Sickels Interviews Mark Newman

John Sickels spoke with recently arrested Yankees' Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations, Mark Newman. Here's what Newman had to say about Jesus Montero and some sleepers in the system to keep your eye on:

SICKELS: Can Jesus Montero catch?

NEWMAN: When we signed him we knew that was going to be an issue. But I asked our scouts, "is the bat good enough for him to play in the majors if he can't catch?" All of our scouts said "yes." The bat has turned out to be excellent, but the glove has improved a lot over the last year. He is a better defender and in better physical condition now than he's ever been. His throwing has improved dramatically. He has plus arm strength, which has never been an issue, but his footwork is better now. The main thing we are focusing on with Montero is improving his lower body flexibility. He is a very bright guy and can run a game. The jury is still out, but by both objective and subjective measures he's made great progress.

SICKELS: Can you give us a few additional sleeper prospects to watch for 2010?

NEWMAN: One guy we really love is Jose A. Ramirez, who was in the Gulf Coast League last year. He can get his fastball up to 95-96, and he has an outstanding changeup to go with it. When we traded Arodys Vizcaino, we had it in the back of our mind that Jose could turn into a very similar prospect.

Another pitcher to watch is Adam Warren, out of North Carolina in the fourth round last year. In college we scouted him at 90-92, but in pro ball he was at 92-94, and after a long college season that was a pleasant surprise to see consistent arm strength. He has four pitches, a very solid delivery, and knows how to pitch.

We also like David Phelps, who we drafted out of Notre Dame (14^th round, 2008). Like Bleich and Warren, he throws harder now than he did in college, 92-95 last year. He's improved his curveball and change, and if the secondary stuff keeps developing he will really emerge this year. He has a clean simple delivery, another thing we like.

For hitters I'd watch David Adams out of Virginia (third round, 2008). He's a polished hitter and we really like his glove, he's right there with Cano defensively.

Newman talks about other prospects, including Jeremy Bleich, DJ Mitchell (he considers him another sleeper), Slade Heathcott, Andrew Brackman, and switch-pitcher Pat Venditte, as well as the Yankees draft philosophy. It's a great interview. Check out the whole thing here.