Manuel "Manny" Banuelos was born on March 13, 1991. Manny was signed along with three other players from the Mexican League by the Yankees including Alfredo Aceves. Banuelos signed for $450,000 and had an immediate impact in the Yankees system. Banuelos wasted no time as he participated In the All Star Futures Game in 2009 as a part of the MLB All Star Game. Banuelos also went down to the Arizona Fall League in 2010 and earned a spot on the team’s All Star team.
Before the 2010 season Banuelos was rated as the Yankees sixth best prospect according to Baseball America. By 2011 he has jumped to fourth best prospect in all of the land and was one of the Top 50 overall prospects according to MLB.com Banuelos boasts a mid-90’s fastball and an above average changeup and curveball that was on display in the 2011 Spring Training in which he struck out the world in the Grapefruit League. Mariano Rivera even went as far as to say that Manny was the best pitching prospect that he had ever seen. Whether that is a testament to the lack of pitching prospects coming through the Yankees system or Banuelos’ true talent remains to be seen but I have a feeling it is the latter and not the former. Banuelos was awarded with the James P. Dawson Award that spring which is given to the best rookie in camp every year. Banuelos saw himself get all the way to AAA Scranton Wilkes Barre on August 2, 2011 where he has been ever since.
The injury bug started to plague Banuelos in 2010 when he missed some time with an appendectomy and finished with a Tommy John Surgery in 2012 that had him miss most of that season and all of the 2013 season. Now Manny is back fully healthy and ready to compete once again in the spring for either a starting rotation spot or a bullpen spot. I really and truly believe that Banuelos will be one of the final cuts, if at all, in the Yankees spring this season if he is truly healthy.
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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)