Quick Update on Some (not so) Old Friends

Hector Noesi, the Mariner. Photo thanks to MLB.com

Jesus Montero hit a homerun in his first preseason game with the Mariner's. He also dropped a routine pop-up behind the dish, and got hit in the jaw twice with foul tips. The second one sent him to the dugout for the rest of the game. Sounds like it was minor, and he likely won't have to miss any time.

It's funny, because this game is a pretty solid microcosm for what Jesus Montero is. He is a phenom with the bat, and will likely continue to be that. On the other hand, he can't field worth a lick, and is looking more and more like he will in fact be a DH, maybe catching some games here and there as a backup catcher. Don't get me wrong, there is a lot of value in a player like that (look at Big Papi), but getting Pineda, a possible future ace, looks like it might be worth it given the Yankees stellar lineup as it is. There's also always the possibility that Montero improves his defense, or shows us something we haven't seen yet behind the dish this season. If that happens, he might make a goat out of Brian Cashman.

Hector Noesi has been making some noise of his own in Mariners camp. He has apparently had an uptick in his velocity, now hitting 94-97 mph. So far this has been only for short spurts, as he threw two innings in his first spring contest. There had been reports of the increase in velocity coming out of his winter league performance, however, so this may be a new baseline for Noesi. He pitched two solid innings with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts in the game yesterday, and was hitting 94-97 on the radar gun.

Those two innings mean absolutely nothing, but the increase in velocity may be a sign of things to come. At that velocity you can't rule out the possibility that he could turn into an ace. Given the scouting report, that doesn't seem likely, but one never knows. He'll also have the advantage of pitching in one of the largest, if not the largest field in major league baseball.  That stadium has been padding Seattle's pitching statistics since Noesi was in diapers, and it would come as no surprise to me if Noesi posts a sub 4.0 ERA this season. That wouldn't make him an ace though. All told, if Noesi was to transform into an ace, this trade could be seen as a huge failure for the Yankees and a revelation for the Mariners. It is doubtful that Noesi will ever get there though, and the Yankees don't particularly need another 3-4-5 type pitcher.

It will be interesting to see how the season turns out, but the value of this trade will ultimately be decided over 4-5 years. In any case, it would be difficult to find fault with Brian Cashman for pulling the trigger this deal no matter what happens.

Four in Keith Law's top 100

Mason Williams ranked #34 on Law's list. Image thanks to bronxbaseballdaily.com

23. Banuelos
34. Mason Williams
55. Gary Sanchez
83. Dellin Betances

Notably, Jesus Montero was #9 and Gerrit Cole was #10.

As far as the Yankees organizational top 10, Keith Law had the Yankees ranked as follows.

1. Banuelos
2. Mason Williams
3. Gary Sanchez
4. Dellin Betances
5. Tyler Austin
6. Jose Campos
7.  Dante Bichette Jr.
8. Austin Romine
9. JR Murphy
10. Slade Heathcott

There are a couple of surprises with his rankings. First of all, Mason Williams ahead of both Gary Sanchez and Dellin Betances. He believes the only component of Mason Williams' game that is missing is strength, and that this will come with time. I can understand that view, but I think throwing him right to #34 was excessive. If he slumps this year he'll be out of the top 100, and then his ranking this year looks pretty bad. I'll say this, I think it is a bold move and I give him credit for that. This is easily the highest Mason Williams will be ranked by anyone.

The next surprise was Dellin Betances all the way down at #83. Law basically makes the argument that Betances is a reliever long term. Seems to be the consensus amongst a lot of scouts, and at 23 you have to start asking the question of whether or not he'll ever get the control he needs to be a starter. This year, however, he won't be restricted to 5 innings per start, so hopefully he'll be able to get in more of a groove. I do think that scouts underestimate his ability to find his delivery in the middle of a game after he's lost it. In fact, I've read several accounts that have had him finding his delivery mid-inning, or even mid at bat. I still have faith that Betances could find himself in the rotation, but Law is right about one thing. He needs to find his control and he needs to do it soon, or he'll be sent to the bullpen.

The third surprise was that Tyler Austin came in at #5. There hasn't been anyone who has ranked him that high yet. He's a solid hitter but he has more question marks than some of the people deeper on this list. For example, even Bichette Jr. is closer to having a position. JR Murphy has the hit tool to go along with the ability to play many positions, not to mention the fact that he has already developed some power. Another bold ranking, which I again don't necessarily agree with but give him a lot of credit for sticking his neck out on this one. That is more than most scouts are willing to do.

Finally, it was surprising not to see Ravel Santana in the top 10. I will assume that this is because of the gruesome ankle injury he suffered last year. If Law had done his homework, however, he'd have realized that by all accounts Santana's ankle is almost fully healed, and he's already running around on it with the same cannon that was strapped to his arm last season.

Anyway, kudos to Keith Law for keeping it real and going with his own gut on these rankings instead of the general perception of the scouting community. To quote Daniel Tosh, "for that, we thank you."

YEEP 8/16/11: Bad News and Losses

Evil Em VP: Adam Warren

Unfortunately Ravel Santana did in fact suffer a brutal injury to his ankle. He shattered the ankle and tore many ligaments during the injury. Sounds like he got his foot jammed up against second base in a SB attempt. Gary Sanchez is also out for the season with his broken finger.

In other news, looks like we ended up signing 21 of our 50 picks from the draft. I'll go through each one in a separate post.

AAA SWB: L 0-2 to Durham. L: Warren
Kevin Russo: 0/4 (.275). 4 for his last 36 (.111). Slumpy McSlumperson over here.
A-Rod: 1/3. I don't see the point in this. He can help us now, why wait until the end of the week.
Montero: 1/4, K (.283)
Laird: 0/4 (.262). Speaking of Slumpy McSlumperson, 4 for his last 29 (.128).
Adam "the Warden" Warren: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, BB, 8 K (3.33 ERA on the season). Great outing, too bad he had to get the loss.
DJ Mitchell: 1 IP, K, 0 ER (3.52 ERA). I guess he's in the bullpen now that our rotation includes ManBan, Dellin Betances, Warren, Pendleton, and soon to be David Phelps.
Kontos: 1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER (2.75 ERA)
Brack Attack: 1 IP, K (6.78 ERA). Folks, we officially have an Andrew Brackman sighting. That's 2 outings in a row with no runs, 3 in a row that are not so bad. I'm ready for the disappointing appearance that inevitably will follow though.
Whelan: 1 IP, zeros (2.25 ERA)

AA Trenton: Double Header:
Game 1: L 0-6 to Erie. L: Hall
Krum: 0/3 (.252)
CoJo: 0/3, K (.265). Continues to regress. David Adams is ready for AA Cojo, watch yo back.
Austin BRomine: 1/2, BB (.285). I bet there's at least one person who can't wait for Montero to be promoted. Not so sure how much he'll be rooting for Jesus to succeed though, hehe. Glad to see Romine back though.
R-Ly Lyerly: 0/3, K (.244)
Melkman Mesa: 0/3, K (.237)
Kruml: 1/3 (.286)
Boilin Zoilo Almonte: 0/2, K (.250)
Shaeffer Hall: 5 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 K (4.4 ERA). I think we're approaching the time when he becomes a full-time LOOGY.

Game 2: L 2-8 to Erie. L: Arbiso
Kruml: 1/2, R, 3B, BB, K (.287)
CoJo: 0/3, K (.263)
Boilin Zoilo Almonte: 1/3, 2B, 2 RBI (.252)
Melkman Mesa: 1/3, K (.238)
Pope: .2 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, BB, 2 K (4.91). And there goes all of the good stats he put up there for a while.

High A Tampa: L 5-12 to Lakeland. L: Casanova
Honest Abe Almonte: 1/5, R, 2B, K (.252)
Walt Ibarra: 2/4, 2 R, K, E (9) (.293). All I do is hit hit hit no matter what! He's done it over 355 at bats this season.
K-Roll Roller: 3/4, R, 2B, RBI, BB, K (.282). 16 for his last 33 (.485) with 2 HR, 10 RBI, 4 BB in his last 10 games. He's got 15 HR on the season between the two levels in 357 at bats. The only catch? He's 23.
Luke Murton: 1/5, K (.283)
Dee Mack: 1/4, RBI, BB (.312)
Seggy Segedin: 0/4, K (.231)
Castrol GTX Castro: 0/4, (.297). Finally dipped below .300.
Jose Quintanadana: 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, BB, 5 K, HR (2.86 ERA). That ERA is climbing with every start.
Burawa: 2 IP, 4 H, ER, 2 K (3.41 ERA)
Casanova: Shelled for 6 ER in 1.2 IP

Low A Charleston: L 4-5. L: Gipson
Shane Brown: 1/2, RBI, 3 BB (.274). Looked impressive at the plate today.
Ray-Flo Flores: 0/4, BB, 2 K (.265)
Higgy: 0/4, K (.238) Officially back to his old hitting self.
Gipson: 4 IP, 2 H, R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K (2.00 ERA). Nice spot start. He must have been demoted for this reason because it couldn't have been his performance. He's been pretty good for Tampa.
Dott: 3 IP, BB, 3 K (1.35 ERA)

Short Season A All-Star Game
Mad Mase Williams: 0/1, RBI, K
Stevenson: 0/2, 2 K
Gamel: 0/1
Evan DeLuca: 1 IP, H, 2 BB, 0 ER
Pinder: 1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, BB, K
Congrats to all of the guys who got to play in this game.

GCL Yankees: L 5-6 to GCL Pirates. L: Cowsert
Jose Rosario: 1/3, 2 R, RBI 2 SB (11) (.308). He didn't forget how he was playing before the injury I guess.
Janitor Custodio: 1/2, R, 3B, RBI, SB (25) (.324). Excited to see him in full season, hopefully next year.
Matt Duran Duran: 1/2, R, 2B, 2 RBI, BB, K (.265). Not bad for an 18 year old at this level.
Bichette Happens: 2/3, RBI, BB, K (.344). A great way to start his career as a Yankee. Everyone knocked this pick, but so far, so good.
Justin James: 0/1 (.278)
Daniel Lopez: 1/4, R, 2B, K (.293)
Gabe Encinas: 5 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 8 K. (5.32 ERA) The 8 K are impressive, but he's gonna have to put together some stellar starts to salvage the season.
Edwar Rodriguez: 2 IP, 3 H, ER, K (3.31 ERA)
Mad Cowsert Disease: 1 IP, H, ER, BB, 2 K (2.41 ERA). He's been so good for us, he deserves to not be judged on this loss.

YEEP 8/12/11: Betances and Nuno solid, GCL rolls again

Evil Em VP: Dellin Betances

AAA SWB: L 4-7 to Syracuse. L: Banuelos
Russo: 0/5, RBI, 4 K (.278)
Montero: 2/5, R, HR, RBI, 2 K (.283): #13 on the season. That's 3 in 10 games.
JoVa: 1/3, BB, K (.253)
Banuelos: 5.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 K. The walks are back, but not a terrible outing.
Whelan: .2 IP, H, ER, BB (2.3 ERA)

AA Trenton: L 2-3 to Harrisburg. L: Pope
Krum: 0/4, RBI, 2 K (.241)
Kruml: 0/3, BB, K, CS (.288): Good to see him back. Probably just needs a couple of days to shake the rust.
R-Ly Lyerly: 1/4, 3B, K (.258)
Melkman Mesa: 2/4, 2B, K (.239).
Boilin Zoilo Almonte: 0/4, 2 K (.262). He's done okay, but he does seem a little bit overmatched at this level. I'll give him some time though, since he does seem to take a while to adjust to each level.
Betances: 7 IP, 5 H, ER, BB, 6 K. Great outing. This is exactly what we are looking for from him.
Sideshow Venditte: 1 IP, BB, 2 K (2.79 ERA)
Pope: .1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, HR (2.57 ERA)

High A Tampa: L 4-6 to Dunedin. L: Black
Honest Abe Almonte: 1/4, R, K (.251)
Walt Ibarra: 0/4 (.290)
A-Rod: 2/3, R, 2 2B, HR, 2 RBI. I don't know who this kid is, but he's really old for his level. (Just kidding)
K-Roll Roller: 0/1, K (.253)
Luke Murton: 0/4, 2 K (.285)
Dee Mack: 1/4, K (.315)
Castrol GTX Castro: 1/4, R, 2B, 2 K (.315)
Gipson: 1 IP, H, ER, K, HR (2.95 ERA)

Low A Charleston: W 3-1 vs West Virginia. W: Kahnle. S: Montgomery
Eddy Sosa: 2/5, K (.263)
Shane Brown: 0/3 (.276)
Vidal Nuno: 5 IP, H, ER, 6 K, HR (2.4 ERA). He's been great for Charleston since converting from reliever.
Kahnle: 3 IP, 2 H, 2 K (4.11 ERA). That's his 2nd long outing in a row with 0 ER. Took him from about a 5 ERA to 4.11
Monte Python Montgomery: 1 IP, BB, 2 K (2.6 ERA). That's his 10th save.

Short Season Staten Island: L 3-12 to Auburn. L: DeLuca
Cody Grice: 0/4, BB, 2 K (.278). He led off today, didn't go so well.
Cheeto Culver: 2/3, R, 2 BB, K, SB (5), E (15) (.278). Looks like he's out of that funk he was in for a while. That's 2 multi-hit games in a row. I'd love to see him finish strong this season.
Ben Gamel the Camel: 0/4, R, BB, 2 K (.296)
Casey Stevenson: 2/4, R, BB, K, E (4) (.291)
Ty Austin: 2/4, 2B, 2 RBI, BB, K (.219). He's starting to come around now at this level.
DeLuca: 1.1 IP, 3 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, K (4.37). That's four really bad starts in a row. Not good.
Cotham City: 2 IP, 2 H, R, 0 ER, 2 K (1.35 ERA)
Richardson: 1 IP, ER, 4 BB, 3 K. The rare walking in of a run without any hits. Yucky.

GCL Yankees: W 12-8 vs GCL Tigers
Ravenous Ravel Santana (Rav 4? I'm tryin out the new nick name): 2/4, 3 R, 2B, BB, SB (10) (.297). No strike outs today, a good sign. 17 for his last 35 (.486). No homers in the last 10 games though. Bust?
Janitor Custodio: 3/4, 3 R, RBI, BB, SB (23). .359/.457/.841 in his last 10 games with 7 SB and 1 CS. The only catch? He only has one extra base hit in that time (2B).
Isaias the hata Tejeda: 0/1 (.339). He left in the top of the 3rd innning for some reason.
Hurst: 2/3, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB, E (2) (.667). Replaced Tejeda at catcher.
Bichette Happens: 4/5, 2 R, 2 2B, 4 RBI, E (6) (.344). Beast.
Matt Duran Duran: 1/3, 2B, 2 RBI, BB, K (.267)
Bubba Jones: 1/5, 3 K (.263)
Henry Pena: 0/5, 4 K (.257)
Mark Prior: 1 IP, H, ER, K, 2 HB. Hitting 2 guys is a bad sign. Gotta get that control.
Rutzkrieg Rutckyj: 5 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K (5.2 ERA)
Hayden Sharp: .2 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 0 K. There's your rude awakening Sharp.
Daniel Martinez: 1 IP, 2 H, K (1.29 ERA). He's got 15 K in 14 innings. He's a bit old for the level though (21).

YEEP 8/9/11- Jesus Homers, the Janitor Cleans Up

Evil Em VP: Claudio Custodio: 3/3, 2 SB.

The Yankees have signed 25th rounder Adam Smith (I guess his parents had never heard of Adam Smith's Trading Company, or maybe they had). They also signed a Czech catcher who played in American high schools for 2 years named Daniel Vavrusa. I doubt if he's any good, European baseball talent rarely is.

AAA SWB: Double Header
Game 1: W 4-3 vs Gwinnett Braves. W: Whelan
Russo: 1/3, R, RBI, BB, K (.285)
Dan Brewski Brewer: 2/4, R, 2 K (.275)
Jesus Montero: 1/3, HR, 2 RBI, BB (.285). That's 12 now and counting.
JoVa: 0/3, BB (.249). No strikeout for once.
Laird: 0/2, BB (.271)
Adam the Warden Warren: 6 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. Meh outing.
Whelan: 2 IP, H, 2 K. Great job salvaging a win.

Game 2: Probably gonna have to wait until tomorrow for the update on this one.

AA Trenton: L 5-6. L: Stoneburner. They almost came back in the 8th and 9th but fell one run short
Krum: 0/5, RBI, K, SB (17). Not a day you want out of a leadoff guy, although the SB is nice.
CoJo: 1/4, R, L (.269)
R-Ly Lyerly: 1/4, HR, 3 RBI, K (.254). He was a huge part of the 8th inning portion of the comeback. That's his 4th HR since the promotion.
Melkman Mesa: 1/3, 2B (.234)
Boilin Zoilo Almonte: 0/3, BB, K (.272)
Graham Cracker Stoneburner: 5.2 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, HR. Not his best outing, but still has a 2.86 ERA.
Josh Bromance Romanski: 1.1 IP, 3 H, ER, 3 K (2.04 ERA)
Pope: 1 IP, K (1.42 ERA)

Short Season Staten Island: L 0-1 to Williamsport. L: Wetherell.
Mad Mase Williams: 1/4, 2B (.359)
Cheeto Culver: 0/4, (.270), E (13). Not liking the recent errors.
Ben Gamel the Camel: 1/4, 2 K (.295)
Cody Grice: 0/4, K (.284)
Reymond Nunez: 1/4, 2B (.295)
Casey Stevenson: 2/3 (.285)
Tyler Austin: 0/3, BB (.143) Back from injury finally, hopefully he picks up where he left off at GCL.
Bryan Mitchell: 6 IP, H, BB, 2 K (4.82 ERA). We have a Bryan Mitchell sighting. Consistency is the key.
Paullus: 2 IP, H, BB, 2 K (4.74 ERA)
Wetherell: .2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, K (1.93 ERA): Must have been screwed by Cheeto's error.

GCL Yankees: L 3-4 to GCL Blue Jays: L: Polanco
Ravenous Ravel Santana: 3/4, R, 2B, K, SB (7) (.281). His season is within respectability, and he's young with great tools. He's on his way.
Janitor Custodio: 3/3, R, 2B, BB, 2 SB (21) (.308). This kid just continues to exceed expectations, and I will continue to cheer for him. He's 21/22 on the season in SB as well.
Isaias the Hata Tejeda: 0/4, RBI, K (.337)
Junior Bichette: 0/3, 3 K (.329)
Matt Duran Duran: 2/3, HR, 2B, 2 RBI (.278). Second homerun of the season.
Bubba Jones: 0/3, 3 K. He and Bichette were aweful today.
Daniel Lopez: 0/3 (.316)
Justin James: 0/3, K (.319)
Mark Prior: 1 IP, H, BB, 2 K (0.00 ERA)
Reynaldo Polanco: 3.1 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 2 K (5.04 ERA). His first bad one in a while, I'll excuse it.
Checo: 1.2 IP, H, BB, 3 K (2.79 ERA)

YEEP 8/2/11. Screw Shark Week, it's Montero Week

Evil Em VP: Jesus Montero. This may be his last Evil Em VP, and I hope it is, because this will mean he was hopefully promoted. Image thanks to NJ.com

AAA SWB: W 3-2 vs Lehigh Valley. W: Schmidt. S: Whelan (21)
Russo: 0/4, RBI, K, E. Tough game.
Jesus Montero: 3/4, HR (.288). That's number 11. 14 for his last 39 (.359), 3 HR, 10 RBI in his last 10 games.
JoVa: 0/4, 3 K.
B Laird: 2/4, 2 R, HR, RBI, 2 K (.274), HR #11 as well. 12 for his last 36 (.333)
Krum: 1/2, 2B, BB, SB (9).
ManBan: 5 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 8 K, HR. Pretty similar to his AA outings this season. At least we know he can do it against better competition too.
Whelan: 1 IP, K, 21st save of the season.

AA Trenton: L 2-3 to Akron. L: Betances
Kruml: 1/4, RBI, 2 K (.290)
Austin BRomine: 1/4, RBI, K (.283).
R-Ly Lyerly: 0/3, BB, 3 K (.266). Cooling down a bit.
Melkman Mesa: 0/4, 2 K (.229).
Boilin Zoilo Almonte: 1/4, 2 K (.286)
CoJo: 0/1 in a pinch hit appearance.
Betances: 4 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 4BB, 5 K. Not good. That's 4 straight bad starts. I think he's starting to tire out because he's already far above his innings pitched for last season.
Sideshow Venditte: 1 IP ZeRoS (2.82 ERA). He's been one of the most durable and successful relievers in the system this season.
Chase Whitley: 2 IP, H, BB, 2 K (3.75 ERA), looks like he's starting to get the hang of this level.

High A Tampa: L 3-10 to Clearwater. L: Black
Honest Abe Almonte: 1/3, R, BB, SB (21) (.241).
Castrol GTX Castro: 0/3, R, BB, 2 K, SB (7). I love how he's been flashing the speed lately (4 in his last 6 games)
Brewski Brewer: 1/4, K (.333)
K-Roll Roller: 2/4, RBI, K (.242)
Luke Murton: 1/4, RBI
Burawa: 2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, BB, K (4.05 ERA at this level)
K-Flan Flannery: 1 IP, 2 H, K. Demoted back to High A Tampa. He's more at home here I guess :(

Low A Charleston: L 5-10 to Asheville. L: Allen
Shane Brown: 0/3, R, BB (.289)
Sanchize: 1/3, R, HR, 2 RBI, BB, K (.244). That's number 12 of the season. By NBA Jam rules, he's heating up, with 2 consecutive solid games with a HR. I would like to hear myself say "He's on fire" tomorrow, probably wishful thinking.
Ray-Flo Flores: 1/3, R, HR, 2 RBI, BB, K. That's number 11 on the season for him.
Nothing I'd prefer to talk about from the pitchers.

Short Season Staten Island: W 7-4 vs Mahoning Valley. W: Lewis. S: Wetherell (2)
Mad Mase Williams: 3/5, 2 R, HR, 2 RBI, SB (16), CS (8), (.353). Had at least one of everything today. That's his 3rd homerun. It is going to be fun to watch him make his way through our system.
Cheeto Culver: 2/4, 2 R, 3B (.289). Nice game.
Ben Gamel the Camel: 0/2, RBI, BB, K (.279)
Angelo Bubba Gumbs: 1/3, 2 R, 3B, RBI, BB, 2 SB (11). The SB are very encouraging. He's batting .280.
Reymond Nunez: 2/4, 2B, RBI, K. Has been hitting SO well lately. 15 for his last 35 (.429)
DeLuca: 3 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 5 BB, 2 K (3.02 ERA on the season).
Gerritse: 3 IP, 2 H, R, 0 ER, 2 K (.49 ERA). He's been great at this level. I'd love to see a scouting report on him right now.
Wetherell: 2 IP, 2 H, BB, 3 K (1.10 ERA). He should be moving up soon.


GCL Yankees: L 3-6 to GCL Tigers. L: Hinojosa. WHAT?!?!? How dare you guys lose a game.
Jose Rosario: 1/4, R
Ravenous Ravel Santana: 2/2, 2B, RBI (.254). More two hit games please.
Isaias the Hata Tejeda: 1/3. (.364). He's not slowing down at all. He's 14 for his last 37 (.378) with 3 HR, 7 RBI, 5 BB.
Junior Bichette: 0/4, 2 K (.344). He's such a bust.
Yeicok Calderon: 0/4, K (.254)
Matt Duran Duran: 0/4 (.200).
Bubba Jones: 0/2, 2 K. Welcome to pro ball.
Justin James: 0/4, K, CS (.382)
Texeira: 2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 ER, K. Rehab
Reynaldo Polanco: 4 IP, 4 H, ER, 2 BB, 6 K. Let the buzz begin.
Cowsert: 1 IP, 2 K, 0 ER
Hinojosa: 1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, got the loss after the demotion. That was a very quick demotion, I guess they really didn't like what they saw up there.

YEEP 7/25/11. Tejeda the hata.

Evil Em VP of the day: Isaias Tejeda of the GCL Yanks. Read on and you'll see why.  Image courtesy of BeGreen90 on Flickr.

Side note: We signed our 4th round pick Matt Duran. Congrats Duran, I think it's a great signing.

AAA SWB: W 15-1 v Syracuse. W: Soriano
Kevin Russo: 4/6, 2 R, 2 RBI. He's been on fire since returning, but he's done this before. He is probably going to be a solid backup who intermittently spends time in the minor leagues for the rest of his career.
Montero: 2/4, 2 R, HR, RBI, BB, 2 K. That's his 9th HR of the season. Now is when he usually turns his season around. If he doesn't get traded at the deadline I would actually expect a call-up soon after. It will no longer matter if he loses his value at the major league level.
JoVa: 2/4, 2 R, HR, 4 RBI, BB. What, no strikeouts? Wow.
Adam Warren: 4 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 0 ER, 2 K. Not sure why he only went 4, but I do know he could pitch Saturday if Nova isn't ready, so it might have something to do with that.
Rafael Soriano: 1 IP, K, 0 ER
Kontos: 1 IP, 2 H, K.
JC Romero: 1 IP, 1 K. I'd like to take this opportunity to say that he is definitely better than Boone Logan. I do believe it's only a matter of time.

AA Trenton: W: 9-8. W: Venditte. S: Pope
Kruml: 1/5, R, RBI, SB (32).
Boilin Zoilo Almonte: 0/2, R, 3 BB. Gotta like those walks.
R-Ly Lyerly: 1/5, R, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 K.
Melky Mesa: 1/4, R, BB, 2 K.
Sideshow Venditte: 3 IP, 2 H, ER, BB, 4 K (2.94 ERA on the season). Just keep wondering what level he they will start to catch up with him at.
K-Flan Flannery: .2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 K. Has had trouble adjusting, have to give him time though.
Pope: 1.1 IP, H, 2 K, S (2). Great job quite literally saving this game for the Thunder. Still no earned runs since returning to AA.

High A Tampa: W 6-1 v Fort Myers. W: Quintana
Honest Abe Almonte: 0/5, R, RBI, 2 K. He's ice cold again. I can't follow someone who's never had sustained success.
DAdams: 1/5, 2B, 2 RBI (.308) Good to see him in High A.
Mustelier Musketeer: 0/4, BB, K. First bad game in a while (.302)
K-Roll Roller: 2/4, HR (3) (.250)
Luke Murton: 3/5, R, K. Stopped following him for a while, but he was really hot to start off the year and now he seems to be picking it up again. He's 12 for his last 36 with 4 BB, 1 HR and 2 doubles in his last 10 games. He's now batting .273.
Kelvin Castrol GTX Castro: 2/3, 2B, RBI, BB, K (.308). Still kickin on this solid season.
Jose Quintanadana: 5.2 IP, 7 IP, ER, BB, 4 K. He hasn't had a single bad start yet. I think we might have found ourselves another solid prospect. Small sample sizes obviously but he could fill the void that Jose Ramirez has left with his horrible season.

Low A Charleston: L 0-1 to West Virginia. L: Ramirez
Eddy Sosa: 0/3, K. He's come back down to Earth after a hot start (.270 now).
Ray-Flo Flores: 3/4, SB (9). (.272).
Jose Ramirez: 6 IP, 5 H, 5 BB, ER, 3 K. Wayyyyyy too many walks. He's been better lately but I have to believe it's luck.

Short Season SI Yankees: W 2-1 v Tri City. W: Paullus. S: Pinder (9)
Mad Mase Williams: 1/4, CS (6), K. .343 this season, but all the CS are getting a bit concerning.
Cheeto Culver: 1/4, RBI, K (.290)
Angelo Bubba Gumbs: 0/4, 2 K (.280)
Cody Grice: 1/3, R, SB (7). Last time I wrote about how I might have been wrong about him, and since then he has proven that I was right from the beginning, he was a good signing (.280 after a very slow start).
Gamel: 0/3, 2 K.
Gerritse: 1 IP, 2 H, ER, 2 BB, K, BS. His first bad outing at this level. (.61 ERA on the season). Also his first BS.
Ben Paullus: 1 IP, 2 K, 0 ER.
Pinder: 1 IP, H, 2 K, 0 ER (.69 ERA). Their relief corps at this level is extremely impressive, hopefully the success translates to the higher levels.

GCL Yankees: W 7-1 v GCL Braves. W: Morton
Janitor Custodio: 1/5, RBI, K (.321).
Jose Rosario: 0/5, K, (.293)
Isaias "the hata" Tejeda: 3/5, 2 R, 2 HR, 2 RBI. Batting .386 on the season, and he has 5 HR. Coming from a catcher, these are phenominal. I'm curious as to why he hasn't been talked about more because he's only 19 and the 5 HR are over just 19 games.
Junior Bichette: 1/3, R, BB. (.306)This kid has really started to come around. For an 18 year old in the GCL, it is now safe to say that he is raking. he's 20 for his last 40, with 5 doubles, 2 triples, and a HR. He also has 6 BB over that time. Seems like he's a really mature hitter. Had a good teacher.
Yeicok Calderon: 2/5, R, 2B, K. (.266)He's 11 for his last 20, with a HR, a triple, and 5 doubles.
Ravenous Ravel Santana: 3/5, 3 R, 3B, RBI, SB (4), CS (1). 7 for his last 17 (.411). This is a hot team right now.
Daniel Lopez: 1/4, RBI, SB (12). (.325). He definitely has the speed, and he rounds out what is likely the best OF in the GCL, and it's not all that close. (Calderon, J James, Ravel Santana, Lopez)
Marquez: 2 IP, H, 3 K. Rehab.
Taylor Morton: 4 IP, 5 H, ER, BB, 3 K. Love love love this kid.
Agramonte: 1.2 IP, H, 2 BB, 3 K, 0 ER. 20 year old out of the DR. Performed really well in the DSL, and now he's here.

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Our Minor Leagues Catching Situation and the Trade Market

 Jesus Montero: Image courtesy of NY Daily News

If there is one thing that is a clear positive in the Yankees farm system it is the surplus of catchers. In short summary, we have our star prospect in AAA, Jesus Montero, and we have one catcher at every level below that who has the potential of being a future starting catcher in the league. Many feel that Jesus Montero lacks the defensive capabilities to ever be a long-term catcher in the majors, but that remains to be seen, and until proven otherwise, he is a catching prospect.

In AA, we have Romine. His power potential still isn't showing, but he is hitting for a great average and he's proving that he can handle the stress of a full season. He is a solid defensive catcher, so providing solid offense is more than you could ask for from a guy like him, even if the power numbers aren't there.

In high A Tampa, we now have JR Murphy. He just hit his first homerun in high A, and he seems to be getting a grasp on the pitching at this level already. More importantly, after being switched to a fielding prospect, he showed much improved defense at the catcher position this season and has reinstated himself as yet another future catching prospect in the Yankees system, contributing even more to the logjam we have going at this position. No one doubts his bat, but if he can continue to call a solid game and field his position, we could be talking about another top 100 prospect.

Down in Low A Charleston we have one guy who is a potential major league backup with his defensive skills and one guy who is a potential future star who has not met expectations yet this season, but is only 18 years old. The first guy I speak of is Kyle Higashioka. Interestingly, he started off the season in high A Tampa. His defense was great, but then he was sent down to Charleston in favor of JR Murphy, who admittedly deserved the promotion. The weirdest part though, is that he got demoted just as he hit a hot streak with the bat in Tampa. He has continued that streak, and now for the first time in his career, is consistently hitting the ball well. He had probably the best game of his career a few days ago where he homered and had a few hits to go along with it. He might be a guy who resurfaces as a prospect by the end of the season. The other catcher in Charleston, who probably should have been mentioned first since Higashioka is really the "other catcher" at this level, is Gary Sanchez. He has had numerous struggles this season as an 18 year old in Charleston, which is really not the end of the world. He has had discipline problems, defensive issues, and hasn't been nearly as effective with the bat as he was expected to be so far this season. Recently he has shown some promise as to improvement, and the power is still there. He is going to have to have a strong second half to instill a sense of confidence in Yankees fans as well as pro scouts in order to save his top 50 prospect status by the end of the season. Regardless of any of these struggles, he's 18. He's already in full season baseball, and he has the potential to be a solid defensive backstop with special power.

Below Charleston, there isn't much in the way of backstops, at least nothing that has developed yet. There are a few guys performing well in the GCL and in Staten Island, but none of them are considered high ceiling prospects. In all honesty this might actually be a good thing, because there is simply no space for them on any of the full season rosters right now.

The question of the day, however, is where does this leave us. By next year, something has to give. The way I see it, one of three things can happen. Jesus Montero can be brought up as Russel Martin's backup next season. and finally get some on-the-job training. He will likely get a September call-up this season, and this will be good practice for him. This would open up AAA for Romine, which would open up AA for JR Murphy, which would open up High A for Sanchez or Higgashioka.

In the second scenario, we make a trade for a starting pitcher that includes Jesus Montero in it. The most likely candidate I see out there right now is Ubaldo Jimenez. Then, the same positions open up, and we still have a catcher with decent potential at every level. just without our star.

Finally, the third scenario involves what in my opinion amounts to a non-option. It involves moving Romine to AAA and having he and Montero share the catching duties next season. The likelihood of this happening, I would say, is almost zero. The front office is smarter than that. If Jesus Montero is bored now, he would probably be ready to stab himself in the eyes with a pencil in a situation like that.

Ideally, Montero will be up with the big league team for good by September. At this point, however, it wouldn't be smart of any Yankees fan to say that Montero is more valuable to this team than Ubaldo Jimenez could be. With the catching depth we have in our system, there is no reason why Montero can't be traded. I think the kid is great, and I do think he will eventually be heavy hitting player in the league. There are, however, several question marks which may not allow him to succeed as a Yankee. If he can't catch, he is not use to us. The other options for him would be 1B or DH. 1B is locked up by Teixera for years, and DH will likely be needed for A-Rod and Jeter in the coming years. He's got to stick at catcher. I'd love to see that happen, but in the end, our best option now might be to... and I hate to say this as much as anyone does... trade... Montero.

Midseason Baseball America Top 50

 Manny Banuelos, image courtesy of  beatofthebronx.com

Jesus Montero goes from 3 to 8, Manny Banuelos goes from 41 to 13, Dellin Betances goes from 43 to 26, and Gary Sanchez goes from 30 to off the list.

Good for baseball america for recognizing that Betances and Banuelos have not decreased their stock with their performances this season, but have actually improved their stock by proving they can handle AA hitters. As for Jesus Montero, he's a second half player. We'll see where he stands by the end of the season.

Also, notably, Arodys Vizcaino is now at 16. Imagine, we could have 3 pitchers in the top 25 right now if we didn't decide that we needed to trade for Javier Vazquez. I hated that trade then, and I hate it even more now.

YEEP 6/30. Jesus "I've still got some power in me yet"

 Evil Em Vee P of the night: Jesus Montero (2/4, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI)

AAA SWB L 7-3 to Norfolk. Warren got the loss.
Montero: 2/4 with 1 HR, 1 RBI. In Norris' interview with Ashmore, Ashmore did say Montero's power didn't come around until this time last year. I hope he's right.
Laird: 1/3 1 RBI
Adam "the Warden" Warren: 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K. Everyone's entitled to a meh game every now and then.
Andrew Brackman: 2 IP 2 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 1 HR. Still a mess. I just hope he figures something out this offseason, because he's really far away from where he needs to be right now.

AA Trenton: W 8-6. W: Mr. Garrison S: Horne
Kruml: 3/5, 2 R, 2 SB (25). He's on fire. Starting to wonder if Kruml, and not his evil twin Krum, should have gotten the promo to AAA.
CoJo: 3/5, 2 R, 2B, 1 RBI (.296)
BRomine: 2/5, 3 R, RBI. Consistency, which is what I want to see from him this time of year, which is when he began to tire out last season IMO.
R-Ly (Rob Lyerly): 0/3, 1 RBI, 1 K. 9 RBI in 10 g so far in AA. That's what you look for out of a 1B. The other thing you look for, however, is power.
Chase Whitley: 2.2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 2 BB, 2 K, H.
Josh BRomance Romanski: 1 IP, 0 R, 1 BB
Alan Horne: .1 IP, 0 R,  1 BB, 1 K, S. A save's a save. 2/2

High A Tampa: Postponed

Low A Charleston:  L 1-5. L: Greene
E Sosa: 0/3, 1 BB
Sanchize: 0/3, 1 BB, 1 K.
Higgy (Higashioka): 0/4
S Greene: 5 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. When defense fails you, there's not much you can do. They had 4 errors tonight. This was a recurring theme in the minors tonight. He also made 2 of the errors himself though.
Franciso Rondon: 2 IP, 5 K, 0 H, 0 R. Got the promo from SI. Deserved it. Continued his success. 0 ER in 8.2 IP so far this season total.

Short Season Staten Island: W 6-5. W: Nuno
Mason "Mad Mase" Williams: 0/4, 1 RBI
Cito "Cheetoh" Culver: 1/4, 1 RBI, 2 K
Angelo "Bubba Gumbs Shrimp" Gumbs: 1/3, 1 R, 1 BB
Vidal "Nono" Nuno: 5 IP, 5 H, 5 K, 0 ER. Excellent relief appearance. He's done very well in that role so far. (10.1 IP, 6 H, 1 BB, 10 K). 23 though so old for his level.
Pinder: .2 IP, 1 K, 0 H, 0 R, 1 K, S. (2.25 ERA on the season) 4 saves already. I like his poise so far.

GCL Yankees L 14-11. L: Johnson
Claudio "the janitor" Custodio: 3/4, 2 R, 2B, 2 RBI, BB, 3 SB (7). Keep it up kid.
Ravenous Ravel Santana: 1/6, 2 K, SB. It's okay Rav
Junior Bichette: 1/3, 1 R, 3B, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K
Yeicok Calderon: 0/6, 3 K. Yucky.
Dawerd Cruz: 4 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K. The Yankees committed 8 errors in this game. Pathetic. They did also have 6 SB though.

That's it for the night. It's tough to pick a Evil Em Vee P tonight, but I have someone in mind. I'll just say Rondon was a close 2nd, however because he's older and at a lower level, I have to give it up to Jesus tonight.

YEEP 6/28/11 - Ravenous Ravel

Evil Em Vee P of the night, Ravel Santana. In two games, he was 5/9 with 1 HR, 1 2B, and 2 RBI. Photo courtesy of PinstripesPlus.com


AAA Scranton 9-2 Shallacking by Norfolk.
Lazus Montero (because he's LAZY) 0/3 with 1 BB. Not showing why he should be called up, nor is he proving any recent reports wrong.
Brandon Laird 1/4, 1 R, 2 K. Not like him to strike out twice.
Greg Smith: took the loss. He is in fact mortal. 6 IP 7 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 6 BB, 2 K, 2 HR

AA Trenton 3-1 Win over New Hampshire Venditte gets the win, Horne the save.
CoJo (Corban Joseph)- 3/4, 2 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI. Got his average up to .293, 13 for his last 35 (.371) and 12 BB in his last 10 g.
BRomine: 0/4... he's entitled. Yeah that's right walk away.
R-Ly:1/3, 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K. Keeps proving people wrong!
DeeMack: 0/3 1 K
ManBan (Manny Banuelos): 5.0 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K 1 HR. That's what we like to see, now no more hiccups, okay gangster?
Pat "Sideshow" Venditte: 2 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K. Keeps beating the odds. Tim Norton singled him out as an incredibly hard worker he wouldn't bet against before Norton went down with his season, possibly career ending injury.
BRomance-ski (Josh Romanski): 1 IP, 2 H. Good work out of the pen. I like his LOOGY potential. Sidenote, if Bromance-ski is a LOOGY, does that make Venditte a SWOOGY? I say YES!
Alan Horne, the closer: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K. Hey, not so bad kid.

High A Tampa 3-0 loss to Brevard County. Hero Heredia took the loss
Honest Abe: 0-4 1 SB
Walt Ibarra: 1/4 1 k
K-Roll: 1/4 1 2B
JR Murphy: 0/4 2 k Struggling mightily since the call-up. I'd be willing to bet Higashioka would be batting better than .111 right now, but I'll give him time to adjust.
Seggy: 1/4 1 k
Kelvin Castro: 0/2 1 BB
Jairo "the Hero" Heredia: 6.0 IP, 7 H, 3 ER 3 BB, 3 k, 3 HR. This outing was on the rough side, and he's lucky no one was on base when those HR were hit because he did let up a decent amount of baserunners. I'll cut him a break on this one though because he's been amazing besides this outing, which to be honest wasn't all that bad.

Low A River Dogs - Postponed

Short Season Staten Island Yankees 11-9 Win over Hudson Valley
Cheeto Culver (Cito Culver): 3/5, 2 R, 2 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K. Alright now he's 8 for his last 22 after this game, I think I'll jump on the bandwagon finally. Still not following Bubba Gumbs Shrimp yet though.
Shane the Mane Brown: Gotta keep mentioning him if he keeps doing things worth mentioning, 4/5, 1 HR, 3 R, 1 RBI. Pitchers can only hope to contain him right now.
Bryan Mitchell: 3.2 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 3 BB 4 K. As they say where I come from, he got raped tonight.
Gerritse: 1.1 IP, 3 K. He's done a nice job so far! He got the Double U.
Caleb Cotham: 1.2 IP, 3 H, 2 K. Also has done a nice job.
Zach Arneson: 1.1 IP, 2K. Likewise
Paullus: .2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 K, 1 HR. Rough
Pinder: .1 IP, got the illusive save in this one.

GCL Yankees Game 1 - continuation of yesterday's game 6-5 Win over GCL Tigers
Claudio Custodio (SS): 2/5 1 r, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 k. 20 year old kid, not sure where this production is coming from. Last year he batted just .217 in the DSL in over 200 at bats. We'll see how long this lasts.
DAd (David Adams- old enough to be a lot of these guys' dad): 1/5, 1 r, 1 2B, 2 k. Still didn't leave him in the entire game, but I guess their reaaaally easing him back into it. He's hitting .471 so far so it's certainly not lack of skill keeping him down here.
Tyler Austin: 1/5 1 r, 1 HR, SB (3) 2 RBI. This kid can hit. Batting .400 so far, 19 years old. Tough to make it as a 1B though.
Junior (Dante Bichette will herein be called Junior because I'm convinced that's the only reason we drafted him - 3B): 1/3 1 r, 1 RBI, 2 BB 1 K. Does seem to have a good approach. 7 BB in 6 g so far. He'll have to hit the ball at some point though, .105 BA is not gonna cut it.
Ravenous Ravel Santana: 4/5 1 2B, 1 RBI. And he's off. We've heard about this guy's 80 power 80 speed but it appears that maybe he can hit as well. Very Excite!
Taylor Morton: 1 IP, 1H, game suspended after one inning and then restarted today. I like this kid though, he's been good so far and has legitimate stuff.

Game 2: GCL Yankes 3-2 Win over GCL Tigers
Ravenous Ravel: 1/4 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K. I guess this kid is pretty serious
Tyler Austin: 2/3 2 R. Played 3rd in this game, maybe there's hope for him yet. Hasn't had a single walk yet in 7 g, but obviously he's getting some good pitches to hit so let's not fix what's not broken.
Yeicok Calderon (does he even need a nickname with a name like that?): 1/3 1 K.
Jorge Alcantara (Very bad ass sounding name): 2/4 1 2B, 1 K. Batting .500 in the young season.
Mike Gipson (Gip... Mom's like you choose Gip... chooooooose Gip... sorry): 2 IP 2 K. Rehab start, he'll be in Charleston soon. One of the big 3 relievers there.
Edwin Rodriguez: 3.2 IP 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. 21 year old kid out of the Dominican, he played well there...

That's about it for today, enjoy your night everyone! Nice win for the big boys tonight as well!!!

Yankees Prospects Blog introduction

My name is Greg, a medical student Philadelphia and I am an avid follower of the Yankees farm system. Luckily, right around the time when I became interested about two years ago, the minor league system became much more intriguing. Guys like Jesus Montero, Austin Romine, and the since departed Austin Jackson were making a splash.

Now, they are making further strides with their farm system, as more bigtime prospects such as Manny Banuelos and the local fireballer Dellin Betances have made their way through the ranks. Players like Gary "the Sanchize" Sanchez and Slade Heathcott are also in the pipeline. It has become both exciting and fun to follow the system, and I have become a huge fan of all of the above listed players.

This blog intends to document the progress, as well as debate the merits and shortcomings of players in the Yankees minor league system. Feel free to comment on any of the posts I make, as I welcome followers and people who would like to argue with my opinions or express agreement. My knowledge of the system, while better than the average Joe, is limited by the fact that I do not have many opportunities to see these guys play in person, and only have so much access to scouting information etc. In the end, I would like this to be a place where people can come and discuss topics related to the Yankees farm system, and have some questions answered, while also answering some of the questions that I may have for the general public.

I will start my blog with a hypothetical first pitch, which would be thrown by none other than my favorite Yankee that played during my 25 year lifetime, Bernie Williams.