Wasn't there another Salcedo who was going to be a huge star?

I don't think so, JR. Edward is the kid I had high hopes for. It's hard to believe he's still only 23 years old. The debauchle with mlb and his birth certificate nulling his signing with the Indians really hurt his major league dreams. For three years mlb banned him from playing any organized baseball that they had affiliations with. As it turned out his birth certificate was just fine and up to snuff. The kid got a major kick in the ass. I wish him well in Pittsburgh.

There is always an excuse for Joe's loves.

How Moncada compares to top middle-infield prospects

Cuban prodigy has skills in same echelon as current Minor League standouts

By Jim Callis / MLB.com | @JimCallisMLB | February 11, 2015

The most exciting teenaged prospect to leave Cuba since Jorge Soler in 2011, Yoan Moncada has a broader base of tools than the Cubs' young slugger, as well as a chance to play in the middle of the diamond.

Virtually every team in baseball covets Moncada, who's expected to decide where he'll sign by the end of the month. He'll come at an exorbitant price, with a bonus projected in the neighborhood of $40 million and an equal amount as a tax penalty on his signing club for blowing past its assigned international bonus pool. That team also will be prohibited from signing anyone for more than $300,000 in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 international signing periods.

How talented is the 19-year-old Moncada? Here's how he stacks up, tool for tool, against the 15 middle infielders on MLBPipeline.com's Top 100 Prospects list (grades are based on the 20-80 scouting scale, where 50 represents average Major League ability):

Hitting: 60

Best Top 100 middle infielder: Carlos Correa, Astros (70)

A switch-hitter, Moncada generates tremendous bat speed and consistently barrels the ball from both sides of the plate. He has a long track record of hitting, dominating international youth and junior tournaments and similar age-based leagues in Cuba. When Moncada moved up to face better competition, in the Serie Nacional (Cuba's primary league) and with Cuba's national team, he more than held his own as a 17- and 18-year-old player.

The caveat is that Moncada hasn't faced much pro-caliber pitching, though evaluators still project him as a future .280 hitter in the big leagues, and some say that might be conservative. The only middle infielder on the Top 100 who gets a better grade is Astros prospect Carlos Correa (ranked No. 3), who has batted .322 in two years of full-season ball despite being much younger than his competition. Six others matched Moncada's 60 grade, including the Dodgers' Corey Seager (No. 7), who led the Minors with a .349 average last season.

Correa is ranked No. 3 prospect

Power: 60

Best Top 100 middle infielder: Correa (65)

Solidly built at 6-foot, 210 pounds, Moncada has strength to go with his lightning bat speed. He also has demonstrated the patience to wait out pitchers who won't challenge him, and he should be able to fully tap into his plus raw power. Moncada should be good for 20-25 homers annually, once he gets established in the Majors.

Correa is the lone Top 100 middle infielder to top Moncada's power grade, and the Cubs' Addison Russell (No. 5) and Seager are the only others who can match it. A player who projects to be a plus hitter for average and power is rare, and a middle infielder who does is even harder to find. Hence Correa, Russell and Seager rank among the very best prospects in baseball, and Moncada is about to become very wealthy.

Running: 65

Best Top 100 middle infielder: Jose Peraza, Braves; Trea Turner, Padres (75)

Moncada usually clocks in at around 6.6 seconds in the 60-yard dash, with some scouts timing him faster than that and willing to give him 70 speed. He outran Rusney Castillo, who signed a $72.5 million contract (the biggest outlay ever for a Cuban defector) with the Red Sox in August, to win races to first base and around the bases at Cuba's 2012-13 All-Star Game. How many bases Moncada steals in the Majors will depend on where he bats in a lineup and how much of a green light he gets, but it's reasonable to project him to swipe 25 or more per season.

Peraza (No. 38) and Turner (No. 62) have close to top-of-the-scale speed, while the Royals' Raul Adalberto Mondesi (No. 40) and the White Sox Tim Anderson (No. 76) are 70 runners, though none of them approach Moncada's impact at the plate. On the Top 100, there isn't a single middle infielder and there is just one prospect overall with 60 or better grades in hitting ability, power and speed. That would be Twins outfielder Byron Buxton, who also happens to be baseball's best prospect.

Throwing: 60

Best Top 100 middle infielder: Correa (70)

While the consensus is that Moncada has a fourth plus tool in his arm strength, grades vary anywhere from a 55 to a 70. The bottom line is that his arm works well and would fit anywhere on the diamond.

Moncada's arm isn't exceptional for a middle infielder, with Correa's 70 cannon leading the Top 100 middle infielders and nine others rating as 60 arms. But Moncada's four-plus-tool ability is unusual -- Buxton has five plus tools and no one else on the Top 100 has more than three.

Fielding: 50

Best Top 100 middle infielder: Francisco Lindor, Indians (70)

Moncada has more than enough range and the hands for second and third base, his main positions in Cuba and his likely home in the big leagues. He has seen action at shortstop, though he looked uncomfortable there during a heavily attended workout in Guatemala in November and is unlikely to get deployed there. Moncada also has spent time in center field, where his speed and arm would work well.

Moncada profiles as an offensive-minded infielder who can be an average defender at second base and perhaps a tick better than that at the hot corner. Lindor (No. 4) is the class of the Top 100 middle-infielder defenders, one of eight who earn at least solid grades.

Overall: 65

Best Top 100 Middle Infielder: Carlos Correa, Astros (70)

If he were eligible for the 2015 First-Year Player Draft, Moncada would be a strong contender to go No. 1 overall to the D-backs. His overall 65 grade would place him among the top dozen prospects in baseball right now, and it's arguably a bit conservative, because teams haven't had the chance to evaluate him against much quality competition. Only the first three players on the Top 100 earned overall 70s: Buxton, Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant and Correa.

As a plus hitter for both average and power who probably won't stick at shortstop, Seager is the best Top 100 comparison for Moncada. But it's not a perfect match, because Moncada is significantly faster and is capable of playing the middle infield, while Seager figures to move to third base. Though Seager proved himself against Double-A as a 20-year-old, Moncada has a higher ceiling.

Players with Moncada's upside don't come along often, and they're available as free agents even less frequently. That's why he may triple the highest bonus ever paid to an amateur -- the Reds gave Aroldis Chapman $16.25 million deferred over 11 years as part of a $30.25 million contract in 2010 -- and his team will gladly pay a huge tax penalty to secure his talents.

Mariners Add LHP Rafael Perez to Spring Training Roster

Looking to add depth to the left-handed pitchers pool, the Mariners have signed veteran relief pitcher Rafael Perez to a minor league contract with an invitation to Major League Spring Training. Perez will report to Arizona in a little over a week when pitchers and catchers hold the first workout on Saturday, February 21.

Perez, 32, has made 338 Major League relief appearances, all coming with the Cleveland Indians from 2006-2012. He last appeared in the Majors in 2012 making 8 appearances with Cleveland.

Last season he appeared in 24 games (16 starts) with AAA Round Rock (Texas organization), Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz (Mexican League) and AAA Indianapolis (Pittsburgh organization). In 16 starts he went 6-6, 2.97 ERA (30 ER, 91.0 IP), and in 8 relief appearances he went 0-1, 2.19 ERA (3 ER, 12.1 IP).

Perez pitched for Gigantes del Cibao in the Dominican Winter League posting a 2.31 ERA in 15 games (6 GS) during the regular season and was 3-1, 0.84 ERA (3 ER, 32.0 IP) in 6 playoff starts. He also made one start in the Caribbean Series, tossing 5.1 scoreless innings vs. Cuba.

Over a four-season stretch from 2008-2011, Perez made 268 appearances tied for the most by an American League relief pitcher (with Craig Breslow). Perez made 6 relief appearances in the 2007 playoffs as the Indians fell one win shy of reaching the World Series.

[Safe choice - I'd seriously consider giving Perez a shot as a starter on that staff ]

Cuban right-hander Yadier Alvarez has quickly become one of the most talked-about prospects on the international market, and the buzz among scouts, per Yahoo’s Jeff Passan (on Twitter), is that the Phillies, Dodgers and Diamondbacks are expected to heavily pursue the 18-year-old. In a recent workout in the Dominican Republic, Alvarez showed 93-to-97 mph heat, and as Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs has shown in posting video, he also features a promising slider. A previous report noted that the Twins had their VP of player personnel and other scouts watch Alvarez also, though their specific level of interest remains unclear.

Right-hander Fernando Cabrera has agreed to a minor league deal with the Giants, tweets Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. The 33-year-old Cabrera hasn’t appeared in the Majors since 2010 and hasn’t logged significant MLB innings since 2008, but he has an excellent track record at Triple-A, where he has compiled a 3.00 ERA with 10.0 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9 in 467 2/3 innings in parts of 10 seasons. Cabrera was considered to be one of the Indians’ best prospects in the early 2000s, but he wasn’t able to fully tap into his potential.

The Astros have signed righty Roberto Hernandez to a minor league deal with an invitation to Major League Spring Training, the team announced. Hernandez is represented by DPX Sports. Hernandez, 34, posted a 4.10 ERA, 5.7 K/9, 4.0 BB/9, 1.04 HR/9, and 49.7% groundball rate for the Phillies and Dodgers last year. He had signed a $4.5MM free agent deal with the Phillies last offseason.

Cuban right-hander Raisel Iglesias, signed by the Reds to a seven-year, $27MM contract last summer, has a legitimate chance to end up in Cincinnati’s rotation, writes John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer in looking at 10 pertinent questions facing the Reds as Spring Training approaches. Scouts in the Arizona Fall League and manager Bryan Price all raved to Fay about Iglesias’ AFL performance. “Four pitches with command — that spells out starting pitcher, especially when it’s plus-stuff across the board,” Price said. “He was 93-97, so the velocity is there. The action on his fastball is there, much better changeup than I anticipated seeing and two quality breaking balls and a good feel.” If Iglesias can indeed crack the rotation, that could be a significant boost to a team that saw both Mat Latos and Alfredo Simon depart via trade this winter.

Glad to see that Cabrera, Carmona [as we fondly remember him] and Perez get spring training opportunities. I enjoyed following them from the Tribe lower minors up to the big club.

Anything on Ricardo Rodriguez, super prospect we nabbed from the Dodgers year after he was their No. 1 prospect along with someone else [Cruceta I think] in exchange for ??

Had been No. 69 on BA's Top 100 prospects in 2002.

Traded by the Los Angeles Dodgers with Francisco Cruceta and Terry Mulholland to the Cleveland Indians for Paul Shuey

Then Traded by the Cleveland Indians with Shane Spencer to the Texas Rangers for Ryan Ludwick.

Youth baseball paves way for Major Leaguers

With tournaments on tap, former stars recall playing days at age 13

By Jamal Collier / MLB.com | 9:00 AM ET

Some of the country's top young players will gather in Florida this weekend for the USSSA Presidents' Day Super NIT and All-Star Classic. Will there be a future Major Leaguer in the mix? A potential Hall of Famer?

The short answer: It's hard to tell, of course. Just ask a few familiar names from around the baseball world, and they'll tell you what they were like when they were teenagers.

Some knew they were destined to play on the biggest stage. Others were just discovering their love for the game. A few weren't even playing baseball or weren't very good at it.

The tournament, hosted by the United States Specialty Sports Association, features more than 25 teams in the 13-and-under and 14-and-under age divisions. There's also a home run derby and an all-star event at Archbishop Edward A. McCarthy High School in Southwest Branches, a suburb of Fort Lauderdale. The 13U elite semifinals, final and the 14U championship will be streamed live on MLB.com on Sunday and Monday as well as the two all-star games and the home run derby.

But for now, let's look back and see what 13 former and current big leaguers remember about their playing days as a 13-year-old.

Jack Morris

"At 13, I had the best arm on the field. I had big dreams and played third base and shortstop. I was going to field and play third like Brooks Robinson, and hit line drives like Tony Oliva. I never thought about pitching, nor did I know that was the path that would take me to the big leagues -- I was 13."

Craig Biggio

"That's hard for me. When I was 13, I was playing with 16-year-olds. ... When I was in junior high school, ninth grade, the senior high school wanted me to play JV, which is in another school two miles away. I had to tell my ninth-grade coach I was not going to play there. [The ninth-grade coach] was [upset], and I had to walk two miles to go play for the JV. ... Do you know how hard that was for a 13-, 14-year-old to tell a grown up -- his best player -- that you were not going to play for him?"

Jack McDowell

"During our 12-year-old District All Star tournament, I stole home on a throw back to the pitcher from the catcher, slid head first and chipped a small piece of my right elbow [which remains in X-rays today]. I couldn't straighten my arm completely until the fall and didn't pitch in Pony league my 13-year-old year until last two games. Just shortstop and a skinny weak-hitting kid."

Billy Bean

"At the age of 13, I was truly beginning to love baseball. Just the year before, my Little League All-Star team from Northeast Santa Ana [Calif.] had won 13 consecutive [single-elimination] baseball games to reach the Western Regional finals against the team from Campbell, Calif. We lost that game in a heartbreaker. Campbell went went on to finish runner-up to the team that represented Japan in the final of the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.

"At that time, I was still small for my age, but made up for it with attitude and desire. Being left-handed and one of the fastest kids, I started to embrace being a center fielder, and I wanted to be the best and never let a fly ball land on the grass. Until that time, I thought that outfield was where the scrubs played.

"Thankfully, the year before, my Little League coach, Hershal Musick, took me to Angels Stadium to watch the reigning American League MVP, Fred Lynn, play for the Boston Red Sox. He was left-handed and played center field, and he became my hero. Immediately, I wanted to do everything like he did. One of the coolest things that happened to me in my career was that he and I became teammates in 1988 on the Detroit Tigers. Not many people get to play with their hero in life, but I was lucky."

Steve Phillips

"When I was 13, I was one of the better players in my area. But I considered myself a football player who was playing baseball. I was catcher and usually had the dirtiest uniform at the end of the game. I played for my school team as well as a rec summer league team.

"I grew up in the city of Detroit and was teammates with John Vanbiesbrouck, who made it [to the] NHL as a goalie. They were all dirt sandlot fields with no fences. There were rocks, nails and broken bottles on the fields. We often had to clean the field before playing."

Jeff Nelson

"When I was 13, I played for the Catonsville Little League in Catonsville, Md. I was usually one of the best players on the team. The most interesting thing was I hated to pitch. I did pitch because I always threw hard, but I played shortstop. I loved getting dirty and diving for balls. I always dreamed of playing for the Orioles -- of course that never happened, but I played against them my whole career. Little League baseball was such a great experience for me."

Carlos Pena

"When I was 13, my love for the game grew to the point that now I wanted to excel at it. At that age I decided to give it my all and to pay the price that it took to achieve my goal. My discipline was only a product of the love of the game that I had develop at a younger age. My father always kept it fun. The key is to have fun first then learn techniques later. The desire to learn and practice will be an automatic when you love the game."

Steve Sax

"I remember playing baseball at 13 years old. Some of my favorite memories were growing up on our farm just outside of Sacramento, Calif., my first year in the Babe Ruth League, first year out of Little League. A little intimidated, but excited to play on the full-dimension field. Came in second in the rookie of the year award that year in 1973. I felt I deserved it that year, but enjoyed it much more by winning it in the National League nine years later."

CJ Nitkowski

"When I was 13 years old in 1986, I was playing in the Babe Ruth league in Suffern, N.Y. It was my first year in the 13-15-year- old league and it was intimidating. I was a scrawny seventh grader at the time and some of kids in the league were in the ninth grade. That's a big difference. The other intimidating factor was that it was my first season on the big field, the mound was 60 feet 6 inches away and the bases were 90 feet. The field seemed cavernous.

"I was a left-handed hitter and the right-field line was 318 feet. It mine as well have been 500 feet. I never hit a home run that year or any other after that. My ticket to being a "pitcher only" was punched. It was a fun time, the game was still pure and I was there because I loved it. I wore number 30, for my favorite player at the time, Willie Randolph of the Yankees. The memories of my youth baseball have never left me as some of the best of my life."

Frank Thomas

"I played In the Babe Ruth league in Columbus, Ga. I pitched and played center field. I was just finding myself as a player. Yes, I was an advanced hitter at the time, but was way out of position."

Adam Ottavino

"At 13, I had just moved up to the regulation-size field, and honestly I wasn't really ready for that yet. I had very good baseball skills, but I was behind a lot of other kids size- and strength-wise at that point. No one who saw me play at 13 was thinking that I would be a Major Leaguer, but somehow I always knew I would be."

Robbie Ray

"I think back in my Little League days, my biggest memory would be that we played against this team that was really good and I actually got invited to come back and play for that team that night. So I felt like I had accomplished something. I mean they whooped us in afternoon. I pitched, caught -- I was a left-handed catcher -- and played first base as well.

Jeff Bagwell

"Yeah, it's simple. I stunk."

Determining MLB's toughest division no easy task

Rising revenues, playoff expansion continue to change baseball landscape

By Anthony Castrovince / MLB.com | @castrovince | February 14, 2015

What is the toughest division in baseball?

Answering this question used to be a sort of reflex reaction -- or maybe even a gag reflex, if you grew tired of all the Yankees and Red Sox hoopla.
The American League East was the answer. And it wasn't about hype; it was about facts. In the first 17 years of the Wild Card era, the AL's extra entry came from the East 13 times. And in 10 of those 17 seasons, the AL pennant winner came out of the East.

But added playoff expansion in 2012 has changed the landscape, as has the television money that has helped clubs keep their core players and dilute the free-agent pool.

It's harder than ever to buy a pennant, and, in a related development, it's harder than ever to pick a pennant winner.

So, let me ask the question again: What is the toughest division in baseball?

Personally, I'd submit the NL Central.

It has filled four of the six NL Wild Card spots in the last three years. The Cardinals seem to pencil the NLCS into their season schedule, and now they've added Jason Heyward to a lineup that needed a boost near the top of the order. They'll be challenged, of course, by a Pirates team vying for its third straight postseason with possibly the game's best outfield, a Reds team still very much in win-now mode despite the trades that yanked Mat Latos and Alfredo Simon out of the rotation and a Brewers team that was one of the best teams in baseball for four months of '14 and is vying for more staying power in '15.

But the biggest reason why the NL Central belongs in this discussion is the Cubs' rise to relevance. With Joe Maddon and Jon Lester and a promising stash of young bats, that "Back to the Future 2" stuff isn't totally inconceivable (and if you don't believe me, why don't you make like a tree and get out of here).

Actually, the toughest division might be the NL Central's AL counterpart.

The Tigers have the goods to grab their fifth straight title, though there are questions about Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez coming off surgery and Justin Verlander trying to recapture his old form in a Max Scherzer-less rotation. All you need to know about the AL Central is that the club that finished in second place last year is the one that came 90 feet short of tying Game 7 of the World Series.

And now the Royals and Tigers are challenged not just by an Indians team with one of the best starting staffs in baseball but also by the White Sox, who added Jeff Samardzija, David Robertson, Adam LaRoche and Melky Cabrera to their Chris Sale and Jose Abreu nucleus to become an instant contender. The Twins won't make things easy on their Central peers, with an offense that scored the seventh-most runs in baseball last season and a rotation that should be improved.

But hey, I freely admit my Central focus might be misguided.

After all, the Padres' big winter, capped with this week's signing of James Shields, has added a layer of complexity to the NL West, which already supplied us with a 94-win Dodgers team and a Wild Card-winning Giants team that won the World Series last year. Furthermore, better health could work wonders for the Rockies and the D-backs, both of whom should, at the very least, be more competitive than they were when losing 96 and 98 games, respectively, last year.

An improved Astros team and a Rangers team that has to be healthier than it was last year deepen the AL West, where the Angels and A's battled last year. The A's are almost totally revamped but still considered a contender, and the division favorite might be a Mariners club that finished oh-so-close to October last year and balanced the middle of its order with Nelson Cruz.

We can probably dismiss the NL East from this discussion, if only because the Phillies and Braves are building for better days beyond '15. The Nationals are going to be the prohibitive favorites in the East, though I do think the Marlins will prove pesky and the Mets have one of the league's deepest pitching staffs.

Maybe this discussion should go right back where it started.

For as much talk of the AL East not being the powerhouse it once was, its clubs still have the most average wins per season in the dual-Wild Card era.

Average no. of wins by division from 2012 to 2014

American League

East: 84.3
Central: 79.1
West: 82

National League

East: 80.7
Central: 80.8
West: 79.3

Opinions on the East's candidates for a crown are remarkably varied. The Orioles won the East by 12 games last year, while the Rays have, in the last eight months, traded David Price and lost Joe Maddon and Andrew Friedman. Yet PECOTA has the O's winning 78 games and the Rays winning 86. The Red Sox lost 91 games last year, yet they'll probably be the East favorites. It's a wacky, wide-open division in which I, for one, am willing to entertain an argument for any of the five teams.

That, ultimately, is the beauty of baseball in 2015. None of us really knows a thing. A manager once told me, "You can expect and project, but you cannot predict." I don't know if that has ever been more true than it is now. When I compiled this early -- and I do mean early -- installment of the MLB power rankings, there were, legitimately, 15 teams who fell outside my top 10 who I felt deserved some level of "honorable mention." That's a lot of teams, folks.

So… what is the toughest division in baseball?

That might be the toughest question in baseball.

Report: Mariners prospect Victor Sanchez injured in boating accident

Post by Bob Dutton / The News Tribune on Feb. 14, 2015 at 9:53 pm with No Comments »

Unconfirmed reports in Venezuela say Mariners pitching prospect Victor Sanchez, a right-hander, suffered a head injury when hit by a boat while swimming in that country. The full extent and specific nature of Sanchez’s injuries are not known, but those reports said he was unconscious and hospitalized. Mariners officials, at this point, are only able to confirm Sanchez was in an accident. Sanchez, 20, is native Venezuelan who was 2-1 with a 4.50 ERA in seven starts this winter for Caracas in the Venezuelan Winter League. He was 7-6 with a 4.19 ERA last season in 23 starts at Double-A Jackson. The Mariners signed Sanchez on July 12, 2011 as a non-drafted free agent. He is among the prospects cited by The News Tribune in its just-released “watch list” for the upcoming season.

Cubs could deal Welington Castillo, Travis Wood in coming weeks

A flurry of moves this winter has given the Cubs some expendable parts.

By Justin Millar  @Justinmillar1 on Feb 5, 2015, 9:40p

The Chicago Cubs may be inclined to trade catcher Welington Castillo and possibly left-hander Travis Wood before the team heads to Spring Training, as David Kaplan of CSNChicago.com speculates. A number of teams, including the Philadelphia Phillies, have shown interest.
Both Castillo and Wood have been victims' of the Cubs' busy offseason. Castillo has been displaced by Miguel Montero, acquired in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks, and will have to compete for the backup job with free agent signee David Ross. With Castillo being worth approximately 5.5 WAR over the past two years, he seems to be too valuable of a player to be languishing on the bench, or in Triple-A, making a trade the obvious remedy. The 27-year-old backstop broke out in 2013, hitting .274/.349/.297 for a 107 wRC+ and 3.3 WAR. His offense declined last season, as he posted a 91 wRC+, but he was still worth 2.2 WAR, which was good enough to rank 15th in the majors.