Oh, did you think I meant Felix? Nah, it’s just some guy named Fernando Hernandez. The Yankees inked him to a minor league contract according to Matt Eddy, and I assume he’ll report for duty at either the Double or Triple-A level when the season begins.
Hernandez is not much of a prospect, last appearing in Baseball America’s annual handbook back before the 2008 season. Oakland grabbed him from the White Sox in the Rule 5 Draft that year (ranked 29th in their system), and he made three whole appearances in the show before banished to the minors, from which he’s never returned. Hernandez pitched to a 4.11 FIP (7.56 K/9, 2.91 uIBB/9) in 77.1 IP with the Athletics’ Triple-A affiliate last summer, though in 2009 he was quite good: 2.81 FIP with 9.05 K/9, 3.23 uIBB/9, and 0.26 HR/9 in 69.2 IP. Baseball America compared him to Matt Guerrier back in 2008 because he’s a command and control reliever rather than a huge stuff guy.
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