The Jake Peavy trade to the White Sox, which appears dead, definitely got our attention. Apparently, teams are ready to make some moves earlier than normal this season. Usually trade moves come after the prospect ones.

But this has been a bit of a quiet year among rookies. Look below in our rookie watch: It is not a great class to date.

The White Sox were ready to deal an elite pitching prospect in Aaron Poreda and a serviceable back-end rookie starter Clayton Richard -- along with Lance Broadway and Brent Lillibridge perhaps -- for the security of a front-line starter in Peavy. The deal didn't fall through because the Padres didn't like Poreda and Richard. Peavy apparently didn't like the White Sox, the AL or -- most important -- they wouldn't guarantee the last year of his current contract.

The talk about Poreda being a future reliever and not a potential ace is a little ridiculous. That was floated around in reports Thursday. But the 6-foot-6, 240-pound Poreda is absolutely a future major league ace.

The 2007 first-round pick showed that Wednesday in Double-A, striking out 12 in seven innings. For the season, the left-hander is 3-4 with a 2.53 ERA and a .200 batting-average against. He has 50 strikeouts to 24 walks in 46 1/3 innings.

Put that arm in that pitcher's park in San Diego and you have the next Cole Hamels. Sure, the knock is he has a high-90s fastball and needs work on the command of his secondary pitches, but what young pitcher doesn't?

Richard himself looks like a solid Fantasy starter in the right situation, too. He tossed seven quality innings Monday vs. the first-place Blue Jays, allowing just three hits and one run. He remains the White Sox No. 5 starter and is a nice sleeper in deeper leagues, mostly AL-only formats.

Eventually, that rotation spot could go to Poreda this season. Once it does, pick him up in any Fantasy league for a potential big-time impact.

We though it could be by June 1 -- and it still might in Chicago. The White Sox might want to show the world what the Padres will be missing.

What's Brewing this Weeks

When the Brewers were rumored to be losing patience with Rickie Weeks, there was speculation elite shortstop prospect Alcides Escobar could be moved to second base to expedite his arrival in the major leagues. When Weeks needed season-ending wrist surgery, Escobar went right to work transitioning to second base.

Escobar is playing second in Triple-A now and could be the Brewers' best long-term option at the position before we reach the halfway point of the season.

Escobar is hitting just .273 with two homers, .324 OBP and a .360 SLUG, but the speedster has scored 29 runs and stolen 18 bases in 22 attempts. Last season in Double-A, he hit .328 (.363 OBP and .434 SLUG) with 95 runs and 34 steals. Those steals make him a potential impact call-up in all Rotisserie formats.

It might take just a few weeks to get a call to Milwaukee. They will start age-old veteran Craig Counsell for now, or consider Bill Hall there if Mat Gamel proves worthy of regular at-bats at third, but Escobar needs to be stashed away now if you have room. Two weeks from now might be too late.

Gamel's glove is a real problem for a contender like the Brewers, a team that didn't like Ryan J. Braun at third base, but if he proves worthy of at-bats, you should consider adding Gamel even in mixed formats. We all can agree he can really hit.

Heads up on the High Five

We gave no guarantees on the success of the High Five June 1 call-ups, but Luke Hochevar and Nolan Reimold are already in the major leagues, to mixed results. We figured we have to keep you up to date on the three others:

David Price, SP, Rays: He is coming off his best start of the season, another limited to just five innings. He no-hit Rochester for five innings last Sunday, striking out a season-high nine. Through eight abbreviated starts and just 34 1/3 innings, he is 1-4 with a 3.93 ERA and a .231 batting-average against. He has struck out 35 but walked 18. We figured he could replace a struggling Jeff Niemann, but Niemann is also coming off his best start of the season. The Rays squashed thoughts they would take the struggling Scott Kazmir out of the rotation, too. Kazmir will start Monday.

Tommy Hanson, SP, Braves: The Braves finally ended the failed Jo-Jo Reyes experiment, but they turned first to the short right-hander Kris Medlen as opposed to going to the elite prospect in Hanson. Medlen earned his look, but Hanson is even more of a knockout future ace. He has struck out 64 in 47 2/3 innings, allowing a mere .172 batting-average against. He has pitched through six innings in each of his past five starts, including going eight and seven in his past two. His last start Saturday was his most dominant of the season, allowing just two hits in seven shutout innings. He could replace Medlen for a two-start week in Fantasy Week 8 (May 25-31), perhaps, but more likely the Braves will wait until Tom Glavine's future is decided.

Matt Wieters, C, Orioles: Spring reports had the Orioles waiting on Wieters until mid-May in order to save a year of salary arbitration. Well, the timing had Wieters homering twice on May 14 and once on May 15. He apparently wanted to make sure the Orioles knew he was ready, if they wanted to make the call. Wieters is hitting .282 with four homers, 21 RBI, 22 runs, .370 OBP and a .479 SLUG in Triple-A. Gregg Zaun is hitting .194 and approaching 100 at-bats. The O's have had to have seen enough. Wieters would be a nice storyline to take the thunder from the Nationals in the interleague series this weekend.

Baltimore's Chris Tillman, our honorable mention from our High Five report, has won his past five starts. He is now 5-0 with a 2.25 ERA and .226 batting-average against through 36 innings (seven starts). He has struck out 42 and walked 13. Apparently, though, the Orioles are in no hurry to expose their elite pitching prospects to a sorry last-place team. Our point is that arms like Tillman would give them a chance to be a better team than the first-place Blue Jays.

Homer time

One of last year's High Five is making yet another call to the majors, Homer Bailey. Bailey will start for the Reds on Saturday after they placed Edinson Volquez on the 15-day DL due to back trouble.

Bailey started poorly in Triple-A after a great spring, but he has been solid in each of his past six starts since April 14. He hasn't gone less than six innings in that span and only once allowed as many as four runs. He has had a 15-strikeout game in there. That's some serious stuff.

For the season, Bailey is 3-5 with a 4.57 ERA and .261 batting average against. He has 43 strikeouts in 45 1/3 innings, although he has allowed an alarming nine homers.

We have cautioned to not give on up a power 23-year-old arm like Bailey's. Even with a bad outing Saturday, we will continue to say that. Bailey will be a good Fantasy starting pitcher ... as soon as three years ago (grin).

Perfect time to add him

Indians pitching prospect Jeanmar Gomez is our latest addition to the CBSSports.com database. Through eight starts in the minors (four in Class A, four in Double-A), he is 6-2 with a 1.36 ERA and a .147 batting-average against. He has struck out 41 batters to just six walks in 53 innings. If you think those numbers are ridiculous, we buried the lede: He pitched a perfect game Thursday at Double-A Trenton, striking out eight.

His current numbers after his promotion to Double-A are eye-popping: 4-0, 0.31 with a .097 batting-average against in 29 innings. He has allowed just nine hits, one walk and has struck out 26. Completely unhittable.

Gomez should be owned in more non-keeper leagues than Mr. Stephen Strasburg. Yeah, we went there. Gomez has not been in our database to this point because the 21-year-old Venezuelan was an unheralded prospect after going 5-9 with a 4.55 ERA and 154 hits allowed in 138 1/3 Class A innings in 2008. You have to consider him a potential impact prospect on the come now.

Prospect watch

Each week 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 %
David Price SP TB 83 Beau Mills 1B CLE 3 Cesar Carrillo SP SD 1
Matt Wieters C BAL 79 Daric Barton 1B OAK 3 Jason Hirsh SP COL 1
Tommy Hanson SP ATL 72 Aaron Cunningham OF OAK 2 Bradley Holt SP NYM 1
Ricky Romero SP TOR 32 Charles Lofgren SP CLE 2 Collin Balester SP WAS 1
Cameron Maybin CF FLA 26 J.R. Towles C HOU 2 Brett Lawrie C MIL 1
Clay Buchholz SP BOS 25 Wilmer Flores SS NYM 2 Tyler Colvin LF CHC 1
Brandon Wood 3B ANA 23 Rafael Perez RP CLE 2 David Cooper 1B TOR 1
Lastings Milledge CF WAS 18 Jose A. Contreras SP CHW 2 Greg Reynolds SP COL 1
Gordon Beckham SS CHW 17 Sean West SP FLA 2 Marc Rzepczynski SP TOR 1
Andrew McCutchen OF PIT 14 Junichi Tazawa SP BOS 2 Wes Hodges 3B CLE 1
Alcides Escobar SS MIL 13 Hank Conger C ANA 2 Ryan Shealy 1B KC 1
Chris Tillman SP BAL 13 Scott Elbert RP LA 2 Chin-lung Hu SS LA 1
Madison Bumgarner SP SF 13 Lou Marson C PHI 2 Josh Barfield 2B CLE 1
Neftali Feliz SP TEX 13 Freddie Freeman 1B ATL 2 Jerry Owens CF SEA 1
Pedro Alvarez 3B PIT 12 Todd Frazier SS CIN 2 Mark Melancon RP NYY 1
Homer Bailey SP CIN 10 Jordan Walden SP ANA 2 Cole Rohrbough SP ATL 1
Jeff Samardzija RP CHC 10 Steve Pearce RF PIT 2 Ryan Kalish OF BOS 1
Buster Posey C SF 10 Mark Prior SP SD 2 Brandon Allen OF CHW 1
Jason Heyward OF ATL 10 Chris Valaika SS CIN 2 Mark Trumbo 1B ANA 1
Carlos Carrasco SP PHI 10 Andrew Brackman SP NYY 2 Brent Lillibridge SS CHW 1
Lars Anderson 1B BOS 9 Greg Halman OF SEA 2 Gorkys Hernandez OF ATL 1
Dana Eveland SP OAK 9 Josh Whitesell 1B ARI 2 Kyle Kendrick SP PHI 1
Justin Smoak 1B TEX 9 Jesus Guzman 3B SF 2 Chris Nelson SS COL 1
Jeff Clement C SEA 9 Dominic Brown OF PHI 2 Henry A. Rodriguez SP OAK 1
Michael Bowden SP BOS 8 Aaron Hicks OF MIN 2 Michael Main SP TEX 1
Brett Wallace 3B STL 7 Deolis Guerra SP MIN 2 Cale Iorg SS DET 1
Gio Gonzalez SP OAK 7 David Freese 3B STL 2 Humberto Sanchez RP NYY 1
David Purcey SP TOR 7 Tyler Flowers C CHW 2 Eric O. Young 2B COL 1
Jarrod Parker SP ARI 7 Adrian Cardenas SS OAK 2 Eric Patterson 2B OAK 1
Fernando Martinez OF NYM 7 Jason Donald SS PHI 2 Greg Smith SP COL 1
Wade Davis SP TB 7 Jeremy Jeffress SP MIL 2 Jason Castro C HOU 1
Aaron Poreda SP CHW 7 Ben Revere CF MIN 2 Casey Weathers RP COL 1
Michael Moustakas 3B KC 6 Jose Ceda RP FLA 2 Daryl Jones CF STL 1
Alexi Casilla 2B MIN 6 Joe Koshansky 1B MIL 1 Gregor M. Blanco LF ATL 1
Tim Beckham SS TB 6 Danny Cortes SP KC 1 Fautino De Los Santos RP OAK 1
Austin Jackson OF NYY 6 Dellin Betances SP NYY 1 Brandon Erbe SP BAL 1
Brian Matusz SP BAL 6 William Rowell 3B BAL 1 Martin Perez SP TEX 1
James McDonald RP LA 6 Ethan Martin SP LA 1 Matt Tuiasosopo 3B SEA 1
Michael Stanton OF FLA 6 Troy Patton SP BAL 1 David Hernandez SP BAL 1
Dayan Viciedo 3B CHW 5 Brad Lincoln SP PIT 1 Nicholas Weglarz 1B CLE 1
Gaby Sanchez 1B FLA 5 Josh Reddick LF BOS 1 Sean Doolittle 1B OAK 1
Yonder Alonso 1B CIN 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
Timothy Alderson SP SF 5 Radhames Liz SP BAL 1 Jonny Gomes LF CIN 1
Carlos Santana C CLE 5 Sean Rodriguez 2B ANA 1 Brian Bogusevic OF HOU 1
Michael Ynoa SP OAK 4 Jeremy Sowers SP CLE 1 Michael Saunders 3B SEA 1
Chad Cordero RP SEA 4 Cedric Hunter CF SD 1 Daryl Thompson SP CIN 1
Jake Arrieta SP BAL 4 Brandon Jones LF ATL 1 Bryan D. Anderson C STL 1
Mitchell Boggs SP STL 4 Wilson Ramos C MIN 1 Engel Beltre OF TEX 1
Logan Morrison 1B FLA 4 Daniel Schlereth RP ARI 1 Isaac Davis 1B NYM 1
Kila Ka'aihue DH KC 4 Kyle Drabek SP PHI 1 Joe Savery SP PHI 1
Desmond Jennings OF TB 4 Jeremy Accardo RP TOR 1 Reese Havens SS NYM 1
Matt Joyce OF TB 4 Wilin Rosario C COL 1 Ryan Tucker SP FLA 1
J.P. Arencibia C TOR 4 Ivan DeJesus SS LA 1 Chris C. Carter DH BOS 1
Reid Brignac SS TB 4 Matt Latos SP SD 1 Andrew Cashner SP CHC 1
Max Ramirez C TEX 4 Jess Todd RP STL 1 Chris Johnson 3B HOU 1
Matt Antonelli 2B SD 4 Austin Romine C NYY 1 Trevor Reckling RP ANA 1
Sean Gallagher SP OAK 4 Jake Fox 1B CHC 1 Juan Francisco 3B CIN 1
Angel Villalona 3B SF 4 Joshua Lindblom P LA 1 Nick Evans LF NYM 1
Jonathon Niese SP NYM 4 Joey Gathright CF BAL 1 Wade LeBlanc SP SD 1
Jesus Montero C NYY 4 Jemile Weeks 2B OAK 1 John Mayberry OF PHI 1
Carlos Gonzalez OF COL 4 Drew Stubbs OF CIN 1 Mike Carp 1B SEA 1
Ian Kennedy SP NYY 3 Trevor Crowe OF CLE 1 Nicholas Noonan SS SF 1
Dallas McPherson 3B SF 3 Daniel Moskos SP PIT 1
Players who dropped off the list
Adam Miller SP CLE 3 Michael Burgess RF WAS 1 David Huff SP CLE
Carlos Triunfel SS SEA 3 Kevin Mulvey SP MIN 1 Kris Medlen P ATL
Angel Salome C MIL 3 Neil Walker 3B PIT 1 Ross Detwiler SP WAS
Blake DeWitt 2B LA 3 Vin Mazzaro SP OAK 1 Kala Kaaihue 1B ATL
Jose Tabata OF PIT 3 Julio Borbon CF TEX 1 Joaquin Arias 2B TEX
Jeremy Hellickson SP TB 3 Jon Meloan RP CLE 1 Kevin Frandsen 2B SF
Matt Dominguez 3B FLA 3 Edwar Ramirez RP NYY 1 Justin Maxwell CF WAS
Chris Marrero OF WAS 3 Michael Brantley OF CLE 1 Kellen Kulbacki LF SD
Jake McGee SP TB 3 Conor M. Gillaspie 3B SF 1 Wilkin Ramirez OF DET
Phillippe Aumont SP SEA 3 Andrew Lambo LF LA 1 Anthony Swarzak SP MIN
Chris C. Carter 1B OAK 3 Brett Sinkbeil SP FLA 1 Tom Gorzelanny SP PIT
Eric Hosmer 1B KC 3 Joe Mather LF STL 1
Jhoulys Chacin SP COL 3 Kasey Kiker SP TEX 1

Rookie watch

Top AL rookies to date

  1. Scott Richmond, SP, TOR -- There are some struggles to come, but you cannot argue with the results to date.
  2. Matt Palmer, SP, LAA -- Journeyman isn't a long-term solution either, but it's a down year.
  3. Rick Porcello, SP, DET -- He's third now, but he's far more capable of staying on this list than Nos. 1 and 2.
  4. Elvis Andrus, SS, TEX -- He leads all AL rookies with 18 runs and is picking up the stolen base pace.
  5. Nolan Reimold, OF, BAL -- He just arrived, but he is doing enough to stick around long term.

Top NL rookies to date

  1. Colby Rasmus, OF, STL -- Recent hot streak might have earned him full-time center field job.
  2. Micah Hoffpauir, OF, CHC -- He deserves a lot more at-bats, either at first or in the outfield.
  3. Shairon Martis, SP, WAS -- Despite bad last outing, he is still off to a 5-0 start for the lowly Nats.
  4. Dexter Fowler, OF, COL -- His bat is not that impressive, but it is tough to deny his 10 steals.
  5. Bobby Parnell, RP, NYM -- He moved up to the seventh, but he deserves the eighth over J.J. Putz now.

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.