Archive for New York Yankees

Matt Thornton isn’t ready to call it a career. The southpaw reliever is 37 years old and is coming off a so-so season — the Red Sox left him off their post-season roster — but he feels he’s far from done. In fact, he just signed a free-agent contract with the New York Yankees.

It took a long time for him to get started on his career, though. Thornton was drafted out of high school by the Detroit Tigers, but his passion was basketball. The Sturgis, Mich., native eschewed his home-state team and enrolled at nearby Grand Valley State University, where he played both sports. Three years later, the Seattle Mariners made him the 22nd overall pick of the 1998 draft.

Thornton proceeded to spend seven years in the minor leagues. He reached Seattle at the age of 27, and after a pair of bumpy campaigns with the Mariners, he finally hit his stride after being dealt to the Chicago White Sox. Over 10 big-league seasons, Thornton has appeared in 606 games and averaged more than a strikeout per inning.

Thornton talked about his long road to big-league success late in the 2013 season. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been well documented that the Toronto Blue Jays’ season hasn’t exactly gone as planned. A rash of injuries to the veteran pitching staff has created a number of holes. Those gaps have been difficult to fill with competent contributors because the organizational depth was compromised in an effort to beef up the big league product. It’s been speculated in the Toronto media that pitching prospect Sean Nolin, currently at the Double-A level, is viewed by the Jays front office as the next-in-line for a promotion, should the need arise.

Toronto has made a few moves this year that could be considered desperation moves and the promotion of Nolin may not be in the best long-term interests of the club or the young pitching prospect.

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Slade Heathcott and Tyler Austin have several things in common. Most notably, they’re among the top prospects in the New York Yankees organization. Both are outfielders with the potential to become elite hitters. Each has an interesting back story.

They are also different. The 21-year-old Austin swings from the right side and came into the season with a .331 average, and 23 home runs, in 593 professional at bats. A 13th-round pick in 2010, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer while in high school. Heathcott is a left-handed hitter who was taken in the first round of the 2009 draft. Hampered by injuries, he has hit .275, with 12 home runs, in 755 at bats. The 22-year-old had a difficult home life and battled alcohol issues as a teenager.

Heathcott and Austin are now teammates with the Double-A Trenton Thunder. They discussed their development as hitters during an early-season visit to Portland. Also weighing in on their development was Trenton hitting coach Justin Turner. Scouting reports on the promising duo were supplied by Al Skorupa.

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Justin Turner on Austin and Heathcott: “Both are extremely talented. They’re natural hitters with extremely quick bat speed. They have good balance. Like any hitters, they have to get good pitches to hit in order for those things to play.

“They’ve both had success. Tyler has a lot more at bats under his belt, even though he’s a [more recent] draft pick. Slade has battled some injuries. He was drafted in 2009 but is still under 1,000 at bats for his career. Slade did really well in the Fall League, which has kind of sped up his learning curve.

“Tyler maybe has a little more advanced approach, because of those extra at bats, but Slade isn’t that far off. They’re like One-A and One-B. You’d be pulling hairs to try to figure out which one is better at this point. They’re exciting young players — the sky is the limit — but they both still need to get at bats.

“It’s tough to compare them as far swing-path types of hitters. They both have the ability to get the ball in the air. They both have power. Tyler’s has played a little more as far as home runs. Pitch selection is a reason — he does a pretty good job of getting good pitches to hit — and that’s priority number one. It’s what we talk about the most. You’re only as good as the pitches you swing at. There are constant reminders to these guys that they need to get good pitches to hit.”

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Slade Heathcott: “There are still things I haven’t locked in exactly, as far as what I want as an approach. Read the rest of this entry »

The MLB Rule 5 draft is scheduled for Dec. 6 during the final day of the 2012 Winter Meetings. It’s become a fan favorite over the years but the draft is not as valuable as it used to be for clubs. In the last Collective Bargaining Agreement update roster rules were changed to give organizations one more year of protection for prospects before they had to be added to the 40-man roster and therefore protected from the selection process.

The key thing to remember about players chosen in the amateur draft is that they cannot be optioned down to the minors (expect for an injury rehab assignment) and must remain on the big league roster for the entire season. There are basically two approaches for teams to take: 1) Take a very raw player from the low minors and use him sparingly for the year expect perhaps in blowouts, basically spending the year with a 24-man roster, or 2) Look for a player that is MLB ready and can hopefully provide at least league-average production for a league-average salary.

Below, you’ll read three scouting reports on prospects who I personally feel could make solid Rule 5 selections in 2013. For those of you new to the process, here is a quick primer for the Rule 5 draft by our own Bradley Woodrum.

Odubel Herrera | Texas Rangers | 2B/SS

The Texas Rangers minor league system boasts an impressive glut of middle infield prospects – including Jurickson Profar, Luis Sardinas, Rougned Odor, Leury Garcia, and Hanser Alberto – which is likely one of the reasons that led to the exclusion of Herrera from the 40-man roster. The situation actually reminds me a bit of the Toronto Blue Jays system back in the late 90s when the organization had the likes of Felipe Lopez, Cesar Izturis, Michael Young, Joey Lawrence, Tomas Perez, and Brent Abernathy, many of whom contributed at the big league level but with modest overall results.

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As many FanGraphs readers know, David Cone is more than a former All-Star pitcher and current color commentator for the New York Yankees. He is also a stat-head. The borderline Hall of Famer — he ranks 50th all-time in pitcher WAR — has shown a willingness to introduce sabermetric concepts to the listening audience. Cone talked about his appreciation for advanced metrics, and his evolution as a pitcher over 17 seasons, during a late-summer visit to Fenway Park.

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David Cone: “I was fairly far along as a pitcher when I started out — that was in 1986, with the Royals — because I had several years in the minor leagues and a couple of years of winter ball. Going to Puerto Rico for two years really helped me as far as my overall command and style. I then evolved more at the big-league level, as far as secondary pitches.

“I really learned how to pitch later in my career, when I lost a little velocity and my skills and my arm speed started to diminish a little bit. I continued to evolve in terms of arm angles and different grips. Early on, I relied more on power. My first few years with the Mets, I was probably more of a thrower than a pitcher. I spent six years with Mets and six with the Yankees, and I’d say that my Yankees years were more my pitching years, and my Mets years were more my strikeout-power years. In between, I had the shorter stints with the Royals — my second time with them — and Blue Jays.

“Early on, I was a fastball-slider guy. I threw a four-seam fastball for the most part. I threw an occasional curve. Later, with the Mets, I developed a splitter. Ron Darling had a good splitter and I watched him. It took me probably three or four years to really develop a good feel for it.

“We didn’t have nearly as much data when I pitched. Read the rest of this entry »

On Oct. 30, 2001, the New York Yankees hosted the Arizona Diamondbacks in the third game of a World Series played just seven weeks after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Left-hander Brian Anderson was on the mound for the D-Backs. Derek Jeter batted second in the Yankees lineup.

Eleven years later, Anderson, who finished his career with 82 wins, does color commentary and play-by-play. Jeter remains a marquee player, although he suffered a broken ankle on Saturday, shortly after recording his 200th post-season hit.

Not surprisingly, Jeter was a primary focus for Anderson when he took the mound. The Yankees shortstop went 1-for-3 against his slants, and his team won the game 2-1. Arizona went on to win the Series in seven games.

Anderson talked about his game plan against Jeter — and what happened in each at bat — earlier this season.

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Anderson on the game plan: “I had faced Jeter a number of times and everybody knows he has the good inside-out swing. He’s a guy that if you stay away, stay away, stay away — even if you’re changing speeds — he’ll shoot you. He’s happy to take his hits to right field. Everybody knows that. Then, if you’re going to come in on him, you really have to get it in there.

“A lot of times, you try to get him leaning, looking to go the other way, and then try to jam him. Sometimes that’s difficult, especially if you don’t execute the pitch properly. He had such a good inside-out swing that if the ball stayed middle-in, he could kind of fight it off and push it. He’d get those little bloop hits out into right field. Read the rest of this entry »

As I mentioned yesterday, I had an opportunity to watch a few games of the double-A Eastern League playoff series between the Akron Aeros (Indians) and Trenton Thunder (Yankees). The series featured some interesting Grade B and C prospects who could possibly see time in the major leagues in the not-too-distant future.

The notes below come from a small-sample size observation so they should be taken with a grain of salt but it’s a great starting point to analyze these prospects, and this is part of my regular off-season practice with prospect ranking season just around the corner.

You can read my previous thoughts on the Indians prospects here, and the Yankees players are detailed below. There are a few more interesting prospects on the Trenton squad than there were on the Akron team.

The HittersZoilo Almonte, OF: Almonte, 23, looked a little rough on defense. He overran a ball in right field, although it may have been more over-aggressiveness rather than lack of concentration or ability. I also wasn’t enthralled with his base running and his speed looked averge at best. He’s quite aggressive at the plate and took some huge cuts on balls out of the strike zone, often low. He did not appear to identify breaking balls very effectively. When he does make contact, though, he has pop. Almonte showed opposite-field power with a home run and it was clear that he doesn’t have to pull the ball to hit it out. Even after going deep, the young oufielder had an impressive at-bat with the bases loaded by keeping it simple and not trying to do too much. He took a pitch back up the middle for a two-run single against a left-handed pitcher; if he can take this approach on a more consistent basis he could have a lot more success at the plate and trim his poor walk and K rates. A switch-hitter, he looked much better as a left-handed batter because his swing was not as smooth and natural looking from the right side.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tentative rosters for the Arizona Fall League were released on Aug. 29. The fall developmental league is designed to help prospects received extra seasoning and coaching at the conclusion of the minor league season. Each organization contributes players to the six-team league. The league typically shifts in favor of the hitters because teams are generally reluctant to assign top arms to the league – unless they’re attempting to make up for lost innings due to injuries.

We’ve already broken down three AFL clubs:
Mesa Solar Sox
Peoria Javelinas
Phoenix Desert Dogs

The Scottsdale Scorpions club consists of players from five organizations – Los Angeles (AL), Cleveland, Pittsburgh, New York (AL), and San Francisco. Below are some interesting names set to appear on the roster. Full rosters can be found here.

Ryan Chaffee, RHP, Los Angeles: A third round draft pick from 2008 (the club’s second choice after losing its first rounder), Chaffee struggled through his first three pro seasons thanks to poor command and control. A move to the ‘pen in 2012 may have saved his career. His control is still below average but the shorter appearances help him compensate for his shortcomings. Chaffee, 24, comes at hitters with solid stuff and different looks. He’s eligible for the Rule 5 draft this winter so a strong AFL could force the organization to protect him.

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Chien-Ming Wang suffered another injury setback yesterday, as continuing hip soreness forced the Nationals to pull him from his rehab assignment. He’s only 32, but he’s pitched a grand total of 223 innings in the last five years, and even if he returns to pitch meaningful innings for the Nationals this year or for another team next year, it’s looking increasingly likely that the bulk of his career is already behind him. So it might be appropriate to look at the career he’s already had, as the best Taiwanese player in major league history, and possibly the best Asian pitcher born outside Japan to come to the Major Leagues.
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When Phil Hughes takes the mound against the Red Sox tonight, the New York Yankees right-hander will throw fastballs, curveballs and changeups. It is the three-pitch mix he has featured this year while going 9-8, 4.09 — his FIP is 4.59 — in 19 starts. Unlike past seasons, he will not utilize a cutter or a slider.

Hughes, who began his professional career in 2004, discussed the evolution of his repertoire during a recent visit to Fenway Park.

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Phil Hughes: “When I first signed, I was fastball-slider, with a very occasional changeup — very occasional in that I never threw a changeup in high school. I started pitching when I was 15 years old and by the time I was drafted at 17, I had two years to figure out a breaking ball. A slider is what I learned and it’s what I had when I was drafted and signed.

“When I got to the big leagues, I threw a fastball, a curveball and a changeup. I didn’t throw a slider at all. When I got into pro ball, our pitching coordinator, Nardi Contreras, sort of looked at what stuff I had and figured that a curveball played more into the type of pitcher that I was. He felt that it played into my repertoire better, so I started the process of learning a curveball. It was at the end of rookie ball and on into instructional league when that process started. The peak of my curveball was probably my year in Double-A. It was a really good pitch for me and I threw it all the time.

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