So I'm sitting here on a dull Rangers day, and I decided to take a look at what the rotations for Oklahoma and Frisco are going to look at at the start of the 2006 season...
Brian Anderson is supposedly close to signing a minor league deal, but I can't imagine he'll be ready until after the ASB, since he's recovering from T-J surgery, so he's not included in the mix...
Oklahoma -- Josh Rupe, R.A. Dickey, John Hudgins, C.J. Wilson, Edison Volquez
Frisco -- John Danks, Thomas Diamond, Armando Galarraga ([editor's note, by Adam J. Morris] - Thanks to Scott Lucas for pointing out that I originally had called him Andres Galarraga), A.J. Murray, Nick Masset
For the first time in a while, it looks like there's not a lot of guys pushing from below to crack the Frisco rotation. All five guys I listed at Frisco pitched in AA last year, and I wouldn't be surprised if all five pitched significant innings at AAA before the season is up, although Masset could end up in the pen.
At Bakersfield, though, there doesn't seem to be a lot of guys ready to step up and push for spots in the AA rotation. Andy Walker and Clint Brannon, who were both lights-out for Clinton in low-A, struggled at high-A in 2005, with ERAs in the 4s and underwhelming peripherals.
It may be that, once this wave of pitchers promotes out of Frisco, we'll have to wait until Eric Hurley and Michael Schlact are ready before we starting seeing another contingent of solid prospects in the AA rotation.