being hired in September. He’s made 11 deals, some involving the precious few prospects the Mariners had on hand.

He needs his new club mix it up in the draft a bit. The Mariners have invested heav-ily in righthanded-hitting corner bats, none of whom has come through either as a prospect or as a big leaguer yet. Seattle has way too many prospects with similar skills and pro-files, such as corner outfielders Alex Jackson and Tyler O’Neill and corner infielder D.J. Peterson.

The Mariners’ best years came after they hit on top draft picks such as Griffey (1987) and Rodriguez (1993), two of the best No. 1 overall picks ever. But Seattle hasn’t found a game-changing talent in the draft in years, from now-traded Dustin Ackley (No. 2 pick in 2009) to Danny Hultzen (No. 2 in ’11) to Mike Zunino (No. 3 in ’12).

Dipoto also has to rebuild Seattle’s interna-tional program, which used to be one of the most fruitful in the game under Bob Engle. These player-development shortcomings will make it challenging for Dipoto to turn Seattle around, but that hasn’t stopped him from trying.

Oakland, as usual, remains the division’s wild card. The A’s 16 division titles are the most in AL West history, but the 2016 team appears to remain in rebuilding mode, still reeling from trading elite talents like Josh Donaldson and Addison Russell in the last 18 months.

But no team in baseball has been as unpre-dictable than the A’s, who have an improving farm system led by trade pickups Franklin Barreto (who arrived in the Donaldson deal) and Sean Manaea (from the Royals for Ben Zobrist). The A’s have been ahead of the industry several times in the past, but I don’t

think anyone is going to start copying Billy Beane in trading future MVPs with four years of club control remaining.

Considering the A’s have the worst stadium situation in the game along with the Rays, they have a harder time keeping players

around once they get expensive. That hasn’t kept them from competing in

the very recent past. But considering both current rosters and prospects, the AL West looks like it will be a Texas tussle for much of the foreseeable future.

Texas teams take charge in AL West

With young stars like Lance McCullers Jr., the Astros are set to compete for years to come

KEN

BA

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ITT

PERSPECTIVETexas two-step

www.oldhickorybats.com(866) PRO BATS – toll [email protected]

Mike Trout


In the wild, seahorses can grow to be up to 14 inches long. They typically weigh less than a pound. They are not large or imposing creatures.

When taken out of their natural habitat and placed on shirts, jerseys and caps, however, seahorses can have a monumental impact.

Just ask the Norfolk Tides’ accounting staff. This offseason, the Tides, the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate in the International League since 2007, are going through a brand overhaul. Out went the blue T with the wave as its crest. In its place, an angry-looking orange seahorse, adrift in a sea of green.

The Tides also added a metallic-looking “N,” enveloped by the type of chain used to weigh down an anchor. Both images, designed by minor league marketing special-ists Brandiose, were used to pay tribute to Norfolk’s nautical history.

Rebrands happen every offseason, whether as part of a name change, a move or simply an effort to spice up the status quo. In each situation, a fresh look usually means a boon for the team’s coffers.

That has proven especially true in Norfolk’s case.

As first reported locally by The Virginian-Pilot newspaper, the Tides’ merchandise sales for December were up 2,100 percent as compared to last December. To put that in perspective, gas prices in Norfolk have risen 470 percent since 1969, when the team first joined the IL.

Tides general manager Joe Gregory said he expected the new logo, combined with the holiday season, to bring a boost to the cash register. He wasn’t expecting anything close to what happened.

“We haven’t really changed our logo since we moved to Harbor Park in 1993. So I imag-ine going back to those days is when you’d see some big jumps like (the current one),” Gregory said. “I’m heading into my fifth year here as general manager and this is the by far the biggest increase I’ve ever seen.”

And despite the expected financial benefit, the decision to rebrand a team isn’t one that’s taken lightly. The team’s most loyal fans—the ones who aren’t there to watch the newest prospect or to watch the on-field promo-tions—are likely to become upset by a drastic change.

In 2012, when the Reading Phillies (Eastern) changed their name to the Reading Fightin’ Phils, fans were particularly irate. The Reading Eagle ran an online poll gauging reaction to the switch, and nearly 90 percent of the 1,136 respondents said they didn’t want the team to change its name.

Still, the brand marched on, and Reading finished in the top two of Eastern League

attendance in each of the three seasons since the name change.

Still, it’s a decision the Tides weighed care-fully before going forward.

“Having been in this area for so long, we’ve built up a lot of equity,” Gregory said. “That’s why we didn’t want to change the name of the Tides. The name Tides has a lot of brand equity and staying power.”

Beyond the new logo, the Tides’ revamped look also ties in the orange of the parent Orioles. The green with the orange helps them stay unique within the ever-changing minor league landscape.

The seahorse wasn’t the only choice for the Tides’ new logo. What were the others? They aren’t saying. That’s because the candidates that didn’t make the final cut might appear throughout the season as parts of various promotions.

Until then, the Tides are looking to name their horse. They started a contest on their Facebook page asking readers for suggestions. Some fans used this space to renew their frustrations with the new name, but others came up with names like Trident, Sultan, Salty, Ripple and (on multiple occasions) Sea Biscuit.

It’ll be a few weeks before their new mascot gets a name, but its effect has already been felt in the front office.

Roaming GoatsOn Jan. 12, after a few weeks of specu-

lation, the Hartford Yard Goats (Eastern) announced what seemed inevitable: Dunkin Donuts Park will not be ready for Opening Day, and the team will begin its first season in Hartford on the road.

Specifically, the team plans to miss its first 17 home games, which will take them through May 8. Instead of welcoming Richmond, Portland, Harrisburg and New Hampshire, the Yard Goats will instead travel to those locations. They’ll have three off days during that five-week stretch and two scheduled doubleheaders.

The team also noted in a press release that it will pay for tickets to the road games for its season-ticket holders should they choose to make the trips. The Yard Goats are moving to Hartford from New Britain, and playing games in their old ballpark was not an option because an Atlantic League team has taken up residence there.

The Goats’ extended road trip mirrors the plights of the Biloxi Shuckers (Southern) in 2015, the El Paso Chihuahuas (Pacific Coast) in 2014 and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (International) in 2012. All were forced into their situations by delays in the construction of new stadiums.

In the Yard Goats’ case, however, the problem seems to go deeper. The Hartford Courant has reported that the Hartford Stadium Authority is at an impasse over a $10 millon cost overrun with the stadium’s devel-opers, Centerplan Cos. and DoNo Hartford LLC. The developers blame the city and its stadium authority, while the city points the finger the other way.

The authority’s chairman, Charles Mathews, issued a statement on Dec. 21 which said in part: “DoNo Hartford has informed us that the ballpark may not be ready until late spring and there is a $10 million shortfall. The Hartford Stadium Authority remains commit-ted to working toward the goal of successfully completing the ballpark, ready for baseball in 2016, at no additional cost to the City of Hartford.’’

The city approved a budget of $56 million for the project, so an increase of $10 million would present significant problems.

The Yard Goats’ owner, Josh Solomon, did not respond to Baseball America for comment, but told the Courant that he had significant concerns about the project.

“I see incompetence,” Solomon said. “I see dishonesty. I see a lack of credibility. I’m not sitting in the city’s chair, I cannot say they should have handled DoNo differently, how they did or didn’t address it. But I, like them, heard the developer say, ‘I’m going to deliver this project on time and on budget,’ for well over a year. I was there at the meetings.”

Home Off The RangeWhen Wilmington Blue Rocks (Carolina)

marketing director Joe Valenti went to work one night last August, he had an idea. When he went home that night, he had a dog.

Well, almost.That night, as so often happens at

Wilmington’s Frawley Stadium, the Cowboy Monkey Rodeo was performing. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, the act goes like

this: Ringmaster Tim Lepard releases sheep on to the field. The sheep run around for a while until Lepard releases sheepdogs to herd them back. Unlike regular sheepdogs, however, these pups are carrying monkeys dressed as cowboys.

The Blue Rocks were the first team to wel-come the rodeo into its promotional schedule, so Valenti was very familiar with Lepard and his crew.

“We had always had a good relationship with Tim, the gentleman who runs the show,” Valenti said. “For the past few years I’d been working with him as far as bringing him out, coordinating with him, that sort of thing. We’ve become pretty friendly.”

Valenti had heard one of the Cowboy Monkey Rodeo’s dogs had recently retired into a normal dog’s life with another owner. A year had gone by since Valenti and his wife’s dog had died and they had discussed whether the time was right to look for another pet and whether one of Lepard’s dogs would be a good fit. Valenti mentioned it to Lepard during the rodeo’s final performance of the season in Wilmington, and Lepard surprised Valenti that evening.

“That night, on the field, as he was doing his show finale . . . he announced that he was retiring this dog to me,” Valenti said, “kind of unbeknownst to me. He just did it as a surprise. Yeah, I told him I was interested but that was the only time we’d discussed it.”

Of course, he wasn’t nearly ready to bring home the new dog, a border collie named Shot, so Valenti and Lepard made arrange-ments and Valenti brought Shot home just before the new year. The Valentis also have a young daughter, and the dog has meshed well with his new family. Shot’s new life, of course, is also less hectic.

“They’re obviously running around a lot,” Valenti said. “They have these monkeys on their back, literally. They can relax and, as (Lepard) put it, ‘live a dog’s life.’ ”

Norfolk finds success with new logo look

Norfolk had not significantly changed its logo since moving into its current ballpark in 1993

BUSINESS BEAT A seahorse, of courseCOMPILED BY JOSH NORRIS



BY J.J. COOPER

Here’s the story of two excellent, two-sport stars and the difference between baseball and football.

Jeff Samardzija was one of those rare play-ers who was truly good enough to be a pro football or pro baseball player. When he finished his four years at Notre Dame, he was the school’s all-time leader in receiving yards. Twice, he was a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award, given to the best receiver in college football. He was also an excellent pitcher, going 21-6, 3.82 with the Irish.

Samardzija was an NFL draft prospect as a receiver and a baseball prospect as a pitcher. He chose baseball in part because the Cubs gave him a guaranteed $10 million, but also because he was considered only one of the top 10 wide receiver prospects in the 2007 NFL draft, so he wasn’t a surefire first-round pick. More likely he would have been picked in the second or the third round.

Calvin Johnson was one of the best wide receivers college football had seen in years. A member of that same 2007 NFL draft class, Johnson was easily the top receiver in that year’s draft, and one of the better wide receiver prospects of the decade. So it was never a tough decision for him to choose football, but coming out of high school he was also considered a promising baseball prospect as an outfielder.

Johnson has lived up to every expectation. He’s making a case to be considered among the greatest wide receivers in NFL history. He’s a six-time Pro Bowl choice and a three-time first-team All-Pro. He twice led the NFL in receiving yards, ranks 27th in all-time receiving yards and is only a year or so away from likely cracking the top 20.

Samardzija’s baseball career has been much more mixed. His initial major league deal forced him to move quickly

to the big leagues, and it took him several years to settle in. After struggling in 2009 and 2010, he broke through as a reliever in 2011, moved to the rotation in 2012 and took a big step forward in 2014, when he made the all-star team for the first (and so far only) time in his career. As a 30-year-old, Samardzija took a step backward last year, going 11-13, 4.96 with th White Sox in his final year before free agency, with his ERA ranking 76th out of 78 pitchers who pitched enough innings to qualify for the ERA title.

Samardizja has been very up and down as a starter. In the past four years, he has posted an ERA+ of 96, so in essence he has been slightly worse than the average pitcher. There’s still some promise there, but there’s only been one year in his career that Samardzija has pro-duced as a frontline starter.

Here’s where the difference in compensa-tion between the NFL and MLB becomes apparent.

So far, Johnson has done better financially than Samardzija. According to Sport Trac, over his nine NFL seasons Johnson has earned $113.8 million. He could earn an additional $67.7 million over the final four years of his current deal, but none of that remaining money is guaranteed. If Johnson is injured tomorrow, the Lions could release him before next season and avoid paying any of that remaining money. And Johnson ended his 2015 season by saying he may retire. The

30-year-old is still one of the best wide receiv-ers in the game, but he isn’t sure he wants to put more wear and tear on his body.

Johnson is as good as an NFL player gets. He’s not a quarterback, but he’s the best, and the best-paid, wide receiver in the game.

Samardzija has been a promising if incon-sistent starting pitcher. So far he has earned $43.8 million, so Johnson has earned more. But now that he has reached free agency Samardzija has signed a five-year, $90 million deal with the Giants that will ensure he will earn $133.795 million by age 35. Baseball deals are guaranteed, so Samardzija knows he’ll collect every penny. And when that deal is done, he still may have another contract in his future.

When he wraps up his career, it’s possible that Samardzija will make more as a baseball player than Johnson will in his NFL career, even though Johnson is a Hall of Fame-level football player, while Samardzija is a middle-of-the-road starting pitcher.

Most players don’t really have a choice between the NFL and MLB. Most are significantly better at one sport

than the other. But if all things are equal, Samardzija is a great example of how it pays to play baseball.

Still, while it may pay to play baseball instead of football (both for your wallet and your health), it has become tougher for baseball to compete for two-sport football/baseball players who are coming out of high school. Before the new Collective Bargaining Agreement put in strict financial and draft pick penalties for exceeding allowed bonus allotments, teams could stretch to sign a two-sport player.

Samardzija signed originally for a $7.25 million bonus on a deal that allowed him to return to Notre Dame to play his senior sea-son with the football team. Six months later, the Cubs renegotiated to sign him to a $10 million major league deal to persuade him to give up a chance of entering the NFL draft.

Samardzija’s contract wasn’t an outlier. It was a standard approach to induce two-sport players to focus on baseball. The Yankees guaranteed third baseman Drew Henson $3.9 million in 1998 to play for them while he also played football at Michigan. They then reworked the deal to a six-year, $17 million major league deal to steal him from football.

Joe Borchard signed with the White Sox in 2000 for $5.3 million to give up a chance to be Stanford’s starting quarterback and a

potential high NFL draft pick. In the final year of the old CBA, the Reds spent $1 mil-lion on 22nd-round pick Amir Garrett even though he hadn’t played baseball as a high school senior. After three seasons of college basketball and jumping to pro baseball dur-ing abbreviated summers, Garrett focused on baseball full-time and is now one of the top pitching prospects in the Reds system.

Those kind of deals are not an option anymore. The new rules prohibit teams from signing draftees to major league contracts and Samardzija’s original $7.25 million signing bonus (which was in 2006 dollars) would be more than any player has received in any draft since the new rules went into effect in 2012. Teams would have to cut a lot from other signings in the top 10 rounds to find $1 million to spend on a 22nd-round pick like Garrett.

Shortstop Kyler Murray, a 2015 Baseball America Preseason High School All-American and the first Under Armour All-American in both football and baseball, opted out of the baseball draft last season to play football and baseball at Texas A&M. He has announced his transfer to Oklahoma, meaning he will not be playing baseball this spring. He will not be eligible to play football this fall. Considering that he will be competing for the Sooners’ starting quarterback job next spring, it’s pos-

sible that he’s played his last game on the baseball diamond.

In Murray’s case, his decision to head to Texas A&M led him to remove his name from the draft. Brandon McIlwain, an outfielder/quarterback, has already removed his name from the 2016 draft by enrolling early at South Carolina. Because football scholarships are full scholarships, players who play both baseball and football in college are generally football players first.

“Unless the guy has an absolute true love for baseball . . . that’s the only way to get a guy like that now,” said Tim Wilken, now a special-assignment scout for the Diamondbacks and the Cubs’ scouting director when Samardzija signed. “You don’t have the financial capabili-ties of doing something like that.”

There still are a few two-sport success sto-ries for baseball. Blue Jays outfield prospect Anthony Alford signed with the Blue Jays for $750,000 as a third-round pick in 2012. In his first three pro seasons he played a com-bined total of 25 games, but eventually Alford focused on baseball after his football career failed to get going and made up for lost time. Alford is now the Blue Jays’ top prospect.

But it’s much harder to get a player to give up football under the current draft bonus rules, even if the long-term financials of base-ball players are more promising than football.

Samardzija proves it pays to play baseball

PROSPECT PULSETwo-way tales

At Notre Dame, Jeff Samardzija showed true

two-sport prowess as a pitcher and receiver


BY BEN BADLER

The Dodgers are banking that the per-formance will eventually match the stuff on Cuban righthander Yaisel Sierra.

The team has an agreement to sign Sierra for six years and $30 million, according to MLB.com, a contract that is exempt from the international bonus pools.

Sierra, 24, ranked as the No. 13 player on Baseball America’s list of the Top 20 Cuban players still on the island last April. Sierra’s athletic frame (6-foot-1, 170 pounds), clean arm action and pure stuff are promising, though his results never matched his potential in Cuba.

At his best, Sierra has looked like a mid-rotation starter. Yet last season in Cuba, Sierra posted a 6.10 ERA with 55 strikeouts and 31 walks in 70 innings as a reliever, leading the league with 11 wild pitches.

Still, Sierra’s stuff is impressive, with a fastball that sat at 91-94 mph, touched 96 in Cuba, and has reached 97 since then. His fast-ball has good life, enabling him to get swings and misses in the strike zone. His slider flashes as another plus pitch with tight spin and late tilt. Sierra also threw a splitter when he was in Cuba, though he has since ditched that pitch in favor of a changeup. Like many Cuban pitchers, Sierra used to throw from multiple arm angles in Cuba, getting more movement

on his pitches when he dropped to a lower arm slot, though he now pitches exclusively from a higher arm angle.

There are some similarities between Sierra and Reds righthander Raisel Iglesias, another Cuban pitcher with good stuff who frequently pitched from multiple arm angles when he was in Cuba, with Sierra having more size but Iglesias showing more polish and better per-formance in his final season in Cuba. Sierra should start somewhere in the upper levels of the minors, possibly in Triple-A.

Two Cleared To SignTwo top Cuban prospects have received

clearance from the commissioner’s office to be eligible to sign.

Randy Arozarena, who has showcased as a shortstop but also has experience as an out-fielder, was declared eligible to sign. The com-missioner’s office also informed teams that outfielder Lazaro Armenteros will be eligible to sign on Feb. 10. Both players are subject to the international bonus pools.

Arozarena, 20, ranked as the No. 9 player in Baseball America’s Top 20 Cuban player rankings in April. He’s a quick-twitch athlete with plus speed, a sound righthanded swing and a good eye at the plate, with the potential to become a top-of-the-lineup hitter who can play somewhere in the middle of the

diamond. In his final season in Cuba (2014-15), Arozarena batted .291/.412/.419 with 36 walks and 37 strikeouts in 74 games and ranked second in the league in stolen bases with 15 in 21 attempts.

Armenteros, 16, had been one of the top hitters in his age group in the Cuban junior national leagues. In August 2014, he played in the 15U World Cup in Mexico, where he hit .462/.611/.962 with 10 walks and eight strikeouts in 36 plate appearances.

Pena Leaves IndiansThe Indians will have a new scouting boss

in Latin America after the team parted ways with Ramon Pena.

Pena, who was in charge of the team’s Latin American scouting since Nov. 2009, has been in scouting for 34 years, including previous stints with the Mets, Tigers and Royals.

“Over the course of the last several weeks, Ramon and I had a chance to talk through our vision for Latin America,” Indians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said. “Throughout the course of that dialogue, after a lot of discussion, we both thought it would be best to go our separate ways. It was an amicable split.”

Antonetti said the team was still in the pro-cess of determining who will be in charge of the team’s Latin American operations.

“We agreed upon parting ways in a mutual, friendly way,” Pena said. “I want to thank the Dolan family for the opportunity they gave me to work for a fine organization like the Cleveland Indians.”

The Blue Jays also hired Gil Kim, who had been the international director for the Rangers, as their new farm director, leaving a vacancy in Texas for the team’s top interna-tional position.

Dodgers bet big on Sierra

The Dodgers shelled out $30 million to sign

Cuban righthander Yaisel Sierra for six years

PER

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WINTER WONDERS From Cuba to L.A.

The Reds having an agreement to sign 21-year-old Cuban shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez is no sur-prise. The word for months had been that the Reds were the favorites to sign him.

With Rodriguez becoming a free agent on Jan. 11, he and the Reds are now in agree-ment to sign for $6 mil-lion, with a source con-firming that Rodriguez

will sign his contract during the current 2015-16 signing period rather than wait for the new bonus pools to kick in on July 2.

While not unexpected, it is still an enor-mous price to pay, both in terms of the money the Reds will spend and opportunity cost.

The Rodriguez signing will put the Reds well over their international bonus pool, resulting in a 100-percent tax on their pool overage and restricting them to signings of no more than $300,000 on pool-eligible players during the next two signing periods.

The Reds have a $2,873,000 bonus pool for the current 2015-16 signing period, which began last year on July 2, with their current spending having put them right at the cusp of maxing out their pool already. So the total amount between the bonus and the tax that the Reds will pay to sign Rodriguez is $12 million.

That itself is pricey for a slick defender who has a long, long way to go at the plate. Rodriguez is a solid prospect who any team would like to have, but his talent is commen-surate with players who have gone in the third

to the sixth rounds of the draft in recent years.Rodriguez was the Serie Nacional rookie of

the year last season, though he won the award in part because outfielder Yusniel Diaz left the country before the winner was announced. Rodriguez hit just .265/.301/.284 in 304 plate appearances.

Rodriguez doesn’t swing and miss exces-sively, but his righthanded swing will need work, his overaggressive approach impairs his ability to get on base, he lacks power now and doesn’t project to hit for power in the future. The selling point on Rodriguez is his defense. He’s a plus runner with excellent footwork, quick actions, good agility and body control along with a nose for the ball, and won a gold glove award in his only Serie Nacional season.

Beyond paying $12 million for a player with that offensive risk, the Reds will sacrifice more than most teams by going over their bonus pool. The exact pool numbers aren’t out yet for the upcoming 2016-17 period, but the Reds know they will have the second-highest bonus pool in baseball. Last year’s No. 2 pool space checked in at $4.97 million, so this year the Reds likely would have had at least $5 million in their pool.

There’s still time for the Reds to sign more players subject to the bonus pools before the current signing period closes on June 15. Cuban outfielder Jorge Ona, still waiting for free agency, also trains in the same program as Rodriguez. He could be one target, as could shortstop Randy Arozarena or outfield-er Lazaro Armenteros or a pitcher like Norge Ruiz or Vladimir Gutierrez. Signing multiple players from that group would be smart at this point, but paying $12 million for Rodriguez and giving up two years of bonus pool advan-tages is a steep sacrifice to make.

Reds pay costly priceto sign Cuban shortstop

Ben BadlerNational Writer Baseball America

bbadler

@baseba llamerica.com




BY J.J. COOPER

No matter how many dogpiles and post-game celebrations you are a part of, you never really plan what to do.

The final out is recorded, the sprint and the screaming begins and rational thought is replaced by euphoria.

Tyler White has become an expert. His three years as an Astros minor leaguer have each ended in championship celebrations. And in every one of those years, the celebra-tion is always just a blur of excitement, a mass in the middle of the field and a lot of yelling.

White and his teammates have learned from experience. Triple-A Fresno’s Pacific Coast League title never turned into a dogpile—too much risk of someone get-ting spiked or otherwise injured. Instead, it turned into a mosh pit around the pitcher’s mound. For many of the players in the cel-ebration, this wasn’t their first championship. They’ve lived and learned.

“It’s never bad to be labeled as winners. That’s definitely a good thing,” White said.

White was on short-season Tri-City’s New York-Penn League champs in 2013. He and several of those same teammates moved up to high Class A Lancaster to win the California League title in 2014. And last year he was a midseason promotion to Fresno, where he helped the Grizzlies win the PCL and a Triple-A National Championship.

White is an anomaly in that he’s gone three-for-three on winning titles, but if you are an Astros minor leaguer of recent vintage, there’s a good chance that at some point you’ll win a championship and learn to enjoy the feel of a celebration. Last year, Houston sent six of its seven minor league affiliates to the playoffs. The Grizzlies and Rookie-level Greeneville (Appalachian League) each won titles. Over the past four seasons, Houston’s minor league teams have won six minor league titles—tied with the Diamondbacks for the most over that stretch. The Red Sox have five minor league crowns, the only other team with more than three.

In spring training, the Astros award cham-pionship rings to their minor league teams that won titles the year before. The team flies in the minor league team’s general man-ager, there’s a dinner, general manager Jeff Luhnow speaks and the team is honored in front of the organization.

“You come in and get a really good meal. It’s a blast,” White said.

Two years ago, Carlos Correa’s impromptu speech at the low Class A Quad Cities’ ring ceremony was yet a further indicator of why the Astros’ believed he was a natural leader. The Astros have gotten plenty of practice at throwing the party. With at least one title every year, the Astros’ have had a reason to have a championship banquet every spring training of Luhnow’s tenure so far.

It has been an impressive run of success at the minor league level for the Astros. Houston spent the first several years of

Luhnow’s tenure as the worst team in base-ball at the major league level before turning into a playoff team in 2015. In the minor leagues, the success came much more quickly.

From 2012-2015, the Astros won 55 per-cent of their minor league games, easily the best in the minors over that stretch (the Mets are second).

What makes that surprising is just how bad Houston was in the minors right before

Luhnow and his staff arrived. From 2008-2011, Houston finished with the worst record in the minors three times in four years—and the one year they weren’t 30th, they were 29th.

During those four years, Houston’s minor league teams had a collective .417 winning percentage. From 2008 to the present, no other organization has had any one season where their affiliates finished with a winning percentage that poor. No other team has won less than 46 percent of its games over that time period.

“When Jeff and the regime came over a few years back, the organization not only wanted to replenish the talent in the system but also change the culture,” Astros’ direc-tor of player personnel Quinton McCracken said.

The rebuilding effort that began in 2011 under previous general manager Ed Wade started to lay the groundwork, but Luhnow’s scouting and analytics-based approach has helped the Astros’ win at every level in recent years.

When Luhnow was scouting director in St. Louis, the Cardinals had a knack for get-ting value both at the top and much deeper down in their drafts. Not coincidentally, the Cardinals won 52 percent of their minor league games and five minor league titles from 2008-2011.

Houston has seen a similar payoff. The Astros had developed an impressive depth of minor league talent. They are winning with youth and prospects. Fresno won the Triple-A National Championship with the youngest lineup and the second-youngest pitching staff in the Pacific Coast League. Double-A Corpus Christi had the best record in the Texas League (89-51) with the young-est lineup and the youngest pitching staff in the league. Greeneville won the Appalachian League title with the third-youngest lineup and second-youngest pitching staff in the league.

“It’s been a collective effort. Changing the whole image of the organization,” McCracken said. “When you draft players and develop them properly, the end results are teams that are competitive . . . It starts with the foundation of drafting quality, talented players that have those intangibles and that winning mentality. The Correas of the world, the (Alex) Bregmans, they make

players around them better. That can be con-tagious. It raises the bar.”

So just how valuable is winning in the minor leagues? Well, it depends. It’s possible to have rather meaningless

success by stacking a team with players who aren’t age-appropriate for the level. But if you can win with prospects then you might have the makings of something, especially if you are trying to turn around a team that has been losing for far too long.

“The primary goal of the development system is to produce major league value,” Luhnow said “Developing players should always be the primary objective, and has been both with the Cardinals when I was there as well as the Astros since I’ve been here. Having said that, developing players

while winning is the optimal outcome and the winning speeds up their development. Players that have a winning mindset in the minor leagues carry that over to the big leagues and it is an advantage. The talent gaps between teams is small in pro ball and often the teams that win are doing all the little things right. That’s a mindset that helps in the show.”

The Royals front office knew a lot about losing. When Dayton Moore’s front office staff arrived and started trying to rebuild the organization, they knew that they weren’t going to be winning in the big leagues soon, but they believed they could build a core of young talent that would win on its way up.

“It was a very conscious effort,” said Royals assistant general manager Scott Sharp, who formerly was the farm director. “We had not won at the major league level. The focus was on scouting and player development. The idea was, we’ll take this group and put them together. If they win in the minor leagues, that will translate to the major leagues. They will expect to win because they have won all along as teammates. So when they get to the majors, ‘Why can’t we win here?’ “

Kansas City tried to group Mike Moustakas, Salvador Perez, Eric Hosmer, Danny Duffy and others together through-out the minors hoping they could build a tradition of winning together.

The Moustakas-led Burlington Bees won the 2008 low Class A Midwest League title. Much of that same group won the Double-A Texas League title in 2010 thanks to Hosmer’s six playoff home runs, includ-ing two two-run home runs in a 6-5 win in an elimination game against Springfield. A year later, many of the same players won the Triple-A Pacific Coast League title with Omaha.

When Hosmer hit a two-run home run in the 11th inning to beat the Angels in Game Two of the 2014 American League Division Series, many Royals flashed back to his Texas League heroics. When the team arrived in spring training in 2015 motivated to win a World Series, Sharp couldn’t help but think about how many of those same players responded to a surprisingly early playoff exit in the 2009 high Class A Carolina League.

“I think it was a very conscious effort to teach these guys, ‘Hey, you can win.’ You’re going to win with these guys here and at the major league level,” Sharp said. “When you bring those players up together they become accountable to each other. They have shared in those experiences instead of a collection of players who hadn’t played together before. I think it’s how you define winning at the minor league level is the most critical part. It’s extremely important to win at the minor league level, but you have to do it with the right types of players. You can’t put fifth graders in a second-grade dodgeball game to win it. But if you teach the second graders to win, that’s important.”

When the Royals get their World Series rings, it will be Duffy’s seventh champion-ship ring (2008 Midwest League, 2010 Texas League, 2011, ’13 and ’14 Pacific Coast League, 2014 American League and now 2015 World Series). It’s fair to say that this latest ring will be a little pricier than the other six in his safe.

No Astros player has seven rings, but many have two or three. And more and more Astros are reaching the majors having won on a smaller stage. And Houston has reason to believe that will pay dividends in the big leagues as well.

CR

EDIT

Astros see minor titles pay dividends

Tyler White’s career is a microcosm of the Astros’ recent run of minor league success

M A S T E R I N G T H E M I N O R S

Since general manager Jeff Luhnow arrived in Houston before

the 2012 season, the team has had the best record in the

minors and has won the most minor league titles.

MiLB Team W L PCT Titles

Astros 1682 1376 .550 6

Mets 1608 1373 .539 2

Twins 1468 1285 .533 3

Diamondbacks 1627 1445 .530 6

Rangers 1462 1310 .527 2

Giants 1447 1332 .521 1

Cardinals 1562 1476 .514 3

Rays 1552 1482 .512 3

Yankees 1548 1483 .511 1

Nationals 1419 1365 .510 2

Cubs 1393 1342 .509 3

Pirates 1471 1449 .504 2

Red Sox 1397 1390 .501 5

Dodgers 1385 1384 .500 1

Blue Jays 1518 1522 .499 2

Athletics 1379 1394 .497 2

Indians 1362 1408 .492 3

Tigers 1354 1417 .489 2

Rockies 1393 1459 .488 2

White Sox 1357 1424 .488 2

Marlins 1347 1423 .486 1

Phillies 1347 1426 .486 0

Mariners 1438 1527 .485 1

Braves 1323 1420 .482 1

Orioles 1342 1446 .481 1

Royals 1421 1563 .476 3

Padres 1318 1459 .475 1

Angels 1311 1456 .474 1

Reds 1283 1479 .465 1

Brewers 1273 1472 .464 1

12 B . January 29–February 12, 2016

NO. 1

PROS

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Baseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeebbabbbabbbbbbb llllllAAmAmAmAAmerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrerrrrici a.com

NO. 1

PROS

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BY J.J. COOPER

If the Astros have their way, the 86-win 2015 season that ended in the American League Division Series will be remembered as a sign

that their plan was on schedule. It was a step forward, but only a first step.

After three straight sub-60 win seasons and a basement-dwelling 70-win season in 2014, the Astros came the closest of any playoff team to knocking off the World Series champs. The Astros were six outs and a four-run lead away from eliminating the Royals in Game Four of the ALDS. Kansas City’s seven-run outburst in the final two innings propelled the Royals to their first World Series title in 30 years. In the process it reminded the Astros that the bullpen needed further help.

Better days should be ahead for Houston. Carlos Correa, already one of the best shortstops in the game, won’t turn 22 until the final month of the 2016 season. While Cy Young award win-ner Dallas Keuchel will have a hard time topping his outstanding 2015 season, a full season of 22-year-old righthander Lance McCullers should give Houston a solid No. 2 starter to follow Keuchel. Houston has a young core of stars and a number of solid regulars to fit around them.

That’s by plan. The Astros’ rebuilding plan has always been focused on numbers.

As one of the game’s most analytical teams, the Astros rely a lot on statistics, but those aren’t

the numbers we’re talking about. Under general manager Jeff Luhnow, the Astros have focused on depth. If one prospect is good, five are much

better. That depth paid off in multiple ways in 2015. Seven of eight domestic affiliates made the playoffs.

In the draft, Houston has worked to make its classes deeper. In 2012, a below-slot deal with No. 1 pick Correa paid off in above-slot deals to Lance McCullers (a big league starter) and Rio Ruiz (since traded to the Braves for Evan Gattis). The Astros also landed outfielders Brett Phillips (since traded to Milwaukee) and Preston Tucker in that same draft. In 2015, with the largest signing-bonus pool (thanks in part to a compen-sation pick at No. 2 overall, for having failed to sign 2014 No. 1 pick Brady Aiken), they added Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker and Daz Cameron, all top 15 talents.

Houston has a promising international devel-opment program adding further prospects to a system that already has plenty.

That depth has allowed the Astros to improve the big league roster. Six of the club’s Top 10 Prospects coming into the 2015 season (Mark Appel, Mike Foltynewicz, Vince Velasquez, Phillips, Ruiz and Josh Hader) have been traded, netting Carlos Gomez, Mike Fiers, Ken Giles, Gattis and the since departed Scott Kazmir in return. Even after that Houston still has one of the best farm systems in the game.

In 2016, 86 wins should rank as a disappoint-ment for Houston. What was a big step forward yesterday will not be enough for a team that should be a power for several years to come.

Farm system fuels majors’ success

Carlos Correa should be the Astros’ shortstop

and franchise cornerstone for the next decade

BIL

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HOUSTON ASTROS

ORGANIZATION OVERVIEW

General manager: Jeff Luhnow.

Farm director: Quinton McCracken.

Scouting director: Mike Elias.

FARM SYSTEM

Classification Affiliate W L

Triple-A Fresno 84 59

Double-A Corpus Christi 89 51

High Class A Lancaster 75 65

Low Class A Quad Cities 88 50

Short-season Tri-City 42 33

Rookie Greeneville 34 33

Rookie GCL Astros 19 41

OVERALL 2015 RECORD 431 332

BEST TOOLS

Best Hitter for Average A.J. Reed

Best Power Hitter A.J. Reed

Best Strike-Zone Discipline Nolan Fontana

Fastest Baserunner Myles Straw

Best Athlete Daz Cameron

Best Fastball Francis Martes

Best Curveball Francis Martes

Best Slider Riley Ferrell

Best Changeup Chris Devenski

Best Control Joe Musgrove

Best Defensive Catcher Alfredo Gonzalez

Best Defensive Infielder Alex Bregman

Best Infield Arm J.D. Davis

Best Defensive Outfielder Daz Cameron

Best Outfield Arm Teoscar Hernandez

PROJECTED 2019 LINEUP

Catcher Jason Castro

First Base A.J. Reed

Second Base Jose Altuve

Third Base Alex Bregman

Shortstop Carlos Correa

Left Field Daz Cameron

Center Field Carlos Gomez

Right Field George Springer

Designated Hitter Kyle Tucker

No. 1 Starter Dallas Keuchel

No. 2 Starter Lance McCullers Jr.

No. 3 Starter Francis Martes

No. 4 Starter Joe Musgrove

No. 5 Starter David Paulino

Closer Ken Giles

TOP PROSPECTS OF THE DECADE

Year Player, Pos. 2015 Org.

2006 Jason Hirsh, rhp Did not play

2007 Hunter Pence, of Giants

2008 J.R. Towles, c Did not play

2009 Jason Castro, c Astros


2011 Jordan Lyles, rhp Rockies

2012 Jon Singleton, 1b/of Astros

2013 Carlos Correa,ss Astros

2014 Carlos Correa, ss Astros


TOP DRAFT PICKS OF THE DECADE

Year Player, Pos. 2015 Org

2006 Max Sapp, c Did not play

2007 *Derek Dietrich, 3b (3rd round) Marlins


2009 Jio Mier, ss Astros

2010 Delino DeShields Jr., 2b Rangers

2011 George Springer, of Astros


2013 Mark Appel, rhp Astros

2014 *Brady Aiken, lhp Indians

2015 Alex Bregman, ss Astros

* Did not sign

LARGEST BONUSES IN CLUB HISTORY

Mark Appel, 2013 $6,350,000

Alex Bregman, 2015 $5,900,000

Carlos Correa, 2012 $4,800,000

Kyle Tucker, 2015 $4,000,000

Daz Cameron, 2015 $4,000,000

BACKGROUND: When Reed arrived at

Kentucky as a freshman, he had been drafted

by the Mets, who didn’t sign him in part

because they couldn’t decide if he was a bet-

ter prospect as a pitcher or a hitter. Kentucky’s

coaching staff saw him as a potential ace who

as a bonus would be able to hit as well. Reed

lived up to every expectation as a pitcher—he

went 19-13, 2.83 in three seasons—but was

an even better hitter. He won the BA College

Player of the Year award in 2014 after hitting

.336/.476/.735 with an NCAA-best 23 home

runs. His 23 home runs was more than 185

Division I teams hit that year. He also joined

David Price and Dave Magadan as the only

unanimous Southeastern Conference player

of the year honorees. Reed was Kentucky’s

Friday starter and served as the DH all week-

end to keep his body fresh. He was a legiti-

mate draft prospect as a pitcher with an

88-92 mph fastball, but he was a much better

prospect as a hitter. Reed followed up his

excellent 2014 college season by leading the

minors in home runs (34), RBIs (127), slugging

percentage (.612) and OPS (1.044) in 2015.

He dominated the minors despite coming

into the season out of shape—he showed up

to camp at 285 pounds, at least 25 pounds

heavier than he hopes to play at in 2016.

SCOUTING REPORT: Reed has outstand-

ing power and pairs it with an excellent

batting eye. That selectivity allows him to hit

for average and get on base. Reed’s swing

has some length and he has long arms

that can get tied up. His above-average bat

speed combined with his natural strength

gives him double-plus raw power. Reed’s

selectivity is exceptional. He doesn’t just

differentiate between balls and strikes, he

also takes strikes he can’t drive. He’s comfort-

able hitting behind in the count and has an

advanced two-strike approach. His ability to

spoil pitches explains his surprisingly mod-

est strikeout rate (20 percent) considering his

power. He uses the entire field, something

that improved even more after he moved

up Double-A Corpus Christi–the wind at the

Hooks home park’ usually blows directly in

from right field, punishing lefthanded hitters

for a dead-pull approach. The biggest knock

on Reed offensively is he is much more com-

fortable facing righthanded pitchers. He hit

.238/.320/.397 against lefthanders after his

promotion to Double-A. Reed is adequate at

best defensively at first base. If he shows up

in better shape in 2016, it should improve

his agility. His hands and arm are fine but he

doesn’t have much range or speed.

THE FUTURE: Reed’s upside is significant.

He has a chance to become one of the rare

players who can produce above-average on-

base and slugging percentages thanks to

selectivity and excellent power. He hasn’t

shown he can do the same damage against

lefthanders, and he still can be induced to

chase a good breaking ball, so the Astros have

some incentive to let him head to Triple-A

Fresno to begin the 2016 season. But he will

get a chance to compete for a big league job

in spring training.

2015 Club (Class) AVG OBP SLG AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB

Lancaster (Hi A) .346 .449 .638 318 75 110 16 4 23 81 59 73 0

Corpus Christi (AA) .332 .405 .571 205 38 68 14 1 11 46 27 49 0

SCOUTING GRADES

BATTING: 60

POWER: 65.

SPEED: 30.

DEFENSE: 40.

ARM: 60.

Based on 20-80 scouting scale—where 50

represents major league average—and

future projection rather than present tools.

A.J. REED, 1BBORN: May 10, 1993. BT: L-L. HT.: 6-4. WT.: 240.

DRAFTED: Kentucky, 2014 (2nd round).

SIGNED BY: Nick Venuto.

LAR

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BORN: Nov. 24, 1995. BT: R-R. HT.: 6-1.

WT.: 225. SIGNED: Dominican Republic,

2012. SIGNED BY: Albert Gonzalez/Sandy

Nin/Domingo Ortega (Marlins).

BACKGROUND: The Astros make it a point

of emphasis to scout the complex leagues.

The best payback so far from that approach

is Martes, a raw righthander for the Rookie-

level Gulf Coast League Marlins when he was

acquired in the 2014 Jarred Cosart trade.

SCOUTING REPORT: Martes jumped from

complex ball to Double-A Corpus Christi

because he has two present plus-plus pitches.

He can manipulate his 93-95 mph fastball like

a vet as he adds and subtracts velocity and

generates plenty of life. His fastball sets up a power curveball with depth and excellent spin.

The combo of a fastball and hard curve can’t help but remind scouts of Lance McCullers Jr.’s

arsenal. His change shows some sink and has average potential because he maintains the

arm speed and slot of his fastball, but he uses it infrequently. His control is average already.

THE FUTURE: Scouts love how Martes always seems in charge on the mound. He shows no

expression whether he’s struck out the last three or given up three straight hits—but he has

much more experience with recording three straight strikeouts. Martes will return to Corpus

Christi, but he’s not far from the big leagues and he has the potential to be a front-line starter.

2015 Club (Class) W L ERA G GS CG SV IP H HR BB SO AVG

Quad Cities (Lo A) 3 2 1.04 10 8 1 2 52 33 1 13 45 .181

Lancaster (Hi A) 4 1 2.31 6 5 0 0 35 31 1 8 37 .230

Corpus Christi (AA) 1 0 4.91 3 3 0 0 15 19 2 7 15 .311

2. FRANCIS MARTES, RHP

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BORN: March 30, 1994. BT: R-R. HT.: 6-0.

WT.: 180. DRAFTED: Louisiana State, 2015

(1st round). SIGNED BY: Justin Cryer.

BACKGROUND: Bregman has been one of

the best players everywhere he’s ever played.

A USA Baseball veteran since early in his

high school days, he was the BA Freshman of

the Year in 2013, a two-time first-team All-

American for Louisiana State and, ultimately,

the second overall pick in the 2015 draft.

SCOUTING REPORT: Blessed with excellent

hand-eye coordination and a simple, level

swing, Bregman has plenty of bat speed and

is equally comfortable yanking the ball down

the left-field line or staying back and stinging

a ball to the right-field wall. He should be at least a plus hitter who racks up walks as well. His

range is average at best and his arm is only average as well, but he anticipates exceptionally

well and plays with a smooth unruffled grace. Nothing surprises him and the ball never seems

to eat him up. He’s an above-average runner who runs the bases well. Bregman has the power

to hit 10-15 home runs a year, but he’s at his best when he’s spraying line drives.

THE FUTURE: Bregman is one of the safer college picks in recent years with a long track

record of success and a Carlos Correa-like drive to succeed, but without Correa’s physical gifts.

At worst, Bregman should be an everyday second baseman who hits for average with occa-

sional power. He’s on the fast track and should spend much of 2016 at Double-A Corpus Christi.


Quad Cities (Lo A) .259 .368 .330 112 18 29 5 0 1 13 17 13 5

Lancaster (Hi A) .319 .364 .475 160 19 51 8 4 3 21 12 17 8

3. ALEX BREGMAN, SS

BORN: Jan. 17, 1997. BT: L-R. HT.: 6-4.

WT.: 190. DRAFTED: HS—Tampa, 2015 (1st

round). SIGNED BY: John Martin.

BACKGROUND: Kyle’s older brother Preston

made his big league debut in May 2015, a

month before Kyle joined him in the Astros

organization. Kyle has his brother’s power

potential, but he brings with it more bat speed,

a better body and more athleticism. Tucker

broke his brother’s Plant City High career home

run record and was the BA High School Player

of the Year in 2015.

SCOUTING REPORT: Tucker is athletic and

somewhat slender, but he is expected to fill

out into a profile corner outfielder’s frame. He

generates 60 hit and 60 power grades from scouts who are sold on his bat. Tucker’s swing

starts with low hands and an arm bar, but his swing gets more fluid as he brings the bat head

through the zone and the bat stays in the zone a long time. He has excellent bat speed and has

present pull power, although opposite-field power will have to wait until he adds strength.

Tucker is an average runner who runs the bases well. He played a little center field in 2015,

but long-term, he’s a corner outfielder who has a chance to be above-average defensively. His

average arm means he’ll slide to left on a team with a true right fielder.

THE FUTURE: Tucker’s unconventional swing causes slight concern, but he has a chance to

be a middle-of-the-order hitter. He’s ready for low Class A Quad Cities.


GCL Astros (R) .208 .267 .317 120 19 25 3 2 2 13 9 14 4

Greenville (R) .286 .322 .393 112 11 32 9 0 1 20 7 2 14

BORN: Jan. 15, 1997. BT: R-R. HT.: 6-2.

WT.: 185. DRAFTED: HS—McDonough, Ga.,

2015 (1st round supp). SIGNED BY: Gavin

Dickey.

BACKGROUND: Cameron was born into a

big league lifestyle. The year he was born his

father Mike became a big league regular. For

the next 15 years the elder Cameron stood out

as an exceptional defensive center fielder with

plenty of power. Just as Mike’s career ended,

Daz stepped on to the scene, impressing at

the 2012 World Wood Bat Championship. The

Astros signed Cameron for the same $4 million

they gave to Kyle Tucker, the No. 5 pick.

SCOUTING REPORT: Cameron isn’t the top-

of-the-scale defender his father was in center, but he’s a plus defender with good routes,

anticipation and above-average speed once underway. He has plus bat speed and solid bat-

to-ball skills, but he doesn’t have as much explosiveness in his bat or athletically as scouts

once hoped. He projects more as a fringe-average hitter with average power. His speed plays

better underway than out of the box but he has demonstrated solid basestealing ability.

Cameron’s feel for the game and his body control is more notable than any one loud tool.

THE FUTURE: Cameron has a slightly lower ceiling than Kyle Tucker because of his lesser

power potential but he has a higher floor because of his ability to roam center field. He’ll join

Tucker in low Class A Quad Cities in a loaded lineup.


GCL Astros (R) .222 .326 .250 72 14 16 2 0 0 6 9 18 13

Greeneville (R) .272 .372 .350 103 20 28 2 3 0 11 16 31 11

5. DAZ CAMERON, OF

4. KYLE TUCKER, OF

BORN: Feb. 6, 1994. BT: R-R. HT.: 6-7. WT.:

215. SIGNED: Dominican Republic, 2010.

SIGNED BY: Carlos Santana/Ramon Perez/

Miguel Garcia (Tigers).

BACKGROUND: Paulino was a Rookie-level

acquisition when the Astros acquired him as

the player to be named in the 2013 Jose Veras-

Danry Vasquez trade. Paulino battled elbow

problems as a Tiger and he missed all of 2014

with Tommy John surgery, but he returned to

show two plus-plus offerings.

SCOUTING REPORT: He generates swings

and misses with a 91-95 mph fastball and can

sporadically reach back for 97-98. His fastball

has angle as he works down in the zone con-

sistently, occasionally elevating with a four-seamer up. Both his fastball and his high-70s,

11-to-5 curveball have excellent spin. He’ll still bounce his curveball too much but when

he gets it right it freezes hitters. Scouts who have seen him well grade both as at least 60s

and both generate some plus-plus grades. His average changeup has sporadic sink and he

maintains his arm speed, but he seems hesitant to throw it. Paulino repeats his delivery well. .

THE FUTURE: The biggest knock on Paulino is his lack of innings—he’s a 21-year-old who’s

thrown 106 innings in five pro seasons. Paulino’s elbow has been fine post-surgery but he

needs to show he can handle a heavier workload. If he can he has No. 2 starter potential.


Tri-City (SS) 1 0 0.00 2 2 0 0 9 4 0 2 10 .125

Quad Cities (Lo A) 3 2 1.57 5 5 0 0 29 21 0 7 32 .202

Lancaster (Hi A) 1 1 4.91 6 5 0 1 29 24 1 10 30 .220

7. DAVID PAULINO, RHP

MIK

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BORN: Dec. 4, 1992. BT: R-R. HT.: 6-5.

WT.: 255. DRAFTED: HS—El Cajon, Calif.,

2011 (1st round supp). SIGNED BY: Andrew

Tinnish (Blue Jays).

BACKGROUND: Musgrove was part of the

10-player Blue Jays-Astros trade that sent J.A.

Happ to Toronto. It took Musgrove a long time

to blossom. A sprained rotator cuff cost him

almost all of the 2012 season, and he missed

time in 2013 with a sprained UCL elbow liga-

ment.

SCOUTING REPORT: Finally healthy,

Musgrove dominated three levels. He has plus

command/control already—at one point he

had a 66-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He owns

the inner half of the plate with boring life on his 90-93 mph fastball that reaches 95 whenever

he needs it. Musgrove’s fastball is a plus pitch thanks to its movement and his command. His

80-85 mph slider is an average offering but it also plays up because he can spot it so well—

he’ll backdoor it, make it a chase pitch and generally make hitters defend both sides of the

plate at all times. His 80-85 mph changeup is an average offering as well.

THE FUTURE: Musgrove has a strong body and clean delivery, and his injury issues are

now several years in the past. He was shut down in August just to limit his innings. He could

eventually be a No. 3 starter and he could reach Houston in 2016.


Quad Cities (Lo A) 4 1 0.70 5 3 0 0 26 22 0 1 23 .232

Lancaster (Hi A) 4 0 2.40 6 4 0 0 30 28 2 1 43 .243


6. JOE MUSGROVE, RHP

BORN: Oct. 1, 1992. BT: L-R. HT.: 6-4. WT.:

214. DRAFTED: North Carolina, 2013 (1st

round). SIGNED BY: Joel Matthews (Marlins).

BACKGROUND: The sixth pick in the 2013

draft, Moran’s lack of productive power and

low-energy approach quickly turned off the

Marlins, who traded him the next season in

a deal that sent Jarred Cosart to Miami and

netted Francis Martes as well for the Astros.

Moran missed a month this year with a broken

jaw thanks to an errant throw, but he showed

no ill effects upon his return.

SCOUTING REPORT: Moran can really hit. He

starts from a very open stance but squares up

with his timing step. He will occasionally con-

nect on a long home run, but his approach is geared to stay back, avoid getting fooled and

use the whole field with a small load to his swing. He draws walks as well. But what makes

Moran such a divisive prospect for scouts is what he can’t do. He’s a near bottom-of-the-scale

runner and a below-average defender at third base because of a lack of first-step quickness

and limited athleticism. His plus arm is very accurate, which is key because without the arm,

he’d already be playing first base.

THE FUTURE: If Moran stays at third base, his potential to hit .290 with above-average

on-base percentages, and the 25-30 doubles may make the 10-15 home runs he’ll hit seem

adequate. But if a team is unwilling to live with below-average defense at third, he becomes

a much less interesting first baseman. He’s ready for Triple-A and isn’t far away.


Corpus Christi (AA) .306 .381 .459 366 47 112 25 2 9 67 43 79 1

8. COLIN MORAN, 3B

BORN: Aug. 21, 1993. BT: L-R. HT.: 6-3.

WT.: 205. DRAFTED: Virginia, 2014 (1st round

supplemental). SIGNED BY: Tim Bittner.

BACKGROUND: Dating back to his prep days

in Pennsylvania, when he was an unsigned

sixth-rounder by the Rangers, Fisher has

teased scouts with his body and lively tools.

He’s an excellent athlete and runner, but he

played left field at Virginia. He shows a sweet

swing at times, but he never hit .300 as a

Cavalier, and a hamate injury as a junior caused

him to fall into the supplemental first round.

SCOUTING REPORT: If Fisher could play cen-

ter field, he would be a nearly perfect profile

prospect. But he’s never shown any aptitude

for the position. He’s a plus runner, has a great, athletic frame and will show plus-plus raw

power in batting practice. Fisher’s power doesn’t show up in games as often as one would

expect. His swing generates raves from some scouts with his bat speed, fluidity and a good

all-field approach. At times he’s demonstrated a tenacious two-strike approach, but his pitch

recognition needs work. Fisher has always struggled with reads and routes. He looks more

comfortable in left where his below-average arm plays better.

THE FUTURE: Fisher runs the bases well and has 20-20 potential. But he’s still a very high

variance prospect who has a chance to be a star along the lines of Jason Bay, and a chance to

struggle to have a big league career. He’ll take on Double-A in 2016.


Quad Cities (Lo A) .305 .386 .510 151 32 46 11 1 6 24 19 37 8

Lancaster (Hi A) .262 .354 .471 344 74 90 10 7 16 63 47 95 23

9. DEREK FISHER, OF

BORN: June 28, 1993. BT: R-R. HT.: 6-4.


2010. SIGNED BY: Felix Francisco/Rafael

Belen/Jose Lima.

BACKGROUND: Houston signed nine Latino

amateurs to six-figure bonuses or larger in

2010. Most have never panned out, but Feliz,

who only signed with Houston for $400,000

after his contract with the Athletics was voided

for a positive steroid test, has made up for the

rest of the misses. He made the 2014 Futures

Game, was added to the 40-man roster after

the season and made it to the majors.

SCOUTING REPORT: Feliz’s combination of

exceptional fastball velocity, less-impressive

secondary offerings and fringe-average control have long led some scouts to believe his

longterm future lies in the bullpen. Feliz can touch 98-99 mph out of the bullpen and he

sits 93-94 with his plus fastball as a starter. If he’s going to start, Feliz needs to improve

the consistency of his slider and changeup. Both flash average or better, though not nearly

consistently enough. He rips off a good slider roughly two out of every five times he throws it,

the changeup a little less than that, and too many of the poor ones catch the plate.

THE FUTURE: The Astros’ starting pitching depth may push Feliz to the bullpen, but there’s

no reason to move him there yet. Feliz has made strides,, but he’s far from a finished product.


Lancaster (Lo A) 1 1 4.11 8 5 0 0 33 30 2 12 33 .246


Houston (MLB) 0 0 7.88 5 0 0 0 8 9 2 4 7 .273

10. MICHAEL FELIZ, RHP

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14 B .com January 29–February 12, 2016

BY BILL MITCHELL

The Angels continue to maintain a con-tending major league team without much support from their minor league system.

It remains to be seen whether that strategy will translate into consistent success, but Los Angeles once again challenged for a playoff spot in 2015.

The Angels won 13 fewer games and missed out on a wild card spot by one game while fin-ishing 85-77 and in third place in the American League West.

Star center fielder Mike Trout again pow-ered the Angels offense, hitting a career-high 41 home runs and leading the AL with a .590 slugging percentage and .991 OPS. He finished runner-up in AL MVP balloting for the third time in four seasons. First baseman Albert Pujols chipped in with 40 homers and ace Garrett Richards returned from a knee injury to lead the staff with 15 wins. Had they simply been mediocre instead of awful in August (10-19), they might have claimed a playoff berth.

Drama characterized the Angels’ 2015 season. Outfielder Josh Hamilton, in the third year of a five-year, $125 million contract, admitted in February to a drug relapse. Major League Baseball declined to suspend him, so the Angels moved quickly to trade him back to the Rangers for modest salary relief. Hamilton’s departure left a hole in left field, and he wound up helping the Rangers beat out the Angels for a playoff spot.

Just before the midpoint of the season, an ongoing clash between general manager Jerry Dipoto and manager Mike Scioscia over the

use of analytics came to a head, with the former resigning after three and a half years in the role.

The Angels hired Yankees assistant GM Billy Eppler as Dipoto’s replacement in October. Dipoto quickly found work as GM of the divi-sion rival Mariners, and he took Angels assistant GM Scott Servais with him to serve as field man-ager. Los Angeles also lost assistant GM Matt Klentak, who took over as GM of the Phillies.

Eppler’s first maneuver for the Angels occurred during the GM meetings in November. He trad-ed lefthander Sean Newcomb and righthander Chris Ellis, the franchise’s first- and third-round picks in the 2014 draft, to the Braves for Gold Glove shortstop Andrelton Simmons. While the deal upgrades the Angels’ defense, it also cost a beleaguered system its top two prospects.

Eppler further upgraded the left side of the infield by trading righthanders Trevor Gott, a rookie reliever in 2015, and Michael Brady to the Nationals for third baseman Yunel Escobar.

The Angels received a few notable reinforce-ments from the farm in 2015 in lefthander Andrew Heaney, righthander Nick Tropeano, catcher Carlos Perez and relievers Cam Bedrosian and Trevor Gott.

After primarily targeting pitchers in the 2014 draft, the Angels selected position players with eight of their top 10 picks in 2015, with all but one of the choices being college products. They made Fresno State catcher Taylor Ward the 26th overall pick and signed him for $1.67 million.

Angels’ approach comes up short

The Angels cashed in their top two prospects to

acquire Gold Glove shortstop Andrelton Simmons

TON

Y F

AR

LOW

LOS ANGELES ANGELS


General manager: Billy Eppler.

Farm director: Mike LaCassa.

Scouting director: Ric Wilson.

FARM SYSTEM


Triple-A Salt Lake 58 86

Double-A Arkansas 71 68

High Class A Inland Empire 61 79

Low Class A Burlington 63 76

Rookie Orem 41 35

Rookie AZL Angels 23 30


BEST TOOLS

Best Hitter for Average Jahmai Jones

Best Power Hitter Eric Aguilera

Best Strike-Zone Discipline Taylor Ward

Fastest Baserunner Ayendy Perez

Best Athlete Jahmai Jones

Best Curveball Joe Gatto

Best Slider Austin Adams

Best Changeup Jake Jewell

Best Control Jaime Barria

Best Defensive Catcher Taylor Ward

Best Defensive Infielder David Fletcher

Best Infield Arm Kaleb Cowart

Best Defensive Outfielder Jahmai Jones

Best Outfield Arm Jared Foster


Catcher Taylor Ward

First Base C.J. Cron

Second Base David Fletcher

Third Base Kaleb Cowart

Shortstop Andrelton Simmons

Left Field Chad Hinshaw

Center Field Mike Trout

Right Field Kole Calhoun

Designated Hitter Albert Pujols

No. 1 Starter Garrett Richards

No. 2 Starter Andrew Heaney

No. 3 Starter Jered Weaver

No. 4 Starter Tyler Skaggs

No. 5 Starter Nate Smith

Closer Victor Alcantara


Year Player, Pos. 2015 Org.

2006 Brandon Wood, ss Did not play



2009 Nick Adenhart, rhp Deceased

2010 Hank Conger, c Astros

2011 Mike Trout, of Angels

2012 Mike Trout, of Angels

2013 Kaleb Cowart, 3b Angels

2014 Taylor Lindsey, 2b Padres

2015 Andrew Heaney, lhp Angels



2006 Hank Conger, c Astros

2007 Jon Bachanov, rhp (1st rd supp.) Did not play

2008 Tyler Chatwood, rhp (2nd round) Rockies

2009 Randal Grichuk, of Cardinals

2010 Kaleb Cowart, 3b Angels

2011 C.J. Cron, 1b Angels

2012 R.J. Alvarez, rhp (3rd round) Athletics

2013 Hunter Green, lhp (2nd round) Angels

2014 Sean Newcomb, lhp Braves

2015 Taylor Ward, c Angels


Roberto Baldoquin, 2015 $8,000,000

Jered Weaver, 2004 $4,000,000

Kendrys Morales, 2004 $3,000,000

Sean Newcomb, 2014 $2,518,400

Kaleb Cowart, 2010 $2,300,000

BACKGROUND: The Rays had their eye

on Ward in the 2012 draft, when they made

the Indio, Calif., prep catcher a 31st-round

pick. He spurned Tampa Bay’s advances and

spent three seasons at Fresno State. A part-

time player in his freshman year, Ward earned

the Bulldogs’ starting job for the next two

years while doubling as one of three catch-

ers for USA Baseball’s Collegiate National

Team in 2014. As a junior at Fresno State, he

hit .304/.413/.486 with a team-best seven

home runs. The Angels used the 26th over-

all pick to select Ward and address a major

organizational need for catching depth. MLB

Network’s draft coverage showed an exuber-

ant scene in the Angels’ draft room when they

discovered that Ward would be available.

Others in the industry were not as convinced

that the catcher possessed first-round talent,

viewing Ward as a defense-first catcher who

would struggle to hit in pro ball. The Angels

signed him shortly after the draft for a below-

slot $1.67 million bonus and were satisfied

with their choice after Ward advanced to

low Class A Burlington in his pro debut. He

showed impressive defensive skills and made

plenty of contact. He hit .348/.457/.438 in 56

games while accumulating more walks (39)

than strikeouts (23).

SCOUTING REPORT: Ward stands out as a

potentially above-average or better defender

behind the plate. He already flashes a plus

arm, throwing out a combined 35 percent

of basestealers in his pro debut. He didn’t

always make the best use of his lower half

and had some rhythm issues early, but he

improved during the 2015 season and put

up consistent sub-2.0-second pop times on

throws to second base. Ward’s quick feet and

athleticism make him a good receiver, espe-

cially as he gets more experience and adjusts

to the speed of the pro game. He’ll need to

add strength to his slender frame in order to

survive the grind of catching 100-plus games

a year. The Angels believe the extra bulk will

come as they integrate him into their strength

program. Ward projects to be an average hit-

ter, more likely batting in the lower part of

the order, but if his defense develops as the

Angels expect that will be enough to earn a

big league starting catcher job. He has a good

idea at the plate and a fairly simple swing, but

can be too patient at times instead of swing-

ing aggressively at pitches he can hit. While

he shows some pull power, Ward projects to

be more of a line-drive hitter who will stroke

doubles to the gaps. Ward’s approach is very

much geared to contact and he does a good

job of putting the ball in play. He has decent

bat speed but will need to get stronger to

maximize his power potential. A below-aver-

age runner, he moves well enough that he

won’t be a baseclogger.

THE FUTURE: Ward should be ready for

an assignment to high Class A Inland Empire

in 2016. If everything goes well, he could

reach Double-A Arkansas before the end of

the season. He’s the Angels catcher of the

future, and if he experiences no setbacks, he

will arrive by 2018.


Orem (R) .349 .489 .459 109 20 38 7 1 3 19 29 8 5

Burlington (Lo A) .348 .412 .413 192 10 32 3 0 1 12 10 15 1

SCOUTING GRADES

BATTING: 50.

POWER: 45.

SPEED: 40.

DEFENSE: 60.

ARM: 70.




TAYLOR WARD, CBORN: Dec. 14, 1993. BT: R-R. HT.: 6-1. WT.: 190.

DRAFTED: Fresno State, 2015 (1st round).

SIGNED BY: Scott Richardson.

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BORN: Aug. 4, 1997. BT: R-R. HT.: 5-11.

WT.: 210. DRAFTED: HS—Norcross, Ga.,

2015 (2nd round). SIGNED BY: Todd Hogan.

BACKGROUND: The Angels went heavy on

college hitters in the 2015 draft, with Jones the

lone high school selection among Los Angeles’

top 10 picks. A second-rounder who signed for

$1.1 million, he passed on a scholarship offer

from North Carolina. Jones’ late father Andre

played linebacker at Notre Dame and for one

season in the NFL, while his older brothers

T.J. and Malachi are football wide receivers

for the Detroit Lions and Appalachian State,

respectively.

SCOUTING REPORT: Jones stands out for his

elite makeup and work ethic that will allow him to play above his tools. He played most of

the 2015 season at age 17 in the Rookie-level Arizona League, and though he hit .244, the

adversity helped him grow. Jones makes hard contact with a good swing path and the ability

to keep his hands inside the ball. He hits line drives to all fields but won’t hit for power until he

develops more loft in his swing. Jones should be able to stay in center field, where he comes in

and goes back well on flyballs, and his average arm makes right field an option. A plus runner

now, he may slow down with age.

THE FUTURE: Jones could be ready to handle a jump to low Class A Burlington in 2016, but

more likely he will stay behind in extended spring training before heading to Rookie-level

Orem in June.


AZL Angels (R) .244 .330 .344 160 28 39 6 2 2 20 17 33 16

2. JAHMAI JONES, OF

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BORN: Aug. 28, 1991. BT: L-L. HT.: 6-3.

WT.: 205. DRAFTED: Furman, 2013 (8th

round). SIGNED BY: Todd Hogan.

BACKGROUND: Since signing for just

$12,000, Smith has advanced rapidly through

the system and could reach the big leagues as

soon as 2016. Turning in an impressive half-

year in his return to Double-A Arkansas after

finishing the 2014 season there, Smith then

headed to Toronto with Team USA for the Pan

American Games. There, he earned the win

against Cuba in the semifinal.

SCOUTING REPORT: Smith finished the

season with seven starts at Triple-A Salt Lake,

where fatigue and the Pacific Coast League got

to him. Smith added a viable fourth pitch to his repertoire in 2015, as his serviceable slider

helped his other pitches play up. Armed with the new pitch, he’s more of a safe bet to stay in

the rotation as a No. 4 starter instead of profiling as more of a swingman. Smith’s fastball sits

87-91 mph, delivered from a high three-quarters arm slot. The difference-maker in Smith’s

arsenal is a plus changeup he commands well and uses to get swings and misses. Rounding

out his repertoire is an average curveball in the mid-70s. He consistently lands all four of his

pitches in the strike zone.

THE FUTURE: Smith will get another shot at Triple-A in 2016 and could be one of the first

pitchers called up when an arm is needed.


Arkansas (AA) 8 4 2.48 17 17 1 0 102 82 10 28 81 .216

Salt Lake (AAA) 2 4 7.75 7 7 0 0 36 48 7 15 23 .308

3. NATE SMITH, LHP

BORN: April 3, 1993. BT: R-R. HT.: 6-2. WT.:

190. SIGNED: Dominican Republic, 2011.

SIGNED BY: Roman Ocumarez.

BACKGROUND: Alcantara continues to tan-

talize with his power arm and dynamic three-

pitch mix, moving one level at a time since

starting his Angels career in the Dominican

Summer League in 2012. The results in his

first try at high Class A Inland Empire were

inconsistent. He mixed dominating starts with

bad to go 7-12, 5.62 in 27 starts.

SCOUTING REPORT: Alcantara delivers his

fastball from 92-97 mph with a violent arm

action that significantly affects his command,

but when he’s going well, batters don’t have

comfortable at-bats. His 88-91 mph slider flashes plus at times but is inconsistent, and his

changeup is an average pitch but too firm at 86-90 mph. While his command still grades as

below-average, Alcantara’s walk rates have dropped from 5.3 per nine innings in 2013 to 3.8

in 2015, with the biggest improvement coming by focusing on his direction to the plate. His

stuff is as good as any pitcher’s in the organization, but he needs to continue to repeat his

delivery and throw strikes. His delivery has been compared with that of big league reliever

Fernando Rodney.

THE FUTURE: Alcantara will move to Double-A Arkansas in 2016. A majority of evaluators

believe he would be better served as a power arm in the bullpen, but for now he’ll remain in

the rotation while refining his command.


Inland Empire (Hi-A) 7 12 5.63 27 27 0 0 136 152 10 58 125 .219

BORN: May 16, 1993. BT: R-R. HT.: 6-3.

WT.: 215. DRAFTED: Northeastern Oklahoma

A&M JC, 2014 (5th round). SIGNED BY: Drew

Chadd.

BACKGROUND: Jewell spent the last part of

his college career as a closer at Northeastern

Oklahoma A&M JC, but the Angels envisioned

him as a starter and went over slot to sign

the 2014 fifth-round pick for $250,000. He

started strong at low Class A Burlington in

2015, recording a sub-3.00 ERA over the first

two months while working shorter outings,

but his ERA ballooned to 5.37 in the second

half while he adjusted to higher pitch counts

and worked to refine his changeup.

SCOUTING REPORT: Jewell takes a solid four-pitch mix to the mound, highlighted by a

plus, heavy fastball with late tail that sits 91-96 mph and touches as high as 99. His fastball

velocity fell in the second half as he wore down as a starter and in his first full season. His

high-70s, plus changeup with split action is now his best secondary pitch, giving him a

secondary offering that batters have trouble squaring. He made significant advances with his

changeup in the second half of 2015, and it’s now a separator. He shows the ability to spin

both a slider and curveball. Both are inconsistent now but project as average offerings. Jewell

has a loose arm and a strong build, and he throws all four pitches for strikes.

THE FUTURE: Jewell will move up to high Class A Inland Empire in 2016, with the Angels

planning to increase his innings total to around 140.


Burlington (Lo A) 6 8 4.77 31 15 0 2 111 110 8 31 110 .263

5. JAKE JEWELL, RHP

4. VICTOR ALCANTARA, RHP

BORN: June 14, 1995. BT: R-R. HT.: 6-3.

WT.: 225. DRAFTED: HS—Richland, N.J.,

2014 (2nd round). SIGNED BY: Nick Gorneault.

BACKGROUND: Gatto netted a $1.2 million

bonus after being taken by the Angels in the

second round in 2014. He bypassed a commit-

ment to North Carolina, much like Tigers 2007

first-rounder Rick Porcello, another prominent

New Jersey prep who had committed to UNC.

The righthander still hasn’t reached full-season

ball, moving up to Rookie-level Orem in 2015

after pitching primarily in the Rookie-level

Arizona League in 2014 .

SCOUTING REPORT: Gatto stands out for

his ideal pitcher’s frame with broad shoulders,

long limbs and lower body strength. His delivery is a little stiff, but the ball comes out of his

hand easily with good extension. His above-average fastball sits in the low 90s and touched

95 mph in Orem, with a little cutting action. His curveball projects as an above-average pitch

but gets loopy at times. The coaching staff at Orem had Gatto working on his changeup, which

has some sink but can be inconsistent. He doesn’t have separating arm speed, and he struck

out just 6.3 batters per nine innings in 2015, but he compensates with average control and

an elite groundball rate. He recorded a 2.8 groundout-to-airout ratio at Orem that would have

led the Pioneer League had he pitched enough innings to qualify.

THE FUTURE: Scouts project a move to the bullpen for Gatto unless he improves his delivery

and fastball command. He will make his full-season debut at low Class A Burlington in 2016.


Orem (Rookie) 2 3 4.31 12 12 0 0 54 73 4 17 38 .340

7. JOE GATTO, RHP

BORN: May 27, 1994. BT: R-R. HT.: 6-5.

WT.: 230. DRAFTED: Texas A&M, 2015 (3rd

round). SIGNED BY: Rudy Vasquez.

BACKGROUND: Long served as a rotation

workhorse for the Texas A&M team that fell

one win short of reaching the 2015 College

World Series. After signing with the Angels as

a third-round pick for $548,600, he worked just

20 innings for his pro debut after logging 96

frames during the spring for the Aggies.

SCOUTING REPORT: Long is a big, physi-

cal righthander, similar in body type and

repertoire to 2014 third-rounder Chris Ellis,

whom the Angels traded to the Braves, along

with Sean Newcomb, for shortstop Andrelton

Simmons. He also draws comparisons with system-mate Joe Gatto, though scouts believe

a better delivery gives Long a better chance to remain a starter at the next level. His above-

average fastball with good angle sat 90-91 mph at Rookie-level Orem, just a tick below his

college velocity. A fresh arm and a winter of conditioning and rest should remedy that. None

of his three secondary pitches projects to be more than average, but his advanced pitchability

allows Long to be successful. Also, by repeating his high three-quarters arm slot, he can locate

his pitches down in the zone.

THE FUTURE: Long will get back on a full work schedule in 2016 at low Class A Burlington.

He projects as a back-end starter whose command and pitchability should allow him to stick

in that role.


Orem (R) 0 0 5.03 13 12 0 0 20 19 1 10 22 .253

6. GRAYSON LONG, RHP

BORN: June 2, 1992. BT: B-R. HT.: 6-3. WT.:

220. DRAFTED: HS—Adel, Ga., 2010 (1st

round). SIGNED BY: Chris McAlpin.

BACKGROUND: A first-round pick in 2010

and the system’s top prospect as recently as

2013, Cowart was demoted to high Class A

Inland Empire to begin 2015 after two abysmal

years at Double-A Arkansas. He seemed des-

tined for a return to extended spring training

to give pitching a try, but he experienced a

breakthrough with the help of 66ers hitting

coach Brent Del Chiaro. He moved to Triple-A

Salt Lake and eventually the big leagues.

SCOUTING REPORT: Cowart adjusted both

the point at which he started his hands as

well as the timing of his foot strike during his swing. His confidence returned and he hit

.285/.363/.442 in 113 minor league games on his way to Anaheim for a 34-game trial. Cowart

now takes a more simplified approach at the plate, and the switch-hitter continues to impact

the ball more frequently from the right side. He has plenty of raw power but has struggled to

get to it in games. Despite his offensive struggles, Cowart always has been a plus defender at

third base with an elite, double-plus arm.

THE FUTURE: Cowart will get another chance at a big league job in 2016 spring training,

though he probably will return to Salt Lake for more seasoning.


Inland Empire (Hi A) .242 .326 .387 194 32 47 14 4 2 23 22 43 10

Salt Lake (AAA) .323 .395 .491 220 35 71 13 3 6 45 29 64 2

Los Angeles (MLB) .174 .255 .283 46 8 8 2 0 1 4 5 19 1

8. KALEB COWART, 3B

BORN: July 18, 1996. BT: R-R. HT.: 6-1.

WT.: 205. SIGNED: Panama, 2013. SIGNED

BY: Roman Ocumarez.

BACKGROUND: A native of Panama who

signed with the Angels in 2013 for $60,000,

Barria began his first U.S. season in the Rookie-

level Arizona League in 2015 with a 31-to-

3 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 36 innings. Los

Angeles bumped him to Rookie-level Orem

shortly after he reached his 19th birthday.

SCOUTING REPORT: Barria’s biggest

improvement occurred during extended spring

training, as he started trusting his fastball and

worked in a two-seamer more often. Scouts

then noticed another jump forward during

instructional league. He projects as a back-end starter with good downward angle on his

pitches. Barria’s fastball with armside life sits 88-93 mph, but his best pitch is a changeup

projecting to be at least above-average. His average curveball is a hard, three-quarters

slurve. He pitches to contact and is noted for throwing quality strikes. Barria has a clean,

repeatable, high-three-quarters arm slot that allows him to throw his two-seamer, and he

uses the same arm speed to deliver his fastball and curveball. He projects to add velocity as

his well-conditioned body matures.

THE FUTURE: While he struggled after the promotion to Orem, Barria has enough pitching

savvy and maturity to handle low Class A Burlington at some point in 2016.


AZL Angels (R) 3 0 2.00 7 6 0 0 36 40 0 3 31 .280

Orem (R) 2 4 6.21 8 8 0 0 33 45 4 7 30 .324

9. JAIME BARRIA, RHP

BORN: Sept. 10, 1990. BT: R-R. HT.: 6-1.

WT.: 200. DRAFTED: Illinois State, 2013

(15th round). SIGNED BY: Joel Murrie.

BACKGROUND: A four-year player at Illinois

State drafted in the 15th round in 2013,

Hinshaw was a sleeper who emerged in 2014

by hitting 16 homers and stealing 41 bases at

two Class A levels. He continued his develop-

ment with a strong year at Double-A Arkansas

in 2015, followed by an even more impressive

performance in the Arizona Fall League in

which he hit .349. He missed 10 weeks dur-

ing the 2015 season after tearing a thumb

ligament.

SCOUTING REPORT: Hinshaw is notable for

his outstanding makeup and reputation as a student of the game, but he also owns impres-

sive tools. He’s an above-average runner and a plus basestealer, having stolen 27 bases in

32 tries in 2015. Hinshaw is at least an above-average defender who gets good jumps and

is capable of handling all three outfield positions. At the plate, he has a line-drive stroke but

with not a lot of power. He worked on his bat path during the season, shortening his stroke

and doing a better job of controlling the strike zone. He still strikes out a lot—24 percent of

the time at Double-A—but counters that by drawing a fair number of walks.

THE FUTURE: Hinshaw profiles best as a righthanded-hitting extra outfielder with a good

chance of getting to the big leagues in that role. At age 25, he will move up to Triple-A Salt

Lake in 2016.


Arkansas (AA) .289 .391 .365 263 48 76 17 0 1 26 37 75 27

10. CHAD HINSHAW, OF

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BY JIM SHONERD

The Athletics’ latest attempt at a roster make-over fell flat in its first season, but the good news is that help is on the horizon.

Coming off three straight early playoff exits, punctuated by an epic collapse at the end of 2014, general manager Billy Beane blew things up. The A’s made seven trades during the 2014-15 offseason, most of them exchanging veterans for prospects. Stalwarts like Josh Donaldson, Brandon Moss and Derek Norris headed out the door. Donaldson’s loss proved the most painful, as the third baseman’s stardom reached new heights after he was dealt to Toronto, where he won the American League MVP award and helped the Blue Jays reach the AL Championship Series.

Meanwhile, the A’s trudged through a 68-win season, the worst record in the AL and the worst of Beane’s tenure as GM. Oakland made five more most veteran-for-prospect trades during the season, most notably sending Tyler Clippard and Ben Zobrist to eventual World Series partici-pants the Mets and Royals, respectively.

With all the comings and goings among pros-pects, the A’s farm system made little imprint on the season. Just five players who suited up for Oakland in 2015 were fully homegrown, although 2011 first-rounder Sonny Gray proved one of the season’s few bright spots as he blos-somed into a first-time all-star.

The homegrown ranks should start grow-

ing before long. The heart of Oakland’s system formed the core of players who led Double-A Midland to the 2015 Texas League champion-

ship, headlined by lefthanders Sean Manaea and Dillon Overton, corner infielders Matt Olson and Renato Nunez and shortstop Chad Pinder. All of them rank among the system’s top 10 pros-pects and will start at Triple-A Nashville in 2016, just a phone call away from the majors.

Still, the future is always in motion for the A’s, as Beane has proven no prospect is untouchable. Just three of the organization’s last 10 first-round picks are still A’s. Beane’s wheeling and deal-ing is felt throughout the system, where its top two prospects, Manaea and shortstop Franklin Barreto, and six of its top 15 were all acquired in trades. Beane didn’t wait around after the season to start dealing again, sending Brett Lawrie—a big part of the return for Donaldson—to the White Sox for a pair of pitching prospects.

More meaningful changes are afoot as the A’s will break in new hitting and pitching coordina-tors in 2016. Greg Sparks (hitting) and Garvin Alston (pitching) left after the season to join the big league coaching staffs of the White Sox and Diamondbacks, respectively.

Jim Eppard comes over after 13 seasons work-ing for the Angels to take over as the new hitting coordinator. The A’s found a familiar face to take the reins as their new pitching coordinator when Gil Patterson returned for his third stint in the organization. Patterson returns to his old post, having previously served as Oakland’s pitching coordinator from 2008-12 before leaving to join the Yankees.

A’s bottom out in latest rebuild

Oakland has imported young players like Kendall

Graveman in trades over the last two years

CLI

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OAKLAND ATHLETICS


General manager: Billy Beane.

Farm director: Keith Lieppman.

Scouting director: Eric Kubota.

FARM SYSTEM


Triple-A Nashville 66 78

Double-A Midland 83 57

High Class A Stockton 74 66

Low Class A Beloit 55 84

Short-season Vermont 33 42

Rookie AZL Athletics 24 32


BEST TOOLS

Best Hitter for Average Franklin Barreto

Best Power Hitter Matt Olson

Best Strike-Zone Discipline Matt Olson

Fastest Baserunner Skye Bolt

Best Athlete Richie Martin

Best Fastball Sean Manaea

Best Curveball Dylan Covey

Best Slider Sean Manaea

Best Changeup Casey Meisner

Best Control Dillon Overton

Best Defensive Catcher Iolana Akau

Best Defensive Infielder Richie Martin

Best Infield Arm Matt Chapman

Best Defensive Outfielder Skye Bolt

Best Outfield Arm Skye Bolt


Catcher Jacob Nottingham

First Base Renato Nunez

Second Base Marcus Semien

Third Base Matt Chapman

Shortstop Richie Martin

Left Field Matt Olson

Center Field Franklin Barreto

Right Field Josh Reddick

Designated Hitter Chad Pinder

No. 1 Starter Sonny Gray

No. 2 Starter Sean Manaea

No. 3 Starter Jesse Hahn

No. 4 Starter Casey Meisner

No. 5 Starter Chris Bassitt

Closer Sean Doolittle



2006 Daric Barton, 1b Blue Jays

2007 Travis Buck, of Did not play

2008 Daric Barton, 1b Blue Jays

2009 Brett Anderson, lhp Dodgers

2010 Chris Carter, 1b/of Astros

2011 Grant Green, ss Angels

2012 Jarrod Parker, rhp Athletics

2013 Addison Russell, ss Cubs


2015 Daniel Robertson, ss Rays



2006 Trevor Cahill, rhp (2nd round) Cubs

2007 James Simmons, rhp Nationals

2008 Jemile Weeks, 2b Red Sox

2009 Grant Green, ss Angels

2010 Michael Choice, of Indians

2011 Sonny Gray, rhp Athletics


2013 Billy McKinney, of Cubs

2014 Matt Chapman, 3b Athletics

2015 Richie Martin, ss Athletics


Michael Ynoa, 2008 $4,250,000

Mark Mulder, 1998 $3,200,000

Grant Green, 2009 $2,750,000

Addison Russell, 2012 $2,625,000

Renato Nunez, 2010 $2,200,000

BACKGROUND: Barreto is accustomed to

performing in the spotlight. He played for

Venezuelan national teams regularly as an

amateur and won MVP awards at the 12-and-

under Pan American championships in 2008

and the 14U Pan Ams in 2010. The Athletics

began scouting him at age 14, and several

teams regarded him as the top prospect in the

2012 international amateur class before he

eventually signed with the Blue Jays for $1.45

million. That spotlight will burn even brighter

given the trade that brought him to the

organization. The biggest move in Oakland’s

latest rebuilding project came in November

2014, when the A’s traded Josh Donaldson to

the Blue Jays for four players: third baseman

Brett Lawrie, righthander Kendall Graveman,

lefty Sean Nolin and Barreto. While A’s fans

had to watch Donaldson win the American

League MVP award, Lawrie underperformed

before getting traded again, and Graveman

and Nolin battled injuries. That left Barreto,

who more than held his own after skipping

a level, to play at high Class A Stockton as a

19-year-old. He dealt with a wrist injury of

his own in July but returned in time to help

Stockton reach the California League playoffs.

SCOUTING REPORT: Barreto can do some

of everything, offensively. Multiple observers

compared him with former Braves shortstop

Rafael Furcal, given his 5-foot-9 frame, explo-

siveness and fast-twitch athleticism. He has

loose hands at the plate, allowing him to

wait back on balls and still hit them from

line to line. His swing does have some mov-

ing parts, and Cal League pitchers exploited

him on the inner half in the early portion

of the season, but he worked to shorten his

swing and handled those pitches by the end

of the year. Barreto has the physicality and

particularly the strength in his wrists to hit

for solid-average power, and his 13 homers

in 90 games in 2015 were more than he hit

in two years of short-season ball combined.

While Barreto makes plenty of contact, the A’s

want him to be more selective, as drew just

15 walks all last season. He’s not a lock to stick

at shortstop, but the A’s feel optimistic about

his chances. His arm is the biggest potential

stumbling block because it’s solid but not

spectacular. He committed 34 errors (.911

fielding percentage) to lead all Cal League

shortstops in 2015. The A’s went back to

basics in terms of giving him fundamental

instruction so he can handle routine plays

more consistently. He had a tendency to rush

himself too much, and the A’s tweaked his

throwing mechanics as well. He has good

range and instincts for the position, and his

footwork improved. Despite his youth, his

body is already fairly mature and doesn’t

involve much projection.

THE FUTURE: Barreto’s bat would have

the most value at shortstop, but he can still be

an impact player even if he does have to slide

across to second base. He also played cen-

ter field for Zulia in the Venezuelan League.

Barreto has the highest ceiling among the

system’s shortstops, and he will play at

Double-A Midland as a 20-year-old in 2016.


Stockton (Hi A) .302 .333 .500 338 50 102 22 3 13 47 15 67 8

SCOUTING GRADES

BATTING: 60.

POWER: 50.

SPEED: 55.

DEFENSE: 50.

ARM: 50.




FRANKLIN BARRETO, SSBORN: Feb. 27, 1996. BT: R-R. HT.: 5-9. WT.: 175.

SIGNED: Venezuela, 2012.

SIGNED BY: Ismael Cruz/Luis Marquez (Blue Jays).

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BORN: Feb. 1, 1992. BT: L-L. HT.: 6-5. WT.:

235. DRAFTED: Indiana State, 2013 (1st round

supp). SIGNED BY: Jason Bryans (Royals).

BACKGROUND: Manaea bounced back from

an abdominal strain that had kept him out

of the first half of the year and pitched well

at Double-A Midland after coming over from

the Royals, including a dominant 13-strikeout

performance in his last regular-season outing.

SCOUTING REPORT: A big, power lefthander,

his fastball sits at 92-93 mph, but he can reach

back for as much as 98. He also can vary the

velocity on his slurvy slider, which looks like a

plus pitch at times but needs more consistency.

He worked hard to improve his changeup both

before and after the trade. The A’s kept experimenting with his changeup grips, and he threw

some nice sinking changes in the Arizona Fall League. Manaea’s delivery is fairly clean, but

the A’s worked to give him a better rhythm to his motion and a more consistent finish. Scouts

worried about his command during the season, but he showed improvement in the fall.

THE FUTURE: Manaea has a frontline arm but needs to get through a season healthy.

Injuries might be the biggest knock on him, dating back to when he needed hip surgery

coming out of college. He’ll go back to Midland or Triple-A Nashville to open 2016, but a big

league look might not be far off.


Wilmington (Hi A) 1 0 3.66 4 4 0 0 20 22 0 4 22 .297

NW Arkansas (AA) 0 1 5.14 2 2 0 0 7 9 1 6 11 .310

Midland (AA) 6 0 1.90 7 7 0 0 43 34 3 15 51 .218

2. SEAN MANAEA, LHP

BORN: April 28, 1993. BT: R-R. HT.: 6-2.

WT.: 205. DRAFTED: Cal State Fullerton,

2014 (1st round). SIGNED BY: Eric Martins.

BACKGROUND: Injuries plagued Chapman’s

first full season as a pro, which ended with

him needing wrist surgery, but he tore up the

high Class A California League when healthy.

Despite being limited to 80 games, Chapman

led Stockton with 23 homers, nearly doubling

the 13 he hit over three seasons at Cal State

Fullerton, where he was the 25th overall pick

in the 2014 draft and signed for $1.75 million.

SCOUTING REPORT: Chapman came into pro

ball with a gap-to-gap hitting approach. He

has learned to drive balls with more regularity

and can still go to right-center field when he needs to. He should continue to be an annual

20-25 homer threat at higher levels. Although he’s not an undisciplined hitter, the A’s would

like him to be more selective to give him a better chance to hit for average. Some moving

parts in his swing don’t help, either. Chapman shines on defense, where he can range well to

either side and has a plus throwing arm. He makes his share of errors—19 last season—as

he’ll sometimes try to throw rockets when he doesn’t need to and can get careless on routine

plays, but the tools are there for him to be a top-flight defensive third baseman.

THE FUTURE: Chapman’s surgery was done early enough that he should be good to go for

spring training and then an assignment to Double-A Midland. The A’s traded Brett Lawrie

in December, clearing the way for Chapman to take over at third base in 2017 at the latest.


Stockton (Hi A) .250 .341 .566 304 60 76 21 3 23 57 39 79 4

3. MATT CHAPMAN, 3B

BORN: April 4, 1994. BT: R-R. HT.: 6-1. WT.:

200. SIGNED: Venezuela, 2010. SIGNED BY:

Julio Franco.

BACKGROUND: A prized $2.2 million signee

out of the 2010 international class, Nunez has

made steady progress up the ladder. A calf

injury from spring training shelved him for the

month of April last season, yet he still finished

as Double-A Midland’s leading home run hitter

with 18 in 93 games, just edging out running

mate Matt Olson.

SCOUTING REPORT: Like Olson, Nunez has

power as his meal ticket. Though most of his

pop goes to his pull side, he nonetheless can

hit balls as far as anyone. At the same time,

the quality of his at-bats has improved markedly. Though he still doesn’t draw a ton of walks,

he struck out just 16 percent of the time in 2015, compared to 25 percent at low Class A in

2013. He can be a dead red hitter at times and takes an attacking mentality to the plate, but

he has learned to dial back his approach with two strikes and gotten better about waiting for

a pitch to hit. He’ll never be known for his defense, but improvements in his footwork and

technique have at least made him a serviceable third baseman, though making consistently

accurate throws remains an issue.

THE FUTURE: With Matt Chapman coming up a level behind him, a full-time move to first

base, where he already splits time, may be in Nunez’s future regardless. He’ll team up with

Olson again at Triple-A Nashville in 2016.


Midland (AA) .278 .332 .480 381 62 106 23 0 18 61 28 66 1

BORN: Dec. 22, 1994. BT: R-R. HT.: 6-0.

WT.: 192. DRAFTED: Florida, 2015 (1st

round). SIGNED BY: Trevor Schaffer.

BACKGROUND: Martin played somewhat

in the shadows of fellow Southeastern

Conference shortstops Alex Bregman and

Dansby Swanson while he was at Florida, but

he nonetheless joined them as a 2015 first-

round pick, going 20th overall to the Athletics

and signing for a below-slot $1.95 million.

SCOUTING REPORT: Martin’s defense is his

calling card right now. He’s a pure athlete with

tremendous range and agility at shortstop,

and he plays the position with some flair as

well. He can rush himself on defense at times,

but scouts noted he did a better job of not forcing things in 2015. His arm is strong enough

albeit not a cannon. All this isn’t to say he doesn’t have offensive upside as well, but his bat

isn’t as polished. He can be a little rigid at the plate and the A’s have worked to give him more

rhythm, but he has the makings of a line-drive hitting, top-of-the-order player. His game

won’t be predicated on home runs, but he does have enough strength to pop some balls out.

The A’s like his makeup and work ethic, and he’s gotten better at controlling the zone and

hitting balls the other way.

THE FUTURE: Martin was young for his draft class, just turning 21 in December, so there’s

more projection involved with him than most college juniors. He’ll likely ease into full-season

ball at low Class A Beloit in 2016.


Vermont (SS) .237 .353 .342 190 31 45 6 4 2 16 25 47 7

5. RICHIE MARTIN, SS

4. RENATO NUNEZ, 3B/1B


WT.: 190. DRAFTED: Virginia Tech, 2013 (2nd

round supp). SIGNED BY: Neil Avent.

BACKGROUND: Pinder hit over better than

.300 in all three of his seasons at Virginia Tech

and hasn’t slowed down against professional

pitchers since being the No. 71 overall pick

in 2013. He was the Double-A Texas League’s

player of the year in 2015 after finishing sec-

ond in the league in both average (.317) and

slugging (.486) and leading it in RBIs (86),

despite the inhospitable hitting environment

in Midland.

SCOUTING REPORT: Once bound for a career

at second base, Pinder’s career path changed

with the trades of Addison Russell and Daniel Robertson, allowing him to serve as the every-

day shortstop at Midland. The organization came away encouraged at how he handled the

role, showing fluid actions and good body control. His throwing motion can be a little upright

but his arm is strong enough for the position, and his instincts help him compensate for a lack

of above-average range. While hitting for power won’t be his forte, he’s learned to pull more

balls, which should help, and he’s able to impart backspin. He’s an intelligent hitter who can

handle any kind of pitch, although the A’s would like to rein in his aggression at least a touch.

THE FUTURE: Pinder, who will move up to Triple-A Nashville in 2016, draws comparisons to

Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy. He could reach the majors at shortstop in the near future, but if

he does have to move, he has prior experience at second and third base.


Midland (AA) .317 .361 .486 477 71 151 32 2 15 86 28 103 7

7. CHAD PINDER, SS/2B

BORN: March 29, 1994. BT: L-R. HT.: 6-5.

WT.: 230. DRAFTED: HS—Lilburn, Ga., 2012

(1st round supp). SIGNED BY: Matt Ranson.

BACKGROUND: With Addison Russell and

Daniel Robertson since traded, Olson is the

last man standing of the three blue-chip high

schoolers the Athletics took at the top of their

2012 draft class. He’s lived up to his billing

as a power bat, as no one in the system has

more homers over the last three seasons than

Olson’s 77. The tough hitting environment in

Double-A Midland dragged down his numbers

last season, but he hit .281/.394/.485 with

nine homers in the second half.

SCOUTING REPORT: Olson’s offensive profile

comes straight out of the Moneyball era—he’ll hit home runs and draw walks. He worked

to hit more line drives and go the other way more often in order to survive in Midland, but

ultimately his plus raw power remains his carrying tool. He’s as disciplined as any hitter in

the organization, finishing second in the minors in walks in 2015. The A’s wouldn’t mind

him being more aggressive to give him a chance to raise his average, but there are holes in

his swing and he’ll still swing and miss in the zone. He’s a standout defender at first base

and plays passable defense in right field, splitting his time between the two positions. He’s

not a flashy outfielder, but he’s got enough arm strength and a quick release on his throws.

THE FUTURE: Given the organization’s glut of corner infield prospects, it would be beneficial

to all parties if he can make a go of it in right field. He’ll take on Triple-A Nashville in 2016.


Midland (AA) .249 .388 .438 466 82 116 37 0 17 75 105 139 5

6. MATT OLSON, 1B/OF

BORN: Aug. 17, 1991. BT: L-L. HT.: 6-2.

WT.: 172. DRAFTED: Oklahoma, 2013 (2nd

round). SIGNED BY: Yancy Ayres.

BACKGROUND: One of the premier college

arms leading into the 2013 draft, Overton

had Tommy John surgery after signing with

Oakland that summer. Now two years removed

from the operation, Overton made it unscathed

through his first full minor league season in

2015, reaching Double-A Midland. He was at

his best late, reeling off a 19-inning shutout

streak over his final four starts in August.

SCOUTING REPORT: The A’s still hold out

some hope Overton can regain more of the

mid-90s velocity he had at Oklahoma, but he

works 87-90 now. He touched 91 mph late in the season. Learning to pitch without his old

heater, Overton has developed excellent command and feel. He throws across his body, which

doesn’t look picturesque but gives him some deception. His fastball comes in with armside

run and his fading changeup has become his best secondary weapon. He spots his curveball

to both sides of the plate and varies its shape as well. The A’s would like to see him add some

bulk to his wiry frame, but he hasn’t kept any weight on so far.

THE FUTURE: The A’s consider Overton close to a finished product, with how much velocity

he ends up with the only real remaining X-factor. If he can get into the low 90s consistently, he

could at least be a mid-rotation starter. Otherwise, he’s a finesse, back-of-the-rotation lefty.


Stockton (Hi A) 2 4 3.82 14 12 0 0 61 62 7 12 59 .270

Midland (AA) 5 2 3.06 13 13 0 0 65 65 4 15 47 .260

8. DILLON OVERTON, LHP

BORN: May 22, 1995. BT: R-R. HT.: 6-7. WT.:

190. DRAFTED: HS—Cypress, Texas, 2013

(3rd round). SIGNED BY: Ray Corbett (Mets).

BACKGROUND: The Athletics had a good idea

of what they were getting in Meisner courtesy

of Ron Romanick, Oakland’s former big league

pitching coach and current Mets pitching coor-

dinator. When the Mets came looking for relief

help in the form of Tyler Clippard at the 2015

trade deadline, the A’s targeted Meisner, who’d

just been promoted to high Class A.

SCOUTING REPORT: Meisner has an electric

arm. He touched 96 mph earlier in the sea-

son and still sat 90-94 late in the year with

Stockton, mixing two-seam fastballs with his

riding four-seamer. The team expects he can add some more velocity as he puts some meat

on his slender 6-foot-7 frame. His advanced changeup is his bread-and-butter secondary

pitch. He came to Oakland with both a curveball and a slider, but the A’s had him focus on the

curve for now. It’s a work in progress but he shows a feel for it. Meisner takes advantage of his

height to generate good downhill plane, though as with most taller pitchers, his long levers

make him more susceptible to getting out of whack and losing some command.

THE FUTURE: He’ll have a chance to pitch in Double-A at age 21 in 2016, though starting

the year back in Stockton remains a possibility.


Savannah (Lo A) 7 2 2.13 12 12 0 0 76 59 6 19 66 .213

St. Lucie (Hi A) 3 2 2.83 6 6 0 0 35 35 4 14 23 .259

Stockton (Hi A) 3 1 2.78 7 7 0 0 32 27 1 7 24 .220

9. CASEY MEISNER, RHP

BORN: Jan. 23, 1995. BT: R-R. HT.: 6-1.


2012. SIGNED BY: Amaurys Reyes.

BACKGROUND: Signed for $280,000 four

days after his 17th birthday in January 2012,

Munoz soldiered through the first half of 2015

in the cold weather of the low Class A Midwest

League before getting a chance to go to high

Class A Stockton when Franklin Barreto went

on the disabled list in July. The move rejuvenat-

ed Munoz’s bat and he played a central role in

Stockton’s run to the California League playoffs.

SCOUTING REPORT: Even when he struggles

with the bat, Munoz’s defense opens eyes.

He has soft hands and a well above-average

throwing arm. He can make highlight-reel plays, but his exuberance leads to too many

errors—34 combined between his two stops last year. Although only a solid-average runner

down the line, he does have long strides that help him run closer to plus under way. Munoz’s

hitting can be similarly out of control at times. He knows how to manipulate the barrel, how-

ever, and can adjust quickly. His swing has some loft and he has the strength to hit for power,

although the A’s again would like to tone down his effort level there.

THE FUTURE: Some scouts can see Munoz moving off shortstop depending on how his body

develops. The A’s have no desire to shift him for now though, and he’ll man the position again

for Stockton to begin 2016.


Beloit (Lo A) .236 .278 .363 369 48 87 14 3 9 48 22 62 10

Stockton (Hi A) .320 .372 .480 150 21 48 12 0 4 26 11 20 1

10. YAIRO MUNOZ, SS

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18 B m January 29–February 12, 2016

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BY JOSH LEVENTHAL

The Blue Jays and Mariners came into the major leagues together in 1977 as expan-sion brethren. They were linked together

again this year because when Toronto reached the postseason, it left Seattle with the game’s longest postseason drought.

That absence, since the club’s record-setting 116-win season in 2001, has made the Mariners grow fonder for free agent fixes, and the signings of Robinson Cano in 2014 and Nelson Cruz for 2015 were supposed to help push Seattle back to the top of the American League West.

Cruz hit 44 homers in a boffo first season at Safeco Field. Cano started poorly but rallied to post a season that would look good on the back of any baseball card, and stalwarts such as ace Felix Hernandez and third baseman Kyle Seager continued their steady excellence.

But general manager Jack Zduriencik, in his seventh season, never surrounded those stars with strong complementary talent. So Seattle posted a losing record for the fifth time in his tenure, bringing that tenure to an end and prompting an overhaul of the front office.

Jerry Dipoto, who began the season as GM of the rival Angels before he resigned at the end of June, was named to the same post in Seattle in late September. Soon thereafter, he fired manager Lloyd McClendon and brought in his former assistant GM from the Angels, Scott Servais,

to manage the Mariners. Dipoto also imported former Rockies coach Andy McKay as his farm director and promoted Tom Allison from pro

scouting director to overseeing both the pro and amateur scouting departments.

While scouting director Tom McNamara was retained, the Mariners simply must draft better. They finally gave up on 2009 No. 2 overall pick Dustin Ackley, trading him to the Yankees after his bat failed to emerge. They sent 2012 first-rounder Mike Zunino, drafted third overall, to the minors in 2015. Lefty Danny Hultzen, the No. 2 overall pick in a loaded 2011 draft, never has stayed healthy and was removed from the 40-man roster in November. Early returns on first-rounders D.J. Peterson (2013) and Alex Jackson (2014) have been mixed.

Dipoto already has reshaped the big league club with eight trades in his first few months on the job. Notably, he has acquired starters (righty Nathan Karns, lefty Wade Miley) and bullpen pieces (righty Joaquin Benoit and lefty C.J. Riefenhauser), middle defenders (outfield-ers Leonys Martin and Boog Powell, shortstop Luis Sardinas and catcher Steve Clevenger) and a middle-of-the-order bat (Adam Lind).

Dipoto also signed closer Steve Cishek, catcher Chris Iannetta and outfielder Nori Aoki, execut-ing all his moves on a budget and with a barren farm system that is leaning heavily on an encour-aging 2015 draft class.

Seattle looks better equipped to contend and to take advantage of the window of opportunity that still remains cracked due to the brilliance of Cano, Cruz, Hernandez and Seager.

Dipoto takes M’s in new direction

Rookie shortstop Ketel Marte hit .283/.351/.402,

emboldening the Mariners to trade Brad Miller

BIL

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SEATTLE MARINERS


General manager: Jerry Dipoto.

Farm director: Andy McKay.

Scouting director: Tom McNamara.

FARM SYSTEM


Triple-A Tacoma 68 76

Double-A Jackson 53 84

High Class A Bakersfield 61 79

Low Class A Clinton 46 93

Short-season Everett 42 34

Rookie AZL Mariners 31 25


BEST TOOLS

Best Hitter for Average Drew Jackson

Best Power Hitter Tyler O’Neill

Best Strike-Zone Discipline Drew Jackson

Fastest Baserunner Drew Jackson

Best Athlete Braden Bishop

Best Fastball Edwin Diaz

Best Curveball Cody Mobley

Best Slider Dan Altavilla

Best Changeup Andrew Moore

Best Control Andrew Moore

Best Defensive Catcher Steve Baron

Best Defensive Infielder Rayder Ascanio

Best Infield Arm Drew Jackson

Best Defensive Outfielder Braden Bishop

Best Outfield Arm Alex Jackson


Catcher Mike Zunino

First Base D.J. Peterson

Second Base Robinson Cano

Third Base Kyle Seager

Shortstop Ketel Marte

Left Field Tyler O’Neill

Center Field Drew Jackson

Right Field Alex Jackson

Designated Hitter Jesus Montero

No. 1 Starter Felix Hernandez

No. 2 Starter Taijuan Walker

No. 3 Starter Wade Miley

No. 4 Starter James Paxton

No. 5 Starter Nathan Karns

Closer Edwin Diaz



2006 Jeff Clement, c Did not play

2007 Adam Jones, of Orioles

2008 Jeff Clement, c Did not play

2009 Greg Halman, of Deceased

2010 Dustin Ackley, of/1b Yankees

2011 Dustin Ackley, 2b Yankees

2012 Taijuan Walker, rhp Mariners

2013 Mike Zunino, c Mariners

2014 Taijuan Walker, rhp Mariners

2015 Alex Jackson, of Mariners



2006 Brandon Morrow, rhp Padres

2007 Phillippe Aumont, rhp Blue Jays

2008 Josh Fields, rhp Astros

2009 Dustin Ackley, of Yankees

2010 Taijuan Walker, rhp (1st round supp.) Mariners

2011 Danny Hultzen, lhp Mariners

2012 Mike Zunino, c Mariners

2013 D.J. Peterson, 3b Mariners

2014 Alex Jackson, of Mariners

2015 Nick Neidert, rhp (2nd round) Mariners


Danny Hultzen, 2009 $6,350,000

Dustin Ackley, 2011 $6,000,000

Ichiro Suzuki, 2000 $5,000,000

Alex Jackson, 2014 $4,200,000

Mike Zunino, 2012 $4,000,000

BACKGROUND: Jackson hit most every-

thing in high school—except a slump. He

belted 17 home runs as a sophomore and

finished his career with 47 at famed Rancho

Bernardo High in San Diego, becoming a

three-time BA High School All-American.

Jackson won the BA High School Player of

the Year award in 2014 and was the premier

prep batter in his draft class. He slipped to

the Mariners at No. 6 overall only because of

the wealth of arms ahead of him. He signed

for $4.2 million, shifted from catcher to the

outfield and ranked as the No. 1 prospect in

the Rookie-level Arizona League. That history

of success made Jackson’s lackluster first full

season in 2015 all the more puzzling. Perhaps

it was the combination of a nagging shoulder

injury, an aggressive assignment to low Class

A Clinton and his first experience playing

in cold weather that led to a poor show-

ing with—which included an 8-for-53 stretch

before he was sent to extended spring train-

ing in May. Jackson worked on getting back

to basics in Arizona, including controlling the

strike zone and getting his bat-to-ball skills

in better sync, before returning to the field

at short-season Everett. He showed more

flashes of the above-average bat—includ-

ing finishing tied for fifth in the Northwest

League with eight home runs—but finished

with a .239 average.

SCOUTING REPORT: Despite Jackson’s

up-and-down full-season debut, the Mariners

have to hope there is no reason for alarm. The

tool set that made Jackson a prep sensation

remains intact, and it may very well be a mat-

ter of him putting the pieces together with a

fresh start in 2016. Jackson combines tremen-

dous bat speed and hand-eye coordination

with strength to produce a thunderous swing.

At his best, he is an advanced hitter who uses

a disciplined approach to wait for his pitch

and then punish it. He has above-average

power to his pull side, and by the end of the

season began to show the ability to drive

the ball to all fields. He got out of sync in the

Midwest League by being overly aggressive

and chasing pitcher’s pitches out of the strike

zone early in the count. Jackson was noted

for a tremendous work ethic in high school,

and he has used that to make an easy transi-

tion from behind home plate to right field.

He has plenty of arm strength and uses his

natural athleticism and instincts to take good

routes on flyballs. Some observers believe

that Jackson often took his first experience

with failure into the field with him, sometimes

showing a lack of interest or desire. Others

believe it’s the same casual style that he has

used in a game that has come easy to him

most of his life, and that only the results were

different this year. Jackson is a below-average

runner but doesn’t clog the bases.

THE FUTURE: Jackson will get a shot to

prove 2015 was merely a bump on his road

to Seattle when he returns to low Class A at

the start of 2016. He has middle-of-the-order

potential but needs to show he can make the

adjustments to reach it and help turn around

the Mariners system.


Clinton (Lo A) .157 .240 .213 108 10 17 6 0 0 13 6 35 1

Everett (SS) .239 .365 .466 163 31 39 11 1 8 25 21 61 2

SCOUTING GRADES

BATTING: 50.

POWER: 70.

SPEED: 45.

DEFENSE: 50.

ARM: 60.




ALEX JACKSON, OFBORN: Dec. 25, 1995. BT: R-R. HT.: 6-2. WT.: 215.

DRAFTED: HS—San Diego, 2014 (1st round).

SIGNED BY: Gary Patchett.

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WT.: 165. DRAFTED: HS—Caguas, P.R., 2012

(3rd round). SIGNED BY: Noel Sevilla.

BACKGROUND: Diaz has added weight and

velocity since signing for $300,000 as a sixth-

rounder out of Puerto Rico in 2012. A stronger

lower half, better balance and an improved

slider keyed his development in 2015, which

started with seven strong starts at high Class

A Bakersfield and ended with a promotion to

Double-A Jackson and Mariners minor league

pitcher of the year honors.

SCOUTING REPORT: Developing feel for his

plus, mid-80s slider with tight rotation has

proven to be an effective counter to his plus

fastball that sits at 93-95 mph and tops out at 98. Toss in a below-average changeup that he’s

starting to master but lacks confidence in and Diaz has emerged as a promising—though

inconsistent—pitcher. He was at his best in a July 23 outing against Montgomery, when

he struck out seven consecutive batters (one shy of matching a Southern League record). He

throws strikes but still struggles to command pitches within the zone while learning that he

can’t rely on overpowering hitters as he moves up the minor league ladder. When he misses,

he tends to leave the ball over the plate.

THE FUTURE: Diaz’s level-by-level rise will continue at Triple-A Tacoma in 2016, when

he will be just 22. Further improvement of his command gives him No. 3 starter potential.


Bakersfield (Hi A) 2 0 1.70 7 7 0 0 37 21 3 9 42 .167

Jackson (AA) 5 10 4.57 20 20 0 0 104 102 5 37 103 .259

2. EDWIN DIAZ, RHP

BORN: July 28, 1993. BT: R-R. HT.: 6-2.

WT: 200. DRAFTED: Stanford, 2015 (5th

round). SIGNED BY: Stacey Pettis.

BACKGROUND: Jackson turned down the

Giants in the 37th round of the 2012 draft to

attend Stanford. The younger brother of former

Cubs outfielder Brett Jackson, Drew had long

tantalized observers with tools but showed

little feel to hit during his first two years with

the Cardinal, including an uninspiring turn

in the Cape Cod League. He missed the first

15 games of his junior season with a hand

injury before hitting .320 and signing with the

Mariners as a fifth-round pick for $335,400.

SCOUTING REPORT: Jackson carried his hot

streak through his pro debut at short-season Everett, with new contact lenses being a key to

his turnaround. He worked with hitting coach Brian Hunter on shortening his swing and keep-

ing the ball out of the air to better take advantage of his double-plus speed. Jackson earned

Northwest League MVP honors while leading the league with a .358 average and 47 stolen

bases. He’s a top-of-the-order hitter with gap power. Jackson is a steady defender at short-

stop with soft hands, average range and a double-plus arm. He sometimes relies on his strong

arm too much instead of charging the ball and needs to improve his footwork on throws. He’s

an aggressive basestealer with first-step quickness and a knack for reading pitchers.

THE FUTURE: Jackson could be a disruptive force at the top of the lineup and will make his

full-season debut in 2016, possibly at high Class A Bakersfield.


Everett (SS) .358 .432 .447 226 64 81 12 1 2 26 30 35 47

3. DREW JACKSON, SS

BORN: June 22, 1995. BT: R-R. HT.: 5-11.

WT.: 210. DRAFTED: HS—Maple Ridge, B.C.,

2013 (3rd round). SIGNED BY: Wayne Norton.

BACKGROUND: Over the first three months

of 2015, O’Neill did little to live down his

reputation as a free swinger with premium bat

speed who never met a breaking pitch that he

wouldn’t take a hack at. He left to play for host

Canada in the Pan Am Games in early July after

hitting .238 at high Class A Bakersfield. O’Neill

hit three homers in the tournament, including

a decisive three-run blast against Cuba, to help

the Canadians win gold, then took off upon

returning to Bakersfield on July 23.

SCOUTING REPORT: In his final 41 California

League games, O’Neill hit .298/.381/.702 with 16 homers to finish with 32, which tied for

second-most in the minors. He has plus raw power, so balls disappear over the outfield fence

when he makes contact. That qualifier, however, has been his downfall, for he struck out

nearly 31 percent of the time in 2015. O’Neill recognizes breaking pitches but has struggled to

lay off them. He did a better job later in 2015 after tweaking his stance to better incorporate

his lower half. He’s equally aggressive in the field, where his above-average arm strength

plays in right field. O’Neill is a raw defender but has improved his routes and instincts. He

runs well enough to play center field sporadically and has become a threat on the bases.

THE FUTURE: Further maturity could make O’Neill a middle-of-the-order threat. He’ll be

tested at Double-A Jackson in 2016.


Bakersfield (Hi A) .260 .316 .558 407 68 106 21 2 32 87 29 137 16

BORN: Nov. 20, 1996. BT: 6-1. WT.: 180.

DRAFTED: HS—Suwanee, Ga., 2015 (2nd

round). SIGNED BY: Dustin Evans.

BACKGROUND: Neidert attracted the

Mariners’ attention in an October 2014 outing

at the World Wood Bat Championships, when

he tossed a two-hit shutout. He missed time

during his senior season with elbow tendini-

tis but returned later in the spring, and the

Mariners signed him away from a commitment

to South Carolina with a $1.2 million bonus as

the 60th overall pick in 2015.

SCOUTING REPORT: Neidert is a slight righty

who draws comparisons with Tim Hudson, and

he brings an advanced approach and feel with

a fastball/changeup combination. He hits his spots with a 90-92 mph fastball that has

reached 94, and he can locate to either side of the plate. His changeup also has potential to

be an above-average offering with deception, sink and fade. He’s still developing feel for a

slider that he’s learning to throw from his high three-quarters arm slot. Neidert worked on

improving his balance in his delivery so that he can more consistently work down in the zone.

He needs to be quicker to the plate with runners on base. Observers rave about his com-

petitiveness and advanced approach. Making his lone relief appearance in the Rookie-level

Arizona League playoffs, he tossed four shutout innings to help his team advance to the finals.

THE FUTURE: Neidert has a chance to make his full-season debut at low Class A Clinton in

2016 and has No. 4 starter upside—perhaps higher if his velocity improves.


AZL Mariners (R) 0 2 1.53 11 11 0 0 35 25 1 9 23 .198

5. NICK NEIDERT, RHP

4. TYLER O’NEILL, OF

BORN: Aug. 22, 1993. BT: R-R. HT.: 6-1.

WT.: 190. DRAFTED: Washington, 2015 (3rd

round). SIGNED BY: Jeff Sakamoto.

BACKGROUND: Bishop was a two-sport ath-

lete at St. Francis High in Mountain View, Calif.,

excelling on the diamond and as a wide receiv-

er. He even received Division I recruiting inter-

est in football. He stuck with baseball, passed

on signing with the Braves as a 36th-round

pick in 2012 and chose to attend Washington.

SCOUTING REPORT: Bishop is a natural

defender in center field with well above-

average speed and a plus arm, but his lack of

consistency with the bat caused him to slip to

the third round in 2015, where the Mariners

happily grabbed the local product. Bishop gets equally high marks for his work ethic and

character, notably a charity he started to benefit Alzheimer’s research after his mother was

diagnosed with the disease at age 52. A shorter, more direct swing helped him hit .320 at

short-season Everett to rank second in the Northwest League. He could stand to be more

patient after recording 33 strikeouts and just five walks. Bishop rivals Everett teammate (and

2015 fifth-round pick) Drew Jackson for the fastest runner in the organization, but he lacks

Jackson’s polish and aggressiveness as a basestealer. He covers a lot of ground in center field

and is an advanced defender well-suited for Seattle’s spacious Safeco Field.

THE FUTURE: Bishop should team with Jackson again to open 2016 with a Class A affiliate,

possibly high Class A Bakersfield.


Everett (SS) .320 .367 .393 219 34 70 8 1 2 22 5 33 13

7. BRADEN BISHOP, OF

BORN: July 31, 1996. BT: R-R. HT.: 6-3.

WT.: 210. SIGNED: Brazil, 2012. SIGNED BY:

Emilio Carrasquel/Hide Sueyoshi.

BACKGROUND: Gohara returned to short-

season Everett for a second straight season

in 2015 and showed signs of becoming the

power pitcher the Mariners envisioned when

they signed him for $800,000 out of Brazil in

2012. The hulking lefty didn’t yield an earned

run until his third start—when he gave up

five in five innings, an indication of his still

less-than-stellar command.

SCOUTING REPORT: At his best, Gohara

overwhelms hitters with a 92-94 mph fastball

that tops out in the upper 90s. Lefties hit

just .222 against him and struggled to pick the ball up out of his three-quarters arm slot,

especially his average, slurvy slider with depth. When things aren’t going his way, Gohara

struggles to repeat his delivery and loses command. He’s not particularly athletic and doesn’t

always seem to have his limbs moving together. As a result, his 62 strikeouts ranked fifth in

the Northwest League, while his 32 walks tied for the most in the circuit. He also ran up a

6.20 ERA. His changeup still is developing and would be more effective at a lower velocity.

THE FUTURE: Gohara made two spot starts at low Class A Clinton in 2015, yielding just two

earned runs over 10 innings, and should get a chance to open 2016 in the Midwest League

as a 19-year-old starter.


Clinton (Lo A) 0 1 1.86 2 2 0 0 10 10 0 6 5 .294

Everett (SS) 3 7 6.20 14 14 0 0 54 67 4 32 62 .305

6. LUIZ GOHARA, LHP

BORN: Jan. 2, 1994. BT: R-R. HT.: 6-0.

WT.: 185. DRAFTED: Oregon State, 2015

(2nd round supp). SIGNED BY: Jeff Sakamoto.

BACKGROUND: The Mariners believe they

got a steal in Moore with the 72nd pick of

the 2015 draft, and that the polished former

Oregon State ace could move quickly through

the system. In similar fashion to fellow 2015

pick Nick Neidert, Moore succeeds with com-

mand and control of a four-pitch arsenal more

than velocity.

SCOUTING REPORT: Moore adds and sub-

tracts from an 89-92 mph fastball that touches

94 while locating it to all quadrants of the

strike zone. He issued just two walks in his

pro debut at short-season Everett, the fewest among any pitcher in the league who tossed

at least 20 innings. He keeps hitters off-balance with a changeup that has plus potential. He

throws the pitch with deceptive arm speed and gets some sinking action on the offering.

Moore mixes in a tight-breaking curveball that has potential to be an average big league

offering and a low-80s slider that is mostly used for show. He is a cerebral pitcher who excels

at reading batters’ swings and learning their tendencies, though he sometimes overthinks

and uses all of his pitches to a fault.

THE FUTURE: Moore must prove his modest-but-athletic, 6-foot frame can hold up under a

pro workload. He could move quickly and profiles as a back-end starter without a dominant

pitch.


Everett (SS) 1 1 2.08 14 8 0 0 39 37 2 2 43 .250

8. ANDREW MOORE, RHP

BORN: Jan. 14, 1993. BT: L-L. HT.: 5-10.

WT.: 185. DRAFTED: Orange Coast (Calif.)

CC, 2012 (20th round). SIGNED BY: Rick

Magnante (Athletics).

BACKGROUND: The Athletics drafted Powell

but sent him to the Rays in the January 2015

deal that brought Ben Zobrist to Oakland. The

Rays later included him in the November 2015

deal that also brought Nathan Karns to Seattle.

Powell was suspended for 50 games in 2014

after testing positive for an amphetamine, but

he played enough to lead the minors with a

.451 on-base percentage.

SCOUTING REPORT: The Mariners believe

Powell’s plus speed and fearless defense will

make him a good fit for center field in Seattle. However, his ability to hit on a consistent basis

will determine if he plays as a regular or a backup. The 5-foot-10 Powell draws comparisons

with fellow diminutive, lefthanded-hitting outfielders Adam Eaton and Brett Gardner for his

style of play. He has good bat-to-ball skills and can bunt for hits, and he has drawn 61 walks

each of the past two seasons. He’s at his best when working the count and driving the ball to

gaps. Powell slumped when he expanded his strike zone and got big with his swing, trying to

generate power. He’s an above-average runner but an inefficient basestealer.

THE FUTURE: Powell will get a shot to make the big league club in 2016, most likely as

an extra outfielder.


Montgomery (AA) .328 .408 .416 238 44 78 6 6 1 22 29 38 11

Durham (AAA) .257 .360 .364 206 22 53 10 3 2 18 32 41 7

9. BOOG POWELL, OF

BORN: Dec. 31, 1991. BT: R-R. HT.: 6-1.

WT.: 210. DRAFTED: New Mexico, 2013 (1st

round). SIGNED BY: Chris Pelekoudas.

BACKGROUND: Peterson’s road to the big

leagues hit a significant pothole in 2015, when

a 0-for-15 start at Double-A Jackson turned

into a season-long slump. The Mariners drafted

him with the 12th overall pick in 2013, and his

younger brother Dustin, now a Brave, was a

second-rounder the same draft. D.J. was hit by

a pitch in his pro debut that broke his jaw, but

he returned the following season to belt 31

homers between high Class A and Double-A.

SCOUTING REPORT: Peterson lost weight

before the start of 2015 in an attempt to gain

flexibility and speed, but it failed to pay off. The Mariners gave him a change of scenery with

a promotion to Triple-A Tacoma in late July, but an Achilles injury ended that after just four

games. The Mariners would like to see Peterson manage the strike zone better and use the

whole field more. Some scouts still believe in his swing, but others don’t think he will hit

enough to be a regular. Despite an above-average arm, he is a well below-average defender

at third base because of poor range. He spent more time at first base in 2015, likely his per-

manent home going forward. He’s a well below-average runner but does not clog the bases.

THE FUTURE: Peterson must show he can hit enough to play first base in a return to Tacoma,

but a bigger challenge looms at Seattle’s Safeco Field, which suppresses righthanded power.


Jackson (AA) .223 .290 .346 358 39 80 19 2 7 44 31 90 5

Tacoma (AAA) .214 .214 .286 14 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 3 0

10. D.J. PETERSON, 1B/3B

BIL

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ITC

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20 B . January 29–February 12, 2016

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PPECTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

BY BEN BADLER

Coming off a disastrous 2014 season with the third-worst record in baseball, the Rangers at least had hope that better

health could reverse their fortune in 2015 after injuries ravaged the team the previous year.

Then before the 2015 season even began, Yu Darvish went down for the year with Tommy John surgery and Jurickson Profar had shoulder surgery that would wipe out his second straight season. Derek Holland threw one inning in April before going on the disabled list with a shoulder injury. By May 3, the Rangers were 8-16 and looked like they might stay in last place in the American League West the rest of the season.

Instead, the Rangers stayed competitive under first-year manager Jeff Bannister. After they pulled off a blockbuster trade for Cole Hamels on July 31, the Rangers entered August just 50-52. Then they went on a rampage, going on a 38-22 stretch to finish 88-74 atop the AL West.

The season ended on a bitter note, as Texas lost a 2-0 Division Series lead against the Blue Jays by dropping three straight to end the season, but on the whole the Rangers defied expectations and returned to their winning ways.

International scouting continues to be an organizational strength. That work came to frui-tion in 2015 when second baseman Rougned Odor emerged as one of the game’s top young big leaguers. Odubel Herrera, another Rangers

signing out of Venezuela, went to the Phillies in the Rule 5 draft and had a productive season in Philadelphia, though the Rangers made up for

his loss with a shrewd Rule 5 pick of their own in Delino DeShields Jr. .

More young hitting talent is on the way and close to helping in Texas, with a talented trio at the upper levels in Joey Gallo, Lewis Brinson and Nomar Mazara. The Rangers have done a tremendous job of getting high-ceiling position prospects with high strikeout rates to make more contact, even while facing better pitching.

Several of those hitters have simplified their swings, improved their balance in their lower halves and in turn kept their heads locked in, which has helped them better recognize pitches, leading to improved plate discipline and contact rates.

On the pitching side, the Rangers have several prospects who throw a lot of strikes—including two with frontline potential in Luis Ortiz and Dillon Tate—but many of those pitchers have durability question marks, so the Rangers have to handle them carefully.

The depth in the system isn’t quite what it has been in previous years, thanks in parts to a series of trades highlighted by the Hamels deal that cost them three of their top prospects in outfielder Nick Williams, righthander Jake Thompson and catcher Jorge Alfaro.

Yet the young talent is still intact on the major league roster and more help from the farm is on the way in 2016, which should allow the Rangers to return to being a perennial threat in the AL West.

Rangers return to winning ways

Rougned Odor established himself as a top-flight

second baseman as the Rangers’ won the AL West

DA

VID

SEE

LIG

TEXAS RANGERS


General manager: Jon Daniels.

Farm director: Mike Daly.

Scouting director: Kip Fagg.

FARM SYSTEM


Triple-A Round Rock 78 66

Double-A Frisco 60 79

High Class A Myrtle Beach 78 62

Low Class A Hickory 81 57

Short-season Spokane 34 42

Rookie AZL Rangers 28 28


BEST TOOLS

Best Hitter for Average Nomar Mazara

Best Power Hitter Joey Gallo

Best Strike-Zone Discipline Josh Morgan

Fastest Baserunner Chris Garia

Best Athlete Lewis Brinson

Best Fastball Connor Sadzeck

Best Curveball Brett Martin

Best Slider Luis Ortiz

Best Changeup Yohander Mendez

Best Control Collin Wiles

Best Defensive Catcher Pat Cantwell

Best Defensive Infielder Michael De Leon

Best Infield Arm Joey Gallo

Best Defensive Outfielder Lewis Brinson

Best Outfield Arm Nomar Mazara


Catcher Jose Trevino

First Base Mitch Moreland

Second Base Rougned Odor

Third Base Joey Gallo

Shortstop Elvis Andrus

Left Field Shin-Soo Choo

Center Field Lewis Brinson

Right Field Nomar Mazara

Designated Hitter Prince Fielder

No. 1 Starter Cole Hamels

No. 2 Starter Yu Darvish

No. 3 Starter Derek Holland

No. 4 Starter Luis Ortiz

No. 5 Starter Martin Perez

Closer Keone Kela



2006 Edinson Volquez, rhp Royals

2007 John Danks, lhp White Sox

2008 Elvis Andrus, ss Rangers

2009 Neftali Feliz, rhp Tigers

2010 Neftali Feliz, rhp Tigers

2011 Martin Perez, lhp Rangers

2012 Jurickson Profar, ss Rangers

2013 Jurickson Profar, ss Rangers

2014 Rougned Odor, 2b Rangers

2015 Joey Gallo, 3b Rangers



2006 Kasey Kiker, lhp Did not play

2007 Blake Beavan, rhp Diamondbacks

2008 Justin Smoak, 1b Blue Jays

2009 *Matt Purke, lhp Nationals

2010 Jake Skole, of Yankees

2011 Kevin Matthews, lhp Rangers

2012 Lewis Brinson, of Rangers

2013 Chi Chi Gonzalez, rhp Rangers

2014 Luis Ortiz, rhp Rangers

2015 Dillon Tate, rhp Rangers

*Did not sign.


Leonys Martin, 2011 $5,000,000

Nomar Mazara, 2011 $4,950,000

Mark Teixeira, 2001 $4,500,000

Jairo Beras, 2012 $4,500,000

Dillon Tate, 2015 $4,200,000

BACKGROUND: It was a Las Vegas sweep

of the 2015 Baseball America awards, with

Bryce Harper taking Major League Player

of the Year honors and Kris Bryant winning

Rookie of the Year. The next power-hitting

monster out of Vegas is Gallo, who was once

teammates with Harper when they were

8 and 9 years old and who worked with

Bryant’s father Mike as a personal hitting

coach. Signed for $2.25 million as the No. 39

overall pick in 2012. Gallo posted back-to-

back 40-plus home run seasons in 2013 and

2014. He got off to a strong start in 2015,

jumping from Double-A Frisco to the majors

on June 2 when Adrian Beltre went on the

disabled list. Gallo stayed there the rest of

the month and homered off Clayton Kershaw,

but when the strikeouts started piling up, he

went back down to Triple-A Round Rock. He

continued to show big power and too many

whiffs with before heading back to Texas as a

September callup.

SCOUTING REPORT: Even baseball’s most

experienced scouts marvel at Gallo’s majestic

power. It’s a true 80 on the 20-80 scout-

ing scale, and it rivals anyone except pos-

sibly Giancarlo Stanton. He dazzles in batting

practice, and while he has a pull-conscious

approach, he can go deep to any part of

the park in games. It’s easy power that he

generates with tremendous strength, quick

hands and bat speed, along with excellent

leverage and loft. Gallo made major strides

in 2014 with his contact rate, and through

the first two months of 2015, he appeared to

be heading in the right direction, mashing in

Double-A while trimming his strikeout rate

from 40 percent at that level in 2014 to 34

percent in 2015. But in the major leagues

and in Triple-A, Gallo’s swing got longer, he

struggled to recognize pitches and chased

too many balls off the plate, leaving him

with too many holes. Gallo played 2015 as a

21-year-old, the same age as college juniors

just getting acclimated to pro ball, so he’s

already ahead of schedule with plenty of time

to make adjustments. He has to work to keep

his swing short—something that will always

be a challenge with his long levers—and

learn that he doesn’t have to swing for the

fences every time. Gallo walked 14 percent of

the time in the minors in 2015, so even if he’s

a .250 hitter, he should draw plenty of walks

and have the power to be a middle-of-the-

order force. There aren’t many third basemen

who stand 6-foot-5, like Gallo, but he’s quite

athletic for his size, though a below-average

runner. With his hands, agility and plus arm,

he could stick at third base. Yet with Beltre

under contract for one more season, Gallo has

also seen time in left field and would fit well in

either corner spot.

THE FUTURE: Not quite ready for the

big leagues, Gallo should return to Triple-A

to open 2016. If is able to make the proper

adjustments to that level and is dominating

the Pacific Coast League early, he could be up

quickly, with a chance to develop into a star.


Frisco (AA) .314 .425 .636 121 21 38 10 1 9 31 24 49 1

Round Rock (AAA) .195 .289 .450 200 20 39 9 0 14 32 27 90 1

Texas (MLB) .204 .301 .417 108 16 22 3 1 6 14 15 57 3

SCOUTING GRADES

BATTING: 50.

POWER: 80.

SPEED: 40.

DEFENSE: 45.

ARM: 70.




JOEY GALLO, 3B/OFBORN: Nov. 19, 1993. BT: L-R. HT.: 6-5. WT.: 230.

DRAFTED: HS—Las Vegas, 2012 (1st round supp).

SIGNED BY: Todd Guggiana.

JOH

N W

ILLI

AM

SON





205. DRAFTED: HS—Coral Springs, Fla., 2012

(1st round). SIGNED BY: Frankie Thon.

BACKGROUND: Strikeouts and injuries held

back Brinson his first two full seasons, but he

was one of the breakout prospects of 2015,

soaring through three levels and ranking sec-

ond in the minors in slugging.

SCOUTING REPORT: Brinson’s transforma-

tion came from a combination of physical and

mental adjustments. Adding strength to his

lower half helped him improve his balance

with a stronger base. That helped him keep

his head locked in, which allowed him to track

pitches better. Notorious for chasing breaking

balls, Brinson developed a plan to zone in on hitting the fastball. He doesn’t yet punish break-

ing balls but now has learned to lay off more of them out of the zone and take advantage of

his excellent bat speed and plus power to crush the fastball. Brinson has gotten better at using

the whole field, though he could still use the opposite field more . His speed and arm are both

plus, with the range to be a plus defender in center field.

THE FUTURE: If Brinson can be even an average hitter, he will be an above-average player

because of his other skills. If his offensive growth plateaus, he could end up along the lines

of Cameron Maybin, but his power-speed combination gives him the upside of Adam Jones.


High Desert (Hi A) .337 .416 .628 258 51 87 22 7 13 42 31 64 13

Frisco (AA) .291 .328 .545 110 14 32 8 1 6 23 6 28 2

Round Rock (AAA) .433 .541 .567 30 9 13 1 0 1 5 7 6 3

2. LEWIS BRINSON, OF

BORN: April 26, 1995. BT: L-L. HT.: 6-4.


2011. SIGNED BY: Rodolfo Rosario/Mike Daly.

BACKGROUND: When the Rangers signed

Mazara for a then-record $4.95 million bonus

out of the Dominican Republic in 2011, other

teams believed it was a massive overpay.

Mazara has justified the faith of the Rangers’

international scouts, becoming one of the top

prospects in baseball.

SCOUTING REPORT: Mazara’s swing and

approach have evolved since signing, toning

down a giant, out-of-control leg kick that

caused timing issues and instead employing a

smaller toe tap. That adjustment improved his

balance and allowed him to see the ball better, with Mazara trimming his strikeout rate while

advancing to the upper levels of the minors without sacrificing his power. He’s a smart, mature

hitter with a good plan at the plate. Mazara has good bat control, uses the whole field and has

the plus raw power. Mazara has become a reliable defender in right field, even if he’s a well-

below-average runner who lacks first-step quickness and is still prone to youthful mistakes.

His best defensive tool is a plus arm with precise accuracy, which helped him collect 16 assists.

THE FUTURE: Mazara projects as an above-average regular in the middle of the lineup,

likely playing left field with right fielder Shin-Soo Choo under contract through 2020. He will

start 2016 in Triple-A and is on the 40-man roster, so he will be up by September, if not sooner.


Frisco (AA) .284 .357 .443 409 57 116 22 2 13 56 47 92 2

Round Rock (AAA) .358 .409 .444 81 11 29 4 0 1 13 5 10 0

3. NOMAR MAZARA, OF

BORN: Sept. 22, 1995. BT: R-R. HT.: 6-3.

WT.: 230. DRAFTED: HS—Sanger, Calif.,

2014 (1st round). SIGNED BY: Butch Metzger.

BACKGROUND: The Rangers drafted Ortiz No.

30 overall and signed him for $1.75 million. He

pitched effectively in his first full season with

low Class A Hickory, though he missed two

and a half months toward the end with elbow

tendinitis. He returned and finished the season

with four scoreless, one-hit innings in Hickory’s

championship playoff run.

SCOUTING REPORT: Ortiz combines power

stuff with touch and feel. His fastball sits

92-95 mph and can bump 97, with excellent

command for his age to both sides of the plate

with a sound, repeatable delivery. Ortiz has a putaway slider with good tilt, coming out of

his hand on the same plane as his fastball before snapping off with late, tight break. He has

shown progress with a changeup that could become an average or better pitch, but it’s still

inconsistent. He also sprinkles in an occasional curveball. Durability is a concern with Ortiz,

who also missed time in 2014 with forearm tightness. The Rangers have had to be conserva-

tive with him because of his poor conditioning, with Ortiz growing sideways and carrying a

body reminiscent of Joba Chamberlain.

THE FUTURE: Ortiz has the highest ceiling among the organization’s pitching prospects,

with frontline starter potential if he can get in better shape and stay on the mound. If he does,

he could move quickly, with high Class A High Desert his next stop.


Hickory (Lo A) 4 1 1.80 13 13 0 0 50 45 1 9 46 .238


165. DRAFTED: UC Santa Barbara, 2015 (1st

round). SIGNED BY: Todd Guggiana.

BACKGROUND: Tate pitched sparingly as a

freshman at UC Santa Barbara, but he emerged

as the Gauchos’ closer as a sophomore, then

moved into the rotation as a junior. His stock

rose quickly, with the Rangers drafting him

fourth overall in 2015 and paying $4.2 million

to sign him.

SCOUTING REPORT: Tate has an extremely

quick arm, with a fastball that sits at 92-96

mph and can reach 98 with good tailing life,

though it can come in on a flat plane. He has a

pair of plus pitches in his fastball and hard slid-

er, a mid-to-upper 80s weapon that stays on plane with his fastball until the end when it has

late, tight break to miss bats. Tate didn’t have much need for a changeup but it has improved

the more he’s thrown it, projecting as a possible average third pitch. He mixes in an occasional

cutter as well. Tate held his stuff deep into games as a starter, though it faded down the

stretch in college. There is some effort to his high-energy mechanics, but the ball comes out

of his hand with ease and he’s a good athlete who repeats his delivery and throws strikes.

THE FUTURE: Tate could be a fast-track guy with a chance to get to the big leagues by 2017.

While there’s a chance he ends up in the bullpen, the Rangers took him at the top of the draft

to be a starter, with a chance to pitch at the front of the rotation.


Spokane (SS) 0 0 0.00 2 2 0 0 2 0 0 3 3 .000

Hickory (Lo A) 0 0 1.29 4 4 0 0 7 3 1 0 5 .130

5. DILLON TATE, RHP

4. LUIS ORTIZ, RHP

BORN: Nov. 16, 1995. BT: R-R. HT.: 5-11.

WT.: 185. DRAFTED: HS—Orange, Calif.,

2014 (3rd round). SIGNED BY: Steve Flores.

BACKGROUND: After signing for $800,000

as a third-round pick in 2014, Morgan led the

Rookie-level Arizona League in OBP. Moved up

to low Class Hickory in 2015, Morgan continued

to show strong on-base skills with a polished

hitting approach before a broken right index

finger ended his season in early August.

SCOUTING REPORT: Morgan is a smart play-

er with good plate discipline. He recognizes

breaking balls and doesn’t chase many pitches

outside the strike zone. He has a simple, com-

pact stroke without much movement. He has

quick hands, good bat control and makes contact at a high rate, backspinning the ball and

using the middle of the field. Morgan can sneak a ball over the fence to his pull side, but his

power is well below-average, with an profile that will always be tilted toward getting on base

over power. The Rangers also had Michael De Leon at Hickory, so Morgan split time between

shortstop and third base. A slightly above-average runner, Morgan is a steady defender who

doesn’t have the pure range many teams seek at shortstop, but his hands, feet and instincts

help him, along with a solid-average arm.

THE FUTURE: As Morgan gets stronger and learns to drive the ball with more authority, his

ability to put the ball and play and draw walks could make him a top-of-the-order hitter. He

should make the jump to high Class A High Desert in 2016.


Hickory (Lo A) .288 .385 .362 351 59 101 15 1 3 36 45 53 9

7. JOSH MORGAN, SS/3B

BORN: Jan. 30, 1997. BT: L-R. HT.: 6-1. WT.:

170. DRAFTED: HS—Cerro Gordo, N.C., 2015

(2nd round). SIGNED BY: Jay Heafner.

BACKGROUND: The Rangers drafted Jenkins

in the second round at No. 45 overall and paid

him an above-slot $2 million bonus before

sending the speedster to the Rookie-level

Arizona League. Jenkins finished with low Class

A Hickory, then broke his right hamate bone at

the end of instructional league.

SCOUTING REPORT: Jenkins may have the

fastest hands in the organization. He has loose

wrists and a short, line-drive stroke. He doesn’t

always repeat that swing though, losing his

balance and letting his shoulders fly out early.

That causes his swing to get in and out of the zone too quickly, creating more strikeouts than

scouts expected as an amateur. His pitch recognition skills are solid and he shows the patience

to take his walks. Jenkins is an explosive athlete with 70 speed, going 28-for-31 stealing bags.

Jenkins has a lean frame with room to add much-needed strength. He has sneaky power with

a chance for 8-12 home runs, but his swing isn’t conducive for loft. In center field he has good

range and an average arm.

THE FUTURE: Jenkins fits the mold of toolsy, premium athletes the Rangers have targeted

in recent drafts. He could develop into an everyday center fielder, with his first full season

starting next year back in Hickory as long as his hand is healed.


AZL Rangers (R) .249 .342 .339 177 35 44 4 6 0 13 23 57 27

Hickory (Lo A) .389 .421 .444 18 3 7 1 0 0 1 1 4 1

6. ERIC JENKINS, OF

BORN: April 3, 1993. BT: R-R. HT.: 5-11.

WT.: 183. SIGNED: Cuba, 2015. SIGNED

BY: Jose Fernandez/Roberto Aquino/Gil Kim/

Thad Levine.

BACKGROUND: Ibanez stood out in Cuba

from a young age, leading the country’s 16U national league in batting (.458) and slugging

(.703) in 2011, playing in the 16U World Cup that year and the 18U World Cup in 2013. Ibanez

was the youngest player on Cuba’s 2013 World Baseball Classic team, though he didn’t play

much there, and hit well in the 2014 World Port Tournament. After leaving Cuba, Ibanez

went through a change in representation before signing with Texas for $1.6 million, widely

considered a bargain by other organizations.

SCOUTING REPORT: Ibanez doesn’t have one standout tool or flashy athleticism, but he

has a strong track record of hitting in Cuba. going back to his days in Cuba’s junior leagues

and in three seasons in Serie Nacional, where he hit .267/.377/.435 with more walks (33)

than strikeouts (28) in 280 at-bats as a 20-year-old in his final season in 2013-14 with La Isla

De La Juventud. He has a quick, short swing, good bat control and a line-drive approach with

occasional power, though he’s more of a doubles threat than a home run hitter. Ibanez has a

thicker build for a middle infielder and is a below-average runner. He is an instinctive, high

baseball IQ player who won a gold glove one season in Cuba, though he’s more of a steady

fielder than an above-average defender.

THE FUTURE: After a long layoff from competitive baseball, Ibanez spent time in the

Rangers’ Dominican academy before playing winter ball in Colombia, where he was one

of the league’s best hitters. Given his time off and age, Ibanez might start in low Class A

Hickory, but he could move quickly through the Rangers’ system if he progresses as the

team believes he can.


Did Not Play

8. ANDY IBANEZ, 2B

BORN: Sept. 8, 1998. BT: B-R. HT.: 6-2.


2015. SIGNED BY: Willy Espinal/Gil Kim/Thad

Levine.

BACKGROUND: Willy Taveras played seven

major league seasons as an outfielder, leading

MLB with 68 stolen bases in 2008. His cousin,

Leodys, is another quick-twitch athlete and

was one of the most well-rounded prospects

on the international market when he signed

with Texas for $2.1 million on July 2, 2015.

SCOUTING REPORT: With a lean, athletic

build, Taveras is a smooth player could have

five average to plus tools, playing the game

calmly and under control. He’s a sweet-swing-

ing switch-hitter who’s more advanced from the left side, with a clean, fluid stroke that’s

direct to the ball with a good bat path. Taveras performed well in games before signing, and

while some scouts had reservations about his pitch recognition, he can hit good velocity. Since

signing, he has shown more ability to stay back on pitches longer and done a better job of

managing his at-bats. Taveras drives the ball well for his age, and with his size and big, strong

hands, there’s considerable physical projection for his power to grow. Taveras has plus speed

with an easy gait and a strong arm, so while his outfield reads and routes need to improve,

he has the tools to stick in center field.

THE FUTURE: Taveras might start his career in the Dominican Summer League, but he

could join the Rookie-level Arizona League club when their season begins a few weeks later.


Did not play—Signed 2016 contract

9. LEODYS TAVERAS, OF

BORN: June 3, 1994. BT: R-R. HT.: 6-6.

WT.: 220. DRAFTED: Duke, 2015 (3rd round).

SIGNED BY: Jay Heafner.

BACKGROUND: After the 2014 college season

at Duke, Matuella was a candidate to be the

No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 draft, but health

issues derailed any chance. In the summer of

2014, Matuella was diagnosed with spondy-

losis, a chronic back condition. He returned in

the spring of 2015 for his junior year and didn’t

show quite the same stuff, then had Tommy

John surgery in April. Despite the health con-

cerns, the Rangers signed Matuella for $2 mil-

lion, well above slot in the third round.

SCOUTING REPORT: When healthy, Matuella

showed four quality pitches with good control, starting with a two-seam fastball that sat

92-96 mph at hit 98 as a sophomore with plus life. His power curveball cranks up to the low-

80s with good depth and grades out as plus, while his mid-80s slider flashes above-average as

well. He hasn’t needed to use his changeup much, but it has shown the makings of developing

into an average pitch. Matuella has a ceiling of a frontline starter, but he never threw more

than 60 innings in a season at Duke and is a major medical risk. Some scouts have likened him

to Tanner Scheppers, whom the Rangers also drafted and signed after significant injury ques-

tions caused him to slip in the draft, and Scheppers has had an inconsistent career as a reliever.

THE FUTURE: The Rangers do not expect Matuella to return to games until May or June, and

the club is targeting 80-100 innings for him in 2016.


Did not play—Injured

10. MICHAEL MATUELLA, RHP

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ORGANIZATION REPORTS AL East

NEW YORK When Hal Steinbrenner included Gary Sanchez and James Pazos in the list of prospects the Yankees labeled untouchable before the trade deadline last July, there was a certain amount of head scratching.

Catcher Brian McCann was in the second of a five-year deal and John Ryan Murphy was looking like he would be a regular some-day. So, where was the chance for Sanchez to play?

Pazos is a lefty reliever who started the sea-son on Double-A Trenton’s disabled list with a shoulder issue. Lefty relievers Justin Wilson and Chasen Shreve were pitching well, were

27 and 25, respectively and not making budget-busting salaries.

Now with Murphy traded to the Twins for outfielder Aaron Hicks and Wilson dealt to the Tigers for a pair of minor league right-handers, there are openings for Sanchez and Pazos to make the big league club.

“He has grown up before our eyes,’’ general manager Brian Cashman said of the 23-year-old Sanchez, who was signed for $3 million as a 16-year-old from the Dominican Republic in 2009.

Sanchez started the season at Trenton and batted .262 with 12 homers, 36 RBIs and an OPS of .795 in 58 games. Promoted to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the right-hander batted .295 with six homers, 26 RBIs and a .849 OPS. The strong season continued in the Arizona Fall League, where he batted .295 with seven homers, 21 RBIs and a .982 OPS in 22 games.

“He improved in every category,’’ Cashman

said. “The bat was always there, now his defense has come a long way—blocking balls, calling a game and throwing.’’

While Sanchez will open spring training as the favorite to win the backup spot, Pazos won’t be an automatic choice.

“I think he is definitely in the mix, he has a power arm,’’ Joe Girardi said of 6-foot-3, 230-pound Pazos, who appeared in 11 September games for the Yankees after a com-bined 27 for Trenton and Scranton.

Pazos, 25 in May, was taken in the 13th round of the 2012 draft out of the University of San Diego.

YANKEE DOODLES

Q Barring an injury to Mark Teixeira, first baseman Greg

Bird is likely ticketed for Triple-A to begin 2016.

Q Similarly, second baseman Rob Refsnyder, who also had

a taste of big league success in 2015, will join Bird after the

Yankees acquired second baseman Starlin Castro from the

Cubs in early December.

Sanchez, Pazos vie for roles in majors

For statistics, organization reports,

prospect lists and recent drafts, check out:

baseballamerica.com/t/organization-reports/

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Murphy Aims For ConsistencyBALTIMORE The Orioles like the catching depth in their minor league system. Alex Murphy wants to be a part of it again.

Murphy, 21, had sports hernia surgery last year and appeared in just 49 games at three levels. He had surgery on his left shoulder the previous year, playing his final game on Aug. 15.

Murphy ranked among the RBI leaders in the low Class A South Atlantic League before missing three months due to the surgery.

“It was a little unfortunate,” Murphy said. “Kind of unlucky there, but not really much you can do about it. Just hope to prevent it for next year.”

Returning to the field in mid-August, Murphy went 10-for-24 with five doubles, two home runs and four RBIs in his final six games at short-season Aberdeen. He reported to the fall instructional league and got some innings at first base, a position he might play on occasion this season.

The Orioles selected three catchers among their first seven picks in the 2013 draft, taking Chance Sisco and Jonah Heim as well.

Murphy accepted a $275,000 bonus rath-er than attend Wake Forest. He was the Gatorade High School Player of the Year as a senior in Maryland.

“It was an unreal feeling,” Murphy said. “I thought they might draft me. When I saw my name go across the screen, it was an indescrib-able feeling. There is nothing in my life that has ever been like that. It gave me chills. Now I get to follow my goals and my dreams.”

Right now, it appears that Murphy’s offense is ahead of his defense, though his work behind the plate has improved. He’s striv-ing to become more consistent and to stay healthy.

“Not getting too high or too low, hitting-wise,” Murphy said. “Trying to stay in that middle plateau all the way through the season. Same thing with catching. Just try to throw a little better and stay solid behind the plate.”

BIRD SEED

Q The Orioles lost lefthander Tim Berry on a waiver claim

by the Marlins. Berry went 2-7, 7.32 last season at Double-A

Bowie and lost his spot in the rotation.

Q The Orioles signed outfielder Xavier Avery to a minor

league deal. They selected Avery in the second round of the

2008 draft before trading him to the Mariners on Aug. 30,

2013, for Michael Morse.

Mound Move Pays Off For JerezBOSTON It wasn’t hard to daydream with Williams Jerez. From the time Red Sox northeast area scout Ray Fagnant started fol-lowing him in the summer before his senior year of high school, Jerez stood out for his physicality and five-tool skill set, while also receiving tremendous marks for makeup.

In one showcase contest at the Yankees’ spring training facility, Fagnant recalled, Jerez went 5-for-5 with a long homer, a triple, threw out a runner from the outfield and made an impact on the bases.

“He did everything,” Fagnant said. “He obviously showed some high school raw vul-nerability to breaking balls, like they all do, but he showed all the makings of a top-flight prospect. … The big question mark with him, like everybody else, was how well the tools were going to play, and if he ultimately was going to be able to hit.”

He wasn’t. After the Sox took Jerez in the second round of the 2011 draft, he struggled offensively for three years, never advancing beyond short-season Lowell en route to a .221/.254/.275 line. In deference to those struggles, at the end of spring training in 2014, the organization asked Jerez to move to the mound.

Two years into his pitching career, Jerez is nearing that goal. The Sox added him to the 40-man roster this winter after the 6-foot-4 lefthander followed a strong debut in 2014 with an even better year across three full-season levels in 2015.

Jerez sprinted from low Class A Greenville to high Class A Salem to Double-A Portland, totaling a 2.54 ERA with 86 strikeouts and 31 walks in 88 innings. He has an easy deliv-ery with a three-quarters arm slot that seems to generate some deception in allowing his fastball, typically 92-94 mph with occasional 95s, to get swings and misses. His slider is inconsistent but shows flashes of promise to the point where the Sox felt compelled to protect Jerez, thus making the 23-year-old a part of the team’s big league depth equation.

SOX YARNS

Q Bryce Brentz, whose season ended in mid-June due to

thumb surgery, joined Caguas in the Puerto Rican League in

mid-December.

Q Lefthander Brian Johnson, who was shut down with

elbow nerve irritation in August, is expected to be on track to

open 2016 in Pawtucket’s rotation.

Rays Manage To Stay StaticST. PETERSBURG Change can be good sometimes, as the Rays showed by shuffling their minor league coaching corps in 2015.

The Rays kept their staffs largely intact for 2016, returning the same managers to all seven domestic affiliates.

“Stability is important to us,’’ farm director Mitch Lukevics said. “We have managers up and down the system that are not only good teachers, but good leaders of men. Stay with what works.’’

Under that plan, Jared Sandberg returns to manage Triple-A Durham for his sec-ond season, Brady Williams to Double-A Montgomery for his third season, Michael Johns to high Class A Charlotte for his sec-ond, Reinaldo Ruiz to low Class A Bowling Green for his second, Tim Parenton to short-season Hudson Valley for his third, Danny Sheaffer to Rookie-level Princeton for his fourth and Jim Morrison to the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League for his fourth.

The biggest change among the coaching staffs was the promotion of hitting coach Ozzie Timmons, who moves up from Montgomery to Durham to replace veteran Dave Myers, who was not offered a contract. Timmons, who played briefly for his home-town Rays during a 16-year pro career that included parts of five seasons in the majors, had spent the last seven seasons with the Biscuits, and worked previously at low Class A Columbus (2008) and Hudson Valley (2007).

“Ozzie has been an important part of our staff for years,’’ Lukevics said. “He is a former Rays and Bulls player that has been ready for the next level. He has more than earned his promotion, and we look forward to what he can bring to our players in Durham.’’

Timmons was replaced in Montgomery by Dan DeMent, who continues his climb through the organizations.

COOL RAYS

Q Charlie Haeger, who spent parts of five seasons in

the majors throwing a knuckleball, was hired as a pitching

coordinator. Haeger, who had been working as the pitch-

ing coach for Madonna University in Livonia, Mich., joins a

veteran staff that includes Dick Bosman, Dewey Robinson

and Jorge Moncada. Rafael Valenzuela, a former minor-

league infielder with the Astros, was also hired as a coach

with the GCL Rays.

Q Athletic trainer Mike Sandoval returns to Durham for

what will be his 30th season in pro ball.

Blue Jays Add Triple-A DepthTORONTO During an organizational meeting early in the offseason, the Blue Jays put their potential roster for Triple-A Buffalo on a board and saw a gaping hole for the Bisons rotation.

“There were five guys named ‘blank,’ ” team president Mark Shapiro said. “The guys named blank don’t contribute many innings. We had to deal with that challenge.”

Those blank spaces were filled in late December by the signings of Roberto Hernandez, Brad Penny, Scott Copeland and Wade LeBlanc to minor league deals with invitations to spring training. Combined with an earlier minor league deal with Scott Diamond, the Blue Jays now have depth.

“All five of those guys have major league experience, have had success in the big leagues in some capacity,” assistant general manager Andrew Tinnish said.

Hernandez, who has history from his Cleveland days with both Shapiro and new general manager Ross Atkins, may end up in competition for the fifth starter’s spot with the Blue Jays. His career ground ball percentage of 56.5 percent is a good fit for Rogers Centre. In 20 games with the Houston Astros last season, 11 of them starts, he went 3-5, 4.36 with a 1.37 WHIP.

“What’s appealing about him and what he could potentially bring to us is the ability to sink the ball and get ground balls,” Tinnish said.

Penny spent the year with Triple-A Charlotte in the White Sox system, recording a 1.98 groundout-to-airout ratio, while walk-ing just 33 batters over 135 innings

“He’s another guy who gets a ton of ground-balls,” says Tinnish. “Not a huge strikeout rate, but threw a ton of strikes and got a bunch of ground balls. There’s track record there. Guys who have that history, who have done it and can show they can still pitch, why not take a shot?”

JAYS CHATTER

Q The Blue Jays claimed Junior Lake on waivers from

the Orioles, and he’s out of options like fellow outfielder

Ezequiel Carrera. Both are unlikely to win a big league job if

Michael Saunders is healthy, but will need to clear waivers.

Q Among the club’s other 40-man roster players who

head into spring training out of options are relievers Steve

Delabar and Chad Jenkins plus catching prospect A.J.

Jimenez.

BOSTON | Red SoxB Y A L E X S P E I E R

TAMPA BAY | RaysB Y M A R C T O P K I N

TORONTO | Blue JaysB Y S H I D A V I D I

NEW YORK | YankeesB Y G E O R G E K I N G

BALTIMORE | OriolesB Y R O C H K U B A T K O



ORGANIZATION REPORTSNL East

ATLANTA The Braves opened a gaping hole at shortstop in November when they traded Gold Glover Andrelton Simmons to the Angels for pitching prospect Sean Newcomb and Chris Ellis.

Atlanta filled that hole a month later—at least in the long term—by acquiring shortstop prospect Dansby Swanson, as well as big league outfielder Ender Inciarte and Triple-A righthander Aaron Blair, in the deal that sent Shelby Miller to the Diamondbacks.

A product of Marietta (Ga.) High in metro Atlanta, Swanson attended Vanderbilt and was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 draft.

The 22-year-old was well known to scouting director Brian Bridges and special assistant Roy Clark and fits every criteria the organiza-tion sought in building for the future.

“Both Roy and Brian had watched him for many years in both high school and college,” general manager John Coppolella said. “Our professional scouts and analytics department also liked him a lot and felt he could be an impact player at the major league level.

“Perhaps most importantly, and aside from the opinions of our people, was the impor-tance we place on makeup and just knowing what kind of player and person we were get-ting—(he’s) a true winner in every sense of the word.”

Swanson signed for $6.5 million but was limited to 83 at-bats in his pro debut at short-season Hillsboro after getting hit in the face with a pitch during a simulated game. He wound up batting .289/.394/.482 with 11 extra-base hits in 22 games and helped lead

the Hops to the Northwest League title.The Braves believe Swanson can remain

at shortstop for the long haul. An ideal No. 2 hitter, he possesses a well-rounded skill set and an advanced approach at the plate. He also has outstanding athleticism and natural leadership that should make him an ideal fit on a team building for the future.

Coppolella said Swanson is not on a specific timetable. He could begin 2016 at high Class A Carolina and finish Double-A Mississippi.

“We will let Dansby tell us when he’s ready,” Coppolella said. “Obviously we see him as a big part of our future.”

WIGWAM WISPS

Q Third baseman Adonis Garcia turned in a strong

winter-ball showing in the Venezuelan League by hitting

.370/.430/.519 with 22 RBIs in 36 games with Magallanes.

Q First baseman Joey Meneses returned to his native

Mexico this winter and hit .271/.333/.370 with nine doubles,

three home runs and 25 RBIs in 52 games with Culiacan.

Brice Is RightMIAMI The way righthander Austin Bricepitched on June 29 for Double-A Jacksonville, he could have been effective against a big league lineup.

That’s the opinion of Dave Berg, who spent seven years in the majors as a utility infielder and served as Suns manager in 2015.

Brice struck out a career-high 13 that day and gave up only one hit—a single—as he pitched eight scoreless innings. During one stretch, he retired 20 consecutive batters, 12 of them by strikeouts.

He did all this against Biloxi, the Brewers affiliate that had ripped Jacksonville pitchers for 11 runs in the previous game.

“Austin has great stuff—the ball coming out of his arm is electric,” said Berg, who also coached him at low Class A Greensboro in 2013.

“He has a plus fastball, a plus curve and a really good changeup. This past season, he developed a slider, and that was a big pitch for him. He just played around with it, and it came natural to him.”

Brice, a 23-year-old who attended high school in Pittsboro, N.C., is a 6-foot-4, 205-pound righthander selected by the Marlins in the ninth round of the 2010 draft.

Miami added him to the 40-man roster in November, proof that the Marlins believe he’s a prospect worth protecting.

But the fact remains that Brice has mixed highs with lows, which is evident by his career 4.41 ERA. He went 6-9, 4.67 in 25 starts in 2015, striking out 9.1 and walking 5.0 batters per nine innings.

His biggest problem has been control. He has a career walk rate of 5.3 per nine.

“He is a little erratic,” Berg said. “He can get a little emotional (on the mound), but that (fix) will come in time with more experi-ence, more maturity and more composure.

“Austin is still young. Age is on his side.”

FISH BITES

Q The Marlins claimed lefthanded reliever Mike Strong on

waivers from the Brewers in December. He recorded a 2.54

ERA with five saves at Double-A Biloxi in 2015 but struggled

when promoted to Triple-A Colorado Springs.

Q The Marlins lost seven players in the minor league phase

of the Rule 5 draft: third baseman Zach Cox, first base-

man Viosergy Rosa, lefthanders Chipper Smith and

Alex Burgos and righthanders Enderson Franco, Felipe

Gonzalez and D.J. Johnson.

Nearly PerfectNEW YORK Righthander Alex Palsha nearly was perfect at short-season Brooklyn last season.

A 27th-round pick in 2014 from Sacramento State, he limited New York-Penn League opponents to one run in 25 innings. He allowed 10 hits and nine walks while strik-ing out 34 in 22 relief appearances.

The run—and lone blown save in 14 chances—came in the ninth inning of the Cyclones’ game on Aug. 16, the final day of the first half. Palsha was set to travel to the league’s all-star game.

“It was definitely a bummer,” Palsha said. “It’s one of those things you definitely have in the back of your mind, thinking about.”

The 23-year-old throws a fastball that tops out at 95 mph. He also makes use of a curve-ball and a changeup.

He had Tommy John surgery as a high school senior in Danville, Calif., and redshirt-ed his freshman year at Diablo Valley (Calif.) JC. He went on to pitch one season there, one season at the JC of San Mateo (Calif.) and one season at Sacramento State.

Palsha worked as a reliever at the last stop, setting up closer Sutter McLoughlin, who pitched for Williamsport in the New York-Penn League in 2015 after being selected by the Phillies in the 25th round in June.

“When I found out I was a reliever in col-lege, I wasn’t really used to it,” Palsha said, “because I’ve always been a starter. And I’ve always wanted to be a starter.”

“As the season (progressed), I developed a routine and realized (relieving is) a really good fit for me as a pitcher. I feel like it’s been work-ing out well (in) pro ball.”

Palsha’s 25-year-old brother Ryan pitched for four seasons in the Orioles system after being drafted in the 16th round in 2009.

“We played high school on the same team and travel ball on the same team,” Palsha said. “He was a role model, especially when he went pro. It just made me want to do what he was doing and just compete with the best out there.”

METAMORPHOSES

Q The Double-A Binghamton franchise was sold to Evans

Street Baseball. New owner John Hughes pledged to keep

the Eastern League club in Binghamton for the long term.

Q The Mets promoted Kevin Morgan to director of player

development to replace Dick Scott, who joined the big

league coaching staff as bench coach.

Cordero Shows Closer StuffPHILADELPHIA The Phillies traded two closers in 2015 and will hold auditions for the role in spring training. Down the road, the job could belong to Jimmy Cordero, a righthander with a fastball that can reach triple digits.

The 24-year-old is one of two power-armed relievers from the Dominican Republic who the Phillies acquired from the Blue Jays for outfielder Ben Revere in July. The other is 21-year-old righty Alberto Tirado, whom Philadelphia left exposed in the recent Rule 5 draft, but he went unselected.

The book on Cordero is similar, though he is older, more advanced and was added to the 40-man roster in November. He made 45 appearances at high Class A and Double-A in 2015, recording a 2.55 ERA to go with 8.6 strikeouts and 3.2 walks per nine innings.

Phillies officials, who for years had seen Cordero as an opponent, were impressed with his work after the trade. In 17 innings at Double-A Reading, he allowed just 11 hits while walking four and striking out 18.

“I’ve seen a lot of Cordero,” director of player development Joe Jordan said. “I like him. I especially like what I saw late in the season. I saw signs of a pitcher. He showed consistency filling up the zone. He’s as good an arm as we have. We’re anxious to see more.”

The Phillies traded Jonathan Papelbon to the Nationals in July, opening the closer’s role for homegrown Ken Giles. The rebuild-ing Phillies then dealt Giles to the Astros in December for a package of five pitchers that included righthanders Vincent Velasquez, Mark Appel and Thomas Eshelman.

General manager Matt Klentak said the Giles deal was one “we couldn’t pass up.”

In the long term, Cordero could be the club’s closer if he continues to harness his power stuff. Regardless, the 2016 season could be an important indicator of his future.

“We think that Cordero has the weapons to be a (high-leverage) reliever,” Klentak said. “We’ll see. Sometimes in the minor leagues, the development of the player takes precedent over the role they serve.”

PHILUPS

Q Shortstop J.P. Crawford, the organization’s top prospect,

will participate in his first big league camp this spring.

Q First baseman Brock Stassi, the MVP of the Double-A

Eastern League in 2015, also earned an invite to big league

camp. The 26-year-old hit .300 with 15 homers and 90 RBIs.

Marmolejos Breaks ThroughWASHINGTON First baseman Jose Marmolejos transformed himself from a nondrafted free agent to the Nationals’ minor league player of the year in 2015.

Therefore, this season will be all about building on that success.

Marmolejos, who signed with Washington in June 2011 out of Broward (Fla.) CC, made the low Class A South Atlantic League postseason all-star team in 2015. He hit .310/.363/.485 with 11 home runs and 87 RBIs in 124 games at Hagerstown. He led the system’s full-season minor league batters in average, on-base percentage and slugging.

Farm director Mark Scialabba said the 6-foot-1, lefthanded batter has “developed a very effective, consistent approach at the plate and showed the ability to thrive with runners on base.”

While at South Broward High in Hollywood, Fla., in 2010, Marmolejos was an all-county selection as an outfielder. He also went 2-0 as a pitcher.

At Hagerstown, Marmolejos played 84 games at first base, one in left field and 39 more at DH, but the 23-year-old has helped himself with the glove.

“Over the past year and a half, he’s become much more physical,” Scialabba said, “and his work ethic has helped him on the defensive side, where he’s made strides with both his foot work and glove work at first base. We are expecting Jose to continue on the same path (next season).”

Since hitting just .223 in 184 at-bats in the Dominican Summer League as an 18-year-old, Marmolejos has a .294 average over 1,098 at-bats. In his final 64 games of 2015, he hit .339 with 28 extra-base hits.

He played sparingly for Licey in the Dominican League this winter.

“Jose had an impressive year, especially in the second half,” Scialabba said. “He’s an instinctual hitter who possesses the ability to barrel the ball consistently, looks to hit the ball where it’s pitched and uses all fields.”

CAPITAL GAINS

Q Brian Daubach will be the hitting coach at Triple-A

Syracuse in 2016 after managing at Double-A Harrisburg the

past two seasons.

Q Syracuse second baseman Cutter Dykstra re-signed

with the Nationals about a month after being granted minor

league free agency.

Braves bring Swanson back home




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Dansby Swanson

NEW YORK | MetsB Y A D A M R U B I N

PHILADELPHIA | PhilliesB Y J I M S A L I S B U R Y

WASHINGTON | NationalsB Y L A C Y L U S K

ATLANTA | BravesB Y B I L L B A L L E W

MIAMI | MarlinsB Y W A L T E R V I L L A


ORGANIZATION REPORTS AL Central

CHICAGO From the minute he was selected with the No. 8 overall pick in last June’s draft, Carson Fulmer’s future role with the White Sox has been debated.

Is he going to emerge as a starting pitcher? A reliever?

“I view myself as a starter,” said Fulmer, who was 13-2, 1.82 in 17 starts at Vanderbilt last season. “I feel like I’ve built a really good endurance level. I feel like I’ve been able to keep my stuff late into games and that was definitely something I had go out and pitch to prove. But starting, relieving, whatever’s going to help the team and help them win a bunch

of ballgames is the biggest thing for me. I’m definitely one to do whatever.”

After pitching 114 innings in college last year, Fulmer eased his way into professional baseball with the Sox and and pitched only 23 combined innings in the Rookie-level Arizona League and high Class A Winston-Salem.

This year, Fulmer is likely to begin the sea-son with Double-A Birmingham. Considering his amateur resume, he could be with Chicago before the season ends.

“Given his ability, his repertoire, his make-up, I certainly understand the expectation and belief that it will be a fairly quick path through the minors,” White Sox general man-ager Rick Hahn said. “But even a fairly quick path doesn’t mean less than a year after the draft. These things still normally take some time.”

The Sox drafted Carlos Rodon with the No. 3 overall pick in 2014, and the lefthander was also eased into pro ball. But after making

just two starts with Triple-A Charlotte last season, Rodon joined the White Sox.

Rodon made his first three appearances out of Chicago’s bullpen before moving to the rotation for the rest of the season.

Ace Chris Sale also broke into the majors as a relief pitcher, and Fulmer is likely to initially pitch out of the bullpen when he does make it to the White Sox.

With four lefthanders—Sale, Jose Quintana, Rodon and John Danks—in the current rotation, the righthanded Fulmer is expected to provide some needed balance at some point.

CHILITES

Q Chicago claimed outfielder Jerry Sands off waivers from

the Indians. Sands played in 50 games with Cleveland last

year and spent the rest of the season with Triple-A Columbus.

Q Looking to add bullpen depth, the White Sox signed

righthander Josh Wall to a minor league deal. Wall pitched

at Triple-A Indianapolis in the Pirates system last year.

Indians Pass On Trade TalksCLEVELAND Early in the offseason, the names of several of the Indians’ top prospects surfaced in the usual cascade of trade rumors that enveloped the Winter Meetings.

Feeling, however, that the organization was in a good spot with a replenished minor league system and a major league roster that includes a starting rotation that has three key and coveted pitchers under club control for multiple years on club-friendly contracts, Indians officials resisted the temptation to trade any of those assets in their quest to bolster the offense on the major league team.

Righthanders Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar are the leaders of the rotation, and the names of Carrasco and Salazar, in particular, were frequently mentioned in trade rumors.

Indians officials chose not to trade the two young pitchers, and were likewise reluctant, as the new year approached, to trade any of their top minor league prospects in order to acquire a hitter that could bring some sock to a lineup that among American League teams last year finished 11th in runs scored, 11th in slugging and 13th in home runs.

Teams obviously inquired about outfield-ers Bradley Zimmer and Clint Frazier, two former first-round picks who are ascending on schedule and could be ready to contribute at the major league level perhaps as soon as the later portions of the 2016 (Zimmer) and 2017 (Frazier) seasons.

Other Indians prospects whose names were mentioned in trade speculation were pitchers Mike Clevinger and Rob Kaminsky and first baseman Bobby Bradley.

When it comes to Zimmer and Frazier, Indians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti appears disinclined to discuss either player in trade talks.

“They both have bright futures, but they are not part of our planning for this year,” Antonetti said. “For now, we’re looking to build the best team we can for 2016.”

SMOKE SIGNALS

Q To make room for Rajai Davis on the 40-man roster

infielder Chris Johnson for was designated for assignment,

despite the fact that the he had two years and $17 million

remaining on his contract.

Q Outfielder Jerry Sands was designated for assignment

to make room on the 40-man for righthander Dan Otero,

acquired in a trade with the Phillies.

Injuries Delay TransitionDETROIT Shane Zeile has been sidetracked a bit by injuries while making the tough transition from college infielder to professional catcher. But his strong arm and desire to make the move successfully have the Tigers believing that he has a bright future.

Zeile, a fifth-round pick out of UCLA in 2014, has seen limited playing time.

“He keeps getting nicked up,” said Dave Owen, the Tigers’ director of player develop-ment. “He’s had little injuries here and there, but I’ll tell you what, here’s a guy who can really throw . . . He’s working on his foot-work. He’s working on receiving. He’s work-ing on a lot of things, obviously, to be able to catch, but he’s got the one thing you look for and that’s a guy that can throw. The other things will fall into place.”

Zeile, 22, hit .220/.284/.372 with six home runs and 34 RBIs in 2015 while splitting time between the short-season New York-Penn League and low Class A West Michigan. He batted .222/.275/.365 in 21 games in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League in 2014. He lost time that season with a broken hand.

Zeile, who is 6-foot-1, 195 pounds, has thrown out 41 percent of basestealers. Owen listed Zeile’s arm, his build and his desire to learn the position as just a few of the reasons the Tigers believe he can succeed as a catcher.

“He’s got a good build for a catcher, if that makes sense,” Owen said. “He’s not tall and thin. He’s not too short, not that there is a too short, but you look at him and he’s just got a good build for a catcher. Then obviously he can throw.

“Really one of the big things is he wants to do it. There’s some guys you think would be good catchers, you think it would be a good avenue for them to pursue, and you mention it to them and they don’t want to do that.”

Zeile is the nephew of Todd Zeile, who played in the majors for 16 seasons before retiring following the 2004 season.

TIGER TALES

Q Outfielder Steven Moya had two singles, a home run

and six RBIs on Dec. 20 before heading home for the rest of

the Dominican League regular season. He hit .298 with four

home runs and 27 RBIs. Moya walked 10 times and struck out

34 times in 35 games.

Q The Tigers traded lefthander Kyle Lobstein to the Pirates

for cash after designating him for assignment following the

signing of free agent Mike Aviles.

Another Royals Power ArmKANSAS CITY Andrew Edwards has what the Royals are seeking as a reliever.

Edwards, a 6-foot-6, 260-pound righthand-er who was a 19th-round 2013 draft pick out of Western Kentucky, throws hard.

“We love power arms,” said Royals low Class A Lexington pitching coach Carlos Reyes, who tutored Edwards in the Arizona Fall League. “We want hard throwers. We want them to come in there and go after hitters.

“He’s got a heavy fastball. Imagine trying to catch a bowling ball thrown at you. When you’ve got velocity and heaviness on the ball, it takes your fastball to another level.”

Reyes said Edwards touched 98-99 mph in the AFL, but primarily works at 95.

“At the beginning of the year back in A-ball, they told me I was up to 100 one time,” Edwards said. “The first couple of months of the season I was anywhere from 94 to 98. I was pretty consistent in that area.”

A right ankle sprain in June set back Edwards nearly a month.

“Toward the later part of the season, I put the ankle injury behind me and I started to get back into form like I was and it’s been a pretty consistent thing for me.”

In Edwards’ final 10 appearances for high Class A Wilmington, he allowed six hits, holding opponents to a .133 average, while striking out 14 in 14 innings.

That earned Edwards an invitation to the AFL, where he had a 2.25 ERA in nine games, striking out eight and walking one in 12 1/3 innings for Surprise. He has proven he can throw heat, which fits the Royals’ bullpen mold.

“They’ve got a bunch of them up there at the big league level,” Edwards said. “I hope I can keep throwing the ball hard, throwing strikes and getting guys out and maybe one day help contribute to that bullpen up there and help them win another World Series.”

ROYALTIES

Q Outfield prospect Logan Moon, who is from the Kansas

City suburb of Blue Springs, Mo., started slowly in the

Australian Baseball League, hitting .174 in his first 22 games,

but in his next 22 games raised his average to .321. Moon hit

.476 with six multi-hit games.

Q The Royals signed lefthander John Lannan, who was

6-10, 5.39 starting for Triple-A Albuquerque last year, to a

minor league contract.

Twins Show Belief In RosarioMINNESOTA Randy Rosario ranks 22nd among Twins minor league prospects in the new Baseball America Prospect Handbook. That doesn’t surprise Mike Radcliff.

“I can understand why this guy doesn’t appear on anyone’s top 10 or top 20 lists,” said Radcliff, the Twins’ vice president for player personnel. “He’s been hurt, and he probably doesn’t jump out at you on paper. But as an organization, we have a lot of belief in his ability. We think he’s absolutely a future big league starting pitcher.”

Minnesota proved that faith by placing Rosario, a 21-year-old Dominican lefthander, on its 40-man roster. It was a surprise move for a pitcher who has yet to rise above low Class A Cedar Rapids in five seasons.

“When you put a guy on the roster, it means there is a sense of urgency that he’s going to take steps forward,” Radcliff said. “You don’t put a guy on the roster who you think will be just OK,” adding that Rosario “has a much higher ceiling than a lot of guys in our system. He made progress last year.”

He did, posting a 3.52 ERA in 10 starts and striking out 7.5 hitters per nine innings in the Midwest League. The numbers weren’t bad for a guy coming off elbow reconstruction surgery.

“Excellent arm action. Efficient delivery. Good velocity,” Radcliff said. “The founda-tion of a good pitcher is all there. He’s got a slider, secondary pitches. He got challenged at Cedar Rapids and handled it well.”

Rosario will start 2016 at high Class A Fort Myers or Double-A Chattanooga. But the Twins had an inkling that they weren’t the only organization impressed with the lefty.

“There was reasonable concern about losing him to the Rule 5 draft,” Radcliff said. “We didn’t want to risk that. But now the clock is ticking, and he needs to respond. We think he’s a lot closer than most people do.”

TWIN KILLINGS

Q Catcher Kerby Camacho, an 18-year-old Puerto Rican

who batted .083 in his 19-game debut in the Rookie-level

Gulf Coast League debut in 2015, was suspended for 60

games after testing positive for the Nadrolone, an anabolic

steroid. Camacho was the Twins’ 11th-round pick last June.

Q Lefthander Buddy Boshers, who pitched 25 games

in relief for the Angels in 2013 but spent last season with

Somerset in the independent Atlantic League, accepted an

invitation to Twins camp for spring training.

In either role, Fulmer will move fast




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DETROIT | TigersB Y C H R I S I O T T

KANSAS CITY | RoyalsB Y A L A N E S K E W

MINNESOTA | TwinsB Y P H I L M I L L E R

CHICAGO | White SoxB Y S C O T G R E G O R

CLEVELAND | IndiansB Y J I M I N G R A H A M



ORGANIZATION REPORTSNL Central

PITTSBURGH Jameson Taillon was one of the participants in the Pirates’ annual fan festival in mid-December.

Signing autographs and posing for pictures in a convention center across the Allegheny River from PNC Park is the closest the right-hander has come to pitching in the major leagues.

Now 24, Taillon is getting antsy to make his debut.

It is closing on six years since the Pirates used the second overall pick in the 2010 ama-teur draft to select him from The Woodlands High in suburban Houston, and he has missed

the past two seasons because of injuries.“I think by midseason I should be ready,”

Taillon said of reaching the majors.Taillon tore an elbow ligament during

spring training in 2014 and had season-ending Tommy John surgery. He had finished the previous season by making six starts at Triple-A Indianapolis.

Taillon was on the verge of returning to Indianapolis’ rotation last June when he felt abdominal pain during his fifth and final start in extended spring training. He wound up having another season-ending surgery.

However, Taillon insists that the last two years have not been wasted. He has lost 20 pounds off his 6-foot-5 frame and is spending the offseason working out in Houston with Pirates closer Mark Melancon and Washington Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon.

“It really bugged me when I heard peo-ple say I had two lost years,” Taillon said.

“Because those two ‘lost’ years, I was working with the best pitching coaches, away from the drawing board, getting to refine what I was weak at. I got to work out more and get on a better eating schedule. I think that ‘two lost years’ is kind of bogus, because I definitely got a lot better. I didn’t stall out by any means.”

Taillon will get the chance to start proving that again in spring training. If all goes well, he will start the season at Indianapolis—and everyone hopes that he can end it in Pittsburgh.

PITTBURGERS

Q Former major league infielder and coach Joey Cora was

hired to manage Double-A Altoona. Cora was the White Sox’s

third base coach under manager Ozzie Guillen when they

won the World Series in 2005 and most recently served as an

analyst for MLB Network.

Q Tom Prince was promoted to minor league field coordina-

tor after spending last season managing Altoona, his 11th as

a skipper in the Pirates system.

Preparing For Extra TimeCHICAGO The Cubs this winter have emphasized in their minor league instruction a loud mes-sage in efforts to prepare players to last the extra month of a major league season when they get the opportunity:

Prepare for two extra months.“We talked about that this year,” farm

director Jaron Madison said, “planning for our guys to play for eight months and get deep into the year. Minor league guys start the first week of April and are pretty much done the first week of September. It’s about getting those guys mentally and physically prepared to get through September and hope-fully October.”

Three of those guys—Kris Bryant, Addison Russell and Kyle Schwarber—all debuted after the season started and as a group were managed down the stretch to help pre-vent them from hitting the wall rookies often face in September.

“Now it’s preparing all of the minor leaguers for the mindset of playing for that full eight months,” Madison said.

For example, that’s why 2015 breakout prospect Jeimer Candelario was sent to the Arizona Fall League for 21 more games after his 128-game regular season—and why team officials were excited about his performance.

“It’ll be interesting to see him around the big leaguers and how he develops around those guys,” Madison said of the third baseman who was added to the 40-man roster ahead of his first big league spring training. “It’s going to be an exciting year for him this year.”

The theme carried into team’s annual mind-and-body strength and conditioning camp this winter. Instructors stressed building up for the grind of an extra-long season as much as shor-ing up individual performance deficiencies.

“We’re planning on playing in the playoffs every year,” Madison said, “so those guys have to be prepared to do that.”

CUBBY HOLES

Q After dueling waiver wire moves, the Cubs added another

lefthander in Edgar Olmos. Olmos, a 2008 third-round draft

pick, was claimed Dec. 4 from the Mariners by the Cubs, and

then claimed six days later from the Cubs by the Orioles. The

Cubs claimed him back on Dec. 23.

Q Righthander P.J. Francescon, 27, was suspended 50

games for testing positive for a second time for a drug of

abuse. The two-time Southern League all-star earned his

Triple-A debut in 2015 after a strong Double-A showing.

Fine Fall For TraviesoCINCINNATI Everyone knows the Arizona Fall League features many of the game’s top tal-ents, but something that is often overlooked is that it also features some of the best young umpires, many with major league experience.

For some of the younger players—especially pitchers—in the AFL, it’s their first taste of a big league strike zone. It was for Reds right-hander Nick Travieso, and among the many things that impressed Derrin Ebert, the Reds’ pitching coach for their Rookie-level Arizona League team and Travieso’s Peoria team in the AFL.

“The strike zone is different than what they see normally in the Florida State League,” Ebert said. “It’s one thing that’s overlooked, it’s one thing I was impressed with the tighter strike zone. Travy is an aggressive guy, he’s not going to pick corners. He’s going to attack you and if you beat him, you’re going to beat him with his best stuff.”

In his 22 innings in the AFL, he had 20 strikeouts and just three walks. Travieso made four starts and five appearances in the AFL, going 1-0, 2.05, continuing the strong season he had at high Class A Daytona, where he was 6-6, 2.70 in 19 starts.

While he’s been overshadowed at points by fellow first-rounder Robert Stephenson and the high-rising Amir Garrett on Reds pros-pects list, many in the organization are just as high on Travieso.

“The way he goes about it, the way he goes about his daily work, he shows that he’s much more mature than what his age shows,” Ebert said. ”

Much of that increased maturity, Travieso said, was from his time off in 2015. Travieso missed nearly two months with Daytona with a broken bone in his right wrist after getting hit with a comebacker.

“This year was a big step for me, I wish I hadn’t gotten hurt, but at least I showed a lot,” Travieso said.

RED HOTS

Q After two years as a consultant, pitching coach Tom

Brown will return full-time to coaching, serving as the pitch-

ing coach at high Class A Daytona.

Q Third baseman Eric Jagielo, acquired in the Aroldis

Chapman trade, won’t be the immediate successor to Todd

Frazier at third base, but he could find himself there in a pla-

toon spot. Walt Jocketty, president of baseball operations,

said he could also play some first base.

Hot Contest At Hot CornerMILWAUKEE It wasn’t that long ago that Boston Red Sox fans wondered what would happen to third base prospect Garin Cecchini with Will Middlebrooks blocking him at the big-league level. Now, both players will be in the Brewers’ spring camp.

“The baseball world can change pretty quickly,” general manager David Stearns noted.

Within a span of five days in December, the Brewers acquired Cecchini in a cash deal with Boston and signed Middlebrooks to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training. Middlebrooks, 27, became a free agent when San Diego failed to tender him a contract at the Dec. 2 deadline.

Once considered a top prospect, Middlebrooks had a strong debut with Boston in 2012, batting .288 with 15 home runs and 54 RBIs over 75 games. The following year, he compiled 17 homers and 49 RBI in 94 games but his OPS slipped from .835 to .522.

Plagued by injuries, Middlebrooks contin-ued to slide in 2014, batting .191 with a .522 OPS in 63 games. After that season, the Red Sox signed free agent Pablo Sandoval and shipped Middlebrooks to the Padres. He con-tinued to struggle last season in San Diego, with .602 OPS before being sent to Triple-A El Paso in July.

Cecchini, 24, was designated for assignment after a poor year with Triple-A Pawtucket. He bats lefthanded, setting up a possible platoon with the righty Middlebrooks at third base.

As for why both players backtracked offen-sively, Stearns said, “There are probably dif-ferent reasons for each guy. Middlebrooks did have success in the major leagues when he first came up and since then has had suc-cess in spurts but hasn’t maintained as well as you’d like.

“Cecchini is still a young player. He has been a prospect on the industry radar for a while. We still think that same talent is there and the ability is still there.”

MICROBREWS

Q Outfielder Eric Young Jr. signed a minor league deal with

an invitation to spring training.

Q The Brewers claimed three players on waivers in

December: outfielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis (from the Mets),

catcher Josmil Pinto (Padres) and first baseman Andy

Wilkins(Rangers). Pinto was later designated for assign-

ment, cleared waivers and signed a minor league deal.

Oh Yes! Cards Find Setup ManST. LOUIS After a few years of learning the landscape and a few failed attempts to land talent from it, the Cardinals reached abroad and into Asia this January to find the reliever they desired.

The Cardinals signed Korean closer Seung Hwan Oh to a one-year deal and made what they hope is a significant stride into a market they have explored and have wanted to find a way to exploit. Oh, 33, had 80 saves and a 2.25 ERA total in the past two seasons with the Hanshin Tigers of Japan’s major league, and he had sought a chance to prove himself in the majors. The Cardinals believe he can be the chief setup man for closer Trevor Rosenthal.

As we stated all along we felt like we wanted to do something to ramp it up,” general manager John Mozeliak said. “We were look-ing at a lot of different ways to do that. We were going to spend some energy and some resources trying to get a better understanding of the Asian market.”

The Cardinals began compiling a scouting report on Oh during the 2009 World Baseball Classic. The team also invested more scouting time and resources in learning the profes-sional leagues in Korea and Japan, while also developing a way, analytically, to predict how talent in Asia would translate to the majors. A key part of that algorithm was comparing the success of players who had made the move, and unifying the statistical models with the evaluations from scouts.

The past two winters, the Cardinals have submitted bids for a Korean player and each time they came shy of being the highest bid-der, finishing second to Pittsburgh for infield-er Jung Ho Kang before the 2015 season and somewhere behind Minnesota for Byung-Ho Park this past winter. Oh was appealing to the Cardinals because he was a true free agent and not attached to a posting fee.

Oh arrives with two nicknames that he said fans gave him in Korea: “Stone Buddha” and “The Final Boss.” He prefers “The Final Boss.”

REDBIRD CHIRPS

Q The Cardinals will bring back the managers at all eight of

their minor league affiliates. Mike Shildt will lead Triple-A

Memphis.

Q Breyvic Valera hit .292/.381/.401 for Bravos de Margarita

in Venezuela after hitting .236/.301/.297 at Double-A.

Taillon aims to show nothing was lost




MIK

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NESJameson Taillon

CINCINNATI | RedsB Y C . T R E N T R O S E C R A N S

MILWAUKEE | BrewersB Y T O M H A U D R I C O U R T

ST. LOUIS | CardinalsB Y D E R R I C K G O O L D

PITTSBURGH | PiratesB Y J O H N P E R R O T T O

CHICAGO | CubsB Y G O R D O N W I T T E N M Y E R


ORGANIZATION REPORTS AL West

ARLINGTON The debate about which Rangers prospect had the best 2015 season boils down to two players: Nomar Mazara and Lewis Brinson.

Joey Gallo has an argument, to a degree. After all, he actually played in the majors, and at times played very well before a difficult stretch at Triple A.

But Mazara and Brinson, outfielders on the rise, had the best campaigns among players who didn’t spend time with the big club. In Brinson’s case, he finally showed the potential that comes with being a first-round pick.

The 29th overall pick in 2012 excelled at

three levels in 2015 and finished the year by hitting .300 in the Arizona Fall League. Playing a level away from the majors and then wearing a Rangers jersey in Arizona has him thinking big.

“At Triple-A, that’s one step away. Even Double-A is one step away,” Brinson said. “I’ve always wanted to be in the Fall League to have the opportunity to wear that big-league jersey.”

Brinson posted a .300/.408/.575 slash line in the AFL on top of his .332/.403/.601 line at high Class A High Desert, Frisco and Round Rock. The 21-year-old was one of only three minor-leaguers to post an OPS above 1.000.

The 6-foot-3, 170 pound Brinson found an approach at the plate, and for the first time as a pro stuck to it for a full season. The result was a reduction in his strikeout rate to 21.5 percent.

“My ultimate plan is staying middle and the other way,” Brinson said. “Every great hitter has to have a great plan up there. I finally had

a plan and stuck to it all year, and stuck to what worked for me and didn’t panic when I had a bad game. I trusted myself.”

The Rangers’ outfield appears set for 2016 and maybe 2017 depending on Josh Hamilton’s health. Though Brinson plays center field, he has played the corner outfield spots and has no problem moving around.

“Whatever gets me to the big leagues fast-est,” he said. “Whatever I can do to help that team win is what I’m striving for.”

RANGER ROUNDUP

Q Guilder Rodriguez retired as a player in September,

singling in his final at-bat, but he’s not leaving the Rangers’

organization. He was hired by Texas in November to be a

coach in the Dominican Summer League.

Q Travis Demeritte, the 30th overall pick in the 2013 draft,

was batting just .214 after 140 at-bats in the Australian

Baseball League. The second baseman, 21, missed most of

the 2015 season while serving an 80-game suspension for

using a banned substance.

Under The RadarHOUSTON In a blockbuster deal in which the Astros unloaded the top overall pick in the 2013 draft and two pitchers with major-league service time, Panamanian shortstop Jonathan Arauz was the least known player who changed addresses when the Phillies sent closer Ken Giles to the Astros.

Arauz joined Giles with the Astros in exchange for Mark Appel, Vince Velasquez, Brett Oberholtzer and minor league righthanders Harold Arauz and Thomas Eshelman.

It could be several years before anybody knows if the Astros paid too much for Giles, but Jonathan Arauz’s development could ulti-mately make the deal more than a one-for-five.

Some scouts believed Jonathan Arauz, 17, was the top amateur in Panama when he signed with the Phillies for $600,000 as a 16-year-old in 2014.

Most teenagers from Panama, the Dominican Republic or Venezuela spend a year or two in the Dominican or Venezuelan summer leagues before their big league clubs secure P1 visas for them to play in the United States. So it’s a testament to Arauz’s talent that he made his debut in the Phillies’ Rookie-level Gulf Coast League team at 16 last year.

“I saw him a lot as an amateur,” said Oz Ocampo, the Astros’ director of international operations. “He’s really athletic and has really good hands, reliable hands.”

Arauz hit .254/.309/.370 in 44 games in the GCL. He had 2 home runs and 18 RBIs with 13 walks and 29 strikeouts.

The lanky 6-foot, 147-pounder committed only one error in 97 chances.

“He shows some power,” said Ocampo, who had scouted Arauz before the young shortstop signed with the Phillies. “He’s a guy that, for his age and for his background, he’s got a really good strike zone discipline.”

Ocampo compares Arauz favorably to Miguel Angel Sierra, the 6-foot Venezuelan shortstop who received a $1 million sign-ing bonus from the Astros in July 2014 as a 16-year-old.

SPACE SHOTS

Q Shortstop Alex Bregman, the second overall pick in 2015,

will be in major league camp as a non-roster invitee.

Q Several of the Astros’ picks from the 2014 draft have also

progressed enough to earn invitations to big league spring

training. Outfielder Derek Fisher, third baseman J.D. Davis

and first baseman A.J. Reed will be in big league camp.

Step Back To Step ForwardANAHEIM The numbers would indicate that 20-year-old outfield prospect Natanael Delgado took a step back in 2015.

Delgado, who signed with the Angels out of the Dominican Republic in 2013, compiled a .301/.333/.464 slash line with three home runs, 21 RBIs, 34 strikeouts and five walks in 38 games for Rookie-level Orem in an injury shortened 2014.

The lefthanded-hitting Delgado was pro-moted to low Class A Burlington in 2015 and compiled a .241/.276/.355 slash line with six homers, 46 RBIs, 104 strikeouts and 19 walks in 108 games.

“His strikeouts were high, and his walks are low,” said Bobby Scales, the former farm director who was recently promoted to special assistant to the general manager. “Hopefully, that’s something we can clean up.”

Delgado’s swing also needed to be cleaned, and the significant changes he made under the direction of Burlington hitting coach Ryan Barba last season probably contributed to Delgado’s struggles at the plate.

The 6-foot-1, 170-pound Delgado had what Scales described as “a really awkward grip” on the bat. Delgado sat a little too low in his stance, and his shoulder and neck were tucked inward, restricting him. Just raising his hands slightly helped free Delgado up, but it took months before he was fully comfortable.

“The numbers weren’t great,” Scales said, “but it’s tough for a kid who has had success to buy into the changes we feel he needs to make to reach the ultimate goal. He and Ryan have forged a really good bond. There’s a lot of trust there.”

Delgado also changed his eating habits and adjusted his exercise program in an effort to improve his agility. He already has good raw power, makes hard contact and hits to all fields, and his doubles and home runs should increase as he gets bigger and stronger and continues to refine his swing.

ANGEL FOOD

Q The Angels claimed three players on waivers in late

December: utility infielder Rey Navarro from the Orioles and

lefthanded relievers Rob Rasmussen from the Mariners and

Bobby LaFromboise from the Pirates.

Q To make room on the 40-man roster for the additions, the

Angels outrighted righthanded reliever A.J. Achter, a waiver

claim from the Phillies, to Triple-A Salt Lake and released

catcher Rafael Lopez.

Breaking Down BarriersOAKLAND Starting as a 16-year-old in high school, Justine Siegal had a dream. She want-ed to coach professional baseball and show that a girl could teach the boys a thing or two.

That dream came true in the Fall of 2015 when Siegal served as a coach at the Athletics’ instructional league camp in Mesa, Ariz. She filled the role of a regular coach, hitting grounders and throwing batting practice, plus teaching a seminar on continuing education.

“I loved every minute of it,” Siegal said. “It’s just that I love baseball. With the A’s, I felt like I was part of a family.”

Her work ethic and determination impressed the coaches around her. “She’s a good person with a big heart,” farm director Keith Lieppman said. “Her own story is that of determination and setting new boundaries; not being distracted by the naysayers. Those are things that players can relate to.”

Siegal’s personal story is one of facing many naysayers. When she attended a baseball camp at 16, she encountered it quickly. “The first person I told that I wanted to be a coach laughed at me.”

Now, she has the last laugh. Siegal played baseball against the boys while she was grow-ing up in Cleveland, then continued through her adult years. She has already broken other barriers. She served as an assistant baseball coach at Springfield College in Massachusetts from 2008-10. Two years later, she went on a quest to become the first woman to throw batting practice to a major-league team, and she wound up throwing BP to the Indians, A’s, Rays, Cardinals, Astros and Mets.

“I’ve prepared my whole life for pretty much the impossible,” the 40-year-old says with a gentle laugh.

She is also the founder and director of Baseball for All, a program that gives girls the opportunity to play baseball.

“I love coaching, and I’m really honored to be the first (woman in pro baseball),” Siegal said. “But it’s not about me. It’s about build-ing a better future for the girls behind me.”

A’S ACORNS

Q The A’s hired Ed Sprague Jr. as a special assignment

coach. Sprague will work at spring training and instructs,

plus various duties throughout the system during the season.

Q Rangel Ravelo received time in left field during his stint

in the Venezuelan League. Normally a first baseman, adding

a position could provide more chances for making the majors.

A New PathSEATTLE When Mariners pitchers and catchers report to spring training in Peoria, Ariz., on Feb. 19, Danny Hultzen will come with a new role: relief pitcher.

“I’ve already spoken to him,” general man-ager Jerry Dipoto said. “We are going to try a new avenue. He’s going to come to spring training with the idea we are going to deploy him as a bullpen guy and see how it works.”

It’s not surprising, considering his injury struggles the past three seasons.

Hultzen, 26, has made a total of 10 starts the past three seasons (seven in 2013 and three in 2015) because of shoulder problems.

After trying to rehab back to health in 2013 and failing, Hultzen had shoulder surgery on Oct. 1, 2013 to repair damage to his rotator cuff, labrum and shoulder capsule. He sat out the 2014 season. His comeback in 2015 began well in spring training, but fatigue in the shoulder limited him to short starts in May. He didn’t pitch again in 2015.

It’s been a frustrating run of setbacks for the 6-foot-3, 210 pound Hultzen, who is one of the more popular players and diligent workers in the organization.

“He’s a great kid,” Dipoto said. “I think it’s just been unfortunate that he’s had to deal with a lot of the physical issues that he has. He’s terrifically talented.”

Considered to be one of the most big-league-ready picks in the 2011 draft, Hultzen was taken second overall and was expected to join James Paxton and Taijuan Walker as the foundation of the starting rotation.

“I’ve told this to (scouting director) Tom McNamara,” Dipoto said. “Anybody in the league is making that same pick. It’s unfortu-nate that it has worked out the way it has. But as I said to Danny on the phone when I told him we were removing him from the roster—I want to see him pitch in the big leagues.”

Perhaps being a lefthanded reliever is the best way to get there. The conversion process won’t be quick or simple for Hultzen. Keeping the shoulder healthy will be a priority.

MARINADE

Q In honor of Ken Griffey Jr.’s Hall of Fame induction, the

Mariners have retired the No. 24 not just at the major league

level, but with every minor league team in the organization.

Q The Mariners released righthanded reliever Anthony Bass

so he could pursue a pitching opportunity in Japan.

Consistent approach benefits Brinson




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LOS ANGELES | AngelsB Y M I K E D I G I O V A N N A

OAKLAND | AthleticsB Y C A S E Y T E F E R T I L L E R

SEATTLE | MarinersB Y R Y A N D I V I S H

TEXAS | RangersB Y J E F F W I L S O N

HOUSTON | Astros B Y J O S E D E J E S U S O R T I Z



ORGANIZATION REPORTSNL West

SAN DIEGO Petco Park favors pitchers, but home runs to left field are relatively easy to come by in the Padres’ downtown home.

While the inviting left-field seats aren’t why general manager A.J. Preller has targeted so many righthanded sluggers, they’re a piece of the puzzle

Jabari Blash, 26, is one of Preller’s recent additions, arriving with three other selections from the Rule 5 draft.

Blash hit 32 home runs last year with Mariners affiliates between Double-A and Triple-A.

“Jabari is a guy who was regarded as one of

the big power threats in the draft five years ago,” Preller said.

“I think that power is playing out in games. We were looking to replace a little right-handed power. Hopefully he can provide that for us.”

Preller traded for Blash after the Athletics used the No. 6 pick to draft him out of Seattle’s system. The transaction completed a deal that sent first baseman Yonder Alonso

to the A’s.Blash, who plays the corner outfield spots,

hit .271/.370/.576 last season in 406 at-bats.He grew up on the island of St. Thomas.

He switched from baseball to basketball at age 14 before returning to baseball as a high school senior.

The White Sox spent a 29th-round pick on Blash in 2007. He returned to the draft in 2009 and went in the ninth round to the Rangers, whose scouts included Preller. Finally, after the Mariners took him a year

later in the eighth round out of Miami Dade JC, he signed.

Blash, 6-foot-5 and 225 pounds, said he improved his hitting approach last year.

“When I get into slumps, when the strike-outs bunch up, it’s from trying to do too much,” he told the San Diego Union-Tribune. “Last year was key, figuring out how to focus on putting the ball in play, putting together good at-bats.”

FATHER FIGURES

Q Center fielder Manuel Margot, obtained in November

from the Red Sox in the Craig Kimbrel trade, led his

Dominican League team with four home runs in 123 at-

bats. A righty who turned 21 in September, Margot hit

.220/.273/.390 in the 39 games for Toros del Este.

Q The Padres signed former Cubs minor leaguer Carlos

Pimentel, who was the 2015 Triple-A Pacific Coast League

pitcher of the year. Pimental, 26, went 12-6, 1.95 for Iowa

and allowed a .229 batting average. The righty will compete

for a back-of-the-rotation job.

Brito In D-backs’ Plans PHOENIX Not only did the December trade of Ender Inciarte and prospects help the Diamondbacks land No. 2 starter Shelby Miller from Atlanta, it also opened an out-field spot.

At least a little bit of the move, it seems, had to do with the strides young outfielder Socrates Brito made last season.

“He’s got the right heartbeat,” Arizona manager Chip Hale said after the trade was consummated. “(Brito) knows how to breathe. Nothing seems too big of a deal for him.”

The Diamondbacks’ plan is to start second-year Cuban emigre Yasmany Tomas in right field to go with A.J. Pollock in center and David Peralta in left, but Brito’s short stint as a callup last September opened their eyes.

Brito, 23, slashed .303/.324/.455 with three doubles, a triple and a stolen base in 34 plate appearances with the Diamondbacks. He also had two assists, one from left field and one from right.

“Socrates came up and did a really good job for us,” Hale said. “You have to be careful, we know that. You have to be careful what you see in spring training and what you see in September. So we’ll see, when you get in the midst of August and the grind, how he plays. But I’m very comfortable if we broke camp with those four outfielders. We would be very comfortable with that right now.”

Vice president of Latin American opera-tions Junior Noboa signed Brito, 6-foot-1 and 202 pounds, as a free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2010. BA named Brito the best athlete in the organization before each of the last two seasons.

Brito slashed .300/.339/.451 with nine homers and 20 stolen bases at Double-A Mobile, his first season at that level. He was two years younger than the average position player in the league.

SNAKE BITES

QMike Benjamin, who managed the Rookie-level Arizona

League Diamondbacks in his first season in the organization

last year, was promoted to manage low Class A Kane County

in 2016. Benjamin’s staff will include first-year pitching coach

Rich Sauveur, hitting coach Jonathan Mathews and coach

Shawn Roof.

Q Mark Grudzielanek, who managed Kane County last

season, was promoted to a new position as the organization’s

assistant hitting coordinator.

Anderson On The MendDENVER Lefthander Tyler Anderson is confi-dent the second stress fracture in his left elbow that caused him to miss all of 2014 is fully healed. Confirmation came in the Rockies’ Dominican Instructional League program where Anderson recovered quickly from two three-inning starts.

Anderson, 26, was the Texas League pitcher of the year in 2014 when he went 7-4, 1.98 in 118 innings for Double-A Tulsa. He missed two starts that year in May with left elbow soreness, which caused him to leave after three innings in a championship-round playoff game in September.

“I never started throwing,” said Anderson, the 20th overall pick in the 2011 draft. “Just took the time off, and I first got a CT scan in January. And it showed there wasn’t much healing. With a bone like that, if you take a week or two off, you feel great. So I felt great the whole time, which is the most frustrat-ing part. You feel like you can go out and do everything, but if it still shows up on a CT scan, then there’s a chance it might flare back up on you.”

Anderson said his last CT scan in late September was clean.

He’s 23-10, 2.39 in 328 minor league innings but has been plagued by injuries, including a sports hernia in 2012 that required surgery after the season, left shoulder soreness that sidelined him for nine weeks in 2013 and a stress fracture in his elbow that caused him to miss the 2013 Arizona Fall League.

Player development director Zach Wilson said Anderson was far along in his develop-ment when he finished up the 2014 season, so some Triple-A experience this year should put him very close to the majors.

“The fact that we were able to knock the rust off in the Dominican was a huge step towards getting him ready,” Wilson said. “I’m very optimistic about what’s going on with him.”

ROCKY ROADS

Q Righthander Alex Balog, whose 2015 debut for high Class

A Modesto was delayed until June 14 due to a groin strain,

finished with 144 innings, including 47 in the Australian

Baseball League where he went 5-2, 1.35 in eight starts.

Q Center fielder Wes Rogers was successful on 46 of 50 sto-

len base attempts while hitting .278/.358/.392 in 77 games

for low Class A Asheville last year and is 68-for-73 in steals in

two professional seasons.

Youth At The HelmLOS ANGELES In choosing Dave Roberts as their new manager, the Dodgers’ decision-makers praised his energy, enthusiasm and open-mindedness to the progressive direction the organization plans to take.

The same qualities were apparently at the forefront when assembling the minor-league staff as well. The Dodgers announced their group of minor league managers for the 2016 season, and it is a decidedly younger group. Of the six—Bill Haselman at Triple-A Oklahoma City, Ryan Garko at Double-A Tulsa, Drew Saylor at high Class A Rancho Cucamonga, Gil Velazquez at low Class A Great Lakes, Shaun Larkin at Rookie-level Ogden and John Shoemaker in the Arizona League—four are 36 years old or younger.

Only Haselman (50) and Shoemaker (59) return from 2015 when five of the six manag-ers in those positions were 48 or older. But skewing younger is “more coincidental than anything,” according to Dodgers director of player development Gabe Kapler.

“Age will never be a factor,” Kapler said. “What we are looking for is dynamic, charis-matic leaders who were willing to pay atten-tion to the initiatives we have in place in our player development. Healthy foods, commu-nication, trust—things that are important to us, we want them to be fully engaged in that.”

Haselman figures to have the biggest challenge next season, moving up from the California League to Triple-A. The OKC Dodgers made 334 transactions last season. Eighty-four different players appeared in at least one game for them with the Dodgers’ front office shuffling players constantly in an attempt to customize the big league roster for optimal results, at times on a daily basis.

Kapler acknowledged “we really love the concept” of maximizing flexibility at the big-league level and Haselman will have to deal with similar roster churn in 2016.

L.A. CONFIDENTIAL

Q The Dodgers signed outfielder Rico Noel to a minor

league contract. Noel, 27, spent September (and the wild-

card game) with the Yankees last season. Noel is just a .254

hitter in six minor league seasons but has 283 stolen bases in

that time in 344 attempts.

Q Utilityman Elian Herrera is back with the Dodgers.

Herrera signed a minor league contract with a non-roster

invitation to spring training. The 31-year-old Herrera was

with the Dodgers in 2012 and 2013.

Blackburn Turns It AroundSAN FRANCISCO It was beginning to look like a lost year for righthander Clayton Blackburn.

He didn’t get much of an opportunity to impress Giants coaches in major league camp because of shoulder tendinitis. Then he stayed in Arizona when the minor league seasons began. When he reported to Triple-A Sacramento, he was 2-3, 4.50 in his first seven starts—including a nine-run blasting at Albuquerque that served as a rude introduc-tion to the Pacific Coast League.

But then three things happened: Jake Peavy

reported to Sacramento for a rehab assign-ment, then Matt Cain followed shortly there-after, and Blackburn took a three-week break from the rotation. He was able to refresh his mind, and he had access to two of the organi-zation’s smartest starting pitchers to help him.

Blackburn returned to the rotation June 29, he didn’t allow more than two earned runs in any of his remaining 13 starts, and his 2.85 ERA was the best in the league. Regardless of the circumstances, winning an ERA title in one of the minor leagues’ liveliest circuits is an accomplishment.

Drafted in the 16th round in 2011, Blackburn, 23, has a different goal as he pre-pares for another major league spring camp.

“We want him to show us how close he is to helping,” Giants general manager Bobby Evans said. “I think we’re all very encouraged with what he accomplished last season, and he’ll get every chance to build on that.”

The Giants don’t figure to enter the season with a dire need in the rotation, after spend-ing $220 million on Jeff Samardzija and Johnny Cueto.

But Blackburn’s ability to rediscover the form and finish on his curveball, and his abil-ity to keep an 89-90 mph fastball in the lower third of the strike zone, made him an effective contact-oriented pitcher that could translate to the bigger parks in the NL West.

GIANTICS

Q After one season managing at Double-A Richmond, Jose

Alguacil moves up to skipper Triple-A Sacramento, replacing

Bob Mariano. Former Giant Damon Minor was hired to

serve as the River Cats’ hitting coach. Former major league

catcher Miguel Ojeda was hired to replace Alguacil as

manager at Richmond.

Q Righthander Cody Hall was designated for assignment

when the Giants signed outfielder Denard Span and added

him to the 40-man roster.

Padres make Rule 5 splash with Blash

JOH

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ILLI

AM

SON

Jabari Blash




COLORADO | RockiesB Y J A C K E T K I N

LOS ANGELES | DodgersB Y B I L L P L U N K E T T

SAN FRANCISCO | GiantsB Y A N D Y B A G G A R L Y

SAN DIEGO | PadresB Y T O M K R A S O V I C

ARIZONA | DiamondbacksB Y J A C K M A G R U D E R

Coaches:

You asked for it!

You asked for new benefits. We delivered.Members asked for Personal Liability Insurance. We delivered a $1 million policy for all members who are U.S. residents.

Members asked for more baseball articles and teaching content. We partnered with Inside Pitch Magazine to offer a free subscription to all members.

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You asked for financial incentives and discounts. We added a 30% discount on ABCA clinic videos, a 5% discount on championship rings from Terryberry and 10-25% discounts on hotels and rental cars from leading chains.

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The ABCA understands budgetary concerns. At $45, we have kept our annual dues the lowest of any major coaches association.

All of this, and we host the largest and best baseball convention in the World, featuring25 clinics, the ABCA Trade Show, hot stoves, meetings, celebrations and more.

Join us in Anaheim for the 73rd annual ABCA Convention, Jan. 5-8, 2017!

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ON CAMPUS ABCA convention


BY TEDDY CAHILL

NASHVILLE

As the 2016 American Baseball Coaches Association Convention began at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel, the Division I coaches had their annual meeting to discuss some of the pressing issues in the game.

The ABCA is pushing for several pieces of reform that it thinks will benefit baseball coaches, beginning with two rule changes expected to be voted on this year. Both affect the NCAA-enforced “quiet period” during recruiting and hold wide support among the coaches, according to an ABCA survey.

The proposed rule changes would prevent coaches from working for outside camps or clinics during the quiet period and would extend the quiet period in the fall by a week to enable coaches to be on campus when the players begin the fall semester.

ABCA executive director Craig Keilitz said he thinks both are common sense proposals.

“I don’t know how anybody could be against that,” he said. “That’s pulling coaches off the road more. It’s a budget-saver, it’s allowing kids to live lives in high school and allow coaches to be with their student-athletes on campus.”

The ABCA is also beginning the process of crafting proposals for next year and has four changes it would like to bring about:Q Eliminate the rule that scholarship play-

ers must receive at least 25 percent financial aid.Q Eliminate the rule that caps the number

of scholarship players at 27 per team.Q Allow an additional paid assistant coach,

raising the number allowed to three.Q Allow teams to play up to four exhibition

games in the fall that would not count toward the 56-game maximum.

Those proposals must be officially submit-ted to the NCAA by September to be added to next year’s docket.

More than 85 percent of coaches support

the proposal to add a third paid assistant and to play fall games. The proposed rules on scholarships hold majority support, but nei-ther had a two-thirds approval rating.

Adding another paid assistant coach has long been a desire of Division I coaches. With three paid coaches, baseball has a coach-to-player ratio of 1:12, one of the lowest among several sports, including basketball, field hockey and softball.

But many schools might not have the money in their baseball budget for a third full-time assistant. In the ABCA survey, coaches were asked how they would use a third assis-tant if they were allowed. Only about a third of coaches said they would hire a full-time assistant. Fifteen percent said it would likely be a part-time position, and more than half said it would likely be a graduate assistant or another volunteer assistant coach.

While announcing the proposal, Keilitz used Ball State coach Rich Maloney as an example. Maloney supports the rule change, even though he doubts Ball State will be able

to add a third full-time assistant to its budget.“I just don’t think we should hold back

from what is right to do,” Maloney said. “In this particular case I’m not sure my program would benefit from that, but I believe it’s the right direction for our game.”

The restrictions on scholarships have not been in place long. Teams were required to have just 27 players on scholarship for the first time in the 2009-2010 school year. But the rule makes it difficult for coaches every summer as they have to make the math work.

Keilitz said because baseball’s Academic Progress Rate has improved in the past few years and teams must meet minimum APR requirements to be eligible for the postseason, the additional restrictions aren’t necessary.

“I think coaches have really understood the importance of getting a student-athlete and keeping a student-athlete on the 35-man roster, so I hope we can take a look at that language because that’s what our coaches want,” he said.

Separate from the legislation the ABCA is pushing is a proposal that will be voted on at the NCAA convention in January that would allow high school baseball players to be repre-sented by agents in contract negotiations after they are drafted. The rule would not allow for representation of college players with eligibil-ity remaining.

That proposal is being sponsored by the Big 12 Conference as a part of the pro-cess the Power Five conferences have to autonomously adopt legislation. If passed, the rule would immediately go into effect for the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big 12, Big 10 Conference, Pacific-12 Conference and Southeastern Conference. Any other Division I conference could adopt the rule if it passes.

While much of the meeting focused on the different legislative proposals, Joel Erdmann, the South Alabama athletic director and chair-man of the NCAA Division I Baseball com-mittee, also said his committee has changed how the home team is determined for decisive third games in super regionals. Instead of a coin flip, the home team will now be the higher-seeded team. If teams have equal seed-ing, a coin flip will still be used.

Erdmann said the committee is also dis-cussing the pace of play because the issue was brought to the committee by a variety of people. The average time of a College World Series game has increased 26 minutes over the last four years. The NCAA rules committee withdrew an experimental rules proposal for a 20-second pitch clock in October because the issue did not receive enough support.

ABCA backs NCAA rule changes

Ball State coach Rich Maloney supports an

idea to allow teams another assistant coach

MIK

E JA

NES

SCOREBOARD



Transactions

Transactions involving minor league players, i.e. those not on 40-man rosters,

covering the period Dec. 23-Jan. 7.

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS: Signed LHP Wesley Wright.

ATLANTA BRAVES: Signed RHPs Jhoulys Chacin, Kyle Kendrick and Alexi

Ogando and LHP Alex Torres. Released RHPs Clayton Cook, Francisco Gon-

zalez and Felix Marte; LHP Matt Bywater and OF Kelvin Estevez.

BALTIMORE ORIOLES: Signed RHP Paul Demny. Re-signed SS Paul Jan-

ish. Released Cs Shawn McGill and Kyle Moore.

CHICAGO CUBS: Signed RHP Cole Brocker and 1B Jesus Guzman. Sold OF

Jesus Loya to Monterrey of Mexican League.

CHICAGO WHITE SOX: Signed RHP Charlie Shirek. Released RHP Tony

Bucciferro.

CINCINNATI REDS: Signed RHP A.J. Morris, 1B Patrick Leyland, SSs Carlos

Triunfel and Beamer Weems and OFs Stephen Wallace and Jordan Yal-

len. Re-signed 2B Ray Chang. Traded LHP Aroldis Chapman to Yankees for

RHPs Caleb Cotham and Rookie Davis, 2B Tony Renda and 3B Eric Jagielo.

CLEVELAND INDIANS: Signed LHPs Ross Detwiler, Tom Gorzelanny and

Joe Thatcher.

COLORADO ROCKIES: Signed SS Stephen Cardullo. Released RHP Alec

Crawford and OF Richard Prigatano.

DETROIT TIGERS: Signed RHPs Mike Crotta and Logan Kensing, C Rafael

Lopez and OF Chad Huffman.

LOS ANGELES DODGERS: Released RHP Luis Rodriguez, LHPs Clint Free-

man and Colin Hering, SS Kelvin Ramos and OFs Edwin Drexler, Jeremy

Rathjen and Brian Wolfe.

MIAMI MARLINS: Signed C Cam Maron and OF Moises Sierra.

MILWAUKEE BREWERS: Signed OF Eric Young Jr. Released RHPs Bubba

Blau, Zach Cooper, Luke Curtis, Jose Flores, J.B. Kole, Scott Lieser and

Gian Rizzo; LHPs Tyler Linehan and Trevor Lubking, C Paul Eshleman,

1B Connor Narron, 2B Gregory Munoz, SS Steven Halcomb and OF Mitch

Meyer.

NEW YORK METS: Released RHPs Randi Montero and Euner Rodriguez.

NEW YORK YANKEES: Signed RHP Tyler Jones, 2B Donovan Solano and

SS Jonathan Diaz. Released RHPs Matt Borens, Lee Casas, Taylor Garrison

and Corey Holmes. Traded RHPs Caleb Cotham and Rookie Davis, 2B Tony

Renda and 3B Eric Jagielo to Reds for LHP Aroldis Chapman.

OAKLAND ATHLETICS: Signed OF Matt McBride.

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES: Signed RHP Andrew Bailey and OF Christian

Marrero.

PITTSBURGH PIRATES: Signed LHP Jim Fuller, C Ed Easley and SS Juan

Diaz. Released RHP Casey Sadler.

SAN DIEGO PADRES: Signed RHP Derek Eitel, 2B Adam Rosales and OF

D’Arby Myers. Re-signed C Miguel Del Castillo. Released LHP Ryan Atwood.

TEXAS RANGERS: Signed LHP Donnie Veal.

TORONTO BLUE JAYS: Signed RHP Roberto Hernandez.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS: Signed C Jhonatan Solano.

ObituariesCarmelo Castillo, an outfielder who played 10 years in the majors from

1982-91, died Nov. 15, 2015, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He

was 57.

Castillo came up with the Indians in 1982 and maintained a fourth-

outfielder’s role in Cleveland for the next seven years. He never played 100

games in a big league season but did hit double-digit homers three times, his

best year coming when he hit .261 with 10 homers in 87 games in 1984. The

Indians traded Castillo to the Twins during 1989 spring training and he played

parts of three more years in Minnesota, continuing in a part-time role. He

retired in 1991 as a .252 career hitter in 631 major league games.

Joseph Cockroft, a righthander who pitched four seasons in the minors

from 1955-58, died Nov. 25, 2015, in Hampstead, N.H. He was 79.

Jimmy Dambach, a pitcher who played pro ball in 1949 and 1953, died

Nov. 21, 2015, in Lilbourn, Mo. His age was not available.

Dick DeLozier, a righthander who pitched professionally from 1954-55,

died Nov. 25, 2015, in Fort Thomas, Ky. He was 83.

Robert Forisch, who played one season in the minors in 1940, died Nov.

3, 2015 in Parma Heights, Ohio. His age was not available.

Jordan Galvez, a second baseman who played three years of pro ball from

2010-2012, died Nov. 17, 2015, in Acandi, Colombia. He was 23.

George Genovese, a shortstop who played one year in the big leagues

in 1950 and had a lengthy scouting career, died Nov. 15, 2015, in Burbank,

Calif. He was 93.

Genovese played 12 years of pro ball, including a stint in the Mexican

League at the end. He reached the majors once after getting called up by the

Washington Senators at the end of April 1950. He got into three games, all as

a pinch-runner or pinch-hitter. He went on to a long career as a scout for the

Dodgers and Giants in Southern California.

Ken Johnson, a righthander who pitched in the major leagues from 1958-

70, died Nov. 21, 2015, in Pineville, La. He was 82.

Johnson had a well-traveled career, pitching for seven different teams over

13 years. He first came up with the Kansas City Athletics in 1958, originally

working in relief, and assumed a starter’s role a few years later after landing

with the Houston Colt .45’s in 1962. He had a couple of quality years as a

starter, posting a 2.65 ERA over 224 innings for Houston in 1963 and he went

13-9, 2.74 for the Braves in 1967. Atlanta was where he had his longest stay,

pitching there from 1966-69. He finished his career in Montreal in 1970 with a

3.46 lifetime ERA in over 1,700 big league innings. Of note, Johnson is the only

pitcher in big league history to lose a game in which he threw a nine-inning

no-hitter, accomplishing the dubious feat on April 23, 1964, when he no-hit

the Cincinnati Reds but his Colt. 45’s lost 1-0 on an unearned run scored in the

top of the ninth inning.

Ben Jonietz, an outfielder who played professionally from 1956-58, died

Nov. 29, 2015, in San Antonio. He was 77.

James McAlister, who played three years in the minor leagues from 1948-

50, died Nov. 4, 2015, in Wytheville, Va. He was 91.

Walt McCoy, a righthander who pitched eight years of pro ball between

1945 and 1955, died Nov. 10, 2015, in Lemon Grove, Calif. He was 92.

Paul McNeal, a catcher who played one season of pro ball in 1955, died

Nov. 14, 2015, in Hagerstown, Md. He was 87.

McNeal was a longtime scout and minor league coach for the Orioles

organization after his playing days.

Eddie Milner, an outfielder who played nine years in the majors from

1980-88, died Nov. 2, 2015, in Cincinnati. He was 60.

A 21st-round pick in 1976, Milner came up through the Reds' system,

making brief appearances in the majors in 1980 and 1981 before earning a

more regular role in 1982. Milner hit .268 with four homers in ’82, splitting

time at all three outfield spots, and took over as the Reds’ everyday center

fielder in 1983. He hit nine homers to go with a .261 average in ’83 and held

the Reds’ center field role for four years, peaking when he slugged 15 long balls

and hit .259 in 1986. He finished in the top 10 in the National League in stolen

bases twice, topped by his career-best 41 steals in 1983. The Reds dealt him

to the Giants after the ’86 season, but he returned to Cincinnati in free agency

after only one year in San Francisco. However, he played just 23 games for the

Reds in 1988, due in part to a suspension for drug use. He’d battled drug abuse

for much of his career, and the ’88 season would be his last in the majors. He

became an ordained minister in his post-playing years.

Farrell Mitchell, who played one year in the minor leagues in 1950, died

Nov. 12, 2015, in Jacksonville, Ill. His age was not available.

Dick Nieberding, a lefthander who pitched one year in the minors in

1958, died Nov. 19, 2015, in Edgewood, Ky. He was 76.

George Owen, an outfielder who played four years of pro ball from 1950-

53, died Nov. 9, 2015, in Boston. He was 89.

George Resavy, an outfielder who played one year in the minors in 1956,

died Nov. 21, 2015, in Hillsborough, N.J. He was 82.

Willie Royster, a catcher who played briefly in the major leagues in 1981,

died Nov. 23, 2015, in Ocean View, N.J. He was 61.

The Orioles drafted Royster in the 22nd round in 1972 out of Howard and he

played 11 years of pro ball. His lone major league call-up came in September

1981 and he appeared in four games for Baltimore, though he did not register

a base hit.

Richard Shrigley, a catcher who played two years in the minor leagues

from 1957-58, died Nov. 8, 2015, in Carlsbad, Calif. He was 80.

Tom Staley, a righthander who pitched professionally in 1944 and 1947,

died Nov. 8, 2015, in Joliet, Ill. He was 89.

Jim Stump, a righthander who pitched in parts of two big league seasons,

died Nov. 19, 2015, in Lansing, Mich. He was 83.

Stump pitched nine years of pro ball but only got a couple of brief call-

ups to the majors with the Tigers in 1957 and 1959. He pitched well in the

opportunities he had, logging a 2.19 ERA in a combined 25 major league

innings, all in relief.

Obituary information provided by SABR. Information for minor league

obituaries may be emailed to [email protected].

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USELESS INFORMATION DEPT.

TRIVIALITYIt’s only trivial if you

don’t know the answer.



PHILADELPHIA

Ken Griffey Jr. was more than just a Hall of Famer. He was a maker of magic.

The swing. The glove. The smile. As magical as any wave of David Copperfield’s wand.

And on Jan. 6, 437 Hall of Fame voters had a message for Griffey and a message for all of us: Magic rocks. Magic works. And magic is what earns a man 99.3 percent of the vote, the highest percentage of any candidate who has ever reached this ballot (and should have earned 100 percent, of course).

That, obviously, was the most important thing we learned, on a night when Griffey and Mike Piazza teamed up to turn this into the third consecutive Hall of Fame election to send multiple players to Cooperstown.

But that was far from all we took away from this historic night. So here come five things we learned from the 2016 Hall of Fame election:

1. New Electorate, New Life For One TrioThese were not your grandfather’s Hall of Fame voters.

Heck, they weren’t even your big brother’s Hall of Fame voters. Once the Hall had finished bouncing a large group of voters who hadn’t covered baseball in at least a decade, here’s what we were left with:

An electorate in which 109 fewer writers cast a vote in this election than in 2015; An electorate that had a much different perspective on players who shined brightest under the light of new-age metrics, and an electorate that appeared significantly less judgmental of players shadowed by those pesky perfor-mance-enhancing drug clouds.

First takeaway: Seven different players jumped by double-digit percentage points: Piazza (up 13.1), Jeff Bagwell (15.9), Tim Raines (14.8), Curt Schilling (13.1), Edgar Martinez (16.4), Alan Trammell (15.8) and Mike Mussina (18.4). All seven are stars as big on the modern-metric field as they once were on the playing field.

But the three men whose candidacies now look most differ-ent than they did last election day were Schilling (52.3 per-cent), Martinez (43.4) and Mussina (43.0). And it’s no longer out of the realm of possibility that all three could make it.

2. Bonds, Clemens Gained Little TractionFifty percent of the vote; that’s a threshold Barry Bonds and

Roger Clemens never crossed in three previous elections. But Bonds jumped from 36.8 to 44.3 percent. And Clemens, who has outpolled Bonds in all four elections, went from 37.5 to 45.2 percent. So don’t banish them to Cooperstown oblivion

yet, OK? But is there another 30 percent, within this voting group, that’s willing to vote for them? Wow. It would be easier to predict the winner of the 2068 Kentucky Derby than to make that prediction.

The results of this election told us that PED stains don’t burrow as deeply with this group of voters as they did with the older, more hard-line group that came before it. Maybe the election of Piazza—who overcame unproven PED suspicions from the same crowd—will change the landscape on this issue. But if you asked me to bet today whether Bonds and Clemens will lift their plaques on the Cooperstown stage someday, I’d probably still say, “I don’t see it.”

3. What Happened To Magic Numbers?Here’s another takeaway on the “new” Hall of Fame elector-

ate: It doesn’t believe in magic numbers. Well, not the old, tried and true magic numbers of yesteryear, anyway.

Four members of the 500-homer club appeared on this bal-lot: Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Gary Sheffield. Bonds, we’ve covered. It’s a miracle any of the other three even survived to appear on another ballot. They wound up with fewer votes combined (136) than Lee Smith got all by himself.

McGwire, of course, didn’t survive. It was his 10th and final year on the ballot. And for the 10th straight year, he was a nonfactor. He peaked at 23.7 percent in 2010.

I thought this would be the year that McGwire’s old part-ner in home run glory, Sosa, would drop off the radar screen himself. Nope. He’s still hanging in there, at 7.0 percent. But his 31 votes were the second fewest ever by a member of the 500-Homer Club. Only Palmeiro’s 25, in 2014, “beat” him.

Finally, of the 17 holdover candidates on this ballot, just two saw their percentages actually go down. One was Nomar Garciaparra, who plummeted right off the ballot. The other was Gary Sheffield, who dropped from 11.7 to 11.6 percent in a year in which seven hitters around him jumped by at least 8 percent. And that’s an ugly sign for Sheff.

4. First Time Not The Charm Here are the guys you should really feel sorry for: actual play-

ers who appear on this actual ballot. Players like Billy Wagner and Jim Edmonds, for instance. Despite winning eight Gold Gloves in his career, Edmonds’ stay on the Hall of Fame ballot lasted just one year as the outfielder garned just 11 votes.

Unlike Edmonds, at least Wagner lives on to see a second ballot. But rationally, does it make any sense that, in the same election, two closers with credentials as similar as Wagner and Trevor Hoffman would rack up such insanely different vote totals? Hoffman collected 67.3 percent. He deserves it.

Wagner, meanwhile, eked out just 10.5 percent. Absurd. I’ve written twice now that it’s hard to justify voting for one of those men but not the other. But hundreds of voters did.

5. Ken Griffey Jr., meet John ElwayFinally, the June baseball draft is now 51 years old. Who’d

have thought it would take more than half a century before we finally elected a No. 1 pick to the Hall of Fame? But here’s to Junior Griffey. He did what Darryl Strawberry, Shawon Dunston, Harold Baines and, yes, even Shawn Abner couldn’t do. He took that ride from the top of the draft to Cooperstown. It’s about time.

Martinez, Mussina, Schilling might have Fame come easier

Did you know that just 10 other

men with 500 homers and an OPS

and batting average as high as

Gary Sheffield’s (509/.907/.292)

have ever made it onto a Hall of

Fame ballot? Nine are in the Hall of Fame. Who’s the 10th?

MORE HALL: Before Ken Griffey’s induction, only one previ-

ous No. 1 overall pick even got enough votes to hang around

on the ballot for more than one year. That was Harold Baines,

who survived to make it onto five years’ worth of ballots (2007-

11), peaking at 6.1 percent in Year 4, but then dropped below

5 percent in Year 5.

TRIVIALITY ANSWER: Barry Bonds

Mike Mussina’s Hall of Fame candidacy took a turn for the better

THE

SPO

RTS

GR

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Jayson StarkBaseball Analyst, Senior Writer ESPN.com

Five Hall lessons STARK’S REALITY

NIKE • ADIDAS • MIZUNO • PUMA

PITCHING TOES APPLIED ON PREMISES

FULL LINE OF PRO STOCK GLOVESWILSON • MIZUNO • RAWLINGS • LOUISVILLE SLUGGER • NIKE

EVOSHIELD

NEW BALANCE • UNDERARMOUR

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Baseball America - January 29, 2016

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