Moscoso struck out 122 in 86 2/3 innings this season between Class A Lakeland and Double-A Erie.

Seems pretty impressive.

seeing their “more aggressive” hopefully Cincy will step it up….

I’m sure it’s been mentioned here somewhere, but what does Cincy have (besides Bailey) that we could get?

Look how Max turned out.

power and speed. What’s the book on his defense?

Completely unreasonable for Laird?

Where would he rank on our prospect list?

with Laird’s return. I’d rather keep Laird and Tea, and trade Maxy Poo and Salty.

we could offer to bring back Bonderman? they have obviously a horrible minor league system. Couldn’t we give them some players like Lemon, Arias, Duran, Poveda or Hunter or a combo of coupled with Laird to bring back Bonderman?

I think whomever Laird brings back will cause some disappointment and criticism. He’s not young, the more likely trading partners don’t have star quality minor leaguers they can afford to move, and the primary objective in dealing Gerald at all is to clear the deck and sort out Ranger catching. And even that is not a “must do”, which I suppose Boston, Detroit, Cincinnati, and Florida know. I just don’t think a landmark deal is possible.

The OF’er Adam mentions could be flipped, I suppose, to put some bat into another transaction, but that’s a compound “if” scenario. The real deal is maturation, polishing, and promotion of the pitchers in the system, coupled with getting the 2009 starters off to the best health and condition they can report in. Landing one more MLB ready starter probably won’t happen in the impending catcher deals.

the Rangers should pull the trigger. He has the stuff to become a dominant pitcher. He could be once of those pitchers every year that come out of nowhere to become dominant in the form of Cliff Lee, Justin Ducshsherer, Edinson Volquez or Ryan Dempster.

He just hasn’t clicked yet and could be one of those pitchers who could be picked up on the cheap.

Kinda like what happened when he traded Soriano.

A SS prospect in the Tigers organization who was 22 last year and spent most of the year in AA. Does he have a strong enough arm to be converted to a 3rd baseman?

From MLBTR:

According to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pirates are eyeing Tigers players Jeff Larish and Matt Joyce as part of a potential Jack Wilson deal. They could get one of the two as well as a pitching prospect.

Is anybody here familiar with the Tigers’ system? If the Pirates deal Wilson before the Rangers deal Laird, would the players mentioned limit the return that Daniels could get?

Background: Larish is a polarizing player among scouts. He has made steady progress through the system, hitting 67 homers in his three full minor league seasons, and acquitted himself well in his big league debut.

Strengths: Larish’s greatest asset is raw power to the pull field. Though there’s virtually no load with his hands, he can crush fastballs over the inner half of the plate. He’s not a threat to steal but has decent speed and good awareness on the bases. He’s already an average defender at first base and he could become a plus defender in time.

Weaknesses: Larish tends to wait for a perfect pitch to hit, which can work against him. He finds himself in a lot of 0-2 counts, and better pitchers were able to exploit his passivity. His detractors don’t like his unorthodox batting stance, in which he turns his head to face the pitcher and keeps his hands still prior to the pitch. He has yet to show that he can hit quality strikes over the outside corner, and he struggles with breaking pitches.

The Future: With Miguel Cabrera entrenched as their long-term first baseman, the Tigers had Larish play third base (which he played as a freshman at Arizona State) in the Arizona Fall League. His rust showed, but his work ethic gives him the chance to become decent at the spot. Barring an injury or trade, Larish likely will start 2009 in Triple-A.

As far as Matt Joyce… COF….

here is his BA from 2007

Background: Joyce helped West Michigan win the Midwest League title in 2006, then skipped a level and helped Erie make the Eastern League playoffs. He was pulling off the ball early in the season and batted .193 during the first two months. But then he settled back into his overachieving ways, started allowing the ball to travel deeper into the zone and batted .293 with 13 homers over the final three months of the season.

Strengths: Joyce has a smooth lefthanded stroke and a knack for driving in runs. He generally hits gap to gap but possesses some home-run power and has the potential to top last year’s career high of 17. A well above-average right fielder, he gets great jumps and has a strong, accurate arm. He can play an adequate center field if needed.

Weaknesses: Like many of the Tigers’ top position prospects, Joyce needs to cut down his strikeouts. He chases low changeups from righthanders. He doesn’t use his average speed as well on the bases as he does in the outfield.

The Future: Joyce has moved swiftly since signing in 2005, and he’ll move up to Triple-A this season. If all goes well, he’ll challenge for a big league job in 2009.

: Kyle from Middletown asks:
How do you like Casey Crosby’s chances of having a breakout season? Do you think he has the ceiling of a #2 starter?
 A:

Jon Paul Morosi: I think Crosby is a terrific prospect. The Tigers are going to take his development slowly, for a variety of reasons — he hasn’t pitched much, he’s young, and he’s had TJ. But he has the highest ceiling of any starter in the system not named Rick Porcello. His fastball averages 94 mph from the left side. That pretty much says it all. He’ll probably pitch at West Michigan or Lakeland in ‘09. Since he’s from the Chicago area, he would probably embrace the notion of pitching on 40-degree days in April.

Q: Ace from Detroit, MI asks:
Who will be the better hitter long term- Matt Joyce or Jeff Larish…could one be traded for pitching help this year?
 A:

Jon Paul Morosi: Tough question. Joyce has too much service time to be considered for the Top 10 list this year, so I didn’t have to wrestle with that — until now! I’ll say this: I think Larish will be the more “productive” hitter in the long term. “Productive,” in this case, is code for “RBIs.” Larish has a knack for driving in runs, and that’s the primary obligation of a corner infielder/outfielder. As for Part II: Yes, I believe one (perhaps both) could be traded for pitching help this off-season. The Tigers do not want to trade them, of course, but they do have a surplus of talent at each of their positions. They could deal them without causing a major disruption to their 2009 plans. In one of my recent Free Press columns, I mentioned the possibility that the Tigers could move one or both of them to Seattle in a trade for J.J. Putz. I think that type of deal would make a lot of sense for both clubs.

who do you think is the most likely to go next?

1. Another catcher
2. Blalock
3. Millwood or Padilla
4. Catalanotto
5. An outfielder
6. Somebody else