2013 Draft: Marco Gonzales
By · CommentsThe 2013 amateur draft will be held from June 6-8 this year, and between now and then I’m going to highlight some prospects individually rather than lump them together into larger posts.
Marco Gonzales | LHP
Background
A Colorado kid from Fort Collins, Gonzales’ father pitched in the minor leagues for eight years and is a pitching instructor in the Rockies’ system. Marco won four state championships in high school and will leave Gonzaga as one of the best players in school history. He came into the weekend with a 2.57 ERA and a 91/22 K/BB in 98 innings this year.
Scouting Report
Listed at a modest 6-foot-1 and 185 lbs., Gonzales stands out for his pitching acumen and two above-average offspeed pitches. His fastball mostly sits in the 88-92 mph range and it might dip below that starting every five days rather than once a week. A fading upper-70s changeup is his put-away offering and one of the best individual pitches in the entire draft. His mid-70s curveball is an average pitch at worst and a second out pitch on most days.
Gonzales is a very good athlete who repeats a simple delivery and commands his entire arsenal to both sides of the plate. He’s very polished, arguably the most polished pitcher in the draft, and he knows how to set hitters up. He also holds runners and fields his position well. Gonzales can hit — he bats cleanup for the Bulldogs and plays first base when he doesn’t pitch — and would get drafted in the top ten rounds as a position player, but that doesn’t matter much in the grand scheme of things. His future lies on the mound and he draws rave reviews for his work ethic and makeup. There are tons of videos on YouTube.
Miscellany
Keith Law (subs. req’d) and Baseball America ranked Gonzales as the 23rd and 28th best prospect in the draft in their latest rankings, respectively. For what it’s worth, Troy Renck said he’s heard the Yankees are among the clubs interested in the left-hander, who doesn’t offer a ton of upside but is as safe as college pitchers come. Guys like Gonzales are popular first round targets for risk-averse teams, so the Bombers might not even get a chance to draft him when their top three picks (26th, 32nd, and 33rd overall) roll around.
ByVia Bill Shaikin: The Angels have claimed Chris Nelson off waivers from the Yankees. New York designated the infielder for assignment when David Adams was called up this past week.
Nelson, 27, hit .222/.243/.278 (36 wRC+) in 37 plate appearances for the Yankees after being acquired from the Rockies earlier this month. He finished up his tenure with the team with a nice little 8-for-26 (.308) road trip. The Yankees acquired infielder Reid Brignac from the Rockies earlier today, replacing Alberto Gonzalez. · (5) ·
Game 43: Beat the Jays
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(Elsa/Getty)
The Yankees have won seven of their first eight games against the Blue Jays this year, which is pretty close to the best case scenario. Regardless of what happened elsewhere around the league, the Bombers had to take care of business against their division rivals if they wanted to compete despite all of the injury problems. They’ve certainly laid a beating on Toronto so far. Here’s the lineup the Yankees are running out there against right-hander Brandon Morrow…
- CF Brett Gardner
- 2B Robinson Cano
- LF Vernon Wells
- DH Travis Hafner
- 1B Lyle Overbay
- RF Curtis Granderson – first career start in right
- SS Jayson Nix
- 3B David Adams
- C Austin Romine
And on the mound is the former Mat-Su Miner in the collegiate summer Alaska Baseball League, right-hander David Phelps.
It’s a little overcast in New York, but there’s no threat of rain or anything. The game is scheduled to start a few minutes after 1pm ET and can be seen on YES. Enjoy.
Eduardo Nunez Update: Nunez (ribcage) is expected to start hitting in the batting cage in a few days. He’s eligible to come off the DL next Tuesday, but David Adams’ nice start and the recently acquired Reid Brignac means there’s no need to rush him.
Yankees acquire Reid Brignac
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(Mike McGinnis/Getty)
12:39: Gonzalez has indeed been designated for assignment, the team announced. Brignac will join the team tomorrow, so they’ll be a player short this afternoon.
11:37: Another day, another infielder. The Yankees have acquired Reid Brignac from the Rockies for just $75k in cash, reports Jon Heyman. He’s basically free, at least in baseball terms. No word on the corresponding roster move(s), but I assume he’ll replace Alberto Gonzalez. The team has not yet officially announced anything.
Brignac, 27, was designated for assignment by the Rockies a few days ago. He’s the second infielder New York has acquired from Colorado this month, joining Chris Nelson. Brignac hit .250/.294/.375 (65 wRC+) before being cut, and his career line is .228/.270/.321 (60 wRC+) in 769 plate appearances. He won’t steal any bases or draw walks (career 4.9 BB%). You surely remember him from his time with the Rays from 2008-2012.
As a left-handed bat who grades out as an average or better defender at the three non-first infield positions, Brignac is a marginal upgrade over Gonzalez. He’s probably better suited to play shortstop everyday than Jayson Nix and the currently injured Eduardo Nunez as well, at least against right-handers. The Yankees should be all about marginal upgrades at this point, every little bit of help counts. No word on when he’ll join the team.
ByVia Jon Heyman: The Yankees have not yet had contract extension talks with either Joe Girardi or Brian Cashman. Cashman is under contract through 2014, so that’s no big deal, but Girardi’s deal expires after this season. The Yankees do not negotiate new contracts until the current one expires thanks to their archaic team policy, and right now I have no reason to believe they won’t try to bring Girardi back after the season. The team is far exceeding post-injury expectations and the credit for that deservingly goes to the manager. If Girardi doesn’t return, my guess it will be his decision — wants a new challenge, another club makes a huge offer, burnout, etc. — and not the team’s. · (9) ·
Ramirez whiffs seven in Trenton loss
By · CommentsRHP Rafael DePaula placed fifth on this week’s Prospect Hot Sheet. He’s struck out 69 of 159 batters faced this year (43.4%). Meanwhile, the Yankees have signed 3B Josh Bell according to Chris Cotillo. Bell, 26, was a big prospect just a few years ago, but he’s been done in by poor plate discipline and an 80 swing-and-miss tool. He’s just a warm body for the Triple-A roster, I’ll be surprised if we see him with the big league team at any point.
Triple-A Scranton (4-3 win over Toledo in ten innings)
- 2B Corban Joseph: 0-5, 2 K
- RF Brennan Boesch: 1-4, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 K – hopefully he gets a few games in at first base while down here
- LF Zoilo Almonte: 0-5, 1 K, 1 E (throwing) — nine hits in his last 41 at-bats (.220)
- 2B Ronnie Mustelier: 3-5, 1 2B, 3 RBI — drove in the go-ahead run in the tenth … seven hits in his last 16 at-bats (.438)
- DH Josh Bell: 0-2, 2 BB, 1 K
- RHP Graham Stoneburner: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 1 WP, 1 HB, 4/9 GB/FB — 57 of 99 pitches were strikes
- RHP Sam Demel: 2.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 4/0 GB/FB — 29 of 51 pitches were strikes
- LHP Clay Rapada: 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 1/1 GB/FB — 11 of 17 pitches were strikes (65%)
Game 42: You Again?
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(Al Bello/Getty)
The Yankees just lost two of three to Mariners, only their fifth series loss in 14 tries this year. Two of their series wins have come against the Blue Jays, who are in town for another three games starting tonight. Come Monday, one out of every four games the Yankees have played this year will have been against the new-look Jays.
Toronto is still stuck in last place in the AL East, but they’re playing way better than they were a few weeks ago. They’ve won four straight and seven of their last ten, and the offense has scored at least ten runs in each of their last three games. The Yankees are going to have to be at their best to win a third straight series against their division rivals to the north. Southpaw Mark Buehrle is on the bump, and here’s the lineup he’ll face…
- CF Brett Gardner
- SS Jayson Nix
- 2B Robinson Cano
- LF Vernon Wells
- DH Ben Francisco
- 1B Lyle Overbay
- 3B David Adams
- RF Ichiro Suzuki
- C Austin Romine
Right-hander Hiroki Kuroda will be on the mound for the Bombers. The game is scheduled to start a little after 7pm ET and can be seen on My9. Enjoy.
Travis Hafner Update: Hafner (shoulder) took batting practice and said he’s available to pinch-hit. If a right-hander was on the mound, he would have started.
ByThe Yankees have placed left-hander Andy Pettitte on the 15-day DL with a strained left trap. He left last night’s start with what was described as tightness. Fellow southpaw Vidal Nuno has been recalled from Triple-A to take the roster spot.
Pettitte, 40, was “pretty spasmed up” according to Brian Cashman. He’s pitched to 3.83 ERA and 4.12 FIP in 49.1 innings so far, numbers that are basically vintage Andy. He missed a start with lower back tightness a few weeks ago, but the trap is up higher, between the neck and shoulder blade. The 25-year-old Nuno has throw eight shutout innings with the big league team his year, include five in a spot start against the Indians earlier this week. · (13) ·
2013 Draft: Jordan Paroubeck
By · CommentsThe 2013 amateur draft will be held from June 6-8 this year, and between now and then I’m going to highlight some prospects individually rather than lump them together into larger posts.
Jordan Paroubeck | OF
Background
Paroubeck attends Sierra High School in San Mateo, California, and he’s had a pretty great hitting coach this spring: Barry Bonds. His father is a childhood friend of the seven-time MVP, so he’s received private lessons all spring. Paroubeck is committed to Fresno State.
Scouting Report
Listed at 6-foot-2 and 185 lbs., Paroubeck is a standout athlete with loud tools. He’s a switch-hitter with a quick and easy swing from both sides of the plate, and he’s shown very good power potential as both a righty and a lefty. I’m sure Bonds has been in his ear about the value of plate discipline and waiting for his pitch as well. Both Paroubeck’s speed and arm are above-average at the moment, allowing him to steal bases and be an asset in center field. He could slow down and wind up in a corner down the road, but that move is not imminent. Paroubeck is raw and needs plenty of refinement, but his upside is quite enormous. There are some more videos available on YouTube.
Miscellany
Keith Law (subs. req’d) and Baseball America ranked Paroubeck as the 52nd and 62nd best prospect in the draft class in their latest rankings, respectively. He’s a little bit of a project just because he’s so raw, but anytime you have a true switch-hitter with power potential from both sides of the plate to go along with defensive skills, he’ll get drafted in the top round or two. The Yankees adore up-the-middle athletes and they have three early picks (26th, 32nd, 33rd), but I think grabbing Paroubeck with their second rounder (66th) would be ideal. He might not last that long though.
