Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Searching for Minor League Depth: Tommy Kahnle


EDIT: So much for that. The Chicago White Sox just acquired him.

The New York Yankees left an interesting arm unprotected before the 2014 Rule 5 Draft named Tommy Kahnle hoping that his high walk numbers and relative proximity to the Major Leagues would keep him in the Bronx. That plan did not come to fruition as the Colorado Rockies selected Kahnle in the Rule 5 Draft and hid him as the 25th man on the roster and the last man in the bullpen for the entire 2014 season. Kahnle impressed many in 2014 but was seemingly exposed a bit as he went back to bad habits in 2015 leading the Rockies to designate him and three others for assignment last week. As New York continues to search for minor league depth could Kahnle and his inflated walk numbers possibly be headed back to the Bronx, or Scranton?

Kahnle’s walk rate ballooned to a whopping 7.6 BB/9 in 2015 leading him to fall out of grace in Colorado, even as the long man and the mop up guy in the Rockies bullpen. Kahnle walked a lot of batters when Colorado acquired him and survived enough to warrant a spot in 2014, there is no reason why he can’t continue to keep his walks down in 2016. Getting Kahnle out of Colorado and the thin air inside Coors Field should only help the young right-hander. Well that and his mid-90’s fastball that he can still zing up there with relative ease.


Kahnle is a project and the Yankees love projects. There’s no such thing as a bad minor league deal, especially when a “wrong” is being righted at the same time. Sign Kahnle to a minor league deal and see what our minor league pitching instructors and coaches can do. 

5 comments:

  1. TESTING......1-2-3, Testing 1-2-3.

    ReplyDelete
  2. 'Air patrick' is back on line, finally !

    Can you hear me New Jersey ?..Can you hear me Creedmoor Psych Ctr ? Sure you can.

    The last man standing from the former, great...iYankees Site. And, the only man on earth to
    survive three lifetime bans from that toilet...Yankee Fans Unite, was done in by a crashed
    hard drive.
    It could have been worse, Jesus could have called me home.
    Glad to be back. I will find my seat on the bench.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad to have you back. Was getting a little quiet around here.

      Delete
  3. Tommy Kahnle.....Nice article Daniel...... Funny how things happen, I know, you know,
    that the White Sox signed him just around when you posted.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I actually had this written up days ago and I got sick for nearly a week and took a break. That's how much stuff i have written up and saved in drafts, the site never went quiet. I finally had this posting today until I saw the news so I just threw it out there with the "edit" because I hate wasting posts.

      Oh, and thank you!

      Delete

Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)