baseball prospects

We've already covered Brandon League, and I've tried to soothe Seattle's uncertain ego by establishing his rising value.

But what about this other guy, Johermyn Chavez?

Chavez is a 6' 3", slugging outfielder whose 220-pound frame will turn 21 on Jan. 26, 2010.

Kid can't even buy a drink yet.

An undrafted righty, Chavez was signed into the Toronto organization in 2005.  In four years in the Blue Jays' farm system, the young Venezuelan has demonstrated developing power.

In 2009, Chavez batted .283 with 21 homers and 89 runs batted in for Class A Lansing.

It appears the Toronto Blue Jays have two options for Roy Halladay and the 2010 season. Get a deal done before Spring Training ends or face the consequences of losing their ace pitcher to free agency.

According to Jeff Berry, one of Halladay’s representatives, if Halladay reports to Spring Training, all bets are off.

“One thing is certain—once Roy reports to Spring Training as a member of the Blue Jays, from that point forward he will not approve or even discuss any potential trade scenario,”

Who knew that when the Orioles took Matt Wieters and Caleb Joseph in the first seven rounds of the 2008 MLB draft, they would be getting two of the better catchers available in that pool of players?

Clearly, Wieters, now starring for the big league club is a sure-fire star, but had Joseph been the only backstop taken, no doubt the club would be touting the 23-year old as the organization's catcher of the future.

Oakland Athletics Director of Player Development Keith Lieppman, and Durham Bulls Manager Charlie Montoyo have been named the recipients of the second annual Sheldon “Chief” Bender, and Mike Coolbaugh Awards.

According to MILB.com , they will be honored along with the other award winners at the Baseball Winter Meetings in Indianapolis from Dec. 7–10.

The Bender Award is presented to an individual who has shown exceptional skills in player development.

The Springfield Cardinals have promoted from within their community, a feature that not only builds a bond with their organization, but also reinforces relations with the fans.

Kim Inman, who has been a member of the Springfield community for the past 14 years, has joined the team as Vice President of Sales.

“The Cardinals are a strong part of this community and baseball has such great tradition,” Inman said. “I can’t wait to share my excitement and passion with all of our great fans and supporters.”

Shelley Duncan has seen brief success when he has played for The New York Yankees from 2007 to 2009.  It is a completely different story when he gets full time play with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the Triple-A affiliate of the 27 time World Champs.

Duncan lead the International League in home runs (30) RBI (99), runs and extra base hits, thus being honored by the Topps Company of New York, as their Player of the Year.

Cito Gaston, who was subject to controversy at the end of the 2009 season, will manage one more season and then begin a 4-year consulting agreement with the Toronto Blue Jays.

“He had even talked about it a little bit last year —that 2010 might be his last year with us,” Anthopoulos said during a conference call. “He didn’t know that he wanted to continue. Really, at this time, reviewing everything, this was the right move for the organization going forward. This was carefully thought out. Everyone had a chance to state their opinions.”

Prospect #16 comes in the form of a athletic outfielder who has drawn comparisons to a guy who hit over .320 his rookie year and has two 25 home run seasons to his name. Prospect #16 is Ronnie Welty

Welty was a 20th round draft pick by the Orioles in 2008. At the time he was rated as the 5th best junior-college player in the nation. Welty was drafted in the 37th round in 2006, but a strong commitment to Kansas State kept him from signing.

What were you doing about three months shy of your 22nd birthday?  Better yet, what were you doing in the final days of your senior year of college?

I can't answer either question—don't know the first answer and the second one's not appropriate for innocent eyes (or those of my parents).  I'm guessing I'm not the only one.

Ryan Scoma, who hits the double deuce in September, had several irons in the fire.