1/12 Winter Ball Report

Dominican Winter League

- Wilkins Arias (Aguilas) allowed one run on one hit, while walking one and striking out three in 1.2 innings pitched. He now has a 6.48 ERA in the DWL playoffs.

Puerto Rican Winter League

- Jonathan Albaladejo (Mayaguez) allowed an earned run on one hit (a homer) and a strike out in one inning of work. After being lights-out for much of the winter, he now has a 13.50 ERA in the PRWL playoffs.

Venezuelan Winter League

- Francisco Cervelli (Lara) went 0-for-1. He's still hitless in the VWL playoffs.

- Edwar Gonzalez (Lara) went 0-for-3 to drop his avg. to .154.

- Luis Nunez (Zulia) went 0-for-3 to drop his average to .100.


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

Dominican Winter League: Robinson Cano and Wady Rufino are playing for Estrellas de Oriente. Melky Cabrera and Wilkins Arias are playing for Aguilas Cibaenas. Abraham Almonte is playing for Leones del Escogido. And Juan Mirana and Amaury Sanit are playing for Tigres del Licey.

Mexican Pacific League: Ramiro Pena and Jorge Vasquez are playing for Tomateros de Culiacan. And Walter Ibarra is on Naranjeros de Hermosillo.

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

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

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

For some more Yankees minor-league info, check out this article from MLB.com's Lisa Winston. She discusses Yankees pitching prospects Andrew Brackman, Humberto Sanchez, Mark Melancon, and J.B. Cox.

Here's a little bit of what she had to say about Brackman:

"His velocity was between 94-97 [mph], so he had no problems and he's ready to go for Major League camp," said Mark Newman, the Yankees' senior vice president of baseball operations. "His stuff is outstanding, and he's getting a feel for his delivery and throwing strikes. But first and foremost, he was healthy and, at times, dominant."

And Melancon:

In '08, though, Melancon climbed the ranks quickly, with a 2.84 ERA in 13 games at Tampa, a 1.81 in 49 2/3 innings at Trenton and a 2.70 mark in 12 games at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, along with three shutout innings for that club in the International League playoffs. He combined to strike out 89 batters in 95 innings while walking just 22. Coming into '09, he could factor into the big league bullpen mix from the get-go.

But whether he starts the spring in New York or in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Melancon is probably the Yankees' most promising heir to the throne of Mariano Rivera, both thanks to his stuff and his mound makeup.

His '08 campaign proved that stuff -- a fastball in the low-to-mid 90s, a power curve and a newly added changeup -- are all present and accounted for. All he needs now are more reps.

Check out the rest of the article here.