Minor League Ball Gameday Discussion, March 22

Good morning prospect watchers. Here is today's discussion thread for minor league news and prospect buzz from spring training camps in Florida and Arizona.

Items of interest today;

***Bill James thinks ground ball pitchers are overrated. Is he right?

When looking at minor league pitching prospects, one thing I look closely for is the combination of high strikeout rates with lots of ground balls at the lower levels of the minors. Am I wrong about that? I've felt that this philosophy helped me pick out some successful sleepers in the past. I note the examples Bill mentions as ground ball failures were generally guys in the majors who didn't have great strikeout rates. It is food for thought though and something I need to study more.

***Trevor Bauer has been sent to Triple-A Columbus by the Indians. People really seem to enjoy hating this guy. There's an interesting quotation from Bauer: "I made a decision to make some changes that are going to help me long term. That's what I'm doing." That will be very interesting to track.

***Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Byran Morris has an extra option.

***DRaysBay has a look at potential breakout prospects in the Tampa system, discussing shortstop Jake Hager, third baseman Patrick Leonard, and right-handed pitcher Jesse Hahn. I completely endorse all three of those candidates.

***Matt Garrioch and I are plugging away at a cooperative Mock Draft. I hope to have that finished later today.

***Prospect Retro list: Jason Schmidt, Ken Griffey Jr., John Lackey, Edgar Martinez, and Vida Blue. The next one will be Lackey.

***Philosophical Conundrum of the Day: Who would win a "Most Doubted Top Prospect" Contest between Bauer and Wil Myers?