Good afternoon prospect watchers. Let's get down to business.
***Yesterday's Minor League Ball Gameday discussion thread.
***As you likely know, the Miami Marlins promoted outfield prospect Christian Yelich and outfield prospect Jake Marisnick to the major league roster last night. I'll have a "Prospects of the Day" post about them tomorrow. Other items in the work queue: Prospect Retros by request for Chris Davis, Marco Scutaro, and Jeff Kent. Upcoming prospects of the day include Drake Britton and Michael Choice, plus analysis of any trades that occur.
Charlie Drysdale returns tomorrow with a look at some Dominican pitchers making their debuts in North America this summer.
***The Chicago Cubs are alleged to be interested in New York Yankees prospect Chase Whitley as part of a potential Alfonso Soriano deal. Whitley has a 3.52 ERA with a 37/13 K/BB ratio in 38 innings for Triple-A Scranton. He was drafted in the 15th round in 2010 from Troy University, and is viewed as a typical middle relief-type prospect, featuring an 89-91 MPH fastball, a decent slider, and a very good changeup.
***Some guy named Ron Braun or Ryan Baker or something of the Milwaukee Braves or the Boston Bees is in the news, but he's not a prospect so I'm not paying attention.
***Good start yesterday for Seattle Mariners prospect James Paxton: one run in six innings for Triple-A Tacoma, seven strikeouts, four hits, no walks. He's been written off by some, but we're still talking about a lefty with a 104/39 K/BB ratio in 104 innings in Triple-A, which is more important than his 4.40 ERA. That's a prospect.
***Former first round pick and Tommy John rehab guy Alex Wimmers thew 3.1 innings for the Gulf Coast League Twins yesterday, fanning four. He's another guy in the "forgotten prospect" category who could sneak up on us next year once his injury recovery is complete.
***In all seriousness, the Ryan Braun thing is just sad. I try to avoid the PED controversy. I'm not one for witch hunts and I know enough about human nature not to be surprised by anything, but I'm not wild about making excuses either, especially for multiple violations. The issue gives me a bellyache, and I've got a beauty right now.
I will say this though. There is something very American about the whole PED thing, and I mean American in the worst way: the elevation of competition and victory and personal aggrandizement above all other virtues. Yeah, Yeah, I know, "do what it takes to win", etc., except in this case (and more cases to come), "doing what it took" involved breaking the rules in such a way as to risk a huge suspension, potentially bring your whole team down with you.
But I guess that's very American too.