Veras impresses in Dominincan League
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- December
- 18
The Yankees have 17 players on the rosters of winter league teams in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. They range in importance from Bobby Abreu and Robinson Cano to minor-league prospects like Edgar Soto and Ivan Nova.
A few highlights you may be interested in:
RHP Jose Veras: He has not allowed an earned run in nine relief appearances, striking out 13 batters in 8.2IP (4BB, .138 opp. avg.) with the Leones del Escogido in the Dominican.
INF Alberto Gonzalez: He is batting a team-high .333 (32-for-96) with 15 runs scored, 4 doubles, 2 triples, 2 HR and 11 RBI in 26 games at SS with the Bravos de Margarita in the Venezuelan Winter League.
RHP Jonathan Albaladejo: The newly acquired reliever has appeared in 26 games with the Tiburones de La Guaira in Venezuela, going 2-2 with a 2.22 ERA and converting 4 of 5 save opportunities. He has not allowed an earned run in his last nine outings (7.2 IP, 10 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 3 K) and has surrendered just 3 ER (all in one outing) over his last 21 appearances (17.0 IP, 6 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 1 2K).
Thanks to Jason Latimer of the Yankees media relations staff for providing the information.
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on Tuesday, December 18th, 2007 at 11:14 am by Peter Abraham.
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Peter Abraham
Pete, how serious should we take these stats? If they are against the likes of Robbie Cano and Abreu then I guess I’m impressed, but Veras putting up good numbers against inferior competition seems much less exciting.
that’s what I see Veras doing for us SU role for Mo in 2008 and then Melancon comes up a he SU for Melancon
Long Relief Ross Ohlendorf
6th inning Latroy Hawkins
7th inning Jonathon Albaledejo
8th inning Jose Veras
9th inning ENTER SANDMAN
Lefty relief is needed
According to http://www.mlbtraderumors.com Melky will not play Winter ball, could possibly be a prelude to acquiring Johan.
Ohlendorf shouldn’t be in long relief. He’s got two pitches good enough to be in the late innings mix if he can control them. He’s kind of a bust as a starter because his other pitches aren’t great, and he can’t put as much heat on his FB when he’s pacing himself. Long relief/mopup is more of a role for a guy with middling stuff that can weasel his way through 3 innings…it’s a waste for a guy with solid stuff.
“8th inning Jose Veras”
Given his propensity to walk guys in the minors and majors, you’re getting ahead of yourself.
A lot of Dominican players, especially those who haven’t gotten off the island, are impatient. Low walk rates in the DR don’t really impress me…there’s a quote from some famous Dominican player of yore “you don’t walk off the island.” You hit your way off the island.
Good to be able to keep abreast of our young lads playing Winter ball. I’ve been adamant that the solutions to the Yankees bullpen woes will be found from within, and I’m hoping that Veras or Albaladejo will be able to contribute in that regard.
whoa I just realized Nova is playing too I can’t wait to see his games he has dominating stuff if he puts it all together
“You hit your way off the island.”
Or you get on a raft.
whozat, it’s early Veras is getting a jump on the competition and working on keeping the BBs down , so far he has and there is no denying he can be the 8th inning guy.
“it’s early Veras is getting a jump on the competition and working on keeping the BBs down , so far he has and there is no denying he can be the 8th inning guy.”
Like I said, the Dominican leagues are not notoriously patient. Thus, it’s not surprising he’s walking fewer guys down there. Given that it’s already a small sample size, I think it’s premature to anoint him the 8th inning guy, given his propensity for walking guys throughout his career.
He had great numbers in 06 in AAA. He was coming back from injury last year, and then got spotty work. Yes, he could very well fit into the late innings mix, if he shows the kind of dominance he had in 06 in AAA.
However, it’s still early to anoint him a setup guy until he shows that he can stop handing out free passes to MLB hitters. His winter ball numbers are good, yes, but don’t get overexcited about it. It’s like the AFL or ST…Good numbers there are a good thing, but don’t necessarily translate to regular season success.
Ban Bud,
Thanks for the racism, buddy. BTW, it’s us Cubans who come to the US on rafts. You can’t even get your racist comments right. Jeeeesh.
There’s no doubt that Veras is putting up great numbers, but without knowing the competition he is facing it’s a little early to say he can be an 8th inning guy. Let’s wait and see how he does in spring training.
I’m actually excited about Veras. I really liked what I saw of him late in the season.
His ball moved, he threw hard and he didn’t seem to lack composure on the mound.
I kind of felt that Torre should have given him a role since he seemed to lack one and you never knew what situation you’d see him in.
I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that he has a better 08 season that Viz would have had.
“could possibly be a prelude to acquiring Johan.”
True. Also, they might have noticed his tendency to wear down in September the past two years…that could be a reason. They want him to rest up and just focus on building endurance through structured workouts, rather than playing ball
Didn’t they not let Melky or Cano play in the Dominican league last year because they didn’t want them to get hurt.
Alberto Gonzalez will provide good competition with Wilson Betemit for a utility role with the team.
Jonathan Albaladejo, Jose Veras, and Ross Ohlendorf will battle it out for 2 spots in the bullpen.
Brian Cashman must get a lefthander from outside the organization.
“Thanks for the racism, buddy. BTW, it’s us Cubans who come to the US on rafts. You can’t even get your racist comments right.”
Don’t forget the Hatians.
Did anyone succeed in buying a holiday pack today? I was waiting for my request to go through for 1/2 hour before I gave up. It wasn’t this hard to buy playoff tickets.
“I kind of felt that Torre should have given him a role since he seemed to lack one and you never knew what situation you’d see him in.”
I generally object to handing guys roles. You pitch well, you get higher-leverage opportunities and more work. The problem with Joe was that he’d sit a guy for a week, pitch him, he’d get hit, and then he’d use that as reason not to pitch the guy any more. Given the late season crush the Yankees were in, it’s hard to fault him for doing that last year, but it’s kind of a pattern overall.
Hopefully, the year won’t start in crisis mode again, so that Joe G can spread innings out across the bullpen arms and see who rises to the challenge. Veras, Ohlendorf and Bruney all clearly have the stuff to pitch late in games, if they can harness it, and Britton has done nothing but throw well in AAA. And Horne, Melancon…these guys could get in the mix too, later in the season.
Mitchell, there’s an old baseball saying with the Latin players from the Carribean countries: “You can’t walk off of the island.” The first time I heard this was by Felipe Alou. The hitters down there are aggressive, but, for the most part are better than the pitchers down there, by a long shot. If Veras can bring that back to the States with him, he’ll be just fine in the 5-6 innings or even 7th inning. Ohlendorf looks like the best choice right now to set up for Rivera, although, it will fall to Farnsworth if he isn’t traded.
Pete also left out the part where Veras has been walking the entire Dominican Republic on base. Precisely his problem.
Geez it is going to be impossible to get tickets this year.
I guess i’ll be going to alot of games in Baltimore.
“Pete also left out the part where Veras has been walking the entire Dominican Republic on base. Precisely his problem.”
Um…actually, he included his walk numbers right there in the post. 4BB in 8.2 innings.
Perhaps The Facade thought that read 488 walks. Natural error.
pete, great scoop on melky being held out!
I finally got a chance to watch Arod in 60 minutes. Did anyone else not buy the part that he didnt know that the Yankees wanted him and that he is not an agent so how would he know. Didnt the Yankees try to contact him prior to his opt. out and he wouldnt return call?
Im glad he signed, but im not sold on him being in the dark about all this.
“Perhaps The Facade thought that read 488 walks. ”
He’s not wrong, though, about Veras’s walking problem. That’s still about 4 BB/9. 13 K/9 makes that ok, but it’s a small sample size so the numbers are kinda meaningless.
He, Bruney and Kyle could easily be the same pitcher. Some of them could also figure it out, which would be huge.
“Did anyone else not buy the part that he didnt know that the Yankees wanted him and that he is not an agent so how would he know.”
He said that Scott has always handled all that stuff for him. That he’s never talked business with a ballclub directly. We heard they wanted a meeting, we didn’t hear that they called Alex personally. From what Alex said, it sounds like Boras was telling him the Yankees didn’t want him. And, since he’s known the man for 16 years and has done very well with him…Alex believed that. Whether Boras was mincing words and really saying “they’re not interested (in starting negotiations at 350 million)” we’ll never know.
what the?!? I finally got through online and when it was time to pay it said “error. cannot process at this time.” after waiting for 1 hour!!!!
anyone have any luck getting through ticketmaster?
Streets seems to be on the market. Would a Horne,Marquiz and Duncan be enough to land him? That would solve our 8th inning situation and could possibly be our future closer.
Whozat, that was the problem with the pen for the last couple of years. Until Chamberlain joined the pen, the only two that didn’t walk batters were Rivera and Villone. Proctor had the same problem, and, then he’d stick one over the plate and got hammered. Even the kids that came up to start other than Kennedy and Hughes were walking 4-5 per 9 innings. It’s hard for any manager to watch, especially when trying to dig out of a hole. That’s where Torre and Guidry lost patience. The control the pitchers had in the minors disappeared.
“Streets seems to be on the market. Would a Horne,Marquiz and Duncan be enough to land him? ”
Duncan isn’t a Beane kind of player.
And, given the package he got for Haren, it looks to me like Beane is looking to build a core three or so years from now. I think Horne might be too old and close to the majors to be a centerpiece for Billy. He’d probably want more younger guys with upside. Who are the big guys in A ball or so? That are like…21? I think those would be the sorts that Billy’d want.
4BB/9 isn’t good..
whozat,
Wasnt the big issue in all this is that he wouldnt return their calls? I cant recall if Cash or Hank made the statement,but that was what infuriated them. Arod didnt even bother taking their calls.
Even though communications from the Yanks would have been filtered through Boras, wasn’t the Yanks’ $150-mil extension offer leaked and on every website out there? I can’t believe A-Rod wasn’t aware of that, and that kind of money is a definite indication of “interest”.
Whoa – did anyone see the report that Rodriguez has dropped Boras?????
Here’s the article:
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117977876.html?categoryid=18&cs=1
“Whozat, that was the problem with the pen for the last couple of years.”
Generally, yes. That’s one of the reasons I was so frustrated by the way they used Britton…he’s never walked a lot of guys. And yet they still sat him on the bench for a week at a time and then benched him again when he wasn’t sharp. I dunno if it’s that they didn’t like his stuff or his makeup or thought he was a jerk or what. But I don’t see any reason that he can’t be a solid 7th inning guy, maybe even 8th inning, and I hope Joe G gives him that shot.
SoS27, that’s too steep a price for a setup guy with injury history.
Feinsand blogged about this as well, but his source is the same article as above.
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/yankees/2007/12/arod-boras-on-the-outs.html
Also, I should give credit where credit is due – I stumbled across this on MLBtraderumors.com
Huston Street of Oakland is OK, not great. He converted 16 of 21 save opportunities and his ERA with RISP was >9.00.
Giving up Horne would be too much, considering the Astros got Valverde who throws harder, for a pittance!
If Farnsworth isn’t or can’t be traded, assuming a total of 12 pitchers, who are the seven in the bullpen?
Rivera
Farnsworth
Hawkins
Kennedy
3 more [Albaladejo,Veras, Ohlendorf,Britton,Bruney,Igawa,Horne] Did I forget anyone?
Of all the relievers, whom do you trust with one out and a RISP? Even Rivera was shaky last year-blew 3 games for Pettitte.
Whozat, part of the problem was the other pitchers (starters and relief) and Britton had options left. The other was trying to find pitchers that were the same as they had, like Bruney, Vizacaino and DeSalvo. There was no difference in how they threw. There seems to be a little difference so far. That’s why Hennshould have been pitching winter ball, at least for a month. The Yanks need an arm like his. fast and a lefty.
“Wasnt the big issue in all this is that he wouldnt return their calls? I cant recall if Cash or Hank made the statement,but that was what infuriated them. Arod didnt even bother taking their calls.”
Well, like he says, he and Boras have always kept a strong divide…Alex plays ball, Scott handles business. Contract negotiations are Boras’s deal…he didn’t feel right getting involved. Like Alex said in his conference call “if someone shows up at 6:45 and starts telling me how to hit, I’d tell him to f-off.” He felt putting his nose in would have been analogous to that. I can understand that.
“Even though communications from the Yanks would have been filtered through Boras, wasn’t the Yanks’ $150-mil extension offer leaked and on every website out there?”
Many, many players avoid sports news. With all the rumors that fly around, I can understand why. Also…who are you going to trust? Your agent telling you “they’re not interested,” or some websites?
Excellent point. He also mentioned that he knows what people were saying and that he watched the world series. Im sure he knew that there was an offer on the table for him. If not by picking up the phone then by watching t.v.
Trader, add Henn, Karstens and Rasner.
damn Alex fired Boras
“The other was trying to find pitchers that were the same as they had, like Bruney, Vizacaino and DeSalvo.”
I don’t think you meant to put DeSalvo in there…his stuff is definitely lesser than Bruney, Viz, etc. But the point is still taken.
The fact remains, though, that Britton doesn’t throw like those guys…while the stuff may be similar, he actually throws strikes and doesn’t walk people. Why you’d keep that guy on the bench while putting Bruney (who did still have options) out there over and over is beyond me.
“That’s why Hennshould have been pitching winter ball, at least for a month. The Yanks need an arm like his. fast and a lefty.”
Yeah, I don’t know why they don’t have him playing winter ball. He’s another guy that, if he’d command his stuff, would be useful. I guess they’ve given up on him. I’m also curious why we hear nothing about Igawa…if a rebuild of his mechanics is what’s needed to make him productive, why don’t we hear that he’s on some kind of program to do that, or playing winter ball to do that? I guess they’ve given up on that “project” as well, which seems dumb.
“Im sure he knew that there was an offer on the table for him.”
Again…who would you trust? Rumors, or your agent of 16 years? Seriously.
I dont think the age of the player as much as the talent related to the salary is what is important to Billy Beane.
I actually think Horne would be a nice centerpiece to a Street deal, because of the players Beane got back for Haren, i dont think any of them are as close as Horne in being ready to make the jump.
Horne and Alberto Gonzalez actually might be a nice package, considering how frequently Bobby Crosby is on the DL.
Wait. Did Alex really drop Boras or is he still around? Interesting though
“Trader, add Henn, Karstens and Rasner.”
Did Rasner stay with the organization? I saw a post on here that he’d re-signed a minor league deal with the Yanks, but I didn’t find any corroborating evidence…
Meant to ask. If there is no lefty in the bullpen, which relief pitcher do you use against the likes of David Ortiz, before the 9th inning? Walk him?!!
“I dont think the age of the player as much as the talent related to the salary is what is important to Billy Beane.”
In general, that’s true
“I actually think Horne would be a nice centerpiece to a Street deal, because of the players Beane got back for Haren, i dont think any of them are as close as Horne in being ready to make the jump.”
But this is my point…I think Beane’s given up on the next few years, based on what he took for Haren. I don’t think he WANTS guys that will hit the majors this year because by the time the rest of his core is ready, these near-MLB guys would start hitting arbitration and getting more expensive.
I think he wants guys that are about two years away, so that in three or four years, he has a cheap contending core of guys in their mid 20s that he controls for four or five more years. Horne doesn’t really fit that mold.
Whozat, the stuff isn’t the same, but, they all are right handed and very similar motions and pitches, even if the pitches aren’t of the same quality. It never took hitters like Thomas, Ortiz and Ramirez to pick them up. That’s why having a Henn and Edwar Ramirez throwing strikes would mean so much. They aren’t like any of them.
“which relief pitcher do you use against the likes of David Ortiz, before the 9th inning? Walk him?!!”
You make it sound like righties don’t get Ortiz out. A bad lefty isn’t somehow magically better than a good righty.
never took Thomas, Ortiz and Ramirez long
this has to mean he fired/parted ways w/ Boras
Pete,
Is it true Arod has fired Boras or is going to?
Yeah, Whozat. Rasner signed a minor league deal with a spring invite two days ago. I think the Yanks like him and Karstens, because even they don’t have the stuff the others do, they never give up.
whozat-
Igawa if not traded,should be given a chance to in the pen. His strikeouts per 9 were high last year. It doesnt seen like there is any room for him as a started. So if they could tweak his delivery and work on his control,he could be really usefull as a reliever. Who knows, maybe he could actually start earning his money. Once again, if not traded.
Which would be my first choice.
“they all are right handed and very similar motions and pitches, even if the pitches aren’t of the same quality.”
Are we talking about DeSalvo vs Bruney/Viz or Britton vs Bruney/Viz?
If the former…ok, I guess. If the latter…ok, they’re all righty, but if one is attacking the zone and the other is trying to make you swing at balls moving out of the zone, that makes them different kinds of pitchers.
“It never took hitters like Thomas, Ortiz and Ramirez to pick them up. That’s why having a Henn and Edwar Ramirez throwing strikes would mean so much. They aren’t like any of them.”
I’m not disputing the value of Henn or Edwar, if they’re throwing strikes. I agree that such pitchers would be good weapons in the pen. I’m more asserting that I’d give Britton a shot over the Bruney/Veras/Farnsworths of the world, as he’s shown just as much strike-throwing ability as a guy like Albaladejo, except he’s got a solid year in the AL East under his (admittedly large) belt already.
Whozat-
According to the mlb.com website Rasner is part of the 40-Man Roster.
When I’ve seen Henn, seems to have no movement on his fastball. Karstens and Rasner, in my opinion aren’t suited for the bullpen. I’d rather bring up Horne to fill in as a starter, if needed, rather than seeing those two, or Igawa or Chase Wright.
Anyone know what Igawa is doing in the offseason to make this team?
“So if they could tweak his delivery and work on his control,he could be really usefull as a reliever.”
Yes. Though, if they could get him to command the ball like he used to in Japan (where he always had low walk rates) and have him show that in ST, that would boost his trade value a lot. Either way, it seems odd not to have him working on his delivery. Perhaps they are and we’re just not hearing about it. I asked Peter, and he said he’d heard little to nothing about Igawa all offseason.
Jennifer—
My family will probably take a trip to Baltimore in May. Just have to check my daughter’s calendar. I only wish they still had the 4 o’clock game on Saturday!
“According to the mlb.com website Rasner is part of the 40-Man Roster.”
yeah, but we know that’s not true. I’m pretty sure it’s just out of date or something. It had more than 40 guys on it at one point
Pete,
First time, long time,
I’m definitely excited about Veras and other pitching prospects to come into their own this year.
I’m getting pumped about Girardi. I can’t believe that guy’s got not only three world series rings & NL Manager of the Year Award, but an engineering degree from Northwestern as well!
I’m sorry about bringing this up yet again, but I’m still really bothered by the Mitchell Report. Why would they rely only on A’s, Mets & Yankee clubbies and not even interview the bosox clubbies or anyone else aside from that vehicle incident in 2001? The whole thing is immensely flawed. I wish the Yankees, Mets and A’s would put forth a truly independent investigation and pull up all the sheets from this thing.
whozat-
this is from the baseball america minor league baseball transaction blog
( http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=697 )
New York Yankees
Signed: RHP Darrell Rasner
Peter-This question is for you.
Knowing what you know about the potential Yankee relievers, other than Rivera, who should make the team, who shouldn’t, and in what capacity[ innings, situations] should they be used?
Have a great Holiday. I enjoy your website.
“this is from the baseball america minor league baseball transaction blog”
Thanks!
Behind the scenes.
Arod-Hey Dad(scot),we burned a lot of bridges by opting out the way we did. How do we fix it?
Scot-Well son you can go to the Yankees and tell them that you didnt know what was going on in the negotiations. That you simply just let me do all the work and when you relized what had happened, it was time to cut the embilacol cord.I mean our main goal is to get you 300 mil and myself 15. I could care less if take the fall.
Arod-That sound good. But when we do get paid, how do we make it believable?
Scot-Easy, just fire me and everything will be forgiven. You dont need me anymore anyways. Ill see you for Tuesday for christmas.
Seriously does it really matter if he fired him? He got the final contract of his carreer. Whats left?
Britton was a victim of numbers and options left. He had them and the others didn’t. It’s difficult to give up on a 25-26 years old pitcher throwing 96-97 like Bruney. I think that’s one reason they agreed to trade Proctor…same motion, same pitches. In the other post, I was just comparing the group as a whole…all right handed, same motions, same pitches, including Proctor in that mix. Bruney and Proctor in particular were close to the same pitcher, except Proctor could find the plate more often. Vizcaino and Britton are quite similar. Next year, they’ll add in Veras, who’s like Bruney, but, Ohlendorf seems to confuse the hitters a little more. Britton’s different from them and Ramirez is like none of them. The goal is control. The stuff is there. From the couple of times that I saw Albaladejo, he’s a lot like Bruney with control. If Henn doesn’t cut it, and, unless they get a Mahay or Marte, I look for Villone to be back.
Doreen
Book a room now! They get very expensive. They start charging rack rate once they figure out the Yankees are in town.
SoS27, Rodriguez’ agent still makes Rodriguez money through endorsement deals…a ton of money. He also is as much his personal secretary as anything else (especially a client of this star power).
TraderI disagree about Karstens and Rasner not being fit for the pen. Karstens, in particular would be the perfect 2008 version of Ramiero Mendoza. I’m guessing Rasner would make a good additional piece in a trade to an NL team or a big park West team like Oakland…not a main piece, but an additional piece. He copuld be a 5th starter for a rebuilding team.
Doreen I just tried to book a room at the Hampton inn, there is a 3 night minimum!! Those fudgers saw the schedule and decided to screw us over!!
GreenBeret-point taken. But he’s firing Boras and replacing him with his wife. Does it make sense to you now?
SoS27, I haven’t read the report, yet, so, not sure of the entire story.
GreenBeret-it was a joke. I havnt read it either. I promise to use LOL next time.LOL
the translation
“Last night, Melky Cabrera waited till the last moment to make his debut against the Tigers, but the Yankees denied him a revision of his “extreme fatigue” (clause). This denial cannot be understood in the context of seeing Robinson Canó (play) with the Stars and Bob Abreu (play) in Venezuela. The impression is,and a totally understandable one, that the fact that Cabrera is involved in the possible trade with Minnesota for Johan Santana, will postpone the approval (to play) of the Bronx Bombers.”