Pro Prospect Transactions: May 26, 2010

It's been a long time coming, but I've finally gone back through the Pro Prospects list and updated as many players as I could find info for. 

One of the more interesting guys on this list is James Paxton. The former Glacier Pilot was set to begin his senior season this year with Kentucky, but after a big drama bomb with the NCAA exploded he opted not to pitch the college season. Instead, he's signed on with the Grand Prairie Air Hogs of the independent American Association. However, signing with an independent professional league does not make you ineligible for the MLB Rule 4 draft, and Paxton is still a draft prospect -- in fact, one projected to possibly go in the first round. So, in a strange sort of way, Paxton is both a pro prospect and a draft prospect.

The rest of the list is available "below the fold". But before we get into it, a couple more notes. First, we're getting a lot of the blanks on the pro prospect list filled, but there are still quite a few left. This is because most of those guys will be assigned to short-season leagues, we just don't know which ones yet. Next, under the "In MLB" section, this is obviously not a complete list of all ABL players in Major League Baseball. These are just the ones considered prospects who are making their first stint in the major leagues. Finally, the "New to List" section is composed of players who I previously missed, who are just now being added to our pro prospects watch list. And, as always, if you notice any errors or omissions, please let me know!


In MLB:

Tyson Ross (Bucs, 2006), Oakland
Blake Wood (Bucs, 2004), Kansas City

MiLB Assignments:

Cole Armstrong: AA Birmingham
Joe August: A St. Lucie
Clay Calfee: A Inland Empire
Ryan Edell: AA Midland
Mike Ekstrom: AAA Durham
Andrew Kown (Bucs, 2003): AA Harrisburg
Chris Maloney (Miners, 2004): AA Tulsa
Chris McMurray (Miners, 2007): AA Carolina
Jorden Merry (Pilots, 2007): A Clinton
Max Peterson (Miners, 2008): A Kane County
Zach Quate (Pilots, 2008): A Charlotte
Bill Rinehart (Pilots, 2005): A Potomac
Brandon Roberts (Bucs, 2004): AA New Britain
BJ Rosenberg (Miners, 2005): A Clearwater
Joshua Satin (Miners, 2004): A St. Lucie
Chris Schwinden (Panners, 2006): AA Binghamton
Daniel Stange (Miners, 2004): AAA Reno
Sequoyah Stonecipher (Panners, 2007): A Greensboro
Chris Tremblay (Panners, 2007): A Lake Elsinore
Duke Welker (Pilots, 2006): A West Virginia
Jace Whitmer (Pilots, 2007): A Rome


Independent League Signings:

Chris Cullen (Miners, 2007): Lincoln (American Association)
Mike Diaz (Pilots, 2007): Traverse City (Frontier League)
Dom Duggan (Bucs, 2006): Lake Erie (Frontier League)
Will Morgan (Panners, 2006): Wichita (American Association)
James Paxton (Pilots, 2009): Grand Prairie (American Association)
Ryan Platt (Panners, 2007): Traverse City (Frontier League)
Ryan Shaver (Panners, 2004): Souix Falls (American Association)
Tim Smith (Miners, 2006): Washington (Frontier League) 
Joe Spiers (Pilots, 2005): Grand Prairie (American Association)

MLB Signings:

Dane de la Rosa, signed by Tampa Bay, assigned to AA Montgomery.
Jared Wells (Fire, 2002), signed by Houston Astros, assigned to AA Corpus Christi.

Released: 

Chris Cullen (Miners, 2007), Pittsburgh Pirates
Brian Horwitz (Oilers, 2001), Cleveland Indians
Will Morgan (Panners, 2006), New York Mets
Robert Taylor (Bucs, 2006), Florida Marlins
Jason Waddell (Oilers, 2000), Detroit Tigers

New to List:

Gabe Jacobo (Bucs, 2007). LA Angels. Now at A Rancho Cucamonga.
James Paxton (Pilots, 2009). Independent American Association. Now at Grand Prairie.