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Featuring: Larry Mahnken SG sjohnny TVerik Sean McNally Fabian McNally John Brattain This is an awesome FREE site, where you can win money and gift certificates with no skill involved! If you're bored, I HIGHLY recommend checking it out!
 
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Disclaimer: If you think this is the official website of the New York Yankees, you're an idiot. Go away. November 29, 2006
Projecting Kei Igawa by SG
With the Yankees winning the posting for Kei Igawa with what seems like an excessively high bid of $26 million, I guess that we should try to figure out what a reasonable expectation for him might be. Cliff Corcoran took an interesting look at Igawa on Bronx Banter already, and I'm going to take a shot as well.
November 28, 2006
Lohud Yankees Blog - Abraham: Yankees get rights to Igawa by SG
So, What Did I Miss? by SG
I'm back from my vacation, and of course I missed a bunch of stuff, some good, some bad. Thanks to Fabian for filling in during my absence and doing a great job with the major league stuff and his prospect reports as well.
November 27, 2006
#21 by Fabian
Zach McAllister, RHP, 18 Physical Ability: Zach McAllister is a BIG righty with untapped physical potential that the Yankees are hoping they can harvest. Listed at 6’5’’ and 230 pounds, McAllister was only touching the low 90s at draft time. In addition his go-to secondary pitches were a rough slider and chage-up combination. However, due to being the son of a cross-checker, McAllister had the “polished” tag attached to him and the Yankees picked him up. Since draft day, McAllister’s fastball velocity can now be pegged at low 90s due to mechanical adjustments made by the Yankees as well as by emphasizing the 4-seamer with him. He is also in the process of picking up a curveball to replace his slider. Finally, McAllister’s change-up has to this point been lauded as perhaps the best pitch in his arsenal and an easy plus pitch right now. What Happened in ’06: McAllister signed quickly and was sent to the GCL where he was most frequently seen as part of a starter tag-team duo with Dellin Betances. Drafted as a sinkerballer, McAllister was able to experience some early success despite a BB:K ratio of 9:8 through his first 19 professional innings. The reason for this is that over that same span of time he held a groundball to flyball ratio of 43:12, which is…absurdly good. The Yankees have a club policy of not altering a player’s game until 30 days into their career and it was about the conclusion of those first 19 innings that they decided to make the aforementioned modifications to McAllister’s approach and mechanics. The result was that over the final 16 innings of the season McAllister improved his BB:K ratio to 3:20 and his groundball to flyball ratio was still excellent at 23:10. What Lies Ahead: Zach should begin the year as a member of the Low A Charleston rotation and it seems that physically, the changes that needed to be made have been made, and so what is going to be critical is continuing to work on the mental aspects of the game. This means continuing to have confidence in the 4-seam fastball as well as his changeup and working in a curveball every now and then. McAllister is also going to have to do a better job of buckling down with runners on as he was guilty of giving up “the big hit” in ’06, though the sample size was small. Another small sample size concern is that McAllister struggled through some control problems against lefty batters. Grade: McAllister has everything I look for from a statistical perspective in a pitching prospect and I am bullish on him, as the scouting end seems to hold up with his performance record. Hopefully, his big body will allow him to more easily handle some of the fatigue that pitchers deal with in their first full season. The mental side of the game is going to be especially critical for him, and that’s where having his particular baseball background may come in handy, as it seems that pitchers of his ilk, extreme groundballers, often have to deal with adversity in the form of ugly numbers early in their career. This is thanks in part to poor minor league fields and unpolished defenders. If he can get through that ok, he should be a very interesting pitcher. C+
November 26, 2006
#22 by Fabian
Angel Reyes, LHP, 19 Physical Ability: Angel Reyes is, in essence, taking the mantle of hard-throwing undersized lefty from Abel Gomez. Hopefully for the Yankees, Reyes does more with his physical talent than Abel did. Similar to Abel, Angel throws a fastball that is in the low 90s, touching the mid 90s. Also similar to Abel, his secondary stuff is a mixed bag at the moment. Other than the fastball, he utilizes a change up and a curveball, but neither of the pitches is where they need to be at the moment and can be classified as show me pitches. What sets him apart from Gomez, and hopefully will make his transition to full-season baseball easier, is that Angel has displayed pretty good control to this point in his career and does not look like a threat to have a BB:SO ratio in the area of .75, as Abel has over the last 2 seasons. What Happened in ’06: Reyes began his 2006 campaign in the Gulf Coast League, but after demonstrating his self to be one of the most dominating pitchers in that league the Yankees moved him to Staten Island to help with their stretch run. In both leagues, Reyes displayed the ideal pitching prospect characteristics of groundballs, strikeouts, and avoiding the walk, though he did seem to battle his control when faced with left-handed batters. Being an undersized starting pitching prospect, stamina is always going to be an underlying concern, but Reyes was able to assuage some of that by improving his strikeout and groundball rates as the season went on. What Lies Ahead: Reyes should be ticketed for Low-A Charleston in 2007. There he will attempt to replicate the success he has had to this point of his career. As previously mentioned, developing his secondary pitches will be key as full-season hitters won’t be as likely to simply be overpowered by Reyes’ fastball. In addition, if he still struggles with the consistency of those secondary offerings, given his size, don’t be surprised to see a move to the bullpen. Grade: Generally speaking, there are going to be two types of players at the end of this list, the high-risk high-reward, or the low-risk low-reward, Reyes qualifies as a double high. If he can even get one of his secondary offerings to the point where it gives him something other than a fastball to rely on, there’s little reason he won’t have a successful SAL debut. He doesn’t have overwhelming fastball velocity, though it is very good for a lefty, but hitters are rarely able to lift the pitch. Instead, they consistently pull it on the ground to the left side of the infield for easy outs or fight it off in the air to the opposite field for more easy outs and some singles. He has the ability to move way up this list depending on how ’07 and the quest for a second pitch goes. C+
November 25, 2006
#23 by Fabian
Tim Battle, OF, 21 Physical Ability: Tim Battle is arguably the most physically talented position player in the Yankees system, and that is primarily why he appears on this list. A CF throughout his minor league career, Tim played some on the corners during the 2006 season in deference to superior overall prospects Austin Jackson and Brett Gardner. Defensively, Battle profiles well at all positions as he has excellent range and an accurate, strong throwing arm. Offensively, Battle has good raw power and projects as an above average offensive player as long as he makes contact, which is the big question at this point. Tim also possesses excellent raw speed and is often rated the fastest or second fastest player in the system, next to Brett Gardner. What Happened in ’06: I had very little faith in Battle’s ability to do well going forward and 2006 accurately represented that belief…to an extent. His performance in Tampa was poor as pitchers consistently fooled him and got him to strike out. When he did make contact it was poor contact and he hit the ball on the ground a lot. Upon demotion Battle regained his stroke. His walk rate went up, K rate went down and he hit the ball in the air more as well as hitting more line drives. This resulted in a .700 OPS, which is nothing too exciting, and less than his ’05 performance, but it was more promising as the secondary numbers point to it being a more sustainable performance. Tim Battle with a K rate around 25% is much more exciting that Tim Battle with a K rate in excess of 30%. Tim Battle with a 25% K-rate has a non-zero shot at being Mike Cameron. What Lies Ahead: Battle will likely return to Tampa to begin 2007 and once again be a starting corner OF as Austin Jackson mans center. If he can maintain a K rate in the neighborhood of 25% of his at bats, Battle MAY be ok. The key to doing that will be to stay aggressive early in the count as he has serious issues hitting with 2-strikes. How well FSL pitchers will be able to exploit this will determine his level of success in the coming year. I’m not hopeful about his performance given that only during August did he do all the things he needs to do to produce offensively, i.e. attack early in the count and stay within his self hitting the ball to the opposite field Grade: Tim Battle can easily be summed up as your prototypical high-risk, high-reward, 5-tool outfielder. Battle is regarded as excellent defensively, which in addition to his game-changing speeds gives him a greater shot at appearing in the majors than your average A-ball prospect of his ilk, but his bat is a huge question mark. In looking at minor league stats, something that should be acknowledged is that a hitter who walks all the time isn’t always the best thing and such is the case for Battle. He simply does not have the skill set at the moment to be anywhere near effective deep in counts so he is going to have to do what he can early in the count. Keeping this in mind, a low-walk rate should prove beneficial for his career prospects as…he has all the tools. C
November 22, 2006
November 21, 2006
Sheer Idiocy by Larry Mahnken
Justin Morneau is one of the worst choices for MVP ever. EVER. Not THE worst, but up there.
November 17, 2006
Awards and Stuff by Fabian
-Chien Ming-Wang finished second in the AL Cy Young voting and Robinson Cano won the AL Silver Slugger for 2B a year after finishing 2nd in the AL RotY race. If these are the guys the farm can produce when it's terrible, the rest of baseball must be terrified of what will come now that the system is on the up and up. I kid, I kid...sort of.
November 15, 2006
ESPN.com-MLB-Report: Yankees, Mussina agree on two-year deal by Fabian
I'm going to be gone for the next 48 hours or so, so I don't have much time to comment on this, but it seems like a solid deal at face value.
November 13, 2006
Daisuke by Fabian
It appears all but certain that the Red Sox have won the Matsuzaka posting. On the one hand, I'm disappointed the Yanks weren't able to pick him up, on the other hand I think that's an excessive amount of money to be spending just to be able to negotiate with someone so overall I don't feel too terrible. The Red Sox rotation is now potentially an excellent one, but that's assuming Daisuke adapts to the AL smoothly and Josh Beckett rebounds. As I said previously, I now hope to see the Yankees pursue Barry Zito. Something around 4 years 50 million, if possible, would be fitting, but it's almost a certainty that Zito will be seeking/receiving more than that so next year's rotation at the moment is very much up in the air.
November 12, 2006
NYDN: Yanks set to send Wright to Orioles by Fabian
Apparently, the Yankees have all but signed the papers for a deal in which Jaret Wright is expected to go to the Orioles in exchange for right-handed reliever Chris Britton. Britton throws a low 90s fastball and a curveball and like so many young bullpen arms, he's 23, he struggles with consistency. I don't think he's any great shakes now or ever will be, but looks to be of the Scott Proctor mold of fungible bullpen arms and those guys are always nice to have around. More importantly, the Yankee rotation as of 6:23 AM today stands as follows:
November 11, 2006
#24 by Fabian
Jose Gil, C, 20 Physical Ability: Jose Gil is a converted catcher without a standout tool. He has defensive potential, but isn’t maximizing it at the moment due to working out some of the mechanical kicks of being a catcher. On offense he has a pretty swing, but there is not much, if any, loft to it. His swing right now is more contact focused than anything, which somewhat limits his offensive potential. On both sides of the ball he is someone that can get by at the moment, but having seen him play, there seems to be a lot of potential there. What Happened in ’06: Gil started the year in Charleston with the rest of 2005’s promising GCL standouts, but was quickly demoted. On the one hand, the demotion seems out of hand because it was just 74 ABs into the year, but on the other hand it seems justified in that he was struggling to drive the ball. Gil then re-emerged as part of a tandem C duo with Francisco Cervelli (who would have made this list had I extended it a bit further). At Staten Island, Gil drove the ball a bit better, but still struggled with elevating it as 58.4% of his balls in play were on the ground. As I said, this seems to be a by-product of his swing, which while pretty just does not have much lift to it. Another by-product of his swing and approach, this one positive, is an impressive BB:K ratio of 17:16 at Staten Island. This was in line with his 19:18 in the 2005 GCL, making the 4:15 in his short Charleston stint seem completely out of whack. What Lies Ahead: I want to say that Gil’s low BABIP is a positive indicator for the future, but I know that it’s a “real” low BABIP based on his approach and speed. Right now, I’m banking on his approach, as far as the numbers and how it looks to me, translating into a more representative performance in 2007. It will be interesting to see where he is placed, as I’m not sure having him and Cervelli serve as tandem C again will help their development. There’s also some hope on my part that he will add more mass to his frame, as he has room to go, and may drive the ball better as a result of this. Grade: Gil’s physical ability and performance are both solid, but I believe there is A LOT of potential to be tapped. There’s a bunch of guys around his grade when trying to rank these guys and I chose to go with Gil because I have a good gut feeling about him. Cervelli might have been here as well as it seems he has a bit more talent, but having seen both play, Gil’s style strikes me as having an easier time adapting to higher levels, 2006 Charleston notwithstanding. C
November 10, 2006
ESPN: Tigers deal three pitchers to Yankees for Sheffield by Fabian
First reaction: good deal. More analysis/thought to come.
ESPN: Red Sox may have top Matsuzaka bid by Fabian
That would be a ton of money. Way more than I thought.
November 9, 2006
LoHud Yankees Blog - Abraham: Lots of tidbits by Fabian
-Mark Melancon had elbow surgery, will be out for the season. As far as I'm concerned, this was almost expected.
November 8, 2006
#25 by Fabian
Eduardo Nunez, SS, 19
Baseball America: Top 10 Yankees Prospects by Fabian
1. Phil Hughes, RHP
NY Post: BATTLE OF THE BIDS by SG
November 7, 2006
NY Times: Yankees Pick Up the Option on Sheffield by SG
November 5, 2006
Top Prospect Alert: 2007 New York Yankees Top 10 Prospects by SG
The owner of Top Prospect Alert sent me an email to let me know that they've posted the Yankees' top 10 list. Not much surprise to see Phil Hughes at #1. The rest of the list is pretty interesting, as three 2006 draftees are in the top 10, which could either mean that the Yankees had a good draft, or had a bad farm system.
November 3, 2006
"Gold Glove" Defense by Week by SG
Since J asked about Derek Jeter's defensive trend in 2006, here are the numbers by week.
November 2, 2006
Yankees.com: Jeter wins third straight Gold Glove by SG
Lohud Yankees Blog - Abraham: Seattle bails on Matsuzaka by SG
From Peter Abraham's fine Yankee blog:
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