The Yankees have pretty strict organizational rules about how much and when their young pitchers throw. The handling of Joba Chamberlain might go down as the most absurd development plan in the history of baseball. Along the way there have been a number of injuries in the organization: George Kontos, Christian Garcia, Alan Horne, Andrew […]

Yankees prospect Andrew Brackman threw batting practice today, leading pitching coordinator Nardi Contreras to say that “he was better than some of the big league pitchers I saw on their first day.” The big 6’11” righty had a miserable season in the South Atlantic League putting up a 5.91 ERA and walking 76 batters in […]

Chad Jennings of The Journal News gives his take on some of the youngsters in camp like Kevin Russo, Ramiro Pena, Jesus Montero, and Jamie Hoffmann. I will also asked if he believes Kei Igawa has a chance to make the ballclub. Chad also gave us why Andrew Brackman has been the surprise of camp […]

By the time I arrive at the Yankees’ Player Development facility, just a stone’s throw from George M. Steinbrenner Field, hopefully many of the questions surrounding these former top draft picks will be answered. Both are happy to see 2009 fade into oblivion. Bleich, a supplemental first-round pick out of Stanford in 2008, had a […]

Yankees fans seemed pleased with the acquisition of pitcher Javier Vazquez, a perfect No. 4 starter for the club. Mets fans, who sit waiting for a move that is at least similar, wish their team had the resources to accomplish that. Those “resources’’ are prospects and major-leaguers, not stars, such as Melky Cabrera.  The Yankees […]

Ranking the best 50 prospects in any organization is never easy. Injuries, unexpected performance and many other factors affect careers in both the minors and majors. I can say that I have seen most of these players perform, some throughout a whole season. Take these ratings – as all really could be digested – with […]

Chad Jennings of the Times Tribune reports on some possible 40 man roster decisions the Yankees have coming up. Austin Jackson, Kevin Russo, Reegie Corona, Colin Curtis, Ivan Nova, Zach Kroenke, and Kevin Whelan are all Rule V eligible if they are not added to the 40 man roster. For those that might not be […]

- How much more proof do we need that Jonathan Niese should be in the Mets rotation? He threw seven innings of shutout ball last night. His ERA for July is 0.41. Fernando Nieve might very well be battling for his rotation spot tonight. - I told you earlier this week that Jesus Montero reminded […]

- Shelly Duncan had 2 homers last night against Louisville. He now has 18 on the season and is leading the International League by a wide margin. Last August I caught up with him in Scranton and talked about his time playing for the Yankees and his thoughts on being in AAA again. - Kei […]

- A lot of people forget about another young Yankees catcher - PJ Pilittere. He is hitting .379 over his last 10 games and .281 at Scranton this year. Last year he ranked fifth in the Eastern League in caught stealing rate. - George Kontos has not given up a run in his last two […]

- Eric Hacker was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Romulo Sanchez. The Pirates just love Yankees prospects. Sanchez has some major league experience with Pittsburgh in 07′ and 08′ (4.60 ERA). In five minor league seasons he has a very pedestrian ERA of 4.11 and a WHIP of 1.3. Jorge Posada raved about Hacker […]

A recent report has said that right handed pitcher Ben Sheets needs surgery on his right elbow to fix a partially torn flexor tendon. Teams such as the Mets, Yankees feared that Sheets was hurt worse than he acknowledged and GM’s Brian Cashman and Omar Minaya should be commended for avoiding the injury risk that was […]

On Sunday, John Sickels of minorleagueball.com joined me to discuss his recently released Top 20 Yankees prospect list. During the conversation we talked about Jesus Montero and Austin Jackson, but highlighted some of the prospects who are not talked about as much. Hear John’s take on why Andrew Brackman might be a product of the […]

Yankees beat writer Bryan Hoch gives an update about how various Yankees are performing in the winter league through November 18th. You can read the details for yourself, but some Kevin Russo, Andrew Brackman, Jeremy Bleich, Kevin Wehlan, and Juan Miranda all are putting up some nice numbers.

Just learned that Jeremy Bleich, the Yankees supplemental first round pick this season, will go out and pitch in the Hawaiian Winter League along with last season’s first round pick Andrew Brackman. Bleich was drafted by the Yankees pitcher out of Stanford University. Bleich is a 6′ 2″ 195 LHP taken with the pick given the Yankees […]