Calling up prospects

2.) I have to disagree on this point. I think making the team out of spring training just gives the player confidence. Its much better to get a player's feet wet in April than it is to throw them to the wolves for the critical games in august/september and have them break under the pressure of the biggest games of the year (see Hansen, Craig). The red sox do that way too often. If you get some players a little experience early in the year, then come september a.) the young guys are more acclimated to the majors, b.) we have a better idea what to expect from them, and c.) the veterans should still be healthy. If you do it the other way then your veterans are already hurt some september and you end up relying on the young guys, putting more pressure on them when the are already pissing themselves having to play the first major league games during a playoff race.

4.) I also disagree that AA is ever harder than AAA. You may see fewer elite prospects in AAA because they often don't stay there long, but just because there may be more high ceiling players in AA, in general if they are currently good enough for AAA, then they are in AAA. For example Brandon Jacobs is a better prospect than Daniel Nava ever was, but right now Nava is probably the tougher out.

All that being said, I don't expect Bogaerts or Bradley to see the majors until the minor league season is over. But Brentz I think could force his way on pretty quickly with a big April/May if he didn't mess up his leg too badly, and Rubby and/or Webster are probably just waiting for someone in front of them to either get hurt or show everyone that they suck, so probably mid April.

I don't really think you can come up with one set time frame that is good for all prospects. Every prospect is different and scouts look for certain indicators (mental capacity as well as physical) that they are ready for prime time. Some prospects get called up and sent back down a whole bunch and still turn into all-star level players. Some prospects don't even need the minor leagues. Most fall somewhere in between and it's up to the scouting department to pick the most ideal time to call up a prospect. Everyone is different and there is no definitive broad based answer that works for every team or every prospect.

Simple answer: you call a player up when he is ready. Scouts and coaches can best determine when that time arrives.

There may be other considerations such as burning an eligibility year or 40 man roster ramifications, but the bottom line is not to imperil the player's progress by calling him up too soon.

Every case is different.

The last couple of years he started and spent the majority of the season in one league. Some time in the second half he was called up to the next level. Which, would put him in line for a second half call-up to AAA.

Machado and the Orioles is a different situation than Bogaerts and the Red Sox. Different histories and different need.

I think the outline you created is a good start on evaluating whether or not a player should be called up, but as everyone else has mentioned this outline should be assessed on a per-player basis rather than used as a strict rule.

I also think I disagree with your fifth point of competition only because if I were to bet on a seven game series between any organizations AAA team and their AA team I would bet on the AAA team in every instance. You can definitely argue talent level though and whether it is better for a given prospect to face off against the best talent or the best players. (Think of whether facing a team of Highschool all-stars against a team of semi-pro adults in a basketball game - I'm going with the adults to wipe the floor with them)