12/18 Winter Ball Report

Dominican League:

- Melky Cabrera (Aguilas) went 1-for-2 with a RBI, two walks, and a run scored. He's now hitting .308 in the DWL.

Mexican League:

- Ramiro Pena (Culiacan) went 1-for-4 with a RBI. He's now hitting .267 with 8 RBI.

Venezuelan League:

- Francisco Cervelli (Lara) went 1-for-3 with a RBI and a run scored. He's now hitting .261.

- Edwar Gonzalez (Lara) went 3-for-4 with a double to up his average to a very impressive .355.

The Yankees made some more minor league transactions:

They signed 1B Jorge Vazquez, and OF Edwar Gonzalez.

Here's some info from Chad Jennings about the two:

OF Edwar Gonzalez
Should be a significant relief for fans who followed Gonzalez through his breakout 2008 season. Having never before hit more than 10 home runs and having hit for an average better than .275 only once, Gonzalez went nuts with a .292 average, 20 home runs and 42 doubles between Tampa and Trenton. He'd never played above High-A, but forced an early season call-up to Trenton and hit .295 with 14 homers.

A free agent based on the fact he signed way back in 2002, re-signing makes a lot of sense for Gonzalez and the Yankees. Gonzalez clearly made an impression last season, and the Yankees are thin in the outfield in the upper levels. Could certainly push for a spot in Triple-A. By the way, I stole this Gonzalez picture from Mike Ashmore without his expressed written permission. Sorry Mike.

1B Jorge Vazquez
Had to look this guy up because I'd never heard of him, and there's a good reason for that. Vazquez will be 27 on opening day and he's spent the past 10 years in the Mexican League. His numbers in Mexico are impressive, including a .339 average with 18 home runs this season. It was his seventh straight year with double-digit homers and his fifth straight year with a batting average above .320. His on-base percentage has hovered close to or above .400. He also has limited experience at third.

Not sure what the plan will be for Vazquez, but Alfredo Aceves seems to have taught the Yankees to take the Mexican League seriously. I'm wondering if Vazquez could be a right-handed platoon partner for Kevin Smith in Trenton, but that's pure speculation.

The Yankees also released RHP Stephen Artz, RHP Jason Kiley, RHP Gabriel Medina, RHP Mike Obradovich, RHP Rob Semerano, RHP Drew Shetrone, LHP Tim Dennehy, LHP Shawn Joy, 1B Roy Gomez, 2B Chris Kunda, 3B Brian Chavez, OF Taylor Holiday, OF Erik Lovett, OF Matt Morris

In other minor league news the Hawaiian Winter League will not return next season. Their three year contract with major league baseball is up and was not renewed.

And here's a full list of Yankees playing in the Venezuelan, Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Dominican winter leagues:

Dominican League: Robinson Cano is playing for Estrellas de Oriente. Melky Cabrera and Wilkins Arias are playing for Aguilas Cibaenas. And Oneli Perez and Amaury Sanit are playing for Tigres del Licey.

Puerto Rican League: Ian Kennedy and Jonathan Albaladejo are on Indios de Mayaguez. And Bernie Williams will play for Gigantes de Carolina.

Mexican League: Ramiro Pena is playing for Tomateros de Culiacan. And Walter Ibarra is on Naranjeros de Hermosillo.

Venezuelan League: Francisco Cervelli, Edwar Gonzalez and Carlos Mendoza are playing for Cardenales de Lara. And Edgar Soto is on Aguilas del Zulia.

You can check out all of their Winter Ball stats here.