River Avenue Blues

River Ave. Blues ยป Mark Seyler

DotF: Florial triples in Tampa’s Opening Day win

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At long last, the 2018 minor league season is underway. Three of the four full season affiliates opened their 144-game schedule this evening. Here are some notes before we get to the games:

  • In case you missed it last night, here are the preliminary Opening Day lineups for the full season affiliates. High-A Tampa announced their roster this morning, so the post has been updated.
  • According to Matt Eddy, the Yankees have re-signed C Kellin Deglan, loaned RHP Dallas Martinez to a Mexican League team, and released LHP Woody Bryson, RHP Simon De La Rosa, LHP Tyler Honahan, RHP Jonathan Padilla, RHP David Palladino, RHP Josh Roeder, RHP Mark Seyler, and RHP Daris Vargas. De La Rosa was a sleeper once upon a time. Alas.
  • Two stray links: Keith Law (subs. req’d) lists Double-A Trenton as one of the most stacked teams in the minors this year, and Mike Rosenbaum has a piece on the club’s lower level pitching prospects, with info from minor league pitching coordinator Danny Borrell.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barres RailRiders begin their regular season tomorrow. RHP Chance Adams will be on the mound.

Double-A Trenton Thunder (5-2 win over Richmond) as per Opening Day tradition, here are the full lineups

  • 2B Gosuke Katoh: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 K
  • 1B Chris Gittens: 1-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 K — had a 27.7% strikeout rate in Single-A the last two years, so I’m curious to see how he handles Double-A
  • LF Trey Amburgey: 2-4, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 SB — hit the first homer in the system this year
  • 3B Billy Fleming: 1-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K
  • CF Rashad Crawford: 1-4, 2 K, 1 E (fielding)
  • RF Jhalan Jackson: 1-3, 1 R, 1 3B, 1 BB, 2 K
  • DH Bruce Caldwell: 0-3, 1 BB, 1 K
  • C Jorge Saez: 1-4, 1 RBI, 3 K
  • SS Vince Conde: 0-3, 1 K, 1 E (throwing)
  • RHP Domingo Acevedo: 5.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 1 HR, 3/2 GB/FB — 46 of 80 pitches were strikes (58%)
  • RHP Erik Swanson: 3.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 2/2 GB/FB — 32 of 51 pitches were strikes (63%)

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2015 Draft Signings: Finley, Hendrix, Adams, Wagner

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Hendrix. (Taylor Wilder/Emerald)
Hendrix. (Taylor Wilder/Emerald)

Got a bunch more 2015 draft signings to pass along, including details on most of the players selected by the Yankees in the top ten rounds, the rounds tied to the all-important bonus pool. Away we go:

  • California HS RHP Drew Finley (3rd round) signed for $950,000, reports Jonathan Mayo. That’s well above the $626,600 slot and I’m not surprised — Finley was considered a late-first/early-second round talent. We heard he agreed to terms the other day.
  • Oregon State OF Jeff Hendrix (4th) has signed according to the school’s Twitter feed. MLB.com says he received a straight slot $456,800 bonus. Hendrix figures to join Short Season Staten Island when the season starts later this week.
  • Dallas Baptist RHP Chance Adams (5th) has signed for $330,000, reports Jim Callis. That’s a bit below the $342,000 slot value. Adams is a classic fastball/slider reliever who shouldn’t hang around the low minors too long.
  • Howard College 2B Brandon Wagner (6th) has signed for $256,000, so says MLB.com. That is exactly slot money. Wagner has a ton of power but no real position. The Yankees will try him at second for the time being.
  • Arizona HS 3B Donny Sands (8th) has signed for $100,000, according to MLB.com. That’s below the $170,300 slot value. Sands has two-way ability at third but his hit tool needs development.
  • Citadel LHP James Reeves (10th) has signed for $50,000, according to MLB.com. That is below the $149,700 slot value. Reeves has a funky low arm slot and tore through college lineups this spring.
  • San Diego State RHP Mark Seyler (19th) has signed based on his Instagram feed. No word on his bonus but I doubt it’ll exceed the $100,000 slot for picks after the tenth round.
  • Southern Mississippi RHP Cody Carroll (22nd) has signed for $70,000, reports Callis. Although he signed for less than the $100,000 slot, the Yankees do not get any draft pool savings.

As our 2015 Draft Pool Tracker shows, the Yankees have signed all but two of their eleven picks in the top ten rounds, and they have $219,500 in draft pool savings available even after Finley’s over-slot deal. I’m guessing at least part of that will go to UCLA RHP James Kaprielian (1st), a Scott Boras client.