Prospect Transactions: Aug. 10-16

Nationals' top '11 pick Rendon plays with fourth affiliate in '12

By Andrew Pentis

August 17, 2012

Readers: "Prospect Transactions" updates you weekly on the most notable moves involving prospects in the Minor Leagues. All comings and goings of MLB.com's top prospects are included and are ordered by organization.

Player	Org	Move
Christian Bethancourt	ATL	Placed on Double-A Mississippi DL (broken hand)
Kevin Gausman	BAL	Promoted to Class A Adv. Frederick
Notes: The fourth overall draftee in June will make his Class A Advanced debut on 8/18. His move from Class A Short-Season Aberdeen was not official quite yet. What was: This guy is pretty good. Gausman, a 21-year-old Louisiana State University product, retired all nine batters he faced in his pro bow on 8/6 and followed that up with three one-hit frames on 8/12. With a mid-90-mph fastball, a devastating changeup and a developing power slider -- read the 8/22 edition of Prospect Pitch for all the details of his repertoire -- Gausman shouldn't be too far away from joining Dylan Bundy at Double-A Bowie.
Jose Vinicio	BOS	Placed on Class A Greenville DL (sprained right knee)
Blake Swihart	BOS	Activated off Class A Greenville DL (hip flexor)
Albert Almora	CHC	Promoted to Class A Short-Season Boise
Zach Cates	CHC	Placed on Class A Peoria DL
Jesus Aguilar	CLE	Promoted from Class A Adv. Carolina to Double-A Akron
Courtney Hawkins	CWS	Promoted to Class A Kannapolis
Trayce Thompson	CWS	Promoted to Double-A Birmingham
Luke Putkonen	DET	Promoted from Triple-A Toledo to Detroit
Kevin Comer	HOU	Traded from Blue Jays; assigned to Greeneville
Notes: The 57th overall draftee was named as the fifth prospect to head to Houston as part of the 7/20 trade with the Blue Jays. Don't view Comer, a 20-year-old right-hander, as a throw-in, however; it's very possible he ends up being the best of the five. Comer compiled a 3.95 ERA and struck out 29 batters in 43 1/3 in his first 10 pro games for Bluefield. Give him a full season to develop, and we'll have a better idea of how good he can be.
Carlos Correa	HOU	Promoted to Rookie-level Greeneville
Notes: The top pick of his 2012 class, Correa collected six hits in his first 13 at-bats with his new club. He didn't tear up the Gulf Coast League -- he posted a .232/.270/.355 slash line in 39 games -- but a handful of his competitors there were left impressed by his size, athleticism and defensive abilities. The biggest challenge the 17-year-old shorstop faces is playing every day. Giving him an opportunity at Greeneville the last month of this season will prepare him well to begin his first full campaign in 2013.
Delino DeShields	HOU	Promoted to Class A Adv. Lancaster
Austin Wates	HOU	Activated off Double-A Corpus Christi DL (groin)
Christian Colon	KC	Placed on Triple-A Omaha DL (struck in eye by foul ball)
John Lamb	KC	Assigned to Arizona League (Tommy John surgery)
Yordano Ventura	KC	Placed on Double-A Northwest Arkansas DL (hand)
Chris Reed	LA	Placed on Double-A Chattanooga DL
David Carpenter	LAA	Demoted from Angels to Triple-A Salt Lake
Rob Brantly	MIA	Promoted from Triple-A New Orleans to Marlins
Andrew Heaney	MIA	Promoted to Class A Greensboro
Johnny Hellweg	MIL	Activated off Double-A Huntsville DL
Pedro Florimon	MIN	Promoted from Triple-A Rochester to Twins
Brian Dozier	MIN	Demoted from Twins to Triple-A Rochester
Rafael Montero	NYM	Placed on Class A Adv. St. Lucie DL (innings limit)
Max Stassi	OAK	Placed on Class A Adv. Stockton DL (foot)
Yasmani Grandal	SD	Assigned to Class A Adv. Lake Elsinore (oblique)
Keyvius Sampson	SD	Activated off Double-A San Antonio DL (back stiffness)
Jedd Gyorko	SD	Placed on Triple-A Tucson DL (left ankle)
Notes: MLB.com's No. 57 prospect should be back off the bench sometime soon. Count this as a short interruption to his otherwise loud season at the plate, split between Double-A San Antonio and Tucson: .312 average, 23 homers, 26 doubles and 82 RBIs in 108 games. The last time MiLB.com checked in with Gyorko, our 8/13 PCL notebook, the 23-year-old discussed his versatility on defense.
Robert Stock	STL	Placed on Class A Quad Cities DL (shoulder soreness)
Matt Adams	STL	Placed on Triple-A Memphis DL (elbow surgery)
Trevor Rosenthal	STL	Promoted from Triple-A Memphis to Cardinals
Scott Gorgen	STL	Promoted from Double-A Springfield to Memphis
Ryan Jackson	STL	Promoted from Triple-A Memphis to Cardinals
Alex Torres	TB	Assigned to Gulf Coast League (rehab)
Joey Gallo	TEX	Promoted to Class A Short-Season Spokane
Roman Mendez	TEX	Promoted to Double-A Frisco
John Stilson	TOR	Activated off Double-A New Hampshire DL (shoulder)
Aaron Sanchez	TOR	Activated off Class A Lansing DL
Anthony Rendon	WAS	Promoted to Double-A Harrisburg
Notes: MLB.com's No. 20 prospect has played 24 games with four different affiliates and not more than 10 with any one club. Yet at age 22 and in his first pro season -- Washington drafted him sixth overall in 2011 -- he finds himself at Double-A. This is all a testament to how the Nats' brass regards Rendon's bat. He has started his career 21-for-73 (.288) at the plate, with 11 extra base hits. Small sample size, sure, but that definitely doesn't seem to matter with this prospect. He just needs to stay healthy and, if he does, he'll be in our nation's capital not this year, but perhaps next.
Matthew Skole	WAS	Promoted to Class A Adv. Potomac
Kylin Turnbull	WAS	Assigned to Gulf Coast League (rehab)

Andrew Pentis is a contributor to MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter at AndrewMiLB.