DotF: Torres closing in on Arizona Fall League MVP honors

SS Gleyber Torres has a new fan: Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson. Reggie told William Boor he loves Gleyber’s “personality and character and presentation as a person,” among other things. Pretty neat. Here are some notes before we get to the weekly updates:

• Matt Eddy has the full list of 534 minor league free agents. Here are the ten Yankees: RHP Tyler Cloyd, IF Cito Culver, RHP Claudio Custodio, IF Jonathan Diaz, RHP Gabe Encinas, C Santiago Nessy, OF Cesar Puello, C Eddy Rodriguez, UTIL Jose Rosario, and C Sebastian Valle. Culver and Puello are the most notable.
• The Yankees have re-signed LHP Evan Rutckyj, according to Eddy. Kinda funny after he talked some trash about the Yankees while with the Braves as a Rule 5 Draft pick in Spring Training. Here’s what he said, in case you missed it.
• Brian Cashman confirmed Torres will start next season with Double-A Trenton and “we’ll see where it goes from there,” reports Erik Boland. Reaching Triple-A as a 20-year-old would be pretty crazy. By the way, according to Cashman, the Yankees have not yet decided where SS Jorge Mateo will start 2017.
• Cashman told Brendan Kuty the Yankees will continue to have Mateo work in center field in Spring Training. “He’s athletic as hell. In the Instructional League, it was very easy for him. So, if that’s a direction that we choose to go, it’s something he’ll be very good at,” said the GM.
• For the second straight offseason, OF Aaron Judge will work with the team’s hitting gurus in Tampa, reports Kuty. “Got a couple of games (in MLB), saw what it’s like and now just get ready to prepare and come into next year not as an unknown. I’ll know what’s going on and what the league is and I’ll be prepared,” said Judge.
• OF Edel Luaces and OF Erick Mendez were each suspended 50 games after failing performance-enhancing drug tests, MLB announced. Luaces tested positive for an amphetamine while with the rookie GCL Yankees. Mendez test positive for Propylhexedrine while with rookie Pulaski.
• And finally, Torres claimed the top spot in this week’s Prospect Hot Sheet. He currently leads the Arizona Fall League in batting average as a 19-year-old. No one under 21 has ever won the league’s batting title.

Arizona Fall League

• 3B Miguel Andujar: 16 G, 17-55, 9 R, 2 2B, 1 3B, 4 RBI, 9 BB, 7 K (.309/.400/.382) — Cashman said teams are asking for Andujar in trades
• 1B Greg Bird: 16 G, 13-62, 8 R, 4 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 9 RBI, 11 BB, 16 K, 1 SB, 1 HBP (.210/.338/.355) — started out well but has slowed down of late … as long as the shoulder is healthy, I don’t care what the numbers are
• SS Gleyber Torres: 15 G, 20-51, 13 R, 3 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 13 BB, 6 K, 3 SB, 2 CS (.392/.516/.667) — leads the league in AVG, OBP, and OPS, and is second in SLG … Gleyber’s got a pretty good chance at being AzFL MVP, I’d say
• UTIL Tyler Wade: 13 G, 8-40, 12 R, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 9 BB, 10 K, 6 SB (.200/.347/.250) — he’s played one game at second, one at third, two in left, five in center, and four in right
• LHP Nestor Cortes: 4 G, 5 IP, 5 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 6 K (7.20 ERA and 2.00 WHIP)
• RHP J.P. Feyereisen: 8 G, 10 IP, 12 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 6 BB, 13 K, 1 WP (3.60 ERA and 1.80 WHIP) — last five outings: 6 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 11 K
• RHP James Kaprielian: 6 G, 6 GS, 22.2 IP, 21 H, 16 R, 13 ER, 6 BB, 22 K, 4 HR (5.16 ERA and 1.19 WHIP) — Kyle Glaser says Kaprielian was 95-96 mph with his fastball, 85-87 mph with his slider, and 82-83 mph with his changeup in his last start, and he missed bats in the strike zone with all three
• RHP Brody Koerner: 5 G, 3 GS, 16 IP, 19 H, 13 R, 11 ER, 9 BB, 10 K, 1 HR, 1 WP (6.19 ERA and 1.75 WHIP) — returning in the AzFL after missing a bunch of time with an injury usually equals a rude awakening
• RHP Dillon Tate: 6 G, 9.1 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 11 K, 2 HR 2 HB (3.86 ERA and 1.07 WHIP) — hasn’t appeared in a game since October 29th, so that’s not good

Dominican Winter League

• IF Abi Avelino: 8 G, 3-13, 2 R, 2 K (.231/.231/.231) — he’s a bench player and pinch-runner here
• IF Jorge Mateo: 12 G, 6-41, 3 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 10 K, 1 SB, 1 HBP (.146/.205/.220) — still playing shortstop exclusively
• RHP Anyelo Gomez: 1 G, 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
• RHP Adonis Rosa: 2 G, 1 GS, 5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K (0.00 ERA and 0.40 WHIP)

Mexican Pacific League

• OF Tito Polo: 16 G, 14-58, 11 R, 4 2B, 1 RBI, 4 BB, 17 K, 8 SB, 1 CS, 3 HBP (.241/.323/.310) — left a game with an injury last week, but he returned to action this week, so it was nothing serious

The Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League (Puerto Rico) started its season last week. IF Vince Conde and OF Aaron Judge are both listed on rosters, though they haven’t played yet. Considering Judge ended the season hurt (oblique) and is slated to work in Tampa this offseason, I’m guessing he won’t play either.

Venezuelan Winter League

• IF Angel Aguilar: 8 G, 2-8, 4 R, 4 K, 1 SB (.250/.250/.250)
• C Francisco Diaz: 22 G, 15-63, 5 R, 3 2B, 2 3B, 2 RBI, 5 BB, 13 K, 1 SB (.238/.294/.349) — with C Kyle Higashioka ticketed for Triple-A Scranton, the soon-to-be 27-year-old Diaz figures to be the regular catcher at Double-A Trenton next year
• RHP Luis Cedeno: 3 G, 1 GS, 8.1 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, 2 HR, 1 GB, 2 WP (5.40 ERA and 1.56 WHIP)
• RHP David Kubiak: 7 G, 2 GS, 17 IP, 18 H, 15 R, 13 ER, 7 BB, 14 K, 1 HR, 2 HBP, 3 WP (6.88 ERA and 1.47 WHIP)
• RHP Mark Montgomery: 5 G, 3.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K (7.36 ERA and 1.91 WHIP)
• LHP Miguel Sulbaran, RHP Daniel Alvarez, 3B Daniel Barrios, RHP Alex Mejias, 3B Andres Chaparro, OF Andres Fernandez, and C David Vergel are all listed on rosters as well.