jacksonianmarch

Dojji, I am not sure you can even call him a prospect yet. Its too early. And for Dipre, find a place where I made a dedicated thread about an unheralded draft pick who hadnt reached the long season leagues. Go ahead, keep looking.

I dont doubt that high school kids in the GCL should bear watching. I just think that making a thread dedicated strictly to one unheralded HS kid in the GCL is a bit overkill, IMO. Cause a lot of these guys flame out when they get moved to the long season leagues. See Angelini, Carmen for examples of that

For the Tampa Yankees, a championship was a good way to end a solid season. For the year in review, two names need to be mentioned. One, is Dellin Betances, whose arm exploded again, and the other is Jesus Montero, who was the best player in the league and was promoted. That didnt stop Tampa on their way to the title, though. First off, the pitchers, and there are a lot of them. But the majority of them came from Charleston or left to go to Trenton. Its amazing that they won it all without having a stable rotation, well, ever D.J. Mitchell came up from Charleston and really stabilized the rotation. His line in Tampa was 103.1IP 93H 33ER 38BB 83K for a 1.27WHIP and a 2.87ERA. His two level season and subsequent solid efforts in High A should put him in the discussion for the rotation in AA next season. Hector Noesi was another promotion from Charleston. In 9 starts, he had a 3.92ERA but a 0.92WHIP and 40Ks in 41.1IP. His solid split season and the fact that he is older than the league likely puts him at the head of the class for promotion to AA in 2010 David Phelps was another promotion from Charleston. His numbers and stuff improved significantly since his callup. In 7 starts, he threw 38.1IP with an ERA of 1.17, a WHIP of 1.04, and a K/BB of 5.33. He, along with Noesi and Mitchell will be in the discussion for callup to AA Jairo Heredia, the highest touted pitcher of the group, missed almost the entire yr with shoulder woes. Upon his return, he allowed only 6ER in 36IP before hitting a wall in his last 2 starts (10ER in 2.1IP). He will repeat in High A in 2010. Dellin Betances had another up and down season, except this one was mostly down. After a season mostly spent walking people and seeing doctors, his season finally ended with ligament stabilization surgery (apparently not TJ) and should allow him to return in 2010 in some capacity. To this point, though, he has been a bust and might be in line for a move to the pen. Pat Venditte was another callup from Charleston. The switch pitcher was terrible in his first few starts, but eventually put up a pretty good yr. 47K in 36IP and a 1.25WHIP isnt a bad way to start. He'll probably snake his way to Trenton for 2010 Promoted Pitchers Jeremy Bleich was the highest signed pick from the 2008 class (Round 1-supp) and he pitched well in Tampa. 1.27WHIP and 3.40ERA through 79.1IP was nice, but probably not deserving of the promotion he received. And in Trenton, he was raked. Grant Duff everybody, keep an eye on this name. Duff played 2009 as a 26 yr old righty who was drafted in 2004. After being drafted, he went to SI and dominated, showing high 90s stuff and a lights out slider. Well, he battled injuries for 2005 and really wasnt the same. This yr was to be his last season under yankee control, until a weird thing happened on promotion to Trenton. The fastball came back. He was throwing high 90s (98, 99mph) ched again. His FB was so lively that he went from being a lock to be a MiLB FA to being a lock to be protected for the Rule V in December and being placed on the 40 man. If he maintains this velocity, he could be an option for the yankee bullpen in 2010. if he doesnt, then expect him to be cut prior to ST. Wilkin de la Rosa- the 24 yr old has been in the yankee system forever. He was signed as an OFer out of the dominican, but sucked and was converted to a pitcher. He is a lefty who throws gas and really is an obvious bullpen projection. But the yankees continue to think he can start. So, he started in Tampa, dominated after 3 starts and made his way to Trenton, where he was good, but not lights out. I expect this kid to be a reliever next season in Trenton and be an option for the yankee pen come mid season. On to the hitters, one thing to remember about this league is that it is the epitome of a pitchers league. The parks are big and the pitchers for the most part are comprised of the top picks from the previous season's drafts. So, the hitters in this league are typically a bit slower to pick up and are typically a bit lighter on their stats Austin Romine played the entire season as a 20 yr old and was actually voted the FSL MVP this season. Romine was 8th in the FSL in homers (13), 4th in RBI (72), and 7th in SLG (.441). Not to mention, he was quite possibly the best defensive catcher in the league and also added on 11 stolen bases. Romine is, IMO, the best yankee catching prospect we have had in a long time. He's a tough out who has power, speed and is a great catcher with a strong arm. And as good as Montero is offensively, Romine balances his talent out which will make him better served as the future starting catcher for NY. He is a lock to start 2010 in Trenton and is on pace to be ready for the bigs after Posada's contract expires in 2011. He will be playing winter ball this yr against some of the minor's best players, so it could be a good barometer for him. Brandon Laird played the entire season as a 21 yr old and played 3b for the FSL champs. He was another driving force in the lineup, tying Romine for 8th in the FSL with 13 homers and leading the league in RBI at 75. He had another season where he started off slow (.619OPS pre AS) and finished strong (.864OPS post AS). He is a developing 3b, but really looks like a 1b in the future. He is a lock to be Trenton's starting 3b next season and with another strong yr under his belt, he could be poised for a power explosion in 2010 (he did hit 23 homers in 2008). Damon Sublett played the season as a 23 yr old and repeating a level after an injury marred 2008, made a smooth transition to CF from 2B. He put together a very solid season and improved significantly as the season went along. His line of .270/.376/.416 was nice in a pitcher's league, but the .857 post ASB OPS was even nicer to see. I expect to see him in the OF for Trenton next yr and is an interesting prospect going forward for the yankees. Promoted Hitters Jesus Montero- he is the big daddy of all yankee prospects. Montero, 19 for the entirety of 2009, and the consensus #1 prospect in the yankee system, really continued to show why he has that title. Starting out the yr with a .358/.406/.583 line in Tampa, he was promoted to Trenton. In AA, he put up a .909OPS and finished the yr with 17 homers before a broken finger ended his campaign a month early. He should open 2010 platooning with Romine (the other being 1b or DH) in AA, but I assume that his offense will push him to Scranton and maybe into the Bronx as a bench bat come the playoffs in 2010. He also is likely to be in the top 5 in BA's top 100 list for 2010, and he has earned it. The question has to be raised, can he be a big league catcher? While he has shown improvements, he isnt close to where he needs to be. And with both Cervelli and Romine playing well in the system (and with guys like Murphy, Higashioka and Sanchez behind him), there is a good chance he is moved off the position for good early on in his career (DH/LF early on then 1b when Tex's contract expires). Matthew Cusick LaTroy Hawkins got us Cusick who was an intriguing 2b in the Astros system. He didnt disappoint in Tampa, where his .800+ OPS and .313 AVG were both second at the time of his promotion to Montero. Unfortunately, Cusick sucked in AA, so he is looking at a platoon role with Adams and other infielders for 2010. Tampa had a good yr in the title run. But the talent currently there should solidify AA for the yankees and the positional prospects moving into the higher levels should make the yankee machine just that much stronger. It will be interesting to see how Romine handles the season in AA, and if he does well, he could be a big piece for NY in terms of the long term catching of the team.

I am scared of every post season series, especially with our ballpark. Granted, we seem to dominate in NY, but no lead is safe when we have a righty on the hill.

Charleston Riverdogs season in review. I honestly dont think there was a more talented minor league team to implode then explode this season than the Charleston Riverdogs. They finished with the second best record in their division, but narrowly missed the first half title and missed the overall title by 2 games. The season was marred by injury and inconsistency as well. Starting with the pitchers: Andrew Brackman- started off strong, then imploded in the rotation. A late season switch to the pen did him wonders and makes one think that the pen could be his eventual role. He had a 2 month lull where he walked more than a batter per inning pitched and his FB was topping out in the 90mph range. Since his change to the pen, his heater had picked up into the mid 90s and his command improved. He'll be an interesting topic of conversation in prospect circles, because it sounds like NY is intent on giving him one more shot at a rotation spot Manuel Banuelos- The mexican lefty pitched the entire season as an 18 yr old and he pitched extremely well. Heck, well enough to land him on the futures team and likely within the top 50 in next yrs BA list. He threw 109IP, had a 1.06WHIP and a 2.67ERA to go along with 106K's. He is now the best pitching prospect of the Riverdogs bunch and should be a fast riser next yr if he continues his dominance with Tampa. Brett Marshall- 20 yrs old and arguably the best pitcher signed by NY out of the 2008 draft class had an off and on season until he went down with Tommy John surgery. He is expected to miss all of 2010. Brandon Braboy pitched admirably as the swing man for Charleston. He was old for the league, but drafted out of Indianapolis as a new pitcher, he had a nice debut. His live arm projects well out of the pen, but he still has a lot of work to do on his off speed offerings Brad Rulon a soft tossing right handed reliever, had a ridiculous season out of the pen. 0.88WHIP, 1.18ERA and 9.8K/9IP, he is due for a promotion, but I dont think his stuff will get by at the higher levels. Promoted Pitchers David Phelps- Phelps was our most polished draft pick out of ND a yr ago and he pitched well in Charleston. But, what he did in Tampa is going to put him on the prospect map. He was billed as a location first pitcher with a FB that topped out at 92mph and good command of an average to plus curve and an average change. But once he got to Tampa, he started sitting in the 93-95 range, something that is sure to improve his stock with the organization D.J. Mitchell- A Clemson pitcher we drafted in the 10 spot in 2008, Mitchell really shone in the Yankee system. He started 2009 with Charleston and put up an incredible line. 37IP 31H 8ER 6BB 42K, which earned him a promotion to Tampa. He continued pitching well, albeit with a little less command and a little less power, but has cemented himself as a good looking sinkerballer in the NY system Pat Venditte- the switch pitcher, put up a ridiculous line in Charleston. 30.2IP 24H 5ER 40K 2BB. That earned him a promotion to Tampa. His first few outing in Tampa were terrible, but he righted himself and continued dominating there with 47K in 36IP and notching a low 2's ERA. Nobody ever wants to call him a prospect because he's a pus throwing from both sides of the rubber, but he keeps getting people out. On to the position players Jose Pirela played the entire season as a 19 yr old at SS and he played rather well. His offensive line of .295/..354/.381 shows the kind of patience this kid has, but he is very, very young and his power is expected to develop eventually. He only stole 9 bases, but he should be expected to do more in the future. Regardless, it was a good debut for the kid, and he should slot into the starting job in Tampa next yr. Corban Joseph played the entire season as a 20 yr old and was arguably the Riverdogs best offensive player. His line of .300/.381/.418 shows patience and some power. A quarter of his hits were for extra bases and he is expected to develop into a power hitter eventually (only 4 homers this yr). The amazing thing about this kid is that he spent the entire season playing both 2b and 3b while also being the backup SS. He should slot in as the starting 2b in Tampa for 2010. Abraham Almonte- the dominican CFer, turned 20 halfway through the season. He had an up and down season. He started the yr poorly, putting a line together of .245/.303/.315 in 50 games pre-allstar (he missed a few weeks with an ankle injury). But in 65 games post allstar break, he was dynamite, .305/.355/.445. Now, he isnt a guy expected to hit 30 homers, but he has gap power (14 doubles, 10 triples 5 homers) and incredible speed (36/41 in SBs) so he is an intriguing prospect to follow mostly because of his 5 tool talent. He should slot into Tampa's open CF spot for 2010. Garrison Lassiter- played the entire season as a 19 yr old. He's a big framed 3b/SS who was signed late in 2008. He came to Charleston and had a mediocre start, but an injury really shelved him prior to the ASB and he never was the same. He finished the season with a .262/.332/.337 line. He is expected to hit for power eventually, but his injury marred season will likely leave him in Charleston for 2009. Carmen Angelini- I hate this kid. Literally, hate him. He was signed for 1 mil out of the 10th round in 2007. He was billed as Jeter's replacement and had all the tools. Well, turns out, he has no f***ing tools. Start out on D. He made 18 errors in his first 33 games. His line in A ball was .197/.255/.258. He was sent down to the NYP and actually got worse (.190/.253/.270) and the only reason why his SLG was up was because of his 2 homer game in late august. As much as Betances and Brackman disappointed this yr, this kid is one of the biggest prospect misses since Jonathan Poterson. Awful. Promoted Hitters David Adams- when he was drafted in the 3rd round last yr out of Virginia, everyone was touting his Pedroia-esque abilities. He was billed as scrappy, a good hitter who has some surprising pop and someone who will have tough ABs at all times. And he didnt disappoint. For Charleston, the second baseman put up a line of .290/.385/.394 with 8 steals in 67 games. Not a bad line for a guy in his first season of professional baseball, although he didnt hit any homer for Charleston. Upon promotion, though, the power quickly came through. He hit 7 homers in 65 games in Tampa and put up an OPS of .858. Overall, he hit 40 doubles between the two levels and walked 65 times. He is going to move up to Trenton in all likelihood and is going to be quite an intriguing prospect moving forward and hopefully he continues to live up to the Pedroia commentary. Daniel Brewer only two promotions out of this group this yr. Brewer was an 8th round selection out of Bradley last season and he didnt disappoint. Between the two levels, he put up a line of .306/.393/.435 with 29% extra base hits and 22 stolen bases. He will likely stay in Tampa for the start of 2010 as the team's RFer and easily projects as a 4th OFer with his current skillset. If the power comes along, he could project out as a poor man's starting OFer a la David Murphy. So overall, up and down yr for Charleston. Disappointment abounds with the biggest blue chippers in the group, between Brackman, Marshall and Angelini. But Pirela, Joseph, Adams, and Banuelos filled in as blue chippers and made 2010 far from a lost cause.

dispute it if you could

As it turns out, just as Gom posted this, he turned around. Thanks Gomer! Brackman and Bard may end up in the same category after all. Big, tall guys from NC schools who have minimal command out of the starters role, but then find it in the pen. Brackman as a reliever: 21IP 17H 6ER 12BB 24K - Not great, but not bad. But in his last 10 innings, he was really good. 4G 10IP 6H 0ER 0BB 9K From the sounds of it, the yankees are going to promote him to Tampa in 2010 and keep him in the rotation for one more try as a starter. If that fails, he'll be converted to relief for good. But it is good to see the command and the power is back for Brackman after inexplicably losing it after his 8IP 1H performance in May

they are the best team in the history of the sport. That really isnt debatable

I must say, I like nutter butters a lot

Stupid use of the table there Dojji

2008 was an utter disaster. If we lose in the playoffs, it will be a disappointment to say the least

I was responding to this stupid quote

RW, what is the point? Do you want the sox to be engaged in an all out battle for the division, a battle that they would need serious help with? The sox are damn near a lock for the playoffs at this time. It might behoove the sox to sit back, relax some of their guys and give their team a rest. The Rangers gave them enough of a scare to play balls out into mid September. Now, they can ease off the pedal a little.

We shall see. I wouldnt be surprised if the sox bring in a Kevin Cash type to spring training and have him fight it out with Wagner, Brown, and Kottaras for backup duties

and find ONE spot where I said the yankees were a lock to win the world series. Find ONE quote. Just one. I have said that the yankees are the best team going into the playoffs and I have predicted them to win the world series, but nowhere, absolutely nowhere did I say they were a lock. After seeing 13 consecutive seasons of playoff baseball, some where we were the best team and lost, and others where we werent the best team and won, I will never say that a team is a lock to win anything outside of the regular season.

Wouldnt be surprised if we see a Burnett and CC arm fatigue story coming up soon too, especially when we clinch home field. Why not? Play some psychological games with the opposition

I wont be leaving unless yeszir bans me, which I dont see happening at this juncture.

Short season, as nice as it is, can be very, very misleading. I have two examples for you from the yankee side. Justin Snyder and Braedyn Pruitt. Pruitt, drafted in 2007, hit .347 with a .907OPS in the NYP. He hit around .200 with a sub .600OPS the following yr and was cut. Snyder, drafted in 2007, hit .335 with a .936OPS in the NYP. The following yr, he actually was serviceable. He made it to AA this yr, where he hit under .200 over 236ABs. There is a reason why a lot of these unheralded guys are unheralded. The majority of them have marginal skills and a hot month in the short season leagues gives them ridiculous numbers. But once they hit long season and a hot month doesnt really alter the stats as much, they are exposed. Its a nice start for a young kid, but it is WAY too early to start thinking about him in the red sox future. Way too early.

Dipre, you are in line to eat some serious crow this yr, I hope you know that.

Dojj. Brown is a AAAA player who can hit poor pitching and is a passable catcher. Usually, you want to gain something when you use your backup catcher. A lot of teams have defensive specialists as backups, like NY does with Molina and will next yr with Cervelli. The sox are probably going to be looking in that direction for 2010 IMO. Cause VMart is not a good catcher, but his O makes up for it. And if he's only catching half the time (DH and 1B other times) then it might be a good idea to get someone who can be an upgrade on the defensive end. Brown isnt that guy

He is a good writer

Hell, there's a chance that the Twins beat out Detroit for the Central, and their best starter is Pavano and their best power threat is out for the yr in Morneau

4th best. They are 3 games under .500 on the road, and for a championship caliber team, that kinda sucks.

Lackey-Kazmir-Weaver-Saunders is better than anything that includes DiceK or the unproven Buchholz