Yankees Have Added 13 to Spring Training Camp

The New York Yankees have added a total of 13 players to their major league spring training camp this week presumably to help with split squad games and the everyday grind of the schedule. Many "wrongs" have been righted with these call ups although many of these players are expected to go back down as soon as tomorrow. According to the transactions page on Yankees.com the following players have been added to Yankees camp:

LHP Matt Tracy

3B Dante Bichette Jr.

OF Michael O'Neill

OF Taylor Dugas

C Alvaro Noriega

RHP Caleb Cotham

RHP Mark Montgomery

3B Eric Jagielo

RHP Jaron Long

RHP Cesar Vargas

LHP Fred Lewis

SS Tyler Wade

RHP Taylor Garrison

Trenton Thunder Game Recap 5/31

Thunder Rally, but Lose Late Lead to Sea Dogs

Gary Sanchez' titanic home run to left field was part of a three-run 6th inning to give the Thunder a 3-2 lead, but the Portland Sea Dogs struck for two runs in a game-winning top of the 7th inning.

In Game 2 of Saturday's split double-header, the Thunder trailed 2-0 into the bottom of the 6th inning. After Sea Dogs starting pitcher Mike McCarthy retired 14 straight batters, Mason Williams doubled and was plated two batters later on a single up the middle by Tyler Austin. That set the table for Sanchez and his 6th home run of the season to give the Thunder a momentary lead.

The loss goes to Fred Lewis who tossed a perfect 6th inning, but allowed two runs on two hits and a walk in the 7th inning for the comeback win. He drops to 0-2 in seven appearances since being transferred from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and has now allowed 18 baserunners in 8.0 IP.

The Thunder threatened in the bottom of the 7th inning with a leadoff double by Rob Refsnyder who moved to third base with one out on a sacrifice bunt by Dan Fiorito. The next two batters were Yeral Sanchez and Carmen Angelini who were retired to end the ballgame without Refsnyder coming hometo score.

The Thunder look to avoid being swept in their four-game series against the Portland Sea Dogs Sunday with LHP Matt Tracy (5-2, 4.25) taking the ball for a 1:05 p.m. first pitch. The Trenton Thunder Pre-Game Show begins at 12:45 p.m. and can be found on 91.3 FM and www.trentonthunder.com.

Being posted with permission from the Trenton Thunder. The original post can be seen HERE. 

Claiborne surrenders 6 runs in Yanks loss to Blue Jays

Despite getting a solid 3 innings of two-run from starter Chris Leroux, a 2-run Single from a 3B playing first in Kelly Johnson, and a 2-Run Double from struggling RF Carlos Beltran, the Yankees lost again today to the Blue Jays in Dunedin, 10-6. Going into this one's bottom of the fifth, the Yanks actually led 6-2, but then youngsters Fred Lewis and Preston Claiborne came in and completely ruined everything, giving up 2 and 6 runs respectively in the frame. 

So yea, the frustration that is this week definitely continued today. Don't know why or how, but it did. 

Winter Meetings Day Two Mid-Day Quick Hits

It's day two in Orlando at the yearly Winter Meetings and the Yankees are still seemingly interested in everybody. Rather then typing out 100 different posts let's put all the quick hits here.

The Nationals are "balking" at trading Danny Espinosa even though the Yankees are interested.

The Yankees are interested in bringing back Mark Reynolds which makes a ton of sense because he can either start at third base or provide right handed power off the bench. Not to mention he can give Mark Teixeira a day or a day and a half off a week at first base.

The Yankees are "heavily interested" in Michael Young for the same reasons as Mark Reynolds.

Tommy Kahnle and Fred Lewis are likely to be selected in Thurday's Rule 5 Draft after being left unprotected.

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.

Scorpions drop fourth straight game to Saguaros, 8-2

Well, now the Scorpions have officially hit rock bottom. After tonight's 8-2 loss to the Surprise Saguaros, the Scorps record sits at 10-18, the worst in the Arizona Fall League. This loss is also their fourth consecutive, meaning that for a while they actually played well. But that was a long time ago. A long, long time ago. 

Anyway, Yankees outfielder Mason Williams did play pretty good in this one, going 1-for-3 with a double, two walks and an RBI. Besides him, reliever Fred Lewis, who we haven't seen for a while, pitched a scoreless inning out of the pen. Remember, the Scorpions are already eliminated from playoff contention, so the rest of their games this season don't really matter. But still, it's fun to win. 

Scorpions winning streak ends with 4-2 loss to Rafters

Yankees prospect Peter O'Brien went 1-for-4 with a double last night as the Scorpions had their three-game win streak snapped by the Salt River Rafters, 4-2. This one aired nationally on the MLB Network, so I actually was able to watch it.

But, it wasn't a very fun game to witness. The Rafters got ahead early, stayed ahead, and then won. At one point, the Scorps did get within 1 run of tieing the game, but then their rally was killed. On the bright side, Bombers prospect Fred Lewis did throw a scoreless inning of relief, but they still lost. So it was a bad night. 

Scorpions beat Javelinas again, 4-0

Yankees relievers Fred Lewis and James Pazos each threw scoreless innings tonight as the Scorpions beat the Javelinas for the second straight day, 4-0, improving their record to 9-14. All four of the Scorps runs in this one came in the bottom of the fourth inning, with two of them being driven by Bombers hitters Peter O'Brien and Mason Williams. 

Overall, Williams went 1-for-3 in this one with a single and an RBI Walk, while O'Brien went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts and an RBI Sac Fly. That K total isn't very pretty, but again, who cares? It was a win. That is all that matters. 

Nuno struggles, but offense backs him up as Scorps extend winning streak to 2

Despite having starter Vidal Nuno give up 4 earned runs in just 4 innings of work, the Scorpions were able to beat the Peoria Javelinas on the road today, 12-7. This win is their second consecutive, and improves their record to 4-6.

The only Yankees hitter who played in this one, Peter O'Brien, had a hit, a walk, and an RBI in his 4 at-bats. Two Bombers relievers threw in this victory: Fred Lewis and James Pazos. Lewis threw a scoreless innings for his second hold of the year, while Pazos lasted just 2/3 of an inning and gave up 3 unearned runs. Since they were unearned they obviously weren't his fault, but he did struggle, giving up 3 hits. Hopefully he'll turn it around soon, but for now I'm a little concerned about him. 

2-5; Scorpions finally win another game

Last night, the Scorpions rallied back from an early 1-0 deficit to beat the Surprise Saguaros, 2-1, and end their five game losing streak. The game was at home, so this victory was their first home one of the young season. 

Four Yankees prospects played in this game. So let's get to it. First, outfielder Mason Williams went 1-for-3 with a walk. Second, infielder Tyler Austin went 0-for-2 with a walk. Finally, both pitchers James Pazos and Fred Lewis pitched scoreless innings, earning each of them their first holds of the year. Despite this win, the Scorpions are still last in the AFL East. But at least their losing streak's over. 

Arizona Fall League Roster Is Complete

The New York Yankees have announced their final rosters for the Arizona Fall League. Earlier we reported that Vidal Nuno would be heading down to play for the Scottsdale Scorpions to join Mason Williams, Tyler Austin, and Peter O' Brien. Now we learned that RHP Brett Gerritse, LHP Fred Lewis, and LHP James Pazos will be joining them in Arizona. Should be a fun fall league to watch especially with some of our bigger name prospects down there.

Flurry Of Minor League Roster Moves Announced

The Yankees announced a flurry of roster moves last night that I apparently missed so I will share them with you now.

Corey Patterson has signed a minor league deal with the Yankees and has been assigned to AAA Scranton Wilkes Barre Railriders. I cannot see him as anything other than minor league depth to replace the promotion of Zoilo Almonte and the injuries to Brennan Boesch and Melky Mesa.

Zach Nuding and Fred Lewis, both right handed pitchers from the Trenton Thunder, have been promoted to Scranton to play for the Railriders. Zach was brought up to make a spot start for Ivan Nova after he was scratched, presumably to make a start for the big league Yankees.

Caleb Cotham and Jose Ramirez, both right handed pitchers from the Scranton team, have been sent down to the AA Trenton Thunder. Both were presumed to be there temporarily, especially Ramirez, and are now sent back down to AA. I do not expect Jose to be down there much longer but the log jam is growing more and more in Scranton so who knows.

Infielder Josh Bell has been placed on the disabled list retroactive to June 19th. No word just yet on what is wrong with him.