Minor Links: DePaula, Campos, Mack, Krum

April 3, 2012 by Mike Axisa 21 Comments

Just a quick reminder, the minor league season starts this Thursday. Here’s some various minor league links to hold you over…

In this week’s Ask BA, Jim Callis said he would rank Rafael DePaula ahead of Austin Romine and J.R. Murphy on the team’s top prospects list. “His talent is legitimate,” wrote Ben Badler. “The fastball really is touching the high 90s, power curve, good body, good mechanics, he’s just had an extremely atypical developmental path because of the suspension and visa issue … DePaula is 21 and has now stuff.”
Jose Campos is the first prospect listed on Marc Hulet’s list of five prospects teams will regret having traded this past offseason. “The prospect is still a long way away from reaching his potential but he has the stuff to develop into a No. 1 or 2 starter,” he wrote. “He’s definitely not the type of arm you usually get as a throw-in to a deal.”
Outfielders DeAngelo Mack and Austin Krum have both been released according to Josh Norris. Mack had some sleeper potential, but it just didn’t work out.

[Campos video via Josh Norris]

Cris Pengiucci

Campos is a part of the reason it’ll take quite a while to determine if the deal worked out well for the Yankees. Montero and Noesi should provide immediate performance for the M’s and Pineda, once back from the shoulder tendonitis issue, should do so as well for the Yankees, but when I looked at Campos, I felt that he could be the difference between this trade being a good or bad trade for the Yankees. Just hope he keeps on developing and reaches his potential.

Also great to hear DePaula seems to be legit as well! Could be a great 1-2 (or dynamite 3-4, behind CC & Pineda) in the future. Add in the B’s and any other of the AAA pitchers knocking on the door and the future pitching staff could be extremely strong and still cost effective.
- RetroRob
  
  I still don’t understand this whole scoring approach fans have toward deals. It’s either/or?
  - V
    
    Fans are going to miss Montero, especially if he turns out to have a bat as special as we thought he had. In order for that trade to not go down as a ‘Brock for Broglio’ type deal, the Yankees are going to need to get some value.
    
    I’m not saying the Yankees ‘lost’ the deal, but fans do care that the team maximized the value of its assets.
    - Cris Pengiucci
      
      fans do care that the team maximized the value of its assets.
      
      Well stated.
    - fin
      
      The fact that if Pineda just stays the pitcher he was last year and never improves, would make it very hard for the M’s to win the deal with Montero alone. For Montero to out produce that player at DH he would almost have to be Cabrera. The odds of any player reaching that level are very slim.
      
      Fortunately, for the M’s they also got Noessi. I am thinking that Montero and Noessi will out perform Pineda. Campos is along way away so too hard to get very excited about a pitcher that far off. Just staying healthy is hard let alone reaching his potential.
      
      Even if Noessi and Montero out perform Pineda it doesnt make the deal a loss as the Yankees had no place to play Montero. Noessi was expendable becasue of the amount of pitching they do have. His upside wasnt that of Manban or Banuelos and more in line with Phelps and Warren. In short the Yankees needed Pineda more than they could use Montero or needed Noessi.
      
      It seems to me this trade is going to work out well for both teams, as most of us have thought from the begining. I think is a very similar win win as the IPK for Granderson trade.
      - Rip Torn
        
        Manban and Banuelos are the same person, FYI…THE RIP TORN HAS SPOKEN…
        
        Fin
        
        Hehe, my bad I meant to say Betances.
    - RetroRob
      
      I was referring more to the idea that Campos is the difference between this being a “good or bad” trade for the Yankees. That says to me there’s nothing Michael Pineda can do that will provide value, be it near value, equal value or more value than Montero, to prevent this from being a bad deal.
      
      There’s a wide gap between that and what you said, which is the team needs to get “some value.”
      
      When I’m talking about scoring the deal, I mean it’s quite possible both teams will get what they want here. Yet to fans, it’s not a question of getting value, it’s a demand that not only will my team win the deal, but the other team lost the deal horribly. They demand “Brock for Broglio.” Mariners fans fear “Ryan for Fregosi,” and sadly some problably hope he rips his rotator cuff and never pitches in MLB.
      
      There are fans who are still upset that IPK pitches well in the NL, and could care less that he scored them a lefthanded power-hitter CFer who hit 40-plus HRs. They’re happy with Granderson, they just won’t be happy unless there’s complete failure of the players traded away.
- Brian in NH
  
  Giving up both Pineda (ML ready high end talent) and Campos (Huge potential) really shows you how highly both Seattle and New York valued Montero. You have to think that Seattle was kicking themselves on the whole Cliff Lee debacle previously, so it may be that they tried to sweeten the deal with Campos.
  
  I will miss Montero, but offense isn’t usually a weak point for the Yanks. And usually quality arms for the rotation are harder to come by than a quality stick.
jsbrendog

droooooooooooooooool
Red Stag

That looked liked a heck-of-a change-up that Campos threw to strike out Roller. WOW!
vinny-b

who the hell is this JR Romine?

jus kidding. jus kidding.
LMB

Word on the street….Jorge “El Chato” Vazquez is not heading to Scranton. He is going back to his old team the Tigres in the Mexican Lg. I am guessing that the Yankees still have him under contract, but are loaning him to Quintana Roo. I heard he said there was no chance for him in New York no matter what. The roster was set going in to ST.
- fin
  
  His only chance was injuries, and even then he didnt have much of a chance.
Bryan

That last pitch from Campos in the above video is nasty. The batter had no chance.
Robinson Tilapia

DeAngelo Mack always had a great name. Too bad.
Reggie C.

If DePaula has “now” stuff, the org may have found a successor to Mo. I’m intrigued how expedited DePaula’s path to the majors would go if he were switched to relieving.
- jjyank
  
  Can we wait until he at least throws a pitch for one of our minor league teams before we put him in the pen? I hope the Yankees have learned from the Jobs situation to not mess with a pitcher with frontline potential based purely on bullpen needs.
  
  What you said may be true, but I really hope that they let DePaula develop as a starter.
- YanksFanInBeantown
  
  Who cares how expedited DePaula’s path to the majors would be as a reliever? He’s a potential front-line starter, which is intrinsically more valuable than any reliever not named Mariano Rivera.
Plank

I still don’t really understand the deal from the Mariners viewpoint. Yes, they needed hitting, but they made the trade as if they are in ‘win now’ mode. The only justification that makes sense to me is that Jack Z was feeling the pressure, and had to make a trade to increase the wins in 2012.
- Bryan
  
  Check out their pitching pipeline. It is stacked. They have a projected 1, a projected 1 or 2, and another projected 2 starter as the numbers 2-4 prospects in the system. They could afford to lose one.