MiL Week in Review: Championship Edition
The minor leagues wrapped up for the Yankee affiliates this week culminating in the championship series between the Trenton Thunder and the Akron Aeros. All of the the other farm clubs are done for the season, SWB being the only other team to make a bid in the playoffs. The week started with Trenton on the road; here’s a rundown of the weeks action.
Game one: Brett Marshall took the ball for the opener, and while he did a decent job of keeping the ball on the ground, he surrendered three runs on six hits; walking none and striking out five. The pen delivered two innings of one hit ball thanks to the efforts of Tommy Kahnle and David Aardsma to keep the scoring to the three runs allowed by Marshall. The offense would sputter however; the only hits delivered were singles by Adonis Garcia and Addison Maruszak, and a double by David Adams, which didn’t produce any runs and left the Aeros with a 3-0 victory.
Game 2: Shaeffer Hall took the hill for the second game and it wasn’t exactly his best outing; not by far in fact. Hall gave up seven runs over three innings on six hits. Only five of those runs went earned as Adams shuffled a ball to allow the inning to continue, plating two more. Craig Hyer, Branden Pinder and Mark Montgomery once again shut the door allowing just three hits over the next five innings. The bats would not go quietly in this one however as David Adams and Zoilo Almonte each chipped in a pair of hits, one of Zoilo’s being a three run bomb that got the Thunder back in the game after being down by seven. Ramon Flores, Tyler Austin, JR Murphy and Kevin Mahoney each had a hit of their own but the deficit proved to be too much. Trenton ended up dropping game 2 by a score of 7-5.
Game 3: It was do or die from here on out, as Trenton sent Mikey O’Brien out to keep them in the series. Mikey had struggled a bit to end off the season, and as it continued into the championship series Tony Franklin had the hook out early. O’Brien lasted only two innings after giving up five earned on eight hits. Graham Stoneburner came into the third and pitched three innings of two run ball and then turned it over to Kahnle who spit the bit and walked the bases loaded. Branden Pinder played the role of Houdini as he came in to end the inning unscathed. A strikeout, a shallow pop-out and a ground-out were all it took as the inning ended without a run scoring. Aardsma and Montgomery would finish of the trio’s hitless effort. The bats answered the call in game 3, as Adams and Garcia each had a pair of hits and scored twice. Zoilo Almonte and Ramon Flores were the big bats though, and have been two of the best hitters in the playoffs. They combined to go 5-9 while driving in seven of the eleven runs on the night. The Thunder took the game 11-7.
Game 4: Nike Turley got the ball to try and extend the season and send the Thunder to a final game in the series. He ended with a decent outing of three runs on seven hits over six innings. He walked a pair and struck out eight. All in all Nik had a solid season and has a lot to build on for next year. The big lefty could very well find his way to the Bronx if he can keep up his development. Ryan Pope stumbled in relief, allowing three runs on two walks and two hits; his most disappointing outing of the post-season. Aardsma and Lee Hyde combined for 1.2 innings of scoreless ball. Unfortunately the offense would go back into hiding for game 4, JR Murphy and Adonis Garcia would each get a hit and Maruszak would chip in a pair but it wasn’t nearly enough to keep Trenton in the series. They dropped the game 6-1 as the Areos walked away champions.
Overall: It was a rough year for the farm with injuries to a couple of major players; one of which could have made a bid to take a rotation spot, and another that projects as a power arm with a huge ceiling. A couple of our more prominent position players also got banged up; Tyler Austin got beat up several times and ended up having to sit out the final game of the series with a nagging ankle injury, Mason Williams had his labrum (non-throwing shoulder) operated on to prevent his arm from popping out of joint and Angelo Gumbs, a promising second baseman in Charleston also ended the season on the DL. Sounds a bit like the big club eh? With that said, Gary Sanchez and Mason Williams both shot up the rankings in the top 100 (BA, KLaw’s list) and Tyler Austin went from a no show to making the bottom third of the list. Both Banuelos and Campos were said to have made the list if not for being injured, and former prospects David Adams and Slade Heathcott regained some traction by staying on the field and producing for their teams. Both of them will get to extend their seasons along with Austin Romine in the Arizona Fall League. All in all we ended up with two playoff bids and some promising movement from some guys in the lower levels. With any luck we’ll be looking for them to break through in the next couple years.
That’s it for the recaps this year, but stay tuned for prospect profiles, our positional rankings and an overall top prospects list from now through the hot stove season.
Posted on September 17, 2012, in Minor League Updates. Bookmark the permalink. 33 Comments.
Brian D.
fishjam25
jimmytoucan
Matthew B
Delia E.
Dan H.
Matthew S.
Michael P.
Mike D.
Still no wiff of Florida Instructional Roster? So far I got word of Bichette, Hensley, Greg Bird, Rookie Davis, Burawa all heading down to Yankees Complex in Tampa. My assumptions would also lead me to think that Jordan Cote, Jake Cave, Peter O’Brien should all be there as well
Burawa is on his way to the AFL along with Betances, Montgomery and one other pitcher that escapes me at the moment. Both Bichette and Culver could use some extra work, and pitchers like Henseley, Cote and Davis also could get some more innings as they really didn’t get much work in. The younger guys tend to get their innings spread out a bit, so instructs make sense. Cave has been rehabbing the last several weeks so he’s a safe bet as well when he’s ready to go.
None of these guys look to be top prospects at this point, hate to burst your bubble!
you’d have to specify as to who in the world you’re talking about before i could give anything but a general reply. on that note…. every prospect is just that until they make it to the majors so really, there’s no bubble to burst but i appreciate your insight.
Really looking forward to seeing where the core group of talent will start off next year.
Ya i’d like to see gumbs in Tampa, and both Turley and Heathcott in Trenton to start the year. Where Slade starts may depend on his performance in the AFL. Wondering if they’re going to keep Austin in Trenton; wouldn’t doubt his bat can handle it, and they seem to be pretty high on him. Might take a bit for Mason and Sanchez to make their way to AA, but if they move like they have it won’t be long. Guys like Marshall and Montgomery may well start out in Trenton with only a half step to go to SWB. Will be nice for the AAA’ers to actually have a home (and a shiny new one at that) to play in next year.
Yeah I can’t wait for some of these guys to make it to AAA so i can catch a couple of games and see them first hand.
Moving forward the Yanks are not going to win with the players they have in their farm, need to make some good trades or sign free agents because they are always in the playoffs and draft low.
No love for Sanchez, Austin, Williams, Nik Turley?
Doug – That’s the type of thinking that has us in the predicament we are now with an average age of 32.9 years and the only team in MLB not to give an At Bat to a rookie all season. No one is saying they have to go with all young players but they have to have a mix. Right now they have a team almost exclusively 29 and older. That, with the fact that they are going to cut the payroll by $30-40 Million is a scary recipe.
They have their veteran nucleus but they have to fill in around that with youth and players in their prime. i agree they need to find an OF in his prime through trade or FA to replace Swisher and Granderson. veterans like Ichiro, Jones & Ibanez need to be replaced by younger players. Start the season young and if they fail pick up a vet or 2 at the deadline. there are always tons of veteran players availble at the deadline.
The fact that they draft low doesn’t mean they can’t get good talent. It hurts them getting the no-brainers in the first round or 2 but look at Tampa Bay. Everyone says they have so much young talent because they drafted high for years. Well they did, but look again. Most of their awesome young pitching staff was drafted late and developed. Only David price & Jeff Nieman were 1st rounders, the rest were the result of superior scouting and development.
James Shield – 16th round
David Price – 1st round
Matt Moore – 8th round
Jeremy Hellickson – 4th round
Alex Cobb – 4th round
Jake McGee – 5th round
Wade Davis – 3rd round
Jeff Nieman – 1st round
Chris Archer – 5th round
Inexpensive Free Agents
Fernando Rodney ($2m), Joel Peralta ($2.2m) & K.Farnsworth ($3m)
Doug – you are usually not very optimistic about our minor leaguers helping us out eventually. Why is that? Is it a general view or do you think the Yankees prospects specifically stink?
I agree that AAA has no prospects to drool over but the lower to mid levels have some guys to watch and be excited about.
There are definitely young guys in this organization that can help as early as next year.
We obviously know of Nunez, Phelps & Dickerson but I also think Corban Joseph, David Adams, Zoilo Almonte can help in 2013. Almonte hit .303-17-59 with an .891 OPS vs RHP in 297 ABs. Give me him over Ibanez next yr.
David Adams crushed LHP to a .956 OPS and Corban Joseph had a .961 OPS vs RHP. They could possibly replace Eric Chavez and Andruw Jones.
I’m also very high on Tyler Austin and think he could be in the picture late 2013 or to start in 2014. He’s the type of polished, advance player who could be brought up quickly. He’ll start the year in AA and if he has another yr like the last 2, there’s no reason he couldn’t skip AAA or make a quick stop there. Mark Montgomery is another guy who could jump fast in the pen.
If the Yankees dedicate to giving the same 200, 300, 400+ At bats to the young players I just mentioned the way they do every year to the likes of Ibanez, Jones,Thames, Ichiro, Chris Stewart, etc. I think they’d be happy with the results. Where’s the risk? Ibanez hit .223 with an atrocious .712 OPS, Jones is hitting .197 with an even worse .692 OPS. Nix has a .694 OPS, Ichiro a .714 OPS, Stewart a .599 OPS. Chavez is the only veteran on the bench to perform this yr. The rest of those guys all need to be replaced next yr.
No Mustelier? I know we all wanted him to get a look this year. Do you think they will give him a shot next year? It’s not like he is a young guy. He is 28 right?
fishjam two very well thought out comments. I agree with them, thanks!
I don’t know how many times we must see a kid on the farm hitting around the .275 mark come up and he jumps about 20 points or so. It seems to happen to guys that have a good eye and plate coverage etc., common sense tells one why, so no need here. Who better to help a kid that is super at every part of his game but, only hitting .250, than Long.
Yeah, let Long screw them up like he did Jeter in 2010, Arod and Granderson. Thank God, Jeter went to see his old hitting coach in Tampa last year or he’d be batting . 230 like Grandy.
Once Jeter fell off a cliff Long didn’t do the job in getting him back to where he needed to be, that i’ll agree with. As far as Granderson, he finally hit for power in a stadium built for his swing; Long can coach these guys but he can’t stop them from swinging at everything and anything. When Granderson (Cano does this too) stops swinging away he’ll see better pitches and get back to hitting again. Cano flat out refused to settle down last year (ironically after posting his best BB rate in 2010) and guess what? He didn’t see a good pitch for weeks.
As far as Alex is concerned…. well, the guy is old and battered; expect 2007 Alex to come to the ballpark and you’ll be waiting a while. He’s also hitting about .300 since coming back from the DL.
All in all i don’t know how much i buy into a hitting coach fixing/ruining a player. Maybe to an extent, but not to the degree that fans would like to think. I believe they make great scapegoats, and shift the focus and angst on to someone else in the org. i’d be open to trying someone else, but in no way would expect some dramatic magical turnaround.
Long has said before, he doesn’t go to a player and try and fix things. He waits for the player to come to him because (this makes a lot of sense, I’ve used the same system in my job) he says until the player wants the help, he will not buy into it as fast or at all. Therefore, Jeter went to Long for help and nothing was forced on Jeter at all.
If A-Rod can hit around .300 and have 20/30 HR, that should be enough, along with his defense at 3rd.
Ken – who cares if Jeter went to Long or Long went to Jeter….that’s not the point …..bottom line is his BA dropped to .270 under Long and he’s batting .320 going back to his old coaches teachings.
Thankfully, Long was the hitting coach and had no problem with giving his blessing for the other coach to help Jeter out. Many coaches wouldn’t have. Bottom line, he tried to help! Unless one buys into it one can forget it.
I agree Ken, Jeter made a great move scrapping Longs idea of not stepping into the pitch with his left leg.
Thank God Gary Denbo worked with Jeter in Tampa and got him back.
Now the great Jeter will hit .320 this season.
I agree JT. I don’t buy much into hitting coaches making much of a difference.
I remember taking some private batting lessons with him $500/hr. What a waste. He kept saying drop the barrel on the ball, drop the barrel on the ball…..finally I said I’m going to drop the barrel on your head if you don’t stop drinking during the session.
Random things to think about for 2013 Feel free to answer any or all.
Does Mariano come back?
Does Pettitte come back?
Do the Yankees bring back Kuroda?
Will Pineda be able to start the season?
Mariano… yes. I believe he wants to go out on his terms, which is closing out a game, not riding the bench.
Pettitte… i don’t think this year will be enough for him; if Mo comes back it sets a great stage for the two of them to finish off their careers together.
Kuroda… tough one. He may want to return to his homeland, possibly play for one of the Japanese League teams and settle into retirement. He may also get a taste for a WS run and agree to come back for one more round. There is also the possibility that a team offers him a two year deal considering his performance this season. This one’s up in the air completely.
Pineda… no, and i think it might work out for the best as he can remain in the minors long enough to hold back his service clock while he builds arm strength. I’m the eternal optomist and believe he can still be effective; it’s not as if they cut him wide open and stitched him back together, and he’s young so a recovery is much easier than on an older player. Even if he lost 2-3 mph it still leaves him throwing 95 with enough secondary stuff to allow him to be effective. The trade doesn’t look very good for anyone right now; Montero is *currently* mediocre for a DH, Noesi is stinky and both our guys have been injured. Gonna be a while before any serious evaluations of this thing should take place.
I mentioned a few days after Mo’s injury that I don’t think he should come back, but of course my opinion won’t change his mindset. I’m banking on him coming back, one way or another, to the Yankees as their closer next year. I admire his determination to get back on the mound and not let his final moment in professional baseball be on the warning track in Kansas City. Whether he’ll still be “Mariano Rivera”, when he comes back, is an entirely different and more frightening question.
Like Jimmy said, if Mo is coming back, Andy Pettitte will follow suit. I’m not saying Rivera’s decision will directly impact Andy’s, but I think he is in the same mindset, that you can’t let an injury get the best of you and decide your fate. No matter how well Pettitte may or may not finish the season, he definitely can’t walk away at this point, because it would be identical to the situation that he departed in 2010 – amazing, injured, amazing again.
For Kuroda…I don’t know. I REALLY don’t want to see Russell Martin back next season, and I think him being his battery mate really helped Kuroda adjust to New York and the AL, and pitch well. If Martin doesn’t come back, communication could be a problem with the new catcher of the Yankees, whoever it may be. Not only that – Hirok will be 38, and at that age – no matter how well he may have pitched this season – nothing is definite for 2013.
If it’s a question of “should” Pineda start the season with New York, then I say no. No matter how well he may do in spring training (I forgot if he’ll even be ready for it), he is still incredibly young and needs some growing up to do before getting a spot on the big league roster. He came into camp last year overweight, out of shape, and to me, he thought being a Yankee meant a free ride to a championship and success. He needs to learn the hard way through bus rides, motels, and the everyday grind of the minor leagues that in order to maintain success in New York, you truly have to earn it.
Interesting stuff. Tyler Austin and Montgomery are two that will likely get fast tracked. Also someone no one mentioned that I got the pleasure to watch all season was Ramon Flores. The kid knows what he is doing at the plate. Great traditional lead off hitter. Sees a lot of pitches has decent speed and can rake. Likely he will start in Trenton. As I was speaking with someone on this matter. Montgomery, Pinder and Kahlne can all help out bullpen with in the next two years. As far as the core of the future goes a majority of it made its way to tampa this year. Slade Heathcott came back and finished a season, JR murphy got promoted up to trenton midway through. Austin, Sanchez, Williams all came up in july and made stripes at the next level. Montgomery came and went and Pinder and Kahlne moved to trenton for playoff run. Assumming Gumbs, Culver, and Bichettte make it to Tampa this year. so decent look at outfield of the future was in TAMPA for 2012 with HEathcott, austin and flores and williams. in 2013 could it be the in fields turn. with bichette gumbs culver and sanchez behind the plate.
Mo and Andy will be back. Only way to finish out together. they are the #1 starter closer combo in the history of the MLB. go out together and go into the hall together. Pineda will get a look at AA or AAA and kuroda is a hard call. As for MARTIN i would prefer to not be back but if so it will only be a stop gap. Romine Cervy can man it as backstop plus many waiting in the wings. Gustavo Molina, Gil, Murphy way too many catcher in the system to keep martin around for no good reason. 205 is not respectable. questions is to the yanks pony up for swisher, I say yes. Great club house guy. FAn favorite, value in right and 1B is added plus. plus all the old guys like ibanez, jones and such can walk and keep dickerson and nunez and some youth in the bigs and lettem play
What is this about Andy getting into the HoF? Why? I can understand and go along with wanting him to get in but, really the Hall?!? I don’t think so.
You dont think andy has a chance at the hall. Ok first ballot is long shot but i think he gets in. Post season numbers are a boost on what he lacked in regular season.
Sorry Kevin I am the hardest guy to convince as to HoF players, maybe I have seen to many guys get in because they were very nice team mates or person but, only mid grade numbers.
Anyhow, Andy has the same problem as A-Rod…Drugs…and his stats as a complete pitcher!
I am a big fan of Andy’s, he has been a very dependable pitcher for the Yanks but, his numbers aren’t there.
Agree with Ken….say no to Andy.
Doesn’t have 300 wins
Only 3 all star appearances
No cy youngs
Pitching well in playoffs is nice but not HOF worthy alone.
I disagree, although I know Andy won’t make it. Baseball writers are still walking amongst the dinosaurs in regards to who makes the Hall. With the 5 man rotation it’s almost impossible to get 300 wins. CC Sabathia will be the last player in MLB to have a shot at 300 wins. After that we won’t see it in our lifetimes(or probably anyone’s lifetime).
In football and basketball the postseason is AS VALUABLE if not more in hall of fame voting. Why the hell wouldn’t iNow in baseball, the standard that the postseason couldn’t be part of the voting process in most people’s minds was indeed valid back when only two teams made the World Series, and to some extent valid when only 4 teams made the postseason. The reasoning was simple, that only 2 or 4 teams made the postseason each year and most players didn’t have a shot at the postseason. Even those who did only played the World Series, or the ALCS/NLCS and the postseason. Small sample sizes in many cases.
Where I break away from conventional wisdom is 1995. Look, since 1995 8 teams make the postseason!! Now? 10 teams will make the postseason!!! In addition to that, with free agency being the thing since the 80′s, most good players wind up on teams who make the postseason more often than not!!
Pettitte is 19-10 in the postseason, and with a 244-141 record in the regular season(.634) that is a hall of famer to me.
The dinosaur view of 300 being the magic number will insure that no starting pitcher ever again makes the hall of fame.
Glavine is considered a lock to make the hall of fame right? Why? Well because he has 305 wins. Well his winning percentage is .600 and his postseason record is 14-16. His 4 postseason 0-2 series certainly helped cost his team titles. Ask those Braves teams if how a pitcher pitches in the postseason matters!! That Braves run is still the biggest mind boggling run I’ve seen in baseball. All those regular season wins and division titles and one WS to show for it?
Blyleven got in with a .534 win percentage and 287 regular season wins. He was 5-1 in the postseason, and deserves to be in.
Pitchers make 20% fewer starts now,with the 5 man rotation and to me you should take 20% off the old 300 wins benchmark which would leave you with 240 career regular season wins as the standard.
Only 52 pitchers who have ever taken the mound in the history of the game have won more regular season games than Pettitte has. The majority are from the old 4 day rotation(or fewer) era.19 postseason wins?? I’d say that matters.
We’re living in an age gone by when evaluating starting pitchers as far as the Hall Of Fame goes.
CC is 32 and needs 111 wins to get to 300. Will he get there? Maybe, but he’s no cinch. Thats 17 wins for 6 more seasons.
Look at the active leaders list, there is no way and no how anyone else ever comes close to 300.
That standard needs to GO!
Michael P..
I would love to see Andy make it but, I just don’t see it. A lot of players make it to the hall because of the Media writing about how great they are day after day. That hasn’t been the case with Andy.
I agree, as do many others, the 300 threshold for HoF is way to much! I think we will see it lowered to 250, which it should be and is in the minds of a big % of writers.
If enough voters change their minds between the time Andy quits and they vote for him, have heart, he my be in there yet.
Andy -was a very good pitcher on great teams. Was he great? no. He was never considered an elite pitcher like Clemens, Johnson, Pedro etc. These guys are HOFers.