So Much Talent Being Wasted In Scranton

The Yankees offense continues to struggle while there is so much talent just being wasted in Triple-A right now. The Scranton Wilkes Barre RailRiders offense may be better than the big league club's offense right now. I continue to beat the drum and I continue to ask the question, why are these guys still sitting in the minor leagues while guys like Ichiro Suzuki and Stephen Drew continue to make outs in the Bronx?

Name	Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Zoilo Almonte#	25	89	393	368	45	103	17	1	17	66	6	3	23	87	.280	.323	.470	.793
Taylor Dugas*	24	44	158	137	13	43	5	1	0	14	2	2	15	23	.314	.391	.365	.756
Ramon Flores*	22	53	230	199	27	52	16	3	5	19	3	2	29	38	.261	.352	.447	.799
Adonis Garcia	29	80	345	320	53	103	18	3	9	44	11	3	17	48	.322	.357	.481	.838
J.R. Murphy	23	43	167	153	14	36	8	0	4	21	0	0	11	38	.235	.283	.366	.649
Ronnier Mustelier	29	13	53	51	4	16	3	0	0	3	1	0	2	9	.314	.340	.373	.712
Jose Pirela	24	116	522	480	80	146	19	9	8	51	12	7	34	64	.304	.352	.431	.783
Rob Refsnyder	23	61	269	233	41	70	15	1	8	29	3	4	32	51	.300	.388	.476	.864
Kyle Roller*	26	88	374	322	53	91	19	3	15	44	0	0	44	105	.283	.380	.500	.880
Zelous Wheeler	27	79	325	295	48	88	25	0	9	38	1	0	24	58	.298	.363	.475	.838

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

All of a Sudden The Yankees Need an Outfielder

Going into the 2014 season the New York Yankees had too many outfielders and not enough positions to accommodate. Here we are at the end of July in the same season and the Yankees don't have enough outfielders to make a real run at a division title or a Wild Card. You really can't predict baseball Suzyn.

The Yankees started the season essentially with Brett Gardner as their left fielder, Jacoby Ellsbury manning center, Carlos Beltran as your right fielder, Alfonso Soriano as your full time designated hitter, and Ichiro Suzuki on the bench. Three months later you still have your mainstays in Gardner and Ellsbury but a bone spur has Beltran limited to DH only starts, Soriano is not on the team anymore, and Ichiro is essentially your every day right fielder.

The problem is Ichiro is a singles only hitter and has been exposed lately as an every day player. The Yankees don't seem comfortable with Beltran in the outfield at all this season and Ichiro is not going to cut it everyday, the Yankees need an outfielder. Since the Yankees won't call up Robert Refnsnyder and seem unwilling to call up Zoilo Almonte, Adonis Garcia, or Jose Pirela New York may instead turn their attention to the Texas Rangers Alex Rios.

Rios, at the time of writing this, is batting .302/.330/.405 with only four home runs and 16 stolen bases. Rios defense has actually been better than Ichiro's this season and his right handed bat would compliment the lineup well. The biggest issue is a six team no trade clause that is written into Rios' contract that includes the Yankees. Rios is in the last year of a monster deal but there is a team option for the 2015 season worth $13.5 million with a $1 million buyout.

The Yankees and the Rangers start a four game series tonight in Yankee Stadium and will play seven times before the trading deadline which is a perfect showcase for Rios and the Yankees. Will the Yankees make it happen? Stay tuned...

Quick Hit: Shane Greene & The Plan For The Pen

Have no fear Yankees family I have a plan for Shane Greene, Chase Whitley, and the rest of the New York Yankees bullpen. It has been announced that Greene will make his next scheduled start on Saturday, which is great news that I have been clamoring for since last night. Chase Whitley may be hitting an innings wall and will basically become useless in the starting rotation for the rest of the season so put him in the bullpen.

Designate Jim Miller for assignment, if we lose him oh well you need to give the kids a shot anyway, and clear a 25 man roster spot and 40 man roster spot. The rest I leave up to the people who are getting paid to make these decisions, namely Brian Cashman, as there are a plethora of options to choose from. The Yankees are playing an outfielder "short" after designating Alfonso Soriano for assignment and can call up Zoilo Almonte, who is already on the 40 man roster, Jose Pirela, or Adonis Garcia to take over. Robert Refsnyder has played the outfield before but I prefer to keep him in the infield. The Yankees also finally have a window to bring in a true first base backup in Kyle Roller with their new found roster flexibility.

Just a week ago we were basically stuck with what we had barring a shake up, which we may be in the middle of, or a trade or two. Now the options seems endless and that makes me happy. I have a plan, hopefully the Yankees do too.

Eat This, Not That: The Yankees Edition

Eat this: 

Adonis Garcia, outfielder: .312/.349/.460 in 232 PA

Not that:

Alfonso Soriano, outfielder: .232/.256/.391 in 219 PA

Eat this:

Kyle Roller, first basemen: .286/.366/.476 15 home runs

Not that:

Kelly Johnson, first base backup: .222/.294/.389 4 home runs

Eat this:

Jose Pirela, second basemen: .319/.358/.447 and 24 years old 

Not that:

Brian Roberts, second basemen: .244/.326/.344 and 36 years old

Eat this:

Zelous Wheeler, third basemen: .317/.369/.482

.

Not that:

This whole Yankees offense not named Mark Teixeira, Jacoby Ellsbury, Brett Gardner, and Carlos Beltran.

Yankees Invite 26 Non Roster Players To Spring Training

The Yankees have released a press release releasing the 26 non roster names that have been invited to Spring Training camp this year. Just as a reminder every man on the 40 man roster has an automatic invitation to camp so we will see the likes of Gary Sanchez, Dellin Betances, Manny Banuelos, Slade Heathcott, JR Murphy, Austin Romine, and Jose Ramirez to name a few will be there.

The list of guys invited were right handed pitchers Bruce Billings, Robert Coello, Brian Gordon, Chris Leroux, Matt Daley, Jim Miller, David Hernon, Yoshinori Tateyama, Danny Burawa, Chase Whitley, and Mark Montgomery. 

Left handed pitchers included Fred Lewis and Francisco Rondon. 

Infielders included Scott Sizemore, Yangervis Solarte, Zelous Wheeler, Russ Canzler, Francisco Arcia, Jose Gil, Peter O'Brien, Corban Joseph, and Jose Pirela.

Outfielders included Antoan Richardson, Mason Williams, Tyler Austin, and Adonis Garcia. 

With every list of invites is always the snubs or omissions and a big one that stands out is Ronnier Mustelier, who was expected to at least be in the discussion at third base. Greg Bird will not be making his second straight trip, although the Yankees brought extra players last season to account for the World Baseball Classic. Borderline players like Kyle Roller, Rob Segedin, and Addison Maruszak also did not make the cut, maybe next year. 

Yankees Winter Ball Playoffs Update

Last month we gave you all an update from the various Winter Leagues that Yankees prospects were taking part in and now those same players are playing in the playoffs, time for another update.

Zoilo Almonte:

.262/.295/.333 and six RBI's in 10 playoff games

Jose Pirela:

.269/.321/.269 in six games, all in the outfield. Pirela is normally a middle infielder

Adonis Garcia:

.313/.371/.438 through seven playoff games all that third base. Garcia is normally an outfielder

Ronnier Mustelier:

.286/.375/.286 in only four games with zero power

Zelous Wheeler:

The new guy on the block posted a .318/.400/.500 through seven games

Quick Yankees Winter League Wrap Up

The winter leagues are wrapping up or wrapped up with the end of the year looming and I wanted to take this time to give a quick wrap up on the winter leagues. Here are a few quick blurbs from the bigger named and closer to the majors Yankees prospects that participated in various winter leagues this offseason:

Zoilo Almonte: .316/.343/.454 w/ 4 HR and 20 RBI in 43 Dominican League games

Gary Sanchez: .267/.330/.367 w/ 1 2B and 2 RBI in 12 Domincan League games

Ronnier Mustelier: .270/.386/.360 w/ 2 HR, 27 RBI, and 28 BB in 53 Mexican Pacific League games

Adonis Garcia: .325/.347/.502 w/ 15 2B, 8 HR, and 39 RBI in 53 Venezuelan League games

Jose Pirela: .335/.419/.510 w/ 25 XBH, 41 RBI, and 33 BB in 61 Venezuelan League games

Great winter numbers for Zoilo who could be the Yankees 5th outfielder if New York can move Ichiro Suzuki to the San Francisco Giants. Garcia and Pirela are considered to be fringe prospects at this point but after this Venezuelan League showing the Yankees may be looking at adding them to the 40 man roster as soon as next offseason if this is a sign of what's to come. Mustelier had a disappointing showing overall in my opinion, especially in the power department, as well as Sanchez but at the end of the day you cannot put too much stock into these numbers, for better or worse.

Yankees Minor League Winter League Notes

Being posted as a part of Syndicated Sunday... on a Saturday... from Lohud

Chad Jennings does a great job in absolutely everything that he does and he did not disappoint when he covered the Yankees players playing in the various winter leagues. HERE is the original post but I will hit the high spots here. Enjoy.

• The weird Fall League of Peter O’Brien ended appropriately. He had two hits in his last 12 at-bats, but he also had four RBI in his final two games. O’Brien hit just .190 in Arizona, but he led the Scottsdale team with 19 RBI and four home runs. None of his teammates had more than two homers, and only four Fall Leaguers went deep more times than O’Brien did. He struck out 26 times and walked only twice, but he did slug .413.

• Vidal Nuno made his final Fall League appearance more than a week ago on November 6. He finished his Fall assignment with one earned run in his final 13 innings. He got off to a brutal start — an 8.10 ERA through two starts against much lower-level competition — but he finished strong, and got a total of 19.2 innings after having missed a good chunk of the season with that groin injury.

• Three straight multi-hit games for Zoilo Almonte down in the Dominican this week. He got a turn in center field on Wednesday — he’s done that occasionally in the minors as well — and he’s hitting .305/.352/.427 through 82 at-bats. Remember that Almonte missed a lot of time in the second half of the season, so he needs this playing time.

• Two straight multi-hit games for Cuban outfielder Adonis Garcia, who continues to bounce around the three outfield positions (and even got another late-inning assignment at third base on Tuesday). Garcia is in Venezuela hitting .287/.333/.448. He’s been significantly better against righties than against lefties.

• Borderline prospect Jose Pirela continues to rake in Venezuela. The guy has 16 hits in his past seven games, and he has 14 extra-base hits in a total of 31 games. He putting up a .347/.432/.525 slash line while playing second base and left field. This is not the first time Pirela has put up big numbers, yet the Yankees have never shown any indication that they think of him as an organizational stand out. Even in Venezuelan winter ball, though, this sort of offensive production really stands out.

• You know who continues to struggle offensively this winter? Musty! Playing in Mexico, Ronnier Mustelier is hitting just .224/.333/.271. He’s taking a bunch of walks, but he’s had only three extra-base hits, none of them homers.

• Back to the Fall League, late-addition Addison Maruszak had a nice but short stint. Getting time at all four infield position, Maruszak got just 32 at-bats and hit .281/.452/.344 with twice as many walks (10) as strikeouts (5). Maruszak can play absolutely anywhere — he’s even spent some time at catcher — and has occasionally shown some ability to hit. I’ve always liked him as one of these you-just-never-know utility types.

• None of the Yankees relievers sent to the Fall League did much to really stand out. Upper-level lefty Fred Lewis probably had the best stint. He went 11 innings without an earned run, and his 1.18 WHIP is rock solid. Lefties hit .214/.313/.214 against him. He was good, but maybe not the overwhelming results that might land him a 40-man spot. … I’ve said it before, but it seems like every year some Yankees pitcher leaves Arizona with brutally bad numbers. This year it’s Brett Gerritse with a 9.26 ERA and 1.97 WHIP through 11.2 innings. … James Pazos had a much better ERA than Gerritse with a 1.74, but that stat kind of masks the other numbers. Pazos allowed 13 hits and 7 walks through 10.1 innings. The bright side is that he’s a lefty, and he held lefties to a .200 average.

Francisco Cervelli Suffers Setback In Rehab

The Yankees may now be forced to jump into the Brian McCann sweepstakes as their catcher Francisco Cervelli has suffered a set back. Cervelli has a stress reaction in his right elbow that was found in an MRI yesterday afternoon. The difference between a stress reaction and a stress fracture is there is no crack in the elbow yet. The Yankees will undoubtedly shut down Cervelli to avoid the crack but this will be no week or two fix. Cervelli will rest it for at least two weeks before even thinking about any more baseball related activities so we will not see Cervelli before August or September.

Yankees Prospects Injury Updates

Manny Banuelos, who had Tommy John surgery, is throwing at 120 feet and doing long toss. It is a matter of weeks before ManBan is back on a mound according to Mark Newman.

Chase Whitley, who suffered an oblique injury in spring training, is throwing in extended spring training games and is a week to 10 days from returning to Scranton or Trenton.

Angelo Gumbs, who has a sprained right middle finger, is also playing in extended spring training games. Newman says that it is probably going to be a couple more weeks before Angelo is back with the Charleston Riverdogs.

Adonis Garcia, who had his hamate bone in his right hand broken this spring, is finally taking batting practice. He is not in extended spring training yet but expects to be soon.

Ravel Santana, who is still nursing a 2011 devastating ankle injury, is being brought along slowly here in 2013. He came back in 2012 but was never really right with that ankle. Ravel is now playing in extended spring training games but there is no time table on when he will be back.

More Yankees Injuries Updates

David Robertson was scratched from his appearance in last nights game against the Atlanta Braves because he could not get loose in the bullpen. Robertson said his shoulder was not sore and he is definitely not injured he just felt like he slept on it wrong the night before. He was removed for precautionary reasons but fully expects to pitch today against Team Dominican Republic.

Curtis Granderson had another X-ray yesterday and the doctors were happy with how his forearm was healing. Curtis has been cleared to start doing some core and lower body exercises to keep his body in shape. Curtis expects to need longer than expected because he did not start in any Spring Training games really but still expects it to be in the ten week time frame.

Mariano Rivera could possibly get into today's game against Team DR but Joe Girardi says it is more then likely going to happen on Saturday. The Yankees play the Braves at home on Saturday at 1:05 pm ET on YES Network.

Slade Heathcott has been out of action since spraining his thumb in an outfield collision with Ronnier Mustelier. He began taking batting practice for the first time since the injury yesterday and is expected to play in the game Saturday against the Braves.

Adonis Garcia broke his hamate bone in his left wrist during batting practice on Sunday. As much as I hate to say this because of what Mark Teixeira is currently going through but wrist injuries are usually pretty bad and lingering so I hate to hear this. Adonis is scheduled to have surgery on the wrist tomorrow and will miss six to eight weeks.

Prospects : Top 10 Yankees Outfield Prospects

Our friends over at Bronx Baseball Daily employee a good friend of mine, Greg Corcoran, who does some of the best stuff on prospects that I have ever seen. That should really resonate with people who know me because I have been following prospects like a religion since about 2005 and did the whole forum thing up until this past season. I actually tried to get Greg over on TGP in it's infancy before BBD offered him a position but I am getting off topic. He wrote up his Top 10 Yankees outfield prospects list, which is suddenly stacked with talent, so go over HERE and check it out. With his permission I am also posting it here for your reading enjoyment but I encourage you to head over to BBD and give them some views too, thanks and enjoy! For the full write up head over to BBD!!

BBDP: Yankees Top 10 Outfield Prospects

Outfield prospects have not been a strong suit for the Yankees organization since Brett Gardner and Melky Cabrera were coming up. Now there is a new batch of prospects knocking on the door and the organizational depth at the position is actually pretty extraordinary. Hopefully, somewhere in there lies a replacement for Nick Swisher and Curtis Granderson. Hopefully that replacement arrives soon. There is an expectation both within the organization and with scouts that at least one or two of these outfielders will work out, and the Yankees will save a ton of money.

10. Adonis Garcia 

9. Ronnier “Musketeer” Mustelier 

8. “Honest Abe” Abraham Almonte

7. “It’s Gam-Time” Ben Gamel

6. Melky Mesa ”Melkman 2.0″

5. Zoilo “Zee” Almonte

4. “Ray-Flo” Ramon Flores

3. Slade Heathcott

2. “Stone Cold” Tyler Austin

1. “Mad Mase” Mason Williams

As you can see with this system outfield depth is one of the major strengths. The Yankees have an excellent blend of major league close talent, extremely high upside talent, and long term projects. It will be interesting to see how these guys pan out, but all of them show significant promise and could help the major league team in one way or another soon.

Honorable Mention: Taylor Dugas, Rob Segedin

Yankees Sign Cuban Outfielder

Via Ben Badler, the Yankees have signed 26-year-old Cuban outfielder Adonis Garcia. The terms of the contract are unknown, but Brian Cashman shot down reports of a six-year, $16M offer back in March. I would be stunned if the deal came even remotely close to that number. 

The 5-foot-7, 180 lb. right-handed hitter put up a .270/.313/.461 batting line during winter ball, though Badler says Garcia “doesn’t have any standout tools, so it’s hard for scouts to see him fitting in as a big league regular.” Whatever the signing bonus is, it will not count towards this year’s international spending limit. That doesn’t kick in until July 2nd.

Garcia seems like an intriguing guy, seeing as how he could be the guy to take over for Swisher in right field next season. But don't start thinking he's currently at the same level as a Yoenis Cespedes. From the write-up at PRORumors.com, Adonis has some work to do before he's ready to play regularly at the MLB level. But along with being athletic, he also has a great attitude, so there's reason to be at least a bit optimistic. Just don't start creating trade scenarios for other outfielders in the system, and that includes Eduardo Nunez. Let's just hope it's not for 6 years, as that's a bit much.

UPDATE: According to Marc Carig, the Yankees only signed Garcia to a 1-year minor league deal worth $400,000. Not really sure what the point of the signing is, as he's not an option for the MLB team this season, but I'm sure there will be more to come on Adonis.