MINORS FINAL 6/29: Wrapping up the farm system shakeup

MANY MOVES SATURDAY
Most have been reported piecemeal, but we're rounding 'em up.

GWINNETT
Christian Bethancourt called up to Atlanta; Gus Schlosser called up for DH, then returned. Juan Jaime returned to Gwinnett; Elmer Reyes promoted from Miss. to Gwinnett. Salcedo activated.

MISSISSIPPI
2B Daniel Castro promoted from Lynchburg. OF Kyle Wren promoted from Lynchburg. OF Blake Brown promoted from Rome.

LYNCHBURG
2B Gerald Chin promoted from Rome. OF Keith Curcio promoted from Rome. SS Reed Harper sent to GCL for rehab. P Daniel Watts promoted from Rome. 1B Trenton Moses released (never got an AB this year after breaking his ankle in an off-season skiing accident!)

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CLASS AAA

Charlotte 9, Gwinnett 6

LP: Northcraft (0-1) 2.2 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 3 K.
Fisher 3.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K.
Buchter 1 IP, 1 H 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K.
Terdoslavich 2-2, 2 R.
E. Reyes 1-4, 2B, 2 RBIs. (played SS)
Salcedo 1-4, 2B, 2 RBIs. (played RF)
Cunningham 1-5, HR 4th), 2 RBIs.

CLASS AA

Huntsville 9, Mississippi 7

SP: Hursh 5.1 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 2 K.
LP: R. Kelly (0-1) 2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K.
Hunter 3-5, HR (8th), 2 RBIs.
Castro 1-4, RBI.
M.Jones 0-2, R, 2 BB, 2 SB.
Peraza 1-5, R.
Wren 1-5, R, RBI. (Pedraza-Wren 1-2)
Kubitza 1-3, 3B, R, SB.

ADVANCED CLASS A

Lynchburg 10, Myrtle Beach 7

SP: J. Miller 5.2 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K.
WP: Wilson (4-2) 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K.
Brown 2-5, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBIs, SB. (debut)
Martinez 1-3, RBI.
Bloxom 3-5, 2B, 2 R, RBI.
Ahrens 3-4, 2 2B, R, RBI.
E. Garcia 1-5, 2 RBIs, SB.

CLASS A

Savannah 15, Rome 12

Rome led 5-0 after 1/2 IP, scored 6 in 9th trailing 15-6.
SP: Holmes 3.1 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 0 BB, 0 K.
LP: Holland (2-3) 1.1 IP, 4 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, 0 K.
Curcio 3-5, R, 2 RBIs, OF assist. (Rome debut)
Chin 2-5, 2B, R, 3 RBIs.
Lien 1-3, R, 2 RBIs, 2 BB.
Giardina 2-4, 2 R, RBI.

SHORT-SEASON

Danville 11, Bluefield 2

WP: Grosser (1-0) 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
Povse 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. (debut)
Nevarez 1-4, HR (1st), 3 RBIs.
Edgerton 1-1, 2B, R, RBI. (14 RBIs in 9 games)
De La Rosa 2-4, 2 2B, 2 R.
Godfrey 2-4, 2 2B, 2 R, RBI.

GCL Braves (3-5, 2nd, 2 GB) idle

DSL Braves idle (16-9, 1st, 2 GA) idle.

Is that Scott Brosius' son?

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Originally Posted by KeithLockhart

Is that Scott Brosius' son?

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Yes

Another impressive outing by Grosser.

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Originally Posted by nsacpi

Another impressive outing by Grosser.

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That's exactly why I had him in my Top 15.

Kyle Kubitza's OBP sends its regards...

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Originally Posted by Jay212033

That's exactly why I had him in my Top 15.

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Good call. I amended my list; he's there!

I know its a small sample size, but its easy to start getting excited about Edgerton early in a position of need. He will be one to watch as he moves up the ranks in levels more appropriate to his age.

Does Salcedo's move to OF mean Braves think he sucks at 3rd, or they want Peraza to play 2nd/3rd like Prado.

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Originally Posted by KeithLockhart

Does Salcedo's move to OF mean Braves think he sucks at 3rd, or they want Peraza to play 2nd/3rd like Prado.

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It means he is getting closer to playing in Atlanta and he is Brooks Conrad bad in the infield.

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Originally Posted by cajunrevenge

Yes

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I don't believe he is. Have yet to see an article where a father/son link between the Brosius' is mentioned, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

Big weekend. Lots of upward movement, most of which I thought would take place.

As per Salcedo, I think the Braves are trying to get his bat to play. He could be a corner reserve (RF, LF, 3B, 1B), but he still has to show he can hit if he's going to stick in the big leagues. IF he does hit, a player who can at least stand at four positions without embarrassing himself defensively would be a nice addition.

Danville is loaded, but there's a sprinkling of guys on the team (Sanchez, Black, Livesay, Dodig, Flores, Ubiera) who are sticking around rookie ball a little longer than expected. Nice to see Edgerton off to a good start. I like Grosser as well. He and Salazar (provided he finds his control) could be a solid pair of prospects. Grosser could be in Rome by August.

Speaking of Rome, I follow the games on my phone and yesterday I checked the score before my wife and I took a walk. Rome was up 5-3 early. I chuckled and thought, "I wonder how long this is going to last?" Sure enough, I return from the walk and they are down 14-6. There are some nice offensive prospects on the team (Gerald Chin is a new addition to the team that I'm watching and it looks like Connor Lien has figured out that if you don't swing at four pitches out of the strike zone, they allow you to go to first base), but the pitching is simply miserable. Rome pitchers threw 143 pitches yesterday: 73 strikes and 70 balls. That about says it all.

PS--Nice to see Daniel Castro promoted. I don't know where he sits in the prospect universe, but the fact they moved Peraza to 2B and kept Castro at SS is interesting. The Braves have usually left prospects at SS up the ladder (unless it's obvious they can't play the position), but maybe with Simmons firmly ensconced at SS for the foreseeable future, they wanted to get Peraza experience at his likely major league position earlier than later. Castro probably isn't going to hit a whole bunch, but if he can play defense, he could stick somewhere. Still only 21 (22 in November).

If Edgerton and McElroy keep hitting like they are, the Braves need to go ahead and push them to Rome.

With the promotions of Peraza, Wren and Castro, Lynchburg has lost virtually all of its positional prospects. The best positional prospect left on that team is their catcher, Tyler Tewell. So we now have a High A team with virtually no positional prospects and a Low A team with virtually no pitching prospects (Yean Carlos Gil is about the only one). The issues with those two teams reflects the bifurcated nature of the last couple drafts. We've had a small number of guys from the 2012 and 2013 drafts who have moved fast (Wood, Hursh, Simmons) and a lot who have not progressed at all. Many of the players who should be populating the High A and Low A rosters are instead still trying to make it out of rookie ball.

On the bright side, the AA team now looks quite good with the recent promotions. Lots of prospects of various stripes on that team. And Gwinnett has a solid group too, though with less upside. The two rookie ball teams have a certain amount of congestion at certain positions reflecting the slow progress of some of the recent draftees. In Danville for example, they are trying to juggle playing time in the outfield for six outfielders (I suspect this congestion is why they promoted Curcio to Rome so fast because with him there were seven outfielders on the Danville roster). In the GCL, we have a similar issue in the infield. It is going to be hard finding time for all the infielders there (Dykstra, Albies, Manwaring, Hagenmiller, Azuaje, Cruz, Franco). They will be soon joined by Dorrian. The congestion there has also led to what looks like a premature promotion, with Grullon going to Danville even though he is probably not quite ready for that level.

The congestion at the rookie level is both good and bad. The negative aspect is that it reflects the slow progress of some of the players drafted in 2012 and 2013. The positive aspect is that at this point it does appear that enough of the players on those teams are doing well enough that they will soon be leading to an upgrade of the High A and Low A teams.

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Originally Posted by KB21

If Edgerton and McElroy keep hitting like they are, the Braves need to go ahead and push them to Rome.

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Godfrey is another one who could earn a quick promotion given he was drafted as a senior and is doing pretty well. The slightly awkward aspect of this is that Rome could really use an influx of pitching, but the guys in Danville who are making the strongest case for promotion are hitters.

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Originally Posted by KB21

If Edgerton and McElroy keep hitting like they are, the Braves need to go ahead and push them to Rome.

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I should add Sean Godfrey to that list. These three guys are destroying the short season rookie league they are in.

It is a little odd that they promoted Curcio not Godfrey. But maybe the small sample numbers don't reveal what they saw from Curcio.

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Originally Posted by nsacpi

It is a little odd that they promoted Curcio not Godfrey. But maybe the small sample numbers don't reveal what they saw from Curcio.

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My guess is, since they were promoting Blake Brown, they needed a center field type. Curcio has had a nice start in A ball in a very SSS.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KB21

My guess is, since they were promoting Blake Brown, they needed a center field type. Curcio has had a nice start in A ball in a very SSS.

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Godfrey has played at least one game in center. Brown had mostly been playing left in Rome. Connor Oliver is the center fielder in Rome and a very good one defensively.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nsacpi

With the promotions of Peraza, Wren and Castro, Lynchburg has lost virtually all of its positional prospects. The best positional prospect left on that team is their catcher, Tyler Tewell. So we now have a High A team with virtually no positional prospects and a Low A team with virtually no pitching prospects (Yean Carlos Gil is about the only one). The issues with those two teams reflects the bifurcated nature of the last couple drafts. We've had a small number of guys from the 2012 and 2013 drafts who have moved fast (Wood, Hursh, Simmons) and a lot who have not progressed at all. Many of the players who should be populating the High A and Low A rosters are instead still trying to make it out of rookie ball.

On the bright side, the AA team now looks quite good with the recent promotions. Lots of prospects of various stripes on that team. And Gwinnett has a solid group too, though with less upside. The two rookie ball teams have a certain amount of congestion at certain positions reflecting the slow progress of some of the recent draftees. In Danville for example, they are trying to juggle playing time in the outfield for six outfielders (I suspect this congestion is why they promoted Curcio to Rome so fast because with him there were seven outfielders on the Danville roster). In the GCL, we have a similar issue in the infield. It is going to be hard finding time for all the infielders there (Dykstra, Albies, Manwaring, Hagenmiller, Azuaje, Cruz, Franco). They will be soon joined by Dorrian. The congestion there has also led to what looks like a premature promotion, with Grullon going to Danville even though he is probably not quite ready for that level.

The congestion at the rookie level is both good and bad. The negative aspect is that it reflects the slow progress of some of the players drafted in 2012 and 2013. The positive aspect is that at this point it does appear that enough of the players on those teams are doing well enough that they will soon be leading to an upgrade of the High A and Low A teams.

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I'm not that worried about the congestion in the GCL. I view the GCL and the DSL as glorified scrimmage leagues. The more important stuff (or let me amend that to "equally important stuff") probably takes place on the practice fields.

With Chin moving up, Danville needed a 2B and Grullon got the call.

Did Oliver get hurt and is that why Curcio was promoted? Curious that Joseph Daris started out in the GCL except that when I looked at their profiles from the scouting services, Curcio and Daris look pretty much like the same guy.

I'm not getting too riled up about what's happening in Danville right now. Godfrey and McElroy are relatively late picks and I wonder what their ceiling is. We will find out, but Rome's strength right now (if a team with a winning percentage below .333 can have a strength) is that it has some guys with projection that simply need to play. A guy like Carlos Franco is probably on his last legs as a prospect, but he's supposedly been a tools guy whose tools have yet to translate and he's probably given one last chance to show what he's got. With the investment in Edgerton, it makes Franco's task that much more crucial for his status.

nscapi, I think "bifurcated" is a great term to describe what's going on.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 50PoundHead

I'm not that worried about the congestion in the GCL. I view the GCL and the DSL as glorified scrimmage leagues. The more important stuff (or let me amend that to "equally important stuff") probably takes place on the practice fields.

With Chin moving up, Danville needed a 2B and Grullon got the call.

Did Oliver get hurt and is that why Curcio was promoted? Curious that Joseph Daris started out in the GCL except that when I looked at their profiles from the scouting services, Curcio and Daris look pretty much like the same guy.

I'm not getting too riled up about what's happening in Danville right now. Godfrey and McElroy are relatively late picks and I wonder what their ceiling is. We will find out, but Rome's strength right now (if a team with a winning percentage below .333 can have a strength) is that it has some guys with projection that simply need to play. A guy like Carlos Franco is probably on his last legs as a prospect, but he's supposedly been a tools guy whose tools have yet to translate and he's probably given one last chance to show what he's got. With the investment in Edgerton, it makes Franco's task that much more crucial for his status.

nscapi, I think "bifurcated" is a great term to describe what's going on.

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Thank you. I'm rather proud of coming up with it!

I'm not so sure Danville was in need of a second baseman. They had Monasterio and Obregon. Grullon makes three.

I agree that this may be Carlos Franco's last chance. In person, he does look like a ballplayer. He looks athletic and natural both at the plate and in the field. The results haven't been there for the most part. But he's had a good month of June and I think he is a player we should keep in the lineup on a regular basis.