Power Pros Forum

I'm not assuming it's bad. I know it's poor. It's not bad it's poor. They have those good prospects there and here. But then, almost no one else. Same with the Red Sox.
Here's the top prospects of Yankees. I admit, they had a good farm, but they have gotten rid of quite some picks for the all signings they've made. They have traded prospects away these past years.

TOP TEN
PROSPECTS
1. Philip Hughes, rhp
2. Jose Tabata, of
3. Dellin Betances, rhp
4. Joba Chamberlain, rhp
5. Ian Kennedy, rhp
6. Chris Garcia, rhp
7. Tyler Clippard, rhp
8. J. Brent Cox, rhp
9. Mark Melancon, rhp
10. Brett Gardner, of

BEST
TOOLS
Best Hitter for Average Jose Tabata
Best Power Hitter Shelly Duncan
Best Strike-Zone Discipline Brett Gardner
Fastest Baserunner Brett Gardner
Best Athlete Tim Battle
Best Fastball Joba Chamberlain
Best Curveball Philip Hughes
Best Slider J. Brent Cox
Best Changeup Tyler Clippard
Best Control Philip Hughes
Best Defensive Catcher Francisco Cervelli
Best Defensive Infielder Ramiro Pena
Best Infield Arm Marcos Vechionacci
Best Defensive Outfielder Tim Battle
Best Outfield Arm Seth Fortenberry

Where's Austin Jackson? I think I know what site your talking about where you saw this, but I believe it's pretty far out of date. By a few years. I saw the same list before, but now Jackson is considered the biggest prospect. You know the Yankees did win the Double A and Triple A's equivilant of the world series? That means they have two pretty good teams.

I'm not siding with anybody, but if the Yankees have the 29th WORST farm system doesn't that mean they have the 2nd BEST?

It's nice to win those but remember, it's those particular players that gelling well together. Not others.

I used baseball america, and I am not quite sure how old it is. I don't know much about the Rays farm or the Yanks farm for that matter. It's tough to grade eachothers farm system I guess.

Getting back to the topic...

The rotation is gonna be great no matter how you slice it, even with Burnett on the DL at some point. I'm more worried about the bullpen. Rivera had another great year but at his age he's a ticking time bomb and is bound to come crashing down - could this be the year?

I'd like to see both Pettitte and Lowe/Sheets signed. That way you have:

1. CC
2. Wang
3. AJ
4. Lowe
5. Pettitte

Then Joba can go back to the 8th inning as a setup man, AND be a fall back option for closer if Rivera breaks down. He would also be a fallback option as a starter if Mo continues to be Mo, but Burnett or someone else gets hurt.

Oh yeah and they should sign Tex just to keep the pressure off the starters by supplying some more runs, and to keep him out of bean town.

it's only that good looking because they have so much money to throw around...
besides, at least one of them will get injured this season.

well, I think tex is gonna go to the nats, he wants to be closer to home. The BoSox have nowhere to put him either.
plus, the yankees won't have that much money, especially after signing CC & AJ.

Nah, Mariano probably will never get were down. He says that no matter what he will retire once his contract is up, which is 2010. I'm sure the Yankees would like him back for a year, but he won't sign. While this is generally the case with most pitchers, Mariano has shown 0 signs of deteating, in fact his control gets better each year. Since he has started pitching, his cut-fastball has gone done I believe .2 MPH on average, and that wasn't recently. It was something insanely low like that, possibly even smaller. Now what I see the Yankees possibly doing is having Joba start this year and next year and then moving him to the bull-pen. Its hard to move a reliever to a starter, but it's pretty easy to do the oppisite. Joba could be the next closer. From what we've seen so far, he'd probably be in the Elite class of those like Paplebon and K-Rod. Mariano in my mind is in a whole nother' class of his own, and as good as Joba looks, I doubt he'll be Mariano.

Edit: By the way Mario, that was out of date. That was 2006, and it has changed quite a bit since then.

Edit: Jackson, it's quite throwing money arround, that makes it seem so wreckless and without strategy. They spent their money on two quality pitchers, and it was a very smart move in my mind. Now, (knocks on wood), if the past few years are any basis, it's quite possible (though not certain) that someone will get injured. No problem, because the Yankees finally have a lot of pitching depth with Hughes, Kennedy (who has a 1.5 ERA in the Winter League), Aceves, Guise, Coke, Chase Wright, and a few others whose name I can't remember (and, if you really want to count him, Igawa).

but how many of those guys has proven themselves in MLB?
plus, look what happened last year! everyone thought they were set, then wang got injured.
what if CC doesn't live up to expectations, especially in such a tough division?

I divided your post into three sections.



1. Most. Here's the list of those who have proven themselves to some degree in the majors. Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, Acceves, Phil Coke, Dan Guise, and Igawa (well, Igawa didn't prove himself, he's a high 5 ERA type starter unfortunately, but he gives you more depth if everyone else gets injured). I think that's a lot of depth, you got 6 good quality back ups (for back-ups), one of which is a future starter on the rotation (Hughes), one of which might be (Kennedy), three of which did fantastic this year (Aceves, Coke, and Guise, all of which might be long relievers or spot starters for Joba).Then you have Igawa, who is a good 6th back up haha.
2. Last year, things couldn't have been stranger. You expected the starting pitching to be bad, the bullpen to be terrible, and the offense to be great. Going into the season, the Red Sox were better because of their pitching without a doubt. What happened was the offense was terrible, the first 4 pitchers (Mussina, Joba, Wang when he pitched, Guise when he pitches, Pettite, and Pavano) were good and the 5th was always terrible, making a slightly above average but very unstable rotation, and the bullpen was fantastic setting a major league record for the least blown games in history (2) per a season. They didn't really have rotation depth and the offense was really a fluke that year. Now they are much more prepared with a great pitching staff, probably the best, one of the best offenses, and one of the much better bullpens with the most depth of any team (in bullpen).
3. Remember, CC pitched almost all his career in the AL. While it's certainly possible, it's highly unlikely.

1. actually, hughes and kennedy struggled, while the rest didn't play enough (except igawa) to have a judgment.
2. mussina practically carried the team! joba was in and out of the rotation, pavano is injured too much, pettitte is aging fast, and giese isn't that good. of course the bullpen had the fewest blown saves, they have rivera, although his skills are starting to slip just a bit. Their offense won't be as good this year, as they will probably lose a bit more than they'll gain.
3. but that was against a weaker division.

1. Yes, but there still devolping. Kennedy has a 1.5 ERA in the winter league. They are fine back ups and number 6 players. Coke had enough time to show he is a very good reliever, although starting is different. Still, his stuff looked very good. All these guys together give fantastic depth, even if there untested. There all good back ups, and having so many is fantastic.
2. The offense will be better, a team doesn't go from scoring over 1000 runs to what it was last year pernamently. Every expert I've heard expects it to bounce back with a healthy Jorge.
3. Yes, but still, you don't generally go from a 2.5 ERA to a 4.5 or something like that by a change of division. I think he's fine, I think you just want him to fail haha, being a yankee and all. It's pretty unlikely that he won't be great, but the question is can he put up good enough numbers to justifiy his contract. He'll definetly have Ace quality stuff, but if it's the Cy Young stuff he's shown before is questionable.

I dont think Sabathia will be as dominating in the AL i mean he was good with the Indians but nothing compared to how he was with the Brewers. Really i feel this season if Texiera will go to the NL you will clearly see the difference between the AL and NL and how much better overall the NL is (i know the Phillies won the WS dont worry : ) I mean look at this

Manny went to NL he was an absolute animal
Sabathia went to the NL he was an absolute beast
Nady went from NL to AL and his hitting did get a bit slower and he had many cold streaks
Texeria- He kept up at a steady pace i believe nothing too much extra
Marte- Was dreadful for most of his time in AL compared to that of NL
Santana- He became even more of a beast when he went to the NL (Mets)


I am sure there are more but i really feel that the gap between AL and NL is increasing. I feel that if Burnett stays healthy he will be even better then Sabathia.

I think the DH rule is really having a big effect, now more than the past. It's simply not fair for the AL pitchers to suddenly have to learn how to bat during interleague play and/or the world series. Right there, no matter how you slice it the AL is behind the 8-ball. The DH descrepancy cost the Yankees their ace for most of last year when an inexperienced Wang tried to run the bases.

It makes it hard for pitchers to switch leagues - most can't hit so they are better off in the AL. It's also harder for old guys to hang around in the NL because they are forced to play the field (Bonds notwithstanding). Therefore it encourages having youthful, athletic sluggers as opposed to fat old guys who smash the occasional ball into the upper deck but can still earn a living in the AL as a DH.

Another point is that when a guy switches leagues, because there is so little interleague play, the results are unpredictable. Take CC last year. Veteran batters in the AL have all faced him several times and as good a pitcher as he may be, eventually the hitters will learn how to hit off him. Transport him to the NL, now you have a guy with dynamite stuff who's a total mystery to the hitters. For half a season he bewildered hitters. Eventually they would have caught up with him somewhat (although keep in mind CC is a Cy Young caliber guy who will always find a way to get batters out).

Don't worry, every 10-20 years the AL and NL switch places in which one is better. Right now, the AL is clearly better with the vast majority of recent world series, the Al winning 10-12 all-star games in a row (really can't judge by this of course) and most importantly, the clear advantage and amount of wins of the AL in Interleague.

Oh yea, just to add on, Red Sox dropped out of Mark Texiera race, wow wtf?