Banuelos To Have Tommy John Surgery

State of the System (Tyler Austin, Tampa Pen, David Adams)

*Coming into the 2012 season, Tyler Austin was only a name that the most diehard of Yankee prospect followers knew. As a Charleston RiverDog, he went on to decimate South Atlantic League pitching to the tune of a 1.002 OPS for 70 games before getting the call to the Tampa Yankees of the Florida State League. One might think that there would be an adjustment period until Austin got acclimated to the new level. Not so much. If there was any struggle, it was miniscule because as of this day, he has put up an OPS of .861 to go along with an On-Base Percentage of .395 in 31 games. The only potential concern with his game was his ability to transition successfully to Right Field. There have been no issues at all. His meteoric rise, not only on Yankee prospects lists, but nationally, has seen Austin jump onto Baseball America’s Midseason Top 50 Prospect List. He clocked in at #39. With his combination of hitting ability, power, on base skills, and surprising speed, he is looking more and more like the future everyday Right Fielder for the New York Yankees. Without a young, impact player currently holding down the position, it looks even more likely.

*The Tampa Yankees has an intriguing amount of power arms in their bullpen. The star of the pen was Mark Montgomery before getting a late season call up to the Trenton Thunder. Armed with a fastball that can reach the mid-90s, his slider has been said to be “unhittable” by Jim Callis of Baseball America. His strikeout numbers back that up. There is also Manny Barreda, a former starting pitcher who has been committed to the bullpen. While his command needs some fine tuning, he still possesses the necessary stuff to be an effective member out of any big league bullpen. Another guy that does not get enough credit is Tommy Kahnle, who sits in the mid-90s with a changeup as his secondary weapon of choice. It is kind of surprising that he is still in Tampa because he has hardly been challenged all season long. With 71 strikeouts in 54 innings, he has an ERA of 2.33 and a WHIP of 0.96. His numbers since the All Star break are even better than that so it really is a mystery as to why he is still overwhelming hitters in the Florida State League. The New York Yankees should never be in the Free Agent market for overpriced bullpen help when you have a fast tracked core that could be a year away from making it to the Bronx.

*With A-Rod getting older and more injury prone, it is going to be vital that the Yankees look to find their Third Baseman of the future. It appears that they are beginning to explore that option in newly minted Trenton Thunder Third Baseman, David Adams. A Second Baseman by trade, the Yankees appear to finally realize that a change had to be made. With Robinson Cano holding down the position in the Bronx and is most likely going nowhere (who knows with Boras), Third Base was the only other position for Mr. Adams. He sort of fell off the prospect map for a while due to the ankle injury but he is re-establishing himself with Trenton this season. He is hitting .315 with an OBP of .393 and an OPS of .858 to go along with it. He’s only recently been converted to third so he is still getting used to the hot corner but he still has the bat to be a very good hitter at the Major League level. Am I saying that he is without question, the Third Baseman of the future? No. But I am glad to see the Yankees are actually exploring the idea by moving him off of second. Alex cannot play third for the duration of his contract, and the Yankees need to give their young position players a shot. Adams is easily AAA ready, and he has been for a while. It is possible that he can break in with the big team sometime next season assuming he stays healthy.

Twitter: @trevwolff

Dellin Betances to the DL with Right Shoulder Soreness

I assume he's done for year. There's only a couple weeks left in the minor league season and the Yankees have no reason to risk any further damage. Betances ends the season with an ugly 6.44 ERA in 27 games (26 starts) in Double and Triple-A.

Yankees Sign Two 16-Year-Old Nicaraguans

From Baseball America:

The Yankees have signed two Nicaraguan lefthanders, including Corby McCoy, one of the top pitchers from the country for this year's July 2 class.

McCoy, a 16-year-old who signed for $150,000, is 6-foot-3, 170 pounds with an athletic, projectable body. His velocity has been inconsistent, ranging from 85-88 mph for some teams, but more recently he has touched as high as 91. McCoy also throws a breaking ball that's in its nascent stages.

The Yankees also signed 16-year-old Luis Garcia, whose bonus is under $50,000 and will likely be used as one of the exemptions every team gets under its $2.9 million international bonus pool for six players of $50,000 or less. Garcia is a raw, projectable lefty with a 6-foot-4, 185-pounds frame and an 85-88 mph fastball.

The Yanks have been making a lot of international signings lately. Recenly they also signed Venezuelan catcher Luis Torrens ($1.3 million), Venezuelan outfielder Alexander Palma ($800,000) and Dominican shortstop Yancarlos Baez ($650,000).

Yankees Shut Down Manuel Banuelos For Rest of Season

From Andrew Marchand:

The New York Yankees' top pitching prospect, Manny Banuelos, will not pitch again this year after throwing in six games all season, the team's vice president of baseball operations Mark Newman told ESPN New York on Monday.

"He's not going to be back this season," Newman said.

The left-handed Banuelos, rated the Yankees' No. 1 prospect by ESPN's Keith Law prior to the season, has been out of action since the middle of May with what Newman described as a bone bruise in his left elbow.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman previously had stated that he thought Banuelos, 21, would return this season because of the progress the team's doctors had seen.

But Banuelos is being shut down for the rest of the season with the hope that he can play in Winter Ball and then be ready for spring training next year. Newman said doctors don't think that Banuelos will need surgery. The Yankees are unsure how the original injury occurred.

"That's a good question," Newman said.

...

"He'll recover from this," Newman said. "That's what our doctors say. We have no doubt about it. At this point, there is no reason to push it. We are trying to be as prepared as we can for next season."

And so ends a rocky season for the 21-year-old southpaw. In just six starts earlier this year, Banuelos went 0-2, with a 4.50 ERA. In 24 innings pitched he allowed 12 earned runs on 29 hits, walked 10 and struck out 22.

Mason Williams' Season Ends With Shoulder Surgery

Williams finished the season hitting .298/.346/.474 with 11 HR, 35 RBI and 20 stolen bases in 91 games with Charleston and Tampa.

Yankees Cut Cust, Kruml and Curtis, Promote Melky Mesa

From Marc Carig:

Jack Cust headed a list of three players the Yankees released from their Triple-A roster Wednesday night.

In 98 games with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Cust hit .249 though his 81 walks boosted his on-base percentage to .400. The Flemington native's 20 homers and 66 RBI were both team highs.

...

Cust was released to make room on the Triple-A roster for outfielder Melky Mesa, who was promoted to Double-A Trenton. The 25-year-old hit .277 with 14 homers and 46 RBI in his 88 games with the Thunder.

The Yankees also released Colin Curtis and Ray Kruml.

For more on these transactions, check out this article by Donnie Collins.

Yankees Sign First Round Pick Hensley

From Tim Bontemps:

It took some time, but the Yankees got their man.

Friday — the final day to sign players taken in last month’s First-Year Player Draft — the Yankees came to terms with high school right-hander Ty Hensley, the team’s first-round pick and the 30th overall selection in the draft.

Hensley, a hard thrower who was committed to Ole Miss, where he was expected to play every day because of his strong bat, reportedly signed for $1.2 million, saving the Yankees a few hundred thousand dollars on the $1.6 million slot price at that pick.

Those savings allowed them to spend money in later rounds on other players, such as Utah high school right-hander Brady Lail, an 18th-round selection who signed for $225,000.

Hensley, who was ranked No. 23 overall by Baseball America entering the draft, throws a mid-90s fastball to go along with a curve, and was athletic enough to play quarterback at Sante Fe High School in Edmond, Okla., until his senior year, when he gave up the sport to focus on baseball.

I must admit that I have not followed the draft, so I have little to add here. Sorry.

It was also mentioned in the article that overall, the Yankees signed 26 out of the 41 players they drafted, and all of their first 20.

Also, the Mets were unable to ink one of their top picks, second-rounder Teddy Stankiewicz. No relation to this Yankee great.

Yankees Sign Fukudome to Minor League Deal

Seems like this might be a little insurance in case Brett Gardner cannot make it back. Not sure how much it'll pay off. In 24 games (51 plate appearances) with the White Sox earlier this season, he hit just .171/.294/.195. Last year, while better than his pathetic start this year, Fukudome hit .262/.342/.370 with only 8 HR and a measly 35 RBI in over 600 plate appearances with the Cubs and Indians.

Yanks Sign Ricky Orta

In 85 minor league games (all in Double-A or lower) the 27-year-old is 14-18 with a 4.37 ERA. In 267.2 innings he's allowed 152 runs on 254 hits, walked 102 and struck out 272.

Nunez Sent Down

From Marc Carig:

Eduardo Nunez's error-filled tenure in the Bronx is over -- for now.

After committing two critical errors last night, the Yankees optioned Nunez to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre to make room for backup third baseman Eric Chavez, who was activated from the seven-day disabled list for concussions.

"We've asked Nuney to do some things that you usually ask more of veteran player to do, to play third, short, second, left, right," manager Joe Girardi said. "And for the best interest of him and us moving forward, we thought it was probably more important that he goes down and play shortstop six days a week and maybe second a day a week. And getting back to playing every day."

Sucks for Nunez, but you can't say he didn't earn the demotion. Hopefully he does the necessary work to improve his glove and is back in the Bronx in the near future.

Jayson Nix will replace Nunez on the roster.

Beyond the Box Score: An In-Depth Interview with Kim Austin, mother of Yankee Prospect Tyler Austin

Trevor Wolff:

When we last spoke, you said that Mariana Bichette’s experiences on draft day hit close to home for you.  Could you please tell us what you & your family were feeling throughout this process?  Also, what was the family’s (especially Tyler’s) reaction upon finding out he was selected by the Yankees?

Kim Austin:

The emotions Mariana expressed in her interview about the anticipation, anxiety and apprehension that she hoped her sons heart wasn't broken were all the same emotions we experienced.  We knew that Tyler was not going the first round, so we were able to sit back that evening and see who went where in the first round.  Day two, different story.  We were told to expect anywhere from 2nd through 10th round.  Like Mariana, I too kept a detailed calender of visits, letters, emails, workouts and tests, however, there were a few other teams who conducted more detailed evals (evaluations), so we had some idea of where the interest was from.
 

Rounds 2 through 10 came and went, my heart sank, and I was filled with such anxiety, I was physically sick.  Tyler eventually left the house.  It was just too much to see your child disappointed.  Finally during the 13th round the calls began from the teams we knew were deeply vested.  ”If we draft you next round are you going to sign?”  Of course the answer was yes.  Finally, last pick of the 13th round we heard the Yankees announce his name!  I called him and told him he was a Yankee.  We laughed, screamed and finally came the tears.  Tears of relief, tears of joy.

Trevor Wolff:

Tyler went in the 13^th round, why did he fall so far in the draft?  He has been dominant from the very beginning.  Did teams feel that they couldn’t sign him?

Kim Austin:

A lot of people don't know that Tyler battled cancer during the draft process.  We placed our son in the hands of God, and he persevered.  He had been given a second chance, and he was signable.  There was not even the chance of draft and follow for him.  He was ready to chase his dream.
The teams who were interested knew this and it gave them room to draft others who may not have been signable otherwise.  But what it boils down to is you may have some ideas of teams and rounds, but nothing is etched in stone.  Each organization has decision makers and you just never know until the names are called.

Trevor Wolff:

The state of Georgia always seems to produce a strong high school draft class every year.  Tyler was the 13^th Georgian high school player selected.  He has significantly outperformed every single player before him, including 8^th overall pick Delino Deshields Jr out of Woodward Academy.  Would you say he plays with a chip on his shoulder, as if thinking “I deserved to be picked higher so I will prove it”?

Kim Austin:

Tyler doesn't play that way.  He plays for the love of the game.  He just goes out there and does what he does best every single night.  He has always played with his heart as well as ability, he just plays 110% just like he has since he was 4.  Unfortunately draft day can be a crap shoot, nothing is official until your name is called, doesn't matter what round you go in as long as you get there.  And what a blessing and honor it is.

Trevor Wolff:

Did Tyler plan on beginning his baseball career or was he going to school if the right situation didn’t present itself? By that I mean the right team, the right money, etc…

Kim Austin:

After his battle with cancer we totally encouraged him to sign after the draft.  Chris and I knew as well as Tyler knew he had been given a second chance.  Do it.  Chase the dream.  With the MLB scholarship program, it was just the right move for him, life can be too short.  He can always go back to college later on.

Trevor Wolff:

Lastly, what kind of advice would you give to the families that are preparing for next month’s draft?

Kim Austin:

As far as advice is concerned, all I can say is HOLD ON!  Draft day is a roller-coaster ride.  It is a very emotional several days.  Remember that nothing is written in stone, anything can happen.  Weigh your options, do your homework, make your decision as a family.  Be honest and up front about your decisions.  Most of all, ENJOY it, its an awesome ride.  Best of luck to the young men and their families eligible for the 2012 MLB draft.