Top Prospect Promotions

Yankees To Promote Aaron Judge, Tyler Austin

By charliewilmoth | August 13, 2016 at 9:10am CDT

The Yankees’ lineup against the Rays today includes both Aaron Judge (in right field and batting eighth) and Tyler Austin (at first base and batting seventh). FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal tweeted yesterday that Austin would be promoted. Both players will make their MLB debuts today. The moves coincide with the Yankees’ expected release of Alex Rodriguez., a move that is now official. The Yankees have also optioned righty Ben Heller and placed righty Conor Mullee (hand) on the 60-day DL.

[Related: Updated Yankees Depth Chart]

Of the two prospects, the 24-year-old Judge has the higher (and, literally, bigger) profile. A hulking (6’7, 275 pounds) slugger with huge raw power, the 2013 first-round pick has hit 19 home runs this season for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, batting .270/.366/.489 in the process. MLB.com currently rates him the No. 27 prospect in the Majors, comparing his build and raw power to Giancarlo Stanton. (Baseball America rated Judge the game’s 76th-best prospect heading into the season.) Judge ranks as the Yankees’ fourth-best prospect, behind newcomers Clint Frazier and Gleyber Torres as well as Jorge Mateo.

It’s unclear how much success Judge will have right away, as his minor league numbers, while certainly fine overall, haven’t always been overwhelming. His strikeout tendencies (he had 144 whiffs last season and 98 so far this year) might be an area upon which he could improve. His potential tape-measure home runs, however, could make for any number of exciting highlights, and he won’t to hit like a superstar to improve upon current right fielder Aaron Hicks, who has batted just .198/.259/.314 this season.

The 24-year-old Austin has spent parts of seven seasons in the Yankees’ farm system, but has come on strong this season, batting .294/.392/.524 overall, including .323/.415/.637 with 13 home runs in 234 plate appearances for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He can play all four corner spots, although he’s spent most of this season at first base, where he’ll presumably take plate appearances from Mark Teixeira, who’s set to retire at the end of the season. If Judge and/or Austin stick in the big leagues, they’ll each be eligible for arbitration following the 2019 season and free agency following the 2022 campaign.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Cardinals To Promote Luke Weaver

By Steve Adams | August 10, 2016 at 12:07pm CDT

The Cardinals will promote top prospect Luke Weaver to take Michael Wacha’s spot in the rotation on Saturday, as MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch writes. Weaver will become the second highly touted Cardinals right-hander to make his big league debut this week, as St. Louis called up Alex Reyes and inserted him into the Major League bullpen. The Cardinals will need to make a 40-man roster move to accommodate Weaver prior to Saturday’s debut.

[Related: Updated St. Louis Cardinals Depth Chart]

Weaver, 23 later this month, was the Cardinals’ first-round pick in 2014 (27th overall) and has quickly risen through the team’s system, reaching Triple-A last week after missing a large portion of the season due to a fractured wrist in his non-throwing hand. Despite his missed time, Baseball America rated him as the game’s No. 75 prospect on its midseason Top 100, and MLB.com rated him 93rd on its same list of top prospects. The Florida State product’s results in 2016 are borderline absurd, as he’s pitched to a 1.30 ERA with a 92-to-12 K/BB ratio and a 40.4 percent ground-ball rate in 83 innings. Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo at MLB.com praise Weaver’s fastball, which sits at 94 mph and can touch 96 mph, as well as a plus changeup with good movement. His slider and curve are both inconsistent, they note, but either could develop into an average offering.

It’s unclear at this time if Weaver will continue to start beyond Saturday or if his promotion will amount to a one-time cameo prior to the expansion of rosters in September. General manager John Mozeliak spoke highly of Weaver’s control and his confidence in the rookie heading into this weekend’s outing, but he didn’t commit to anything beyond that date. “I feel like when you look at the ability to throw strikes, get deeper into games, I think that’s important,” said Mozeliak (via Langosch). “Candidly, [Weaver] only had one start in Triple-A, but I think he’ll still give us a good opportunity to win that game.”

Weaver will step into the St. Louis rotation alongside Adam Wainwright, Carlos Martinez, Jaime Garcia and Mike Leake, and in an odd way, the wrist injury actually helps the Cardinals. Weaver tossed 124 2/3 innings in 2015 between Double-A and the Arizona Fall League and surely would’ve been at or beyond that point right now had he opened the season healthy. However, he’s now still 40 innings behind his 2015 total, thereby reducing potential reluctance to drive up his innings total. If Weaver proves effective early on, he could give the Cardinals a consistent option in the rotation down the stretch, or at least as long as Wacha remains sidelined with shoulder problems. The Cardinals will control Weaver through at least the 2022 season, and the earliest he can be eligible for arbitration would be upon completion of the 2019 campaign.

Cardinals Place Michael Wacha On DL, Promote Alex Reyes

By Steve Adams | August 9, 2016 at 3:32pm CDT

The Cardinals announced today that they’ve placed right-hander Michael Wacha on the 15-day disabled list due to inflammation in his right shoulder and purchased the contract of top prospect Alex Reyes to fill Wacha’s spot on the roster. Brayan Pena has been transferred to the 60-day DL in order to clear a 40-man spot for Reyes. Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets that Reyes will pitch out of the bullpen for the Cardinals, so he won’t be stepping directly into Wacha’s now-vacant spot in the starting five.

Reyes, 21, rates as one of the game’s top overall pitching prospects in the eyes of Baseball America, MLB.com, Baseball Prospectus and ESPN thanks largely to a fastball that touches triple digits, a very highly regarded curveball and a solid third offering in his changeup. He introduced himself to a national audience when he appeared in this summer’s Futures Game and pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings with four strikeouts. His biggest fault, to this point, has been a lack of control that has led him to average 4.6 walks per nine innings pitched throughout his minor league career. This season, his first at Triple-A, has been somewhat of a struggle, as Reyes has posted a 4.96 ERA with 12.8 K/9, 4.4 BB/9 and a 43.2 percent ground-ball rate in 14 starts.

The Cardinals will control Reyes through at least the 2022 season via the arbitration process, and the earliest he’d be eligible for arbitration right now would be upon completion of the 2019 season, as the remaining 54 days of service time that he can accrue will leave him well shy of Super Two status.

Craig Mish of MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM first tweeted that Reyes had been promoted.

Phillies To Promote Jake Thompson

By Jeff Todd | August 4, 2016 at 6:57pm CDT

As had been widely expected, the Phillies will promote righty Jake Thompson to the big leagues for the first time, per Ryan Lawrence of the Philly Voice (Twitter link). He’ll make his debut start on Saturday.

The move is partially tied to Philly’s placement of fellow young righty Aaron Nola on the 15-day DL, which opened a rotation spot. But the real driver is Thompson’s performance. Over his 129 2/3 innings on the year in his first attempt at Triple-A, Thompson carries a 2.50 ERA with 6.0 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9.

While that strikeout rate isn’t all that compelling, Philadelphia obviously felt it was time to give him a shot at the game’s highest level. The Phils are quickly building a formidable young rotation, and the organization surely hopes not only to give Thompson his first taste of the majors, but also to get a sense of how ready he will be to shoulder a full starter’s load in 2017.

In years past, Thompson has seen his name in headlines this time of year for rather a different reason. After being shipped from the Tigers to the Rangers in 2014’s Joakim Soria deal, Thompson went to the Phils last summer as a piece of the Cole Hamels package. Thompson will again be looking for a new place to stay this August, but this time it’ll be with the same organization.

A second-round pick in the 2012 draft, Thompson has rated as a leaguewide, top-100 prospect entering each of the last two seasons. There are varying ways to characterize his potential, with some giving him a shot at harnessing his four-pitch mix to become a top-of-the-rotation presence and others viewing him more as a durable, solid piece who has a somewhat limited ceiling.

The Phillies will soon begin to get an idea of just what they have in Thompson, who was arguably the key piece in the Hamels swap. Philadelphia’s big league roster already features three very promising young hurlers in Nola, Jerad Eickhoff, and Vincent Velasquez, and Thompson will be bidding to take up a similar place in a new-look staff.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Brewers Promote Orlando Arcia

By Steve Adams | August 2, 2016 at 8:31am CDT

The Brewers are promoting top prospect Orlando Arcia prior to today’s game, the team announced overnight. Rays outfielder Oswaldo Arcia — Orlando’s older brother — first suggested as much by welcoming his younger brother to the Majors on Instagram.

[Related: Updated Milwaukee Brewers Depth Chart]

Arcia, 21, will take over as the Brewers’ shortstop, as MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy writes, thereby pushing Jonathan Villar over to third base. Arcia ranked seventh, 13th, 14th and 16th on the respective midseason rankings of the game’s top overall prospects from Baseball Prospectus, MLB.com, Baseball America and ESPN. Arcia draws huge amounts of praise for his defense at shortstop, his speed and his hit tool, giving him the potential to be a top-of-the-order hitter with Gold Glove caliber defense at a premium position if all pans out. He hasn’t exactly forced his way onto the roster with outstanding play at the Triple-A level like many top-tier prospects do, as he’s batted a modest .267/.320/.403 in a very hitter-friendly environment (the Pacific Coast League’s Colorado Springs). He’s extremely young to already have spent several months in Triple-A, though, and his perhaps underwhelming 2016 results clearly didn’t cause him to slip down prospect rankings much.

“The thinking is it’s time to get him started,” manager Craig Counsell tells McCalvy. “We’ve still got [58] games left, a good chunk of the season left, where we’re hopeful that it gives him good experience going into next year. I think it’s a little shot in the arm for us, a little boost for us, as well.”

If he’s in the Majors for good, Arcia will accrue 62 days of big league service in 2016 and fall well shy of Super Two status down the line. He currently projects to be controllable through the 2022 season and wouldn’t be eligible for arbitration until the completion of the 2019 campaign.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Red Sox To Promote Andrew Benintendi

By charliewilmoth | August 1, 2016 at 11:07pm CDT

The Red Sox are having top outfield prospect Andrew Benintendi meet the team in Seattle tomorrow, Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald writes. The move means Benintendi will skip straight from Double-A Portland, where he’s batted .295/.357/.515 in 263 plate appearances this season, to the big leagues.

Benintendi has relatively little minor-league experience, with just 657 career plate appearances on the farm, but it sounds like the Red Sox are confident his lack of repetitions won’t be a significant hindrance. As GM of the Tigers, Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski frequently moved top talents to the Majors quickly, whisking players like Justin Verlander, Andrew Miller, Rick Porcello and Jeremy Bonderman through the minors.

“Maybe,” Dombrowski had said Monday when asked whether Benintendi or fellow top prospect Yoan Moncada could join the team at some point this season. “It could be. They’re close enough that they could be. I’m not making that prediction, but they could be.”

Benintendi had been the subject of some speculation at this year’s trade deadline, but it’s unsurprising the Red Sox were apparently reluctant to move such a blue-chip player. Since the Red Sox picked him with the seventh overall selection in last year’s draft, the University of Arkansas product has rocketed through the Sox’ system, posting a .312/.392/.540 career line in four minor-league stops.

MLB.com currently rates Benintendi the second-best Red Sox prospect (behind only Moncada) and the game’s seventh-best overall prospect, praising him for his left-handed swing, plate discipline and all-around offensive game and noting that he could eventually hit .300 with 20 homers per season. (Heading into the season, Baseball America rated Benintendi the game’s No. 15 prospect.) Benintendi is a bit small, at 5’10 and 170 pounds, but there is no reason to think he can’t be an excellent big-league hitter.

It’s unclear how Benintendi will fit into the Red Sox outfield, which already features two top young players in Mookie Betts and Jackie Bradley. Benintendi, who has played mostly center field in the minors, could take over left field and free Brock Holt, who also plays infield, to play other positions. If Benintendi sticks in the big leagues, he could become eligible for arbitration after 2019 and free agency after 2022.

Rangers Recall Joey Gallo

By Steve Adams | July 26, 2016 at 4:45pm CDT

The Rangers announced this afternoon that they’ve recalled top infield prospect Joey Gallo from Triple-A Round Rock and optioned outfielder Jared Hoying back to Triple-A in his place. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reported shortly before the announcement that Gallo was being recalled (Twitter link).

Gallo, 22, made his big league debut with the Rangers last season but struggled in the Majors, posting a .204/.301/.417 batting line. Strikeouts have long been an Achilles heel for Gallo, and that proved especially true in last season’s brief MLB tenure, as he whiffed an astounding 57 times in 123 plate appearances. Gallo, though, receives 80 grades for his power (on the 20-80 scouting scale) and did homer six times while drawing 15 walks in that stretch as well. This year, he’s dropped his strikeout rate at the Triple-A level by nearly 10 percent. Granted, that still means that he’s punched out in just over 30 percent of his trips to the plate, but it’s a notable step up from the 39.6 percent rate at which he whiffed in 2015 while playing at Triple-A.

This season, Gallo is hitting .246/.381/.557 with 19 homers, nine doubles and five triples in 299 plate appearances with Round Rock — once again displaying a penchant for drawing free passes but also some struggles in making contact. With Prince Fielder expected to undergo season-ending neck surgery later this week, there’s an opportunity for Gallo to get some at-bats while spending time at DH and at both corner infield spots. That could lead to fairly regular at-bats for Gallo, who could slide into the everyday lineup as Texas’ everyday first baseman next season if he proves capable of handling big league pitching this time around. Mitch Moreland is a free agent at season’s end, and while Gallo has cut his teeth playing third base in the minors, the Rangers won’t have a vacancy there until 2019 after signing Adrian Beltre to a two-year extension earlier this season. Gallo’s name has also popped up in myriad trade rumors over the past several weeks, and while most reports indicate that the Rangers are loath to part with his power upside, a couple of reports have suggested that the team is more willing to part with him than it has publicly let on.

Royals Promote Raul Mondesi Jr.

By Steve Adams | July 26, 2016 at 4:17pm CDT

The Royals have promoted top infield prospect Raul Mondesi Jr. and optioned fellow infielder Whit Merrifield to Triple-A Omaha, per a club announcement. Mondesi joins the club about a month after the release of second baseman Omar Infante, giving him the opportunity to prove that he’s capable of being a long-term piece in Kansas City. Manager Ned Yost told reporters, including MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan, that Mondesi is with the big league team to play second base, and Flanagan tweets that Mondesi will be playing “a lot” as he looks to prove himself.

[Related: Updated Kansas City Royals Depth Chart]

Mondesi, just 20 years old, entered the season rated as a Top 75 prospect in the eyes of Baseball America (29), MLB.com (37), Baseball Prospectus (16) and ESPN (73), and his strong play at a young age this year hasn’t changed that stock. Despite being one of the youngest players in both the Double-A Texas League and the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, Mondesi has batted a combined .268/.322/.469 with seven home runs and 24 stolen bases in 231 plate appearances. Of course, his playing time has also been limited this season by a suspension that was triggered by a failed PED test. However, Mondesi’s punishment was shortened from 80 games to 50 games after he was able to prove that the banned substance in question on his test was ingested when taking cold medicine purchased in his native Dominican Republic.

While some at the time questioned why Mondesi was punished if it was believed that the substance was truly ingested in error, the infielder himself owned the punishment, telling the media in a statement: “I failed to read the labeling on the medication or consult with my trainer or team about taking it and did not know it contained a banned substance.” Royals GM Dayton Moore said in a statement that the organization truly believed the failed test to be an error but also stressed the importance of a player being fully cognizant of every substance he puts into his body. “We have a protocol in place with our medical team should a player ever have questions about what they may be taking, even if an over-the-counter medication,” said Moore back in April.

Mondesi’s start tonight will be his regular season debut at the Major League level, but he does own the unprecedented distinction of being the first player in MLB history to make his Major League debut while playing in the World Series. He replaced the fleet-footed Terrance Gore on the Royals’ postseason roster following the American League Championship Series.

Rockies To Promote David Dahl

By Mark Polishuk | July 24, 2016 at 9:33pm CDT

The Rockies will call top outfield prospect David Dahl up to the majors tomorrow for the beginning of the team’s series with the Orioles, Nick Groke of the Denver Post reports. In a corresponding move, outfielder Brandon Barnes will be designated for assignment to create a roster spot.

Dahl was the 10th overall pick of the 2012 draft, but his path to the big leagues was slowed by a very serious injury in May 2015. A collision with a teammate in the outfield left Dahl with a concussion and lacerated spleen, and Dahl underwent a splenectomy to remove the damaged body part entirely so he could return to action in 2015, rather than undergo surgery to repair his spleen and face a longer layoff. It appears as though Dahl emerged from that scare relatively unscathed, as he has torn up Double-A and Triple-A pitching to the tune of a combined .314/.394/.569 line and 18 homers over a combined 400 plate appearances.

Entering the season, the 22-year-old Dahl scored impressive rankings on top-100 prospect rankings from Baseball Prospectus (who ranked Dahl 31st), Baseball America (39th), MLB.com (46th) and ESPN.com’s Keith Law (58th). The 2016 BA Prospect Handbook ranked Dahl as the second-best prospect in Colorado’s system, describing him as having “the potential to be a five-tool center fielder.” Dahl already possesses speed, a strong throwing arm and defensive ability in center, and he has quick hands and gap power at the plate, with some scouts believing he has the ability to hit 20-25 homers.

With the Rockies falling well behind in the NL West, it makes sense that Dahl would get an extended look. The timing of the promotion means that Dahl wouldn’t be able to earn enough service time to gain Super Two status if he stays on the MLB roster for the rest of the season, so if he isn’t demoted, the Rockies are on track to control Dahl through the 2022 season. As Groke notes, now that Dahl is in the mix for playing time, it will only intensify rumors that Colorado could create room in the outfield by trading Carlos Gonzalez or Charlie Blackmon. For now, Dahl looks to take over in left field while Gerardo Parra is still on the DL. As Jason Martinez recently wrote in his “Knocking Down The Door” feature for MLBTR, Dahl’s importance to the Rockies’ future means that Parra should probably “be a very expensive fourth outfielder” unless a trade happens.

Barnes, 30, came to Colorado as part of the Dexter Fowler trade package from Houston in December 2013. Barnes has hit .249/.295/.376 over 703 PA with the Rockies while getting extensive time at all three outfield positions.

Astros Promote Alex Bregman

By Connor Byrne | July 24, 2016 at 5:11pm CDT

The Astros have announced the promotion of highly touted infield/outfield prospect Alex Bregman and the designation for assignment of infielder Danny Worth. Bregman will join the surging Astros on Monday for the start of their home series against the Yankees.

[RELATED: Updated Astros Depth Chart]

Bregman, whom Keith Law of ESPN (Insider required and recommended) ranks as the best prospect in baseball, has torn through minor league pitching since the Astros selected him second overall in last year’s draft. The 22-year-old ex-LSU standout has been especially impressive this season, having posted a .297/.415/.559 batting line with 14 home runs in 285 plate appearances in Double-A. The Astros’ decision to promote Bregman to Triple-A in late June didn’t slow down the right-handed hitter, who slashed an astounding .356/.397/.685 with six homers in 78 trips to the plate with Fresno. Between the two levels this season, Bregman has recorded more unintentional walks (47) than strikeouts (37), further demonstrating his offensive prowess. Law likens Bregman’s upside at the dish to that of Red Sox star second baseman Dustin Pedroia.

Baseball America rates Bregman as the game’s eighth-best prospect, meanwhile, and praised his “simple, level swing,” bat speed and patience after last season (subscription required and recommended). Moreover, BA lauded his base-running and defensive skills, though there are questions as to where he’ll line up with the Astros. Over the long haul, BA, Law and MLB.com (which has Bregman as the No. 18 overall prospect in the game) see him faring well at short. That would require Houston to move Carlos Correa elsewhere, however (likely third base); notably, MVP candidate Jose Altuve mans second base.

In the near term, the Astros could send Bregman to left field, where they’ve had him spend time in the minors, or third. However, big-money free agent signing Yulieski Gurriel’s forthcoming debut will only complicate things further. That isn’t a negative for the red-hot Astros, though, who have climbed to a season-best 10 games over .500 since a dismal start and are within 2 1/2 games of AL West-leading Texas and a half-game of the second Wild Card spot.

Wherever the Astros play Bregman, it’s fair to assume he’s in the majors for good. With that being the case, he’ll come up short of Super Two status in the likely event he remains with the Astros through the end of the season. Bregman can accrue up to 70 days of service time in the majors this year, meaning he won’t be eligible for arbitration until after 2019 and will stay under club control through the 2022 campaign.

Worth, 30, joined the Astros on a minor league deal over the winter and went on to collect 40 plate appearances with them this year, hitting a meager .179/.200/.231. The longtime member of the Tigers organization owns a .224/.282/.288 line in 332 career PAs.

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