Walt Jocketty has been past prospect age for decades, so why is he the most important person in this week's Farm Report?

Well, the big news this week to kick things off is about not someone in the minors, but someone now in the majors. The Arizona Diamondbacks have called up stud pitching prospect Max Scherzer. For more on Scherzer and the move, check out this week’s In Focus.

Secondly, we have another move that involves someone not in the minor leagues that is of importance to discuss here, and that is the firing of Wayne Krivsky as general manager in Cincinnati, and his being replaced by former Cardinals general manager Walt Jocketty. While Krivsky did not transform the team into a winner, he hardly walked into a great situation and has been handicapped by an ownership that has been reluctant to spend money. Krivsky may not have drafted many of the big prospects in the system, but he did oversee the development of players such as Jay Bruce, Johnny Cueto, and Homer Bailey, amongst others.

The question becomes then, what will Jocketty do to this system? Will he continue to leave Bruce in Triple-A, or will he release the mediocre placeholder currently in center field for the Reds, Corey Patterson, and bring Bruce up?

For help answering this question, I turned to an expert on the Cardinals, Brian Walton, who covers the Cardinals for Scout.com and is a frequent contributor to FOX Sports, both online and on television on FSN Midwest, for his opinion.

“A better question might be whether or not Bruce will be traded,” Walton said. “Another is how much input {Dusty} Baker will have on Jocketty's personnel decisions. Tony La Russa had a lot. Like TLR, Baker has a rep for favoring veterans. Jocketty's MO is to trade kids for vets (see Dan Haren, Kiko Calero, and Daric Barton for Mark Mulder).”

In other words, those hoping for better days in Cincinnati centered on their marquee prospects might be in for a rude awakening.

Now, on to some numbers from names you need to know down on the farm…

The excellent season for Phillies’ pitching prospect Antonio Bastardo continues, as he has somehow been even more impressive as the season has gone on. In his last two starts, Bastardo has struck out 25 and walked just one in fifteen innings, allowing the opposition only six hits and two runs. Clearly, the Florida State League is not much of a challenge for Bastardo, and the Phillies should move him up at some point soon to Double-A.

Travis Snider has made the move up to Double-A, but it is not working out for him so far. Through his first seven games with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, Snider is hitting only .120 with no RBI and three runs scored. Snider had been performing well in High-A but not so well as to definitely say that Snider was ready for a promotion, and his slow start seems to indicate that it was a mistake. The Blue Jays are not likely to send him back down, but any small hopes one might have had about seeing Snider in the majors at some point in 2008 should be dashed.

Want to know which player is likely rising up on the list of players Billy Beane will be asking for at the trading deadline? How about San Diego’s Eric Sogard, currently manning second base for the Lake Elsinore Storm in High-A. Sogard is hitting .422 with 19 RBI, 21 runs scored, 13 doubles, and two stolen bases. The high average is nice, but what makes him Moneyball material is this – with 90 at-bats under his belt, Sogard has struck out just nine times while walking 21 times, pushing his OBP to a robust .527.

Thomas Hanson was roughed up in his last outing for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, allowing four hits, two walks, and one earned run in seven innings, and he struck out six in his third win of the season. What, that doesn’t sound like being roughed up? It does if you had looked at his previous four starts. This outing caused his ERA to skyrocket – to 0.31. Hanson has been just about untouchable this season, with opposing batters hitting only .096 against him. Lest you think that was a typo, yes, we did say that opposing batters are hitting below .100 against Hanson. His strikeout-to-walk ratio in 29 innings is 38:8.

The Orioles have to be pleased with the progress last year’s first round pick is making so far in his first pro season. Playing for the Frederick Keys, Matt Wieters is hitting .383 with five home runs, fifteen RBI, and fifteen runs scored in 60 at-bats. Showing solid plate discipline, Wieters has walked almost as many times as he has struck out, with eleven walks and thirteen strikeouts. Wieters should be in Double-A by season’s end, and he will be the everyday catcher of the Orioles by no later than 2010.

Pitching in the Texas League is not supposed to be easy – it is like playing in an entire league filled with Coors Fields. Someone forgot to give Bud Norris that information. Through five starts, Norris is 3-0 with a brilliant 1.80 ERA, and over 25 innings Norris has struck out 35 and walked only six. A sixth rounder in the 2006 draft, the 23-year-old Norris is looking like an incredible bargain for the Astros at this point.

Lastly, with the unexpected offensive struggles of the Milwaukee Brewers, one has to think that they are keeping an eye on their stud offensive pickup from the 2007 draft, Matt LaPorta. LaPorta is hitting .289 with six home runs, 22 RBI, and 18 runs scored so far for the Huntsville Stars in the Double-A Southern League. LaPorta has struck out only 14 times while also drawing 12 walks, raising his OBP to .390.

That wraps up this week’s look at life down on the farm – next week, more names and more numbers!