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New York Yankees Spring Training 2006 Report
The other day a man came up and asked a guy in a Yankee cap: "How do you get to the Bronx?"
"Sign for as much as you can get," the fan replied without blinking, and walked on.
The bigger your pay day, the more likely you play for the Bronx bombers.
More young hurlers have been making their way to the Big Apple than position players of late, because the injury and burn rate on the Yankee's pitching staff has been pretty high. Add to that the Boss' occasional need to tinker, punish, and humiliate, and you have a narrow window of opportunity.
Arms
Of the pitchers, we like Matt DeSalvo best. He looked good on our last visit, and his 3.02 ERA and 151 strikeouts in 149 innings and 50 earned runs pitching for Trenton last year are definitely attention-getting. Teammate Jeffrey Karstens is not much behind him, with a 4.15 for Trenton with 169 innings under his belt and 147 strikes in 2005. Look for both to move to Columbus.
Jason Anderson racked up a 4-1 record, 10 saves, and 60 strikeouts while allowing just 20 earned runs for AAA Columbus. We'd look at him as a better prospect where it not for the five inning rattle he took with the Bombers when he got a brief call-up last year. Expectations are high, and auditions in the temple of New York baseball limited. He has a shot to make the bullpen in 2006, but we think it more likely that he'll hit Columbus for another stint.
Plate
It's tough to bat .289 and play well and have nowhere to go. Wil Nieves has a concrete green cap on him. Look on the bright side. Maybe George can find someone at the Blue Jays that he needs badly enough to give Wil a place with a future.
Base Path
What do the Great Wall of China, the Berlin Wall and the Yankees infield have in common? They're all almost impenetrable. Actually it's a joke: The Great Wall and the Berlin Wall were a piece of cake compared to the Yankees' infield if you make minor league jack.
Andy Phillips hit .300 for Columbus last year, with 22 home runs and 54 RBI. He got a little taste of the Bronx last season too. No one is going anywhere, and if they are, the likelihood is that they'll be replaced by another big ticket player. He seems like a fine trade candidate to us.
Deep Grass
For some time many of the Yankee faithful who follow the farm have complained to us about how we omitted Melky Cabrera from our FAB50 rankings in 2005. He appeared in 2004 at No. 48. Ten dingers and 60 RBIs are good most places, but they don't scream Yankees yet. Neither did his stint in Columbus. His run in the Bronx got more jeers than cheers. If he's going to make a case for himself, this is the year to do it. Otherwise he's trade material, or left on the pile of the promising who didn't fulfill to rot.
If there is a bright light in the outfield to break the big green cap, we think it might be Kevin Reese. He's a gamer, with 15 dingers, 69 RBIs and 16 stolen bases for Columbus last year. He had a very brief call-up with one at-bat, so we can't say much about how he might fare with the fair fans of the Bronx. If he can maintain the same mindset that appeared this Spring, he should find himself as a good injury replacement and prime trade bait.
