Prospects Report: More where Matt came from?

June 1 is basically here. Matt Wieters is on the way. And yet we can't help but feel a little disappointment. This is Howie Kendrick-like dispair: "Why oh why can't he just break through?"

There just never seems to be enough good help for ailing Fantasy teams down in the minor leagues.

That might be a case of perception not quite being reality, though.

After Wieters officially debuts Friday and Tommy Hanson -- still dominant, still unfulfilled as a dutiful Triple-A Braves prospect with nothing else to prove -- completes the quintet of the CBSSports.com's "High Five" June 1 call-ups, there are a few names we still believe you need to be made aware of.

1. Sean Rodriguez, 2B, Angels

This has to be the most underappreciated Triple-A infielder in all of baseball. Teammate Brandon Wood steals his thunder on CBSSports.com ownership (22 percent to a mere 1 percent) and general hype, but Rodriguez is the one with more thunder in his bat this season.

Rodriguez is hitting .280, but he has 17 homers and 50 RBI through 157 at-bats. Granted, this is the homer-happy Pacific Coast League, but Rodriguez has long had legit pop in his bat for a second baseman. He popped 21 homers with 52 RBI in 248 Triple-A at-bats last year, hitting .306. Like Wood, he struggled in the majors at .204, but he did have eight doubles, a triple and three homers in 167 major league at-bats.

Those 17 homers this season are tied for the minor league lead with recently called-up Cubbie Jake Fox, who could get some starts at third base. You have to love hot-homer-hitting ballers getting called up. Rodriguez could be the next one.

It certainly helps that the perennially disappointing Kendrick is hitting just .234 through 154 at-bats for the Angels and is dealing with a sore hamstring.

2. Gordon Beckham, SS, White Sox

Ozzie Guillen said if we see Beckham in the majors this year, it is because things aren't going so well for the White Sox. Until recently, they really weren't.

Now, most significantly, Beckham has been promoted to Triple-A. Not all June 1 call-ups are created equal. Some merely move up a level.

Oh, and check out the position he was playing in his Triple-A debut: Third base!

You have to love that development amid the struggles of Josh D. Fields and Wilson Betemit. Get the helmet-haired Georgia star in the majors now or -- more realistically -- in a few weeks.

Beckham went 1-for-4 with a double, RBI and a run scored in his first game at Triple-A. He earned his promotion from Double-A by hitting .299 with four homers, 17 doubles (17!), 22 RBI and 23 runs. He had a .366 on-base percentage and a .497 slugging percentage.

We thought it could be second base, perhaps shortstop, but hey, we will take third base now. One way or another, despite Guillen's contention, we should see the extra-base machine Beckham in Chicago in the second half.

3. Jeff Clement, C, Mariners

Kenji Johjima (broken toe) goes down for two months and Clement is hitting .312 through 154 Triple-A at-bats, so naturally the Mariners would go with Rob Johnson as their regular backstop and call up 27-year-old journeyman Guillermo Quiroz. What in the world of catching prospects?!

It turns out Clement's offseason knee surgery has lingered far longer than expected and has limited him to DH duty. A catcher with a knee injury is not good news. But watch the news/box scores out of Tacoma closely. The Mariners could accelerate his return to catching duties amid the Johjima misfortune.

We're all about trying to keep you ahead of the curve.

4. Antonio Bastardo, SP, Phillies

Much of the Phillies pitching prospect talk centers around the likes of Carlos Carrasco, Joe Savery and even Kyle Drabek, but Antonio Bastardo keeps proving scouts are underrating his potential. Bastardo has been great since a promotion to Triple-A, tossing seven shutout innings Thursday.

Bastardo earned his promotion by going 2-2 with a 1.82 ERA and a .178 batting-average against in 34 2/3 innings. The Phillies could consider this 23-year-old a candidate to go to, if needed in the rotation, before Carrasco, Savery or the Tommy John survivor Drabek this season.

Other minor newsmakers

• Wieters -- In case you were under a rock: Wieters will make his Orioles debut Friday. On the day of that announcement, he upped his Triple-A average to .305 with a 4-for-4 day. He has five homers, two triples, nine doubles, 30 RBI, 25 runs, a .387 OBP and a .504 SLUG through 141 at-bats.

• Hanson -- Kris Medlen (0-2, 9.72) continues to stink as the Braves' No. 5 starter, but Tom Glavine could return next week after tossing five shutout innings in his third, and longest, rehab start. We have said the Braves want to resolve Glavine's long-term future before they go to the well on Hanson. They shouldn't have waited this long, frankly. Hanson is 3-3, but he has a 1.48 ERA, .164 batting-average against and a remarkable 82 strikeouts in 60 2/3 innings. Hanson is a better option in Fantasy right now than recently recalled David Price. We said that before Price debuted unspectacularly this week.

• Fernando Martinez -- The Mets went to the well on their 20-year-old phenom far too soon. He is going to prove overmatched. We say that, but he did earn his promotion, finally proving to be an average-above minor leaguer statistically. He was hitting .291 with eight homers (seven in May), two triples, 15 doubles and a .552 SLUG. He is an agressive 20-year-old with a sneaky-quick bat, but he won't prove consistent enough to last under the New York spotlight this early in his career.

• Luke Hochevar and Dana Eveland -- They would be nothing more than risky AL-only options for Fantasy Week 9 (June 1-7) if they are recalled to start by the Royals and A's, respectively. Hochevar hasn't pitched since his demotion, but the Royals need a No. 5 starter next week. Track his news in the coming days. Eveland could be the A's choice as their No. 6 starter after posting a second consecutive quality start Thursday in Triple-A. He struck out nine and allowed just two hits in six innings.

Prospect watch

Every Thursday, we break down all the minor leaguers who are owned in at least 1 percent of our Fantasy leagues. This will be your essential guide to unearthing the elite prospects before they hit the big time.

CBSSports.com's most-owned minor leaguers
Player	POS	TM	%	Player	POS	TM	%	Player	POS	TM	%
Matt Wieters	C	BAL	87	Jhoulys Chacin	SP	COL	3	Kasey Kiker	SP	TEX	1
Tommy Hanson	SP	ATL	73	Beau Mills	1B	CLE	3	Cesar Carrillo	SP	SD	1
Ricky Nolasco	SP	FLA	65	Daric Barton	1B	OAK	3	Jason Hirsh	SP	COL	1
Matt LaPorta	OF	CLE	42	Will Inman	SP	SD	2	Bradley Holt	SP	NYM	1
Clay Buchholz	SP	BOS	32	Charles Lofgren	SP	CLE	2	Collin Balester	SP	WAS	1
Travis Snider	OF	TOR	24	J.R. Towles	C	HOU	2	Tyler Colvin	LF	CHC	1
Cameron Maybin	CF	FLA	24	Wilmer Flores	SS	NYM	2	David Cooper	1B	TOR	1
Brandon Wood	3B	ANA	22	Rafael Perez	RP	CLE	2	Greg Reynolds	SP	COL	1
Gordon Beckham	SS	CHW	17	Jose A. Contreras	SP	CHW	2	Bryan Augenstein	SP	ARI	1
Lastings Milledge	CF	WAS	17	Aaron Cunningham	OF	OAK	2	Marc Rzepczynski	SP	TOR	1
Alcides Escobar	SS	MIL	16	Junichi Tazawa	SP	BOS	2	Wes Hodges	3B	CLE	1
Andrew McCutchen	OF	PIT	14	Hank Conger	C	ANA	2	Ryan Shealy	1B	KC	1
Chris Tillman	SP	BAL	14	Adam Miller	SP	CLE	2	Chin-lung Hu	SS	LA	1
Luke Hochevar	SP	KC	14	Scott Elbert	RP	LA	2	Mark Prior	SP	SD	1
Madison Bumgarner	SP	SF	13	Vin Mazzaro	SP	OAK	2	Josh Barfield	2B	CLE	1
Neftali Feliz	SP	TEX	13	Lou Marson	C	PHI	2	Jason Knapp	SP	PHI	1
Brett Cecil	SP	TOR	12	Freddie Freeman	1B	ATL	2	Jerry Owens	CF	SEA	1
Pedro Alvarez	3B	PIT	12	Brett Lawrie	C	MIL	2	Mark Melancon	RP	NYY	1
Jeff Samardzija	RP	CHC	10	Todd Frazier	SS	CIN	2	Cole Rohrbough	SP	ATL	1
Buster Posey	C	SF	10	Jordan Walden	SP	ANA	2	Ryan Kalish	OF	BOS	1
Jason Heyward	OF	ATL	10	Steve Pearce	RF	PIT	2	Brandon Allen	OF	CHW	1
Homer Bailey	SP	CIN	9	Chris Valaika	SS	CIN	2	Mark Trumbo	1B	ANA	1
Justin Smoak	1B	TEX	9	Andrew Brackman	SP	NYY	2	Brent Lillibridge	SS	CHW	1
Jeff Clement	C	SEA	9	Greg Halman	OF	SEA	2	Gorkys Hernandez	OF	ATL	1
Carlos Carrasco	SP	PHI	9	Jesus Guzman	3B	SF	2	Kyle Kendrick	SP	PHI	1
Lars Anderson	1B	BOS	8	Dominic Brown	OF	PHI	2	Chris Nelson	SS	COL	1
Dana Eveland	SP	OAK	8	Aaron Hicks	OF	MIN	2	Henry A. Rodriguez	SP	OAK	1
Michael Bowden	SP	BOS	8	Deolis Guerra	SP	MIN	2	Josh Whitesell	1B	ARI	1
Wade Davis	SP	TB	8	David Freese	3B	STL	2	Michael Main	SP	TEX	1
Brett Wallace	3B	STL	7	Tyler Flowers	C	CHW	2	Cale Iorg	SS	DET	1
Gio Gonzalez	SP	OAK	7	Adrian Cardenas	SS	OAK	2	Humberto Sanchez	RP	NYY	1
Jarrod Parker	SP	ARI	7	Jason Donald	SS	PHI	2	Eric O. Young	2B	COL	1
Aaron Poreda	SP	CHW	7	Jeremy Jeffress	SP	MIL	2	Eric Patterson	2B	OAK	1
Michael Moustakas	3B	KC	6	Ben Revere	CF	MIN	2	Greg Smith	SP	COL	1
Jeanmar Gomez	SP	CLE	6	Jose Ceda	RP	FLA	2	Jason Castro	C	HOU	1
Tim Beckham	SS	TB	6	Joe Koshansky	1B	MIL	1	Casey Weathers	RP	COL	1
David Purcey	SP	TOR	6	Danny Cortes	SP	KC	1	Daryl Jones	CF	STL	1
Austin Jackson	OF	NYY	6	Dellin Betances	SP	NYY	1	Gregor M. Blanco	LF	ATL	1
Brian Matusz	SP	BAL	6	William Rowell	3B	BAL	1	Fautino De Los Santos	RP	OAK	1
Michael Stanton	OF	FLA	6	Ethan Martin	SP	LA	1	Brandon Erbe	SP	BAL	1
Alexi Casilla	2B	MIN	5	Troy Patton	SP	BAL	1	Martin Perez	SP	TEX	1
Dayan Viciedo	3B	CHW	5	Brad Lincoln	SP	PIT	1	Matt Tuiasosopo	3B	SEA	1
Gaby Sanchez	1B	FLA	5	Wilkin Ramirez	OF	DET	1	Nicholas Weglarz	1B	CLE	1
Yonder Alonso	1B	CIN	5	Josh Reddick	LF	BOS	1	Sean Doolittle	1B	OAK	1
Jake Arrieta	SP	BAL	5	John Raynor	OF	FLA	1	John Bowker	1B	SF	1
Kyle Blanks	1B	SD	5	Josh D. Fields	RP	SEA	1	Bud Norris	SP	HOU	1
Josh Vitters	3B	CHC	5	Kyle Skipworth	C	FLA	1	Hector Rondon	SP	CLE	1
James McDonald	RP	LA	5	Radhames Liz	SP	BAL	1	Brian Bogusevic	OF	HOU	1
Timothy Alderson	SP	SF	5	Sean Rodriguez	2B	ANA	1	Michael Saunders	3B	SEA	1
Carlos Santana	C	CLE	5	Cedric Hunter	CF	SD	1	Daryl Thompson	SP	CIN	1
Michael Ynoa	SP	OAK	4	Brandon Jones	LF	ATL	1	Bryan D. Anderson	C	STL	1
Logan Morrison	1B	FLA	4	Brandon Snyder	1B	BAL	1	Engel Beltre	OF	TEX	1
Kila Ka'aihue	DH	KC	4	Wilson Ramos	C	MIN	1	Isaac Davis	1B	NYM	1
Desmond Jennings	OF	TB	4	Eugenio Velez	2B	SF	1	Joe Savery	SP	PHI	1
Matt Joyce	OF	TB	4	Daniel Schlereth	RP	ARI	1	Reese Havens	SS	NYM	1
J.P. Arencibia	C	TOR	4	Kyle Drabek	SP	PHI	1	Ryan Tucker	SP	FLA	1
Max Ramirez	C	TEX	4	Jeremy Accardo	RP	TOR	1	Chris C. Carter	DH	BOS	1
Matt Antonelli	2B	SD	4	Wilin Rosario	C	COL	1	Andrew Cashner	SP	CHC	1
Eric Hosmer	1B	KC	4	Ivan DeJesus	SS	LA	1	Chris Johnson	3B	HOU	1
Angel Villalona	3B	SF	4	Garrett Mock	RP	WAS	1	Trevor Reckling	RP	ANA	1
Jonathon Niese	SP	NYM	4	Matt Latos	SP	SD	1	Juan Francisco	3B	CIN	1
Jesus Montero	C	NYY	4	Jess Todd	RP	STL	1	Nick Evans	LF	NYM	1
Carlos Gonzalez	OF	COL	4	Austin Romine	C	NYY	1	Wade LeBlanc	SP	SD	1
Ian Kennedy	SP	NYY	3	Joshua Lindblom	P	LA	1	Mike Carp	1B	SEA	1
Chad Cordero	RP	SEA	3	Joey Gathright	CF	BAL	1	Nicholas Noonan	SS	SF	1
Dallas McPherson	3B	SF	3	Jemile Weeks	2B	OAK	1	No longer on the list
Carlos Triunfel	SS	SEA	3	Bobby Scales	2B	CHC	1	Players called up
Mitchell Boggs	SP	STL	3	Drew Stubbs	OF	CIN	1	David Price	SP	TB
Walter Silva	RP	SD	3	Daniel Moskos	SP	PIT	1	Ricky Romero	SP	TOR
Daniel Cabrera	SP	WAS	3	Michael Burgess	RF	WAS	1	Fernando Martinez	OF	NYM
Angel Salome	C	MIL	3	Kevin Mulvey	SP	MIN	1	Reid Brignac	SS	TB
Blake DeWitt	2B	LA	3	Neil Walker	3B	PIT	1	Sean West	SP	FLA
Jose Tabata	OF	PIT	3	Julio Borbon	CF	TEX	1	David Hernandez	SP	BAL
Jeremy Hellickson	SP	TB	3	Jon Meloan	RP	CLE	1	Jake Fox	1B	CHC
Matt Dominguez	3B	FLA	3	Bobby Ray	SP	TOR	1	Jeremy Sowers	SP	CLE
Chris Marrero	OF	WAS	3	Michael Brantley	OF	CLE	1	John Mayberry	OF	PHI
Jake McGee	SP	TB	3	Conor M. Gillaspie	3B	SF	1	Jonny Gomes	LF	CIN
Phillippe Aumont	SP	SEA	3	Andrew Lambo	LF	LA	1	Trevor Crowe	OF	CLE
Chris C. Carter	1B	OAK	3	Brett Sinkbeil	SP	FLA	1	Players no longer owned
Sean Gallagher	SP	OAK	3	Joe Mather	LF	STL	1	Edwar Ramirez	RP	NYY

Rookie watch

Top AL rookies to date

1. Rick Porcello, SP, DET -- He has been surprisingly consistent for a rushed young ace.
2. Elvis Andrus, SS, TEX -- He is on pace for .284-10-31-71-21; not bad for a 20-year-old shortstop.
3. Scott Richmond, SP, TOR -- He hasn't been as good of late, but you can't argue with overall numbers.
4. Andrew Bailey, RP, OAK -- The A's will be handing the closer's role over to him full time soon.
5. Josh Outman, SP, OAK -- The two elite A's pitching prospects haven't been as good as this one.

• Honorable mentions: Matt Palmer, SP, LAA; Ricky Romero, SP, TOR; Alfredo Aceves, RP, NYY; Brett Gardner, OF, NYY; Brett Anderson, SP, OAK; Trevor Cahill, SP, OAK; Jose Mijares, RP, MIN; Jeff Niemann, SP, TB; Koji Uehara, SP, BAL; Phil Coke, RP, NYY; and Michel Hernandez, C, TB.

Top NL rookies to date

1. Dexter Fowler, OF, COL -- Bat is streaky, but he leads all rookies with 11 steals.
2. Micah Hoffpauier, OF, CHC -- There is talk the Cubs might move Alfonso Soriano to second to slot Hoffpauir full time.
3. J.A. Happ, SP, PHI -- Takes over as the Phillies No. 5 starter and is a nice sleeper in mixed leagues now.
4. Bobby Parnell, RP, NYM -- Hitting triple digits on the gun as a late-inning reliever now.
5. Colby Rasmus, OF, STL -- Power is much better than we expected, but steals and average aren't there yet.

• Honorable mentions: Shairon Martis, SP, WAS; Gerardo Parra, OF, ARI; Dan L. Meyer, RP, FLA; Ronald Belisario, RP, LAD; Juan Gutierrez, RP, ARI; Luke Gregerson, RP, SD; Kenshin Kawakami, SP, ATL; Omir Santos, C, NYM; Brian Barden, 3B, STL; Travis Ishiikawa, 1B, SF; and Jordan Zimmermann, SP, WAS.

Going farming

Jerry: I am sorry you added Stephen Strasburg to the free-agent list. I think it is ridiculous to add an amateur player, no matter how talented. I can think of several No. 1 picks that were "sure things" that never made it to Triple-A ball, much less the majors. It seems that lately people have become more interested in the minors than the major leaguers. Maybe CBSSports.com should create a separate Fantasy site for the minor leagues and leave a site for those who want to play with major league players allowed to do so. My league wants just major leaguers available. Please, the free-agent list is too large.

Emack: Strasburg is owned in 20 percent of CBSSports.com's leagues right now. We have a lot of leagues. Twenty percent of a lot is still a whole lot of people who are being served here.

So, your comment that we should not add a player because so many people want him is what I consider ridiculous. "Don't add him, because everyone in my league wants him."

Sorry, only one gets him. So, for every league, there is one happy owner and nine, 11 or perhaps 13 unhappy ones. That is where the backlash comes from for adding the newsworthy No. 1 overall pick earlier this month.

With that said, the CBSSports.com player database -- there to help us keep the Fantasy Baseball community informed on the most newsworthy players -- does not run your league or should not determine who is eligible to be acquired. Your commissioner or constitution does that. Have a rule in place where amateur players are not eligible to be acquired.

It baffles me how commissioner leagues rely on our player database to determine eligibility of player acquisition. We cannot include all of the minor leaguers -- because the pool is so large as you said -- so why would you limit your owners merely to the ones we list ... or until we finally list them?

Your point about No. 1 pick failures is contradictory. If you don't see Strasburg as a sure thing, and perhaps a risky pick-up, why then do you care if someone else in your league has him and is wasting a roster spot on him?

And finally: Your league wants just major leaguers available. So much for the likes of Matt Wieters, David Price or Tommy Hanson then.

The CBSSports.com database is there to keep you informed about all of the Fantasy Baseball noteworthy names. Strasburg is one of the most noteworthy non-major leaguers in the world right now. Twenty percent of a lot of leagues agree.

Signed,

Your most-hated CBSSports.com Fantasy writer because he keeps helping your fellow owners scoop you on the waiver wire.

P.S. Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish is currently the most common "Unlisted Player" entry on CBSSports.com. Here is the complete list (with "No." meaning the number of total leagues that has that name entered as an unlisted player).

The spelling errors are not this writer's fault. This is a computer printout of the names (character exact) to what our leagues have.

Strasburg still appears on this list multiple times with different spellings, even after he has been added to the database. There are some other misspelled names on this list that are already in our database, too.

Also, there are some entries such as Salary Dump that are shown because they appear in more than 12 leagues on our website. Ignore them.

Dan Norman, Rockford, Ill.: A three-part question from your article about "High Five" prospects: No. 1: Who were the top 5 last year; No. 2: How does Phil Hughes rank against David Price and Tommy Hanson; and No. 3: In a 16-team Rotisserie league, would you rather have Geovany Soto or Matt Wieters?

Emack: First, I love the Rockford Peaches from A League of Their Own. Second, good question. The survey says:

1. Last year's "High Five" was as follows: Jay Bruce, Bartolo Colon/Justin Masterson, Clayton Kershaw, Homer Bailey and Carlos Gonzalez. OK, so not all of them are or were great Fantasy options. We were merely predicting their timely call-ups. For last year's story, click here.
2. We would go: Hanson, Price and Hughes in that order. Hughes would perhaps be No. 1 if Hanson wasn't so certain to arrive and dominate and/or Hughes was more certain to remain in the Yankees rotation.
3. Soto has stunk up the joint, but Wieters will really have to hit the ground running to put up the numbers Soto did as a rookie last year. You should hold Soto in all leagues still, but try to stash Wieters for someone else, if possible. If Wieters takes off, make the switch.

Bob Peterson, Somerset, N.J.: I'm looking to stash a minor league pitcher with the most chance of being relevant from June forward. Aside from Price, who will get the call, stay the longest and earn the valued "mixed league" status with good numbers?

Emack: Hanson. Tom Hanson. Tommy Hanson. Thomas Hanson. Tom Terrific. It cannot be said enough.

Steve: Can you add Jason Knapp to your database? He is young, throws hard and is dominating the SALLY League. Could end up being Philly's top prospect by season's end.

Emack: He was already in there, although his ownership finally reached 1 percent in our leagues this week.

You can e-mail Emack your Fantasy Baseball prospect questions to DMFantasyBaseball@cbs.com. Be sure to put Prospects in the subject field. Please include your full name, hometown and state. Be aware, due to the large volume of submissions received, we cannot guarantee personal responses to all questions.