Well, once I'm finished with this post you will see just how fluid minor league rosters are in the second half of the season. The short season squads starting jumbles everything up. So does the draft. Throw in injuries and there is probably going to be a lot of movement to report each week for the rest of the minor league season. Tigstown.com provides the moves; I just provide my own thoughts on them.

Injuries

The Tigers worked their way into the national spotlight this week for both good and bad reasons. When they beat the Twins in the opening game of their Minnesota series, it put them in first place for a day. Unfortunately, in the same game, Joel Zumaya injured his elbow in a way that had him literally screaming, writhing and sobbing on the mound. It was sickening seeing him fall in a heap to the ground and then seeing his hand trembling uncontrollably as he tried to hold his arm still so the trainers could theorize on what happened - or maybe just how to get him off the field without causing too much more pain. It's impossible not to feel bad for Joel. He's had injury problems throughout his career and every time it seems to be something we've never heard of before. It feels to me like one of those fables where some lucky person gets a wish, but the genie or imp or whoever is granting the wish tries to twist their desire around to make it a curse.

I feel a bit ghoulish donning my analyst's cap so soon, but I'll do it anyway. Zumaya started the season with 18.1 innings in which he didn't issue a single walk. In that time, he gave up 17 hits but none of those were homers and only three were for extra bases. He also struck out 23 batters and the .246/.243/.304 line batters had against him in that time made him one of the best relievers in the league for the season's first month. Since then, he issued his first walk (a Yankee game I attended), a bunch more, and hasn't been nearly the same pitcher. In the 20 innings since his walkless streak ended, he's given up 15 hits and walked as many batters (11) as he's struck out. Zumaya was nearly impossible to replace when he was on, but the pitcher he had been for the last month or so wasn't what was propping up the team's bullpen.

To balance out the negatives of Zumaya's injury a bit, I'll talk about how Brayan Villarreal was activated from the disabled list on Saturday. He pitched very well in his return, spinning five scoreless innings while giving up just two singles and a walk against seven strikeouts. If he keeps pitching like that, both the Flying Tigers' five-game losing streak and his time in the Florida State League could soon be things of the past.

Audy Ciriaco was placed back on the disabled list. I can only assume it is related to his troublesome wrist. I should also mention that Ciriaco’s mate on the left side of the Erie infield, Cale Iorg has now gone on the disabled list as well. The Whitecaps are having their problems as well. Jade Todd and Giovanni Soto have both made early exits from their most recent starts due to apparent injuries. Jade Todd has been put on the disabled list with what MiLB.com calls a strained shoulder.

With all this bad injury news, I feel glad to be able to mention another key prospect who’s on the mend rather than the shelf, Robbie Weinhardt. He’s completed his stay on the disabled list as well as a rehab assignment in Connecticut and now will try to get back to being a dominant reliever. It’s certainly a good time for him to re-establish himself as a good option for the shuttle between Toledo and Detroit.

Re-assignments

It has the feel to me of being temporary, but Casey Fien has been called up to fill Zumaya's spot on the roster. Fien has clearly established he looks like a major league pitcher when he's with in Triple A, as in 39.1 innings with the Hens he allowed just 32 hits, six walks and four homers while striking out 27. Last year, his numbers were even better. Now, his task is to continue looking like a major leaguer when he actually is. He's a flyball pitcher, so homers will come. He just needs to be stingy in issuing walks like he is in the minors so the homers aren't quite so damaging. Frankly, what he could really use is some good old fashioned luck in the early going so he doesn't seem like he's out of his depth. A lot of times, looking good in those first few appearances seems to earn relievers a longer leash with Leyland. It probably won't matter, though, as I'd bet the Tigers will be looking to arms like Perry and Weinhardt to help the bullpen once they're fully healthy.

The Tigers also optioned Fu-Te Ni to Toledo and as I type, there has been no announcement as to who will replace him in the Tigers' bullpen. Ni is a lefty, though, and with Brad Thomas serving in long relief and Phil Coke likely stepping into a more crucial setup role, I can see the Tigers wanting a lefty in return. That would mean Daniel Schlereth, and he has the added benefit of being on the 40-man roster already. The Tigers have already made it clear it won't be Ryan Perry replacing Ni and I could see the Tigers pointing out that Schlereth, while a bit wild, hasn't walked anybody in his last five outings (4.2 IP).

As for Ni himself, he has struggled this year but the difference in his usage is certainly not ideal. Last year, 72 of the 121 batters he faced were left-handed. This year, 72 of 116 batters he’s faced have been right-handed. That’s not setting him up for success. Sure, the 44 lefties this year have tuned him up for a line of .306/.432/.444 with six walks and 12 strikeouts but a lot of that success comes from them putting up a BABIP of .458. Leyland has admitted, though, that his usage of Ni has been less than ideal and also brought up the fact that Ni has been left out in the pen for long stretches. He’s already had three instances this year where he came in on six days’ rest. I think these are two problems that could solve each other. If the Tigers got back to using him as a lefty specialist, it would be easier to get him time as they could just plug him in whenever the opposing team has a couple lefties in a row. As his sample size increased, his numbers (like his .458 BABIP against LHB) would normalize and he’d look more like an effective reliever again.

That covers the majors, so buckle up because once we get into the minors is where things get a little hairy. Let’s just jump right into it, though. The Tigers decided to have Jared Gayhart and Lester Oliveros swap assignments, with Gayhart going to Lakeland and Oliveros jumping up to Erie. It's tough to argue with either decision as Oliveros owned the FSL when he was healthy and there's simply no way to look at Gayhart's numbers in Erie and conclude he was succeeding. Two more pitchers who crossed paths between re-assignments were Nolan Moody and Shawn Teufel. Moody was re-assigned from West Michigan to Connecticut and Teufel headed the other way. Moody is an organizational arm, and this is the likely norm for him as long as he's in the system. I thought Teufel might fill in for the Caps' rotation but in the early going at least, he's being used in the bullpen. Joining Teufel in that Cap bullpen is Miguel Mejia, who seemed to be moved from Lakeland to West Michigan to make room for Villarreal on the Flying Tiger roster.

We’re not quite finished with Erie’s moves, though. With Ciriaco going back to the disabled list and Cale Iorg making a trip as well, the Tigers need to provide them with some help on the left side of the infield. To do so, they promoted Bryan Pounds and Carmelo Jaime from Lakeland. Pounds had just returned from the disabled list himself, and I view this promotion as a vote of no confidence for Mike Bertram's and Rawley Bishop's abilities at third base. I don’t really draw any conclusions about Jaime’s assignment to Erie other than the Tigers’ depth at the position has taken a serious turn for the worse this season.

Moving to Grand Rapids, if you thought the Whitecaps' rotation was in disarray after Turner's promotion and Todd and Soto being unable to complete their starts due to injuries, wait until you realize another member of their rotation, Ramon Lebron, has been sent to the GCL to try to find his control and command. I'm not even going to hazard a guess as to how the Tigers are going to piece the rotation back together again. Another addition to the roster, recent 31st round draftee Matt Little, isn't going to go into the rotation but he'll try to help either protect or cleanup after whatever pitchers do. The same day Little came west to Grand Rapids, so did outfielder Jeff Rowland. Rowland was the Tigers' 19th round pick and had been the best hitter on the Connecticut squad and the Tigers must have thought he was ready to help out the Caps. His promotion corresponded with the release of Luis Salas.

Down in the GCL, that fledgling roster lost a couple of outfielders, an infielder and a pitcher. Alexander Moreno was promoted to Lakeland in what I have to assume is something of a stopgap solution since this is his first season in the States and his 74 strikeouts in the VSL last year don't suggest an advanced approach at the plate. It looks like for now, though, like he and Samir Rijo are filling in for Kody Kaiser. Les Smith was the other outfielder leaving the GCL Tigers, and he headed out for Connecticut. I can see that move being more permanent, as Smith was drafted as a JUCO player (making a NY-Penn assignment a natural fit) and it's not quite as easy to ship players between Connecticut and Florida as it is to move them to the other practice field on the Tigers' complex. The infielder was Pat McKenna, who went to Lakeland and will serve the same utility role Jaime had been recently plugged into. Finally, Antonio Cruz is the lefty pitcher who’s going from the GCL to Connecticut. Connecticut has been raided to help out West Michigan and Cruz is one of their substitutes for the time being.

Signings

The Tigers added two more to their total of signed players when they inked deals with Patrick Cooper (RHP, 14th round) and Jordan Pratt (RHP, 16th round). I think the Cooper news was just making it official as I seem to remember writing about him last week but in any event, both pitchers’ signings are now official. I'm kind of excited about seeing what Cooper can do. I'm hoping he can get back to being the pitcher that earned an All Star bid in the Cape Cod League last summer. I'm also hoping he gets a shot as a starter since the Tigers shipped Lance Baxter (who had been in the rotation) to the GCL. As for Pratt, he was going to go to Connecticut with Cooper but now it looks as if he’ll be going right to West Michigan.

The Tigers also signed non-drafted free agent, Jeff Barfield, out of the University of Florida. Barfield was a reliever for the Gators and struck out 24 while walking only 2 in 37.1 innings of work. He’s been assigned to the GCL.

In my last post, I did a recap of the Whitecaps’ first half and the results were pretty ugly. Today, Tiger prospect fans get a little bit of a reprieve as we move on to a team whose first half was much more successful in terms of wins and losses - the Lakeland Flying Tigers. I'll warn you now. I was much more intrigued by this team, so this preview/review is much longer than that of the Whitecaps.

What Happened?

The Flying Tigers finished the first half above .500, but four games out of clinching a postseason spot. I’m sure they are kicking themselves for lost opportunities because early in the season, their hitting was atrocious. For example, they were shutout in three of their first four games. Guys they were counting on to be solid bats, like John Murrian, Billy Nowlin and Gustavo Nunez, were slow out of the box and it took its toll. How those three have come along since varies, but the offense as a whole was able to come around and they have since pulled themselves up to roughly league average.

They don’t hit with a lot of power, but their batting average (.262) and on-base percentage (.337) are among the top in the league. A lot of that success getting on base is due to having Alden Carrithers, Rawley Bishop, Kody Kaiser and Brent Wyatt up around the top of their order most nights. Carrithers, Bishop and Kaiser all cleared .300 in the first half and all four of those players cleared a .350 on-base percentage. Actually, Carrithers led the league in on-base percentage and was second in batting. Having those players getting on base so reliably, though, eventually made it much easier to plate some runs with solid contributions from other players like Daniel Fields and after some early struggles, Nowlin.

It’s silly to try to argue, however, that the root of this team’s success wasn’t owed mostly to their run prevention. They have given up the second fewest runs in the Florida State League, and despite not having an overpowering staff in terms of strikeouts they gave up hits at a very low rate (8.4 H/9). Combine that with impeccable control (2.1 BB/9, best in the FSL) and they just haven’t had a lot of baserunners to deal with. A lot of the credit there probably goes to some strong defense, but their pitching has been fantastic.

As a team, I mentioned their strikeouts weren’t that high, but they’re striking out 3.6 for every walk they issue. Their overall success is clearly helped by some guys having excellent success, but a lack of dogs is what stands out to me. Their fifth starter, Mark Sorensen, has an ERA of just 4.41 and there’s only one player on the team with a mark higher than that. If you want to get a feel for the quality of their rotation, though, it’s better to look at FIP and all five of their starters were in the league’s Top 25 in the first half. With a solid bullpen behind them, there’s little wonder they were so successful keeping runs off the board. As I suggested earlier, if their offense kicks into gear a little sooner, they could easily have sewn up a postseason berth already. As it was, their run differential of +49 in the first half suggests they should have picked up two or three more wins than they did.

Individual Performances

In recent years, Flying Tiger fans have had to face the stark reality that they have to focus on the system’s top prospects who might be on their team rather than hoping for overall success. That’s because even though almost all the top prospects - guys like Andrew Miller, Cameron Maybin, Rick Porcello - roll through Lakeland, they have seldom had successful seasons. Well this season, they have enjoyed some winning in addition to getting to watch some promising talent. In fact, some players who entered 2010 as fringy talents may have forced their way into prospect conversations. I’m going to talk about both the players who entered the season as ranked prospects and the guys who have improved their lot in the first half of 2010.

Let’s first talk about the guys for whom there were high hopes as soon as the season started. On the position side, I’d consider those players to be John Murrian, Billy Nowlin and Gustavo Nunez. On the pitching staff, you had Lester Oliveros, Luke Putkonen and Brayan Villarreal. Personally, I’d have added Charlie Furbush but we’ll get back to him. Surprisingly, the three position players had very little to do with the offensive success for much of the first half.

All three of the position players mentioned had a miserable April. John Murrian hit .174/.208/.283. Billy Nowlin, who lives with his bat, hit .185/.209/.231 without a homer and just one walk. Nunez hit .244/.302/.295 and struck out 13 times while drawing three walks and getting caught four of the nine times he tried to steal. It was a wonder the team was able to go 11-10 in the month with their top three prospects gasping for air at this new level. The team’s pitching and defense carried them, though, and since April, the three have had varying levels of success.

Murrian went down with a wrist injury, but after his return he closed out the first half by hitting .261/.414/.348 in about 30 plate appearances. I’m hoping he’ll find more power as he is further removed from the injury. Nowlin has had the most success in finding his stroke. He started to turn things around by improving his plate discipline and has been able to lift his batting average as a result. The power still isn’t where I expect it, but he’s hitting the ball well and has been one of the team’s most productive hitters in June, bringing his first half line up to .266/.344/.407. Unfortunately, Nunez has enjoyed no such turn around. In fact, his numbers have been worse since April. He’s had better success on the bases (12/18 in SB on the season) but he closed out the first half hitting .204/.250/.259. I know he’s supposed to be fun to watch at short, but he’d have to be able to turn 6-4-3 double plays by himself to make up for that line.

As you may have guessed from the previous section, the pitching prospects fared much better. Lester Oliveros’s biggest problem was staying healthy, but when he’s been able to take the mound he’s been nails for the Flying Tigers. He struck out 24 in 19 innings while allowing just 13 hits, six walks and no homers. It’s no wonder he was promoted to Erie almost immediately after the second half began.

Putkonen and Villarreal may not be too far behind. Putkonen had a couple rough starts to close out the first half, but his 2010 season as a whole has been a step forward for the Tommy John survivor. His reliance on contact (only 48 K) has caused him to give up 81 hits in 79 innings, but his ability to keep the ball down (3 HR, 49% GB) and in the strike zone (24 BB) has limited the damage (3.53 ERA, 3.77 FIP). Villarreal is a completely different style of pitcher, but has been at least as successful as Putkonen when healthy. He is more of a strikeout pitcher (72 in 67.2 IP) and while his flyball tendencies have made him more homer prone (6 HR) than Putkonen, the Ks have allowed fewer hits (56 H). He also has control (22 BB) that looks comparable to his rotation mate’s. It looks for all the world like Erie will be adding another starter soon and I hope for these two’s sakes their first half success has earned one of them a promotion.  If it has, I suspect it will be Putkonen despite his scuffling in a couple of recent starts. Villarreal, after all, is returning from a nearly three week stint on the DL.

The interesting thing about this team is more credit for their first half accomplishments goes to players we’ve yet to mention than the ones covered above. Charlie Furbush was without a doubt the team’s best starter and Rawley Bishop, Kody Kaiser and Alden Carrithers all played so well they earned earned second half promotions right alongside Furbush. Let’s look at order from impressive to most impressive.

Rawley Bishop joined John Murrian in trying to make the jump from Oneonta to Lakeland. Unlike Murrian, he took to the Florida State League like a fish to water. He started off hitting, and just kept on as the team’s primary first baseman. By the end of the first half, he was at .301/.385/.462 with 25 extra base hits and seven stolen bases in as many attempts. Shifting to the outfield, we have Kody Kaiser. After missing the better part of 2009 to injury, Kaiser made up for lost time by mashing to the tune of .325/.375/.492 in the season’s first half. His 20 walks and 52 strikeouts were both less than ideal but he made up for it with a team-high 26 extra base hits (6 triples) and 13 stolen bases (in just 14 tries). At second base and high in the batting order most games, the Flying Tigers looked to Alden Carrithers who played the role of the perfect table setter. He hit .349/.464/.423 with an astounding 43 walks to just 29 Ks. You can tell there isn’t a lot of power there (12 XBH out of 79 H total) and at 25, he’ll need to keep impressing at the higher levels. There’s no doubt, though, that he was a godsend to this Lakeland lineup.

That brings us to Charlie Furbush. After missing 2008 to Tommy John surgery, he joined the Flying Tigers a little late and kept a pretty light workload while putting up good peripherals. In 2009, though, he seemed to be on a mission to show he was ready for his next challenge. In 13 starts, he threw 77 innings and allowed 68 hits and 7 homers. Admittedly, those aren’t fantastic totals but we haven’t come to the good parts. He walked just 14 batters and struck out 109. Thats a ratio of nearly 8:1 and a K total that was tops in all the minor leagues. Just a phenomenal effort from a personal favorite and it will be a lot of fun as we watch to see what he can do in Erie as an encore.

Before we get to looking at what the second half may hold, I’d like to give special mention to a couple players who joined the team because of injuries. Both Daniel Fields and Francisco Martinez were surprise assignments to Lakeland and I assumed both would only be with the team long enough for the Tigers to find a more suitable long-term  solution at center field and third base. Well, the two teenagers are doing what they can to prove their aggressive assignments were great ideas. Francisco Martinez seems like he may be a little rough around the edges at the plate and in the field. He’s walked four times and struck out 30 in 111 plate appearances and made six errors in 25 games at third. Admittedly, for all I know he’s a defensive wizard since error totals can be so deceptive, but I come to praise Francisco not to bury him. He clearly needs to develop a more mature approach at the plate, but for a 19-year-old who’s struggled stateside like he had before this season he’s holding his own well. He hit .305/.333/.381 in the first half and though doing so required a .419 BABIP, we’ll give him kudos for the progress.

We don’t need as many qualifiers to praise Daniel Fields. Reports on his defense sound positive and in 210 plate appearances, he’s drawn a fact-check inducing 26 walks. I’m amazed at that total, given that he was said to be a raw high school hitter when the Tigers drafted him. It’s true his strikeout total is up to 56, but he’s a 19-year-old kid facing pro pitchers three and four years his senior. His line of .249/.343/.354 isn’t going to make you call for a trade of Austin Jackson just yet, but it compares pretty well to the current average in the FSL, .255/.324/.365. The second half is going to be a challenge with the loss of the most productive third of their lineup, but a player like Fields should be able to hold the interest of the Lakeland fans.

Second Half Preview

First Half (most common) Lineup

C John Murrian/Julio Rodriguez
1B Rawley Bishop
2B Alden Carrithers
3B Bryan Pounds/Francisco Martinez
SS Gustavo Nunez
LF Brent Wyatt
CF Daniel Fields
RF Kody Kaiser
DH Billy Nowlin

Looking at this lineup, I see almost certain steps backward at first base and right field. Bishop and Kaiser set the bar too high for just about anybody who could fill in. At first, for example, Jordan Lennerton’s Whitecap numbers don’t match up with Bishop’s. That would make it a stretch for him to reproduce Bishop’s production there. It’s a similar story with Kaiser. He raked and I just don’t think they will be able to get that back from either Alexander Moreno or Samir Rijo. They’re a couple of 20-year-olds playing stateside for the first time. The FSL is a tough assignment for such a player and anything less than a major step backward would be a minor miracle.

The personnel is holding steady (for now) at third base, shortstop, left field, center field and designated hitter. When I say third base, I mean it looks like Martinez will be keeping his job for now since Pounds was promoted to Erie (today, I think). Guessing at performances in half a season is a fool’s errand so let’s just say these positions are a wash. Sure, Nowlin and Nunez will probably improve on their first half numbers but maybe Martinez’s BABIP luck runs out to even it out.

That leaves just catcher and second base. I didn’t count catcher as holding steady because Murrian missed so much time and his backup is now Billy Alvino. I think if Murrian is healthy, he’ll give Lakeland far better production than they got from Bouchie and Rodriguez while he was out. That gives them a step forward, but it’s tough to assume Brandon Douglas will be able to match Carrithers’ production at second base. He’s a good hitter, so it’s possible. It’s just that on-base percentage of Carrithers led the league. If Douglas matches his production, I assume it would have to be by improving a great deal on Carrithers’ power.

Breaking things down in this way, it’s difficult to see the improvement. Of course, like I said, in half a season crazy things can happen. The way to an improvement on offense, though, is going to require somebody giving us something we haven’t seen from them so far. Who might that player be?

First Half Rotation

Charlie Furbush
Brayan Villarreal
Luke Putkonen
Adam Wilk
Mark Sorensen

They have lost their best starter from the first half, Furbush. The good news, however, is they have gained the most talented Whitecap starter, Jacob Turner. Turner is certainly a better talent than Furbush - five years his junior - but replacing what Furbush did on the mound in the first half isn’t going to be easy. Much like when Turner was with West Michigan, though, Furbush’s dominance didn’t always translate to wins. He only earned four wins against five losses in his 13 starts with Lakeland and the team split his no decisions. Turner isn’t going to match Furbush’s production, but having the team win half the time he starts isn’t exactly wild-eyed optimism.

Further good news is the recovering Casey Crosby. He’s currently rehabbing with the GCL squad and Lakeland is his most likely landing spot when he’s ready. That will require a corresponding move, probably somebody’s promotion to Erie since that rotation is limping along, but if Crosby is healthy he should be able to match the production of whoever he replaces. The main concern will be the difference in innings you might get from the current rotation member and the rehabbing Crosby.

Conclusion: If the team we saw in the first half wasn’t able to put together a playoff effort, I’m not sure I can see how it’s expected this adjusted squad will. Note that I say it’s not expected. Only one team in any league can get to the playoffs by doing what’s expected. Everybody else has to surprise you in some way and the beauty of baseball is there are at least as many surprises as not.

Of course, this team will have plenty of intrigue even if the surprise doesn’t come. They will probably have the system’s two best starting prospects in Turner and Crosby and it’s not impossible that they would get one or two of the top pitchers from the draft. I’d guess Chance Ruffin would be most likely and he could perhaps go a long way towards replacing Oliveros. Among the position players, there may not be the talent you have in Turner and Crosby but there’s plenty to root for. Can Nowlin become the elite hitting prospect the Tigers have had so much trouble developing? A turnaround from Nunez would certainly be welcome and further progress from Fields could earn him the nod as the system’s top position prospect. Maybe he’s there already.

If you pay attention to Tiger prospects, how do you not fawn over a team with anywhere from three to five of the system’s top ten prospects?

As you can see if you read my post about the Tigers’ moves within the farm system, the Whitecaps just completed a significant shakeup of their roster. It remains to be seen whether the infusion of talent from the draft will match what was promoted to Lakeland, but one thing is certain. This team had a miserable first half as they staggered to a 26-43 record.

What Happened

If you’re going to try to figure out what went wrong with this team, it makes a lot of sense to begin with the offense. It’s the worst in the league at scoring runs and there’s no aspect of run scoring they did particularly well. Their on-base percentage as a team (.313) is well below the league average (.325), as is their slugging percentage (.344 v. Lg Avg of .373). What makes those numbers worse is their team batting average (.246) actually rates pretty close to the league batting average (.252). That means they’re walking much less than the league’s average team and hitting with much less power. They are one of two teams in the league with an isolated power under .100.

The bad news doesn’t stop there. They were plagued by strikeouts in the first half (561), as that total was the fifth highest in the league and approached three times their walk total (196). Yet somehow, despite having comparatively few baserunners, they were able to hit into more double plays than any other team in the league. That may be an indication of poor team speed, because they also didn’t steal very many bases (38, second worst in the league). What makes that stolen base total worse is they don’t pick their spots well either. They have been caught 25 times and that success rate (60.3) puts them about eight percentage points below the rest of the league. So how do you create a league worst offense? Hitting for a poor average without supplementing the low number of hits with walks, power, speed or situational hitting is a pretty good start.

This team would have been much worse off had their run prevention not been pretty good. Their team ERA of 3.92 is very close to the league average and their 4.4 runs allowed per game is actually better than average. I’m just a little perplexed as to how they did it. They didn’t strikeout many batters (490 K is among the worst). They were not especially good at avoiding walks or home runs (236 BB and 38 HR are both about average).

Those are the elements - strikeouts, walks and home runs - that make up FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) and when that stat is out of line with ERA, the tendency is to credit your defense. However, in a league where the average team gives up far less than a hit per inning, they gave up 619 hits in 604.1 innings. That goes against the sterling defense theory, but we should keep in mind their low strikeout total means their fielders have a lot more balls in play to try to convert into outs. Still, if I had to guess I’d say it seems like they must have been wriggling free of more dicey situations than you’d expect. In the second half, it’s going to be very important that they either hold on to that good fortune or have their new pitchers bring the peripherals more in line with their actual run prevention.

Individual Performances

I’ve talked before about how when you watch minor league teams, there are two types of fans. There are those who are just a fan of their minor league team and there are those who are just hoping the farm teams produce solid major leaguers. If you polled this site’s readers, I’d bet there would be many more of the latter. That means that even with the Whitecaps going through their worst season in a long time, maybe ever since being affiliated with the Tigers, a lot of people won’t care much if the team’s best prospects are doing well or there are a couple of breakout prospects. So how are the Caps doing on that front?

When I previewed this team, I talked about how the Caps having a lot of teenage talent was both uncommon for the Midwest League and exciting for Tiger fans. On the mound, Giovanni Soto, Jacob Turner and Melvin Mercedes all entered the season in their teens and behind them as fellow teenagers were Hernan Perez and Avisail Garcia. Looking at the results, the Tigers have so far had two hits in five trips to the plate.

The successes, you probably know, have been Soto and Turner. If Brennan Boesch has been the most pleasant surprise among the Tigers’ position prospects this year, a case could be made for Soto as earning that honor on the pitching side. Despite working with a fastball that’s usually in the high 80s, he’s been able to use his other pitches and a good baseball IQ to confound Midwest League hitters. In the first half, he threw 66 innings and gave up 59 hits, 21 walks and only two home runs while striking out 62 batters. Those numbers usually wouldn’t lead to an ERA of just 2.05, but they are still very good and gave the Caps a potent 1-2 punch between Soto and Turner.

Surprisingly, Turner’s numbers weren’t as good as Soto’s in many ways. He lost some time with stiffness in his forearm and that means he only threw 54 innings in the first half of the season. In that time, he gave up 53 hits, 4 home runs and nine walks while striking out 51 hitters. The hit and home run rates aren’t as good as Soto’s, but the fantastic walk rate must have caught the Tigers’ eyes because they promoted Turner to Lakeland. In fact, that walk rate bears repeating. Nine walks in 54 innings. Wow. It should also be noted that Turner’s stuff is more in line with the sterling results. He has a high octane fastball and a curveball Baseball America said was the best on the Tigers’ farm.

The progress of the other three has been much less encouraging. Melvin Mercedes had big control problems (19 BB and 12 K in 19.2 IP) before he was sent back to Florida and ultimately to the surgeon for Tommy John surgery. I’m sure the Tigers are hoping the problems were related. Avisail Garcia has had his moments this year, but overall he’s hitting .270/.305/.330 with ten walks and 60 strikeouts. He’s young and very talented, but he also has a long way to go in terms of finding his in-game power and plate discipline.

Hernan Perez has had an even rougher time. He gets some liberty at the plate relative to Garcia because he’s a shortstop, but he’s still hitting just .230/.257/.284 with eight walks and 54 strikeouts. What’s worse is where Garcia has been trending slightly upward each month, June has been Perez’s worst month. He’s drawn one walk against 19 strikeouts and hasn’t had an extra base hit since June 4th.

Of course, you don’t have to be a teenager to be a prospect in the Midwest League. Other players who came into the 2010 season with an opportunity to climb the ranks of the Tigers’ prospects were Wade Gaynor, Alexis Espinoza and Ramon Lebron. In addition to those three, I’m not sure what the Tigers’ opinion of Jamie Johnson is but I have to believe it’s better now since he’s been the team’s most consistent hitter this season. He hit .308/.408/.414 with 36 walks and 38 strikeouts in the first half and while he certainly isn’t a power hitter, he paced the team in all three of the “slash” categories as well as walks. Doing all that as the team’s every day center fielder, it’d be a tough argument for anybody else as the team’s MVP.

Let’s get back to the other three players I mentioned, though. Wade Gaynor was the third round pick in the 2009 draft, but had a miserable time in Oneonta and wasn’t much better in the early going of 2010. He’s come on strong lately, though, and finished the first half hitting .269/.335/.407 with 19 walks, 57 strikeouts and seven steals in nine attempts. His twenty extra base hits were tied for the team lead and his 103 total bases put him all alone at the top in that category. Those numbers may not seem great, but they far outpace the league average (.252/.325/.373) and to get them, he had to overcome an April that saw him hit just .253/.326/.337 with only one home run.

Gaynor is enjoying a bit of a breakthrough, but Alexis Espinoza doesn’t seem to be making the same kind of progress. Sure, he’s hitting .265/.301/.398 and that puts him within shouting distance of league average in terms of production. The problem is he’s the team’s designated hitter and that level of production doesn’t cut it when you don’t contribute on defense. What’s worse is his walking only three times all season while striking out an alarming 53 times.

Finally, you have Ramon Lebron. He has a very good arm that has led to him looking great in a few starts when he’s been able to avoid the walks that have plagued him all season and throughout his career. The concern is those starts have been the exception and in the first half he walked 36 batters in just 45.2 innings. He’s also been a bit more hittable in his last few starts and ended up allowing 47 hits in the first half. He’s likely going to continue getting a chance to figure things out, though, because that live right arm has allowed him to strikeout 53 batters and he possesses the best strikeout percentage among the team’s starting pitchers.

Brief Second Half Preview

First Half (Most common) Starters

C: Eric Roof and Billy Alvino
1B: Jordan Lennerton
2B: Mike Gosse
3B: Wade Gaynor
SS: Hernan Perez
LF: Mike Rockett
CF: Jamie Johnson
RF: Avisail Garcia
DH: Alexis Espinoza

First Half Rotation

Jacob Turner
Giovanni Soto
Trevor Feeney
Ramon Lebron
Jade Todd

Those are the key players in the Caps’ abysmal first half to their season. As we have discussed, there are going to be some important differences in the second half. The catching duties are being turned over to third round pick, Rob Brantly and (another teenager) Luis Sanz. Brantly is supposed to be an advanced hitter coming out of UC-Riverside and could provide an offensive upgrade behind the plate.

Two first basemen from the draft, Tony Plagman and Clay Jones, have joined the team as well. In the early going of the season’s second half, it looks as if Plagman will be the starting first baseman and Jones may take over the DH duties. If that holds, Espinoza will have to take more time in the outfield and that probably means he and Rockett will share left field duties. I’m not sure how those changes will affect the team. Plagman is going to be hard pressed to match Lennerton’s production at first, but Clay Jones taking at bats from Espinoza and Rockett should get some of those runs back.

At second base, Mike Gosse was released a while back and the second base duties have since been shared by Chris Sedon and Jimmy Gulliver. That could be a temporary situation, though, as the Tigers drafted a second baseman with their seventh pick, Corey Jones. If Jones does in fact join the Caps after signing, he should provide some extra pop offensively as he had a great season with the Titans and was the MVP of the wood bat Northwoods League last year.

In the rotation, the Caps lost Jacob Turner and it’s very likely his replacement won’t be able to reproduce what Turner did when he was with the team. I’m not one hundred percent certain who will replace him in the rotation, but Shawn Teufel was just called up from Connecticut so he could be a possibility. He was excellent for Liberty as a redshirt senior, but again, he’s not Jacob Turner. If you want to be optimistic, though, Turner’s performance was great but it often didn’t translate into wins. He earned just two wins with the Caps, so while Teufel (or whoever takes Turner’s spot) is a step down in terms of talent, there may not be a huge difference in terms of team wins.

Prediction: There was a lot of movement on the Caps’ roster in preparing for the second half, but I don’t see the changes adding up to the kind of 180 degree turn this team requires. The offensive changes feel like a marginal improvement and if this team is going to climb out of the cellar offensively, I bet it’s due just as much to continued improvement from guys like Garcia and Gaynor as the addition of Brantly or Plagman.

On the pitching side, the biggest improvements may be yet to come. The Tigers haven’t signed (or at least announced) Drew Smyly (2nd round pick out of Arkansas) or Cole Green (4th round pick out of Texas). Those two could conceivably be placed in West Michigan if and when they sign and could be a nice upgrade in talent for the Caps’ rotation. Run prevention, luck or not, hasn’t been a problem for the team, though, and I’m not sure those guys could improve it enough to compensate for the team’s offensive struggles.

To all the potential readers who have come to the site the past couple days to read about the major moves the Tigers have made down on the farm, I apologize. The Bloguin Network has been changing over to a dedicated server and after my GCL Preview disappeared for a couple hours, I decided to just let that process be completed before doing another post. To make it up to you, I'm hoping to complete three posts this weekend. One will be this one, another transaction post. The other two will be looks at Lakeland and West Michigan since both teams just completed the first halves of their respective seasons and now head into the second half with vastly different rosters. To the transactions!

Injuries

Scott Sizemore went on the disabled list with a hip strain. I have no idea what that means or how long he'll be out because of it. I'll discuss how the timing of the injury may have been quite convenient for Justin Henry below. Heading in the opposite direction on the trail between the disabled list and active rosters is Bryan Pounds. He had been out since May 19th with an oblique problem. I'm talking about a problem with the muscle in his adomen wall, not a problem with being straightforward with people.

Two very important players who are midway between the disabled list and active rosters are Casey Crosby and Robbie Weinhardt. Crosby is doing a rehab assignment in the GCL and Weinhardt is playing with the Connecticut Tigers while he tries to recover from a shoulder strain. Assuming Crosby is fully healthy and is ready for his actual assignment in the next couple weeks, he will probably bolster the Flying Tigers' chances of making the playoffs in the second round considerably.

Reassignments

Usually, it is the injuries that trigger a flurry of roster moves but this week that's not really the case. Yes, a move was made as a result of Sizemore's hip problem but that was merely a one card in a whole deck of shuffling. To accommodate the Hens, the Tigers sent Justin Henry from Erie to Toledo. I made mention above of how this may have been good timing for Henry because Alden Carrithers had just been promoted from Lakeland to Erie. With Carrithers at second in Erie and Brandon Douglas needing catch-up time in Lakeland after missing most of the first half to injury, that doesn't leave much room for Henry. We'll see what the Tigers do with him when Sizemore is ready to return.

Joining Carrithers on the plane trip - man, I hope for their sakes it's a plane trip and not a drive - from Lakeland to Erie are Rawley Bishop, Kody Kaiser, Ben Guez and Charlie Furbush. This is very good news for each of these players, as they are all of an age that makes people turn up their nose at big numbers in A ball. With the exception of Guez, they were all putting up big numbers. When you combine the age issue and the big numbers, it was vexing that the Tigers weren't promoting any of these players and a lot of people were wondering what the Tigers were waiting for. Apparently, they were waiting for the end of the first half.

Now, sending five players from Lakeland to Erie means additional moves must be made at both levels. The SeaWolves had room for Furbush since Oliver had been called up, but some other players would have to go. Those players were Josh Burrus, Ben Johnson (we hardly knew ye) and Ronnie Bourquin. Burrus and Johnson were free agent signings, so no big surprises there but Bourquin was a second round pick back in 2006. Considering his history since signing, his release wasn't surprising but his former status within the organization makes it a little more newsworthy. He showed up on some Tiger Top 10 Prospects lists after being selected so early in the draft, but his defense at third didn't cut it and the bat that earned him second round bonus money never played like a corner infiedler. Add in off the field issues and the resulting suspensions and you're left with more people wondering what took so long than why they did it.

That's how the Tigers made room in Erie. How did they replenish the roster in Lakeland? They promoted Jordan Lennerton and Jacob Turner from West Michigan, Carmelo Jaime from Connecticut and Samir Rijo from the other side of the Lakeland complex (GCL Tigers). I've heard a couple rumblings around the internet that people were a little surprised the Tigers selected Turner for a promotion since his numbers weren't that great. I have to assume people making that statement are looking at his win-loss record (2-3) and his ERA (3.67). If you're looking at those stats to judge the quality of a prospect, please stop it. Turner is 19 years old and struck out nearly six times more batters than he walked during his stay in Grand Rapids. Those are phenomenal results and we should watch him closely as he takes his game to the Florida State League.

There is another big-time re-assignment that you already know about and have no doubt read about and heard about during the Tigers' telecast. To replace Rick Porcello in the rotation, they are calling up Andrew Oliver. Oliver had been doing very well with the SeaWolves (77.1 IP, 74 H, 25 BB, 70 K, 7 HR) but this is an aggressive move when you consider he hadn't even signed yet this time last year. I obviously have no idea how Oliver is going to do, but I do know a few things about him. I know he maxed out at 96.6 mph in the Arizona Fall League and his fastball averaged 93.8 mph. That is some serious heat, especially from a lefty, and it's what's been providing those numbers cited above. I think it's serious enough that if he can spot it where he wants it, he could be alright as a big league pitcher. I'm not saying he can do that yet, and I'm also not saying having a secondary pitch or two isn't important. I just wonder how often we say a guy has a "plus" slider or a wipeout changeup and those are just average pitches set up by a fantastic fastball.

Maybe I'm downplaying the importance of secondary pitches or overestimating good fastballs, but I have a feeling that if Oliver can pound the strike zone with more than just his fastball he will be alright. I admit I could be way off on this, but I've noticed that a lot of times when people talking about pitchers needing a third pitch it seems to me they need to be more concerned about hitting the strike zone with the ones they have. I remember Andrew Miller having a game where he'd walk four or five batters and it'd be a disaster and people would complain about his lack of a changeup. I also remember reviewing Jair Jurrjens' first major league start in depth and complaining that he didn't seem to be able to hit the strike zone with his offspeed stuff, but it was a success because he located his fastball well.

That's a little too much speculation for me, so let's get back to some things I know about Oliver. I know that I've seen Oliver referred to as an extreme fly ball pitcher because of his G/F out ratio. I think that's inaccurate. If you look at his balls in play this year, about 43% are ground balls. I believe that's pretty close to average and it's certainly not an extreme fly ball rate. I also know he's been pretty hard on lefties. In 27 innings against them, they've hit just one homer and struck out 25 times against only six walks. Let's hope that serves him well against the Braves tonight.

The rest of the re-assignments we'll cover don't come with the trumpets and choir announcing the well deserved promotions of quality players. Well, that's how I imagine the promotions being announced anyway. These moves are more of the "we need you in X locale, so pack your bags" variety. Zach Simons was moved up from Erie to Toledo, but with Jay Sborz coming back to Toledo to make room for Oliver on the roster, he's rejoining Erie. Matt Hoffman was sent back to Erie to make room for Simons, and now that Simons is coming back, the Tigers are sending Rob Waite back to roast in that Florida humidity. The Tigers also moved a couple of other pitchers around. Wilsen Palacios and Dan Gentzler both went to the GCL Tigers, Palacios from Lakeland and Gentzler from Connecticut. Gentzler is one of the non-drafted free agents the Tigers have signed in the past couple weeks, a move I believe I covered in a past transaction post.

Signings

The Tigers are seeing their college postseason players seasons end and extra signings are rolling in as a result. Rob Brantly's (C) UC-Riverside squad wasn't in the super regionals, but he's the earliest selection (3rd round) to sign so far. Last year's 100th overall pick signed for about $330,000 so I'd expect Brantly's bonus to come in within $30K of that number. He's already been assigned to West Michigan. Joining Brantly in signing on the dotted line are of couple of Crimson Tides (?), Clay Jones (1B) and Tyler White (RHP). Like Brantly, Jones has been assigned to West Michigan but I've not seen White assigned to a roster yet. Jones seems to me to be a player with a future similar to Jordan Lennerton in terms of what he could offer the system. I'm sure the Caps would be ecstatic if he hit as well as Lennerton in the Midwest League. We'll have to wait to see how the Caps handle having Jones and Plagman on the same squad.

(To make room for Brantly, Julio Rodriguez was moved to Connecticut)

Conclusion: It was interesting to have the simultaneous experiences of excitement at all this minor league activity and anxiety over the beating the Tigers took at the hands of the Mets. Now that the Tigers avoided the sweep at the hands of the Flushing boys and are within a hair of first place, we can rejoice at all the good news from above with abandon. Seriously, this feels like more good news from the minor league system than we've had in the three months prior to this week. As per usual, all these roster moves come with Tigstown.com as my one-stop source. I could get the information from other sources, I suppose, but why would I want to?

There is going to be a ton to cover in the next couple days, and I play softball on Thursdays so it’s going to be hard enough as it is. However, I simply refuse to do another transaction post without first doing a preview of the GCL Tigers. These youngest of the domestic bengals started their season on Monday and I always enjoy keeping an eye on this squad. After all, most of the players are making either their pro or stateside debuts and it’s just fun to see how they handle it.

Before we jump in, bear with me on this roster. I’m not sure there really even is a GCL Tiger roster but the one listed at Tigstown.com is much closer to being correct than the one at MiLB.com, which has some omissions. I’m just going to leave out a few players who I’m fairly certain will never play at this level (unless they’re injured). 

Pitchers

International

Fernando Celis, RHP, 3/27/89, 6’1”, 165
Antonio Cruz, LHP, 10/7/91, 5’11”, 160
Hua-Wei Lo, LHP, 12/1/90, 5’11”, 165
Ariel Medina, LHP, 7/30/90, 6’4”, 147
Wilsen Palacios, RHP, 12/15/89, 6’3”, 180
Yadiel Polanco, LHP, 3/21/91, 6’2”, 185

Played Domestically in 2009

Bruce Rondon, RHP, 12/9/90, 6’2”, 190

Interestingly, all these guys have already seen game action except for Lo. They all came in as relievers, but that doesn’t mean as much at this level. Starters go three and four innings sometimes down here and relievers sometimes do the same. It will be interesting to see what the Tigers have here. None of these guys were particularly dominant in the Latino leagues, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they couldn’t be over here once they get more refined as pitchers.

There are a couple who intrigue me. Lo sounds like he could have some good stuff (I’ve seen reports that he can hit 91 mph) and I have a feeling Medina’s dimensions could make for one of those lefty deliveries that makes hitters uncomfortable. I’m also curious about Antonio Cruz. His peripherals in the DSL were pretty bad (38.2 IP, 27 H, 32 BB, 31 K) but his being difficult to hit and more than a touch wild makes me wonder if there’s a live arm attached to them.

2010 Draftees

12, Kyle Ryan, LHP, 9/25/91, 6’5”, 180 
14, Patrick Cooper, RHP, 8/25/89, 6’3”, 205
26, Jeff Ferrell, RHP, 11/23/90, 6’3”, 205

I’m a little skeptical that the GCL will be Cooper’s eventual landing spot. He’s coming out of Bradley University and was in the Cape Cod League in 2009. I’m not sure why he would need to pitch down here instead of the seemingly more appropriate NY-Penn League. Ryan and Ferrell definitely are with this team, though, as each appear to be members of the rotation. Ryan was the opening day starter for the Tigers and was respectable in a two inning pro debut. Ferrell, who’s coming out of a junior college, was excellent in his debut today, throwing seven innings and striking out ten without a walk.

Non-drafted signees

Steve Crnkovich, RHP, 10/8/87, 6’4”, 190
Tim Mowry, RHP, 9/28/87, 6’5”, 215

Mowry was the closer for Western Michigan and will be in the GCL Tigers’ pen. Crnkovich, out of Tennessee, is supposed to be one of the team’s starters.

Catchers

International

Gabriel Purroy, Right, 4/16/92, 5’10”, 160
Byron Aird, Right, 5/8/91, 5’11”, 175

Purroy is the catcher for this team I’m most excited about. He hit with some good pop for the VSL team last year and as you can see, just turned 18 in April. Judging from his resume and the fact that he’s already started two of three games, I expect him to be one of the Tigers’ primary backstops. The information you see above is about the extent of what I know about Aird, though he did apparently hit well for the Australian Summer League Tigers last year (according to the Tigers’ preseason media guide).

2010 Draft

8, Patrick Leyland, Right, 10/11/91, 6’2”, 180

I want to see Leyland do well, but right now my optimism is tainted by every scouting report I saw talking about how much he would benefit from three years in college. Skepticism aside, I expect him to pretty much share the catching duties with Purroy.

Played Domestically in 2009

Adolfo Reina, Right, 1/22/90, 6’1”, 190

Reina played with the GCL squad last season and at 20, the Panamanian is looking like he may be an organization man. 

Infielders

International

Juaner Aguasvivas, 1B, Right, 9/15/89, 6’3”, 225
Javier Azcona, IF, Right, 8/28/91, 6’1”, 160
Dixon Machado, SS, Right, 2/22/92, 6’0”, 140

Aguasvivas is a free swinger with power, like a lot of the players the Tigers have imported from the Dominican and Venezuela since improving their presence in those two areas. Azcona was the starting shortstop in the DSL last year and Machado held the same job in the VSL. Azcona had a pretty good approach at the plate last year, but was the DH in  his one game so far. Machado is a speedy, slappy hitter who’s not afraid to draw a walk and has started at short in his two games played. I’m not sure, but that may tell you something about their respective defensive aptitude.

2010 Draft

21, James Meador, 1B, Right, 12/9/87, 6’1”, 205
40, Pete Miller, IF, Right, 3/3/87, 5’11”, 200

Meador has a broken arm and will probably miss most or all of June. I’d expect Miller to be a bit of a utility man, backing up some of the teams teenage talent.

Played Domestically in 2009

Pat McKenna, IF, Right, 1/24/87, 5’9”, 170
Edgar Corcino, 3B, Switch, 6/7/92, 6’2”, 180
Elvin Soto, 1B, Left, 5/6/89, 6’2”, 190

McKenna is definitely a utility player and considering his age, is certainly just going to go where the Tigers need him. Corcino was drafted out of Puerto Rico last year and I thought he was going to move to catcher this year. However, he’s played third base in all three games he’s seen so far. He’s still very young and he’s just one of those players I have a good feeling about. (That doesn’t mean much. I once had a good feeling about Luis Salas, too.) Soto was at this level last year, started 2010 in West Michigan and is now three games into the GCL season without having seen playing time.

Outfielders

International

Gilbert Gomez, Right, 4/3/90, 6’0”, 185 
Alexander Moreno, Right, 4/1/90, 6’4”, 185
Steven Moya, Left, 8/9/91, 6’6”, 210
Samir Rijo, Switch, 6/26/90, 6’2”, 205

Moya is definitely the biggest talent of the group, and I don’t mean because he’s 6’6”. Man, did he have a terrible first day on the job, though. On Monday, he had a golden sombrero and it was decorated with a couple of errors he made playing the outfield. Hopefully, that will eventually just be a funny story he tells after he's figured out pro pitchers and is giving interviews after another two homer day. Rijo was selective and hit with power in the DSL last year. Gomez and Moreno hit the ball well in Venezuela, but probably can’t make the same claim about their approach to managing the strike zone.

2010 Draft

27, Les Smith, Left, 12/24/89, 6’1”, 190 
39, Bo McClendon, Right, 10/4/87, 5’10”, 215

I’m not going to mince words. The precedent for college players assigned to this level is not too encouraging. Maybe Smith gets some leeway for coming out of a community college, but they both have a long, uphill battle before them.

Played Domestically in 2009

Luis Castillo, Right, 5/15/89, 5’11”, 160
Edwin Gomez, Switch, 8/26/91, 6’3”, 175

These two have wildly different expectations, I believe. Every day in the organization is probably a victory for Castillo, even though he’s on the disabled list right now. Gomez had a nightmare season at this same level last year, but was taken in the fourth round in last year’s draft and has moved out to the outfield this year. He’s going to get every chance to succeed.

Conclusion: I believe this team has considerably more international players making their domestic debut than Tiger GCL squads typically have had in the past. If they are a bunch of overmatched flops, that won’t mean much in the long run. At this optimistic early stage, though, I’m going to hope it means the strength of their Latino programs is improving. Until the Tigers start drafting and signing more high school players, though, those are the players who should be most prominent at this level. With less than a handful of exceptions, those are the players on this team who may have big league futures.

I'll keep rolling through the draft picks as we get deep into the second day guys.

16, Jordan Pratt, RHP, Arkansas

Pratt was a middle reliever for the Razorbacks, but he looked to be one of the better pitchers in the pen, striking out 50 in 40.2 innings. Control was a bit of a concern, but he kept the ball in the park. He’s a junior, so signing isn’t really a given but the Tigers sign the vast majority of their college picks from before the 20th round. He’s probably just getting a little bit of down time after their recently ended college season.

17, Drew Gagnier, RHP, Oregon

Gagnier is already signed and on the Connecticut roster, and he’s another pitcher who has the sort of frame we’ve come to expect in David Chadd’s drafts. He’s 6’4” and 225 pounds and it sounds like he’s a two-pitch guy, throwing a low 90s fastball and a dropping curveball. That sounds like a repertoire he could work with, but he walked 12 and threw six wild pitches in a little over 20 innings. That’s another trait a lot of Tiger draft picks have shared in the past.

18, Josh Ashenbrenner, 2B, Lewis-Clark State

I bet there’s not another team with two players in the system from Lewis-Clark State. Ashenbrenner is a senior who transferred there after a season at Washington State. He earned an NAIA Gold Glove award as a third baseman, even though he moved all around the infield. His defense looks to be his ticket, as he didn’t look to be one of the top hitters on the Warrior squad. He’s signed and playing for Connecticut.

19, Jeff Rowland, OF, Georgia Tech

Rowland is another one who we don’t need to wonder whether he’ll sign. He’s already suited up as the Connecticut team’s center fielder. He batted high in the order, probably because of his speed (13/17 SB), but wasn’t an indispensable bat for the Yellow Jackets.

20, Tyler White, RHP, Alabama

He throws hard and the draft day MLB article said he complements it with a good breaking ball, but there has to be a need for some serious refinement because he was tuned up pretty bad this season with the Tide. Opponents racked up 43 hits in 31.1 innings and he walked 16 more, meaning he gave up very close to two baserunners an inning. The Tigers surely focused on the stuff and the 34 strikeouts it brought.

21, James Meador, 1B, San Diego

This senior has already signed, but is waiting out a broken arm that could keep him out for most of June. He was the Torero’s best hitter, but there is skepticism as to whether his bat would play as the corner outfielder he was in college or the first baseman the Tigers drafted him as.

22, Jake Hernandez, C, Los Osos HS, Rancho Cucagmonga, CA

Here we depart from the safe, almost sure to sign, college picks and get to a promising high schooler. Hernandez is a little different, though, in that he’s a high school catcher whose value is believed to come mostly from what he would be able to do behind the plate. His MLB scouting report pooh poohed his bat, but other sources said it’s improving. Everything I read, though, praised his defense - from very good “pop times” to a good ability to block pitches and use his head. He’s a verbal commitment to play at USC, so if he does sign we might not find out until August.

23, Dominic Ficociello, SS, Fullerton Union HS, Fullerton CA

I was a little surprised to find this young high school shortstop had a longer scouting report at Baseball America than any other Tiger draftee. That includes Castellanos. He’s already 6’3” and with that size comes the usual suspicion of whether he’ll be able to stick at shortstop (likely not, from the sounds of it). It does sound like his arm and fielding ability will play third, but unlike Hernandez his defense wasn’t what brought the scouts. It was his bat. He started out as a right-handed hitter, but has developed into a switch-hitter with the power to hit home runs in excess of 400 feet from the left side. He has that kind of power now and he’s only 170 pounds, so you can almost hear the scouts’ brains projecting five years down the road. He’s committed to Arkansas, and it sounds like if he signs he will be Tiger draft pick with the second highest ceiling.

24, Tyler Clark, RHP, Missouri

Clark is another college reliever, but he is a junior and hasn’t signed yet. People will see his high ERA with Mizzou and wonder what the Tigers saw, but I’d bet he didn’t have a great defense behind him because he struck out 43 in 38 innings, walked just 13 and didn’t give up any homers. According to information Stephen Hamel gathered here, the stuff supports the peripherals more than the ERA. He’s signed and is one of the fifteen or so pitchers on the Connecticut staff.

25, Shawn Teufel, LHP, Liberty

The Tigers popped another kid with big league ties as you might remember his dad, Tim, from the Mets teams in the 80s. He’s a red-shirt senior, which explains why he’ll be turning 24 in July. He’s a converted infielder and only threw two seasons with Liberty. They were successful seasons, though, and he showed impressive command for somebody with such little experience. You can get a better feel for his stuff from the scouting report over at Connecticut Tiger Den. He’s already signed and on the Connecticut roster.

26, Jeff Ferrell, RHP, Pitt (NC) CC

Ferrell is a JUCO pitcher, so it’s not as alarming for him to be signed and playing in the GCL as he’s only 19. His control seemed pretty good as he struck out 41 and walked only six, but he probably could use some work on his command. He gave up 30 hits in 29 innings and five of those were homers.

27, Les Smith, OF, Meramec CC

Smith is another JUCO player who will start his career in the GCL, but he may have to fight to get playing time as the GCL squad seems to have some outfield prospects the Tigers will want to see. He had prepared to move on to Ole Miss, though, so he must have liked something about the opportunity the Tigers offered him.

28, Jack Duffey, LHP, Heritage HS, Newnan GA

Now we’re getting to the part of the draft where you really shouldn’t expect the Tigers to be signing their high school picks. They just don’t sign very many and the ones they do sign either jump in quickly or are among the August 15 signings. Duffey wasn’t mentioned by Baseball America in a Georgia class that went 60 deep, so I doubt he’s going to get big money. That means I’d look for him to move on to see how he can improve his draft standing in the future.

29, Chris Joyce, LHP, Central Arizona CC

Joyce is an interesting case as he had the skills to be drafted in the 10th round out of high school and get recruited by UC Santa Barbara, but ended up pitching at a JUCO due to academic ineligibility. He’s also interesting because, according to Baseball America, his tendency to warm up as the game went on allowed him to eventually get his fastball into the low 90s and saw his breaking ball get better as well. Maybe if he signs, which is more doubtful as time passes, a pro team could get him conditioned to where that oddity would disappear.

30, Logan Hoch, LHP, Wichita State

Hoch is a redshirt senior who has already signed and was placed with Connecticut. Looking at his numbers as (another) college reliever, they were unimpressive (33 IP, 33 H, 17 BB, 30 K) but the fact that he only gave up nine extra base hits and they were all doubles could be a sign of a ground baller. That’s a hunch, though, so we’ll have to wait and see.

Conclusion: I think what we see in this grouping is about what you’d expect. You take these opportunities to stock the short season teams and maybe take a flyer on a couple of college players with potential or some high schoolers who dropped because they’re unlikely to sign. It’s not the sexy part of the draft as even one of these guys making the majors is a huge success, but you trust your scouts and eventually you get a Burke Badenhop or a Mike Hollimon near this range of picks.

Note: I only linked to Connecticut Tiger Den a couple times, but they have a lot of very good information on these players. That includes more in-depth reports than what I did here that sound as if questions were posed to people with first-hand knowledge of players in many instances. Stephen is doing good work over there and his reports on recent draftees were often the best free information I could find.

I don't like that two of my last three posts have been transactions, but they're coming fast and furious and those draft profiles take a while to put together. Anyway, I'm going to stick with the format I used last time and break them up by the types of transaction. Of course, sometimes injuries cause re-assignments so that can get tricky. (As usual, the bulk of my sources for these transaction recaps come from Tigstown.com.)

Re-assignments

It's been widely reported that the Tigers have sent Rick Porcello down to Toledo to try to rediscover the sink on his two-seamer and work on his slider. Personally, I wish they'd work with him to work in his four-seam fastball more but I don't hear a lot of talk in that direction. His going down to Toledo, though, freed a spot on the Tigers' 25-man roster. Because word got out about Porcello's demotion before the announcement of who would replace him, speculation was rampant over the weekend. Would they call up a starter? Who would that starter be? Figaro? Ooh, what about Oliver? If they didn't call up a starter, who on the current roster would step into Porcello's spot?

I mistakenly believed the Tigers wouldn't need to make a move because they could just leave the bullpen as is and use Porcello's spot for when Ryan Perry came off the disabled list. That thinking was flawed because Perry can't return - even if he's ready - until Thursday. That would leave the bullpen exposed since whomever the Tigers have chosen to start in Porcello's spot won't be available. Obviously, the Tigers realized this because they called up Jay Sborz. Sborz has actually been scuffling a bit lately, but there could be a couple explanations for the struggles. Jason Beck made the astute observation that a lot of the damage he's suffered has come in multiple inning outings, and that he might be okay if he's held to a one inning role. Another possibility for his recent struggles - which are mostly just control problems (7 BB in last 8.1 IP) - is a scarcity of work. He only threw seven innings with the Hens in June. Hopefully, the Tigers have some thoughts on how to allow his greatest success at the big league level and things work out however long he's up.

Porcello wasn't the only pitcher to be demoted since my last transaction update. Jon Kibler was sent from Erie to Lakeland after a particularly rough stretch of starts. He had consecutive starts with the Wolves go less than five innings and hadn't thrown a quality start since May 10th. Overall, he had given up 30 extra base hits in 71.2 innings at the Double A level. In other words, this move wasn't exactly shocking. What was a little more surprising to me was the Tigers deciding to replace Kibler on the Erie roster with Rob Waite. It's surprising because that left the Wolves with only four obvious starters, and we haven't yet found out how they're going to address that issue. I'm assuming leaving Ramon Garcia in the rotation isn't their solution since he's been consistently terrible for them when called on in that role. The long-term fix is less obvious with Furbush and Putkonen being less than sterling in their last two starts and Brayan Villarreal going on the disabled list. One question that was answered was who would fill in for Waite in Lakeland. The Tigers gave Lakeland Wilsen Palacios, who had been in extended spring training.

All the other re-assignments relate to position players. When Cesar Nicolas went on the disabled list, the Tigers decided to send Ronnie Bourquin from West Michigan to Erie. He's been at this level before and like the last time, he's taken to the challenge in the early going. We'll see if he can keep up the production or if he'll tail off like he did in Double A in 2009. Besides Bourquin, you had an impressive amount of catcher shuffling. I assume in preparation for John Murrian coming back from the disabled list, Eric Roof went from West Michigan to Connecticut. Luis Sanz went from Lakeland to West Michigan and Gabriel Purroy went from extended spring training to Lakeland. The next day, when Murrian was actually activated, Billy Alvino and Julio Rodriguez swapped places between Lakeland and West Michigan (Alvino to Lakeland, Rodriguez to Lakeland) and Purroy went back to extended spring training. Moving Purroy twice may seem strange, but remember that Lakeland players and the ESTers both play on the Tigers' complex. I suspect it's probably a matter of practicing in different places.

If I lost you with all that catcher activity, here are the catchers on each squad below Erie (since nothing changed in Erie or Toledo). John Murrian and Billy Alvino are in Lakeland. Julio Rodriguez and Luis Sanz are in West Michigan. Eric Roof and Tyson Kendrick are in Connecticut and there's a whole gaggle of catchers down in Lakeland. Even those assignments are likely to change when Bryan Holaday and Rob Brantly are signed and need to be placed.

Signings

The rest of the moves are pretty much just the Tigers signing recent draftees and a few more non-draftees.

Draftees (round and team, when known):

Patrick Leyland (C), 8th, GCL Tigers 
Tony Plagman (1B), 9th, assigned to W. Michigan and has started a couple times already
Patrick Cooper (RHP), 14th
Drew Gagnier (RHP), 17th, Connecticut  
James Meador (1B), 21st
Tyler Clark (RHP), 24th, Connecticut 
Les Smith (OF), 27th 
Bo McClendon (OF), 39th, GCL Tigers

Non-drafted signees:

Patrick Lawson (RHP), Connecticut 
Dan Gentzler (RHP), Connecticut 
Steve Crnkovich (RHP), GCL Tigers

You may be aware that the Connecticut Tigers’ season started last night in a 4-3 loss to the Tri-City ValleyCats. No, I haven’t started doing recaps again. I just wanted to take a little time to give you a preview of the Tigers’ roster. These NY-Penn League squads are typically filled with mid-round college players, and you’ll see that most of the Tigers’ college players who have signed so far are on this squad.

Pitchers

2010 Draftees, College (Name, Pos, Pick, Ht, Wt, DOB, School)

Drew Gagnier, RHP, 17th round, 6’4”, 225, 9/21/88, Oregon 
Tyler Clark, RHP, 24th round, 6’2”, 185, 1/4/89, Missouri
Shawn Teufel, LHP, 25th round, 6’3”, 200, 7/16/86, Liberty
Logan Hoch, LHP, 30th round, 6’2”, 185, 5/5/87, Wichita State
Matt Little, RHP, 31st round, 5’11”, 180, 3/19/88, Kentucky
Brennan Smith, RHP, 33rd round, 6’3”, 200, 8/4/89, Bowling Green State

Drew Gagnier is the highest draft pick of the bunch and I’m not even positive he’s on the roster. MiLB.com shows him as a C-Tiger, but Tigstown.com doesn’t. So, we’ll see. With the exception of Shawn Teufel, though, this is a collection of college relievers. If Gagnier is on the team, he’s probably the most talented of the bunch (as you’d guess by draft position). Jim Callis of BA said he has better stuff than his brother, L.J. (with the Mud Hens) but it’s inconsistent. That inconsistency is supported by his college stats, which saw him walk 12 in 22 innings and allow 8 extra base hits among 20 hits total.

International Players (Name, Pos, Ht, Wt, DOB, 2009 Team(s))

Josue Carreno, RHP, 6’1”, 170, 6/26/91, VSL Tigers
Rayni Guichardo, LHP, 6’1”, 165, 8/13/91, GCL/Lakeland
Clemente Mendoza, RHP, 6’0”, 170, 7/24/90, Oneonta
Luis Sanz, RHP, 6’1”, 173, 11/19/87, Oneonta/W. Mich.
Michael Torrealba, RHP, 5’11”, 150, 11/19/89, Oneonta

This group comprises most of the promising talent in this staff and that’s backed up by the fact that three or four of these guys (all but Torrealba) will likely be in the Tigers‘ rotation. Carreno has spent the last couple seasons shining in the VSL. Guichardo was in the States last year, seems to have a good idea of what he’s doing on the mound, and won’t turn 19 until the end of this season. Mendoza was the Tigers’ starter in the opener and is taking his second turn in the NY-Penn. Sanz has pitched well at this level before, but is only here because he had a rough go in West Michigan earlier this season. Finally, Torrealba joins Mendoza as a NY-Penn veteran.

Personally, I’ll be watching Carreno and Guichardo closest. Carreno intrigues me because I always enjoy seeing the international players who seem promising debut in the States, though success in the VSL or DSL certainly is far from a guarantee of success domestically. As for Guichardo, his ERA was way out of whack with his peripherals last season in the GCL. I want to see whether he improves the peripherals or if luck catches up to him.

2010 Non-drafted signees (Name, Pos, Ht, Wt, DOB, School)

Lance Baxter, LHP, 6’1”, 194, 9/8/87, South Alabama
Patrick Lawson, RHP, 6’2”, 190, 5/20/88, North Carolina-Charlotte

Lawson was a dominant closer (0.61 ERA, 29.1 IP, 20 H, 11 BB, 37 K) for the 49ers of Charlotte, but was also a senior and is already 22. Stephen Hamel of Connecticut Tiger Den has a nice scouting report of Baxter, who sounds like he could either fill out the rotation or be a swingman.

Other (Name, Pos, Ht, Wt, DOB, 2009 Squad)

Kevan Hess, RHP, 6’2”, 190, 3/30/88, Oneonta

I don’t mean to single out Hess, but as a 2009 draftee (14th round) who played pro ball last year, he’s in a category by himself. Repeating at this level would usually be a red flag for a player Hess’s age, but he’s fairly new to pitching and we’ll reserve judgment as he tries to find his way as one of the team’s relievers.

Catchers (Name, Bats, Ht, Wt, DOB, School/2009 Squad)

Tyson Kendrick, Right, 6’1”, 195, 2/8/88, Tabor (KS)
Eric Roof, Left, 6’5”, 185, 11/15/86, Oneonta

This position is certainly not where you want to look for the team’s high ceiling talent. Kendrick was the Tigers’ 49th pick, and the first player ever drafted from Tabor. Roof was with the Whitecaps earlier in the season and is looking like an organizational player. I suspect these two won’t be the team’s catching tandem all season, as third round pick Rob Brantly could conceivably land in Connecticut.

Infielders

2010 Draftees (Name, Bats, Pick, Ht, Wt, DOB, School)

Josh Ashenbrenner, Left, 18th, 6’0”, 190, 8/29/87, Lewis-Clark State 
Matt Perry, Left, 41st, 6’2”, 182, 7/17/87, Holy Cross
Ryan Soares, Right, 36th, 6’1”, 195, 7/10/87, George Mason

Ashenbrenner follows Brent Wyatt as a Tiger drafted out of the Idaho college, Lewis-Clark State. He was named the Warriors’ Golden Glove at third base. The Tigers may have taken note since that’s where he started in the opener, even though he was announced as a second baseman on draft day. Perry was announced as a third basemen, but we’ll have to wait it out to see how the Tigers use him. Ashenbrenner is one of the team’s higher draft picks, so I’d guess he’s likely to play most days. The question is whether it’s Ashenbrenner or Perry who will move around the field. Soares was announced as a shortstop, but the fact that he didn’t play in the opener suggests the late round pick could fill a utility role.

Players in system in 2009 (Name, Bats, Ht, Wt, DOB, 2009 Team)

Brett Anderson, Right, 6’3”, 185, 9/3/90, GCL Tigers
Carmelo Jaime, Switch, 5’9”, 170, 7/16/85, Oneonta
Alexander Nunez, Right, 5’11”, 172, 5/4/90, GCL Tigers
James Robbins, Left, 6’0”, 225, 9/26/90, GCL Tigers

After struggling for two seasons as the GCL Tigers’ third baseman, Anderson will try his hand as the Connecticut shortstop. Even though he was drafted out of high school in 2008, he’s still only 19 so he has time to develop and will be relatively young for this level. The two most exciting position prospects - to me, anyway - are Nunez and Robbins, the starting infielders on the right side. Nunez hit very well for the GCL squad last season (.308/.353/.531), though his approach could use some fine tuning (7 BB, 31 K) and Robbins was one of the Tigers’ August 15th signees last season. Their status as two of the team’s better prospects is shown further by the fact that they batted third and fourth in the order in the opener. I’m not sure if Jaime is actually on the squad as he’s another player MiLB and Tigstown.com disagree on. I’m not sure it matters a lot, though, as he’ll likely just be a utility player where the Tigers need him.

Outfielders

2010 Draftees (Name, Bats, Pick, Ht, Wt, DOB, School)

PJ Polk, Right, 13th, 5’9”, 170, 12/12/88, Tennessee
Jeff Rowland, Left, 19th, 5’10”, 185, 4/1/88, Georgia Tech

It looks like the draft will offer the Tigers a couple of diminutive speedsters as two-thirds of their usual outfield. Rowland looks like he’ll be the center fielder. His stats for the Yellow Jackets look impressive (.322/.423/.547), but they were only fifth or sixth best on a team in each of the three categories and he looks to be the product of a friendly scoring envrionment. Polk, on the other hand, was able to pace the Volunteers as their best hitter (.352/.458/.588, 25 SB) and will hope to team with Rowland as a sparkplug atop the Connecticut squad’s batting order and the team’s left fielder.

Players in system in 2009 (Name, Bats, Ht, Wt, DOB, 2009 Team(s))

Matt Mansilla, Right, 6’0”, 185, 5/25/86, Oneonta
Chao-Ting Tang, Left, 5’11”, 176, 10/12/87, GCL/W. Mich.
Londell Taylor, Right, 6’2”, 200, 9/13/88, GCL

My hunch is these three will share the third outfield spot and serve as backups to Polk and Rowland. Mansilla’ 2009 season was a nightmare and his 2010 season could be his last without a fairly large improvement. Tang has struggled as a pro as well, but his 2009 was cut short by injury and he hit well in the GCL. The assignments he’s had suggest he probably has more latitude than Mansilla, but he does need to produce eventually. I believe Taylor was literally forced to move up from the GCL. That league’s rules prevent players with three or more years’ experience and he has spent the last three seasons in the GCL trying to figure out pro pitching. He’s been unsuccessful so far (.169/.252/.257 in 292 PA), but the Tigers seem to be letting him stick it out for now.

2010 Non-drafted signee (Name, Pos, Ht, Wt, DOB, School)

Ryan Enos, Left, 5’10”, 185, 12/19/87, Dallas Baptist

The Connecticut Tiger Den covered Enos as well, so I’ll point you in that direction again. Enos’s coach gives him high praise, and the Tigers putting him in the Opening Day lineup suggests he could be a key part of the team’s offense if his coach’s confidence in him proves warranted.

Conclusion: The team seems to be a bit short on level talent, but you typically don’t stick the organization’s studs at this level. Having said that, I think they have a solid handful of players who we should be keeping our eyes on and the roster could easily be further bolstered as the Tigers continue to sign this year’s draftees.

If you do keep an eye on these guys, remember a couple of things. This is fairly low level competition that’s probably on par - maybe a notch or two above - the Cape Cod League. At this level, tools still drive these players’ evaluations more than stats. That’s why they keep bringing back guys like Londell Taylor and dumping other players with better numbers. The other thing to keep in mind is the Tigers are playing in a pitcher friendly league and park. That environment should be kept in mind before you get too down on the hitters or too excited about the pitchers.

Okay, this week we're going to break the transactions update down into categories rather than handling them chronologically.

Reassignments

Ryan Perry went on the disabled list with a worrisome tendinitis diagnosis in his right shoulder. I say worrisome because, as Billfer pointed out when this was announced, tendinitis diagnoses can lead to all sorts of unexpected future problems. To fill Perry's spot in the bullpen, the Tigers purchased the contract of Enrique Gonzalez. Gonzalez had been enjoying success in Toledo (3.46 ERA) by staying in the strike zone (16 BB in 65 IP), striking out a reasonable amount of batters while doing so (53 K), and surviving a high rate of home runs. We're still waiting to see how those numbers hold up in the bigs, as Gonzalez has yet to pitch for the Tigers.

Naturally, you can't just have Enrique Gonzalez go to Detroit and have the roster moves end with that. To fill his spot in Toledo, the Tigers called up Matt Hoffman from Erie. Cory Hamilton was bumped up from Lakeland to Erie. Jose Ortega made the trip from West Michigan to Lakeland and Richard Zumaya was added to the Whitecaps' staff. Usually, these kind of promotions fit into two categories. They are either a well-timed opportunity to reward a player who's shown he can be tested at the next level or they are simply an administrative requirement as the Tigers must make sure each team can cover their innings. To me, all of the moves necessitated by Perry's injury have the feel of the latter.

Hoffman has an MO of struggling with promotions before getting his legs beneath him (so to speak) after a while. The fact that he was moved before he had made such an adjustment in Erie has me wondering if he has fully crossed over to being an organizational soldier. It seems even clearer to me that the other pitchers are being put where they are needed since this is Hamilton's second move in about a month and Ortega and Zumaya have histories of so so (or worse) performances at the lower levels.

The other couple moves are related to the Tigers signing Ben Johnson to help out the Erie outfield. As I mentioned last week, signing him would likely require a jettison of one of the SeaWolves' incumbent outfielders. The Tigers decided that incumbent would be Chris White. White was sent down to Lakeland and that serves as a nice lead-in to our next category of moves.

Released/Retired

Lakeland's outfield is more crowded than Erie's, so it seemed obvious there would be a corresponding move when the Flying Tigers gained White. The answer to what that move would be came in the form of Josh Workman's release. Workman performed well in a 2009 season that got a late start due to injury, but this season he was a part-timer. Not only that, he was a part-time who had yet to get an extra base hit 56 plate appearances into the season. Mix those ingredients with being 24 in Lakeland and you're a good bet to be putting your degree to its intended use.

Joining Workman in the ranks of the baseball unemployed was Luis Palacios. In his second straight season as a utility infielder for the Caps, it must have become evident that he was simply overmatched as a hitter. In 244 Lo A plate appearances, he had hit .192/.230/.271. Those numbers earned him a trip back to extended spring training and now that the Tigers are working on their rosters for Connecticut and the GCL, they must have realized he was without a place in the organization.

The last of the exits from the organization is Nolan Cain. According to the diligent Mark Anderson, his retirement was the result of a torn UCL in his elbow. Rehab wasn't going to work and he opted to move on rather than go through surgery and rehab.

Injury

Mr. Anderson also broke other bad news in his transaction blog over at Tigstown.com. Melvin Mercedes had to undergo Tommy John surgery. That should put him down for about a year, which hopefully means he'll be able to fire some heat for a short season team next year.

On the brighter side of things, Robbie Weinhardt tweeted today that “Arm feels great...Looking at forward to getting in a game this weekend!!” I just hope he doesn’t get into trouble with the Tigers for breaking the news like he did back when he let us know Casper Wells had been called up.

Signings

We'll complete the circle of baseball life by talking about newly signed players. These are going to start coming fast and furious as the Tigers have to properly equip their Connecticut and GCL squads. We’ll start with the non-drafted signees, Lance Baxter (LHP) and Ryan Enos (OF).  These type of players generally fill in on the short season squads and will try to impress enough to clear cuts during the offseason.

As for the drafted talent, the Tigers have signed the following:

12th round, Kyle Ryan, LHP, Auburndale (Fla.) HS
13th round, P.J. Polk, OF, Tennessee 
18th round, Josh Ashtenbrenner, 2B, Lewis-Clark State
19th round, Jeff Rowland, OF, Georgia Tech
25th round, Shawn Teufel, LHP, Liberty
26th round, Jeff Ferrell, RHP, Pitt (N.C.) CC
30th round, Logan Hoch, LHP, Wichita State
31st round, Matt Little, RHP, Kentucky
33rd round, Brennan Smith, RHP, Bowling Green State
36th round, Ryan Soares, SS, George Mason 
40th round, Pete Miller, SS, Trinity International (Ill.) 
41st round, Matt Perry, 3B, Holy Cross
49th round, Tyson Kendrick, C, Tabor (Kan.)

With very few (if any) exceptions, these guys will be placed in either Connecticut or the GCL. You'll also notice these are generally late round picks without a lot of leverage in negotiating their bonuses. Kyle Ryan is the lone high schooler, and I'd imagine he set a relatively low bonus demand and the Tigers went with it. Judging by the generally low risk, low ceiling approach the Tigers took with most of the draft, I'd expect this list to grow quickly.

6th, Bryan Holaday, C, Texas Christian

Holaday is a talented catcher on a Horned Frogs squad that just advanced to the College World Series. He had a good defensive reputation heading into the season and lived up to it by throwing out over half the runners who tried to steal on him. He also helped out his draft stock by hitting .350 with some power. (Last season, he took Strasburg deep.)

It would seem, however, his most discussed talent is his leadership. I don’t know if I’ve heard him mentioned yet in the college postseason without his leadership role following close behind. It will be interesting to see where that leads him with the Tigers. He’s a senior, so there should be no issue with signability and the Tigers will simply have to wait for TCU’s run in the College World Series to end before they insert him wherever they want him to start.

7th, Corey Jones, 2B, Cal State Fullerton

The Tigers continue to show their preference for players who can perform in the summer leagues, as Jones was the Northwoods League MVP in 2009, hitting .315 and taking the home run crown with 13. No doubt his time in the summer league was valuable after missing his 2009 CSF season to a broken leg. That made him a redshirt junior this season and the lefty second baseman was only outshone by a couple of first round draft picks after hitting .374/.468/.608 with about as many walks as strikeouts.

The redshirt would allow him another season of eligibility, but the fact that he was taken so early by the Tigers tells me they plan on bringing him into the fold. I’d look for him to start for Connecticut once his run with the Titans is over. We’ll have to wait to see if he is able to stick as a middle infielder.

8th, Patrick Leyland, C, Bishop Canevin HS

They tell me this kid has some bloodlines the Tigers find intriguing. The obvious response is for people to decry a nepotism pick, but that argument doesn’t really hold a lot of water. People said the same about Avila and he handled a fast track to Detroit pretty well. Also, the cutesy stuff where the Tigers draft every coach’s son and every pitcher’s little brother as a courtesy or whatever happens near the end of the draft.

For the Tigers to pop Leyland this high, they must like some of the things they see. The word seems to be that he would benefit from three years at Maryland - where he has a commitment - but again, the Tigers generally don’t waste picks this early. They also probably don’t agree with BA, who concedes that he has improved behind the plate but has his arm as average and his bat as needing some seasoning.

9th, Tony Plagman, 1B, Georgia Tech

Plagman was a big bat in the Yellow Jackets’ lineup, pounding 21 homers for a slugging percentage that cleared .700, both of which led the team. Of course, as a senior first baseman he’s going to have to keep mashing in a big way. He’ll be 23 soon after he signs and he can just ask Ryan Strieby and Jeff Larish about the chances of being a first baseman for the Tigers any time soon. He does bat left-handed, so that should make him a bit more valuable in whichever lineup the Tigers place him.

10th, Cole Nelson, LHP, Auburn

This is the type of pitcher we got used to the Tigers taking. You can almost picture David Chadd saying to Dombrowksi, “Oh come on, just let me take a big one!” This is a big one, as Nelson is 6’7” and weighs somewhere around 230 or 240. Another trait of these big kids the Tigers like to take is underwhelming college stats and Nelson fits that bill as well. He gave up 76 hits in 68.2 innings, striking out 67 and walking 30, leading to an ERA of 5.64. The vast majority (54) of those hits were singles, though, so there is probably some sink on his low 90s fastball that he complements with a slider.

11th, Brian Dupra, RHP, Notre Dame

This is another summer league vet as he pitched in the Cape Cod League in 2009. He’s a step off the Tigers’ usual beaten path, though, as he didn’t do particularly well there. In a league known for being pitcher friendly, he gave up five homers in 23 innings. What probably caught the Tigers’ eyes was the mid-90s fastball he had at the time.

Unfortunately, that fastball didn’t go back to South Bend with him and what he did take back led to 104 hits in 82.2 innings. His strikeout total (53) was unimpressive, and while he was able to show some control (only 22 walks) the command obviously was lacking. That led to a 6.21 ERA that would have been much worse had it not been for his being charged with 15 unearned runs.

Clearly, the Tigers see something they think they can build on. Baseball America seems skeptical, saying that not only did his fastball lose velocity but his secondary pitches suffered as well. I can’t imagine he’d be too tough to sign after the season he just had, but I suppose there’s the (slim) possibility he’d want to go back to school and show how much he can improve.

12th, Kyle Ryan, LHP, Auburndale (FL) HS

The Tigers have already signed this high schooler out of Florida. If they get Castellanos and Leyland into the fold as well, their history says there won’t be too many more high school kids who sign. Their record number of high school signings since Chadd has been on board is six and there’s been years where they only signed one or two.

That’s more of a big picture thing, though. Focusing on this kid, he’s 6’5” and only 180 pounds so he’s either going to be a string bean or he’ll fill out a bit. I’d imagine that makes him a little projectable, but when he threw in the Florida Athletic Coaches Association Baseball Classic (I just call it the FACABC), BA saw him throwing in the high 80s with a “slurvy” breaking ball. It seems obvious he’d head to the GCL once that league starts next Monday.

13th, P.J. Polk, OF, Tennessee

Polk was a junior outfielder for the Volunteers, but there’s no worries about him signing because he’s already put ink to paper. At 5’9” and 170 pounds, you’d expect he’d have to be fast and his 25 stolen bases would seem to make that assumption a fact. He wasn’t just a slappy speedster, though. He smacked 25 extra bases and led the team in batting (.352) while walking more than he struck out.

This would make him very intriguing if he had a center fielder’s defense, but he seemed to be a left fielder for the Vols. If that wasn’t just him giving way to a superior glove man, he’s going to need to retain those offensive skills to make his mark as a pro. As a college man taken fairly early, I’d assume Connecticut will be where he calls home (for a couple months).

14th, Patrick Cooper, RHP, Bradley

Here we have another Cape Cod vet. Unfortunately, he’s also another one whose stuff was off a bit from when he was at the Cape. BA had him losing a couple mph on his fastball (down to around 90 mph, as opposed to getting up to 93) and depth on his slider as he threw for Bradley this season. What he was flashing in the CCBL, though, earned him All Star honors and 39 Ks in 27.1 innings.

This year for Bradley, the decreased stuff must have led to less impressive numbers as he struck out 44 in 52.2 innings with 19 walks and 39 hits allowed. He made eight starts and seven appearances in relief, making his possible role in the Tiger organization a little uncertain. I’d usually assume even a partial bullpen role would lead to late innings as a pro, but it sounds like his time in the bullpen was out of necessity. He was back in the rotation late in the season and the role seemed to suit him.

15th, Collin Kuhn, OF, Arkansas

This is one of the players you could have watched this past weekend in the Super Regionals. I tried to catch a bit of the Arkansas game, but only saw Kuhn catch a routine fly ball in center. It’s kind of hard to project professional success from there. Anyway, as one of the team’s starting outfielders, Kuhn clubbed 38 extra base hits (16 homers) and was second on the team with a .336 average.

He also flashed a little athleticism, stealing 17 bases in 19 tries and sliding over to center field when Brett Eibner went in to pitch. The red flag in the numbers is his walking 22 times against 50 strikeouts. It’s true he was hit by a pitch 25 more times, but call me crazy. I don’t see that happening once he’s a pro. In Kuhn, the Tigers might have the player who’s least likely to sign of the guys we’ve profiled so far. He’s a redshirt sophomore who could be the team’s starting center fielder if and when Eibner signs.

Conclusion: Here we see the Tigers continuing the trend we saw in rounds two through five. They are going with a lot of safer college picks, but at least we saw the two high schoolers and a couple college guys who could have high ceilings if they find their way. Still, I’d be lying if I didn’t say this group of ten picks leaves me feeling a bit underwhelmed. You should take that with a grain of salt, though, since I’ve perused these guys’ profiles for a few hours. I’m guessing the Tigers’ research involved a little more than surfing the net and looking up their college stats.