Roster Wrap: International and Pacific Coast Leagues (AAA)

This is a team-by team review of the AAA rosters. A couple notes before we begin:

This was done over the course of about a week, so some of the rosters have changed slightly. For some of the first teams, rosters had not yet been finalized, so there were more additions.

If you’ve read Baseball Prospectus before, you’ll find this resembles the Lineouts section of every team. Expect a similar format, albeit with slightly less frequent doses of sarcasm. Also, because that’s kind of the format I’m going for, please don’t change the stylistic layout of the article if you edit it.

If you’d like more info on any of these players or a player that I left out, just comment on this article or send me a message. I’d be more than happy to answer.

I apologize in advance for all the bemoaning of Quad-A stuff. I also apologize in advance if I’ve said something bad about someone you like, but you can’t please all the people all the time. I have my honest opinions and I have nothing against any of these players. I just try to evaluate players as objectively as possible. Also, in one or two sentences, it is difficult to provide a particularly balanced view in every single case.

This runs very long, so if all you want to do is check your favorite team’s AAA roster, by all means do so.

As always, thanks for reading my stuff. I appreciate any questions, comments, or feedback.

Buffalo Bisons

Pitching: Aaron Laffey is the only pitcher to not have turned 23, but he may actually be the first to be called to the majors. Adam Miller is a blue-chipper if he could ever stay healthy. Tony Sipp and Edward Mujica make for a nice lefty-righty combo in the late innings. Jeremy Sowers continues to try to right his career. Tom Mastny might put up some nice numbers this year.

Batting: Josh Barfield is good trade bait but could go back up to Cleveland if Asdrubal Cabrera struggles. Danny Sandoval won the IL batting title two years ago; he would be a decent utility guy in the bigs. Ryan Mulhern is a Quad-A bat who probably will never get a look. Jason Cooper has plenty of power but doesn't tap into it; Brad Snyder is the same way. Jason Tyner makes for a good fourth outfielder and passable starting CF. Ben Francisco does everything well and deserves a big league job.

Overall: The pitching is pretty thin here, but they have some nice bats who insulate the major league team everywhere but catcher and third.

Charlotte Knights

Pitching: There's a Matt Anderson sighting! Dewon Day has one of the nastiest sliders you'll ever see and has always put up gigantic minor league K numbers with it. Charlie Haeger throws one hell of a knuckleball; it's just that catchers can't catch it. Adam Russell and Andy Sisco are two big fellas with great stuff; if they can harness it, they could really both be something.

Batting: 300-pound Brad Eldred continues his quest to break out of Quad-A. Josh Fields returns to AAA, at 25, he may wind up being less than you might think if he isn't traded soon. Jeff Liefer is the rare Quad-A bat who has gotten a major league shot but hasn't done too much with it. Mike Rouse is a lefty David Eckstein if you squint hard enough, but why bother?

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