Rule 5 Draft Update

OK, so I guess they weren't going to have the Nats take Kroenke like reported yesterday. Instead, the Nats picked up Dodgers minor-league outfielder, Jamie Hoffmann, who now will head to the Yankees as part of the Brian Bruney trade.

Here's more from Marc Carig:

Hoffman, who bats from the right side, hit .291 with 10 homers and 64 RBI in 97 minor games mostly at Triple-A Albuquerque. Though he started the year in Double-A, Hoffmann made his big league debut last season and appeared in 14 games for the Dodgers, going 4-for-22 with a homer.

"This guy has some thump," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said.

Hoffmann's success against lefties may fill a need for the Yankees, who just acquired Curtis Granderson, who struggled badly against southpaws last season.

Hoffmann was named the Dodgers best minor league defensive outfielder for the last four seasons. He's also a former hockey player. Here's his Baseball Cube page.

The Yankees did lose two players in the draft, Zack Kroenke to the Nats, and Kanekoa Texeira to the Mariners.

Bruney Trade Update

From Ben Goessling:

The Nationals will take Yankees reliever Zach Kroenke first overall in the Rule 5 draft on Thursday and offer him back to New York as the player to be named later in the trade that sent Brian Bruney to Washington, according to a source familiar with discussions.

Good, I they should have protected him in the Rule 5 draft anyway, though, I wouldn't have liked to get a little more back for Bruney.

King: Marte Expected Back Tonight

George A. King III is reporting that Damaso Marte is expected to rejoin the Yankees tonight for their series in Boston. He also said that the Yanks could go with 13 pitchers.

I don't mind the idea of carrying 13 pitchers, but why the hell would Marte be one of them? According to everything I read he never regained the velocity on his fastball, and he's been nothing but ineffective since he's been a Yankee.

I wonder if Cashman is too stubborn to admit his mistake in resigning Marte and is forcing this move to occur to happen. As I mentioned before I'd much rather see Zach Kroenke and Mike Dunn on this team instead of Marte.

Waiting for Marte? Well, keep waiting

From Tyler Kepner:

The left-hander Damaso Marte reaches the end of his rehabilitation assignment this weekend, but Girardi said Marte was still not ready for the majors. “We’re not sure if he’s going to get there,” Girardi conceded. Marte, who allowed two hits in an inning Friday for Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, has shoulder inflammation and has not reached 93 miles an hour consistently.

(hat-tip to River Ave. Blues)

Personally, I don't care what happens to Marte. Since trading for the lefty last season he's been nothing but a disappointment. Besides that the Yankees bullpen is fine, and if they really need another lefty that badly they should call up Zach Kroenke from Triple-A.

Who's Next In Line? The Minor Leagues

Although his DIPS numbers look pretty good, Sergio Mitre has been giving up runs and if he gets hammered in his next start, he may not get another chance. Even though their depth is extremely thin right now and the trade deadline is past, they still have a few options. I'll make three different posts like this. One for their options in the minor leagues, one for options in the bullpen, and one for options outside of the organization to finish it up. First comes their AAA options.

1. Josh Towers - Already the ML veteran has been with three different AAA teams this year. He's spent most of his time in the Yankees and Rockies minor league systems. He was disastrous for the Rockies and, although his ERA looks good, he really hasn't been all that great for the Yankees either. The last time he had a good season was 2005. Obviously not the ideal option. Not on the 40 man roster so I'd be very surprised if they went to him.

2. Ivan Nova - A very legitimate pitching prospect. After two dissapointing years in 2007 and 2008, he has finally broken out this year. He dominated AA and earned a promotion to Scranton. Nova got off to a great start there but has cooled off since then. Now his ERA is up to 4.93, his K/BB is only 1.50, and his FIP is 4.21. I'm happy they got him back from San Diego but I doubt he'll have an impact in the ML rotation this year. Also not on the 40 man roster, maybe he'll be an option in the bullpen this year.

3. Kei Igawa - We all know the Kei Igawa story. He has been completely incapable of handling the ML's but has dominated the lower levels of AAA and Japanese baseball. This year though, his dominance for Scranton has actually slipped. His ERA is up to 3.91 and his FIP is up to 4.43. He's been good there but not dominant anymore. They've invested a lot of money in him so he may get a shot. I don't have very high hopes for him though.


4. George Kontos - Kontos is having another very nice year in the minor leagues. He's been in the Yankees system for a while now, since 2006 and has slowly marched up prospect lists. He's a controversial prospect but has overall been very succesful. He made AA hitters look silly early on in the year and got a promotion to Scranton after only 20.1 innings with an ERA of 3.66 and an FIP of 2.46. In Scranton he has fallen off a bit but still looks good. The biggest difference is that he is striking out less. He's probably not ready for the ML's yet but he's an option.


5. Zach Kroenke - Probably a longshot here. He started out his career as a starter but was moved to the bullpen early on. The lefty has been nothing short of incredible in AAA this year. He has a sub 1.00 ERA and an FIP of 3.64. So why do I mention a possible future setup man in this post? The Yankees have been stretching him out lately and he's made a couple of spot starts with impressive results. Just yesterday he threw five innings, giving up only 1 run, 2 hits, and a walk while striking out three. Something to consider.

One other thing to note is that the long forgotton Ian Kennedy is making his way back from his aneurysm. He could be back in September and I imagine he'd bypass all these guys if they still need a starter then. That's a longer shot than even Kroenke though.

EDIT: Kontos is on the DL so scratch him.

Game thread below