The one really nice thing about low-A ball is that you don?t have the older guys looking for ?one more year in the sun? (copyright Jake Taylor). So maybe he won?t be in the Bigs by the time he?s 20, but he?s definitely a guy to keep an eye on.Low A?Beloit Snappers (14-18)Much like Fort Myers, the Beloit Snappers are a team that is tough to analyze. Then, over his last two starts, the Future has gotten torched to the tune of 11 earned runs in just 8 1/3 innings. He started off the year impressively, giving up only 3 earned runs in his first 4 starts It appeared that our phenom had arrived. One example of the latter that currently resides in Fort Myers is Deolis Guerra.You may remember him as the X factor in the Johan Santana trade. The 6-5, 200 lb righty is only 19 years old and already possesses a mid 90?s fastball, among other potentially dominant pitches. The other one is a kid who is just passing through for a short time on his way to bigger and (hopefully) better things.

The tough part about analyzing a single-A team is that you get two types of players. The first is a guy in his mid to late 20?s (or mid 30?s, right Danny Graves?) who is still trying to hold on to the dream for one more year or two. Otherwise, the only reason this team will matter is because it?s where Hughes and Plouffe used to play.High A?Fort Myers Miracle (19-13)The Miracle is another team that has had some early season success. If New Britain can get even a little bit of consistency in their rotation, they should be able to win a league title. Otherwise, all of the other starters have an ERA over 4 and have only won a few games because our lineup has carried them. The only starter worth mentioning is Yohan Pino, who has a 2.32 ERA through his first 5 starts.

He?s hitting .286 and has a freaking hose for a right arm (don?t let those 4 errors fool you; he?s a legit defensive player). Depending on the Twins position in the playoff race, it wouldn?t be surprising to see this guy get a call up in September to see what he?s got.This team could be a lot better if the pitching would step up (another domino effect of the big club going with such a young rotation). When you look at the weakness that is the shortstop position for the Twins, it?s really nice to see such a promising prospect making his way through the system. One of those big hitters is my personal favorite minor league player, Trevor Plouffe. There are 6 guys on this team hitting over .280, and that doesn?t include Matt Moses, Eric Lis, and David Winfree, who have combined for 10 HR?s and 51 RBI. Through 31 games, Hughes is hitting .388 with 9 bombs, 20 RBI, and 88 total bases.

In case you don?t know, those are unbelievable numbers.He?s just the tip of the iceberg for a Rock Cat team that is absolutely raking to start this season. You could make the case that he?s the best hitter in the organization right now. Speaking of which?AA?New Britain Rock Cats (19-13)With Casilla?s aforementioned struggles, the most likely candidate to move up is New Britain?s second baseman Luke Hughes This kid has been on fire this year. Jennie Finch), Mariano Gomez, and Ricky Barrett, who all have ERA?s under 3. This team is struggling, and will continue to do so until some of the AA players are ready for a promotion. The other three starters (Brian Duensing and Santana tradee?s Kevin Mulvey and Phil Humber) combined to go 5-11 with an ERA over 4.