River Avenue Blues

River Ave. Blues ยป Cody Johnson

Yankees re-sign four to minor league contracts

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Via Matt Eddy: The Yankees have re-signed LHP Juan Cedeno, LHP Francisco Rondon, OF Abe Almonte, and OF/DH Cody Johnson to minor league contracts. All four players became six-year minor league free agents at the end of the season.

Cedeno (29-year-old lefty reliever) and Almonte (speedy 23-year-old outfielder) could actually help the big league team as soon as 2013. Both players will be exposed to the Rule 5 Draft this December unless added to 40-man roster by the November 20th deadline — I doubt they will be, otherwise the Yankees would have done it to avoid letting them hit free agency — but the risk that they stick with a club next year is worth the reward of not clogging up the 40-man with more fringy prospect types. Both guys are nice depth pieces to have in the high minors.

Austin, Sanchez highlight Baseball America’s Best Minor League Tools

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Yesterday it was the big leaguers, today it’s the minor leaguers. Baseball America published their best tools survey today (subs. req’d), polling managers and other personnel about the game’s best aspiring Major Leaguers. OF Tyler Austin and C Gary Sanchez headline the crop of Yankees farmhands by being named the Best Hitting Prospect and Best Power Prospect in the Low-A South Atlantic League, respectively. The survey was conducted prior to their promotions to High-A Tampa.

Other Yankees prospects getting love include the Double-A Eastern League trio of OF/DH Cody Johnson (Best Power Prospect), OF Abe Almonte (Fastest Baserunner), and RHP Brett Marshall (Best Changeup). OF Mason Williams was dubbed the Best Defensive Outfielder in the Sally League as well. RHP Mark Montgomery got beat out for the High-A Florida State League Best Reliever crown by Futures Gamer RHP Bruce Rondon. For shame.

Minor Moves: Betances, Laird, Pope, Johnson

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Don’t the Yankees know that 4pm ET on a Friday is no time to break news? After announcing that Larry Rothschild will be the new pitching coach, the following minor league news made the rounds…

  • Dellin Betances, Brandon Laird, and Ryan Pope were all added to the 40-man roster, protecting them from the upcoming Rule 5 Draft. I thought that George Kontos would get protected as well, but the Yankees must feel that he isn’t capable of sticking on a big league team’s 25-man roster for a full season yet. He, along with Craig Heyer and Lance Pendleton, are candidates to be selected.
  • The Yanks acquired minor league outfielder Cody Johnson from the Braves in exchange for cash considerations. Johnson, 22, was the 24th overall pick in the 2006 draft but it hasn’t clicked yet. He’s got big time power (career .233 ISO) but is a whiff machine (39.0% strikeout rate), and in fact 49.9% of his 1,813 career plate appearances have ended with a homer, walk, or strikeout. Three true outcomes FTW. Johnson is likely to begin 2011 with Double-A Trenton.