Baseball America's Top-10 Yankees Prospects (Source) Jesus Montero, C (AAA) Austin Romine, C (AA) Arodys Vizcaino, RHP (Traded - ATL) Slade Heathcott, OF (Extended ST then SI when season starts in June) Zach McAllister, RHP (AAA) Manny Banuelos, LHP (A+ - Tampa) Gary Sanchez, C (GCL) J.R. Murphy, C (Extended ST then SI when season starts in June) Jeremy Bleich, LHP (AA) Andrew Brackman, RHP (A - Charleston) The parenthesis are my guess where each player will start the season So far this offseason they have traded Austin Jackson (who probably would've been #2), and Arodys Vizcaino (#3). The Yankees have a ton of depth at catching. Everyone knows about Montero & Romine, but JR Murphy is one who I'm really excited about (Prospect Profile). While the top-10 has some talent in it, most of it is low-minors. Montero could potentially be a September call-up (he's starting the year in AAA), McAllister could get a look if injuries add up in the rotation. Other than those 2, it'll be a couple years till any of these guys have a chance at breaking into the majors.
I'm ok with bringing back Vasquez. As a 4th starter he will be fine. He has never really missed time with injuries and has been a #1 previously plus he has already pitched in NY and understands what it takes. Maybe some time away from the spotlight will help him adjust this time. Melky was a fan favorite which is why he will be missed but he has never really progressed as a player since he came up. Lets also not forget that he was beaten out by Gardner for the starting CF spot last year. Gardner is a better defensive CF than Melky but he needs to work on his offensive. I'm not really worried about losing a 19 yrd old at this point. I think Cashman did alright with this.
Vazquez finished 4th in Cy Young voting this year. He is going to be our #3 or #4 pitcher. How can you NOT like this trade?
my guess at the new lineup (as of who is on the roster today) Jeter, SS Johnson, DH Teixeira, 1B Rodriguez, 3B Granderson, LF Posada, C Cano, 2B Swisher, RF Gardner, CF Bench Hoffman, OF Cervelli, C Pena, IF By all means, not a bad lineup at all, still probably the best in the league. Yeah, people will bitch about having Gardner in the lineup, but give the kid a chance; he's going to be the #9 hitter, and with his speed and excellent defense, its worth giving hm a look. You have potential All-Stars at 1-8. Also, with this rotation, they shouldn't have to rely on offense. CC Sabathia (34 GS, 19-8, 230 IP, 3.37 ERA, 7.7 SO/9, 127 ERA+, 3.39 FIP) AJ Burnett (33 GS, 13-9, 207 IP, 4.04 ERA, 8.48 SO/9, 106 ERA+, 4.33 FIP) Andy Pettitte (32 GS, 14-8, 194.2 IP, 4.16 ERA, 6.84 SO/9, 103+, 4.15 FIP) Javier Vazquez (32 GS, 15-10, 219.1 IP, 2.87 ERA, 9.77 SO/9, 143 ERA+, 2.77 FIP) Joba Chamberlain (31 GS, 9-6, 157.1 IP, 4.75 ERA, 7.61 SO/9, 90 ERA+, 4.82 FIP) Phil Hughes (51 G/7 GS, 8-3, 86 IP, 3.03 ERA, 10.05 SO/9, 141 ERA+, 3.22 FIP)
(162-0) maybe?? Also, this is the Yankees. They will prolly add one more bat to that lineup before Opening day.
There's no back up outfielder... do they still have Hairston? There has to be another deal going on for an outfielder. My guess is Holliday.
They've all but ruled out Holliday and Bay. Ya ya, I get nobody expected Teix in NY last year, but this seems a bit different. If I had to guess, Damon or another equal level player. Not one of the big 2.
I don't really want Damon in left, but I would vastly prefer Damon in LF over Gardner in the lineup. Gardner shows flashes of above-averageness, but he is not a MLB player.
Baseball Prospectus - Yankees Top Prospects (Source) Jesus Montero, C Arodys Vizcaino, RHP Manny Banuelos, LHP Zach McAllister, RHP Austin Romine, C Gary Sanchez, C Slade Heathcott, CF Kevin De Leon, RF J.R. Murphy, C Mark Melancon, RHP D.J. Mitchell, RHP Corban Joseph, IF A gritty infielder with a good approach and a line-drive bat, Joseph still generates questions about his ability to stay at an up-the-middle position. Eduardo Nunez, SS Nunez was once a highly regarded prospect, and he had a bounce-back year at Double-A. However, his approach and defense remain sloppy. Melky Mesa, RF He has an exciting power/speed combination, but his bat lags well behind Jeremy Bleich, LHP The command-focused lefty needs to make adjustments after getting rocked at Double-A. He does in depth write-ups on the top-11 (subscriber only), and quick little blurbs of 12-15 (above), but here is Montero's. 1. Jesus Montero, C DOB: 11/28/89 Height/Weight: 6-4/225 Bats/Throws: R/R Drafted/Signed: Venezuela, 2006 2009 Stats: .356/.406/.583 at High-A (48 G); .317/.370/.539 at Double-A (44 G) Last Year?s Ranking: 1 Year in Review: Already the top prospect in the Yankees? system, Montero became one of the top prospects in the game by dominating High- and Double-A pitching as a teenager before his season was cut short by a broken finger. The Good: Simply put, Montero is one of the best offensive prospects in the game, and possibly the best. He's a massive slugger with the contact skills of a batting champion, with one scout classifying his ability to put the middle of the barrel on the ball "almost supernatural." His raw power is at or near the top of the charts?and he's just starting to tap into it. He has the potential for 30-40 home runs annually. He's a hard worker who puts as much work into his defense as his hitting, and he's made great strides behind the plate. The Bad: Montero remains a well below-average catcher, despite his improvements. His big, thick build doesn't provide much agility defensively, and he's only expected to get bigger, which will almost assuredly mean a move to first base. His approach is good for his age, but it could use some improvements, as he swings at a lot of bad pitches, making up for it by often crushing them. Ephemera: Playing in Double-A games away from the offensive black hole that is Trenton, Montero hit .400/.457/.718 with 61 total bases in 22 games. Perfect World Projection: Montero will be one of the best run producers in the game?a .300 hitter (or better) with plus-plus power. Path to the Big Leagues: This is where things get complicated. The bat is well ahead of the glove, and to the point where waiting for the defense would be remarkably inefficient. It's highly similar to the development of Carlos Delgado, with the additional barrier of Mark Teixeira, who is signed through 2016, playing first. Timetable: Montero will begin 2010 as one of the youngest players in the Triple-A International League, and while he should see the big leagues at some point during the season, his presence also gives the Yankees the ability to pull off a blockbuster deal this July if needed.
What can we do with Montero? We can't keep him to put at first because there's no way you move out Teixeira. If he remains a catcher and a Yankee, that means Mauer is no longer an option. Could we trade him now for Crawford? Obviously it would suck to trade that much power within the division, but Crawford would be huge in left. The Rays can't afford to keep him can they? If we managed this, would it affect Mauer? Getting Crawford and Mauer before 2011 would make me more happy with the Yankees than I've ever been. Just for the hell of it, imagine the lineup. Jeter SS Crawford LF Teixiera 1B ARod 3B Mauer C Posada DH Granderson CF Cano 2B Swisher RF Yeah, I know. It's a pipe dream, but damn. That would be sick.
Stop with the troll shit . I have been a Yankee fan longer than you have been alive, I'm sure. The fact I don't buy anything Cashman has ever done makes no difference. The bottom line is they still don't have a left fielder or a DH and if you believe the rumors they are targeting Mark DeRosa...which makes perfect Cashman sense...a 35 year old .220 hitter to replace a 37 year old .282 hitter. Oh, and I would have signed Lackey over trading for Vazquez even though I'm not a big fan. Lackey will make 16.5 million and with the money the Yankees had to give Atlanta they are spending 14 million for Vazquez..and they wouldn't have had to give up anything to do it.
Yup. I was really upset when they traded Vazquez in the first place for RJ. (That was a Steinbrenner move, by the way.) People forget that Javy was great for the Yanks in the first half of '04. Then his mechanics fell apart in the second half and the best Mel could offer was a pat on the butt and a "Go get 'em."
alright, i'll bite. So you would rather pay Lackey $16.5M a year for 5 years (his age 31-35 seasons, when his numbers have been declining since his peak in '07, and who has topper 198 IP only 5 of his 8 seasons) instead of Javier Vazquez who has actually improved over the last 4 seasons, has topped 198 IP 10 years in a row, will earn $11.5M in his age 33 season, and will likely net the Yankees 2 draft picks in next years draft. And they gave up a replaceable fringe MLB OF in Melky, an erratic but powerful lefty middle reliever, and a projectable 19 year old pitcher, who is a crapshoot as with all other young prospects. It's a great trade, and a better acquisition than Lackey. And if he accepts arbitration should the Yankees offer it to him (just predicting your next argument), then he slides perfectly into the #3 slot with Pettitte's probable retirement, STILL making less than Lackey will even with his arbitration raise
I wish there was a way to prevent Don from receiving any news of baseball transactions for two years, then present him with a list of moves, half made by Cashman, half fabricated. I bet if Don were to judge those moves, there would zero correlation between moves he disliked and moves Cashman made. Of course, the easy way to do this experiment would be to have Don express what he thinks would be good moves at the outset, instead of just being a cranky ol' reactionary poster.
No, I'm talking about Boras screwing up the negotiations with Seattle and then again with the Yankees. Clearly, you missed the point.
Clearly I did. Being an asshole goes hand-in-hand with being a good agent. Boras is good at what he does I respect it.
He's far from being the only asshole agent. The point is that he doesn't care about the players. He's about himself and his ego, and he's proven it time and time again, most notably with A-Rod because he did it with two different teams, 14 years apart. Selena Roberts's book about A-Rod is illuminating, and not just on what drives A-Rod. It discusses Boras as well.
Don, I have a preposition, more like a bet if you are interested. I will bet you that Javier Vazquez will have a better season than John Lackey. And I'm not talking a W-L record. SO/9, ERA, ERA+, IP, and K:BB ratio. What do you say? Pitcher who leads majority of those wins? I'll let you and your overactive imagination work up the wager.
