Prospect Pipeline

With the Minor League Baseball season now underway, prospect hounds will finally have a chance to observe the game’s top pitching prospects on a regular basis.

At the top of everyone’s “get” list is Dylan Bundy, and with good reason. After opening the 2013 season at Low-A Delmarva, the now-20-year-old right-hander enjoyed a meteoric rise through the Orioles’ system, which concluded with two appearances out of the major league bullpen in September.

Any news that involves Dylan Bundy and an “elbow injury” is never good.

After hitting 27 home runs over his first three minor-league seasons, Wil Myers exploded for 37 home runs last year in 134 games between the Royals’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates. Although he had always showcased plus raw power to all fields with a quick, explosive swing and exceptional extension after contact, his mature plate discipline prevented its utilization.

This past offseason featured an unprecedented number of blockbuster trades involving top-ranked prospects.

First, the Kansas City Royals dealt top prospects Wil Myers and Jake Odorizzi, as well as Mike Montgomery and Patrick Leonard, to the Rays in exchange for right-handers James Shields and Wade Davis.

As the long, winding road towards the regular season approaches, all 30 Major League Baseball teams are making final decisions that will include some of the top prospects in the game getting a well-deserved spot on the 25-man roster. 

If there’s one young hitter capable of making a successful jump from Double-A to the major leagues, it’s Oscar Taveras.

Hearing the term "Four-A" player is supposed to be a nice way of saying that someone is a bust, but when you really stop to think about it, it actually comes off sounding worse. 

The term Four-A player has been used forever in Major League Baseball, as a simple way of talking about a prospect that could rake in Triple-A only to get called up to The Show and look like Tony Romo in a late-season game for the Dallas Cowboys. 

With spring training slowly winding down, prospects continue to be cut from big league camp on seemingly a daily basis. While players already on their teams' 40-man rosters have been optioned to a specific level, a majority of prospects have received an assignment to minor league spring training.

Center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. may not be in the Boston Red Sox's immediate plans this year. That doesn't mean he isn't ready to make an impact in the big leagues.