DotF: Rosa dominating out of the bullpen in winter ball

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Two weeks ago the 2016 Arizona Fall League season came to an end, though other winter leagues around the world are still in the middle of the season. Here are the final AzFL stats, and before we get to the rest of the winter league updates, here are some minor league notes:

  • Minor league hitting coordinator James Rowson has left the Yankees to join the Twins as their Major League hitting coach, the team announced. Rowson served two stints in New York’s farm system (2006-11, 2014-16) and worked closely with all the team’s top prospects. He helped OF Aaron Judge make some adjustments last offseason, for example.
  • Both Baseball America (no subs. req’d) and MLB.com posted their top Arizona Fall League prospects lists. SS Gleyber Torres was No. 1 on both. RHP James Kaprielian was No. 7 for Baseball America while both Kaprielian (No. 12) and 3B Miguel Andujar (No. 21) made the MLB.com list.
  • In other Fall League news, Torres landed at shortstop on MLB.com’s All-AzFL team, and his performance was also one of Mike Rosenbaum’s top ten storylines of the AzFL season. Gleyber became the youngest batting champion and MVP in league history, so yeah.
  • Jeff Sullivan wrote about RHP Jonathan Holder, who was arguably the most dominant reliever in the minor leagues this past season. Jeff takes a deep dive on Holder’s stuff and finds some similarities to Alex Colome, who is pretty damn good. That’d be a heck of an outcome for Holder.
  • J.J. Cooper put together a Rule 5 Draft preview, if you’re interested in such things. LHP Tyler Webb is listed as one of the best players available. Webb has pretty good stuff and a history of missing bats at Triple-A, so he’s a lock to be picked in the Rule 5 Draft. He might stick next year too.
  • Also, Cooper wrote about RHP Albert Abreu, who the Yankees received in the Brian McCann trade. The timing of the trade means Abreu won’t show up on Baseball America’s top ten prospects list for either the Yankees or Astros, so Cooper posted the scouting report in his weekly mailbag.
  • And finally, there was a ton of talk about the Yankees’ farm system on Wednesday’s episode of the Effectively Wild podcast, so check that out. The Yankees stuff starts at the 6:13 mark.

Australian Baseball League

  • RHP Brandon Stenhouse: 2 G, 2 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 WP (22.50 ERA and 3.50 WHIP) — the Yankees gave the 20-year-old Australian a six-figure bonus out of high school three years ago … he has a 3.49 ERA (3.50 FIP) with 27.0% strikeouts and 12.3% walks in 38.2 rookie ball innings in his two pro seasons

Dominican Winter League

  • IF Abi Avelino: 14 G, 6-20, 3 R, 1 RBI, 3 K, 1 CS (.300/.300/.300)
  • SS Jorge Mateo: 20 G, 7-42, 8 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 3 BB, 10 K, 5 SB, 1 CS, 1 HBP (.167/.239/.238) — he’s not hitting, but the fact he’s still playing regularly tells you how highly he’s regarded … winter leagues are super competitive, they play guys who can help them win without regard for prospect status, and Mateo’s still in the lineup
  • RHP Anyelo Gomez: 2 G, 1.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K (10.80 ERA and 1.80 WHIP) — he was one of ten current Yankees farmhands to hit 100 mph in the minors this year
  • RHP Adonis Rosa: 5 G, 1 GS, 12 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 6 K (0.00 ERA and 0.42 WHIP) — Rosa turned 22 last month and he had a 2.19 ERA (3.03 FIP) with 23.0% strikeouts and 4.7% walks in 78 innings with Short Season Staten Island and Low-A Charleston in 2016 … he was a low-profile signing back in 2013, but he throws strikes and has three pitches (low-90s fastball, curveball, changeup), so he’s not someone to completely overlook

Mexican Pacific League

  • OF Tito Polo: 18 G, 15-66, 13 R, 4 2B, 1 RBI, 5 BB, 19 K, 8 SB, 1 CS, 4 HBP (.227/.320/.288) — he got hurt three weeks ago, came back a few days later, played three games, and hasn’t played since … not sure what’s going on here, exactly

Venezuelan Winter League

  • IF Angel Aguilar: 13 G, 4-20, 5 R, 8 K, 1 SB (.200/.200/.200) — he was actually traded in the VWL … played ten games for Navegantes del Magallanes before being shipped to Aguilas de Zulia … Aguilar is still Yankees’ property, the trade just means a new team controls his winter ball rights
  • C Francisco Diaz: 31 G, 20-90, 9 R, 4 2B, 2 3B, 3 RBI, 9 BB, 16 K, 1 SB, 1 CS, 1 HBP (.222/.300/.311)
  • RHP Luis Cedeno: 4 G, 2 GS, 11.1 IP, 13 H, 9 R, 7 ER, 6 BB, 7 K, 2 HR, 2 HB, 2 WP (5.56 ERA and 1.68 WHIP)
  • RHP David Kubiak: 9 G, 3 GS, 22 IP, 21 H, 15 R, 13 ER, 10 BB, 16 K, 1 HR, 3 HB, 3 WP (5.32 ERA and 1.91 WHIP)
  • RHP Mark Montgomery: 5 G, 3.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K (7.36 ERA and 1.91 WHIP) — hasn’t pitched in a month now, which is probably bad news

Saturday Links: A-Rod, Rowson, Braves, Gardner

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(Presswire)
(Presswire)

Later this afternoon the Yankees and Rays will continue their four-game series with the third game at Yankee Stadium. First pitch isn’t until 4pm ET, so here are some miscellaneous links to help you pass the time.

A-Rod expected to appear at Instructs

According to Brendan Kuty, Alex Rodriguez is expected to make an appearance at Instructional League later this month. As a special instructor, of course. Not as a player. “I’m very pleased to have somebody with Alex’s experience and time in the game to be able to share those experiences with our young players. Our best young players are all going to be part of Instructional League,” said farm system head Gary Denbo.

This year’s Instructs roster hasn’t been released yet but it’ll come out soon enough. It’s usually a collection of top prospects, recent draftees, and players who missed time due to injury. Greg Bird will face live pitching for the first time since shoulder surgery in Instructional League, for example. My guess is A-Rod will wind up spending a bunch of time with the team’s small army of middle infield prospects, specifically Gleyber Torres and Jorge Mateo.

Rowson joins Yankees

Minor league hitting coordinator James Rowson joined the Yankees earlier this week and has been with the team since, reports Dan Martin. Rowson has worked with Aaron Judge a ton over the years. “He’s trying to get comfortable here. Everything is new to him and he’s had his battles before and made the adjustments,” said Rowson. “He’s been through rough times, especially with the punch outs and he’s always come out on the other side. So I feel like he’s going to do that again.”

This is not all that uncommon, really. A handful of minor league coaches will join the big league team for a homestand in September pretty much every year. Every single one of the Yankees’ full season minor league affiliates qualified for the postseason this year though, so those coaches and instructors haven’t had a chance to come up yet. This isn’t Rowson’s first stint with the big league team and it won’t be his last. Chances are he didn’t join the team specifically to work with Judge.

Update: Minor league pitching coordinator Danny Borrell is with the Yankees as well, reports Chad Jennings.

Yankees to open SunTrust Park

(Braves)
(Braves)

The Yankees and Braves will open the brand new SunTrust Park with an exhibition game on Friday, March 31st next year, the Braves announced. Apparently only “A List Members” (season ticket holders) will be allowed to attend. Lame. Atlanta is moving into their new 41,500 seat ballpark just 20 years after moving into Turner Field. The Yankees and Braves opened Turner Field with an exhibition game in 1996 as well.

This year the Yankees closed out Spring Training with a pair of exhibition games at Marlins Park. Last year they played two at Nationals Park. The Cubs came to New York for two exhibition games in 2009, when the new Yankee Stadium opened. They do this stuff every year. Also, the fact this exhibition game is scheduled for March 31st suggests the 2017 regular season will begin on Monday, April 3rd. Next year’s schedule should be announced soon. Possibly next week.

Gardner nominated for Roberto Clemente Award

Brett Gardner is the Yankees’ nominee for the 2016 Roberto Clemente Award, MLB announced. Here are the nominees from each team. The award is given each year to the player who “best exemplifies the game of baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and the individual’s contribution to his team.” Three Yankees have won the award: Derek Jeter (2009), Don Baylor (1985), and Ron Guidry (1984).

Amazingly, MLB turned an award recognizing community involvement — and an award named after an iconic player and a great humanitarian — into a popularity contest. Each nominee has an official hashtag and the player who receives the most votes on Twitter and Facebook will win. Incredible. MLB really knocked this one out of the park, eh? I’m sure fans will recognize each player’s off-the-field work and definitely not vote for their favorite player. No way.

Heyman: Yanks interested in Bichette, Thames, Rowson for hitting coach job

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Via Jon Heyman: The Yankees have some interest in Dante Bichette, Marcus Thames, and James Rowson for their vacant hitting coach position. They’ve already interviewed Rangers hitting coach Dave Magadan and will interview Athletics hitting coach Chili Davis at some point in the near future. Bichette and Thames had been speculated as fits previously.

Bichette, who is very close with Joe Girardi and has a son in the Yankees farm system, was the Rockies hitting coach in 2013. He left the team after that season because he didn’t want to be away from his family so much. Thames was the hitting coach at High-A Tampa last year and Double-A Trenton this year. He’s earned rave reviews for his work with the team’s young prospects. Rowson has had two stints with the Yankees as a minor league hitting instructor (2006-11, 2014) and briefly served as the Cubs interim hitting coach in 2013. It sounds like the team has kicked around the idea of these three but is focused elsewhere.