One more thing I missed: Rule 5 draft protection
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Misc on Dec 01, 2012 
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For the most part, roster decisions don’t get much more marginal than Rule 5 draft protection. The prospects involved are often a year or two from the big leagues, and many of the other names are bench and bullpen role players at best. That said…
I love the Rule 5 draft, and I’m a nerd for Rule 5 protection. That comes from the years spent covering minor league baseball, I guess. This stuff is not for everyone, but I think those edge-of-the-roster, barely-on-the-radar guys are interesting in their own way. It’s interesting to see who’s protected, who’s put at risk, and who might capitalize on an opportunity.
Last week, the Yankees protected six players from the Rule 5 draft. One is a starting pitcher who could legitimately play a role next season. One is an injured prospect who would have been an obvious Rule 5 pick for someone. Three are legitimate prospects who aren’t likely to reach the big leagues this year, but might have been incredibly regrettable had some other team taken a shot on them. And one is a middle reliever who’s name might not be familiar to even a closer follower of the minor league system.
These are the six players protected from the Rule 5 draft and why you should care — at least a little bit — about each of them.
Manny Banuelos
Left-handed pitcher
Who he is: Considered the Yankees top pitching prospect before an elbow injury limited him to just six Triple-A starts this year. Now the 21-year-old is recovering from Tommy John surgery and expected to miss all of next season.
Why you care: Because Banuelos is still awfully talented, and it would have been all-too-easy for a team to take him in the Rule 5 and stash him on the 60-man disabled list all year. Instead, the Yankees will — of course — protect him and almost certainly put him on their own 60-day.
Ramon Flores
Outfielder
Who he is: A 20-year-old who hit .302/.370/.420 in High-A Tampa this year, then got to Double-A for one regular-season game. He’s not a prospect on par with Mason Williams or Slade Heathcott, but Flores absolutely belongs on the radar.
Why you care: Because he gets on base, steals some bags and has experience at all three outfield positions. At the very least there’s potential for a high-OBP fourth outfielder, and at best there’s potential for a left-handed leadoff hitter and left fielder. A strong season in Double-A could have him knocking on the door next year.
Brett Marshall
Right-handed pitcher
Who he is: The Yankees top upper-level pitching prospect. The 22-year-old sinkerballer spent this season in Double-A and went 13-7 with a 3.52 ERA and a team-leading 120 strikeouts.
Why you care: Because Banuelos is hurt and Dellin Betances has taken a step back and next year’s Triple-A rotation will be headlined by Adam Warren and this guy. Marshall could legitimately find himself making a spot start or pitching in long relief for the Yankees as early as April or May. Of all the guys on this list, he’s the one most on the verge.
Jose Ramirez
Right-handed pitcher
Who he is: A hard-throwing 22-year-old who went 7-6 with a 3.19 ERA in High-A Tampa this year. Always regarded for his potential, the numbers showed a significant step forward in the second half.
Why you care: Because this is one of those guys who, if things come together just right, could jump into the top 10, maybe even top five, of Yankees prospects next season. There’s also a chance you’ll never hear his name again. There’s enough in his right arm that some team might have taken a shot on Ramirez being able to hold his own as a big league long man next year.
Francisco Rondon
Left-handed pitcher
Who he is: On this list, he’s the player you’re least likely to know. I’ve literally never once had a conversation with anyone in the organization about him. Rondon is already 24 and originally signed way back in 2006, but he’d never pitched above Low-A before getting to Triple-A this season.
Why you care: Because it’s easy to see why the Yankees might be interested. Rondon pitched most of this year in Double-A and held lefties to a .235/.300/.309 slash line with four extra-base hits and 25 strikeouts in 81 at-bats. He could be a left-handed relief option more or less immediately, and the Yankees seem to be stocking up on lefties with Boone Logan in his last year of arbitration.
Nik Turley
Left-handed pitcher
Who he is: A 23 year old who spent the majority of this season with High-A Tampa and had a 2.89 ERA and 116 strikeouts through 23 games. He was a 50th-round draft pick, who fell so far because of signability issues.
Why you care: Because he doesn’t have the recognition of Banuelos, but he’s also not limited to the bullpen like Rondon. Turley will be a Double-A starter this season, and although he’s always operated on the fringes of the prospect radar, he’s on the 40-man because he’s pitched well enough to suggest he could be in the big leagues in a year or two.
Associated Press photo
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12.....ref=sports
Article from Jorge Arangure…
i think its too early to say if letting martin and or ichiro go away was a good or bad idea. the other shoe hasn’t dropped yet, the correct grade is incomplete.
what if cash is working on a trade for santana? what if the money saved is going to be spent on hamilton?
i would have been fine with either martin or ichiro coming back but im willing to wait and see what they end up with.
if they just put that money in their pocket, then im with everyone who’s upset about letting martin go, but we don’t know that’s what they are doing.
ill hold my fire till i see a more complete picture.
its only december 1st.
i will say this, i sure didnt want to see them come back with last year’s team all over again.
How about a ST invite to Jorge?
yes if theres one thing the yankees really need is another guy over 38.
the older or younger the cheaper they get…
bernie hasnt retired and we have an OF position open, too…
Anybody know whether Betances is still on the 40-man roster?
have heard ST sked released Monday but you can piece together sked from other teams skeds that are out.
they open vs Atlanta in Orlando then play Tor. the next day in Tampa for their home opener.
http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com.....p?c_id=nyy
…give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime…
bernie would want to play CF.
I hear Jamie Moyer is available.
jorge would want to catch…
jorge could win the C job…bernie in CF is not a need.
FREE POSADA!!!
if jorge wanted to come to camp and try out for C, that would be fine with me, but i dont personally agree that he could be a usable catcher at 42 after 2 years off. but id be ok with him trying.
the problem is that, just like bernie, they won’t want to bring him in to try out b/c they dont want to deal with the pressure there would be to keep him even if he’s not showing the ability to do the job.
sadly, the last time i saw my personal favorite ballplayer, bernie actually play baseball it was in a puerto rico jersey the last wbc and he was horrendous to the point where they had to pull him out of the game and pretend he had an injury.
now if puerto rico wanted to put jorge back there, i’d be ok with that but i’d expect the same results as happened with my man bernie.
its true about posada i doubt theyd want to deal with his drama even if they could get him for peanus….he would want to be the fulltime DH as well.
oops, peanuts…
@Ken_Rosenthal: Sources: #Cubs in agreement with Japanese closer Kyuji Fujikawa. Rival executives involved in bidding had expected him to go to #Angels.
jorge can’t be as out of shape as bernie is.
LordD99 December 1st, 2012 at 4:33 pm
JEKIKASO, I’ve wondered about that, too. If you’re in Cashman’s shoes, you’d have to sit back and wonder why some of my pitching prospects haven’t quite hit the heights projected, and why are many of my pitching prospects getting injured! It could just be bad luck since there is some randomness at play, but he can’t assume that, so he’s making changes. I’m happy they brought in Gil Patterson to oversee the minor league pitchers. He has a great reputation throughout the and is coming over form the A’s, who do an excellent job with their young pitchers.
It sounds contradictory, but Patterson will probably move the Yankee pitchers quicker than his predecessor. That’s been his reputation, preferring they live right on the edge, believing they learn more. More important, since the blew his arm out when he was a Yankee prospect (he still may have had the best arm of any Yankee prospect in the last 35 years), he is very mindful of developing the proper pitching mechanics. Be interested to see what he can do with the Yankees #1 pick this year, Ty Hensley. It’s always good to have hope!
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Are they going to let Patterson do what the does though? The Yankees like to take it slow with their pitchers
@Ken_Rosenthal: Fujikawa deal with #Cubs is two years with a vesting option for a third. He likely will be the team’s closer.
This is really an exciting time for Yankee fans as they stand on the precipice of change.
We have gotten so much more out of our veterans than we could have expected, certainly more than any other team in the past 20 years.
Change is inevitable , so instead of crying and complaining , why not embrace it and hope for the best.
I doubt Hal is trying to dismantle and sell this team. He wants them to win. He also wants to maximize profits. They don’t have to be mutually exclusive.
Who knows , he might even dump his profits back into the team in the not too distant future, say 2015.
Nobody here knows for certain, so why not give him the benefit of the doubt, even if it is so easy and fashionable to demean management from the peanut gallery.
Tucker, Yes Betances is on the 40 man.
@Ken_Rosenthal: Fujikawa deal is $9.5M for two years.
Closers are super important on last place teams
blake December 1st, 2012 at 3:35 pm
@jnorris427: In his article for the NYT, Jorge Arangure brings up an interesting trade idea for #Yankees: Carlos Santana.
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I suggested this about a month ago…
Not sure the Yankees could pull it off though, or if the Indians would even trade him.
Mr. mick,
No voices of reason need apply. It’ like being on a raft in the Gulf Stream. with plenty of food and water, but very little idea where you’ll finally fetch up, so you might as well enjoy the ride.
I think the Indians would trade him….but it would cost a lot
so what can Gardner and Francisco Cervelli package bring back in return…if not much then thats what they are worth
When your 370+ pound nose guard, who’s triple-teamed, gets a sack against “the best offensive line in football”, I’m thinking it’s the Dawgs in January.
Nobody here knows for certain, so why not give him the benefit of the doubt, even if it is so easy and
——————
Ppl would give them the benefit of the doubt if there were times in the past when they had to work on a budget and succeeded. The Yankees one advantage is spending money but now that is shrinking. It’s not as if these guys are the Rays. They are now asking themselves to do something they never had to do. Develop well, let guys walk, stay on a budget, etc
I doubt Yanks would go for Santana’s D behind the plate, and he hits LHP better than Righties, although he’s improved. I wouldn’t therefore make a comparison to Jorgie because Santana’s splits aren’t equal for one thing etc. Most of all, what position is Santana playing? Joe G won’t like his D at catcher, they don’t want a true DH b/c it’s not a “true position” according to the Yanks and Teix has first base covered. So, even if it were possible, I don’t see us getting Santana as a Yankee kind of move.
“and the Yankees seem to be stocking up on lefties with Boone Logan in his last year of arbitration.”
Great point, most likely also taking in effect his heavy workload the last two seasons…
yankeefeminista December 1st, 2012 at 5:14 pm
I doubt Yanks would go for Santana’s D behind the plate, and he hits LHP better than Righties, although he’s improved. I wouldn’t therefore make a comparison to Jorgie because Santana’s splits aren’t equal for one thing etc. Most of all, what position is Santana playing? Joe G won’t like his D at catcher, they don’t want a true DH b/c it’s not a “true position” according to the Yanks and Teix has first base covered. So, even if it were possible, I don’t see us getting Santana as a Yankee kind of move.
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I don’t think Santana’s defense is all that bad really. He throws out league average % of runners, his passed ball rate while in 2012 was poor, over the past 3 years is not bad, and his pitch framing is supposedly only a little below average. Plus he is young and can still improve.
And if Girardi had much say in it, Martin would have been signed.
As for hitting lhp better, that’s kind of what the lineup needs, and his splits in 2012 weren’t big anyway.
He’s really the next best thing to studs like Posey, Molina, Weiters, etc.
And his AAV is only 4 mil.
tomingeorgia December 1st, 2012 at 5:09 pm
When your 370+ pound nose guard, who’s triple-teamed, gets a sack against “the best offensive line in football”, I’m thinking it’s the Dawgs in January.
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Hmmm… Well, Bama did rush for 152 yds in the first half so I’d say their O-Line is pretty decent.
Fujikawa got the high range of my prediction but same years and option. Woulda been good mo insurance
“they don’t want a true DH b/c it’s not a “true position” according to the Yanks”
Did they say that? I only ask because you put that in quotes. I don’t know if they really have a rigid organizational philosophy about DH not being a true position or if it’s more about adapting to the current construction of their geriatric roster.
the last 2 seasons, arod has played 89, then 81 games at 3b. arod is the dh. he’ll play what he can at 3b but he’s likely to dh as many if not more games than 3b this year.
so much for all the poppyc*ck about martin being a superior difference making defensive catcher….sounded like propaganda when they said it.
then we better get chavez back if arod is the dh
im ok with chavez, but i’d rather see headley there.
actually i’d rather see nunez there but i guess that ship has sailed…
there’s a guy out there who came in 3rd and 6th in the mvp voting a few years back but i dont think we’d want him here….he holds the bat kinda funny…
Arod played more games at dh because Gardener was injured and Ibanez moved to the of.
Take that, Tide!
yes that is true but in the end, it came down to girardi deciding alex would be better off at dh than 3b. and if chavez could have played more consistently instead of needing days off, joe probably would have opted to dh alex even more.
so rather than signing a dh, sign a solid 3bman who consistently and let alex dh. if you sign a dh, you may end up having to squeeze him onto the defense because alex (or chavez) wasn’t able to play 3b.
sorry * sign a solid 3bman who can PLAY consistently*
Cashman needs to get a rightfielder first. That seems more important to me than catcher.
You can live with Romine/Cervelli/Stewart at catcher splitting time.
Better guitar player Carlos Santana or Bernie Williams
Ys Guy December 1st, 2012 at 6:37 pm
yes that is true but in the end, it came down to girardi deciding alex would be better off at dh than 3b. and if chavez could have played more consistently instead of needing days off, joe probably would have opted to dh alex even more.
so rather than signing a dh, sign a solid 3bman who consistently and let alex dh. if you sign a dh, you may end up having to squeeze him onto the defense because alex (or chavez) wasn’t able to play 3b.
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The thought probably was if you can put Chavez at 3B and take less chance with Arod, why not?
The problem with getting a full time 3B is they are much harder to find and cost much more than an equivalent hitting DH.
This way to see Bernie
…riff
I still Romine can catch for us by mid-season………defensively he will be as good as Martin……the only question is health…….offensively…….well Martin was terrible last year so no much to compare to…….and I believe Stewart is even strong defensively…….would it really be a downgrade from last year if Stewart catches for the first half of the year? Not so sure………