Two Prospects in Burnett Deal

Diego Moreno, 25 year old pitcher acquired from the Pirates in the AJ Burnett deal. Image thanks to players.piratesprospects.com

River Ave. Blues is reporting that Diego Moreno and Exicardo Cayones.

Exicardo Cayones is a 20 year old OF who had to repeat the GCL after struggling in short season A ball at State College. He apparently has some speed, but it hasn't shown up in the stolen bases. He plays CF and LF, and has shown no power since being signed. He has decent numbers in the GCL, but we have similar aged prospects in our system at his position who are much more impressive. Unless the Yankees scouts know something I don't, getting this prospect is more just some face saving to say we got something in return for AJ. It should be mentioned however that he was a $400,000 signing out of Venezuela. Someone had to think highly of him at some point. As recently as 2010, Cayones was considered a top 20 prospect in the Pirates organization by many. Now he's not even top 30. Repeating the GCL will do that to you. This winter, Cayones hit .370 in 92 at-bats and led the circuit with a .504 on-base percentage in the Venezuelan Winter League.

Diego Moreno, the more interesting of the two, is 25 years old. He is a right handed relief pitcher who throws 95-98 mph with a slider and throws an occasional change up. He has had a good amount of success (~13 k/9 over two levels in 2010 before his suspension, ~9 k/9 last year), up until the AA level, where he has struggled mightily to get batters out. In 2010 he was suspended for kissing a fan in the dugout, and he also suffered a right shoulder strain. Since then, his control has waivered. He was Rule 5 draft eligible this year, and went undrafted.

All in all I would say that we didn't get much in return for AJ. Neither of these guys were in the Pirates top 30 according to baseball america, and neither of them would be in my top 30 for the Yankees quite frankly. Personally, I would still consider getting 1/2 of AJ's contract paid for a success. We replace his production with whoever wins out between Freddy and Phil, and the Yankees get better production while saving $5 million this year, and $8 million next year. The $5 million this year can go towards signing a DH and possibly Chavez. The $8 million next year? Towards resigning Swisher or going after Cole Hamels/Matt Cain etc. Regardless, having 8 million extra dollars lying around never hurt anyone, especially when you already have $52.75 million coming off the books next year.

Scouting Rafael DePaula

Couldn't find a pick of Rafael DePaula, so I will represent him with his native Republica Dominicana flag.

Evil Empire Prospects nickname: DePaully D.


Many people have been wondering about Rafael DePaula lately. There are a ton of questions about him since he represents an intriguing option who, given his age and stuff, could be a very quick mover through the Yankees system and could bolster our minor league system and help to fill the void that Jesus Montero left. Since signing with the Yankees November 19, 2010, DePaula has not thrown a single pitch for any of the affiliated minor league teams. This is because the contract he signed is dependent on a resolution to his visa issues, which have been ongoing since he gave a fraudulent birth certificate to the United States government on his arrival here. He was signed for $700,000, and has been waiting on his visa since signing, probably before that. It seems that the US government is intent on making an example out of him, although recent reports have been saying that his lawyer believes the situation will be resolved before this season starts. If that is the case, DePaula could take the organization by storm, as no one seems to know much about him. He has spent the last year or so working out of the Yankees baseball academy in the Dominican Republic. I have not confirmed this but according to a friend of mine, he may or may not already have his visa. The major thing he is waiting on now is the MLB investigation. I would have to imagine that getting his visa from the US government would expedite the process of the investigation, so maybe we will see him this year.

Rafael DePaula is 6'3, 212 lbs, 20 years old, and he has a fastball that sits from 92-94, while scouts say he has been known to dial it up to 97. The fastball has good life on it. His three secondary pitches are a curveball, slider, and change up. The curveball has good spin on it. I'm sure that when he comes stateside his arsenal will be tinkered with by Yankees coaching, but scouts believe that these three pitches are actually very polished based on his level of experience. His mechanics are consistent, smooth, and fluid. According to scouts, his control is also impressive.

Here is a video showcasing his stuff. He does seem to be a bit wild though. http://vimeo.com/10406016. Here's another video as well, which to me shows how fluid his delivery is. http://vimeo.com/5265661

Based on his repertoire, he profiles as a 2-3 starter with a ceiling of a number one starter. This projection, however, hinges on the scouting reports being accurate. Accuracy is no guarantee when so few scouts have really had the opportunity to look at him. A 20 year old kid with polished secondary offerings to go along wiht a fastball that reaches 97 is destined for the starting rotation. The question remains whether all of this is true or just legend.

His estimated time of arrival would depend on a lot of things. He might skip short season ball altogether at this point given his advancing age, so Charleston is certainly not out of the question. If he were to start 2012 there, we would be looking at one of the most exciting groups of players ever to come through the Yankees farm system all on one team. Mason Williams, Tyler Austin, Ben Gamel, Dante Bichette Jr., Jose Campos, and Rafael DePaula might trump the 2007 Joba Chamberlain, Ian Kennedy, and Jose Tabata et. al. Anyway, I digress. He is a prospect that could move very quickly if he is as polished as scouts say. It's not out of the question that he could move up to High A Tampa before the end of the season and then up to AA to start next year. That would put him on target for a possible 2014-2015 major league debut.

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."

15 Prospects Invited to Big League Camp

Gary Sanchez and JR Murphy: Image thanks to milb.com

In no particular order...

1. Manny Banuelos LHP
2. Austin Romine C
3. Gary Sanchez C
4. Doug Bernier INF
5. Dan Burawa RH RP
6. Colin Curtis OF
7. Jose Gil C
8. Kyle Higashioka C
9. Brett Marshall RHP
10. Ryan Pope RH RP
11. Graham Stoneburner RHP
12. Jorge Vazquez 1B
13. Adam Warren RHP
14. Kevin Whelan RH RP
15. Chase Whitley RH RP

Others will be invited as well, but won't be in the official press release. For example, I think it is safe to say that Dellin Betances, David Phelps, DJ Mitchell, Brandon Laird, George Kontos, and some other solid specs will be in attendance. Nothing exciting here, but I'm sure it's very exciting for some of the prospects. JR Murphy and Gary Sanchez will be excited for their first trip, although they were both probably more invited for their ability to hold a catcher's mitt and catch 95 mph heat while in the crouched position.

Jose Campos Scouting Report

Jose Campos: Image thanks to snyguys.com

Evil Empire Prospects nick name: Killa Cam

The recent trade, like it or not, of Jesus Montero and Hector Noesi netted the Yankees two pitchers, one extremely promising young major leaguer, and one extremely promising young minor leaguer. Michael Pineda is the major league pitcher they received. Although there is a great deal of excitement surrounding his arrival, he is not a prospect, he's a major league arm. Jose Campos, on the other hand, is fair game for this blog.

Jose Campos is 19 years old from Venezuela and measures 6'4, while weighing in at 195 lbs according to milb.com. Kelvim and Alcides Escobar are his cousins. His statistics have been quite impressive thus far. His first year he pitched in rookie ball, but only threw 33 innings at the age of 17. He posted a 5.73 ERA along with 23 strikeouts. The next year in the same league (VSL Mariners) he threw 57 innings and had a 3.16 ERA with 59 strikeouts and just 19 walks. Needless to say this earned him a promotion to Short Season ball in 2011, where he was nothing short of dominant. He pitched 81.1 innings of 2.32 ERA ball and struck out 85 batters while walking just 13 (1.44 BB/9). That was good for number one in the Northwest League in both ERA and strikeouts. Baseball America ranked him the 3rd best prospect in the league. Did I mention he was dominant?

His fastball ranges from 92-95 and has reached 98 mph on occasion. He locates the fastball very well, as is indicated by his miniscule walk numbers. Scouts say he has a lot of movement with late life on the fastball, as well as some good deception in his delivery. It has also been described as a heavy fastball. He also throws a slider, and curveball which have flashed plus potential. The slider sits at 83-84 MPH with late breaking action, although it isn't a huge break. The curveball is 12-6 but it doesn't have great breaking action. It sits at 73-74, and right now serves more as a changeup since there isn't much break. He also throws a changeup which is in the early stages of development. Here is a great scouting video on him from baseball instinct.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffYFiIAZ70Q

 Scouts praise his makeup, and say he has a ton of poise on the mound. His ceiling is anywhere from a #1-2 starter to a late inning reliever. That will always be the case with a guy this young who is able to get that kind of velocity, movement, and deception on his fastball. The jury is out on his other pitches, but he's got a projectable frame and a great mindset on the mound. He will either start at High A Tampa or Low A Charleston this year for the Yankees. Many are speculating that he will be in high A, but with the depth of our pitching right now I wouldn't rule out Charleston.

Baseball America slots him in as our #5 prospect, as does mlb.com. They put him ahead of Romine. Personally, I want to see him develop some secondary offerings before he is thrown ahead of Romine, so he is currently my #7 prospect, behind Ravel Santana, who I have moved up to #6 since he is making a full recovery from his gruesome injury.

Coming Soon: Rafael DePaula Scouting report.

Roster Predictions

Photo courtesy of It's all about the money stupid

This is just for fun, but I compiled a list of who I think will be where in the minors next season. I'd love to hear your input, as this is purely guessing based on statistics and my perception of how things will go. Here it is. After a recent conversation with someone from the front office for the Trenton Thunder, it seems we should expect the unexpected as far as the rosters go because the Yankees may keep some players in Trenton to avoid the traveling disaster that will be Scranton Wilkes-Barre next season because of drainage problems at PNC field. These are my predictions if that were not the case.

GCL

SP: Cote
SP: Camarena
SP: Rookie Davis
SP: Hayden Sharp
SP: Maher/Hebert

RP- depends on who gets drafted and who they bring over from the DSL

IF- ditto
OF- ditto


Staten Island

SP: Taylor Morton
SP: Rafael DePaula
SP: Gabriel Encinas
SP: Evan Rutckyj
SP: Someone between Raynaldo Polanco, Dawerd Cruz, Jordan Cote, or Rookie Davis.

RP: Cowsert
RP: Isabel
RP: Hinojosa
RP: Maines
RP: Daniel Martinez
2-3 more from next year's draft

C: Isaias Tejeda
C: Damian Tavaras
1B: Austin Jones
2B: Claudio Custodio
3B: Dante Bichette Jr.
SS: Jose Rosario
1B/3B: Matthew Duran
1B/3B/OF: Jorge Alcantara

OF: Ravel Santana
OF: Daniel Lopez
OF: Justin James
OF: Henry Pena
OF: Yeicok Calderon

Charleston:

SP: Matt Tracy
SP: Bryan Mitchell
SP: Evan DeLuca
SP: Wilton Rodriguez
SP: William Oliver

RP: Arneson
RP: Brebbia
RP: Pinder
RP: Paullus
RP: Wetherell
RP: Gerritse
RP: Cotham

SP/RP: Vidal Nuno

C: Liccien
C: McCoy
C: Arcia

3B: Tyler Austin
SS: Cito Culver
2B: Angelo Gumbs
1B: Reymond Nunez
1B/2B/3B Casey Stevenson

OF: Mason Williams
OF: Cody Grice
OF: Ben Gamel
OF: Rinard
OF: Kelvin De Leon

High A Tampa

SP: Shane Greene
SP: Zachary Nuding
SP: Nik Turley
SP: Michael O'Brien
SP: Jose Ramirez/Sean Black

RP: Kramer Sneed
RP: Thomas Kahnle
RP:Dan Burawa
RP: Vidal Nuno
RP: Aaron Dott
RP: Possibly Gerritse
CP: Mark Montgomery

C: JR Murphy -may go to AA
C: Gary Sanchez
C: Higashioka

1B: Kyle Roller
2B: Kevin Mahoney
3B: Segedin
SS: Mojica
Utility: Anderson Feliz

OF: Shane Brown
OF: Slade Heathcott
OF: Ramon Flores
OF: Eduardo Sosa

AA Trenton
SP: Brett Marshall
SP: Shaeffer Hall
SP: Jose Quintana
SP: Jairo Heredia
SP: Graham Stoneburner

RP: Preston Claiborne
RP: Michael Solbach
RP: Ryan Flannery
RP: Ronny Marte
RP: Mike Gipson
RP: Ryan Pope
RP: Okamoto
RP: Josh Romanski

1B: Luke Murton/Rob Lyerly
2B: Walt Ibarra
3B: Lyerly/Suttle
SS: Kelvin Castro
Util: Mujica

OF: Mustelier
OF: DeAngelo Mack
OF: Zoilo Almonte
OF: Melky Mesa
OF: Damon Sublett

AAA SWB
SP: Manny Banuelos
SP: Dellin Betances
SP: Adam Warren
SP: David Phelps
SP: DJ Mitchell
Other Candidates: Hector Noesi (if not in the majors), Shaeffer Hall

RP: George Kontos
RP: Kevin Whelan
RP: Eric Wordekemper
RP: Josh Schmidt
RP: Chase Whitley
RP: FA pickups (2-3)

C: Austin Romine
C: Francisco Cervelli

1B: Jorge Vazquez
2B: Corban Joseph
3B: Brandon Laird
SS: Ramiro Pena
Utility: Kevin Russo

OF:Austin Krum
OF: Raymond Kruml
OF: Daniel Brewer
(Out of these guys, who would start is a mystery because I'm sure we'll retain either Golson or Maxwell)
OF: Maxwell or Golson

Brackman Released

Photo Courtesy of Zimbio.com

                                        

According to the Wall Street Journal and River Ave. Blues, Andrew Brackman's 2012 option has not been picked up, and he has been released by the Yankees. The option would have been for $500,000 in the minor leagues, or $1 Million in the major leagues. They also still have to pay his signing bonus of $3.25 Million.

All told, Brackman has had one decent season since signing with the Yankees, 2010 in AA. As things stand right now, he is not much of a loss. He has always had a great deal of potential though, and for $500,000 I don't see how a potential big league arm isn't worth holding onto. If he found his control, he could have been a really valuable reliever in our system, or possibly even a good starter if he reached his full potential.

It is also possible, however, that Brian Cashman knows something we don't, and Brackman is currently injured. He may be clearing space on the 40 man roster for someone, or pinching pennies so he can make a larger bid on Yu Darvish or CJ Wilson. Finally, he could be planning on resigning Brackman at a discount since his value is lower than ever. Regardless of the reasoning, he could make the Yankees regret this decision if he finds himself over the next year. This scenario is highly unlikely to occur, given his recent and past failures. If it does, however, I think the reaction by Yankees fans would be rather predictable. If I'm in Cashman's shoes, I exercise the option as a low risk, low likelihood of reward, but a good preventative measure to stop someone from turning our trash into treasure. Hopefully this is all part of something bigger which ends up being advantageous for the Yankees.