Yankees minor league signings

The New York Yankees have announced several minor league signings. They signed relief pitcher Royce Ring who pitched for the New York Mets for a couple of years. They also signed outfielders David Winfree and Reid Gorecki. I only know something about Royce Ring, I will have to go with what I have heard. Chad Jennings of the Journal News and Lohud Yankees Blog has a good grasp of minor leaguers considering he worked for Scranton for 7 years. Here are the stats that he provided and some insight. David Winfree had his first shot at AAA last year and hit 273 with 14 homeruns and 31 doubles. He did strike out 88 times with only 28 walks. Winfree is only 24 years old, he seems to have Shelly Duncan type power, similar type of player but Duncan has more experience. Baseball America ranked him as the Twins #28 prospect last year and only had one other prospect with better power. Royce Ring has 94 games of big league experience. He has pitched with the Mets, Padres and Braves. He had a 3.04 era in AAA with the St. Louis Cardinals last season. Lefties hit 208 against him last year and they have hit 229 against him in his career. He seems to be AAA filler but isn't a bad guy to have around. The Yankees now have Damaso Marte who they hope will be the guy they saw in the playoffs and not the guy they saw in the regular season. They also have Boone Logan and Wilkens De La Rosa.

MLB notes

Jason Marquis is about to sign with the Washington Nationals. It is interesting that they have added a veteran starter and a veteran catcher. They also will almost certainly have Stephen Strasburg on the roster at some point this season. I think the Mets better be careful, everyone in the division seems to be getting better other then them. The deal is for 2 yrs and 15 million. Jesus Montero the Yankees #1 prospect will be starting the season in AAA-Scranton according to minor league coordinator Mark Newman. I would love to go see him play in Scranton this year, I have not seen him in person yet. It is being tweeted by all the major writers, Buster Olney, Ken Davidoff, Jon Heyman that the Yankees are close to a trade for a starting pitcher tonight. Mark Feinsand of the Daily News is trying to find out who it is but it supposedly is not a salary dump. If anyone is up late tonight we may know or tomorrow morning maybe we will find out.

Yanks sweep White Sox

The New York Yankees defeated the Chicago White Sox today by the score of 8-3. I was on my way to Scranton so only saw the first 3 innings. Joba Chamberlain pitched 3 innings on only 34 pitches but was pulled due to the new Joba rules. He gave up 2 runs on 4 hits. Alfredo Aceves pitched 3 innings giving up 0 runs on 2 hits and got the win moving to 9-1 on the season. Damaso Marte faced 1 batter getting him out and Dave Robertson pitched 1 /3 of an inning giving up a couple of hits. Phil Hughes bailed him out of the jam and then pitched a hitless eighth inning. Phil Coke finished the game off giving up a solo homerun. Derek Jeter had another couple of hits and Mark Teixeira had 4 rbi's. Johnny Damon tied his career high for homeruns by hitting a 2 run shot. A-rod had a hit and 2 walks. Jorge Posada had 2 hits and a rbi. Melky Cabrera and Robinson Cano each had a hit and Melky had a rbi. The Yankees now move on to Baltimore for a 3 game series starting tomorrow night with Andy Pettitte on the mound.

Toronto Blue Jays at New York Yankees

The New York Yankees begin a 3 game series with the Blue Jays at Yankee stadium tonight at 7:00PM on the YES network. Here are a few notes from the Lohud Yankees Blog and the lineup. The pitching staff has a 2.50 era during the 7 game winning streak allowing 56 runs and 20 hits over 69 innings. They have thrown 62 percent of their pitches for strikes and held opponents to a 224 batting average. The Yankees are 7-2 against Toronto this season. MO has not allowed a run since June 12th a stretch of 21 1/3 innings. His era now stands at 1.88. He has allowed 6 hits and 3 walks in his last 5 1/3 innings though. A-rod hit his 574th homerun last night putting him at 9th all time, Mark McGwire is up next at 583 homeruns. The Yankees at 27 games over 500 are at their highest point since the end of the 2006 season when they finished 97-65. Cody Ransom cleared waivers and accepted a assignment to Scranton, this is nice he is a good guy that had a horrible tragedy in college. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Swisher(RF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Posada(DH) Cano(2B) Hairston(LF) Cabrera(CF) Molina(C)

Random thoughts and notes

Today is the 30th anniversary of Thurman Munson's death. I purchased the new book by Marty Appell called the life and death of a Yankee Captain, i have not read it yet but plan on posting a review of it when I do. It is amazing that this was so long ago and it still resonates with people. He was such a good guy and a real blue collar guy. There is a great article about Shelly Duncan by Chad Jennings the Scranton Yankees beat reporter who has a blog, you can check out the link over at Peter Abrahams Lohud Yankees Blog. The Red Sox went to Baltimore and swept them but I do wonder with the aquisition of Victor Martinez, how that will affect other guys. If he plays first base that means Youkilis moves to third and Mike Lowell sits, if he plays catcher then Varitek sits and if he is DH Big Papi sits, this should be interesting to watch. It is amazing to me how some teams own other teams and some teams own certain pitchers etc. Mark Buehrle is coming off setting the major league record for most retired batters in a row and the Yankees just batter him today like they always do, he is now 1-6 in his career vs them with a 7 something era. Jesus Montero the Yankees #2 prospect is out for the year after getting crossed up and breaking a finger. He will play winter ball it looks like but his minor league season is over. He is only 20 yrs old and will start at AA next year but I won't be suprised to see him in AAA at some point. Damaso Marte continues to rehab in Scranton, I wonder if the Yankees will call him back up. I do think there is some sort of clock where they have too. If Sergio Mitre continues to falter will the Yankees actually turn to Kei Igawa?? Jason Hirsch made his debut yesterday and tossed 6 shutout innings could he be a guy they look too?? Hirsch has been bad but he was a #1 prospect only a couple of yrs ago. The Mets have been pretty quiet and won some games lately, can this continue and can they really get back into the race?? I personally don't think so because there are so many teams ahead of them but who knows.

Yankees at White Sox

The Yankees will try to get a win in Chicago today in the 3rd of 4. The Yankees have lost the first 2 and haven't looked good especially last night. I am not going to do the pregame notes just the lineup here with a couple tid bits of information. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Swisher(RF) Tex(DH) A-rod(3B) Posada(C) Cano(2B) Cabrera(CF) Hairston(LF) Ransom(1B) Shelly Duncan was sent back down to Scranton to make room for Hairston who will make his Yankees debut. Pettitte and Mitre will start in Toronto and then for the Red Sox series it will set up like this: Chamberlain, Burnett, Sabathia, Pettitte. Enjoy the game on Fox at 4:00PM

Game 86: Yankees at Angels

I apologize for the lack of posts but I have been seriously ill and I am still fighting it. Here are the pregame notes and lineup via Peter Abraham. Mark Melancon was recalled from Scranton and Jon Albaladejo was optioned back down. The Yankees start the day tied for first with the Red Sox in the AL East. They finish the first half in Anaheim with 3 games then its the all star break. Game 86: Yankees at Angels Posted using ShareThis

Yankees go for sweep

The New York Yankees will be looking for the sweep tonight of the Seattle Mariners. The game is at 7:05 on the Yes network. Here are the pregame notes and lineup from Peter Abraham-the best blogger there is. The Yankees are 30-15 in their last 45 games. The Yankees have won 9 of their last 11 games against Seattle and won 10 straight in the bronx, the last time the Mariners won in the bronx was 2007. The relievers are on a roll, Mo over his last 9 appearances has gone 9 1/3 innings giving up 2 hits, 1 run, 1 walk and 12 strikeouts. Phil Hughes has gone 13 innings in his last 8 appearances giving up 5 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks and 16 strikeouts. Alfredo Aceves has gone 9 appearances, 12 1/3 innings, 9 hits, 1 run, 2 walks and 8 strikeouts. Phil Coke ha gone 15 appearances, 13 1/3 innings, 5 hits, 1 run, 3 walks and 15 strikeouts. These are very impressive numbers and part of the reason the Yankees are winning so much the other part is the starters have been good too and the bullpen is getting worn down. CC Sabathia has a career 2.95 era against Seattle and is 6-1 with a 2.82 era in his last 10 games. Robinson Cano has gone 11 games without an rbi, his last rbi came on June 17th. Johnny Damon has 198 homeruns and is 10 of his last 24 with 7 rbi's and 5 extra base hits. The Yankees team era is 4.44 which is 11th in the AL but getting lower and lower. They are second in strikeouts with 588. Boston has 1 more and they are second in opponents batting average which is at 252, Seattle leads at 250. The Yankees are 23-14 at home and have played in bad weather all year with some rainouts already. Big Tex is overdue for a homerun, his last one was June 12 off of Livan Hernandez. Yankees Lineup: Jeter(SS) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Cano(2B) Swisher(RF) Matsui(DH) Cabrera(CF) Cervelli(C) Jose Molina starts a rehab assignment tonight with AAA-Scranton where I will be on Sunday for the game with the lohud Yankees blog and Peter Abraham, we are going to also meet Dave Miley the manager and a player and I hope to meet Chad Jennings who does a great job with a blog for the Scranton Yankees. I will definitely do a nice writeup and have some pics from the day out at PNC Park in Scranton. I also will put up what is going on with the contest for the free coloring book later on tonight. The Yankees signed a couple of independent league players the other day and I forgot to mention that and today started the international free agent signing period where the Yankees are expected to announce a couple of signings, one of them being Gary Sanchez a catcher with a big bat, this is where they signed Jesus Montero who by the way is starting to tear up AA at 19 years old.

A couple of Yankee notes on off day

Xavier Nady is heading to AAA-Scranton to start his rehab. He will join them tomorrow and be ready to start his rehab assignment on Wednesday. He played in a simulated game today and went 2 for 3 with 2 singles as a DH. He made throws to second and third before the game and felt fine. Jose Molina completed a workout and Damaso Marte a throwing program but they still both seem a ways off. I am not sure how much time Nady needs but I would think without any setbacks it may only be a couple of weeks before he is back. The Yankees issued this release regarding Nady today. CC Sabathia did not get treatment today according to Peter Abraham, the reason was that Atlanta was playing a makeup game and the trainers room wasn't available, he will go about his normal schedule this week and it looks like he will be fine as the Yankees didn't send him for a MRI.

Yanks go for another sweep

The Yankees go for 9 in a row with Joba on the mound. Here is the lineup and a couple of notes. Johnny Damon strained his neck trying to get Adam Jones homerun yesterday and Joe Girardi hopes it will only be one day so he is out for at leastiltonight. Phil Hughes will get another start on Monday in Texas and Chien-Ming Wang will pitch tomorrow for Scranton, the Yankees said they want to see what they saw in the bullpen the other day. Here is the lineup: Jeter(SS) Cano(2B) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Swisher(RF) Cabrera(LF) Cervelli(C) Gardner(CF)

Yankee notes and thoughts

Chien-Ming Wang started the first game of a doubleheader in Scranton today pitching 7 shutout innings giving up 4 hits and it appears he will be rejoining the Yankees this week at some point. Cashman was there and had a lot to say, you can check it out on Chad Jennings blog, he writes for the Times Tribune or you can access it via Peter Abrahams blog. Brian Bruney pitched an inning giving up a run on 2 hits with a strikeout. He will be activated on Tuesday. The Twins are 3-22 in their last 25 games at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees are 10-1 in their last 11 at home against the Twins. Minnesota must be shot after these 3 games and I am sure the last thing they wanted to do was play another game here tomorrow. I think the Yankees need to stomp on them and sweep them away hopefully scoring a bunch of runs and having an easier game. Andy Pettitte will look to continue the recent string of good performances. The Yankees then have Baltimore for 3 and should win at least 2 of the 3 there before playing the World Champion Phillies which should be interesting as they can hit but don't have much pitching at all.

Yankees at Toronto

This game is huge in Toronto as they are in first place and also A.J. Burnett isn't too well liked up there as he opted out and headed to the Yankees. I am sure the two friends badly want to beat each other. Roy Halladay is 58-24 over the last 4 seasons. He was 18-17 with a almost 5 era in his first 49 games, so for anyone that wants to give up on Phil Hughes or Joba or any guy like that this is why you have to be patient with young guys. A.J. Burnett is 0-0 with a 6.66 era over his last 4 starts, he needs to come out and pitch a good game and get rolling now. Robbie Cano may be coming out of his slump going 4 for his last 12 with 3 extra base hits. The Blue Jays are 73-49 since he took over managing last year, he did win two world championships with them in the early 90's. Mark Teixeira is 7 of his last29 which isn't great but maybe he is slowly getting there, we can only hope. Johnny Damon is just on fire going 13 of his last 31 with 5 homeruns and 15 rbi's. Melky is 19 of 52 since becoming a starter with only 3 rbis though. Derek Jeter was scratched with a oblique pull, Brian Bruney will throw off the mound tomorrow and Posada is in Tampa ramping up his rehab, Brian Cashman is headed to Scranton to see Wang pitch tonight. Here is the lineup: Gardner(CF) Damon(LF) Tex(1B) A-rod(3B) Matsui(DH) Cano(2B) Cabrera(RF) Cash(C) Pena(SS)

Yankees Minor league wrap

The AAA Scranton Yankees won again tonight by the score of 11-0. They are now 9-0, will they ever lose a game. Phil Hughes got the start pitching five and two thirds innings allowing no runs on five hits and six strikeouts. Steven Jackson pitched two scoreless innings giving up three hits with one walk and three strikeouts. Brett Tomko finished it off with one and a third scoreless innings with one hit, walk and strikeout. Phil Hughes is 2-0 with a 2.31 era on this young season. The offense had a big day led by Angel Berroa who was four for five with two homeruns and five rbis. Doug Bernier had two hits and a walk, Todd Linden had two hits and rbis. Shelly Duncan had two hits, a walk and rbi. Eric Duncan had a hit and walk. The AA Trenton Thunder won tonight by a score of 5-4. Zach McAllister got the start pitching five and a third giving up three runs, only two were earned on four hits with three walks and strikeouts. Mike Dunn got the win pitching two and two third scoreless innings giving up two hits one walk and three strikeouts. A Tampa won by the score of 10-1. Jeremy Bleich who was the second pick for the Yankees last year started going six innings giving up six hits, one run on one walk and strikeout. The offense was paced by Jesus Montero who went four for five with two rbis. Damon Sublett went one for three and Austin Romine went one for five. A Charleston lost 5-4. Manny Banuelos started going three and two thirds giving up eight hits, four runs and three walks with three strikeouts.

Yankees minor league rosters set

UPDATE: 9:46PM: Chad Jennings of the Times Tribune and AAA beat writer and has his own blog is reporting that Brett Tomko will be the closer at AAA and Austin Jackson will be hitting sixth to start the season. I have been waiting for this to be official for about a week, the Yankees announced their rosters for Scranton-AAA, Trenton-AA and Tampa-High Class A, Charleston-Low Class A. I am not going to list the whole rosters here but you can find it on http://yankees.com/ under minor league affiliates or on http://milb.com/ which is the minor league site. I am going to list some of the top players though first with Scranton: Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, Mark Melancon, Austin Jackson. The Catchers down here are Kevin Cash PJ Pilittere and Chris Stewart. PJ was in Trenton for a couple of years and is known as a good game caller. The other names most of you are aware of, I am looking for Austin Jackson to have a big year and maybe be up in the big leagues in September. I also look for Mark Melancon to be on the big club at some point this year. AA Trenton-Kyle Anson and Francisco Cervelli are here as the catchers both pretty good prospects although Cervelli is thought of as the most advanced catching prospect the Yankees have and could be up in AAA at some point this year, he of course had a lost year least year when he broke his wrist in spring training. They have some interesting pitchers here such as Zach McAllister, Mike Dunn, Wilken Arias, George Kontos and Ryan Pope. Zach McAllister is one of the top young prospects that the Yankees think very highly of. The position players Eduardo Nunez impressed a lot of people in spring training and suprisingly Justin Snyder is at this level, Snyder was in his first year last year. A Tampa- The pitchers here are led by supplemental 1st round pick Jeremy Bleich who could move quickly and Dellin Betances who is just a stud and many have labeled the Baby Unit. They also have the 2 big catchers in Jesus Montero who reminds me a lot of Mike Piazza although he seems to be improving a lot behind the plate and may actually stay as a catcher and also Austin Romine who is a good catcher with a good bat. It will be interesting to see if either moves up and they break these two up for the first time in their young careers. I wouldn't really get too worked up over any of the other prospects but I will be watching the minor league teams all year also and update you on what is going on and if anyone else emerges. A-Charleston- The pitchers here are led by Andrew Brackman they also have Manuel Banuelos, Brett Marshall and the ambidextrous reliever Pat Venditte. The infield has Carmen Angelini who is a well though of ss and also Garrison Lassiter who they drafted last year, these guys are very young and a ways off. I have been to both Scranton and Trenton and love going to both places, its a lot of fun and you get to see some prospects and possibly future Yankees. If you have a chance to go, check it out, neither is too far away and pretty easy to get too. I will be in Scranton for an outing July 5th and plan on having a good post about it afterwards. I don't know if I will get to Trenton this year but that is where I have met Melky Cabrera, Joba Chamberlain, Ian Kennedy, Shelly Duncan, Jeff Karstens and more.

Minor league games and notes

The Scranton Yankees played to a 6-6 tie today. I am going to start with some notes courtesy of Chad Jennings the beat writer for the Scranton Yankees, you can check out his blog at http://community.thetimes-tribune.com/blogs/yankees. Jorge Posada threw out a guy trying to run on him. Wang gave up 2 homeruns but the wind was terrible and on a normal day would of been fly outs. Chieng-Ming Wang pitched 5 innings giving up 9 hits, 4 runs, 1 walk and 3 strikeouts. He didn't have his best game but that is ok, the wind was bad and it was a minor league game where the focus isn't always the same. Zach Kroenke pitched 2 innings giving up 3 hits, 2 runs with 3 strikeouts. Jose Valdez pitched 2 innings giving up 1 hit, 0 runs, 1 walk and 5 strikeouts. The offense Eric Duncan going 2-3 with a homerun, triple and 4 rbi's. Edwar Gonzalez was 3-4 with a homerun, rbi and stolen base. Austin Jackson was 1-3 with a triple, Jorge Posada had a double in 4 plate appearances. Nick Swisher had a solo homerun. The Yankees traded Jason Jones to Minnesota for minor league reliever Charles Nolte. Jones was a rule 5 pick for Minnesota and when they decided to not put him on the team this year they made this trade. The guy they got in the trade is a 23 year old righty who was a 24th round pick in 2007. He had a 2.05 era in Low A ball last year. He has struck out 97 batters in 94.2 innings with 46 walks and holding opponents to a 230 batting average. He has a huge groundball tendency. Brian Bruney pitched in AA going 2 perfect innings wiht 4 strikeouts so he now has had solid back to back outings. Hideki Matsui was 2-3 with a double, hr and walk in the AA game.

Minor league Game

The AAA Scranton Yankees won their game 2-1. Phil Hughes got the start and continued his good pitching with 5 innings of 4 hit, 1 run ball. He had 1 walk and 4k. Anthony Claggett pitched 2 innings giving up 2 hits, o runs with 2k. J.B. Cox pitched 2 innings giving up 1 hit, 0 runs and 3k. Kevin Russo was 1-2 with 2 walks, rbi and sb, Kyle Anson was 2-3 with a rbi. Eric Duncan was 0-3 with a walk, he has been playing in the outfield which is interesting. Kevin Russo who is an infielder also got a start in the OF and misplayed a ball there. Phil Hughes didn't throw many curveballs but when he did it was effective and the crowd was even going "ohhh".