38.3. Chomping at the Bit - Prospects Eyeing ML Promotions

[agrudez]

After a quick re-tool last season (and an uncharacteristic stint of *patience* in not trading away prospects over the past few years) in Huntsville, the Phantoms now find themselves with well stocked high minors full of prospects fighting for promotions to the majors. Here are some of the highlights (in order of proximity):

1) SP Vito Reyes - With a potential split vs. LHBs (5/10/8) bordering on elite, the Phantoms are excited to see what this Southpaw can do mitigating batters at the Opera House. The plan going into the season was to bring him up in Mid-May, but injuries have forced the team's hand and now he finds himself as the team's opening day #4 SP.

2) CF Manny Cleide - Cleide has all of the tools to be an average to above average starting ML CFer, imo - and he's fully developed. So why isn't he in the majors? Being blocked by one of the game's best isn't a fair existence. There were thoughts in the offseason of trying to shoe-horn Cleide to RF (though hesitancy over whether his glove could make up for a projectable low .700 OPS at that position), but circumstances didn't allow that. He even lost the 4th OFer job because another good CF prospect ran out of options. As of now, he's the first man up for OF injuries, but if I was his agent I'd be demanding a trade...

3) DH Emilio Lugo - 8 CON and 7 POW vs. RHP is certainly ML ready. Unfortunately, the Phantoms are already pretty heavy up on DH candidates - for both now and the foreseeable future (with another one percolating in the system to be discussed later, to boot). Lugo is probably going to eclipse a .900 OPS in AAA this year. And the next. And the next. It might not be until he runs out of options that we finally give him a shot. Or, alternatively, maybe an injury grants him an unexpected early opportunity that he can run with.

4) OF Craig Barber - He's got an intriguing OBP skillset (which he displayed with a .367 OBP in a ML cup of coffee with BRK last year) and a solid glove. Looks like a perfect 4th OF / average-ish ML starter. Problem is he's blocked on all fronts in both the majors and the prospect pipeline (Cleide).

5) DH Tommy Cochrane - The aforementioned DH prospect, Cochrane is one of the top batting prospects. He could probably be a RH platoon option for DH already, but the team wouldn't dare waste his service years on that role. So, instead, he'll continue trying to fill out in AAA for the time being. It's doubtful you see him in the majors until he's ready to start.

6) SP C. J. Icshade - He's got 3/4 tweener potential, but is still a ways off. Some expedited development (and/or more rotation injuries in the majors) could accelerate his timeline, though. For now, though, we have some AAAA chaff to promote to protect his development and service years first, though.

7) SP Amayas Moelling - Probably the most exciting of the list, but, unfortunately, also the furthest away. He has clear ace potential and is well developed for a 19 year old, but he is still a 19 year old. And, like with Cochrane, we'll keep his powder dry as long as possible to save service time - even if his OVR ratings start to eclipse someone like Icshade.