Gary Denbo Creates Captain's Campers

Gary Denbo was hired this offseason to be in charge of player development in the New York Yankees farm system and has created a program called Captain's Campers. The purpose of the group is to promote quality character, accountability and respect for the game. Basically they are sending prospects to the Derek Jeter school.The Yankees invited 15 of their prospects to this year's camp and they all took part in character building exercises including visiting a children's hospital.

The fifteen prospects that attended were Luis Severino, Jacob Lindgren, Jake Cave, Ian Clarkin, Greg Bird, Eric Jagielo, Aaron Judge, Gosuke Katoh, Leonardo Molina, Alex Palma, Nick Rumbelow, Luis Torrens, Matt Tracy, Tyler Wade and Jorge Mateo.

Here is a direct quote from Lindgren:

“It kind of gave me an idea of what they want. How I should eat in the off-season to get ready for a long season. We got to talk to some big league guys who have done it before. They told us their personal experiences with it. You try to take a little bit from each person.” 

Yankees Sign Luis Torrens, Yancarlos Baez, & Alex Palma

The Yankees, on the first day of international free agent signings, wasted no time in signing three guys from the international pool of talent. The new collective bargaining agreement, as a reminder to all, only allows the Yankees to spend $2.9 million this time around.

Luis Torrens is a 16 year old Venezuelan catching prospect who signed for $1.3 million. Yancarlos Baez is a Dominican 16 year old short stop prospect who signed for $650K. These two are considered to be "big splashes" in the international market while Alex Palma signed a $800K deal as a 16 year old Venezuelan outfielder prospect.

The Yankees, after these three signings, only have $150K left to spend on international players so dont expect any more big names to come off the board to Yankee land.

Torrens was considered the 2nd best prospect in this years international pool and Alex Palma was considered the 4th best international free agent in this years draft. Baez is not listed in the top 20 prospects but he seems to be a good find with switch hitting power and average or above everything else.