Minor League Ball Gameday: Monday, March 19, 2018

Good morning everyone and welcome to the Minor League Ball Gameday discussion thread for Monday, March 19th, 2018.

Some points for your consideration:

****Oakland Athletics prospect Franklin Barreto is having a fine spring, hitting .325/.378/.675 through 40 at-bats with three walks and 12 strikeouts. Strike zone concerns remain in play although as I mentioned in the Top 175 article last week, I am optimistic about his chances to adjust.

****The Houston Astros sent outfield prospect Kyle Tucker to the minors yesterday, an expected move given his age and experience level of course. He mashed this spring at .410/.429/.795. He already had 72 games in Double-A last year so it will be interesting to see if the Astros send him back to the Texas League for a few months or if they will start him off directly in Triple-A.

****The Cleveland Indians sent catcher/infielder/outfielder Francisco Mejia back to the minors late last week though he was quite successful in camp, going 8-for-19 (.421) with a pair of homers. He has no Triple-A time on his resume so some International League at-bats are in order, plus his long-term position with the team remains unclear.

IN THE PIPELINE

****Right now I am working on my organizational rankings, plus articles about sleeper prospects. I have also begun research on the 2018 MLB draft class.