jacksonianmarch

Beckett may be slated to throw Friday, but he hasnt had a problem free throwing session since the incident. Is he going for an MRI? Irritation around the ulnar nerve is nothing new for a pitcher. Sometimes it is a predictor of things to come. Some players need nerve transposition surgery and others have tears in their UCL, which causes inflammation, and the first sign is an ulnar neuropraxia. But the majority of these are self limited.

Just wanted to refine my comments on this class. The Yankees signed 4 pitchers in February. Two of them, Alfredo Aceves and Manuel Banuelos, will be considered included in the 2008 signing list. Banuelos, who is 17, is dominating the GCL this yr and Alfredo Aceves, who is 25, has climbed from A+ ball to AAA and is knocking on the MLB door. Aceves last start was a beauty. 6IP 3H 0ER 2BB 8K. Why is that significant? Because Travis Hafner, Victor Martinez and Josh Barfield were in the lineup. Not bad.

Now for the aftermath. I am very excited about the infusion of very young talent into this system. While that is the more risky proposition (ie less HS draftees make it to the bigs), it has the higher upside (most of the MLB HOFers and All Stars were HS draftees). Corban Joseph, Kyle Higashioka and Garrison Lassiter were solid draft and signings. All 3 have advanced offensive approaches and should rocket through the system. Chris Smith fits into this mold as well, but he is much more of a project than the other three. Brett Mitchell was the HS jewel now that Cole let us down. 96mph cheese with a plus slider and a solid changeup. His first two outings have been dynamite and those in attendance were surprised by how good his changeup actually is. (He uses it as his second pitch). Mikey O'Brien, Matt Richardson and Nick Turley are the other 3 HS pitchers drafted. Richardson has the best mechanics, O'Brien the best arm and Turley the highest upside. 6'7" lefties with low 90s heat dont grow on trees. I am also pleased with the college arms. Bleich will give us a lefty with major league potential and likely good vertical movement. Mitchell will give us another righty sinkerballer with an advanced arsenal who should move through our system. Phelps gives us a dominant right hander with power and finesse who had an uncharacteristic junior yr after dominating as a sophomore. And I like the Braboy pick here too. A guy with 6 months worth of experience on the hill who can throw 96mph. Where we missed the boat was in the college position player market. I know it wasnt the deepest college market out there, but the biggest guy we got was David Adams. While I like Adams, and think he's in the Pedroia mold, I dont think he should be the only headliner of this college position player class. Dan Brewer was the 8th round pick and he looks like a 4th OFer at best, even if everything goes right. The biggest offensive college position player didnt sign (Luke Anders) so missing out on a bat in that market is a bit disappointing. Regardless, the yankees ended up in the bottom 5 in terms of bonuses shelled out. If Cole and Bittle signed, the yankees would have spent about 9 mil on the draft, which would have had them in the top 5. That being said, without the headliner in Cole, this is a middle of the pack draft. Nomaas gave it a B-. Other sites regard this in the C+ range. Nothing great. But the quality of the HS players will make or break this draft. Time will tell

ok, you can feel free deleting this post then

Oh and in terms of his defense, here's a few morsels for thought. BA and a lot of the ESPN pundits are about a yr to a yr and a half behind when it comes to players in the lower levels. A yr and a half ago, Montero was a pretty raw catcher. He's made some strides in that regard, to a point where he is now just as good if not better than Austin Romine, the kid whom BA raved about his defensive ability. To be honest with you, Montero's Fielding % and CS% are much higher than Romine's. The legitimate concern from both the BA and the scout.com perspective is that he will simply outgrow the position. As an 18 yr old who is 6'4 and 225 pounds AFTER losing 25 pounds, that is a legitimate concern. Right now, as long as the kid works to stay in shape and doesnt grow anymore, he is right at the edge of the size of a big league catcher. Any more weight or height and they should call it a day and move him to 1b.

anything said in the AG forum should go then. If he is being an ass in the AG forum, then ban him from the forum itself.

So, now one yr later, how does it look? Well, three guys really stand out... For starters, the only guy who made it out of the Dominican was Arodys Vizcaino. Once people actually saw him, they knew he couldnt remain in the DSL. He's a more powerful Jairo Heredia. His fastball sits 93-94 and he's only 17. His numbers in the GCL this yr are solid too. 48K in 44IP with a near 4:1 K/BB ratio and a BAA of .225. This looks like a very, very good pick. The other two guys who stand our are Eduardo Sosa and Kelvin De Leon. De Leon was the big ticket, 70-80 power guy who should have started the yr in the GCL. But a log jam of previous DSL signees prevented him from making his american debut. That being said, he hasnt disappointed. In 63 games, he's racked up a .399OBP and a .489SLG. One thing that is a bit scary is the fact that he's stuck out a bit less than 1 every 3 ABs. The other signee who is just lights out is Eduardo Sosa. He was a Johnny Damon comp. who also stayed in the Dominican based upon a numbers game. He's also 17 yrs old and has just killed the DSL. .315/.405/.472 with 30 steals is nothing to laugh at. Jose Mojica, the guy who the yankees signed late and was considered to be a top 10 talent, blew out his knee in spring training and missed the yr with ACL reconstruction. He'll be back in 09, likely in the GCL or NYP league. Jorghe Liccien is apparently a damn good defensive catcher, but isnt hitting well. Maicar Sousa now goes by the name Maicar Alves and he's pitching well in limited duty, but he is a non-prospect since he cannot break 85mph. De La Rosa and Henry Pena, two big budget signees were flat out awful this yr.

I think that is a good comparison. I think Lars has and will continue to have a better eye. But I think Montero will have more power.

I dont think Eli ever turned a corner. He is what he is, an inconsistent QB capable of lighting you up or bombing out completely. He did so through the entire run. Hell, he tried his best to throw the super bowl away, but the patriots DBs thought they should look good for the camera rather than catch the ball. If Eli does "turn a corner", then the O will be something to behold. But I dont think he will.

For sheer offensive skills, I dont think you'll find anyone in our system who is better. For the overall position player package, I think Jackson will beat him out this yr, his last month aside. Couple things on Montero.. In terms of base hit ability, at the beginning of the yr, I would say he and Hilligoss would be near the top. As in solid contact to all fields. Well, Montero takes the cake since Hilligoss bombed out this yr. In terms of raw power, Montero and Laird take the cake. In terms of eye, it is a bit difficult to expound on MiLB stats, but Montero has an advanced view of the zone. His isoPatience isnt the best marker. More the fact that he doesnt K a lot and hits for solid line drives more often than not. But in terms of patience, I think he is in the 4th-5th range. The best in the yankee system is Kyle Anson in terms of eye IMO. His ETA is variable. I know, not the best answer. But the yankees have been trying to shore up the catcher position since Cashman took the reigns. He took Kyle Anson in the 05 draft with the purpose of moving him to catcher. Unfortunately, 2 yrs worth of knee and back injuries threw him out of whack. We have Francisco Cervelli, who is a very solid catching prospect, more along the good eye, solid but not great stick and above average glove type. We also added Austin Romine last yr and Kyle Higashioka this yr. He also drafted a SS (Addison Maruszak) who is dominating the NYP league, who will likely be catching next yr as well. The catching depth in the system is very deep and should start to see results next season (I expect Cervelli to see time in the bigs). That said, if Anson or Cervelli stick, then Montero's ETA will be moved up. As a catcher, he hits a logjam of deserving prospects and right now he splits time behind the plate and DH with another solid, deserving prospect in Austin Romine. If he was moved to 1b, he'd be behind only Miranda, who'll likely make his MLB debut next yr. So therefore, as a catcher, Montero wont be ready until 2011-2012. If he was a 1b right now, I'd say he could have made it to AA already. So if, for the sake of arguing, he converted to 1b over the winter, he'd likely reach AA or AAA by the end of 2009 and be ready for his debut a la Miguel Cabrera in 2003, in August or so of 2010.

I see banned next to his name and I cannot for the life of me find something bannable. And if you are gonna move this to the anything goes thread, please PM me with a reason (I dont have access to anything goes and would rather not venture there).

SO he has a lateral meniscus tear? Most of those are rather benign. He must have a whopping chunk hanging off

I think the approach leaves you shorthanded. Keeping Beckett and Drew on the roster when they are likely not gonna be ready by day 15 of inactivity makes no sense.

Montero hit his 17th homer today, a 3 run opposite field shot. For the yr, he's hitting .322 with 17HR and 83RBI as an 18 yr old in the SAL. If he stays at catcher, then he's at least 2-3 yrs off. If he converts to 1b, he could be a Bronx option by mid 2010

I agree. We have hit Wakey pretty well of late (he used to dominate us) and Byrd has been hit or miss off us of late (we used to own him). To be honest with you, only one of your top 3 throws in the series, while our top two are going, so I expect 2 of 3. Anything less, and you might as well toss in the towel.

Notice something here. The sox said that Drew would be back in a day or two and he's been out a week. They didnt really reveal the extent of Lowells hip injury and the oblique may have been a blessing. They downplayed DiceK's injury and he was out 3+ weeks. They downplayed Beckett and he could be hitting the DL. If Francona addresses anything with, "well it looks like its gonna be a day or two, its nothing serious", then bank on a DL stint. What Drew has, even a tough, hardnosed player would have trouble playing through. This is JD. I'd be shocked if he doesnt hit the DL with this

the yankees will not jump back in this. They need to take all 3 vs the sox IMO and that entails the sox not beating the living piss out of Sidney Fatson. Granted, the loss of Manny all of a sudden makes Moose a bit more effective against the sox, but the series needs to be swept. That being said, the Twins are going nowhere and are likely gonna take it to the rack as ALC champs. The White Sox are the wild card IMO. If they can play well vs some stiff competition, then the WC could come out of the central this yr.

He didnt have the classic hit on a planted knee, but the way he locked up after an awkward twist made the possibility of ACL tear pretty likely.

The Giants won the Super Bowl once their front line got into a solid rotation and rushed the passer without needing to blitz. We won the Super Bowl because our front 4 were able to beat the Pats O-line off the ball and into the backfield. We have now lost the two biggest names from that front line. Strahan, Osi, and Tuck were the rotating DEs and ensured that the position was going to be stacked with fresh, powerful pass rushers. Now, Tuck and Kiwanuka will be on the field all season with a 3rd DE who is nowhere near their caliber. We just took the Gmen's biggest strength and turned it into an average position. With the deletion of Shockey, Wilson and Mitchell as well, this team went from a potential Super Bowl caliber team to a team that will struggle to win 8-9 games. When the season started, I thought we could win 9-10 games and make another run. Without Osi, I dont think we get there

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2008/08/24/beckett_pushed_back_again/?page=2 Lugo may be done for the yr. Not sure if thats a bad thing for you guys. It might give Lowrie enough rope to win the job for good.

Every time the yankees win you do this. Ridiculous. I find it interesting how you have said they are cheating and that they are getting the calls. And the method you cite for the cheating is just hilarious. For a smart guy, you sound like you have a lot of sour grapes. And for what? You have 2 rings since 2001, we dont

If he tore his ACL, the season is over before it began. Might be time to call Strahan

I still have a lot of faith in this kid. He's 22, has a good arm and a good arsenal. But as we are seeing with Kennedy and Buchholz and even Lester prior to this season, he struggles with FB location. Joba doesnt have to worry about it cause he throws so damn hard. But the guys who sit low 90s need to put the ball on a dime. They are all capable, it is just about being capable and consistent and that is what these three lack, consistency.

This is a lost season for Hughes. A lot of times, guys get hurt and are able to throw on the side. The majority of their return is the rehab. Hughes wasnt allowed to throw at all for 2.5 months. Figure most players take 6 weeks of throwing full speed to get back into playing shape and some guys take a month into the season to get rolling. Hughes was diagnosed in the first week of May. He didnt start even playing catch until mid-July. He didnt pitch off a mound until the end of July. The idea that a young kid still maturing and learning the game could be our "savior" coming back from a debilitating injury (from a rehab perspective) was dumb from the start. If I were running things, I'd make sure Hughes keeps throwing in AAA and then move him to whichever league is in the playoffs so he can log more innings. I wouldnt consider him for a spot this yr. And to be honest with you, due to the fact that he's now lost about 1.5 of the past 2 seasons, he should start in AAA and only come up if he is absolutely dominating.