[農場] 2010 Season Preview: Help from within

[appshjkli (貓肉球)]

  2010 Season Preview: Help from within

  By Mike Axisa

  http://riveraveblues.com/2010/03/2010-season-preview-help-from-within-25810/

  Although they’ll always be known as a team that relies on stars and big name

  players, the core of the most recent Yankees’ dynasty came from within. The

  team developed three borderline Hall of Fame players at premium up-the-middle

  positions (Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte) in under a decade,

  and that alone would have been a strong enough foundation for perennial

  championship contender. The Yankees got greedy though, so they went ahead and

  developed a surefire Hall of Fame shortstop and the greatest relief pitcher

  who ever lived as well. That’s not just a great run of player development,

  it’s a historically great run.

  After the lavish spending that occurred in the early part of the century, GM

  Brian Cashman re-emphasized the farm system and player development, and in

  recent years he’s begun to see those efforts pay dividends. Last year’s

  World Series roster featured eight homegrown players who made their big

  league debut within the last five seasons, and six who debuted within the

  last three years.



  The crown jewel of the farm system right now is the man you see above,

  20-year-old catcher Jesus Montero. Opinions about his ability to remain

  behind the plate vary, though most believe he’s destined to move to a less

  valuable position down the road. His bat will work no matter where he plays,

  because he compliments top of the line power with a solid approach and the

  innate ability to get the fat part of the bat on the ball. As a 19-year-old

  he hit .337-.389-.562 with 17 homers in 92 games split between High-A Tampa

  and Double-A Trenton before a fluke injury (broken finger on his catching

  hand) ended his season in August, and just before Spring Training he was

  named the fourth best prospect in the game by Baseball America. The Yankees

  have Montero penciled into the starting catcher’s job for Triple-A Scranton

  this season.


  It’s unlikely the Yanks would call Montero up for any sort of extended

  playing time during the 2010 season, but they have several other players on

  the cusp of contributing, one of whom we caught a glimpse of last season.

  Mark Melancon, the team’s best relief prospect, walked as many batters as he

  struck out (ten) in his 16.1 inning cameo, but his minor league track record

  (2.69 FIP, 8.7 K/9, 2.0 BB/9, 57.6 GB%) screams future success. With a

  low-90’s fastball and an out-pitch curveball, the 25-year-old Tommy John

  surgery survivor will be the first arm called up whenever the bullpen

  needs some help, and there’s a good chance he’ll be this year’s version

  of David Robertson.

  Another player the Yankees are sure to call on at some point is utility man

  Kevin Russo (left), who has opened eyes this spring with a .276-.353-.379

  batting line. A 2006 draft pick like Melancon and Robertson, the 24-year-old

  broke out in 2008 and has hit .318-.379-.424 since, playing three infield

  spots as well as the outfield corners. The undersized Russo (5-foot-11, 190

  lbs.) has battled hamstring injuries and bad luck in his pro career (a batted

  ball in BP broke some bones in his face), but he’s the first in line for a

  promotion when Ramiro Pena falters or the bench otherwise needs some

  reinforcements.


  The Yanks also have young rotation depth in 23-year-old Ivan Nova (3.83 FIP,

  1.53 K/BB last year) and 22-year-old Zach McAllister (3.03 FIP, 2.91 K/BB),

  both of whom will open the season in the Triple-A Scranton rotation and

  project as back of the rotation workhorses. Jason Hirsh is a little older

  than those two at 28, but he’s a former top prospect with the Astros and

  Rockies who has big league experience and has done nothing but get outs since

  joining the Yanks last season. All three players also double as prime pieces

  of trade bait should the Yankees decide to go that route. The 24-year-old

  Greg Golson offers elite defense and speed if a stopgap outfielder is needed,

  and I’m pretty sure we’re all familiar with the soon to be 27-year-old

  first baseman Juan Miranda. All but McAllister and Hirsh are on the 40-man

  roster.

  Those are the players that are in the position to help the big league team in

  2010, but the Yankees also have several prospects further down the ladder

  with a chance to make a name for themselves this year. Catcher Austin Romine

  will finally step out of Montero’s shadow this year for Double-A Trenton,

  and look to improve on last year’s .347 wOBA with High-A Tampa while

  handling the rigors of his first full season as a clear cut number one

  catcher. With a strong all-around package of offense and defense at a premium

  position, the 21-year-old Romine is the early favorite to be the team’s

  catcher of the future.

  His battery mate every five days will be former Stanford lefty Jeremy Bleich,

  who despite less than stellar stats at Double-A Trenton (4.40 FIP, 1.76 K/BB)

  showed great improvement with his stuff last year as he got further away from

  a 2008 elbow injury. Drafted as a polished finesse pitcher, the 22-year-old’

  s velocity flirted with 95 last season, and anytime a lefty throws that hard,

  you pay attention. He’ll look to regain his trademark command this year to

  get back on track.

  Dominican bonus baby Jose Ramirez, 21, took the short season circuit by storm

  last year when he held opponents to a .161 batting average and posted a 3.46

  FIP and a 3.31 K/BB, and he’ll bring his mid-90’s gas and knockout changeup

  to Low-A Charleston in 2010. Lefty Manny Banuelos emerged as Charleston’s

  ace last season when he posted a 2.76 FIP and a 3.71 K/BB in 108 innings,

  earning himself a trip to the Futures Game. Still a year away from his 20th

  birthday, he’ll jump to High-A Tampa and try to further establish himself as

  a cornerstone piece for the future. Last year’s top draft picks, outfielder

  Slade Heathcott and catcher J.R. Murphy, will spend their first full season

  in the organization proving they were worth their seven figure signing

  bonuses.

  Of course, when it comes to farm system this year, all eyes will again be on

  2007 first rounder Andrew Brackman (right), who disappointed in 2009 to say

  the least. The now 24-year-old posted a 4.66 FIP in Low-A Charleston, walking

  close to six and a half batters for every nine innings pitched, and his stuff

  was a far cry from what it was in college. The silver lining was that he

  continued to miss bats (8.69 K/9) and showed improved control and arm

  strength in a late season stint as a reliever, which he was able to carry

  over into Instructional League and again into Spring Training. The Yankees

  will bump Brackman up to High-A Tampa in part because his big league contract

  will force him to stick in the Majors for good by 2013, and they’re looking

  for him to really step up and grab the reigns in a farm system devoid of star

  power beyond it’s top prospect.

  Trades, attrition, and graduation have thinned out the farm system that was

  rated as one of the game’s five best by Baseball America as recently as

  2008, but the Yankees still have a bonafide superstar in the making in Jesus

  Montero, as well as several complementary pieces just a phone call away from

  the Bronx. The 2009 draft brought a much needed influx of high upside

  position players and power arms, while several Latin America prospects and

  pre-2009 draftees are poised to make the jump from good to very good and

  possibly even great prospects as they enter into their early-20’s and finish

  maturing.

  The current Yankee team is still built around that same homegrown core from

  the late-90’s, though they’re surrounded by more star power than ever

  before. Should they need some reinforcements during the season or prospects

  to dangle as trade bait, the farm system offers plenty of variety. As the

  Yankees look to start their next dynasty, they aren’t going to have the

  luxury of producing five players as productive as the quintet they produced

  in the 90’s, though it’s possible no team will ever have that much player

  development success in such a short period of time ever again.


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