Saturday, January 31, 2015

Yankees Sign LHP Anthony Marzi

Anthony Marzi with the UConn Huskies (Hartford Courant)



According to Pinstriped Prospects:

The New York Yankees have signed left-handed pitcher Anthony Marzi to a minor league contract.  Marzi, 22, pitched the last four years for the University of Connecticut Huskies where in 2014 he was 5-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 16 games, 15 starts, and 92.2 innings pitched.
Marzi’s signing comes after working out in front of professional scouts at Port Chester, NY this past January.  He possess a four-pitch arsenal that features a fastball that sits in the 89-90 MPH range and will go to Tampa to work out at the Yankees minor league complex.


Scout.com Releases Their Top 100 Prospects List


It's just about Prospects Month time on The Greedy Pinstripes and just in time it seems like everyone is releasing their Top Prospects lists around baseball. Keith Law stole the show earlier in the week and today Scout.com takes center stage showcasing their list. Three Yankees in total made the list including Luis Severino, Aaron Judge and Greg Bird, surprise surprise.

Severino - #51
Judge - #57
Bird - #96

Severino also ranked as the 23rd best pitching prospect overall while Judge came in as the 14th best outfielder after just one professional season. Bird surprisingly is the 3rd best first baseman in the league which makes you wonder why his ranking is so low overall. Also it is worth noting that Eric Jagielo clocked in as the 13th best third baseman in all of Major League Baseball's farm systems although he did not make the list.


Yankees Manager Girardi still on good terms with A-Rod

Yankees infielder Alex Rodriguez's numerous off-the-field issues this offseason have certainly seemed to hurt his public image, but team Manager Joe Girardi apparently still gets along with him.

The 50-year-old Yankees skipper and Rodriguez still have a "good" relationship despite all that's happened with the latter over the last few months, Girardi said during an autograph signing Saturday. Rodriguez, coming off a 2014 season in which he never played due to a suspension for steroid use, has garnered attention this past week for he and the Yankees' disagreement over the veteran's home run bonuses, but Girardi maintains it isn't a problem that includes him. 

"I don't worry about that," Girardi told The New York Daily News' Justin Tasch. "My job is to put our team in the best postion every day to win a game. That's my job. I don't worry about contracts, I don't worry about bonuses for players, I don't want to know them. All I want to worry about is putting our guys in the best postion to win games."

Rodriguez's contract with the Yankees rewards him with $6 million bonuses each time he reaches a major home run milestone, but the Yankees no longer seem willing to give him the cash after his involvement in the recent biogenesis scandal. Rodriguez, who currently has 654 career home runs, will earn the first of those disputed payments with at least six long balls in 2015, an achievement that would tie him with Willie Mays for fourth all-time.

Whether Rodriguez is granted the money or not, though, it's a safe bet he will have to deal with an eager media when he returns to the diamond this April, something Girardi says he isn't that concerned about. 

"When hasn't there been a lot of attention around Alex when he's been in our clubhouse?" Girardi said. "It's gonna be a lot that we've dealt with and there will probably be some new things that maybe we've never seen before, but we'll deal with them and we'll get through it." 

The Yankees' first spring training game is scheduled for March 3 in Clearwater, Florida, the home of the Phillies. It's probable Rodriguez will see a decent amount of action next month as he prepares for his first Opening Day since 2012, and it's definite he will spend time at multiple positions. 

That's according to Girardi. 

"We're gonna DH him, we're gonna play him at third base and see where he's at there, and we'll talk about maybe playing him at first base a little bit," Girardi said. 

Yankees Make "Most Interesting Trade" List


As many of you know The Greedy Pinstripes is a member of the BYB Hub who's mission is to get the smaller and less known blogs free exposure. The BYB Hub is run by Robert Casey of Bleeding Yankee Blue so if you want to check out his hard and generous work be sure to click HERE. Another member of the Hub is "In the Mitt Baseball" and they published a very detailed and well thought out article showcasing the most interesting trades of the offseason. CLICK HERE to read the entire lengthy article but one trade the Yankees made was on the list and I will share that in an excerpt below. Enjoy!

  1. Nathan Eovaldi Garrett Jones and Domingo German to the Yankees for David Phelps, Martin Prado and Cash

Why it’s interesting: One of the rare future-minded moves made by the Yankees. Eovaldi is a young inning eater with upside. Phelps is depth and flexibility. Prado is also a flex-player and a productive, veteran teammate renowned for his clubhouse presence.

Notable QB’s Drafted in the MLB Draft


With the Super Bowl looming tomorrow night between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots I thought this would be a good time to go over the notable quarterbacks that have been drafted by, and turned down, Major League Baseball teams. The most notable on the list is last year’s Super Bowl winner and this year’s Super Bowl leading QB Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks. Let’s take a look at what could have been for MLB and in one case the New York Yankees.

Russell Wilson – Texas Rangers (Seattle Seahawks)
Johnny Manziel – San Diego Padres (Cleveland Browns)
Colin Kaepernick – Chicago Cubs (San Francisco 49ers)
Jake Locker – Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (Tennessee Titans)
Matt Moore – Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (Miami Dolphins)
Dennis Dixon – 2003 Cincinnati Reds, 2007 Atlanta Braves (Pittsburgh Steelers)
Brandon Weeden – New York Yankees (Cleveland Browns)
Michael Vick – Colorado Rockies (Atlanta Falcons)


Did Ichiro Just Diss the New York Yankees?


As we learned earlier in the week the Miami Marlins lured former New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners player Ichiro Suzuki with a one year deal worth $2 million plus a load of incentives. Miami, as we learned yesterday on the blog, actually flew all the way out to Ichiro’s native Japan to introduce the 41 year old in a press conference. During that press conference Ichiro was quoted as saying the following:

"When I met (Miami) team executives yesterday, I felt incredible enthusiasm," Suzuki said at a press conference on Thursday. "So I wanted to respond to their enthusiasm and I believe that is something I have been looking for the last two years."


 Did Ichiro just diss the New York Yankees? Ichiro has been with the Yankees the last two years as he was earning a cool $13 million. I am not sure if I am simply reading too much into the comment and he is speaking of HIS enthusiasm lacking in New York or if that was a little jab against the Yankees organization.


What say you?

TGP Daily Poll: I Will Snag Five Interviews for Prospects Month



Prospects Month is officially upon us as soon as the calendar turns to February on the blog. I succeeded in getting an interview a day last year, this year I think I will get at least five as we head into a different direction in 2015.


Vote in our prediction poll on knoda. 

Keith Law's Top 10 Yankees Prospects List


Keith Law proved to the world that he was not very high on Yankees prospects Luis Severino, Greg Bird or Gary Sanchez earlier in the week when he released his Top 100 prospects list and ranked the Yankees farm system as a whole. The Yankees had two players that ranked in the Top 100 in Bird and Aaron Judge while Severino and Sanchez were notable omissions from the list. Law ranked the Yankees system the 20th best in Major League Baseball and yesterday evening he ranked the Top 10 Yankees prospects.

1. Aaron Judge, OF
2. Greg Bird, 1B
3. Gary Sanchez, C
4. Luis Severino, RHP
5. Tyler Austin, OF
6. Jorge Mateo, SS
7. Domingo German, RHP
8. Ian Clarkin, LHP
9. Luis Torrens, C
10. Eric Jagielo, 3B

This Day in New York Yankees History 1/31: Prospects Month Eve


On this day in 2007 Major League Baseball announced that the 2008 All Star Game would be played at Yankee Stadium. The announcement was made at New York's Gracey Mansion and would mark the fourth time that the All Star Game would be played in the Bronx, the other three times in 1939, 1960, and 1977. This was also especially special because this would be the final season of Yankee Stadium before it was torn down for Yankee Stadium III.