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Yankees sending Williams, Austin, and O’Brien to Arizona Fall League

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The Yankees are sending OF Mason Williams, OF Tyler Austin, and C/3B Peter O’Brien to play for the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League after the season. Each team sends seven guys to the AzFL, so New York must still name four more players. Expect most if not all of them to be pitchers. The entire Scottsdale roster is right here.

Josh Norris says Austin (101 wRC+) will spend some time working out at first base with the Scorpions. He’s played the position plenty in the past. Austin was placed on the Double-A Trenton DL with a bone bruise in his right wrist in mid-July, though he did play in his first rehab game with the Rookie GCL Yanks this afternoon. He’ll be making up for lost time in the AzFL. Williams has had a down year at the plate (87 wRC+), so hopefully he’ll rebound in the extreme hitter’s environment. O’Brien has had a strong year (146 wRC+) and will look to continue progressing.

Betances & Montgomery highlight Arizona Fall League pitching crop

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Via Josh Norris, the Yankees are sending right-handers Dellin Betances, Mark Montgomery, Danny Burawa, and Zach Nuding to the Arizona Fall League this year. Austin Romine, Slade Heathcott, and David Adams have already been confirmed on the position player side.

Betances had a nightmare season that ended with shoulder tendinitis, but apparently he’ll be healthy enough to pitch in the desert. He has a long way to go to rebuild his prospect value, and it’ll be interesting to see if he starts or relieves out there. Montgomery is the club’s best bullpen prospect and Burawa isn’t far behind, though he missed the entire season with oblique and rib problems. Nuding is a bit of a sleeper and might have the biggest arm in the organization, though he missed time with a shoulder injury this year as well. That’s the common theme here, everyone ticketed for the AzFL other than Montgomery had injury problems in 2012.

Update: Heathcott, Romine & Adams ticketed for Arizona Fall League

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12:02pm: Via Josh Norris, the Yankees will indeed send Heathcott to the AzFL. He says they’re also likely to send RHP Dan Burawa (oblique, rib) if he gets healthy in time, and other players in consideration for a trip to Arizona include RHP Zach Nuding, RHP Tommy Kahnle, LHP Matt Tracy, RHP Mark Montgomery, RHP Branden Pinder, and RHP Preston Claiborne.

10:00am: Via Joel Sherman, the Yankees are planning to send C Austin Romine and 2B David Adams to the Arizona Fall League after the season. Both players have missed time with injuries not just this year, but last year as well. Romine (back) only has 70 plate appearances this season while Adams (ankle, neck) has 328 plate appearances. He’s been working out at third base lately and could get more time there in the desert.

The rosters have not been officially announced as of yet but that could happen as soon as next week. OF Slade Heathcott would make sense for an AzFL trip as well after missing the first half of the season due to shoulder surgery, though he would count as their one Single-A player. Neither LHP Manny Banuelos or RHP Jose Campos will be eligible because they were not on an active roster within 45 days of the end of the season. The rules are weird, I know. Each teams sends seven players, usually three position players and four pitchers.

Yanks sending Burawa, Whitley, and Claiborne to the Arizona Fall League

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The Yankees announced (well, I guess the league announced) today that right-handed relievers Dan Burawa, Chase Whitley, and Preston Claiborne have been assigned to the Phoenix Desert Dogs of the Arizona Fall League. Corban Joseph, David Phelps, Rob Segedin, and Ronnie Mustelier were already set to go to the desert. All three righties had fine seasons in 201 and will look to build on that success in the fall.

Four Yankees heading to Arizona Fall League (so far)

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Rosters for the Arizona Fall League were released today, though not in their entirety. David Phelps, Corban Joseph, Rob Segedin, and Ronnier Mustelier are the four Yankees farmhands named to the Phoenix Desert Dogs roster so far, but they still have two or three spots to fill. Those will almost certainly be pitchers, but one will not be Graham Stoneburner.

Phelps’ assignment is completely expected after he missed all that time with the shoulder issue, he’s got innings to make up. CoJo’s been hitting well this year and it’s worth getting him the extra at-bats. Interestingly enough, Segedin’s on the roster as an outfielder, so perhaps a full blown transition is going to take place soon. Mustelier is the interesting guy. He’s an older dude (just turned 27) that signed out of Cuba this year, he’s been mashing nonstop since signing (.374/.421/.553 in 134 PA), and he’s played five positions (second, third, and all three outfield spots). It’s unlikely they’d send filler to the AzFL, and I wonder if he’s got a chance to a righty bench bat in the future. We’ll see.