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With the first two months of the season in the books, we’ll take a look at how Rays prospects have performed at the two highest levels.

Each team is loaded with talent, as the Rays feature one of the top farm systems in the game.

We’ll have a look at who’s off to a hot start and who’s struggling, with special attention to some of the Rays’ most noteworthy prospects.

AAA: Durham Bulls (31-23, First Place, IL South)

Who’s Hot

First baseman Dan Johnson, famous for his pinch-hit home run at Boston during the 2008 playoff run, is leading the International League with 15 homers and is batting .324. He’s 30 years old and a very known quantity, but he is making a strong case that he belongs in the big leagues somewhere.

Top pitching prospect Jeremy Hellickson has continued his dominance of AAA, going 8-2 with a 2.49 ERA in 65 innings pitched and striking out 67. He recently took a no-hitter into the eighth inning. Mike Ekstrom has anchored the bullpen since his demotion, giving up just one earned run in 20 innings pitched.

Who’s Not

It’s hard to find players that are disappointing on this team, as it is stacked in both its hitting and pitching. Outfielder Fernando Perez has struggled of late though. After hitting .282 in the first month, he hit just .165 in May. He’s batting .237 but has stolen 16 bases.

Notable

Desmond Jennings, the Rays’ top outfield prospect, has had his ups and downs in 2010. Injuries have kept him from getting into a groove at the plate, and he is batting .248 in 101 at-bats. He has no home runs but has stolen 16 bases and been spectacular in the field.

AA: Montgomery Biscuits (29-23, Second Place, Southern Division)

Who’s Hot

Pitching has been the strength of this team, and Jeremy Hall has been the workhorse of the staff, logging 57 innings in 10 starts. He’s currently 3-2 with a 2.53 ERA.

Alex Torres, one of the Rays’ top lefty pitching prospects, has been equally impressive, striking out 57 batters in 50 innings. He’s 5-2 with a 2.50 ERA in 10 starts. Starting pitcher Alex Cobb has added to the success of the rotation since coming off the DL, posting a 1.86 ERA in four starts.

Infielder Drew Anderson and catcher Nevin Ashley have paced the offense, batting .321 and .319 respectively.

Who’s Not

Pitcher Rayner Oliveros has been hit hard for a 6.32 ERA in more than 30 innings pitched. Outfielder Cody Straight is hitting just .195.

Notable

Starting pitcher Jake McGee, in his first full season after surgery, has had his moments but has also struggled at times. He has a 4.42 ERA in nine starts, with a very good 41 strikeouts in 38 innings.

Corner infielder Matt Sweeney, acquired in the Scott Kazmir trade along with Torres, was promoted to Montgomery from Single-A Charlotte. The 22-year-old has struggled in his first 53 AA at-bats after showing some good pop with Charlotte. He’s hitting .208 with just two walks and 16 strikeouts and has yet to hit his first home run.

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Paul Konerko has had his bags packed to head to the Los Angeles Angels on more than one occasion.

Now, however, it seems as though Konerko could actually be getting on the plane.

With Kendry Morales celebrating a walk-off grand slam by breaking his leg, the Angels could use another first baseman. 

With the White Sox “grinder”/Ozzie ball/don’t score runs and have awful defense experiment putting the team in a battle for third place in the American League Central division, it could be time for the White Sox to look toward 2011…or maybe 2012.

Konerko is currently batting .262 with 14 home runs, 33 RBI, and a .366 OBP.

What it comes down to is the non-contending White Sox having a 34-year-old soon to be free agent who can still produce and play a solid first base and the contending Angels in the wide-open American League West having a vacant spot at first base.

The White Sox also have prospects Tyler Flowers and Dayan Viciedo waiting in the wings for a chance at first base/DH.

Seems like an easy decision, although the real question is whether or not White Sox fans trust GM Kenny Williams making trades anymore.

Remember Gio Gonzalez? He’s starting in Oakland with a 5-3 record, a 3.54 ERA, and a 1.21 WHIP at the tender age of 25.

At least Williams got Nick Swisher for Gonzalez…for a year.

After a tough season with the White Sox where Swisher led MLB in the non-grinder, boring stat pitches per plate appearance, Swisher was shipped to the Yankees, where he is currently batting .318 with nine home runs, 28 RBI, 34 runs, and a .397 OBP.

But at least Williams was able to steal Wilson Betemit and Jeffrey Marquez from New York for Swisher. A who cares and a who. 

Remember John Ely? The 24-year-old is starting for the Los Angeles Dodgers, sitting at 3-2 with a 3.00 ERA and 1.00 WHIP, striking out 32 batters and walking six in his first 39 innings pitched in the big leagues.

At least Williams got Juan Pierre for Ely. The 33-year-old Pierre has a whopping .245 batting average and a .304 OBP so far this season.

And then there’s Jake Peavy. Peavy, who anyone with eyes could see lived and died by PETCO Park and the National League, is currently sporting a 6.23 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP.

Clayton Richard, who wasn’t even the biggest piece of the trade with the San Diego Padres for Peavy, is 4-3 with a 3.00 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP in 63 innings as a starter for the Padres at the old age of 27.

Wait until the Padres start using the 23-year-old left-hander Aaron Poreda. Then White Sox fans may realize how much this trade hurt.

Mix these trades with multi-year deals to mediocre players like Mark Teahen, Scott Linebrink, and Tony Pena, and fans may be asking themselves if Williams can be traded instead of Konerko. 

For the White Sox, however, it looks as though the team will need to move cornerstones Konerko and Mark Buehrle, who Williams did not acquire, along with Bobby Jenks and the contract of Gavin Floyd, if the team wants a chance to go after someone like Cliff Lee in free agency next year. 

But the White Sox will probably just fire Ozzie Guillen and continue trading young talent for mediocre older players instead.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers are slowly rising to the top of the National League West, but one glaring issue still remains: There are four established pitchers in their five-man starting rotation.

The Tigers designated Dontrelle Willis for assignment on Saturday following a rough start for the pitcher in 2010. Willis never really lived up to the expectations put forth by the Tigers when signing him to a 3-year, $29 million contract.

However, the southpaw is a former 22 game winner and World Series Champion while with the Florida Marlins.

There are several other reasons why Dontrelle Willis would make a good fit in Los Angeles. As I mentioned in an earlier article, the Dodgers really need another lefty in their rotation. Clayton Kershaw remains the ace of the staff, and the lone lefty in a quartet that is missing a drummer.

Willis is only owed $12 million for this season, the final year of his contract. That is roughly half the cost of alternatives such as Roy Oswalt, who comes with a price tag in the neighborhood of $25 million.

It is no secret at this point; pitchers that switch leagues tend to have immediate success, and with Willis being in the final year of his contract, the Dodgers could use his services for the remainder of the season before a decision becomes necessary.

Exhibit A: Halladay comes over from the American League, departing the Toronto Blue Jays and joining the Philadelphia Phillies. The result: A perfect game.

Cliff Lee came over to the Phillies in 2009 from the Cleveland Indians, and became a vital piece of their playoff run.

For the Dodgers, Vicente Padilla came across the line from the Texas Rangers, and soon anchored and stabilized the rotation.

Certainly there are cons alongside all of the obvious pros. The hefty contract remainder makes Willis a gamble, especially since he hasn’t shown any signs of improvement this season. However, the idea the Dodgers could have five established starters with the return of a healthy Padilla makes it tempting to speculate.

Not to sell John Ely short, the rookie is having an impressive year, but Major League Baseball is a business. The youngster has plenty of time to develop and make his run to become an ace. However, the trend in baseball has a theme: “Win now, worry about tomorrow later.”

There are eight days remaining before the Tigers will have to make a decision, and fans can expect a melee to ensue this weekend if nothing materializes in the next few days.

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Day One: 3-for-4, three RBI.

Day Two: 3-for-5, two doubles, one RBI.

Yes, Buster Posey’s phenomenal season debut has been nothing short of sensational. Heck, I’ve already heard Giants brass refer to Posey as “the Savior” or “the Messiah.”

But who could really blame them?

Following a 1-6 road trip that included a five-game losing streak, the Giants were in dire need of offense. They combined to score one run in the entire series versus the Oakland A’s. The last time the Giants were held to one run in a three-game series dates back to their days in New York.

Sure, the Giants needed some pop. In their desperation, they experimented with different lineups and even sent Aubrey Huff to left field to make room in the infield.

Now they’ve finally answered the outcry of Giants fans, and Buster Posey has arrived in a big way. In two games, he’s helped paced the Giants to two wins and captured the attention of the Bay.

Posey has been the messiah.

With his two-game performance, it’s only natural to expect more of Posey.

The problem is, it’s only been two games—and Posey is only a rookie, not Joe Mauer.

Sky-high expectations of Posey are simply unfair.

Despite 17 at-bats last year, Posey is a rookie. Expecting too much of a rookie is unwise, considering adjustment to the big leagues is crucial in their quest to become regulars. However, Posey can take solace in playing in San Francisco as compared to the media giants of New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, etc.

Posey has already stated the high expectations do not affect him. Unfortunately, fans often forget ballplayers have feelings. I find it hard to believe Posey has simply dodged the high expectations.

More so, the Giants’ offensive woes have prompted fans to embrace anyone who gives the team even the slightest boost (a la Andres Torres). Unfortunately, Posey is not the bat fans have long awaited.

Unless the Giants trade for a bat such as Prince Fielder, it’s going to take a multitude of quality bats to solve the Giants’ offensive puzzle.

Posey is only a piece of this puzzle, not the final piece.

As far as his season debut, it’s obvious he’s not going to hit over .700 forever. Heck, nowadays even hitting over .400 is unrealistic. He’s simply on fire, plain and simple.

What Giants fans can look forward to, however, is his on-base percentage, which hovered well over .400 in the minor leagues. In a lineup of free-swinging Giants, Posey will be welcomed. Again, though, he probably isn’t capable of singlehandedly transforming the team.

The best way I can sum it all up is like this: Put yourself in the shoes of Buster Posey. All these expectations and names are put on you, and you are expected to produce day in and day out as a rookie. You are one person, not the whole team. Is it possible to save an entire lineup by yourself?

This is what Buster Posey is faced with. An anemic offense combined with a desperate fanbase has created unfair and unrealistic expectations of…a rookie.

Don’t be mistaken—Posey has Joe Mauer potential (with less power). But a little bit of space and time to grow will allow Posey to earn the title of “The Messiah.”

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We’ve had many talks, debates and discussions on Joba Chamberlain.

Should he be a starter? Should he be a reliever? Is he good enough to be the heir to Mariano Rivera?

Right now, he could be pitching his way right out of New York all together.

Currently, Joba is the Yankees setup man to Mariano Rivera. We’ve seen two sides of Joba pitching in 2010.

The first side is the dominant side, who strikes out the side and looks unhittable. Then there is the other side, the ugly side.

The side that reared its ugly head on Saturday and has reared quite a few times during the season.

Entering the seventh inning, Joba took over the game with a 10-8 lead, pitched only .1 of an inning and proceeded to allow four runs and four hits while surrendering the lead to the Indians and taking the loss in the 13-11 contest.

If this were the first time during the season, I wouldn’t be saying a word about this, but this hasn’t been the first time Joba has surrendered a lead.

On May 16, he took a loss because he couldn’t get people out against the Twins in the eighth inning in a 6-3 loss.

On May 18, just two days later, Joba can’t hold down CC Sabathia’s 5-1 lead and allows the Red Sox to tie the game. Eventually, the Yankees lose 7-6 in a game they should have won if Joba gets those outs in the eighth inning.

And now, Saturday’s game.

This isn’t the performance from some scrub reliever. This is coming from someone who was once one of the top setup men in all of baseball. This is clearly unacceptable and fans are beginning to realize this.

Did the Joba Rules really ruin this guy’s stuff? Because the Joba Chamberlain who was a setup man from late 2007 to mid 2008 and the Joba Chamberlain who is the setup man now are two completely different pitchers, and it hasn’t been for the better.

So here is the million dollar question, what do the Yankees do with Joba now? Because they just can’t keep sending him back out into the eighth innings and allowing him to surrender leads like this.

They could send him down to the minor leagues and let him straighten out his stuff, but you also have to find another reliever to take his place in the eighth inning, and Phil Hughes is doing too good of a job to take over like he did in 2009.

They could just leave him alone, and let him straighten his stuff out on the major league level, but do the Yankees want to take that gamble?

My guess is not really.

There is another option, and it’s a wild and crazy one. A few years ago, people would have said hell no to it, but now, I bet a lot of people might think about it.

What about trading Joba?

He’s got some value left, although some of it may have diminished from last year and this year. He is 1-3 with a 5.82 ERA right now, which isn’t that attractive for teams to deal for, but his potential is still there.

He’s still only 24 years old so it’s not like his career is completely demolished, but the early stages of it sure took a lot of damage. He did help the Yankees en route to the 2009 World Series Championship, but he also got bailed out at times when he folded during that season.

Joba just might not be cut out to pitch in New York, which has happened to a lot of pitchers in the past (Kenny Rogers, Randy Johnson, Jaret Wright, Carl Pavano, Kevin Brown, Jeff Weaver, among many others). The way he is going, he could in fact join that long list.

His potential is what could still have teams try and trade for him—teams always need young pitching. Joba still has the potential to be a great pitcher, but right now, his mental capacity is not allowing him to do so.

He gets flustered too much when he loses control, hitters get ahead of him and knock him around. He doesn’t trust his breaking pitches enough to use them more often and then goes back to a fastball that at times, is extremely hittable. He also takes way too much time in between throwing pitches and sometimes thinks too much about his next pitch.

If anything, get Joba a copy of a Mark Buehrle game and watch his approach. He throws a pitch, the ball is back in the glove and he’s ready for his next pitch. No thinking, no mental straining, just throwing the damn ball for strikes. That is one suggestion, and maybe the Yankees could use that, but I don’t know if they go that route.

The whole Yankees bullpen has been struggling in 2010, and the Yankees could use a couple of extra arms, so if they do decide to move Joba now or in the future, and that is a big if, they should consider getting some tough, hard-throwing relievers who could help the Yankees.

Or, the Yankees could use another bat at DH since Nick Johnson is going to be out for a while, maybe even the season, so the Yankees could use Joba to get a decent bat in return.

As of right now, the Yankees will continue to send out Joba for the eighth innings because really, there is nobody else to put there. If he continues to implode, the Yankees will have no choice but to make a move with him and the final move could force one of the youngest and more popular players of recent out of the Bronx.

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The MVP of the National League for the first month-and-a-half of the season is ready to return to the lineup.

After missing just over two weeks with a fractured pinkie, Los Angeles Dodgers’ OF Andre Ethier will be activated from the disabled list before tonight’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. This is probably bad news for Diamondbacks’ starter Rodrigo Lopez.

Before going down with his injury, Ethier had a batting line of .392/.457/.744 with 11 home runs and 38 RBI.

Ethier should be inserted back in your lineup immediately.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

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Look at that. Sir Arthur Rhodes is either making the “V” sign (for “victory”), or trying to hump his back upward for the “W” (which would signify “win”). He is begging Reds General Manager Walt Jocketty for another arm to come out of the pen.

If the Cincinnati Reds plan a September run, they will need to trade for a relief pitcher.

Preferably an inexpensive one, who can keep the ball in the yard and will not cost the entire farm system.

The Reds’ minor league system is stacked with palatable talent.

This project concentrates on four rebuilding teams—clubs looking to trade big league players for young bucks.

Altogether there will be one pitcher from each of four teams: the Arizona Diamondbacks, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, and the Kansas City Royals.

Let’s have a look-see.

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Eduardo Nunez is not really a common name among Yankee fans, but it soon could be.

While Derek Jeter has not had the best start to the 2010 season, Nunez has had a brilliant start down in AAA Scranton.

He is currently hitting .328 with two home runs and 21 RBI, he also has 12 steals and has scored 19 runs. Basically, he can do it all, except for fielding.

Nunez committed 33 errors last season at AA, making him a major liability on defense. It’s not that he doesn’t have the arm, in fact he has a cannon of an arm. So good of one that the Yankees wanted to turn him into a pitcher one year that he was struggling.

He just doesn’t know how to control his throws. The problem seems to stem from his foot work.

But there is no denying that he has the offensive tools to get the job done at the big league level as he has climbed up the organizational latter very quickly, considering he is only 22 years old.

As a young short stop in the Yankees’ farm system all he has to do is supplant Derek Jeter. But maybe, just maybe, the Yanks give him that opportunity, considering Jeter is at the end of his contract, and really hasn’t performed as well this season as he has in years past.

By no means am I saying Jeter’s career is over and the Yankees shouldn’t resign him. I think Jeter can still perform at a high level and could do so for another five to seven years, so I think the Yanks would be making a big mistake if they did not resign him after this year.

All I’m saying is that there is a chance that Nunez might be taking over at short for the Yankees in the coming years as Jeter enters his late 30’s.

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It’s almost Memorial Day, and a lot of Mets fans are getting really excited about the potential chance at a playoff run.

There is reason for that excitement as the Mets have put together a good home stand and have shut the Phillies out two straight games.

At the same time, there are a lot of things that the Mets will have to do well from now through the Trading Deadline to stay in the race.

The Mets have some starting pitching concerns and may have some issues in their lineup, concerning the oufield.

With the NL East race so tight and over a quarter of the schedule complete, what do the Mets have to do to stay in the race for a shot at their first postseason appearance in four years?

Here are five things that are a must in the Mets quest at playing in October.

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A few days ago, an MLB.com report noted that the Washington Nationals have expressed interest in the Astros ace, Roy Oswalt.

The Nationals are currently 24-23 in the extremely competitive NL East, and with all five teams having a shot, the addition of Oswalt to any of the five would push them to the top of the division.

In Washington’s particular case, though, Oswalt would make a perfect addition.

To start with, the Nationals’ pitching has not been very effective. Livan Hernandez is holding his own, but John Lannan and Craig Stammen are struggling badly. Scott Olsen is hurt, and Jason Marquis is going to be out for awhile. As a result, it’s likely the Nationals could slip down the standings, so they will want Oswalt sooner rather than at the deadline.

If they’re still competitive at the trade deadline, though, then a combination of Oswalt, Hernandez, Stephen Strasburg, and Marquis would suddenly make for a very effective rotation.

Speaking of Strasburg, he does not seem like he would need a mentor with how well he’s been pitching. If he should need one, though, who better than Oswalt? Plus, Oswalt and Strasburg would make for a great one-two punch, which you need if you want to reach the playoffs.

There are a couple roadblocks to this working though. If the Nationals do fall due to injuries or other issues, and end up near the bottom of the division, Oswalt is not going to want to go there. He wants to win now, justifiably so since the Astros are going nowhere.

Also, where would you put Oswalt? As banged up as the Nationals are now with pitching, in August Marquis, Chien-Ming Wang, and Jordan Zimmermann will all be back. That’s at least six able starters in the rotation, so someone will have to head to the bullpen. (By then, going to the minors wouldn’t accomplish much of anything.)

That’s not saying the Nationals can still pull it off, but they’ll likely have to send one of the veterans over in a trade, and I couldn’t see the Astros wanting people who are just coming off the 60-day DL, though you never know.

I could bash the lack of run support that the Nationals have as well, but many NL East teams are in the lower half of the league when it comes to that. That just shows how valuable great pitching is in that division.

If the Nationals can go into the next two months with a game plan that handles what they will do with every pitcher who is on the DL and every pitcher who’s struggling, if they can figure out what they’re willing to give up to grab a playoff spot this year, along with any other caveats, and if they feel Oswalt is worth it, then they should go for it.

It’s a shame that they probably could not get him now; they need Oswalt in June, and July more than they need him in August and September. All we can do now is wait and see, especially with Washington’s pitching situation.

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