Winter League Assignments Are In

Just a quick blurb here announcing where the Yankees minor league players will be playing their winter ball this season. Obviously just because they are assigned there and on the team does not mean that they will necessarily play there as the Yankees still have full control over these players but the lists are what they are, and here they are:

Mexican Pacific League: 
OF Jose Figueroa
 IF Walt Ibarra
UTIL Ronnie Mustelier

Venezuelan Winter League:

 C Francisco Arcia

 IF Ali Castillo

 C Francisco Cervelli 

 C Jose Gil

UTIL Jose Pirela

Miller, Lillibridge, and Gonzalez Are Now Free Agents

The cookie is starting to crumble just a little bit on the off season as three Yankees minor league players declared themselves free agents today just a couple days after the Yankees took Mike Zagurski off the 40 man roster. Jim Miller, Brent Lillibridge, and Alberto Gonzalez all declared free agency for themselves and are able to sign with any team.

Miller pitched well for the Scranton team in his age 31 season and saw one inning of relief work with the big league club this season giving up three runs against the Boston Red Sox. Lillibridge played in 11 games for the Yankees fighting to stay above the Mendoza line while playing about every position on the infield. Gonzalez was brought up and sent off the 40 man roster two separate times this season and played 13 games as a 30 year old.

In other Yankees minor league news Roberto de la Rosa has been released and is also a free agent after throwing in one game way back in 2011 as an 18 year old rookie. If you feel like you should know his name but don't there is a good reason for that, de la Rosa has not pitched since that one game and is now 20 years old. Adios!

Jose Gil bounced around a little bit in 2013 after spending time in the Independent League and with the Baltimore Orioles before coming back to New York. Gil was a member of the Yankees minor league system from 2005 - 2012 and has resigned to be a member of the Yankees in 2014.

RJ Johnson was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers with their 36th round pick in the 2010 draft and is now a member of the New York Yankees farm system after signing a minor league contract. He was released by Milwaukee in 2012 after not having pitched since the 2010 Arizona Fall League but his twitter account says that he is an infielder now so the switch must have been made recently.

Yankees Sign Jose Gil

The Yankees have signed Jose Gil to a minor league deal and he will report to AA Trenton to play for the Thunder. Probably not the Yankees acquiring a catcher news that you all were hoping for but it is what it is these days. If the name sounds familiar it is because he was in the Yankees minor league system from 2006-2012 after leaving for the Baltimore Orioles this season. He struggled with the Yankees but either way he is back and provides some minor league depth for us, nothing more.

Making an Impression

I put very little stock into Spring Training numbers, as I've probably mentioned a time or two. However, that doesn't mean I'm not impressed with some of the young guys we've seen so far.

Jose Gil
In 16 at bats Jose has put up a line of .563/.526/.750, which includes 3 doubles. Gil is a 25 year old catcher that's been with the Yankee organization since 2005. He's struggled since his debut in rookie ball, but last season he did put up a triple-slash of .253/.344/.394 to go along with 6HR in 249 at bats. He could emerge from the shadow created by fellow catching prospects Austin Romine and Gary Sanchez.

Doug Bernier
Okay, he'll be 32 years old in June, so calling him "young" is a bit of a stretch. But this is a guy that's spent 10 years in the minor leagues, while only getting 4 MLB at bats in 2008 with the Rockies. I'm surprised that's all he got in MLB, as he put up a line of .310/.396/.407 with AAA Colorado Springs the season before. But I know very little about the Rockies, so perhaps it was simply a matter of not having a spot for him. Anyway, Doug has hit .385/.429/.538 with 4 doubles this spring, and he has plenty of experience at all four infield positions.

Justin Maxwell
It's too bad that Justin Maxwell is out of options, because I'd love to keep him in the organization. He's hit .429/.508/.607 this spring, to go along with 4 stolen bases. In 48 games with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last year he hit .260/.358/.588 with 16 home runs and 11 stolen bases. Justin's had 260 MLB plate appearances, so there's no doubt that other teams are going to jump all over him if he hits waivers (looking at the projected Yankee bench, that seems to be an inevitability).

Cesar Cabral
Cesar has not played above AA ball, having spent his entire career up to this point in the Red Sox organization, but he's made a strong case for being one of 25 players that will go North. In 9.1 innings pitched Cabral has only give up 2 earned runs, while ringing up a very impressive 12 strikeouts while giving up only 1 walk. The .270 batting average against isn't great, but he looks like a Rule V pick well worth holding onto.

Clay Rapada
Rapada, like Bernier, is not exactly "young". Baltimore DFA'd Clay on February 15th, and the Yankees wasted little time in signing him to a minor-league deal 5 days later. His 10 Ks to go along with 3 BBs looks good this spring, along with the fact he's yet to give up any earned runs in 7.1 innings, but it's his .120 batting average against that really caught my eye. If he can keep his walks down he could be a nice addition to the Yankee bullpen.

David Phelps
David's walked a few more guys this spring than he has in his minor league career. In 4 seasons with the Yankees farm system his BB/9 is 2.0, while he's walked 4 batters in 11 innings this spring (a rate of 3.27 per 9IP). It's a very small sample size, so I expect that walk-rate to lower. His batting average against is only .200, so he's making a good case to get a call-up should the need for a starter arise during 2012. He's either going to be a good challenger for a rotation spot for the Yankees as soon as next season, or he's going to make another team pretty happy.