Jim Leyland had some thoughts today on some of the minor league prospects he had a chance to evaluate this spring. Contrary to the belief that the Renteria and Carera/Willis deals left the system empty, the Tigers still have some good talent remaining.

Tops on the list is right hander Rick Porcello, who proved in his spring outings that he is legit. Leyland feels he could pitch in the big leagues right now. He is that far advanced, even at age 19. He also feels the prudent thing though is to take some time with him and let him gain more experience at the minor league level. His ability though, is unquestioned. "He has tremendous mound presence and all of his pitches are big league ready," Leyland said.

Jeff Larish showed Leyland enough to elicit this response: "He has a great future, he just need to refine his swing." Larish was only 2-16 this spring with 3 RBI, but his power potential is intriguing.

Brent Clevlen continues to impress with his physical tools. Clevlen had a good spring hitting .419, but, as Leyland put it, "I told him he was a top notch prospect, but at some point it has to translate into the regular season. I think he is going to have a great season this year."

Virgil Vazquez has been considered one of the clubs better pitching prospects and after a couple of stints in the big leagues, he still has some work to do. "I saw some improvement," Leyland said. "He had some good outing here, but he also had some outing where he didn't keep the ball down. He needs to work on keeping the ball down."

Scott Sizemore caught the skipper's eye this spring. The infielder out of Virginia is "going to be a hard-nosed player in the big leagues" according to Leyland. He just need to improve his foot work and continue play (in the minor leagues).

Good news by the way on Michael Hollimon. The infielder from Dallas, Texas injured his shoulder in yesterday's game in Sarasota. Leyland said his rehab will not take a long time and that no surgery will be needed. That is great news considering how the injury looked yesterday.