More Yankees Prospect Stuff

As is normally the case during this time of year there are a lot of stories about prospects. The latest comes from SNY.TV's Michael Salfino, who goes over the Yankees top ten prospects. (hat tip to WasWatching.com)

Baseball America editor John Manuel, always a great help to us here, listed the Yankees' top 10 prospects as follows (in order): outfielder Austin Jackson, catcher Jesus Montero, pitcher Andrew Brackman, catcher Austin Romine, pitcher Dellin Betances, pitcher Zach McAllister, pitcher Alfredo Aceves, pitcher Phil Coke, pitcher Mark Melancon, third baseman Bradley Suttle. Complete information on all of these players is available in Baseball America's 2009 Prospect Handbook, which can be ordered here.

But first let's address Manuel's suggestion here (subscription required) that Jackson could possibly propel himself into the Yankees lineup as the starting center fielder as early as this upcoming season. Our scout disagrees.

"He's not close enough. Jackson is like the Mets' Fernando Martinez. He has to do something. Let's see some numbers, not just scouting reports. He's going to fall somewhere between Melky Cabrera and Bobby Abreu. Is that too big a range? Yes. But he's all projection now. While he passes the eyeball test, the numbers haven't been there."

This exchange on Jackson set me up to mock those who compare Montero to Mike Piazza. Our scout quickly chastened me. "He does have Piazza-type bat speed. The bat projects even at first base, and [that's] even in New York, which doesn't settle for anything less than top shelf at a corner spot given their payroll. He's very impressive in the cage. Behind the plate, he's much less so and my sense is that he probably can't play there."

Dellin Betances is a real Frankenstein -- 6-foot-8 -- with a monster of a fastball. Being this tall presents challenges as well as opportunities, says our scout. "The problem is always repeating delivery. But tall guys get better depth to their breaking stuff and better downhill plane to their pitching. And Betances does throw overhand and has a really promising knuckle curve. But when he comes down a little in his arm slot, he really starts to telegraph his pitches. Can he sustain his velocity as a starter? That's my big question with him. Doing that will require him to improve his delivery."

The Yanks are preparing lefty Phil Coke to be a starter this year, and our scout thinks this is a mistake. "I can't see him contributing to the Yankees as a starter in '09. But I do like him in the pen. He hardly touches 90 mph as a starter but was up to 94 in relief, but mostly in the 92 range. That's pretty tough when you're going lefty on lefty in the pen and it's enough to survive even against some big-league righties. But Coke doesn't spin the ball well enough to start."

Melancon is being groomed to replace Mariano Rivera as closer, and I was skeptical because none of the Minor League numbers really pop. That's a mistake, says our scout. "He's been hurt. Discount the stats. He throws hard and the curve is good. He's at least a seventh- or eighth-inning guy and I do project him as a future closer."

For the rest of the article, including some info on Zach McAllister, Bradley Suttle, and Alfredo Aceves, click here.