River Avenue Blues

River Ave. Blues ยป Christopher Tamarez

DotF: Judge picks up three hits, Trenton loses anyway

by 145 Comments

Got a couple notes to pass along before we get to the game action:

  • Ben Badler (subs. req’d) has a firsthand scouting report from RHP Luis Severino’s most recent start. Severino’s fastball was “parking at 94-96 mph the entire game and topping out at 97,” plus he was “flashing a pair of secondary pitches in his slider and changeup that were swing-and-miss offerings at times but were still inconsistent.” Sounds about right.
  • The Yankees have released 3B Christopher Tamarez, according to Matt Eddy. They signed him for $650,000 as one of their top international signings in 2011, but Tamarez hit only .261/.318/.337 in 192 pro games, none above rookie ball. Also, Eddy says the RHP Jordan Foley was placed on the 7-day DL. Not sure what happened there.
  • And finally, ex-Yankees farmhand RHP Jeff Karstens announced his retirement on Twitter. He was the team’s 19th round pick in 2003, threw 57.1 innings in pinstripes from 2006-07, then was traded to the Pirates in the Xavier Nady deal. Karstens retired with a 4.44 ERA (4.55 FIP) in 592.1 innings and made nearly $8M. Not bad for a 19th rounder.

Triple-A Scranton had a scheduled off-day.

Double-A Trenton (6-1 loss to Erie)

  • DH Jake Cave: 0-5
  • RF Aaron Judge: 3-4, 1 R — 10-for-21 (.476) in his last four games
  • 1B Greg Bird: 1-4, 1 K, 1 E (fielding)
  • 3B Eric Jagielo: 1-3, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K — seven of his last nine hits have been doubles
  • C Gary Sanchez: 1-4, 1 PB, 1 E (throwing)
  • CF Mason Williams: 1-4, 1 K
  • LHP Caleb Smith: 2.1 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 1 K, 5/1 GB/FB — only 30 of 65 pitches were strikes (46%) … had four walks in 16.1 innings coming into this game
  • RHP Johnny Barbato: 2.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 2/3 GB/FB — 27 of 37 pitches were strikes (73%)
  • RHP Mark Montgomery: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 3/2 GB/FB — 22 of 35 pitches were strikes (63%)

[Read more…]

Link Dump: Org. Rankings, Int’l Money, Sanchez

by 29 Comments

Earlier today we pointed you in the direction of John Sickels’ interview with Mark Newman, but here’s a few more minor league links to pass along…

Goldstein’s Organizational Rankings

A few days after releasing his top 101 prospects list, Kevin Goldstein released his farm system rankings today, placing the Yankees fourth overall behind the Royals, Rays, and Braves. You don’t need a subscription to view the whole thing. Instead of posting a generic paragraph on each system, KG added a haiku, and I give him points for originality. His Yankees’ offering: “Slugger with no glove. The B’s need to prove themselves. Yankees or trade bait?” Pretty much everything you need to know right there.

International Free Agent Clearing House

Baseball America posted a trio of great charts regarding international free agency today, one looking at the top 30 signing bonuses from 2010, another with each team’s spending in 2010, and the last with the top 20 bonuses of all-time. None of them require a subscription. The Yankees gave Wilmer Romero and Christopher Tamarez $656,500 and $650,000, respectively, the 19th and 20th largest bonuses of the year. Rafael DePaula got just $500,000 (26th), and some kid named Eduardo Rivera got $475,000 (30th). The $5.27M they spent overall was the second most by any team, so everyone complaining that the team wasn’t spending enough internationally, just stop.

As for the all-time records, Gary Sanchez’s $3M is the third largest ever, behind Michael Ynoa and Miguel Sano. Wily Mo Pena ($2.44MM) is the ninth largest of all time, and for a while was a record. I still can’t believe the Yankees gave Wify Mo a big league contract as a teenager.

KLaw on Sanchez

Jesus Montero is the cream of the Yankees’ position player prospect crop and rightfully so, but further down the later resides Sanchez, who has to potential to be every bit as good as Hey-Zeus. Keith Law looked at six prospects yesterday (Insider req’d), six guys with the potential to jump into the top ten prospects in all of baseball next year, and Sanchez was among them. “Sanchez can hit, and looks like he’ll hit for power,” said KLaw. “A full year behind the plate and another year of physical development will go a long way toward answering the question of his defensive future, but there aren’t many questions about his offensive potential.”

Law says he believes Sanchez can catch long-term, and at the very least he has a better chance to do so than Montero. It’s unfair to compare Sanchez to Montero but it’ll inevitably happen. If he’s 75% of Jesus, that would be amazing.

Yankees sign Nick Ebert

The Yankees have signed former South Carolina first baseman Nick Ebert as an undrafted free agent, reports Matt Eddy. The 23-year-old hit .302/.448/.638 with 30 homers in 440 plate appearances with the Game Cocks over the last two years, before which he was at a junior college. Baseball America ranked Ebert as the 36th best prospect in the state before last year’s draft, just saying that he was a solid college senior with some power. The right-handed hitter is probably nothing more than minor league depth, a guy that can mash Single-A pitching and help keep the pressure off the youngsters.

Yankees sign Dominican shortstop Christopher Tamarez

by 35 Comments

Via Ben Badler, the Yankees have signed 16-year-old Dominican shortstop Christopher Tamarez for $650,000. Ranked the 29th best prospect on the market by Baseball America, Tamarez stands 6-foot-1, 175 lbs., and is said to be one of the better athletes available this season with a chance to remain at shortstop long-term. A righthanded hitter, he projects to have average pop down the road. Click the link for video.

This is the Yanks first significant international signing of the year, though the entire market is developing slowly. MLB’s age and identify verification process, as well as PED testing, is slowing things down.