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Minor Notes: Montero, Prospect Lists, Draft

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Got some minor league notes to pass along…

  • As I’m sure you’ve already heard, farm director Mark Newman confirmed that Jesus Montero and Austin Romine will start the year in Triple-A and Double-A, respectively. Montero’s bat is definitely ready for the jump, though his glove isn’t, so that will be a big challenge for him. Romine’s ready for Trenton, he probably was in August.
  • Kevin Goldstein ran down his top eleven Yankee prospects, with Montero topping the list as the team’s only five star prospect. Since departed Arodys Vizcaino was the team’s only four star prospect, and they’re followed by a slew of three star guys. Trust me, trading Arodys stings, but remember that he’s a 19-year old that has yet to play in a full season league. He’s just a lotto ticket.
  • Coincidentally, Marc Hulet at FanGraphs posted his list of the Yanks top ten Yankee prospects, and had Vizcaino fourth behind Montero, Romine, and Zach McAllister. He also had Mike Dunn rated 6th, which is about as high as you’ll see him on any list. I like Mike Dunn, but sheesh, not that much.
  • Meanwhile, Hulet is also running through his annual review of each team’s recent drafts, and hit the Yankees yesterday. If you’re looking for the quick recap of the last four drafts, then I highly recommend it, Marc does a great job. Five members of the Yanks’ 2006 draft class have already reached the big leagues, and three others are legitimately on the door step. Quite a haul.
  • The Yanks signed outfielder Javier Herrera to a minor league deal. Baseball America rated him the sixth best prospect in Oakland’s system as recently as 2007, though he had Tommy John surgery and never quite figured it out. He’s a career .282-.358-.468 hitter in the minors, though he has just 15 plate appearances above Double-A. Decent little gamble.

Baseball America’s Top 10 Yankee Prospects

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Baseball America posted their top ten Yankee prospects today, and predictably Jesus Montero topped the list. Austin Romine and Arodys Vizcaino rounded out the top three. Four of the ten players are backstops.

In the subscriber only scouting report, Montero is said to have improved his defense behind the plate, however he’s still a below average defender. More importantly, they said he “hasn’t delivered completely on his raw power, but he’s close to projecting as an 80 hitter with 80 power on the 20-80 scouting scale.” That’s what I’m talkin’ about.

Andrew Brackman, who still managed to crack the top ten, was said to have regained some command in Instructional League. Good news.

Yanks will bid on Halladay, cut payroll

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Jon Heyman tweets that the Yankees have decided that they will in fact bid on Roy Halladay. Toronto, he says, wants some combination of Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, Jesus Montero, and Austin Jackson. Meanwhile, Buster Olney says the Yanks are going to trim payroll; he’s just not sure by how much. Frankly, none of this is anything we didn’t already know, but now it’s semi-official.

Montero vs. Santana

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Not Johan, Carlos. I’m sure we’ll see Jesus-Johan matchup soon enough. Adam Foster at Project Prospect broke down down the Yankees top prospect against the Indians top prospect, and says that even though Santana is no slouch with the stick and projects to stay behind the plate, he’d take Montero because he’s a “potential once-in-a-generation force on offense.” He notes that both Santana and Buster Posey are better bets in 2010, but Montero has greater long-term value because he’s already proven to have a significant offensive floor with more room for growth.

Give it a read, you can never get too much of Jesus.

Montero, McAllister among EL’s best

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After ranking as the second best prospect in the High-A Florida State League, Jesus Montero followed that up by placing fifth in the Double-A Eastern League, according to Baseball America. Zach McAllister came in at #19, while old pal Jose Tabata checked in at #15. In the subscriber only report, one AL scout said of Montero: “When he shows up to play, it’s pretty good. I don’t think he’ll get away with showing up every other night in the big leagues, especially behind the plate, but it could just be youthful mistakes.” This is the first I’ve heard of him “taking days off,” but if he hit .317-.370-.539 as a 19-yr old in the EL playing every other day, imagine what he could do if he actually applied himself.

As for McAllister, one EL manager said he “competed and threw four pitches for strikes, and both the breaking balls were tough to handle.” It also notes that he’s mostly upper-80’s with the fastball, knocking his ceiling down to a back-end starter. Such is life.

Montero, Romulo Sanchez among those to play winter ball

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For the third straight year, megaprospect Jesus Montero will be playing winter ball in his home country of Venezuela. This year he’s going to suit up for the Navegantes del Magallanes of the Venezuelan Winter League, were he’ll be teammates with fellow countrymen and fellow Yankee prospects Reegie Corona and Marcos Vechionacci. Big bad Romulo Sanchez will also be playing in the VWL, except for Leones del Caracas.

At the moment, the only other Yankees farmhands listed on a winter ball roster are Danny Gil and Walt Ibarra, who will both play for Naranjeros de Hermosillo of the Mexican Winter League. At least half of the clubs in the various Caribbean leagues still haven’t released their roster, so make sure you check back to see who else is playing ball this winter. I promise you, there will be plenty more.

Meanwhile, the Arizona Fall League season starts on Tuesday, so DotF will return in an abbreviated format. Here’s the Surprise Rafters roster in case you forgot who the Yanks are sending. The Caribbean leagues don’t start until later this winter.

Montero, Romine ranked the two best catchers in the FSL

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Continuing on with their league top 20’s, Baseball America named Jesus Montero and Austin Romine the second and tenth best prospects, respectively, in the High-A Florida State League. Montero was behind only Mike Stanton of the Marlins, and the pair were the only two catchers to appear on the list. In the subscriber only scouting report, Montero was called “the toughest out in the league,” while Romine was noted as having very few weaknesses in his game.

The Eastern League comes out on Friday, so Montero might be making an encore appearance.