The Yanks apparently have decided on the final two players they’ll be sending to the desert this fall: second time AzFLers Juan Miranda & Kevin Whelan. So it looks like I misremembered, for some reason I thought they only had one pitcher spot empty, but I guess they never filled that second infield spot. Scott Aldred, Double-A Trenton’s pitching coach, will serve the same role with the team in Arizona, which is great because he’s familiar with all the pitchers the Yanks are sending. Season starts Oct. 7th. (h/t Chad Jennings)

After pulling the Carl Pavano Special this year (pitching like crap when we wasn’t hurt), Jeff Marquez will be heading to the Arizona Fall League to make up for missed time. The Yanks still have one pitchers spot to fill, but it seems unlikely that Ian Kennedy or Chris Garcia will get the call. Maybe it’ll be JB Cox, assuming his knee’s okay? Otherwise I dunno who it could be.

Baseball America continued their look into each league’s top 20 prospects with the Short Season NY-Penn League today. Tenth overall pick Jason Castro claimed the top spot, with several other fellow first rounders ranking behind him. The Staten Island Yanks were shut out though, not a single Yankees’ prospect made the list. Can’t argue, it was a deep league and SI’s talent was rather underwhelming.

The next list of interest to Yanks’ fans is the South Atlantic League, which will be released next Wednesday. I’m sure Charleston will be well represented, even though Jesus Montero will have to settle for a spot behind Madison Bumgarner & Jason Heyward.

In this week’s Ask BA, Jim Callis answered a rather fun question: if the 2006 draft was held again, who would be the top picks? Taken 41st overall that year, Joba would jump up to #3 overall behind Timmy and Evan Longoria. The actual top three picks that year were Luke Hochevar, Greg Reynolds and Longoria. Woo hoo.

Everyone bashed the 2006 draft because it appeared to be a shallow talent pool, but looking back on it … man, there were some premium power arms available in that class. Timmy, Joba, Max Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw, Brandon Morrow, Brett Anderson, that’s quality right there. Then there’s guys like Travis Snider and Lars Anderson. Goes to show that no matter how crappy a draft class may look, there’s always talent available. You just need to be able to identify it.

Triple-A Scranton (4-1 loss to Sacramento) Sacramento wins their second straight Bricktown Showdown
Justin Christian & Eric Duncan: both 0 for 4 - E-Dunc K’ed twice
Chris Basak & Juan Miranda: both 1 for 4, 1 K - Miranda doubled
Shelley Duncan: 0 for 3, 1 BB, 3 K
Ben Broussard & Ramiro Pena: both 1 for 3 - Broussard drew a walk … Pena drove in the only run & committed a fielding error
Matt Carson: 2 for 4, 1 R, 1 K - he’s gonna be a 6-yr MiL FA this winter, so this may have been his last game with the Yanks
Chris Stewart: 1 for 2, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 K
Ian Kennedy: 5 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 1 WP, 5-3 GB/FB - 56 of 96 pitches were strikes (58.3%) … looked rather crappy in the first when he gave up the 3 runs, but he settled down nicely and kept his team in for another 4 frames
Steven Jackson: 1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 3-0 GB/FB - 11 of 17 pitches were strikes (64.7%)
Chase Wright: 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 HB, 0-1 GB/FB
Mark Melancon: 1.2 IP, zeroes, 1 K, 2-2 GB/FB - 12 of 14 pitches were strikes (85.7%) … he was a beast, no bullshit, here it is, hit it if you can

Double-A Trenton’s season is over; they won the league championship.

High-A Tampa’s season is over; they did not qualify for the playoffs. The Daytona Cubs won the league championship.

Low-A Charleston’s season is over; they did not qualify for the playoffs. The Augusta Green Jackets (Giants) won the league championship.

Short Season Staten Island’s season is over; they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. The Batavia Muckdogs (Cards) won the league championship.

The Rookie GCL Yanks’ season is over. The GCL Phils won the league championship.

DotF will be back when the Hawaii Winter Baseball season starts on Sept 27. See you then.

It all comes down to this. After a grueling 144-game regular seaspn and all sorts of playoff craziness, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees face the Sacramento River Cats in tonight’s Bricktown Showdown to crown the undisputed champion of Triple-A baseball. Sacramento won the whole schabang last year, so the path to victory is not going to be an easy one for the Yanks.

On the mound for the good guys is Ian Kennedy, who drew the assignment after asking Dave Miley for the ball. You gotta love a guy who wants the ball in the biggest game of the year, I suspect we may see some great things out of Mr. Kennedy tonight. Kevin Russo & Ramiro Pena have joined the team as reserve infielders, and Chase Wright will be available out of the bullpen. Once IPK does his thing, we’ll probably get a peak at Mark Melancon.

Chad Jennings broke down the matchup position-by-position, and will bring you the same great coverage from Oklahama that he does from Scranton. The game is being broadcast on ESPN2, so if you’re sick of watching meaningless Yankees’ games, check out one that matters.

Baseball America has started it’s annual look into each leagues top 20 prospects, starting yesterday with the Rookie level Arizona League (not to be confused with the Arizona Fall League), and continuing today with the Rookie level Gulf Coast League. Twins’ first rounder Aaron Hicks grabbed the top spot, and was followed by Marlins’ first rounder Kyle Skipworth. Only one Yankees’ farmhand made the list - 17-yr old RHP Arodys Vizcaino, who came in at #11. Brett Marshall likely would have made the list if he didn’t sign so late.

You can see the top 20 list schedule here; the next one of interest to Yankees’ fans is the Short Season NY-Penn League this Friday.

Double-A Trenton (5-1 win over Akron) Trenton wins the best-of-five series 3-1 … it’s their second consecutive Eastern League Championship
Reegie Corona, Ramiro Pena & Frankie Cervelli: all 1 for 3 - Corona drove in a run with a sac fly & scored another … Pena was hit by a pitch & swiped a bag … Cervelli drew a walk, scored a run & picked a runner off first with a snap throw
Austin Jackson: 1 for 4, 1 RBI, 1 K - had himself a helluva postseason
Chris Malec & PJ Pilittere: both 1 for 4, 1 R - PJ drove in a run
Colin Curtis: 2 for 4, 1 R, 2 K - hit .414 in the postseason
Edar Gonzalez: 0 for 2, 2 BB
Kevin Russo: 0 for 3, 1 RBI, 1 E (fielding)
Jeff Marquez: 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 1 Balk, 7-6 GB/FB
Jason Jones: 3 IP, zeroes, 4 K, 2-2 GB/FB - first relief appearance (and save) of the year couldn’t come at a better time

Triple-A Scranton won the Governor’s Cup. They’ll play the Sacramento River Cats (A’s) in the Bricktown Showdown on Tuesday, with Ian Kennedy facing Brad Knox. The Bobby Murcer Award will be presented to the game’s MVP for the first time this year; the game will be televised on ESPN2.

High-A Tampa’s season is over; they did not qualify for the playoffs. The Daytona Cubs won the league championship.

Low-A Charleston’s season is over; they did not qualify for the playoffs. The Augusta Green Jackets (Giants) won the league championship.

Short Season Staten Island’s season is over; they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. The Batavia Muckdogs (Cards) won the league championship.

The Rookie GCL Yanks’ season is over. The GCL Phils won the league championship.

DotF will return Tuesday for the Bricktown Showdown, but then it’ll be on hiatus until Hawaii Winter Baseball starts on Sept 27th. The Arizona Fall League doesn’t start until October 7th, and the Yanks still have to assign two more pitchers to the league. I’ll also post stats from the various Caribbean Winter Leagues from time to time as well. Otherwise that’s it for 2008.

It’s been one hell of a season, no?

Double-A Trenton (4-1 win over Akron) Trenton leads the best-of-five series 2-1 … Jeff Marquez gets the ball in Game 4 tomorrow
Reegie Corona & Edwar Gonzalez: both 1 for 3 - Corona doubled in a run … Edwar drew a walk, swiped a bag, drove in a run & K’ed
Ramiro Pena: 0 for 3
Austin Jackson: 1 for 3, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 CS - robbed not one, but two homers at the wall … Mike Ashmore says it’s the best he’s ever seen Ajax
Chris Malec, Frankie Cervelli & Kevin Russo: all 1 for 4 - Cervelli doubled, scored a run & K’ed twice … Russo drove in a run & K’ed
Colin Curtis: 2 for 4, 1 SB
PJ Pilittere: 1 for 2, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 BB - hitting .350 in the postseason
George Kontos: 4.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 3-8 GB/FB - nice job on 13 days rest
Anthony Claggett: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 2-5 GB/FB
Mike Dunn: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 2-0 - he’s been studly in the playoffs
Jhonny Nunez: 1 IP, zeroes, 1 K, 0-2 GB/FB - ditto Dunn’s comment

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Admit it, you know that title has a nice ring to it.

Triple-A Scranton (20-2 win over Durham) they pounded a guy who’s arguably the best RHP prospect in the game … they win the Governor’s Cup with a 3-1 series win over Durham … it’s the first time the Yanks’ AAA affiliate has won the league title since the Columbus Clippers back in 1992
Justin Christian: 2 for 7, 3 R, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 1 SB
Bernie Casatro: 3 for 3, 3 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K
Juan Miranda: 3 for 5, 2 R, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 1 K - hit a homer late and did a little Manny pose
Shelley Duncan & Ben Broussard: both 1 for 4, 1 R - Shelley walked twice … Broussard doubled, drove in a run, walked & K’ed
Matt Carson: 2 for 6, 1 R, 2 K - threw a runner out at the plate to end the 1st
Eric Duncan: 1 for 6, 1 R, 3 K
Chris Stewart: 1 for 3, 3 R, 3 BB, 1 K
Chris Basak: 4 for 4, 4 R, 2 2B, 3 RBI, 2 BB - Chris Basak, really?
Philthy Hughes: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 12 K, 0-2 GB/FB - 58 of 97 pitches were strikes (59.8%) … okay, where to start with this one … he struck out at least 2 batters in every inning, as well as the side in the 3rd & 4th … he loaded the bases on a single-single-walk in the 4th, then walked in a run before striking out the next 3 batters to get out of the jam … his 23 K sets new franchise single-postseason & career strikeout records … his career line in the postseason is 24.2 IP, 16H, 1ER, 5 BB, 42 K … we’ve been saying this all season: don’t write the kid off, he had 6 bad starts in April (something anyone can do), that’s it … he’s too talented to write-off this soon
Jon Albaladejo: 2.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HB, 5-2 GB/FB - 21 of 35 pitches were strikes (60.0%)
Zack Kroenke: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 1-0 GB/FB

Scranton will now head to Oklahoma to take on the Pacific Coast League Champion in the Bricktown Showdown next Tuesday. The Sacramento River Cats (A’s) and Oklahoma Red Hawks (Rangers) were tied at one in their-best-of-five series heading into tonight. Victor Zambrano will likely get the start; the game is usually broadcast on ESPN or ESPN2.

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