- 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
