The Giants are beginning to groom prospect John Bowker at first base, according to Andrew Baggarly of Medianews.  After Bowker’s torrid start to his major league career, the organization is employing the services of Ex-Giant J.T. Snow to teach him the finer points of the position in hopes that he will stay in the every day lineup.  Bowker got his first major league experience at the position on Wednesday when he was shifted to first base in the ninth inning after starting the game in right field.

• Reds rookie right-hander Johnny Cueto pitched lights-out against the Brewers Tuesday, but barely walked away with a no-decision, writes Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News. It took a 2-out, 2-strike home run off Eric Gagne in the 9th inning by Corey Patterson to tie the game, but the Reds would eventually lose 3-2 after a walk-off single by Rickie Weeks. Still, Reds manager Dusty Baker had nothing but good things to say about Cueto’s outing (6 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 8 K).

Fantasy implications: Obvious.  Get him if you can.

• Joey Votto has been struggling in his role in a platoon at first base with veteran Scott Hatteberg; in 5 games this season Votto is batting .167 (2 for 12). However, Dusty Baker isn’t keen on changing the arrangement anytime soon.

Fantasy implications: Until he gets more than every-other-day playing time, Votto’s fantasy value is effectively nil unless you are in the deepest of leagues.

• Despite an impressive Cactus League performance, the A’s Carlos Gonzalez was sent down to Triple-A Sacramento when Oakland’s 25-man roster was set on Sunday. Oakland GM Billy Beane expects Gonzalez’s time in the minors to be short, and says that he just needs to get some at-bats and play every day. This seems reasonable, considering that he has only 42 career at-bats in Triple-A. This appears to have been the A’s thinking all along this spring with Gonzalez.
• Rookie Daric Barton missed the game on Saturday, citing hand soreness. This is the same injury he was bothered by earlier this spring, so fantasy owners might want to be wary. He expects to play in the A’s home opener on Tuesday.

Orioles manager Dave Trembly made a last minute decision to cut Jay Gibbons in favor of placing prospect Scott Moore on the roster. The Orioles are still responsible for two seasons and close to $12 million for Gibbons. Moore batted .333 this spring in 39 at-bats with 1 HR and 5 RBIs. Moore is listed as a backup 1B but can also play at 3B.

Kind of a funny piece today from Reds beat writer John Fay.  He shows his projected lineup and rotation from two months ago, on February 5th.  He had 1B Joey Votto batting lead off, and starting CF Jay Bruce batting in the 7 spot.  Of course we know now that Bruce has been optioned to Triple-A and Cincinnati’s new CF is Corey Patterson, who wasn’t even on the Reds on February 5th.  Fay is still projecting Votto in the starting lineup, but batting 8th in the lineup instead of lead off.

Fay didn’t fair quite as well with his projected starting rotation.  After the obvious first two in Harang and Arroyo, he had Matt Belisle, Jeremy Affeldt, and Homer Bailey.  Fay missed on all three.  Today the 3-5 spots in the rotation are expected to be occupied by Johnny Cueto, Josh Fogg, and Edinson Volquez.  All of the Reds top prospects are definite fantasy sleepers this year.

A few notes of interest from ESPN legend Peter Gammons latest chat:

• From the sound of things, Gammons thinks Clayton Kershaw is certain to be a factor for the Dodgers this year.  Their main concern is limiting his inning early so he finishes in the 150-160 IP range.
• Tigers manager Jim Leyland thinks Detroit’s first pick in the 2007 Draft, Rick Porcello, will be with the big league club some time this season.
• Gammons also notes that players like Porcello, the Yankees Austin Jackson, Andrew Brackman, and Ian Kennedy, the Red Sox Lars Anderson, Ryan Kalish, Anthony Rizzo, David Mailman, and Will Middlebrooks, will have a serious impact on this year’s draft.  Of course these players are all now top prospects who were drafted way above slot in later rounds.
• Picking player comparables is always tricky business, but Gammons thinks the best comparable he’s heard for Yankees SP Ian Kennedy is the Blue Jays SP Shaun Marcum.

• Daric Barton hit his third home run of the Spring, all three coming after missing games with an injured hand.
• Fautino De Los Santos, the featured player acquired in the Nick Swisher trade, hit 97 mph on the radar gun, writes Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Manager Bob Geren likes what he sees in the 22-year-old, but maintains that he still has a lot of development to do.
• A’s rotation note: Slusser has Justin Duchscherer tagged as Oakland’s No. 3 starter, thus, given the reassignment of Greg Smith and Gio Gonzalez, it would appear that Dana Eveland and Chad Gaudin would fill the last two rotation slots (at least to start the season).

Earlier this week we listed the top prospects getting cut from the Rays, Indians, Pirates, Nationals, Rockies, Rangers, Red Sox, Twins, Angels, and Orioles.  We’ve listed below a handful of prospects who have been cut since then.

• Beau Mills, 3B/1B, Indians
• Trevor Crowe, OF, Indians
• Matt LaPorta, OF, Brewers
• Phillipe Aumont, RHP, Mariners
• Robinzon Diaz, C, Blue Jays
• Charlie Morton, RHP, Braves
• Tyler Flowers, C/1B, Braves
• Brett Sinkbeil, RHP, Marlins
• Lance Broadway, RHP, White Sox
• Rick Porcello, RHP, Tigers
• Dexter Fowler, OF, Rockies
• Chris Nelson, SS, Rockies
• Jeff Samardzija, RHP, Cubs
• John Bowker, OF, Giants

As usual, some great prospect tidbits out of a few blog entries by ESPN’s Keith Law (Link to first entry; Link to second entry). Law is in Arizona with his family, and these are a few notable comments he had about a few prospects he watched play. Gives you a more scout-like perspective of how these guys are playing.

• Law saw Angels’ top pitching prospect Nick Adenhart pitch four innings against the A’s. His two best pitches, a late-action two-seamer fastball and a deep breaking curveball, both looked very good and were well used by Adenhart. His third pitch, a changeup, wasn’t performing quite as well. Adenhart will need to develop his ability to use this pitch if he’s to realize the lofty projections anointed him.
• We’ve mentioned the huge three-run bomb that A’s prospect Daric Barton hit in his first game back after injuring his wrist. Well, Law cautions that we shouldn’t get too excited about this HR as it was hit off of non-prospect Matt Wilhite, whose arm-slot is uber conducive to a swing like Barton’s.
• Bad news on one of our top rookie breakout candidates, Rockies’ SP Franklin Morales. We were excited by the news that Cook and Hirsch had both been temporarily shelved, seemingly opening a door in the rotation for Morales. Law noticed, however, that Morales’ velocity was way down at a point in the spring where most pitchers are getting up to their normal speeds. Law spoke with a scout who had noticed the same thing in his previous start as well. Let’s be clear, it was Morales mid to high 90’s velocity coupled with his devastating slider that made him look so good last year. If he doesn’t have that stuff back come season start, Morales could be in a world of hurt.
• We’ve also noted that Rockies prospect Jayson Nix appears to be the front runner for the starting 2B job. Law thinks it will be a short-lived tenure for Nix, though. He notes that Nix’s swing is too long, and he struggles to connect with any decent fastball or breaking ball.
• Law also watched Giants flamethrower Erik Threets in one inning of work. Law wasn’t too enamored with Threets, who surprised him with a solid inning of work. Threets is throwing in the mid to high 90’s, but doesn’t have a second pitch to back it up.

On Sunday, A’s prospect Daric Barton returned to an exhibition game against the Brewers after missing seven games with a bruised left hand. He struck out as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning to remain hitless in 8 at bats this Spring.

On Monday, Daric Barton ended his hitless streak with a monster three-run shot to right field against reliever Matt Wilhite. According to Barry Bloom of MLB.com, Barton is now 1-for-11 on the season, but is a virtual lock for starting first baseman. The A’s are counting on him to do well this year as an integral part of the team.

“He had a great September for us. He’s a good hitter. He really is,” A’s manager Bob Geren said. “I’m projecting him to be in the middle of everything [this season].”

Barton batted an impressive .347 with 9 doubles, 4 HRs and 8 RBIs in 18 games during a late call up to the Major League club last year.