Hindsight being 20/20, Cory Spangenberg was probably an overdraft. Two years ago, the San Diego Padres took the speedy second baseman 10th overall. George Springer and Jose Fernandez, among others, were still on the board.

That doesn’t mean Spangenberg won’t be a productive big-leaguer. The 22-year-old has great wheels, and his left-handed stroke shows plenty of promise. Playing at high-A Lake Elsinore and Double-A San Antonio, he hit .292/.346/.407, with nine triples and 36 stolen bases. His glove has been a question mark, but he made great strides this year working with former defensive whiz Rich Dauer.

Spangenberg further fine-tuned his game in the Arizona Fall League, with the Peoria Javelinas. The Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania product discussed his development in the final week of the AFL season. Read the rest of this entry »

Matt Thornton isn’t ready to call it a career. The southpaw reliever is 37 years old and is coming off a so-so season — the Red Sox left him off their post-season roster — but he feels he’s far from done. In fact, he just signed a free-agent contract with the New York Yankees.

It took a long time for him to get started on his career, though. Thornton was drafted out of high school by the Detroit Tigers, but his passion was basketball. The Sturgis, Mich., native eschewed his home-state team and enrolled at nearby Grand Valley State University, where he played both sports. Three years later, the Seattle Mariners made him the 22nd overall pick of the 1998 draft.

Thornton proceeded to spend seven years in the minor leagues. He reached Seattle at the age of 27, and after a pair of bumpy campaigns with the Mariners, he finally hit his stride after being dealt to the Chicago White Sox. Over 10 big-league seasons, Thornton has appeared in 606 games and averaged more than a strikeout per inning.

Thornton talked about his long road to big-league success late in the 2013 season. Read the rest of this entry »

Jack Leathersich misses a lot of bats. If he can do a better job not missing the strike zone, he could have a bright future in the New York Mets bullpen. The 23-year-old lefthander has an eye-popping 15.2 K/9 in 143 professional innings. He also has averaged five walks for every nine innings pitched.

A fifth-round pick in 2011 out of the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, Leathersich split last season between Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A Las Vegas. He dominated Eastern League hitters, but his command issues flared up after his promotion. His numbers in Sin City included 47 strikeouts in 29 innings, but also 29 walks.

Leathersich talked about the need to fine-tune his command — and his strikeout-inducing arsenal — earlier this month. Read the rest of this entry »

Rick Waits brings a wealth of knowledge to his new job. He also brings vital hands-on experience. Prior to being named Seattle’s pitching coach in late November, he spent three seasons as the Mariners’ minor league pitching coordinator.

Helping young pitchers like Taijuan Walker and James Paxton continue their development at the big league level will be a big part of his job. It won’t be his only job. The Mariners are heading into the 2014 season looking to contend, which means Waits will also be focused on winning.

Waits — who pitched in the big leagues from 1973-1985 — shared some of his pitching philosophies, and talked about some of the Mariners‘ young talent, earlier this month. Read the rest of this entry »

Alex Meyer doesn’t shy away from the power-pitcher label. The 6-foot-9 right-hander readily acknowledges having a big fastball. It won’t be long before it’s on display at Target Field.

The Minnesota Twins acquired Meyer in the November 2012 deal that sent Denard Span to the Washington Nationals. A year earlier, Washington had drafted him 23rd overall out of the University of Kentucky.

Limited to fewer than 80 regular-season innings because of a tender shoulder, Meyer finished up the year with the Arizona Fall League’s Glendale Desert Dogs. The 23-year-old talked about his power arsenal during the last week of the AFL campaign. Also weighing in on his game — and his future — were Twins general manager Terry Ryan, and manager Ron Gardenhire. Read the rest of this entry »

Hitting is in Lloyd McClendon’s blood. The Seattle Mariners hope some of it flows into an offense that scored the third fewest runs in the American League last season. Infusing Robinson Cano into the lineup will help make that possible, as will the expertise of the club’s new manager.

The highly-regarded Howard Johnson is Seattle’s new hitting coach, but McClendon’s influence will be inevitable. He spent the past seven seasons as the hitting coach in Detroit, and previously served in that capacity for the Pirates. This is the second time McClendon has moved from the batting cage to the manager’s office. He did so with Pittsburgh, so he knows how to separate the two positions.

McClendon shared some of his philosophies during this week’s winter meetings in Orlando. Read the rest of this entry »

Kyle Crick isn’t a nibbler. The 6-foot-4 right-hander’s approach is to attack hitters, and while his command isn’t where it should be, he’s going about things the right way. In 14 starts this year for high-A San Jose — an oblique injury kept him on the shelf for part of the season — he logged a 1.57 ERA and struck out 12.5 batters per nine innings.

Crick is a power pitcher. The 49th overall pick in the 2011 draft is also the top prospect in the San Francisco Giants organization. More refinement is needed, but it’s only a matter of time before he’s pitching at AT&T Park.

Crick — who celebrated his 21st birthday last week — finished the 2013 campaign in the Arizona Fall League with the Scottsdale Scorpions. He talked about his attack-dog mentality at the tail end of the AFL season. Read the rest of this entry »

When the Houston Astros hired Brent Strom to be their new pitching coach, they didn’t bring on board an old dog. The 65-year-old former big-league lefthander is amenable to learning new tricks. In an organization with an analytical bent, it could be no other way.

For the past seven seasons, Strom has been a part of The Cardinal Way. As the club’s minor league pitching coordinator, he helped nurture many of young arms that helped lead St. Louis to the World Series. His player development experience will be helpful in Houston, where there is no shortage of young arms.

This is Strom’s second tenure in the Astros’ organization. He was a minor league pitching instructor from 1989-1995, and the club’s big league pitching coach in 1996. He was Kansas City’s pitching coach in 2000 and 2001.

Strom — who assumed his new position on October 22 — talked about the pitching philosophy he brings with him from St. Louis, and the importance of keeping up with the times. Read the rest of this entry »

Andy Burns is used to moving around. On the field, he has played all over the infield since being selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 11th round of the 2011 draft. His route to prospect status has been equally circuitous.

Originally drafted in 2008, the former two-time Colorado Baseball Player of the Year bypassed an opportunity to sign with his home-state Rockies, and opted instead to play collegiately at the University of Kentucky. Two years later, he transferred to the University of Arizona, but eligibility issues prevented him from seeing game action. Since signing a professional contract, he has hopscotched between minor-league outposts in British Columbia, Michigan, Florida and New Hampshire.

But this year he emerged as legitimate prospect. Splitting the season between High-A Dunedin — where he was voted the best defensive third baseman in the Florida State League — and Double-A New Hampshire, the 23-year-old hit .288/.346/.470. His right-handed stroke produced 56 extra-base hits, including 15 home runs. He also swiped 33 bases.

Burns continued his hot hitting in the Arizona Fall League, batting .312 for the Salt River Rafters. He talked about his path to prospect prosperity — including an adjustment to his hitting approach — during the final week of the AFL season. Read the rest of this entry »

Richie Mirowski is intriguing. The Washington Nationals pitching prospect features a unique array of offerings, as well as a “Who is this guy?” profile. A 24-year-old right-hander, he was selected in the 45th-round of the 2011 draft out of Oklahoma Baptist University.

This year, Mirowski had one of best seasons of any bullpen arm in baseball. Pitching at high-A Potomac and Double-A Harrisburg, he went 10-3, 1.83 with 7 saves. In 45 appearances, covering 68-and-two-thirds innings, he had a .903 WHIP and 11.5 punch-outs-per-nine. The numbers were no mirage. In 2012, Mirowski logged a 1.85 ERA between Auburn and Hagerstown.

Mirowski wrapped up his 2013 campaign by pitching in the Arizona Fall League for the Mesa Solar Sox. He discussed his repertoire — which includes a split-change and a spike curveball — during the last week of the AFL season. Read the rest of this entry »