“I am positive he’s the best prospect I’ve seen in (more than a decade) of full-time scouting,” a National League scout raved to Baseball America's J.J. Cooper about Twins prospect Byron Buxton. “It’s not even close. Tools, athleticism, feel and vision. Time will tell what kind of major league player he becomes, but the sky is the limit.” Other scouts shared similar praise and there's even a belief that Buxton is as good a prospect as Mike Trout was before his legendary 2012 season.
Here's the latest from around the majors as we head into July…
- Buxton was taken second overall by the Twins in the 2012 draft, with the Astros passing on the outfielder to select Carlos Correa at #1 and then using their surplus bonus pool money to sign Lance McCullers and Rio Ruiz. Cooper surveys scouts who have been all four youngsters play and discovers that the majority would take Buxton alone over the other three, even though Correa/McCullers/Ruiz are themselves strong prospects.
- Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos watched Cuban right-hander Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez pitch on Friday in Tijuana, Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun reports (Twitter link). The Jays made a high-profile signing out of Cuba three years ago when they signed shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria to a four-year, $10MM contract.
- Two Cardinals officials say that trading within the NL Central is "not desirable" and GM John Mozeliak said that the club isn't going to move top prospects like Oscar Taveras or Michael Wacha, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. The Cards are likely to look for relief help before the deadline, or perhaps a starter that would then send a current rotation member into the bullpen.
- John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer chimed in on some Reds-related trade deadline discussion on Twitter this afternoon. Finding relief pitching is the priority for the Reds and it's doubtful that they're looking for starters. Prospects Billy Hamilton and Robert Stephenson are probably untouchable in trade talks. White Sox reliever Jesse Crain is a realistic trade target for Cincinnati, while Brewers starter Yovani Gallardo and Mariners slugger Michael Morse are not.
- Mariners right-hander Josh Kinney was listed on the Tacoma Rainiers roster today, Rainiers broadcaster Mike Curto tweets, so it appears as though Kinney has accepted his outright assignment to Triple-A. Kinney has been recovering from a rib injury for the entire season and was just reinstated from the 60-day DL on Friday.
