Yankees weekly Minor League roundup

AAA- The Scranton/Wilkes Barre Yankees continue to be in first place. Austin Jackson who is the Yankees #2 prospect is batting 358 with 0 homeruns and 19 rbi's. It would be nice to see a little power but that is always last to develop and he plays a good centerfield. He has a 442 obp. In the pitching department we know what Dave Robertson and Mark Melancon are as we have seen them as well as Edwar Ramirez. Ian Kennedy is on the DL and Phil Hughes is in the major league rotation. AA- Jorge Vasquez is hitting 299 with 7 homeruns and 30 rbi's. He was signed out of the Mexican league just like Alfredo Aceves. Eduardo Nunez is batting 286 with 2 homeruns and 16 rbis. Vasquez plays 1b and Nunez is a SS. Pitching wise Christian Garcia is healthy and has pitched 9.1 innings giving up 6 hits, 6 walks and 8 strikeouts. He hasn't given up a run yet, the Yankees think highly of him but he has to stay healthy. Zach McAllister is 2-2 with a 2.25 era. He has pitched 40 innings giving up 33 hits with 13 walks and 27 strikeouts. A- Jesus Montero is batting 324 with 5 homeruns and 30 rbi's, he is the Yankees top prospect and is a catcher. Austin Romine who is also a catcher is hitting 289 with 4 homeruns and 21 rbi's. Austin Krum an outfielder is batting 300. Pitching wise Jeremy Bleich is 3-2 with a 2.94 era. Dellin Betances is 2-4 with a 4.87 era.

Yankees New Home

The Yankees had a beautiful day to workout in their new home. There were a bunch of players who couldn't wait and when them got home last night went right to the stadium even before going home. Sam Borden has a nice video tour of the stadium on lohud.com and there is a lot of information from Kevin Delvaney who covered the workout today for Peter Abraham who was off today. You can also get a great feel over at http://yesnetwork.com They have lots of pictures and reaction. I am going to start with the players reaction, I will have my own reaction and thoughts about the new stadium and may try to give a tour with pictures and words. Joe Girardi: "“Last night when we walked in, it felt like it was Christmas morning. Just listening to players talk about it, and the excitement of visiting every nook and cranny in the ballpark and in our clubhouse, it’s an unbelievable building.” Andy Pettitte: “I was out there last night and, the dimensions, it looks exactly like the old ball park. You just look from the dugout, it looks like it’s going to play big in left and there’s a short porch in right. “Obviously you walk through the door and see this, the clubhouse. Just the facilities we have, how beautiful everything is and the lighting, it’s state-of-the-art. For me, I’m a big-time whirlpool guy. We have unbelievable facilities as far as swimming. It’s just unbelievable.” Joba Chamberlain: “You’re kind of in awe at first. It’s like having a new toy. You want to come in and play with everything. “It’s going to be a little bit different because you have to get adjusted to the backdrop. You have to adjust. Your depth perception is different everywhere you go. So we’re going to have to get out there on the mound and just get your surroundings.” Derek Jeter: “Homefield advantage is in the crowd. Our fans are always going to be the same. The atmosphere is what makes it fun for the players, so I expect it to be the same as it’s always been.” Mark Teixera: “It’s special to be a part of this. It’s going to be the greatest the sports venue in the world. We’re going to be excited to be playing on it for a long time. “I loved playing in the old stadium. It was my favorite place to come to as a visiting player and I’m going to miss it. But when you come in here, it makes you forget about the nostalgia a little bit.” Johnny Damon: “You could see by the looks on some of our faces that Christmas came a little bit early this year. My first thoughts were that we’re very fortunate to have a place like this. The old Yankee Stadium was definitely very special. This player is special from the moment you walk into it. As a player, you’re fortunate to put on the Yankee pinstripes and have this nice new ballpark.” I am lucky enough to be going to the game saturday and as I said before will provide a preview of the stadium. I also lucked out as Saturday is the better day, it doesn't look good for tomorrow and who knows what will happen if they can't play. I wonder also if they want to risk health of pitchers on a wet mound?? I guess we have to wait and see what happens. Saturday is going to be nice but windy which I will take over the rain.

Good Night in Tampa

The New York Yankees injured players or I guess you would say rehab players now had a great night. Jorge Posada caught 5 innings went 1-3 and also got to throw to third and his shoulder felt fine. Hideki Matsui playing in his 4th straight game was 2-2 with a 2 run hr and a 2 run double. MO came in to pitch the 5th inning and had a 1-2-3 inning on 11 pitches. If these guys are healthy this team will be tough to beat as they have the pitching and their lineup will be lengthened and very good. CC Sabathia started and threw 4 great innings, giving up 1 run on 1 hit, 1 walk and 7 strikeouts, Edwar Ramirez threw a perfect inning with a strikeout. Alfredo Aceves competing for the long relief job pitched 3 innings giving up 4 hits, 1 run, 1 walk and 1k. The rest of the offense had Damon and Teixera have a hit each. Robbie Cano was 1-3 with a rbi, Xavier Nady was 2-3, Melky was 1-3 with a rbi. Brett Gardner went 1-2. In a thrilling ending to the WBC matchup of Team USA vs Team Puerto Rico, Team USA won on a walkoff hit by David Wright and Derek Jeter won't be back yet. Did anyone see Arod in Details magazine?? I can't believe he would take pictures like that, and does anyone really believe he rides the subway to games on friday nights usually??

Yankees Recap

The New York Yankees defeated the Detroit Tigers today by a score of 12-3. AJ Burnett made his first start and it was a huge success. He went 2 innings facing the minimum 6 batters giving up 1 hit that was wiped out by a double play. It only took him 17 pitches to complete 2 innings. One of the scouts had him hitting 98 on the gun and when he was told that he said really, I didn't mean too. This guy has a great arm, if he stays healthy I think he is the key to this pitching staff. You can pretty much pencil CC and Wang down for 18-20 wins and 200+innings. If AJ as a number three is healthy he can win 16-18 and now this staff may be the best in baseball with Pettitte and Joba on the back end capable of winning double digits also. Phil Hughes came in relief and pitched 3 hitless innings, he had 2 walks but struck out four. In the spring so far he has thrown 7 2/3 innings giving up 3 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts. I know you can't go by spring numbers but he seems like a man on a mission, he is healthy and remember he is still only 22 years old. If this guy can stay healthy for a whole year he will still be a very good pitcher. Brian Bruney had his first rough outing of the spring pitching 1 inning giving up 1 hit and 2 runs with 1 walk and strikeout. Mark Melancon pitched a inning with 1 walk and 1 strikeout. On the offensive side of things Melky Cabrera went 1-2 with 2 walks so he had himself a good day trying to stay in the race for the CF job. Xavier Nady went 1-3 with a solo homerun, Nick Swisher was 0-1 but had a rbi and 3 walks. Brett Gardner went 0-3 coming off the bench. Hideki Matsui playing in back to back games was 0-1 but did draw 2 walks and also ran the bases well. Cody Ransom the new thirdbaseman for the time being was 2-2, Angel Berroa still trying to make the team as a backup went 2-3 with 4 rbi, he has been hitting well but his defense hasn't been great and that can hurt him. The Yankees Andy Pettitte will make his first start tomorrow at home against the Blue Jays. Ian Kennedy and Dan Giese are supposed to follow him in relief.

The Day In Tampa

These Notes are via Peter Abraham of the Journal News and Yankees Lohud Blog with my own thoughts and opinions mixed in of course. CC Sabathia went home with a stomach flu, he was scheduled to throw live BP today but didn't make it. Bernie bailed out today and won't be back until Monday. Joba threw 2 sets of 20 pitches today resting in between. The idea was to simulate 2 innings, he started out rocky but was better in the second set. Joba said "For Feb. 21 it was just fine." Christian Garcia was impressive, he has great stuff but with him it is a matter of staying healthy. He was a top prospect but always seems to have something go wrong with him. If he stays healthy this year he could be knocking on the door to the majors. It was almost all baseball questions today, which im sure the players were thrilled with. ESPN has had a reporter there the whole camp, you would think they might give up soon. I would say that eventually unless something major happens what else can they do, Arod will be leaving March 1st for the WBC and that should clear everyone out of camp also. The Yankees do seem to be going about their business and not too bothered by it. CC and Nick Swisher seem to be helping with keeping the team loose, they are great guys and im sure everyone is going to love watching them play this year and seeing them in interviews. Arod did banter back and forth with the media today about the economy,traveling to Mexico City and some other assorted topics not related to baseball or steroids. He said he isn't involved with the same group that Nady and Damon got caught up with. Jason Johnson was late to camp because he had a cancerous growth behind his right eye and was receiving radiation treatments. This is scary stuff and it is good to see that he seems to be doing ok now. Joe Girardi did speak today about the strengths of Melky and Brett Gardner and it seems to come down to whoever hits in spring training will get the job, although I do think they will both be on the team. Melky is out of options so they risk losing him if he isn't on the 25 man roster. Dante Girardi-The managers son was in the clubhouse with some of his buddies and they tried to attack Shelly Duncan. At one point he had a kid wrapped around his legs on his shoulder etc, they looked like midgets trying to attack Andre The Giant.