Trenton propsect review

[Matsui55]

Trenton had an unusual season this year. They played the first half of the year with a bunch of guys getting one more shot at being prospects, followed by a second half where the Yanks gave their top A ball prospects a shot. To no one's great suprise, it was the kids that came through, for the most part.

As always, my caveat to the following is that I have never seen these guys play. This is all numbers-based.

In the fist half, the prospect list was almost non-existent here.

OF Mike Vento has flashed again. He showed some power and hit .300, earning a short promotion to AAA (due mostly to injuries, demotions and call-ups in Columbus), where he did fairly well. He is 24, and running short on time. He clearly earned a shot at a starting OF spot in AAA next year- but will the Yanks elect to stock AAA with ML vets to protect the big club instead?

RHP Chien Ming Wang made an astounding jump from the NY Penn League to AA. That he even had decent stats was a great statement on his skills. Then again, at 23, he really needed to show more. He did go 7-6 overall, with a 4.65 ERA. However, less encouraging was the 122 IP, with 143 hits and 32 walks, with only 84 K's. That adds up to a WHIP near 1.4. He also had a number of problems with blisters, which sadly seemed to occur after his best performances, knocking him off any rhythm he had gained. He needs not only to work on getting in better shape (from the pics I saw), but work on toughing his hands.

I am not as high as many are on 3B Brian Myrow. Yes, he did post a .447 OBP, and hit .306, with 18 HR's. However, he also struck out 113 times in 461 AB's and posted a mere 78 RBI's in an RBI slot. Further, he entered the season already 26 years old. He will be 27, without any AAA experience next year. He also made an eye-popping 28 errors, though it may be noted that he was forced to play 24 games at 2B, besides the 86 at 3B. While roto-heads love the OBP, reality says he is too old to be a ML starter, that he doesn't have the glove for the bigs, and the numbers tell you he takes far too many pitches looking for the walk, rather than sorting through for a pitch to drive. That is the difference between Myrow and Johnson. The Yanks might use Myrow at 3B in Columbus next year, depending on decisions concerning Henson, Almonte and Phillips- however, expect him to be given his walking papers after that.

In the second half, the kids showed up.

I already discussed the performance of most of them in the Tampa article. However, a few notes here are in order.

I very much expect that the Yanks will perform an upper level pitching housecleaning at the end of this season. I think it speaks volumes that despite the early season pitching problems at AAA that only 3 guys were summoned from AA for any length of time- LHP Andy Beal, who has yet to pitch well in AAA, RHP Colter Bean, who suprised me with a very effective performance at AAA, and RHP Eric Schmitt, who has always been a sleeper. Schmitt should be a player you hear a lot about next year at AAA.

This means that many of the 2nd half pitchers discussed below will start here next season.

LHP Halsey- he wins, using the make them hit it theory. Whether he can use that effectively to the bigs is an open question, but the Yanks will give anyone who racks up 17 wins over a season a shot to keep trying.

RHP Rik Currier- could be a starter, could be the swing reliever. Likely depends on decisions involving Wang and Ortiz. I think he could a good bullpen guy in the bigs.

OF Thompson- high end base-stealing skills, but can he ever put together a full season? He will be 24 next year. He will likely be handed the CF job in AA, but must prove he can hold it.

2B Cano- I still say he's overrated as a hitter. He needs a full season somewhere to make or break, maybe next year at AA is what he needs.

C-Navarro- nothing more needs to be said, except that it is time to show some power.

As for the rest-

1B Aaron Rifkin- the Yanks thought they had a 4th round steal a few years ago. Instead, he has not progressed- he is still the same hitter he was 2 years ago. He doesn't control the strike zone, doesn't have good power and made 12 errors. At 24, he may go to AAA by default- but the Yanks may elect to go to a FA instead and keep him at AA for the 3rd year- which would kill whatever prospect status he has left.

OF Mitch Jones- he has power- no denying it. He also had a better 2nd half than a 1st half. However, he still K'd 131 times in 463 AB's- better than 1 in every 4 AB's. He also hit a mere .242, with a .338 OBP and .471 SLG, even though he was repeating the league. He was 25 this year, will be 26 to start the season. Will the Yanks drop him this winter? Very likely.

OF Kevin Reese- came in with a high BA, speedster rep. Had a good 2002 in AA, but flubbed his AAA chance this year, and regressed at AA this year. He will be 26 next year. Might go to AAA and get a chance to compete for a job. However, more likely that he'll be looking for work this winter.

OF Jason Grove- handed an OF job with no real competition- and as usual, got hurt. He also showed no strike zone recognition (48 K's, 23 walks in 244 AB's) and no power (5 HR's, 12 2B's). His career is also on thin ice.

SS Andy Cannizaro- he has now displayed great flexibility- logged a lot of time at both 2B and SS over the past 2 years. He is no more than a slap hitter (369 AB's, 23 2B, 1 HR). But he did hit .276, with 26 walks and only 24 K's. On the downside, he did commit 17 errors in 45 games at 2B and 65 games at SS. Did he do enough to get a shot at AAA and attempt to become a ML utility player? I believe he has, but the Yanks may think otherwise.

RHP Javier Ortiz- he was highly thought of coming into the year- thought he had turned the corner on his maturity and game sense. But, a 6-11 and 5.76 ERA later, throwing 150 IP, with 181 hits and 71 walks and only 91K's (a WHIP approaching 1.7!), has he been given his last chance? WIth Halsey, Ramirez, Henn, Pope and maybe Mark Phillips and Currier likely to be in Trenton next year, there's not a lot of room.

As you can see, I see 2 different pictures here. There is little to no talent that can be sent to Columbus next year that hasn't already been sent there. However, there appears to be a good pool of players who finished the year here, or are coming from Tampa for next year. Trenton will liekly be the club drawing the most attention from baseball anaylsts next year for the Yanks minor leaguers, especially in June.

[Michaels07]

Solid realistic review.

[rightfielder21]

Thanks, a great job as always...

[Stealthspy]

Good review. Not looking too good for the Yankees though.