Zoilo Almonte and the Future of RF in New York

Zoilo Almonte has a chance to fill the void in RF that could be left by Swisher, but it could be a while before he's ready for that. Image thanks to It's about the money stupid.

There is a lot to like about Zoilo Almonte. He has excellent tools, including solid speed, developing solid power, and very good arm. Zoilo has had an interesting pattern of moving through the minors since 2010. I have followed him since the beginning of 2010, when he began to break out in a major way. Starting in Charleston, he got off to a slow start in 2010, but then caught fire and by midseason had earned a promotion to High A Tampa. In Tampa, Almonte was able to hold his own for the rest of the 2010 campaign, but his power was decreased and he was unable to hit for average like he was during his hot streak. 2010 ended, and he started back at High A Tampa to start off 2011. His season in 2011 almost exactly mirrored the course of his season in 2010. He struggled out of the gait, and then caught fire, even more than he had in 2010. He got promoted to AA Trenton, and cooled off majorly, but held his own. Again, the power disappeared (12 HR in 259 at bats in High A, 3 HR in 175 at bats in Trenton). Now, we move onto this year's spring training, where Almonte has gone 4/10 with 2 doubles and no walks.

The man I like to call "Boilin" Zoilo Almonte has received more attention from the media and blogosphere this year than ever before. The contract of a certain beloved right fielder for the Yankees is coming off the books after this season, and it has the press taking notice of Zoilo. Many are writing that he could be the right fielder of the future. Watching the game last night, one radio announcer even compared his swing to fellow Dominican Robinson Cano from the left side(come on now). The hype is coming from a good place, and it is not completely unreasonable given Almonte's tools and recent performance, however I would caution that Zoilo still has a long way to go before he will be major league ready. It remains to be seen whether he will ever be anything more than a backup outfielder, or even a AAAA type player.

There are some other issues with Zoilo. Assuming he follows the same course as the last two seasons, then he will destroy AA pitching for the first half of the year, head to AAA midseason, and proceed to suffer a decrease in production in AAA while holding his own for the second half. This would mean he would not be major league ready by 2013, which is when the decision has to be made about resigning Swisher or signing another right fielder. Of course Almonte could surprise everyone and light it up in AA and AAA this season, but color me a skeptic on that one.

Almonte has also never produced above A ball yet. This season will be a huge test for him in AA, and there is no telling whether he will pass that test or not. He performed poorly in winter ball this year, hitting in the high .100's. I don't hold a ton of stock in that, but it is still something to consider. We have seen similar players stumble at AA. Melky Mesa is the most recent example. Mesa destroyed the ball in High A in 2010, and then couldn't hit a beachball in 2011 in AA. Almonte may not be able to make the adjustment to AA pitching. The key theme here is that he's far away.

It is important to mention that I really like Zoilo Almonte. When he is on one of his hot streaks, he is one of the best prospects to follow, and he's got all of the tools coaches dream about. He's still relatively young, as a 23 year old in AA this season, so it's not yet make or break time for him. He does a great job adjusting to each level, and his power AND stolen bases have improved every year since being signed by the Yankees. His batting line last season was a .276 average, 15 HR, 18 SB, 5 CS, a .345 OBP, and a .459 slugging percentage. Switch hitting is always a positive. He has great numbers, and great potential. There's a chance he can become something good in the major leagues somewhere down the line. Most importantly, his name is Zoilo.

While there are a lot of positives with Zoilo Almonte, developmentally he still has a long way to go before he can be considered the right fielder of the future. He has a lot of work ahead of him to become a successful major leaguer, and he is certainly not a sure thing. If things go really well for him this season, then it is possible he will be the answer to the void in right field. It is important to temper those expectations though, as Almonte is still relatively raw, and hasn't yet put together a full season of consistent statistics. Unfortunately, prospects like Almonte do have a high rate of failure. There is a high risk associated with guys like him, but there is also an even higher reward. The sky is the limit for this kid. He's already strong enough at the age of 23 to hit 15 HRs. His strength should only get better now.

Hopefully, Zoilo will get a shot in the major leagues at some point. I don't think he will be ready next season, but he has certainly made progress and hopefully will continue to do so. Almonte has been one of the most fun prospects to follow, and I wish him continued success in the future. Plus, with a name like Zoilo, how can you really go wrong?

Some good prospect links

The Yankee Analysts synthesized Keith Law (ESPN), John Sickels (Minor League Ball), Jonathon Mayo (MLB.com), John Manuel (Baseball America), Mike Axisa (River Ave Blues), EJ Fegan (TYA), and Brad Vietrogoski's (An A-Blog for A-Rod) lists to come up with one master top 10 prospects. Hint: Manny Banuelos was #1 by a long shot. http://www.yankeeanalysts.com/2012/02/standardizing-the-top-yankee-prospects-38735

River Ave Blues talks about Burt Reynolds, but not that Burt Reynolds. He's Robinson Cano's cousin and the Yanks just signed him to a minor league deal. http://riveraveblues.com/2012/02/yankees-sign-robinson-canos-cousin-burt-reynolds-64431/

Manny Banuelos, D.J. Mitchell, and Cesar Cabral threw live batting practice yesterday. They faced Ray Kruml, Kyle Roller, Ronnie Mustelier, and Shane Brown, also Yankees farmhands.  Reported by LoHud here... http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2012/02/22/wednesday-morning-notes-live-batting-practice-comes-early/

Andrew Marchand talked with Manny Banuelos over at the ESPN New York Blog http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/yankees/post/_/id/27460/banuelos-i-need-to-improve-fastball

Chad Jennings at LoHud Yankees Blog talked about the one remaining spot in the bullpen, and who will occupy it here... http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2012/02/22/the-one-spot-thats-left/ , a couple of our minor leaguers are mentioned in the article as possible candidates.

George Kontos has an oblique strain, but it looks like he'll start throwing again soon.
David Phelps, Adam Warren, Brett Marshall, Dan Burawa, and Chase Whitley all faced live hitters today. LoHud's Chad Jennings was on the case... http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2012/02/23/thursday-morning-notes-officially-im-nothing/

Greedy Pinstripes did a piece on Zoilo Almonte here...  http://www.thegreedypinstripes.blogspot.com/2012/02/meet-prospect-zoilo-almonte.html.

A while back, they also did one on Tyler Austin. http://www.thegreedypinstripes.blogspot.com/2012/02/meet-prospect-tyler-austin.html
Enjoy!

YEEP 8/4/11: Good thing our major league team is the Yankees

Evil Em VP of the day: Jorge Vazquez. HR #26. Image thanks to NJ.com, now that's a good looking dude.

Big ups to Ivan Nova tonight for having one hell of an outing. That should silence some of his critics for now. They are gonna have a big decision ahead of them with this rotation. I say keep going 6 man with CC pitching every 5 days. The less AJ Burnett pitches, the better.

Also, I will have an updated list of signings once the deadline passes. Jordan Cote signed today, their 3rd round draft pick.

AAA SWB: L 2-3 to Louisville. L: Warren
Russo: 1/4 (.293)
Jesus Montero: 1/3, R, BB (.289)
JoVa: 2/3, HR, 2 RBI (.247). That's number 26, RBI number 76. At this point I'm just intrigued. I doubt if he'd be able to hit above .215 in the majors but if he still could jack 30 HRs then that would be valuable to some teams.
Laird: 1/4, 2 K (.274)
Brewski Brewer: 0/3, 2 K (.268). Not exactly a triumphant return to AAA.
Adam the Warden Warren: 7.1 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 K, HR (3.34 ERA). I'll take it.
JC Romero: 1.1 IP, H, 2 BB, K (2.41 ERA).

AA Trenton: L 4-7 to Akron. L: Hall
Krum: 4/5, RBI (.259 in AA this year). He was demoted from AAA. I'm not sure who was promoted in his place, but it could have been Brewer or Kruml. Kruml didn't play today in AA, but Brewer had been in AAA all season before the injury and is in the process of rehabbing. My money's on Brewer.
CoJo: 1/5, K (.273).Just 9 for his last 40 (.225). I wonder who is the better prospect, him or Adams. Right now my money's on Adams. Both are blocked in AAA by Russo right now, but I don't see that as a big problem.
Boilo Zoilo Almonte: 2/4, R, RBI, BB, K (.295). He's got a 5 game hit streak going. Scorching.
R-Ly Lyerly: 0/3, R, BB, 2 K (.255). The streak is up to 17 at bats without a hit. Yikes
Melkman Mesa: 0/4, BB, 2 K.
Shaeffer Hall: 5.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 3 K, HR (4.23 ERA)
Sideshow Venditte: 1 IP, 2 K, 0 ER (2.78 ERA).

High A Tampa: L 4-8 to Clearwater. L: Quintana
Honest Abe Almonte: 1/4, RBI, 3 K (.242)
Castrol GTX Castro: 1/3, R, BB (.313)
DAdams: 1/4, RBI, K (.310)
K-Roll Roller: 1/4, RBI, K (.243)
Dee Mack: 1/3, R, BB (.292). Looks like he was the other casualty besides Krum in Brewer's promotion. Dee Mack was Dee-Moted. He could probably use some more time at this level anyway.
Jose Quintanadana: 4.1 IP, 5 H, 6 ER, BB, K, 3 HR. His first really bad outing, wasn't really a start because Marquez got the rehab start. It's just one bad one.
Casanova: .2 IP, BB, K, 0 ER

Charleston: L: 4-5 to Asheville. L: Reyes
Ray-Flo Flores: 1/5, K (.268)
Sanchize: 0/3, 2 BB, 3 K. Those strikeouts have to stop soon. I'll cut him some slack with his recent HR streak though.
Shane Brown: 1/5, R (.279)
Shane Greene: 4.1 IP, 3 H, ER, 5 BB, 6 K (3.99 ERA) Under 4!
Monte Python Montgomery: 1.2 IP, BB, 3 K. Back to his strikeout ways.
Lost in the bottom of the 10th

Short Season Staten Island: L 0-4. L: Mitchell
Mad Mase Williams: 2/4, K, CS (10), PO (.358). He's had trouble stealing bases, but I agree with him continuing to be aggressive. It's the only way to learn how to steal, and it means nothing at this level.
Cheeto Culver: 0/4 (.278). He is a superb contact hitter.
Ben Gamel the Camel: 0/3, 2 K (.280)
Cody Grice: 1/3 (.293). He has maintained this average quite well.
Reymond Nunez: 1/3 (.301). Ditto
Casey Stevenson: 0/3 (.280)
Bryan Mitchell, punt returner and pitcher with lack of control: 5.1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, BB, 5 K, HR. Not terrible though, and I like the 5:1 K:BB today.
Cotham City: 1.2 IP, H, 2 BB, 2 K (1.13 ERA)
Matt Tracy: .1 IP, K (2.22 ERA)
Bottom line is... you can't win if you don't score runs. At least that's what John Madden would say if he ever delved into baseball.

GCL Yankees: L 3-8 vs GCL Pirates. L: Phelps
Janitor Custodio: 0/4, 2 K, E. On a skid right now
Ravenous Ravel Santana: 0/4, 4 K (.268), E. Man, I was all excited that he might have turned the corner after yesterday.
Yeicok Calderon: 0/4, 2 K (.246)
Isaias The Hata Tejeda: 0/3, R, BB (.352). Had an error today.
Matt Duran Duran: 0/4, K (.214)
Justin James: 1/3, BB, K, SB (2) (.378). At least someone had a good game.
David Phelps: 2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 ER, BB, 2 K. Rehab! Whoo!
Gabriel Encinas: 4 IP, 3 H, R, 0 ER, BB, 2 K. Nice outing, but still a 5.06 ERA.

The minor were swept today, but at least the big league team won. That is, after all, all that matters.

YEEP 8/3/11: One Sanchize fits all.

Evil Em VP: Gary Sanchez (2 HR). Image thanks to  www.puristbleedspinstripes.com
AA Trenton: L 2-3. L: Romanski
CoJo: 1/4, K (.274)
Boilin Zoilo Almonte: 1/4, SB (2) (.284). He's faring pretty well here so far. I'd like to see the power come around though.
R-Ly Lyerly: 0/4, 2 K (.259). He's just 7 for his last 41 (.171), and 0 for his last 14. Got to get it together R-Ly.
Melkman Mesa: 2/4, R, 2B, 2 K (.233)
Dee Mack: 1/3 (.248).
Graham Cracker Stoneburner: 7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, BB, 4 K (1.86). Nice outing, keep it going brah.
Josh Bromance Romanski: 1.2 IP, H, ER, 2 K, HR. Got the loss, but he's been so good at this level so far (1.65 ERA).
Pope: .1 IP, Zeros.

Low A Charleston: L 3-7 to Asheville. L: Evarts
Higgy Higashioka: 0/3 (.257)
Ray-Flo Flores: 1/4, R
Sanchize: 3/4, 2 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI, K (.251). That's numbers 13 and 14 on the season. I think he's found his stroke because he is on an absolute tear. That's 4 HR in his last 3 games, 5 in his last 7. He's 10 for his last 28 (.357), with 13 RBI and 2 BB during that 7 game stretch. He's still striking out too much, but hopefully that will dissipate with time. I'm close to saying he's back.
Recchia: 1.1 IP, H, K (2.66 ERA).

Short Season Staten Island: L 5-13. L: Martinez.
Mad Mase Williams: 1/2, RBI, 2 BB, CS (9) (.355). That's an awful lot of caught stealings, but I think I can accept that right now. I like that he is so aggressive because that's how you get better.
Cheeto Culver: 0/3, BB (.284). Seems like he either gets a multi-hit game or no hits at all. He also had another error today. That's 11 in 44 games.
Gamel the Camel: 2/4, HR, BB (.289). That's the 1st homerun of his minor league career. Congrats!
Cody Grice: 2/4, HR, BB (.291). Ditto for Grice. Congrats!
Angelo Bubba Gumbs: 1/4, R, 2B, BB, K (.279).
Reymond Nunez: 1/5, RBI (.300)
Stevenson: 2/4, R, 2B, HR, RBI, K (.287). That's 3 HR for him.
Matt Richardson: 1 IP, R, ER, 2BB, K (2.35 ERA). Not much today in the minors in terms of pitching.

GCL Yankees: W 8-5 vs GCL Pirates. W: Cruz. S: Maines. They're now 27-12. They're in first by 5 games. Records don't matter in the least at GCL, but when this kind of record is coupled with the talent we currently have at this level, it is extremely encouraging. I digress.
Janitor Custodio: 1/5, R, BB, 2 K, SB (17) (.295). His average has come down considerably, but that was bound to happen.
Ravenous Ravel Santana: 4/4, 2 R, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 BB (.276). His average needed a day like this, and just like that it's within respectable range.
Junior Bichette: 1/4, RBI (.322)
Matt Duran Duran: 2/4, 3 R, BB, K (.250). That's more like it.
Bubba Jones: 1/2, R, BB (.250) I'm excited to watch this kid play. Yet another dangerous bat in this lineup.
Henry Pena: 0/2, R, RBI, 3 BB, K (.280)
Daniel Lopez: 1/5, K, SB (15) (.284)
Corey Maines: 1 IP, H, BB (2.25 ERA)

YEEP 7/19/11: Soriano and Chavez rehab starts, Morton impresses

Evil Em VP of the day: Taylor Morton: 4.2 IP, 0 ER, 6 K. Image thanks to ebay.com, thanks ebay.

Hey guys, sorry for the absence. I took my boards yesterday, slept a lot last night, and so I'm back in action today.  It was a 9 hour exam so I was completely beat afterwards, although I did go out and party last night to celebrate. Hope you didn't miss me too much.Yankees lost a tough one today, and it wasn't the best day on the farm.
AAA SWB: L 1-6 vs. Columbus. L: Nova.
Kevin Russo: 1/4, BB.
Austin Krum. 1/3, R. He's been much much better lately, but I see his ceiling as a Colin Curtis type player.
Jorge Vazquez (JoVa): 1/4, 3 K.
Nova: 1.1 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, 3 K, HR. Left the game in the second inning. He hurt himself trying to field a ball. Apparently it was a leg injury but he walked off on his own power. That sucks.
Kontos: 2.2 IP, 2 H, BB, 4 K. Nice relief work.
Kevin Whelan: 2 IP, H, ER, BB, 3 K, HR. Hasn't been the same since he got back from that injury. C'mon Kev-Bo.

AA Trenton: W 9-2 v Erie. W: Hall.
Kruml: 1/5, R. Still batting .300
CoJo: 2/4, 2 R, 3B, 2 RBI, BB, K. Nice game from him. Looks like he's finding his feel for hitting again.
Austin BRomine: 1/4, R, K.
R-Ly Lyerly: 3/5, 2 2B, 2 R, RBI. He's a hitter, and his average is only gonna continue going up at this level. He had 4 errors the other day though, so the fielding has got to improve.
Melky Mesa: 3/5, R, RBI. 11 for his last 37 (.297). Let's hope he continues this little streak he's on. I'm thirsty, and the only way to quench that thirst is with a new melkman.
Boilin Zoilo Almonte: 3/5, R, 2B, 2 RBI. He was mentioned in an interview with Ashmore and Cashman recently. Just like that he has a respectable average in AA. Hopefully this helps him with the nerves at this level.
Shaeffer Hall: 8 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K. A Much needed good start for him.
Sideshow Venditte: 1 IP, 2 K. Nice.


High A Tampa: L 0-11 to Jupiter. L: Soriano.
Abe Almonte: 1/4, 3B, 3 K.
Eric Chavez: 0/3, BB, K. 1st game back, he'll be back with the major league team soon.
Mustelier: 0/4. First bad game in a while, he's been awesome since he was signed.
Rob Seggy Segedin: 0/3.
K-Roll Roller: 1/3.
JR Murph: 1/3.
Kelvin Castrol GTX Castro: 0/3, K.
Rafael Soriano: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, K, HR. Just a rehab start.
Graham Cracker Stoneburner: 5.2 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, BB, 5 K, 2 HR. At least he struck some guys out. Not very good though.
I don't have much to say about this game because they got WALLOPED.

Short Season Staten Island.  Double Header. Game 1: W 3-2. W: Nuno.
Mad Mase Williams: 0/3, 2 K.
Cheeto Culver: 1/2, BB. His performance so far kind of reminds me of Heathcott's when he was at this level. Holding his head over water. Hopefully in a year or so he breaks out like Slade did.
Angelo Bubba Gumbs: 0/3, 2 K.
Ty Austin: 2/3, R, 2B. Nice job Ty. He'll be all over the pitching in this league. I give it a few more games before he really catches fire.
Shane Brown: 0/2, R, BB. Finally has a not so good game. Even here there are positives.
Ben Gamel: 2/3, 2 RBI. There's a good game which I've been waiting for for quite a while.
Bryan Mitchell: 4.2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. That's better, but he's still not there. I'm thinking more and more short season was a good destination for this kid this season.
Vidal Nuno: 2.1 IP, H, 5 K. He's 5-0, that's hard to believe. He's been really good, but he's mighty old for his level (24 in like 7 days).

Game 2: W 8-6 vs. Hudson Valley. W: Lewis
Cody Grice: 0/4, 3 R, K. Maybe I was wrong about him. Maybe we shouldn't have signed him. It's too early to say though.
Cheeto Culver: 2/3, 2B, 3B, R, 2 BB. 2/4 on the day, not bad, avg up to .277.
Angelo Bubba Gumbs: 1/5, 2 RBI, 2 K.
Ty Austin: 0/4, 2 K
Shane Brown: 2/4. I guess he can have a bad game, but not a bad day.
Ben Gamel: 0/0, PH RBI
Matt Tracy: 2 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, BB, 2 K, HR. Yikes.
Gerritse: 3 IP, 2 H, BB, 3 K. Nice relief work, still 0 earned runs in 13.2 IP at this level. He has 14 K. Time for a promotion?
Phil Wetherell: 1 IP, H, R, 0 ER, BB.

GCL Yankees: W 8-5 vs. GCL Phillies. W: Maines. S: Hinojosa
Janitor Custodio: 2/4, 2 R, 2B, BB, SB. He needed a game like this, as he's been slumping a bit. That 0/8 game killed his average but he's back up to .327. That's 12 SB on the season.
Ravenous Ravel Santana: 1/5, R, RBI, K, SB (3). I'm seeing more and more Kelvin De Leon similarities, hopefully I'm wrong.
DAdams: 2/4, 2 R, 2B, RBI, BB. Played the full game. A promotion is looming. Can't wait.
Junior Bichette: 2/5, 2B, 2 RBI, E. He's really picking it up now. 12 for his last 34 with a HR, 3 BB and a 7 game hit sreak going. (.353 AVG). So this is why we picked him.
Yeicok Calderon: 2/5, R, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI. Ata boy Yeicok. Now over .200 for the season. Needs to take some lessons from Bichette.
Taylor Morton (T-Mo): 4.2 IP, 3 H, 6 K. I've said it before but I really like this kid. He's got a 1.82 ERA so far, with 19 K in 24.2 IP as a 19 year old.
Cowsert: 1 IP, 2 K, 0 everything else. Got the Hold as well (3.09 ERA).
Hinojosa: 1 IP, 0 everything else. Got the save. (0.00 ERA so far, 4/4 in saves).

YEEP July 14, 2011: The return of Stoneburner

Evil Em VP of the day: Casey Stevenson. 3/4 with a HR. Image from www.allthingsbubba.com

AAA Scranton: L 2-4 to Toledo. L: Nova
Russo: 1/4, RBI, 2 K
JoVa Vazquez: 1/4, 2 K. Typical line for him. If AAA pitchers figured him out in 1/2 a season, I'd imagine it would take about a month for major league pitchers to figure him out. But hell, I'd take that in a second if they were to bring him up now. A-Rod's return is conveniently close to a month away.
Laird: 1/4, R. 12 for his last 37 (.324), 3 HR, 3 2B, 12 RBI over 10 games. Has a hit in all but one of his last 10 games. No walks though.
Nova: 7 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, BB, 5 K, HR. Aside from the 1st inning homerun he pitched well. With the way Colon has pitched his last two starts, he could be back in that 5th starter role pretty soon.
JC Romero: 1 IP, H, R, ER, 2 K. He's not a prospect, but it's news.

AA Trenton: W 9-5 against Reading. W: Hall
Kruml: 3/4, 2 R, 2B, 2 RBI, K, SB (30). He figured something out about 2 months ago and he hasn't looked back ever since. It's almost time to see how many bases he can steal in AAA.
CoJo: 1/5, R, 3B, RBI (.282).
Austin BRomine: 0/4, BB, K. He's excused because he played so well in the futures and all-star games.
Melky Mesa: 1/3, R, K, SB (11).
R-Ly Lyerly: 0/4, K. Really quieting down now.
Shaeffer Hall: 5 IP, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, HR. Pitched well enough to get the win...
Josh Bromance Romanski: 1 IP, H. My Bromance is havin a year.
Whitley: 2 IP, 4 H, ER, 2 K, HR. Still adjusting to the level, not playing horribly considering that fact.
Pope: 1 IP, 2 H, K. Almost time to give him another shot in AAA. Is there such a thing as a AA 1/2 player?

High A Tampa: L 5-3 to Palm Beach. L: Gipson
Honest Abe Almonte: 0/4, BB
Walt Ibarra: 3/5, R. He's hitting so well, but he has to start stealing more bases if he wants to have a real shot at the bigs.
Boilin Zoilo Almonte: 1/3, 2 BB, R, K, SB (14). No homeruns in a while (> 10 g). Zoilo had been spoiling me. Spoiling Zoilo?
Roller: 0/4, 4 K. Golden Sombrero. Been waiting to use that one.
JR Murph: 1/4, RBI, 2 K. 12 for his last 37, .324 AVG. His OBP is lower than his average in that span though (.316, 0 BB). Still OPSing at .856 in that time frame though.
Seggy Segedin: 2/3, RBI, BB, SB. Finally a good night for him!
Kelvin Castro:  0/4, 3 K.
Graham Cracker Stoneburner: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, BB, 6 K, HR. Nice outing in his return to High A. At this rate he'll be in AA in no time.
Gipson: .2 IP 4 H, 3 ER, BB. Tough outing. Hasn't had a great appearance since returning. It's only his 3rd though.

Low A Charleston: W 3-2. W: Ramirez. S: Montgomery (5)
Eddy Sosa: 0/5, K
Ray-Flo Flores: 0/3, BB, K.
Sanchize: 0/4, R. Man, he just can't string together a few good games in a row.
Higgy Higashioka: 0/4, K.
The run support in this game was provided by Mahoney (2 R) and Mojica (2 RBI)
Jose Ramirez: 5 IP, 3 H, ER, 3 BB, 5 K. Yay.
Dott: 3 IP, 3 H, 4 K.
Monte Python Montgomery: 1 IP, ER, BB, K. 5/5 saves.

Short Season Staten Island. W 6-4 vs. State College. W: Recchia, S: Pinder (7)
Mad Mase Williams: 1/2, R, K, SB (7). Just keeps doin it. Seems like he might be above this level. 20 for his last 45 (.444), 4 SB over 10 games.
Cheetoh Culver: 0/4, K. He's been good lately, but overall he's been rather inconsistent. (.279)
Angelo Bubba Gumbs: 1/4, R, 2 K, 2 SB (6). (.263)
Shane Brown: 2/4, 2 R, 2 2B, RBI, K (.466). He has to be getting promoted soon. At his age he is wasting space/time at this level.
Casey Stevenson: 3/4, R, HR, 4 RBI, SB. That's 2 consecutive games with a HR. He's old for the level though, but earns a mention from me because of his 2 game homerun streak.
Cody Grice: 1/2, BB, K, SB (2). Has been pretty solid in limited action so far.
Bryan Mitchell: 3.1 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 2 K. Everyone raves about this guy but I just haven't been that impressed with him so far. I guess with what scouts say about him and how good his stuff really is, all he needs to do is gain some control and he will be right where he needs to be.
Recchia: 2.2 IP, H, BB, 2 K, 0 ER. (.75 ERA at this level). He was in Charleston earlier in the year, but was disappointing. He's 22 so meh.
Phil Wetherell: 1 IP, 2 K Zeros. Getting the job done. Fast mover I tell ya.
Pinder: 1 IP, 1 K, Zeros. 7 saves. Looks like we might have gotten some good young relievers in this draft class.No runs in his last 8 appearances.

GCL Yankees: W 6-5 vs GCL Braves. W: Cowsert, S: Hinojosa.
Ronnier Mustelier: 5/5, R, 2B, 2 RBI, CS. This Cuban earns a mention with this performance, but this is his first season at the ripe old age of 27. I doubt if there's anything there.
DAdams: 1/3, 2B, RBI. Still being subbed out after 2/3 of a game.
Alcantera: 0/1, K in a pinch hit at bat.
Jose Rosario: 1/4, 2 R, BB, K.
Ty Austin: 1/4, 2B, K.
Junior Bichette: 1/4, 2 K. Two days in a row with a hit. Gotta look at the positives.
Tejeda: 0/4, K.
Yeicok Calderon: 1/4, HR, K.
Rutckyj: 3 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K. His first rough outing of the year. As I have said before, he's a work in progress.
Joel De La Cruz: 3 IP, R, ER, BB, 3 K (2.51 ERA on the season)
Corey Maines: 1 IP, 2 K, 0 ER.
Cowsert: 1 IP, 2 K, 0 ER. Yay for good stories.
Hinojosa: 1 IP, H, R, BB, 0 ER, K. 3/3 in save opportunities.

YEEP 7/13/11: Trenton All-Stars Reppin the System

Evil Em VP of the day: Mason Williams. 4/5 tonight. Picture thanks to NY Daily News.


AA All-Stars:
Corban CoJo Joseph: 2/3, R, K
Austine BRomine: 1/2, RBI
ManBan: 1 IP, 3 K, ZEROS. Beast
Betances: 1 IP, K, ZEROS. Beast
Excellent showing for our farm system at the AA all-star game.

High A Tampa Yanks: W 5-3. W: Gil, S: Flannery (14).
Honest Abe Almonte: 1/4, 2B, RBI, K
Walt Ibarra: 2/4, R, 2B, CS
Boilin Zoilo Almonte: 2/4, K.
K-Roll Roller: 1/3, RBI, BB. Adjusting well to high A (.281).
JR Murph: 1/4, R, K
Segedin: 1/4
Kelvin Castrol GTX Castro: 1/3
Gil: 3 IP, H, 3 K. Nice work.
Preston Claiborne: 1.1 IP, 2 H, BB. He's performing really well at this level. After a slow start, his ERA is in the mid threes.
K-Flan Flannery: .2 IP, BB, K, S.

Charleston, L 11-6 to Greensboro. L: Allen (big surprise).
Eddy Sosa: 4/5, K
Ray-Flo Flores: 1/5, HR, 2 RBI. That's number 9 on the season. Seems like the power is there.
Kahnle: .1 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, K. This is when I stop following him for a while. He's been awful and it's become frustrating to write about him. He'll be back if he starts pitching better.

Short Season Staten Island: W 9-2. W: Nuno
Mad Mase Williams: 4/5, 3 R, 3B. .360 avg on the season.
Cheetoh Culver: 1/4, 2 K, E.
Angelo Bubba Gumbs: 2/5, R, 2 RBI, K. Pretty good.
Shane Brown: 2/4, R, K (.463)
Casey Stevenson: 3/4, HR, 3 R, 2 RBI. I'll mention him today because he had a big game, but he's old for the level and meh
Vidal Nuno: 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, BB, 4 K. Basically a spot start.
Paullus: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 K.
Hobbs: 1 IP, 1 K.

GCL Yankees W 10-2. W: Morton
Janitor Custodio: 2/6, 2B, 2 K. Maquina de batear.
Ty Austin: 3/4, 2 R, 2B, 2 RBI. Hitting machine.
Alcantera: 0/1 as a PH.
Ravenous Ravel Santana: 0/3, 2 R, 2 BB, 2 K. Come on Ravy! (.237).
Mark Prior: 2 IP, H, R, 0 ER, K. Rehab start
Taylor Morton (T-Mo): 5 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, 5 K. Nice outing, got the win. I'm a big fan of this kid.

YEEP 7/11/11: Bombs Away

 Evil Em Vee P of the day: Raymond Kruml. This was a tough one, because so many people had great games today, but based on recent performance, I gave it to Kruml. Image Courtesy of Bare Bones (johnalbone.wordpress.com).

AA Trenton: L 6-7. L: Venditte:
Kruml: 3/5, 2 R, HR, RBI. Average up to .301, 2 HR in 2 G, 5th HR of the season. He's fast too.
CoJo: 0/5, 2 K. Ice cold these past few games.
Melky Mesa: 1/4, R, K, CS
R-Ly (Lyerly): 1/5, R, 2 K.
Heyer: 3 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER, BB, 4 K. Not his best outing.
Josh Bromance Romanski: 3 IP, H, BB, 2 K. 0 ER since the call-up.
Sideshow Venditte: .1 IP, H, R, ER, HR. 2 bad games in a row.

High A Tampa: W 10-1 vs St. Lucie. W: Mikey O'Brien
Honest Abe Almonte: 2/4, R, BB, K. He's not cooling down, hopefully any time soon.
Walt Ibarra: 1/3, RBI
Boilin Zoilo Almonte: 3/5, R, 2 RBI, K. Also stayin hot.
K-Roll Roller: 2/5, R, RBI, K
JR Murph: 3/4, 2 R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, K.
Rob Seggy Segedin: 1/4, R, K
Kelvin Castrol GTX Castro: 3/5, 3 R, 2 RBI. I like what you're doin GTX.
Mikey O'Brien: 5 IP, 2 H, ER, 4 BB, 3 K, HR. I don't like the walks, but other than that, great outing. He'll be in AA by next season IMO.
Daniel Burawa: 2 IP, H, 3 K. He's got half of a season to bring his ERA back from that horrific appearance a week or so ago. I think he will because he had great stuff.
K-Flan Flannery: 2 IP, H, K. Doin what he does.

Short Season Staten Island: W 9-1 vs Vermont. W: DeLuca
Mad Mase Williams: 4/6, 2B, 3B, RBI, K, CS. Two words. Real. Deal.
Cheetoh Culver: 2/5, 2 RBI
Bubba Gumbs: 0/4, BB, K, CS.
Shane Brown: 1/2, 2 R, 3 BB. Will somebody get this guy out please? .552 OBP, 1.25 OPS. Such a shame that he's 23.
Evan DeLuca: 5 IP, 2 H, ER, BB, 6 K. He's killin it. We could use a guy like him at Charleston, wink wink hint hint!
Matt Tracy: 2 IP, BB, K. 0 ER still.
Phil Wetherell: 1 IP, BB, 2 K. I strongly feel he will be a fast mover through this system.

GCL Yankees: W 8-7 vs GCL Pirates. W: Rodriguez, S: Hinojosa
Janitor Custodio: 1/5, 2 R, 2B, K, SB. 10 SB on the season already.
Ravenous Ravel Santana: 0/5, K. He's slowed down significantly since his hot start. Hope he's not just another De Leon
Tyler Austin: 1/3, HR, 2 RBI, BB, SB. He has NOT slowed down. .377 average, 3 HR, 9 SB on the season so far. Excellent production even from a 1B.
Junior Bichette: 0/4, R, BB, K. Looking forward to the 30 day rule to take effect with this kid. Time for him to make some adjustments.
Tejeda: 2/4, SB, CS. Playing very well so far.
Jose Rosario: 2/4, R, HR, 3 RBI. .325 with 1 HR, 1 3B, 1 2B, 4 SB in his last 10 games.
D Cruz: 2.1 IP, 7 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. Baaaaaaaad.
Edwin Rodriguez: 3.2 IP, 2 H, 2 K. 20 year old kid from the DSL. Good outing.
Jo De La Cruz: 2 IP, 1 H, 1 K.
Hinojosa: 1 IP, H, K. 2/2 in save ops.

Lower Level Outfielders

There isn't much in AAA or AA in the Yankees system as far as OF go. Most are either organizational filler, 4th OF ceilings, or just don't have much of a future. Some may sniff the major leagues as a 4th OF or fill in for an injured player, like Golson, Brewer, but are unlikely to stick on any team. We have about 12 kids I'm excited about in the lower levels (High A to GCL). I'm going to list them in order and say why I'm excited and why I have each of them in this position.

1. Slade Heathcott- He's 20. obvious choice as our 1st round draft pick, but this season he has really performed well when not injured. He has shown some improvement with SB and power, but has struggled to stay healthy. He is definitely an outstanding defender, but the key is going to be keeping that shoulder healthy so he will still have a cannon if/when he reaches the major leagues. The Yankees drafted him as a project, someone who they knew would require a year or so of learning and practice before starting to pay dividends. We are starting to see a return on him, and hopefully he continues to improve.

2. Mason Williams-19 yo only in short season A with SI this year, but he's already making a splash with his speed and power. He was a signability guy in the 5th round last season, so we got him later than we should have, and we got a young player whom we can groove in whatever way we'd like. The speed and power are promising, as is his fielding. He is better sooner than Heathcott was, but Heathcott started his second season in Charleston, so it's a little different.

3. Ravel Santana- 19 yo I don't know much about him, but I know he's an international signing who lead the DSL in HR (10) and SB (22) last season. Apparently scouts say he has 80 power and 80 speed. That's one hell of a prospect if he can put it all together. That's a big if though and we've seen how guys like this can fail with Kelvin De Leon and Melky Mesa. He's in the GCL this season.

4. Ramon Flores- Another 19 yo. In Low A, he has shown an advanced approach at the plate. He has cooled down with his average and power, but continues to draw walks. This advanced approach could get him far, but he's going to need to keep improving his power numbers, and hit for a better average than he has so far this season... .254/.373/.399/.772

5. Zoilo Almonte- 22 yo. He's in high A, probably close to a AA promotion if his current hot streak continues. He had a similar hot streak at the same time last season, but it came to a halt when he was promoted to high A. This season, however, he has almost as many HR in less than 1/2 the games of last season. He also has stolen bases at a higher rate, and has similar OBP and avg tendencies, but is striking out at a lower rate for sure. He's OPSing at .869. 22 yo in High A is a red flag though.

6. Yeicok Calderon- 19 yo.He has solid power (8 HR in DSL last season), and hits for a solid avg, but it remains to be seen if these skills will transfer stateside. So far, so good .278/.350/.666/1.07 in very limited sample size, 2 HR and 2 SB as well.

7. Eduardo Sosa- Venezuela- 20 yo in low A with a lot of speed and an advanced approach at the plate. Strikes out too much but also draws a lot of walks and knows how to get on base. 10 SB in 11 attempts. Not much power.

8. Jorge Alcantara- 19 yo in GCL- showed an advanced approach in the DSL. Has showed some power and a good approach in the GCL so far. He'll likely see a lot of time in the OF since Bichette is the 3B there. Definitely a guy to watch. .433 OBP in the DSL last season.

9. Ben Gamel- 19 yo. have read a lot about his potential, it's not as high as some of the others but some project him as a solid OF. Enough to dream on a bit I suppose. Jury's still out.

10. Angelo Gumbs- still 18. Hasn't had much success so far, and has mostly played SS, but projects as a 2B/OF. We will see what this kid has to offer, he's a 2nd round pick so he could be good. Has shown a good amount of speed so far, hopefully getting some experience under his belt will help.

11. Shane Brown- 23 yo in SI. Realistically he shouldn't be on this list but he has started off really hot this season (1 HR, .375/.464/.542/1.006), so I put him on here as an outside chance, eg. a Neil Medchill/D'eangelo Mack type who are unlikely to pan out.

12. Henry Pena- 20 yo, GCL- almost didn't put him on the list, but I'll wait till he comes back to pass judgment. I've heard good things but haven't seen any come to fruition.

Long shots/honorable mention- Cody Grice (I liked this pick), Abe Almonte (has been hot lately, maybe his found it, doubt it), and Melky Mesa (severe regression this year)