Nunez makes winter ball debut in the Dominican Republic

I skipped last week’s update because I was en route to the Winter Meetings, so here’s a big batch of notes…

• Congrats to Dave Miley, who was named Baseball America’s Minor League Manager of the Year. The Triple-A Scranton club won the division by five games despite playing the entire season on the road and getting little from Manny Banuelos and Dellin Betances. A well-deserved honor indeed.
• Frankie Cervelli, who was born in Venezuela, will play for Italy in the World Baseball Classic next fall. He played for Italy in the 2009 tournament and has some bloodlines, so they allow it. The eligibility rules aren’t that stringent.
• The Yankees are in preliminary discussions to move their High-A Tampa affiliate to Ocala, where the Steinbrenner-owned Kinsman Stable is located. Plans to move the club to Orlando fell through about two years ago. The Yankees would continue to host Spring Training in Tampa even if the High-A squad moves.

The Arizona Fall League season ended a few weeks ago, so check out last week’s updates for the final stats. Here’s the latest from the various winter leagues around the club (but mostly in the Caribbean)…

Australian Baseball League
RHP Zach Arneson: 6 G, 6 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 1 WP (0.00 ERA, 0.50 WHIP)

Dominican Winter League
OF Abe Almonte: 22 G, 16-65, 8 R, 1 2B, 2 2B, 5 RBI, 7 BB, 15 K, 7 SB, 2 CS (.246/.319/.323)
OF Zoilo Almonte: 1 G, 0-1 — hasn’t played in weeks
OF Melky Mesa: 6 G, 6-23, 5 R, 1 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 3 BB, 9 K, 1 SB (.261/.346/.565)
IF Eduardo Nunez: 5 G, 7-20, 1 R, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 2 K, 1 SB (.350/.350/.400) — has been playing shortstop exclusively
C Gary Sanchez: 7 G, 5-21, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 6 K (.238/.304/.429)
LHP Juan Cedeno: 20 G, 25 IP, 19 H, 10 R, 9 ER, 10 BB, 18 K, 5 WP, 2 HB (3.24 ERA, 1.16 WHIP)
RHP Kelvin Perez: 17 G, 18 IP, 13 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 8 BB, 8 K, 3 HR, 1 WP (3.50 ERA, 1.17 WHIP)
RHP Jose Ramirez: 8 G, 1 GS, 15 IP, 11 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 9 BB, 17 K, 1 HR, 4 HB (3.60 ERA, 1.33 WHIP)
LHP Francisco Rondon: 8 G, 5.1 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 10 K, 1 HR, 1 HB, 1 WP (1.69 ERA, 1.88 WHIP)

Mexican Pacific League
OF Jose Figueroa: 29 G, 16-54, 12 R, 2 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 4 BB, 12 K, 1 CS (.296/.345/.389)
UTIL Ronnie Mustelier: 38 G, 41-144, 22 R, 4 2B, 6 HR, 21 RBI, 11 BB, 30 K, 7 SB, 1 CS, 2 HBP (.285/.340/.438) — this is his chance, gotta figure he’ll get a long look in Spring Training one way or another
RHP Manny Barreda: 9 G, 9 IP, 11 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 6 K, 1 HR, 1 WP (5.00 ERA, 1.67 WHIP)
RHP Gio Gallegos: 6 G, 4.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 1 HR (8.31 ERA, 1.85 WHIP)
RHP Felipe Gonzalez: 2 G, 3.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 2 K, 2 HR, 1 HB (8.10 ERA, 2.10 WHIP)
RHP Luis Niebla: 14 G, 3 GS, 30.2 IP, 28 H, 15 R, 9 ER, 11 BB, 25 K, 6 HR, 1 WP (2.64 ERA, 1.27 WHIP)
RHP Cesar Vargas: 10 H, 9 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 7 BB, 14 K, 1 HB, 1 WP (2.00 ERA, 1.67 WHIP)

Puerto Rican League
OF Adonis Garcia: 19 G, 21-75, 10 R, 3 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 15 RBI, 2 BB, 10 K, 1 SB, 1 CS, 3 HBP (.280/.321/.507)
2B Angelo Gumbs: 6 G, 3-10, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HBP (.300/.417/.700) – the performance doesn’t matter, the important thing is that his elbow is healthy enough to play
1B Luke Murton: 13 H, 9-45, 4 R, 3 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 7 BB, 16 K (.200/.308/.333)
RHP Preston Claiborne: 9 G, 13.2 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 9 K (3.95 ERA, 0.88 WHIP)

Venezuelan Winter League
C Francisco Arcia: 3 G, 0-1, 1 R, 2 BB
IF Ali Castillo: 1 G, 1-1, 1 R
C Frankie Cervelli: 15 G, 13-43, 13 R, 4 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 12 RBI, 9 BB, 15 K, 2 HBP (.302/.436/.512) — he always seems to mash in winter ball
OF Ramon Flores: 8 G, 3-12, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 HBP (.231/.333/.231)
UTIL Jose Pirela: 40 G, 37-152, 21 R, 5 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 16 RBI, 17 BB, 27 K, 4 SB, 2 K, 5 HBP (.243/.337/.322)
RHP Pedro Guerra: 7 G, 8 IP, 11 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 6 BB, 4 K, 2 HR (5.63 ERA, 2.13 WHIP)
LHP Vidal Nuno: 15 G, 21.1 IP, 13 H, 9 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 19 K, 1 HR (2.11 ERA, 0.80 WHIP) — went undrafted in the Rule 5 Draft this week, which tells you what the league thinks about his potential as a big leaguer