Meet a Prospect: Tyler Cloyd

The New York Yankees are stockpiling talent in their minor league system and may need to hand out triple digits at this year’s spring training camp. That’s okay, the Yankees have never been shy about being different or setting trends rather than following them, they don’t have names on the backs of their uniforms, they don’t allow their players to grow beards and they were the first to wear the pinstripes full-time on their uniforms. With this said the team added two more potential pieces to their minor league depth stockpile this week in third baseman Deibinson Romero, who we met yesterday morning as a part of Prospects Month, and today’s showcase as well. This is Meet a Prospect: The Tyler Cloyd Edition.

Tyler James Cloyd was born on May 16, 1987 and spent his college years playing baseball for the University of Nebraska at Omaha. As a member of the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks Cloyd was able to catch the attention of the Philadelphia Phillies who drafted him in the 18^th round of the 2008 MLB First Year Players Draft. Cloyd spent four not-so-notable seasons in the Phillies minor league system before finally becoming a bit of a household name in 2012, at least in many Philadelphia based households. Cloyd was expected to start the 2012 season in Double-A with the Reading Phillies but instead was bumped up to Triple-A due to a suspension and made the most of the opportunity. Cloyd pitched his way to a Triple-A All-Star Game appearance during that 2012 campaign and was also named the International League’s Most Valuable Pitcher.

All that hard work paid off in 2012 when the big league Phillies called Cloy up to the show and allowed him to make his MLB debut on August 29, 2012. For you trivia buffs out there Cloyd replaced a man by the name of Cole Hamels and went on to pitch six innings allowing just three runs on seven hits. Cloyd would win his first MLB decision later that season pitching seven innings of one-run ball against the Cincinnati Reds leading the team to carry him in their bullpen for the 2013 season. Cloyd made 11 starts and two relief appearances in 2013 but could not replicate his success posting just a 2-7 record with a 6.56 ERA.

Cloyd was designated for assignment after that lackluster 2013 campaign and was almost immediately claimed by the Cleveland Indians. Just a month later Cloyd was designated for assignment again and this time cleared waivers and hit the free agent market. Cloyd agreed to a new minor league deal with Cleveland two weeks later and headed down to the Indians Triple-A team the Columbus Clippers. As a member of the Clippers Cloy threw a no-hitter on July 30 in a 13-0 victory against the Louisville Bats. Apparently it’s a tough crowd to please in Cleveland though because the Indians released Cloyd on January 6 of 2015.

A mere two days later Cloyd found a new gig but he had to go a long way to get there. Cloyd signed with the Samsung Lions of the Korean Baseball Organization and spent the entire 2015 season in the KBO. Cloyd did enough to catch MLB’s eye while with the Lions and especially caught the eye of Brian Cashman and the New York Yankees and the team signed him to a minor league deal to kick off Prospects Month here on the blog. Now the Yankees have another weapon and another piece of depth heading into their 2016 campaign thanks to Cloyd. Welcome to the team, welcome to the organization and welcome to the family Tyler. 

E:60 Story “The Family Business” Selected a Top Story in 2015

ESPN E:60 Segment "The Family Business" Selected As One Of The Top Three Stories of 2015

Thunder 1B Greg Bird and Bat Dog Derby pose for an ESPN camera on the field before Opening Day 2015. (Dave Schofield)
From December 24-31, ESPN ran its E:60 Top Stories of the year program and "The Family Business," chronicling the three generations of Thunder Bat Dogs, Chase, Derby and Rookie was selected as one of the top three.

The E:60 segment was first broadcast on Tuesday August 11 to a national audience on ESPN.

The story was conceived by ESPN E:60 Producer Matt Rismiller, who spent five full days filming at ARM & HAMMER Park and at the Bat Dogs' training facility, The Green Leaf Pet Resort & Shelly's School For Dogs in Millstone, NJ. The crew was given all-access passes to the ballpark to tell the story of the lives of Chase, Derby & Rookie and the relationships of fathers & sons with the game of baseball.

"The Family Business" was told through the eyes of Derby and narrated by Bob Peterson of PIXAR. The Academy Award Nominated Writer, Director and Voice Actor has been part of many of PIXAR's box office hits, including Mosters, Inc., Finding Nemo, Toy Story 3 and UP! Peterson co-wrote, co-directed and voiced the main character Dug the Dog in UP!

Thunder players Greg Bird, Taylor Dugas and Fred Lewis were each featured in the piece in addition to several front office members.

The Thunder have seen incredible response to "The Family Business" from all over the United States via e-mail, Facebook and Twitter.

Fans can see the E:60 video piece by clicking here.

Thunder fans will have their next chance to see world-famous Bat Dogs Derby and Rookie in action on Opening Night, Thursday April 7when the Thunder host the Erie SeaWolves (Detroit Tigers) at 7:00pm. Groups, season tickets, Pic-A-Plans and mini plans for the 2016 season are on sale now at www.TrentonThunder.com or by calling 609-394-3300.


The Thunder, Double-A Affiliate of the New York Yankees, play in the 12 team Eastern League. The Thunder have drawn over 8.8 million fans to ARM & HAMMER Park over 22 years and have won the three major awards that Minor League Baseball teams can win; the Johnson Trophy for the "Nation's Best Franchise" (2005), the Larry MacPhail Trophy for Outstanding Club Promotion (2003) and the Bob Frietas Award for Long-Term Success (1998, given by Baseball America). The team has given back over $5.7 million worth of goods, services and monetary donations through Trenton Thunder Charities, under the Grand Slam We Care Foundation umbrella. The Thunder can be found online at trentonthunder.com, facebook.com/trentonthunder, twitter.com/trentonthunder and onyoutube.com/AATrentonThunder.

This Day in New York Yankees History 2/7: Alex vs. Biogenesis

On this day in 2014 Alex Rodriguez dropped two separate lawsuits against Major League Baseball over his season long suspension over steroids and his link to Biogenesis. Rodriguez was one of 14 players suspended due to the investigation but was the only player to contest his penalty which led to the record setting suspension.


Also on this day in 1949 New York Yankees outfielder Joe DiMaggio becomes the first American League player to make at least $100,000 for a season. Hank Greenberg was the first player to reach the six figure mark after the Pittsburgh Pirates gave him the deal in 1947 after the Detroit Tigers waived him. The Yankees haven't stopped spending big since.

Yankees Prospects Night Open Thread featuring Aaron Judge

Depending on who you read the Yankees have two top prospects that are vying for that #1 spot in Jorge Mateo and Aaron Judge. Mateo is a shortstop with "nervous feet" in the field but that may only because he has that 100 stolen bases in a season milestone always on his mind while Judge is a huge presence that can absolutely hit the cover off the ball. This video not only showcases Judge tearing the cover off the ball but also showing off his intimidating presence in the box. 

Mark Teixeira & the History Behind a 37-Year Old Receiving a Qualifying Offer

The New York Yankees and their fans were chomping at the bits waiting for the likes of Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, Carlos Beltran and Mark Teixeira’s contract to come off the books after the 2016 and 2017 seasons and watch the youth come rolling in. New York has a nice farm system now and can fill in those gaps with their own for once as Aaron Judge seems ready to take over in right field and Greg Bird seems ready to take over at first base, well he was ready before his shoulder surgery this week. Now the Yankees are faced with the option of either going out on the free agent market and signing a one-year deal with the devil they don’t know or re-signing and/or offering Mark Teixeira a qualifying offer to keep the devil that they do know.

How attractive could a 37-year old oft-injured first baseman be as he enters free agency for one of the last time presumably in his career? Well there have only been two cases of a 37-year old player being offered a qualifying offer and one player re-signed before accepting or declining it and the other went elsewhere at the expense of a draft pick. David Ortiz was offered a qualifying offer in 2012 at age 37 before eventually re-signing with the team avoiding the whole process while the other player was Carlos Beltran formerly of the St. Louis Cardinals. We all know how that story ended with Beltran signing a three-year deal with the club back before the 2014 season.

It’s quite possible in a weak free agent market that Teixeira could receive a few suitors for his services, at least for his defense in a worst case scenario, giving the Yankees a bit of competition for their first baseman since the 2009 season. The qualifying offer is expected to be worth around $17 million in 2017 if the new collective bargaining agreement is not in place before the qualifying offer process begins, it expires on December 1^st of this year, so no one really knows what the future holds in that department. One thing is for certain though the Yankees face more uncertainty heading into the next season than they thought they would. 

The second question facing the Yankees is whether Teixeira would accept the qualifying offer or not. Teixeira has been here since the 2009 season and seems comfortable playing in the Big Apple. Teixeira has a business and charity contracts in New York so you would think he would accept it and stay where he has spent the last eight seasons rather than up and moving him and his family once again before he retires. These are all questions and not nearly enough answers though so I guess we'll all just have to stay tuned. 

Fantasy Baseball: Who are the Philadelphia Phillies?

The Philadelphia Phillies are finally going through the phase that every team and their fan base loves to hate, the rebuilding phase. While the rebuilding phase is ugly and can be downright frustrating at times it can usually be beneficial in the long term. As the fans sit and watch their favorite players get traded away for a crop of 20-year old kids most of us have never heard of the “Prospect Humper” (trademark pending) in us all gets to do a lot of research while setting our sights on the future. This is what the bulk of the Phillies franchise is doing right now so they are the perfect team to be showcased in our Prospects Month edition of Fantasy Baseball help. 

The good thing about a rebuilding team when it comes to Fantasy Baseball is not everyone in your league is going to do their homework on these young guys. Also you have to think that the team is going to give these prospects every chance to fail or prove themselves so if you play your cards right and if you’re digging around for one specific stat in mind a team like the Phillies can help. Let’s take saves for instance, even the worst team in the league is likely to get 30-40 saves or more a season either in one player or spread out across multiple players. Also you may have a prospect who doesn’t hit with many men on base so his RBI totals may be down but he may hit a lot of solo home runs and take a lot of walks as the only threat in the lineup so you can take those stats and maximize his value with the rest of your draft strategy and team. 

The biggest name you and your league-mates likely already know is Maikel Franco but some may not so I’ll showcase him first. Franco showed an ability to handle MLB pitching and especially an ability to hit the long ball before a wrist injury ended his 2015 campaign prematurely. In just 80 games Franco hit 14 home runs and knocked in 50 RBI so if you try and simplify things and play the game on paper you can double that and see 28 home run power and 100 RBI potential in 2016 as long as he’s healthy. 

Another prospect who should help while getting plenty of opportunities is now ace Aaron Nola. Nola has upside and has stellar command. The sky is the limit for Nola as he learns the league and continues to grow as a professional pitcher after being drafted a couple years back. Round 20 or beyond will be his territory in my opinion and if anything he can give you some wins with his nasty stuff. 

For the final showcase for the Phillies I tossed around the idea of closer David Hernandez, which FYI if you need a closer late you should grab him because he’ll likely save you at least 25 games, and young starter Vincent Velaquez, who I would stay away from initially because he isn’t penciled in to be a starter for the team out of the gate, but I ultimately ended up deciding on top shortstop prospect J.P Crawford. Over the years we’ve seen players like Francisco Lindor of the Indians and Corey Seager of the Dodgers come up and show a nice power and speed combination out of the gate and I think Crawford is the next in line to do that. The problem for Crawford as it relates to your fantasy draft though is that it likely won’t come until the heat of the summer, June or July. Keep him on your watch list and grab him to make that second half push towards a title. 

There you have it, technically five Phillies young guns and/or prospects to keep in mind when you’re drafting your Fantasy Baseball team. I hope this helped and if it did pass it along to someone else to help them too, just probably not to someone who is in the same league as you. That may be a little silly. Enjoy and thank you for reading. 

TGP Prospects Month Top 29 Prospects - #24 Nick Rumbelow

The New York Yankees had a bit of a revolving door in their bullpen last season and many products of their farm system made their MLB debut's out of said bullpen. Branden Pinder was used the most and Caleb Cotham probably took the most off the chin while Nick Goody and James Pazos were used sparingly down the stretch. Possibly the two most important pieces in that revolving door I like to call the Scranton Shuttle were Jacob Lindgren and today's showcase prospect Nick Rumbelow.

Rumbelow was drafted in the 7th round of the 2013 MLB First Year Players Draft by the Yankees out of LSU where he was used predominantly as a relief pitcher. In less than two seasons Rumbelow was making his MLB debut and showcasing his strikeout stuff and stellar command for all in the Bronx to see.

Rumbelow is expecting to see a lot of time in the Yankees bullpen this season and could conceivably win a job out of spring training. This is likely the last time we will see Rumbelow on a Top Prospects list since he will likely exceed his innings pitched limit in 2016 so enjoy it while you can.

24. Nick Rumbelow
25.Jordan Montgomery
26.Trey Amburgey
27. Ben Gamel
28. Austin DeCarr
29. Thairo Estrada
30. James Pazos

Meet a Prospect: Deibinson Romero

The New York Yankees continued their mission to stockpile as much minor league talent as possible this month by adding two prospects on minor league deals. The first prospect we will showcase today which is third baseman Deibinson Romero. Romero was originally a product of the Minnesota Twins farm system before bouncing around a bit in the Major Leagues and over in Korea before settling with the New York Yankees this season. We here at The Greedy Pinstripes only know one way to honor and introduce the newest members of the organization to you. This is Meet a Prospect: The Deibinson Romero Edition.

Deibinson Joel Romero was born on September 24, 1986 and made his professional debut with the Minnesota Twins. Romero signed that first professional contract in July of 2004 and toiled around in the Twins farm system until months before the 2009 season when he was added to the team’s 40 man roster. This came as a shock to some as Romero suffered a broken leg that ended his season prematurely in July of 2008 but his tenure on the team’s 40 man roster did not last long. Romero was removed off the 40 man roster in November of 2009 and spent the next five seasons down in the Twins minor league system simply waiting for his call up and his shot at the next level. Romero finished his Twins tenure reaching Triple-A, one step away from Target Field.  

Romero hoping to reach the Major Leagues as quickly as he could signed a new minor league deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates before the 2015 season. Romero was named Fangraphs top minor league free agent that season so that was quite the pickup for Pittsburgh until their new third baseman decided that a Pirates uniform was not for him. Instead of trying to reach the majors to play beside Andrew McCutchen Romero decided to pursue a contract in the Korean Baseball Organization with the Doosan Bears.

Romero did enough with his high batting average and average power to catch the attention of the New York Yankees. Romero will presumably stay in Triple-A and wait until New York comes calling so he can finally make his Major League debut. Welcome to the team and the organization Deibinson but most importantly welcome to the family. 

Aaron Judge is a Top 10 Outfielder Prospect in MLB

The New York Yankees for the first time in a long time actually have prospects capable of not only reaching the Major League level but prospects that are capable of dominating the Major League level. We saw a couple of those prospects last season with the emergence of Greg Bird and Luis Severino and the team is in line to produce more MLB talent as soon as 2016. Leading the way for the team is outfield prospect and heir-apparent to Carlos Beltran, Mr. Aaron Judge.

I say Mr. Aaron Judge because have you seen the guy? I wouldn’t want to make him mad, he’s 6’7” and all muscle at 275 lbs. He looks like he could hold his own in a UFC fight but anyway I digress. MLB.com has been releasing their Top 10 prospects at every position this winter and Judge made the cut in the Top 10 outfield prospects coming in at the 8^th ranked position for outfielders and 31^st overall. With these rankings, and his obvious size and raw power, Judge is already drawing comparisons to another big right fielder, Mr. Giancarlo Stanton.

Judge has all the makings of a super star in the Major Leagues as long as he can put his Triple-A struggles from last season behind him. Watch out for Judge in 2016 because we could see him as early as then. 

This Day in New York Yankees History 2/6: Enter Al Holland

On this day in 1986 the Yankees signed free agent Al Holland. Holland was coming off a season in which he saved at least five games for three different seasons the year before.


Also on this day in 1921 the New York American League franchise purchased a ten acre lot of land for $675,000 from the estate of William Waldorf Astor. The site would eventually become the home of the first Yankee Stadium. The stadium would sit directly across the river from the Polo Grounds on the west side of the Bronx.


Finally, and this is really Phillies news more than Yankees news but I digress, in 1962 the Phillies announced they will retire the #36 uniform number of Robin Roberts. The New York Yankee will visit the Phillies to play an exhibition game in March of 1963 for the ceremony, the first time the Phillies will retire a number in the team’s then 79 year history.