Pedro Alvarez Rumors

When To Expect Top Prospects

From now on, teams that call prospects up to make their major league debuts no longer have to worry that those players will go to arbitration an extra time. It's now June and prospects that debut from this point on will not pick up more than 124 days of MLB service time this year. There's almost no chance that that would be enough for super two status after 2012. We all know when to expect Stephen Strasburg, but let's take a look around the majors and anticipate the arrivals of some more top prospects:

• Mike Stanton - You thought Jose Bautista had a lot of homers? Stanton hit his 19th and 20th of the season tonight at AA in front of Marlins president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest. The 20-year-old Stanton, ranked by Baseball America as the Marlins' best prospect this offseason, entered today's action with 39 walks and 50 strikeouts. Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun Sentinel says it may not be long before Stanton is playing in the majors.
• Carlos Santana - The 24-year-old catcher began the season as one of the best prospects in baseball and he has lived up to expectations so far in 2010. Santana has hit .315/.450/.565 at Triple A with ten homers and more strikeouts than walks. Lou Marson, who is actually younger than Santana, struggled early on for the Indians, but has impressed Indians manager Manny Acta lately. Still, Marson has a .216/.270/.276 line this season, so Santana appears to have more offensive potential.
• Pedro Alvarez - The Pirates, who have scored the second-fewest runs in the National League, might be tempted by the .261/.349/.511 line Alvarez has posted in Triple A. No Pirate has a slugging percentage as high as the one Alvarez has posted in the minors and just Ryan Doumit and Andrew McCutchen have been getting on base as much. 

Stanton, Santana and Alvarez have played well, but they aren't the only ones who could arrive in the majors before long. Desmond Jennings, Jeremy Hellickson, Aroldis Chapman and Brett Wallace could conceivably get the call within a few weeks.

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Odds & Ends: Reds, Rookies, Pelfrey, Lima, Alvarez

Links for Sunday, as we await tonight's Subway series rubber match....

• The Cincinnati Enquirer's John Fay looks at what a trip to the disabled list for Homer Bailey would mean for the Reds' rotation. Bailey left today's game after just 2.1 IP with shoulder soreness. Fay writes that it won't be Aroldis Chapman, who is having his next start pushed back due to a blister.
• Joel Sherman breaks down the tremendous amount of talent in the rookie class of 2010, and wonders if it ranks among the best ever.
• In a separate article, Sherman profiles Mike Pelfrey's success so far in 2010, and relays that the New York right-hander wants manager Jerry Manuel to keep his job.
• Former MLB pitcher Jose Lima has died of a massive heart attack, reports Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes (via Twitter). Our condolences go out to Lima's family and friends.
• Tracy Ringolsby of FOX Sports lists ten veteran players who he thinks deserve to be traded to another team.
• Pirates fans could see 2008's second overall pick, Pedro Alvarez, arrive in Pittsburgh soon, writes Bob Cohn of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Alvarez is hitting just .243 at Triple-A Indianapolis this season, but he has homered ten times and slugged .497.
• The Chicago Sun Times' Rick Morrissey says that Ryne Sandberg might not be a good fit as the eventual manager of the Cubs, even if fans would love to see it.
• With Rays Senior VP of baseball operations Gerry Hunsicker in Houston this weekend, Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle looks back on Hunsicker's tenure as the Astros' GM.

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Odds & Ends: Alvarez, Strasburg, Church, Rays

Links for Saturday...

• Pirates' GM Neal Huntington said that Pedro Alvarez will remain in the minors so he can get more at-bats against lefthanded pitchers, though Dejan Kovacevic of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette mentions that it could have to do with pushing his service time clock back.
• ESPN's Keith Law broke down Stephen Strasburg's demotion to the minors, and says that "what he does need to improve is only going to improve in the big leagues."
• Ryan Church spoke to MLB.com's Anthony DiComo about his opportunity with the Pirates, saying that "It's either reestablish yourself and be one of the main guys or just be a fourth outfielder from here on out."
• Rays Executive VP Andrew Friedman says the club will explore internal and external options to replace J.P. Howell, tweets Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times.  Tampa Bay hopes to have the lefty back by May.
• Most players never shed the dreaded "4A" label, but the Pirates' Garrett Jones did, writes Tyler Kepner of the New York Times.
• Tom Tango will be a big part of the Blue Jays' front office, writes Robert Cribb of The Toronto Star. 
• Indians closer Kerry Wood could miss up to two months with a strained back muscle.  Brady Gardiner of SIRIUS XM tweets that this is a blessing for the Tribe as Wood's option for 2011 likely will not vest.  The 32-year-old would make $11MM in '11 with 55 games finished in 2010.
• Dodgers manager Joe Torre has confidence in Ronnie Belliard's ability to play first base, writes Tony Jackson of ESPNLosAngeles.com.  This will likely leave first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz on the outside looking in as he jostles with Garrett Anderson for the club's left-handed pinch hitting spot.  However, Belliard still must weigh in at 209 pounds or less at some point during Spring Training to guarantee his deal.
• At the age of 47, Jamie Moyer has no interest in retiring, writes Jayson Stark of ESPN.  Moyer is entering the final season of a two-year, $13MM deal.

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Odds & Ends: Crawford, Alvarez, Mauer, Aumont

Some links for your Friday...

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Pirates Notes: Vazquez, Tabata, Alvarez

Let's check out some Pirates-related tidbits courtesy of MLB.com's Jenifer Langosch..

• With Ramon Vazquez on the trading block, Langosch stresses that any talk of him being Texas-bound is merely conjecture at this point.  Furthermore, if they do move him, they are unlikely to get much back and may have to eat some of his $2MM salary.  However, Pittsburgh might be willing to move the 33-year-old for next to nothing.
• One reader asks if the Pirates are considering locking up their young prospects, like Milwaukee did with Ryan Braun or like Tampa Bay did with Evan Longoria.  Langosch says that the Pirates will wait until players like Jose Tabata, Brad Lincoln, and Pedro Alvarez establish themselves in the majors to open up discussions.
• Speaking of Alvarez, Langosch expects the Pirates to hold off on bringing him up to the big leagues.  Pittsburgh delayed Andrew McCutchen's promotion last season in order to give him more seasoning in the minors and, in all likelihood, to extend his time under team control.

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Odds & Ends: Braves, Orioles, Pirates

A few notes from around the majors...

• Veteran Greg Norton tied a major league record in what may be his final season, says MLB.com's Mark Bowman
• In another blog entry, Bowman said that though Martin Prado spent some time in the outfield while playing in his native Venezuela, Prado is not a candidate for Atlanta's right field job.
• MASN's Steve Melewski reports that the Orioles have signed their first Guatemalan player, 17-year-old Manuel Hernandez
• In a chat on MLB.com, Pirates president Frank Coonelly said that Andy LaRoche was "open" to the possibility of playing second base next season given some of Pittsburgh's minor-league options at third base (including top prospect Pedro Alvarez).
• Dick Kaegel of MLB.com reports on two changes to Kansas City's coaching staff in 2010.

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Odds & Ends: Blue Jays, Towers, Pirates, Mets

Here are some links to kick off Sunday morning:

• Some Blue Jays players approached CEO and President Paul Beeston with complaints about Cito Gaston, reports Ken Fidlin of the Toronto Sun.  “They raised the issues,” said Beeston. “They were listened to. They have not been addressed at this time. I had my ears open. I kept my mouth shut. I gave them some comments and that’s all I want to say about that.”
• Jordan Bastian of MLB.com writes that newly appointed Toronto GM Alex Anthopoulos was emotional in his introductory presser.  The article notes that the position of president and CEO will be filled soon, relieving the interim hire, Paul Beeston.  Beeston says that while the next president and CEO will have the authority to hire its own staff, he will recommend that Anthopoulos remain as GM.
• Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes that Kevin Towers didn't deserve to get fired considering all the obstacles he has had to work around in San Diego.
• Towers conducted a farewell press conference in San Diego and Craig Elsten of 619sports.net posted some key sound bytes.  Towers insisted that the organization maintained a strong focus on scouting and player development under his watch.  He also said that he has been contacted by seven or eight other teams to work immediately, but wants to take some time off before jumping into another job.  The 47-year-old made it known that he wants the opportunity to be a GM again.  Also available are team owner and CEO Jeff Moorad's post-podium comments.
• The Pirates have talked to Andy LaRoche about possibly moving from third base to second next year to make room for Pedro Alvarez, writes Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  The Pirates would like to call-up Alvarez by the middle of the 2010 season, but first he must improve his strength and conditioning.  The 22-year-old excelled after his mid-season promotion to AA, posting .333/.419/.590 with 13 HR in 60 games.
• More from Kovacevic as he labels the Pirates' trade of Nate McLouth to the Braves to be the worst personnel move of the year.  Kovacevic says the deal hurt the players' trust in Pittsburgh management and was a poor public relations decision.
• Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post tweets, "Jerry Manuel was in meetings all morning and said he expects an announcement tomorrow on changes and the team's offseason plans."
• Jon Heyman reports via Twitter that Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria refused to comment on a possible manager change.  Recent reports suggest that Fredi Gonzalez could be on the way out and Bobby Valentine could be on the way in.

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Odds And Ends: Reds, Alvarez, Holliday

Some links for Monday morning...

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Odds And Ends: Prospects, Giambi, Angels

Some links for your Friday afternoon...

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Prospect Updates: Strasburg, Harper, Sanchez

Updates on some of baseball's best prospects;

• It's fair to expect intense negotiations between Stephen Strasburg, Scott Boras and the Washington Nationals this summer. In this Philadephia Inquirer article by Don McKee, Jered Weaver says his negotiations were too "frantic" back when he was a top college pitcher like Strasburg.
• Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic says the D'Backs are creating so many new ways to lose that they could end up with a worse record than the Nationals and the chance to take Bryce Harper first overall next June. 
• Dave Mackall of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports that Pirates first rounder Tony Sanchez is "not oblivious" to the critics who say the Pirates drafted him too early.
• Pedro Alvarez has been promoted to AA, according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
• Steve Melewski of MASN.com reports that Mychal Givens was surprised when the Orioles drafted him. O's scouting director Joe Jordan says he'd be surprised if Givens signs soon.

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