Michael Young Comes Off The Yankees Board, Retires
Michael Young has officially come off the New York Yankees board this offseason as a possibility for third base after he retired this afternoon. Young was awfully youthful as he was only 37 years old when he retired and still had a few reported offers out there for his services this season.
Young was a seven time All Star, will finish with a .300 career batting average, .346 OBP, and .441 slugging percentage. Young hit 185 home runs, knocked in 1,030 RBI's, scored 1,137 runs, and stole 90 bases in his 14 year career with the Texas Rangers, Philadelphia Phillies, and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Labels: Free Agency, Free Agency Targets, Free Agents, Michael Young, New York Yankees, retirement
Yankees Add Five To Pro Scouting Department
The New York Yankees have bulked up almost everywhere this season from the on the field product now to the pro scouting department adding five guys to the fold. Kendall Carter, Brandon Duckworth (yes the former player), Joe Espada, Dan Giese (yes the former Yankee as recently as 2008), and Dennis Twombley.Carter and Twombley have been promoted from the amateur scouting staff while Espada was a member of the Miami Marlins last season.
Labels: New York Yankees, Scouting Department
Keith Law's Top 11 Yankees Prospects
Here are Keith Law's Top 10 11 Yankees prospects. If you have a subscription to ESPN Insider, you can read the the whole thing here.
C Gary Sanchez (68th overall)
OF Tyler Austin (85th overall)
OF Mason Williams (87th overall)
C J.R. Murphy
OF Slade Heathcott
OF Aaron Judge
LHP Ian Clarkin
3B Eric Jagielo
RHP Luis Severino
1B Greg Bird
RHP Jose Ramirez (Law said he is #11 in the write-up)
How important was last year's draft to the Yankees? Whew.
Injuries hit the Yankees pretty hard, and not just at the pro level. Austin, Williams, Heathcott, Judge, Clarkin, and Gabe Encinas all missed time due to some ailment. However, Heathcott is the only one of that group with true injury concerns.
JR Murphy and Gosuke Katoh both had great seasons. I'm guessing Katoh was kept off the list since he's not only young, but his upside isn't as high as the other three from last year's draft that did make the list.
Although he's #5 on the list, Law doesn't think Heathcott will make it. Slade has had all sorts of injury concerns, and had work done on his knee after trying to play on it all season. Keith notes that not only can't Heathcott run, but his reads in center were poor. He even quotes one Yankees scout as saying Slade is a "crazy person".
Law picks a sleeper for each team, and the guy he chose for the Yankees was Luis Torrens. Torrens was signed in 2012 and turned into a catcher, where he's done very well. He has great hands, and great overall defense. He may not hit for much power, but Torrens' looks like he'll hit well for average and on-base percentage.
Hopefully the Yankees do well in their international spending, which they've said they're going to spend big on. The farm could definitely use the boost, that way the big club doesn't have to go and spend another half a billion dollars in the offseason.
Posted by Bryan Van Dusen at 1:38 PM 6 comments:
Labels: Aaron Judge, Eric Jagielo, Gabe Encinas, Gary Sanchez, Gosuke Katoh, Greg Bird, Ian Clarkin, Jose Ramirez, JR Murphy, Luis Severino, Luis Torrens, Mason Williams, Prospects, Slade Heathcott, Tyler Austin
Introducing The New Thunder Team Bat Dog, Rookie
(Trenton, NJ)- After nearly three weeks of fan input and voting, the Trenton Thunder's bat dog of the future has a name. The Golden Retriever puppy, who is the son of team bat dog, Derby, and grandson of original bat dog, Chase, will be named, Rookie.
Thunder fans submitted 1,164 different names during a 10 day name submission period then thousands of fans voted for one of eight finalists during a week long online vote.
The eight finalists are listed below in order of votes received:
1. Rookie
2. (Inside The) Parker
3. Slugger
4. Slider
5. Scooter
6. Thor
7. Ace
8. Mo
"With all the young players that pass through ARM & HAMMER Park each year, it's only fitting that we have a 'Rookie' here to fetch their bats," said Thunder General Manager Will Smith. "The interaction we had with the fans throughout the naming process was outstanding and there's no doubt that everyone is excited about Rookie becoming part of the Thunder experience."
Rookie will make many appearances at Thunder games during the 2014 season. He will be trained by Shelly's School for Dogs in Millstone, NJ and should make his bat dog debut for Thunder fans during the 2015 season. Rookie, like his dad Derby, is sponsored by ARM & HAMMER.
The Thunder gained worldwide attention starting in 2002 when then two-year old "Chase That Golden Thunder" joined the team as an official bat dog, entertainer and mascot. In 2008, Chase fathered a litter of puppies. His son "Home Run Derby" followed in his father's pawsteps in Trenton while "Ollie" continued the family business with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Class AA, Toronto). Chase and Derby worked alongside each other at ARM & HAMMER Park from 2010 until Chase's passing last July.
Rookie was born on December 15 at Goldilocks Goldens of Levittown, PA. Derby's mate Reba had a litter of two puppies, a boy and girl.
The Thunder will begin the 2014 season at ARM & HAMMER Park on Thursday, April 3. Season tickets, group outings, Pic-A-Plans, and Mini Plan renewals are on sale now. Single game tickets will go on sale on March 1, 2014. For more information about tickets, fans should call 609-394-3300 or visit trentonthunder.com.
This post is being posted with permission from the Trenton Thunder organization. The original article can be seen HERE.
Labels: Meet a Prospect, New York Yankees, prospect profile, Prospects, Trenton Thunder, Yankees Prospects
Yankee Stadium Legacy: #61 Rick Cerone
Rick Cerone joined the New York Yankees from the Blue Jays in 1980 and had his best offensive season in his career that year. The Yankees catcher has career highs in hits with 144, runs with 70 runs, hit 30 doubles, hit 14 home runs, and knocked in 85 RBI's. Cerone finished seventh in the American League Most Valuable Player voting in 1980.
61 days until Yankees Opening Day.
Labels: Countdown, New York Yankees, Opening Day, Rick Cerone, Yankee Stadium
On this day in 2007 The Yankees agreed to help establish baseball academies in China and sent coaches, scouts, and player development staff over to give a hand. Randy Levine, the Yankees team President, committed the Yankees to help the Chinese Baseball Association develop young talent while also trying to promote baseball to a community that does not know baseball.
On this day in 2009 Joe Torre was on CNN's Larry King Live answering questions about his new book "The Yankee Years." The book caused a firestorm of reaction from former players, fans, and the Yankees organization just a week after its release.
Labels: History, Joe Torre, Major League History, New York Yankees, Randy Levine, sports history, This Day In Yankees History
Michael Young Comes Off The Yankees Board, Retires...