Yankees Release Addison Maruszak

The Yankees have released utility man Addison Maruszak. Was originally slated to start the season at Trenton.
— Donnie Collins (@RailRidersTT) April 2, 2014

The New York Yankees have announced that they have released infielder Addison Maruszak making him a minor league free agent. This just a day after the Yankees designated Eduardo Nunez for assignment leaving the question, who will play shortstop this year in AAA for the Scranton Wilkes Barre RailRiders? Your guess is as good as mine, maybe Zelous Wheeler?

New York Yankees Spring Training News & Notes 2/27

As we all probably know by now the Yankees dropped another game to the Pittsburgh Pirates today in the Grapefruit League. Probably not the way the Yankees wanted to start Derek Jeter's farewell tour, he made his spring debut today, but it's just spring. On to the other news and notes from the day.

Eduardo Nunez ate some bad salmon and blamed that on why he was not feeling well yesterday, Nunez says he is now feeling 100% after his 24 hour stomach bug. Eating some bad fish is better than the flu any day.

The Yankees have added Addison Maruszak to their spring camps and have got him a locker with his name above it. It was thought that Addison was just up for the day after being called up to replace the sick Nunez but he seems to be here to stay, at least for now.

David Herndon threw a simulated game today pitching to Jose Gil and facing Antoan Richardson and Zelous Wheeler.

Chad Jennings once again with the assignments for the day

Today’s bullpen sessions
Brian Gordon (to Francisco Arcia)
Bryan Mitchell (to Roman Rodriguez)
Shane Greene (to Pete O’Brien)
Vidal Nuno (to Jose Gil)
Matt Thornton (to Austin Romine)

· Batting practice groups (starts at 10:15):
Group 1: Derek Jeter, Brian Roberts, Ichiro Suzuki, Francisco Cervelli
Group 2: Russ Canzler, Brett Gardner, Kelly Johnson, Mason Williams
Group 3: Adonis Garcia, Jose Pirela, Brendan Ryan, Austin Romine
Group 4: Ramon Flores, Corban Joseph, Zelous Wheeler, John Ryan Murphy
Group 5: Carlos Beltran, Jacoby Ellsbury, Alfonso Soriano, Brian McCann
Group 6: Eduardo Nunez, Scott Sizemore, Mark Teixeira, Pete O’Brien
Group 7: Zoilo Almonte, Dean Anna, Antoan Richardson, Gary Sanchez
Group 8: Yangervis Solarte, Francisco Arcia, Jose Gil, Addison Maruszak

· Today’s second string: C John Ryan Murphy, 1B Jose Gil, 2B Corban Joseph, SS Brendan Ryan, 3B Zelous Wheeler, LF Jose Pirela, CF Ramon Flores, RF Adonis Garcia.

· Today’s available relievers: Jim Miller, Chris Leroux, Mark Montgomery, Robert Coello, Yoshinori Tateyama

· Tomorrow’s travel squad for Lakeland
Pitchers: Dellin Betances, Bruce Billings, Dan Burawa, Preston Claiborne, Matt Daley, Brian Gordon, Shawn Kelley, Fred Lewis, Adam Warren, Chase Whitley
Catchers: Francisco Arcia, Jose Gil, Brian McCann, Pete O’Brien, Austin Romine, Gary Sanchez
Infielders: Dean Anna, Russ Canzler, Corban Joseph, Eduardo Nunez, Jose Pirela, Brendan Ryan, Yangervis Solarte, Zelous Wheeler
Outfielders: Zoilo Almonte, Carlos Beltran, Jacoby Ellsbury, Ramon Flores, Adonis Garcia, Antoan Richardson, Mason Williams
From minor league camp: Addison Maruszak, Caleb Cotham, Zach Nuding, Diego Moreno

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.

Addison Maruszak Added To Arizona Fall League

Addison Maruszak has been added to the Arizona Fall League roster replacing injured Yankees prospect Tyler Austin. Austin was removed after his wrist flared up and the move was made as a precaution to ensure Tyler would be ready for spring training. Originally it was reported that a player from another organization would be added to take his place but it will be Maruszak.

Thomas Neal Added To AAA Disabled List

Thomas Neal has been added to the disabled list by the AAA affiliate the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Railriders. Thomas injured his hamstring running out a double in a 5-4 loss in the first inning against Columbus. Trenton Thunder utility man Kevin Mahoney will get the call up to take his place on the roster for the time being. This leaves Scranton in a bit of a mess because they now only have two true outfielders in Zoilo Almonte and Melky Mesa but the Railriders are hoping Addison Maruszak can stopgap for the next two weeks.