Catcher Matt Wieters, the Baltimore Orioles top prospect, is off to a blistering start in Class A Frederick.  The fifth overall pick in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft is batting .438 with 4 HRs and 10 RBI and 10 BB in his first 12 games.  Don’t expect Wieters to be in the Majors for another year though, as Orioles’ president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail is in no rush to move him up to even Double A Bowie yet.

“Let’s let him play a while, [but] you can’t help but be impressed by the early returns,” said MacPhail. “If it’s clear that he’s not being challenged where he is, we have no problem moving him.”

Astros stud rookie catcher J.R. Towles got a big scare on Sunday, when a pitch from Marlins closer Kevin Gregg plunked him on the top of his hand.  Initial x-rays came back negative, a diagnosis that was confirmed today by team physician Tom Mehlhoff.  While this is a big relief to both the Astros and fantasy owners, Towles is still too sore to play.  Evidence of this was the ‘Stros decision today to recall C Humberto Quintero from Triple-A Round Rock as insurance while J.R. sits.

In his daily column today, ESPN’s Tristan Cockcroft gives an update on the development of the Orioles top pick in last year’s draft, Matt Wieters.  Apparently yesterday’s game marked the first time since the first game this season that Wieters did not get a hit.  He was, however, on base three times via the base on balls.  Wieters is now hitting .478 with 3 HR and 10 BB on the young season.  Cockcroft notes that if Wieters continues to hit at this pace the Orioles will be forced to promote him to Double-A ball sooner than later.  If that happens and Wieters continues to hit, look out for him as a big time sleeper on the big league club in 2009.

Brad Ausmus was the Astros’ opening day starter at catcher Monday, with J.R. Towles on the bench. Later in the game, Manager Cecil Cooper pinch hit Darin Erstad for Ausmus, then put Towles in to catch in the bottom of the inning. Patrick Sullivan of The Baseball Analysts notes that Erstad has hit .248/.310/.335 since 2005 and Towles hit a career .301/.389/.471 in the minors. Sullivan amounts this to an endorsement of Erstad’s hitting over Towles’, and a foolish managerial decision.

However, I think it’s more something to keep an eye on in the future. There no reason to keep this talented young catcher on the bench, not even, in my option, to have a more experienced catcher calling the game for the staff ace, Roy Oswalt. If Towles isn’t put in the starting catcher spot full time (and soon), it would be a waste.

• The Mariners announced today that they optioned top OF prospect Wladimir Balentien to Triple-A Tacoma. Balentien certainly didn’t fail to impress the Mariners with his stellar spring. He went 15 of 47 (.319) with 9 RBI and a team-leading 3 HR. When discussing why the Mariners decided to demote Balentien rather than keep him with the big league club, skipper John McLaren compared his situation to that of top catching prospect Jeff Clement:
  

  “We don’t want those guys sitting around as extra players. We want them playing on a regular basis.”

  With his impressive spring, though, it might not be long before Balentien is getting regular playing time at the big league level. Keep an eye on this talented young OF.

• While both Balentien and Clement have impressed all this spring, it is another young Mariners prospect that all the scouts are raving about, Carlos Triunfel. The 18-year-old has everyone who sees him calling him a future superstar. While he’s an adequate SS right now, most feel he’ll end up at 3B. And as Larry Stone of The Seattle Times speculates in his article, Triunfel could end up being the long-term replacement for Adrian Beltre as the Mariners 3B when Beltre leaves after 2009.Here’s a quick scouting report from ESPN’s Keith Law, who is very impressed with the Mariners ability to scout internationally:
  

  “He’s an offensive shortstop who is strong and getting stronger, with more room to fill out in the future, as he turned 18 just last month. A right-handed hitter, he puts great backspin on the ball and wears out the right-center gap with searing line drives. His bat speed is plus and he keeps his hip rotation timed with his swing; he transfers his weight a little early, and might need to correct that to reach his maximum power output. His pitch recognition needs work, but the M’s have pushed him up the ladder and he hasn’t stumbled.”

Today is a big day for prospects.  Many of the questions we’ve been asking about who will make the big league clubs come season start will be answered today.  When a player is sent down to the minors there is a 10 day non-recall period.  Many teams will cut players who are on the fringe of making the big league club 10 days before the season starts so they still have the option of bringing them back up should any injuries create holes in the roster.  That’s why we’re seeing many of the bigger name prospects getting cut today, as opposed to at the end of camp.

One such prospect is the Mariners’ super catching prospect, Jeff Clement.  As noted in this The News Tribune article by Ryan Divish, Mariners manager John McLaren has said since the start of spring that the only way Clement would make the roster is as a starter.  The Mariners do not want their stud catching prospect to stunt his development with a lack of playing time.  And it’s not like Clement was tearing it up this spring; he only had 3 hits in 19 AB (.158) with 2 RBI.  It’s going to be interesting to see how Clement’s career develops.  He’s got Kenji Johjima blocking him in Seattle at the backstop position.  Clement’s bat could be used at DH, currently occupied by Jose Vidro, but I would suspect that the Mariners would prefer to avoid this so Clement can continue to develop as a catcher.

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

Most teams have made their final cuts of spring training over the past few days.  This means that the remaining players not cut will more than likely spend the remainder of the spring with their respective teams.  We’ve listed below the more noteworthy prospects who have been sent back to the minors:

• Wade Davis, RHP, Rays
• Jake McGee, LHP, Rays
• Adam Miller, RHP, Indians
• Chuck Lofgren, LHP, Indians
• Mike Aubrey, 1B, Indians
• Danny Moskos, LHP, Pirates
• Collin Balester, RHP, Nationals
• Tyler Clippard, RHP, Nationals
• Garrett Mock, RHP, Nationals
• Ross Detwiler, LHP, Nationals
• Greg Reynolds, RHP, Rockies
• Casey Weathers, RHP, Rockies
• Max Ramirez, C, Rangers
• Chris Davis, 1B, Rangers
• German Duran, 2B, Rangers
• Elvis Andrus, SS, Rangers
• Justin Masterson,  RHP, Red Sox
• Michael Bowden, RHP, Red Sox
• Deolis Guerra, RHP, Twins
• Jordan Walden, RHP, Angels
• Matt Wieters, C, Orioles

So, you’re diligently preparing for your fantasy draft and searching desperately for this year’s Ryan Braun - the rookie fantasy sleeper stud that takes everyone by surprise and catapults your squad to a championship. Unfortunately, all you can find are experts’ “Top 100 Prospect” lists, which include prospects that are still a year or two away, or so-called “Sleeper” lists consisting of 2nd and 3rd year players that everyone in your league has already heard of (and are already planning to draft before you). What if - hypothetically - someone had organized a constantly updated list of rookie fantasy sleepers, tiered by starting status, ranked by predicted fantasy impact, and linked to recent news on each rookie, that you could have running in the background of your draft as a quick reference?

• Look no further than the MLBProspectNews.com 2008 Rookie Fantasy Sleepers page, located under the MLBPN Features section of our navigation bar.

The Astros top catcher prospect J.R. Towles was injured in today’s game against the Braves while running out a grounder.  Fantasy owners shouldn’t worry however because Towles doesn’t think the injury is too serious or that he’ll be out for very long.

“I think it will be just a couple of days, no more than four or five days,” he said. “I don’t know. They might try to take it easy on me, but I want to get back out there as quick as possible, that’s for sure.”

Towles was doing a great job holding off Humberto Quintero and Brad Ausmus for the starting job, and as long as he comes back sooner than later he should have a very productive fantasy season.