Former Yankee Update: Clay Rapada

Bleeding Yankee Blue: CLAY RAPADA SIGNS WITH THE GIANTS! http://t.co/1flgZOMrGW @oswegos1 @MikeSkrzenski @ChristinaParkNY @charlespmoses
— Robert Casey (@BleednYankeeBlu) February 5, 2015

Remember Clay Rapada the side arm throwing LOOGY and former New York Yankee? Well according to Robert Casey of Bleeding Yankee Blue, yes he has his sources now (how long before a fake account tweets out fake information at the July 31st trading deadline?), Rapada has signed on for his 14th season with the San Francisco Giants. Rapada signed a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training and will compete for a roster spot in 2015.

We're rooting for you Clay and we hope you make the team and continue your dreams.

Yankees Invite 26 Players to Spring Training Camp

The New York Yankees have finally announced their list of players they are inviting to Spring Training and the list includes 26 players. In total New York will have 66 players in Spring Training including their 40 players on the 40 man roster.

Starting pitchers:

Scott Baker

Luis Severino

Relief pitchers:

Andrew Bailey

Jacob Lindgren

Nick Rumbelow

Tyler Webb

Nick Goody

James Pazos

Vicente Campos

Diego Moreno

Wilking Rodriguex

Infielders:

Cole Figueroa

Jonathan Galvez

Nick Noonan

Robert Refsnyder

Greg Bird

Cito Culver

Kyle Roller

Outfielders:

Aaron Judge

Jake Cave

Slade Heathcott

Catchers:

Juan Graterol

Eddy Rodriguez

Trent Garrison

Kyle Higashioka

Francisco Arcia

Chris Martin’s “Rags to Riches” Tale

Chris Martin has been showcased on the blog in Meet a Prospect but one subject we did not touch on in that post was what he did without baseball. Martin was drafted twice and never signed before hurting his arm pitching for a community college. Martin’s arm did not respond to the surgery and his baseball career and college career seemed over forcing Chris to take a job five years ago in a warehouse in Arlington, Texas pushing around 650 lbs. refrigerators onto dollies. Martin was living the American dream but it wasn’t his American dream.

Martin was working from 6:00 am to 2:00 pm in the lawn and garden section at Lowe’s and working from 5:30 pm to 11:00 pm loading 53 foot trailers for UPS at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Martin has come a long way since then pitching in the Major Leagues with the Colorado Rockies and now coming to Yankees spring training camp in 2015 wearing #61. Martin has come a long way since that 2008 season when he couldn’t throw without pain in his arm and has a high school friend to thank for him trying out for baseball again.

Jordan Bostick was his name and was a warehouse manager at Texas Appliance in Arlington. Bostick suggested Martin work for him to try and get him out of having to work two jobs to make ends meet. One day in June of 2010 Bostick took out a catcher’s mitt in the warehouse and they started to play catch. Martin reportedly was throwing hard with no pain in his surgically repaired shoulder and even joined a friend’s men’s league team to pitch and reported no pain. Martin took this opportunity and tried out for an Independent team and caught the eye of Pete Incaviglia. Long story short Incaviglia was impressed with the velocity of Martin’s fastball, 95 MPH comfortably in the tryout, and signed him for $800 a month. Martin responded by going 4-0 with a 1.95 ERA which led to Incaviglia calling a Red Sox scout to come check out what he had found.

The rest, as they say, is history. I loved reading this sort of rags to riches story and had to share it with everyone here. Martin is a Yankee now and we are damn glad to have him, his hard work and his character on the team.

Two Cuban Prospects Defect During Caribbean Series

Everyone is leaving Cuba these days by any means necessary aren’t they? Two players competing for the Cuban national team in the Caribbean Series have defected according to a tournament official. The two players were reportedly shortstop Dainer Moreira and pitcher Vladimir Gutierrez. These two are just the latest in a big blow to the Serie Nacional after players like Jose Abreu, Yasiel Puig, Aroldish Chapman, Yoenis Cespedes, Yoan Lopez, Yoan Moncada and Rusney Castillo left for the states in recent years. If you’re in Cuba and looking for a bright side neither Moreira nor Gutierrez are on the same level of skill as Moncada, Lopez, Cespedes and the others.

Moreira is 30 years old and is already considered to be a longshot to make the major leagues because of his advanced age and limited international level playing experience. Gutierrez is 19 years old with a smallish frame, 6’1”, and does not throw especially hard. Gutierrez has recently been throwing out of the bullpen but has starting experience in his 2013-2014 rookie of the year season in the Serie Nacional. 

Greedy Pinstripes Top 28 Prospects List: #24

Prospects Month is in full swing and we're already up to our 24th best prospect in the farm system, Ramon Flores.

Here is the write up from Kyle McDaniel on Flores:

Ramon Flores. LF Video: Flores is one of those players that reached his upside quickly, but doesn’t have much more to offer than as a solid part-time player. He has solid bat speed, great plate discipline and feel to hit with good plate coverage, but average at best power that limits the damage he can do.  Flores is a heady player with average speed and arm strength that can play all three outfield positions and should be able to contribute to the Yankees at some point in 2015 as the prototypical 4th outfielder that could hit his way into being a low-end regular for a few years.

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24. Ramon Flores
25. Gosuke Katoh
26. Chasen Shreve
27. Taylor Dugas

28. Johnny Barbato

Meet a Prospect: Domingo German

Domingo German was the fifth piece to move in the trade between the New York Yankees and the Miami Marlins on Friday that saw the Yankees David Phelps and Martin Prado and the Marlins Nathan Eovaldi and Garrett Jones change teams. German is an intriguing prospect, although is likely to start in High A Ball in 2015, after coming out of the Marlins and Mariners systems as a highly touted right hander.

When Seattle traded him to Miami he was their 6th best prospect in their system and when Miami let him go to New York he was considered to be their 8th best prospect in the system. German, a native of the Dominican Republic, showcased his talent's in this years Futures Game where he threw a perfect frame as he continued to build on a strong season in Low-A as a starting pitcher. German is 21 years old and entering his age 22 season is likely headed to Tampa with the Tampa Yankees.

German hits 94 MPH with his sinking fastball and compliments it with a slider he is working on and what is considered to be an above average changeup. German posted a 9-3 record last season with a 2.48 ERA in 25 starts and 123.1 IP while striking out 113 and only surrendering 25 walks.

Looking at the 2015 Draft: 24th Best Prospect

Continuing our look at the 2015 MLB First Year Players Draft we take a look at the #24 ranked prospect expected to enter the draft. As always we will include the mini scouting report from MLB.com as we introduce the #24 prospect, Jake Lemoine. Lemoine is a RHP from the University of Houston.

Here is the write up from MLB.com:

Scouting grades: Fastball: 60 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 50 | Overall: 50

Houston hasn't produced a first-rounder since the Pirates made Brad Lincoln the fourth overall choice in 2006, but Lemoine could change that in June. He has the stuff and physicality to become one of the first college pitchers taken, provided he puts it all together on a more consistent basis.

Lemoine faded late in his sophomore season, but scouts liked the way he pitched off his 89-94 mph sinker with the U.S. collegiate national team during the summer. He also showed an average slider and effective changeup while with Team USA. At his best, he'll hit 97 mph with his heater and back it up with a plus slider and solid changeup.

A 21st-round pick by the Rangers as a Texas high schooler in 2012, Lemoine has a classic starter's build at 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds. He throws strikes but needs better command in order to miss as many bats as his stuff indicates he should.

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24. Jake Lemoine
25. Beau Burrows
26. Richie Martin
27. Kyle Tucker
28. D.J. Stewart

ICYMI: Three Yankees Rank in Low-A South Atlantic League Prospects Ranking

Baseball America continues to rank the Top 20 prospects in every minor league stop and today BA covered the Low-A South Atlanta League, or sometimes referred to as the Sally League. Three members of the New York Yankees made the list including Luis Severino (#4), Aaron Judge (#8), and Ian Clarkin (#15). The Washington Nationals had the top spot and third spot on the list with RHP's Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez. The Phillies shortstop of the future J.P Crawford took home the second spot in the rankings.

This Day in New York Yankees History 2/5: A Rod’s 500 Home Run Ball

On this day in 2010 the ball that Alex Rodriguez hit for his 500th home run was sold at auction for $103,579 to an anonymous bidder. The home run was hit at Yankee Stadium on August 4, 2007 and was recovered by a Rutgers University student.

On this day in 2002 Luis Arroyo was inducted into the Latin American Baseball Hall of Fame Museum. The Puerto Rican born relief pitcher had an eight year career and a 40-32 record with 36 saves and a 3.93 ERA in his career. Arroyo was best known for his 1961 season with the New York Yankees when he went 15-5 with 29 saves.

On this day in 1942 the Yankees traded Tommy Holmes to the Braves for Gene Moore and Buddy Hassett. Holmes played ten seasons and hit over .300 for the Boston Braves and would establish the National League record for consecutive games hit in with 37 until Pete Rose broke the record in 1978. You haven't heard of Moore or Hasset have you? Exactly.

Finally On this day in 1930 the New York Yankees lost shortstop Leo Durocher after a fallout in the Yankees clubhouse after a salary dispute with Yankees general manager Ed Barrow. Durocher was 24 years old at the time and coming off a .246 average without a home run and 32 RBI's the previous season.