Lindgren Starts Climbing The Ladder

It's been over a month since he was drafted and about 3 weeks since he made his pro debut, but Jacob Lindgren is already starting to show why the Yankees were so high on him in making him their first pick of the 2014 draft.  He made his High-A debut last night and did so by striking out the side in a perfect inning.  For the season he's now pitched 7 innings across 3 different levels (GCL, Low-A, High-A), and he's given up 1 ER with 0 walks and 16 strikeouts in those 7 innings.

His stuff was considered MLB-ready by most scouts at the draft and it was universally agreed upon that he was MLB-ready as a lefty specialist the minute he was drafted.  The early small sample size results are exactly what you'd expect from a college reliever with that kind of profile.  Lindgren has been efficient and dominant against lower-level MiL hitters and I don't expect him to stay in Tampa for very long.  It will be fun watching him for the next 2 months to see how aggressive the Yankees get with him and whether he works his way up to a September call up.

Luis Severino Promoted To Double-A

Finally got it confirmed: Luis Severino has been promoted to Double-A Trenton and will pitch Saturday. #Yankees
— Josh Norris (@jnorris427) July 15, 2014

I know a lot of people aren't fans of this move, saying it was too soon and that Severino would have benefited more from spending the rest of this year in Tampa.  Here's why all of those people are wrong.  Severino averaged a shade under 5 IP per start with a 2.79 ERA and a 25.3% K rate in 67.2 IP at Low-A before getting bumped to Tampa.  In 4 starts there he's averaged a shade OVER 5 IP with a 1.31 ERA and 35.0% K rate in 20.2 IP.  He's been markedly better against what is supposed to be better competition.  There's nothing left for him to learn at the High-A level and so he should be moved up.  Keeping him in Tampa solely for the sake of keeping him there would be a waste of time.

By moving Severino up to Double-A, the Yankees are giving him a real challenge and giving themselves and the rest of baseball a new measuring stick by which to evaluate his talents.  The jump from High-A to Double-A is much bigger than Low-A to High-A, and a good performance here for the rest of this year will legitimize all the early praise and prospect ranking raises Severino has received and solidify him as one of the best young pitching prospects in baseball.  If he does experience a few growing pains, then he can spend more time at this level next year to work on things.  Really a no-lose situation for him and the Yankees if you think about it.

Severino And O'Brien Do What They Do In The Futures Game

The MLB Futures Game kicked off All-Star Week yesterday, and the Yankees were represented by a pair of prospects.  Luis Severino from High-A Tampa and Peter O'Brien from Double-A Trenton were the reps, playing for the World and USA teams respectively.  In their first performances on a big national stage, each displayed in a small sample size their calling cards as prospects.

Severino was the 4th World pitcher to enter the game and he worked a scoreless inning in the 4th, allowing 1 base hit and striking a batter out.  The strikeout victim was Joey Gallo, baseball HR leader and eventual game MVP, and Keith Law had Severino sitting 93-95 with his fastball.  O'Brien went 0-2 with 2 strikeouts, a somewhat expected result given his free-swinging tendencies.  Against the best pitchers the Minors have to offer, it's understandable that those skills overshadowed his high power potential.

All in all, not a bad night for the Yankee system in the Futures Game.  Just the fact that they got 2 reps for the first time in a few years is a step in the right direction for the organization.

The Best Of Prospect Times, The Worst Of Prospect Times

(Aaron Judge, certified stud.  Courtesy of MiLB.com)

It's Minor League All-Star Game season, which signifies the start to prospect promotion season.  The Yankees have already moved some guys up and down, but once we get through the midpoint of all the MiL seasons, you'll really start to see things pick up.  With that in mind, here are a few updates on some of the top names in the system and the wide disparity in where their seasons are heading at the midpoint.  All things considered, especially some of the more recent negative news, I think you have to say this has been another disappointing campaign for the Yankee system as a whole.  But check out the major "Bests" and "Worsts" after the jump and judge for yourself.

2014 MLB Draft Thoughts And Afterthoughts

(The right-handed Ian Clarkin?  Used courtesy of The Foxboro Reporter)

The Yankees wrapped up their 2014 draft on Saturday by following the formula they had set in the first 2 days.  They were focused primarily on college players and pitchers, with over 80% of their 39 picks making up that first category and over 60% the second.  It was hardly a gambling man's draft by the Yankees, with signability reigning supreme over upside.  That said, I think the Yankees did a pretty good job selecting players in the first 10-20 rounds who have good chances of helping the team in some capacity in the very near and very distant futures.  I feel better about that possibility than I did after the 2012 or 2013 drafts, so in that respect I guess I have to call the Yankees' draft a success at this point in time.  After the jump, some more thoughts on the players, the possibilities, and the plan from here as a final wrap-up of this year's draft.

Draft Day 1 Recap: Yankees Select Jacob Lindgren

(Courtesy of hailstate.com)

It was a long wait for the Yankees to make their first pick in last night's opening night of the 2014 MLB Draft.  Thanks to their offseason FA spending spree, they did not have a selection until the 2nd round, the 55th overall selection to be exact.  The rumors coming into the draft were that the Yankees were targeting a lot of prep catchers, some young HS arms, players with California ties (no surprise there), and most recently Indiana first baseman Sam Travis.  When the time came to make their pick, the Yankees went against all the rumors and selected Jacob Lindgren, left-handed pitcher from Mississippi St.

AB4AR 2014 MLB Draft Preview

Everybody knows I'm not a big draft guy.  I don't follow the pre-draft rankings that much and I don't read too many scouting reports on players.  But I can say I did make an honest effort to follow some of the players and storylines involving the Yankees for this draft and I do have a few SCORCHING HOT TAKES on tonight's proceedings.

• Love Grant Hockin as a potential top pick for the Yankees at 55.  Love him.  Righty HS pitcher out of Los Angeles.  Good frame (6'3"/195), throws 4 pitches, 2 of them already decent-to-good offspeed pitches, smooth delivery, easy mechanics, very good makeup.

• Hockin could be a bit of a reach at 55, but I think that's a risk worth taking with the 55th pick being the Yankees' first pick.  After that, I expect them to go with mostly cheaper college players for the next few rounds and save their amateur money for the big international spending spree.

• Case in point, Pat Connaughton, righty pitcher out of Notre Dame.  The Yanks have been reportedly linked to him, prep catchers Chase Vallot, K.J. Harrison, and Jakson Reetz, and Indian first baseman Sam Travis by name as early round targets.

• Travis is a very polished college bat with power potential, similar to Jagielo last year.  If they could somehow manage to get him in the 2nd and Hockin in the 3rd, I'd be ecstatic.

The draft starts at 6 PM Eastern tonight and it'll be a few minutes before the Yankees' turn comes around.  Most of my draft recap and analysis will be coming tomorrow, but if I can hop online later tonight and touch on the Yankees' picks I will.

Ian Clarkin Says Hello

I wasn't even aware that Ian Clarkin was slated to pitch for Low-A Charleston this season, let alone make his first start of the season for them last night.  After he had his pro debut delayed last year, I thought the Yankees would take the cautious approach with his HS arm and start him in one of the short-season leagues.  Guess that would have been a waste of time based on last night's results:

5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K.

Yeah, I guess that's pretty good for a 19-year-old kid who gave up 6 ER in 5.0 GCL innings pitched last season.  Clarkin was nasty with his stuff, sharp with his command, and efficient with his pitch count (61 pitches, 42 strikes).  He also picked a runner off of first base.  It's just 1 game, but it was a helluva way to introduce yourself to a Yankee fanbase that has high hopes for their 2013 draft class.

Luis Severino Makes FanGraphs' Prospect Watch

FanGraphs' resident prospect guru Marc Hulet does a regular "Prospect Watch" series in which he targets and scouts a few different prospects from around baseball.  Yesterday's edition featured Yankee pitching prospect Luis Severino, who's been making a lot of noise on the  scene thanks to his very good 2013 campaign.

Hulet's assessment of Severino was full of compliments.  He called Severino a potential "scouting coup" based on his tools, and like Keith Law, Hulet was a big fan of Severino's stuff.  He thinks there's room to add a few MPH to Severino's mid-90s fastball and likes the natural break of his curveball and fade of his changeup.  Also like Law, Hulet acknowledged that Severino has a lot of mechanical inconsistencies that need to be ironed out, especially the arm slot and motion repeatability when he throws his offspeed pitches.

Based on these 2 scouting reports, it's clear that Severino is far from a finished product.  That's true for any pitcher at age 20, so Severino has plenty of time to work on smoothing out his mechanics.  That can be taught and coached too.  What can't is stuff and both Law and Hulet recognize that Severino has plenty of that.  It wouldn't be a stretch at all to think that Severino could be the top organizational pitching prospect by the end of this season.

P.S.- I had Severino ranked 16th on this year's AB4AR Top 30 in his first appearance.  Check out the whole list here.

Aaron Judge Says Hello

His was easily the most anticipated debut of the 2014 MiL season after a hamstring injury kept him off the field post-signing in 2013.  Aaron Judge finally showed why the other night with that massive home run over the scoreboard in left.  He's off to a solid start average (.298) and on-base-wise (.441, 20.3% BB rate).  All that was missing was the power.  Well not anymore.  Hopefully that was the start of some more moonshots for Judge and hopefully we see him get bumped up to High-A Tampa soon.  When you're built like an NBA power forward and you're walking in over 20% of your plate appearances, there's probably not much to be learned at the Low-A level.

Yankees Sign 17-Year-Old Australian Pitcher Brandon Stenhouse

(Stenhouse and his dad.  Courtesy of News Limited)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

Already over their 2013-2014 international spending limit, the Yankees pushed themselves further over by reportedly signing Australian pitcher Brandon Stenhouse to a 6-figure contract yesterday.  Stenhouse, 17, is a right-hander who drew the eye of scouts after pitching in the Under 18 National Championships.  There's not much out there on him scouting report-wise, but the report from Australia references fastball velocity in the low 90s and the pictures make him look like he's got a decent frame.

The exact figures of the deal are unknown, but the Yankees' plan for Stenhouse is not.  He's going to report to the team's Tampa complex for a 2-week Extended ST "orientation" in April and then go back to Australia to complete school.  Once that's done, he'll return to the US to start his professional baseball career full-time.

Who Is Dietrich Enns?

(Courtesy of MiLB.com)

His name makes him sound like a James Bond villain hellbent on world domination, but in reality Dietrich Enns is actually a potential hidden gem from the 2012 Yankee draft class.  He was drafted in the 19th round out of Central Michigan University and has been absolutely tearing it up this season in Low-A Charleston.  With the 2013 draft starting tonight, it seems like the perfect time to catch people up on Enns, who some might have missed from last year.  In an organization known for its ability to find and develop solid relief pitching, Enns is already making a case to be put on the radar.

Gary Sanchez Named #3 Catching Prospect By MLB.com

(Courtesy of Matt Burton/MiLB.com)

On Wednesday afternoon, Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com released his "Prospect Watch" top 10 catching prospects rankings.  Top Yankee prospect Gary Sanchez was 3rd in those rankings, behind Travis d'Arnaud of the Mets and Mike Zunino of the Mariners.  Seeing as those 2 guys are easily the 2 best catching prospects in baseball, that's a pretty big accomplishment for the 20-year-old Sanchez.

Mayo's explanation of his putting Sanchez 3rd included high praise for Sanchez's defensive skills, saying he had the potential to be "an exciting two-way player for the Yankees."  This is higher praise than usual for Sanchez's defense, and that's coming from someone who was pretty complimentary of the improvements Sanchez made in last week's AB4AR Top 30.  Sanchez does have the plus arm, but right now doesn't project to be anything better than average at best behind the plate.  Still, with Sanchez's advanced offensive skills and high ceiling, it makes sense that Mayo would rank him 3rd if he believes Sanchez could be that good defensively.

Sanchez is still years away from the show, but his positional rankings project him in a positive light for the future. Last year MLB.com had Sanchez 4th overall, just ahead of Wilin Rosario of Colorado, who posted a .356 wOBA and hit 28 HR in 117 games for the Rockies in 2012.  Rosario also rated as a very poor defensive catcher according to FanGraphs.  Sanchez has a similar offensive makeup to Rosario, and still has time to improve his defensive skills.  If he can be even slightly better than Rosario defensively and improve his pitch recognition and plate discipline skills, Sanchez could be a very valuable Major League catcher.

Don't Count On Heathcott In The Bronx This Year

 (No need to rush the kid.  Courtesy of MiLB.com)

Prospect huggers everywhere were rejoicing last Friday when they got wind of scouting director Damon Oppenheimer's latest comments on 2 of the Yankees' hottest prospects.  Speaking to Jack Curry of YES, Oppenheimer had very high praise for both Mark Montgomery and Slade Heathcott, calling Montgomery's slider "sick," describing Heathcott as an "impact player," and leaving the door open for both of them to be on the Yankee roster sometime in 2013.

This comes as no surprise to anybody who's familiar with Montgomery's body of work.  I've advocated for his call up to the show on multiple occasions, once before last year's roster expansion date (which may have been a little hasty) and recently as part of the MiL group I think we will see in a Yankee uniform in 2013.  But Heathcott is a different story.  He's 22 years old, but not nearly as polished as Montgomery, and with less high-level experience under his belt.  Heathcott is as toolsy as they come, but he's got more working against him than for him on the path to the Majors in 2013 and to look past that would be wrong.

Adams & Heathcott Getting It Done In The AZFL

Maybe the folks at Baseball America knew what they were talking about after all putting Slade Heathcott 2nd in their top 10 organizational prospect rankings for the Yankees this week.  Despite his inability to be smart, eloquent, or a good speller when discussing the election on his Twitter account, Heathcott has been a standout since day 1 in the Arizona Fall League this year.  And David Adams, who continues to impress and create buzz for himself heading into ST 2013, has been no slouch either:

Heathcott- .333/.457/.526, 5 2B, 3 3B, 10 R, 12 RBI, 12 BB/14 K in 69 PA

Adams- .261/.363/.507, 10 XBH (3 HR), 9 R, 14 RBI, 11 BB/12 K in 80 PA

And if you're a visual learner, he's a piece from YES.com on the Yankees' AZFL participants.  Mmmmmmm, prospects...



P.S.- Heathcott has no neck, Austin Romine looks like he's 35 years old, Mark Montgomery looks and sounds like a meathead who doesn't give a shit about anything other than striking guys out, and Dellin Betances fucking blows.

My Melky Mesa Theory

(Can we get this kid some swings in a different set of pinstripes?  Courtesy of Paul Hasdall)

There wasn't much reaction to the Yankees calling up Melky Mesa on Monday.  With Mark Teixeira expected to miss 2 weeks and there being plenty of position player depth on the active roster, the move looked like nothing more than adding a warm insurance bench body to cover for the loss of Teix and rewarding an upper-level prospect with a long MiL history for a job well done in Double- and Triple-A this season.  That's pretty much how the move has played out so far, with Mesa staying glued to the bench over the past 2 games despite there being instances where his skill set could have helped, but I think there might be something more to this move.

Stick with me on this, because this theory is admittedly out of left field (or right).  It also operates under the assumption that the Yankees will make the postseason, an assumption that has become decidedly more gross since the Yankees started to morph into a baseball version of a beat up military platoon.  But it does make a little bit of sense, at least to me, if you consider it with an open mind.  Methinks that the Mesa promotion is more than just filling the bench during September, and it is actually the Yankees sneaky giving him the chance to audition for Andruw Jones' postseason roster spot.

Bring Me Jorge Soler

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

The Jorge Soler Sweepstakes was reignited yesterday when Buster Olney tweeted that the list of teams who were the "most aggressive" in their pursuits of the young Cuban was down to 4- the Dodgers, Cubs, Braves, and Yankees.  That fire was stoked a bit more today when The Post reported that Soler was expected to finalize a deal with one of those teams before tomorrow.  According to George King, Soler and his agent are looking for a 4-year deal, and with what's already known about the 20-year-old Soler that's a deal the Yankees should make sure they offer and make sure they offer a good one.

The makeup on Soler paints him as a potential 5-tool player with plus power, speed, and arm strength.  If he were in the recent MLB Draft, he likely would have been a top 5-10 pick.  He's not a finished product yet, and almost certainly wouldn't make an immediate Mike Trout or Bryce Harper-like jump to show, but Soler would be an easy top 5 prospect in any organization.  His 4-year contract won't be a cheap one, but he'll almost certainly come cheaper than Yoenis Cespedes, and at 6 years younger than Cespedes he's positioned to have a longer career.

Catching Up With The AB4AR Top 30

(Gone but not forgotten... )

A little over 5 months ago, I dipped my toe in the prospect pool and made my first attempt at creating a top Yankee prospects list.  Over a week at the end of December/early January, I unveiled my inaugural AB4AR Top 30.  Some picks were actually pretty good (ranking Rob Segedin 17th when many others didn't even have him on their lists).  Some were downright horrible (ranking Tyler Austin 30th).  Mine was really the first list that came out prior to the 2012 season, so I think for a first try it wasn't bad, but now that it's MLB Draft time, everybody is coming out with their updated pre-draft lists (see here and here).

To be quite honest, I've never really understood the value of re-doing the rankings so early in the MiL season.  Too much credit can be given for a really hot start, too much punishment can be given a really crummy start, and I don't think guys deserve to be bumped down the rankings just because they are hurt.  And let's not forget that the SS and GCL leagues haven't even started up yet.  It's no knock on the guys and sites that do it, but personally, I don't see how I'm supposed to honestly say that I think one guy has moved up over another when he hasn't even gotten 1 PA this year.

I can't.  And I won't.  But what I will do is revisit my Top 30 list from late last year/early this year and give a quick run-through of what each guy is doing and how that may affect his stock moving forward towards the eventual unveiling of the 2012/2013 edition of the AB4AR Top 30.  So if you're ready, I'm ready.  Let's take a look.

On ManBan And Betances' Recent Outings

Unless you've been incredibly busy over the past four days, or just don't spend all your free time following Yankee blogs like some of us do, you're probably well aware that Manny Banuelos came out last Friday and put on a masterful performance in his two innings of work, flashing both the stuff and command that has made him a top flight prospect.  You're probably also well aware that Dellin Betances followed that up last night with a similar performance, showing much improved command than he did in his last appearance.  There's been some buzz generated by both of these outings, and although the Yankosphere hasn't blown its top suggesting that these guys should be in on the rotation competition, I feel like it wants to.  Beneath the surface, people have to be itching to rev up the hype machine on these two based off their recent outings.  If you're one of these people, please take this bit of advice.

Just stop it.  There's no reason to get carried away with PHS (Prospect Hugging Syndrome) after a couple of good performances from Banuelos and Betances.  Were they both on top of their games?  Yes.  Was it the best either of them has looked this spring?  Yes.  Better than they looked for the majority of 2011?  Yes.  But it was still just one outing apiece, short outings at that, and those outings should not change the course that the Yankees have these two on.

Banuelos and Betances both stand to factor big time into the Yankees' future plans, possibly starting as early as this fall and almost certainly by this time next year.  Keep in mind, though, that both of them are coming off down years after 2010 and have yet to showcase the type of command they each showed the last time out on a consistent basis in their short time at the Triple-A level .  They also are yet to fully stretch out their innings totals in the Minors, with ManBan throwing 129.1 total innings last season and Betances 129.0.  They both still need polish, they both still need to develop, and the best way to accomplish those things is to spend another full season at Triple-A.

The Yankees made upgrading the rotation a priority this offseason and they did just that by bringing in Michael Pineda and Hiroki Kuroda.  They know what they have in ManBan and Betances and they know that it's in their best interest and the team's best interest to not rush them to the show before they're ready if they don't have to.  The presence of Pineda and Kuroda and the added depth that Hughes, Garcia, Warren, and Phelps provide gives the Yankees the luxury to let Banuelos and Betances spend another season developing in Triple-A, and that's exactly what they should do no matter how well either pitches in Spring Training.