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.

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.