The LoHud Yankees Blog

When the Yankees chose to protect five eligible players from the Rule 5 draft last month, the most unusual choice was second baseman David Adams. It wasn’t necessarily a bad choice — Adams has a potent bat, and it’s not out of the question he could stick on a big league roster or be hidden on a 60-day disabled list — but it was unusual because Adams hasn’t played anything close to a full season since 2009.

The Yankees, though, believe in his ability to hit — especially for a second baseman — and they’re hopeful that a lingering ankle injury will finally go away so Adams can get back on track and keep taking steps toward the big leagues.

“He’s still rehabbing,” Mark Newman said earlier today. “We’ll see how it goes. We’re hopeful. He works his rear end off. He’s a fabulous guy, and he’s got ability.”

Newman admitted that he couldn’t remember a player in Adams’ situation being protected, but the Yankees didn’t want to risk losing the former third-round draft pick.

Drafted out of the University of Virginia in 2008, Adams opened in Double-A less than two years later. He was hitting .309/.393/.507 through 39 games in 2010 — putting up numbers hard to ignore from a second baseman — when a ankle injury sent him to the disabled list. Initially labeled a sprain, later tests finally revealed a broken bone, at which point Adams had to shut down everything.

He played only 29 games last season, none past early August, and right now he’s rehabbing down in southern Florida. At this point, it’s mostly about building strength, Newman said. The injury actually bothers Adams more when he runs straight ahead, not so much side-to-side. It’s been a long process, but Adams is scheduled to show up in Tampa for early spring training work in mid-January.

“I’ve never heard of someboby losing their career because of this,” Newman said.

By protecting him on the 40-man, the Yankees made sure they wouldn’t lose the player either.

At the very top of the Yankees minor league system, two Triple-A starters — Andrew Brackman and Adam Warren — are top five in the International League in walks. Down in Low-A, one of the Yankees best young catchers — Gary Sanchez — is hitting just .238 with 37 strikeouts in 32 games.

“It’s like somebody trying to lose weight and looking at the scale every day,” vice president of baseball operations Mark Newman said. “It’ll drive you nuts.”

Less than two months into the minor league season, the big picture is nowhere near coming into focus, and Newman said this part of the season is still about making initial adjustments to a new level. The Yankees focus more on the second-half results for most of their minor leaguers, curious to see how they adjust and adapt.

Right now, Warren is eight walks away from his total for last season. Brackman is 12 away from his 2010 total. From the outside, the Brackman number is more glaring because, 1. His ERA is three runs higher than Warren’s, and 2. He had similar control issues in 2009.

“I don’t think it’s going to be an issue long term, because he’s showing he can throw strikes,” Newman said. “He’s just got to get back (to last year’s command). His mark right now is well above where we want it to be, but I don’t think it’s going to stay there.”

As for Sanchez, he was hitting .314 with three home runs in his previous 10 games before going on the disabled list a week ago. More importantly, he’s 18 years old.

“He’s swinging it good now,” Newman said. “He’s like a high school senior playing in that league. He’s doing well.”

• Speaking of letting the big picture come into focus… Slade Heathcott and J.R. Murphy were the Yankees first- and second-round picks in the 2009 draft, and both are off to eye-opening starts in Charleston. Newman called it little more than the natural progression of two talented kids who had very little little experience when they put up pedestrian numbers in Charleston last season. “That was a helluva challenge,” Newman said. “Now they’re getting a little experience, and we’re seeing what kind of players they are. There’s nothing particularly surprising about it.”

• As you might expect, Newman said both Heathcott and Murphy will “probably” jump to Tampa midseason.

• As previously reported, Newman said Sanchez has a “stiff lower back” that he’s trying to work through in extended spring training. Once he’s through that, Sanchez will return to Charleston.

• In the wake of the Buster Posey injury, Newman said the Yankees have not discussed moving any of their catchers from behind the plate just to avoid injury. “Not because of health concerns,” he said. “All of our catchers do work at first base. We have a lot of young catching prospects. Who knows who’s going to catch, who’s going to play first base and who’s going to DH?” Newman once again stressed that the Yankees believe Jesus Montero can catch.

• Other injury updates:

Greg Golson: About a week away from playing in games.
Mark Prior: “Not throwing (off a mound),” Newman said. “He’s really struggling with this kind of hip, abdominal thing. Hard to nail it down.”
Alan Horne: Throwing in extended spring and building arm strength.
Graham Stoneburner, Steve Garrison, Jeremy Bleich: “Still a ways to go,” Newman said.
David Adams: Having some leg problems that the Yankees believe to be related to the ankle injury that forced him to miss most of last season. He was back and playing, but then the leg started bothering him. Not sure how close he is to returning.

• Carlos Silva can opt out in mid-June and pitched well last night. “This is a contingency plan,” Newman said. “You never know what’s going to happen.”

• Veteran Brad Halsey, signed to a minor league deal earlier this month, is throwing in Tampa, basically going through his own spring training.

• Outfielder Damon Sublett has been throwing some bullpens in Double-A. He was a closer in college and hasn’t been getting a ton of playing time as a position player, so he asked the Yankees if he could start working out on the mound. “We’re just checking it out, getting his arm in shape,” Newman said.

• Newman said there’s no one in extended spring training who’s “setting any world records or anything,” but the name-to-know that jumped to his mind was starting pitcher Bryan Mitchell. “He’s got electric stuff,” Newman said. “He’s got the stuff to be the next Banuelos, Betances. The high-end guy. That’s Mitchell.”

Brackman photo from my friends at the Scranton Times-Tribune

I didn’t intentionally time it this way, but Ed’s guest post about the construction of the Yankees minor league system happened to come on the same day MLB Network and MLB.com are revealing their Top 50 Prospects. The list will be announced at 9 p.m., broadcast on the television network and on the website. You can bet that Jesus Montero will be near the top.

Leading up to the Top 50, MLB.com has already ranked the top 10 prospects at each position.

Catcher
Yankees on the list: Jesus Montero (1), Gary Sanchez (3), Austin Romine (8)
Yankees top prospect: Montero
The top catcher on last year’s MLB.com list was National League Rookie of the Year Buster Posey, who opened 2010 in the minor leagues before hitting his way to San Francisco. There’s obviously a chance Montero could do the same thing for New York this season.

First base
Yankees on the list: None
Yankees top prospect: Luke Murton
The Yankees really don’t have a standout first base prospect, which isn’t a significant issue with Mark Teixeira in New York. The Yankees best long-term first base prospect is probably someone currently playing a different position, maybe third baseman Brandon Laird or catcher J.R. Murphy. Of the guys primarily playing first right now, I’ll give the nod to Murton, but you could just as easily make a case for Jorge Vazquez (more advanced), Kyle Roller (higher draft pick) or Reymond Nunez (more raw talent).

Second base
Yankees on the list: Eduardo Nunez (9)
Yankees top prospect: Corban Joseph
MLB.com put Nunez, a natural shortstop, on its list of second basemen and cited the probability that he’ll be cast in a utility role with the Yankees. Makes perfect sense, and I agree. Of the guys currently playing second base for the Yankees, I’ll go with Joseph as the top prospect, barely ahead of likely Trenton teammate David Adams. Both are interesting young players, but Nunez is more advanced.

Shortstop
Yankees on the list: None
Yankees top prospect: Eduardo Nunez
Nunez made MLB.com’s list at second base but not at shortstop. What stands out about the shortstop ranking is how many of the Top 10 are low-level players who are still extremely raw and young. It’s tough to stick at shortstop, which is part of the reason Nunez has real value (he’s made it this far). The Yankees have their own young, raw shortstop in first-round pick Cito Culver.

Third base
Yankees on the list: None
Yankees top prospect: Brandon Laird
Frankly, I think Laird has a chance to make the same sort of impact as some of the guys on MLB.com’s list. I might not have said that two years ago, but Laird has steadily produced, and now he’s one level away from the big leagues. Might not be a superstar, but he’s a good bet to help at the Major League level.

Outfield
Yankees on the list: None
Yankees top prospect: Slade Heathcott
MLB.com’s list of outfielders starts with Mike Trout, Bryce Harper and Domonic Brown. The Yankees don’t have anyone with that kind of hype or perceived potential, but Heathcott is a good young athlete, and the Yankees have quite a few interesting center fielders in their lower levels. On the whole, though, the outfield is a bit of an organizational weakness.

Right-handed pitcher
Yankees on the list: None
Yankees top prospect: Dellin Betances
Predictably, there are a lot of talented right-handers in minor league baseball, and listing the top 10 would be a matter of extreme preference. Betances is a legitimate prospect who belongs in the same sentence as some of the guys listed by MLB.com. He could pitch his way into the middle of the rotation, if not higher, and he could do it within the next year or two.

Left-handed pitcher
Yankees on the list: Manny Banuelos (10)
Yankees top prospect: Banuelos
This is a pretty impressive list of lefties, and MLB.com notes that Banuelos showed improved velocity in 2010, leading to projection as a “front-line starter in the not-too-distant future.” I consider him the top pitching prospect in the system, though Baseball American ranked him one spot behind Betances.

Back in June, the Yankees chose high school shortstop Cito Culver as their first-round draft pick. For Culver’s first full season as a professional, the Yankees have a familiar plan in mind.

The Yankees first-round pick in 2009 was also a high school position player, and Slade Heathcott was moved cautiously in his first full season. Heathcott opened last year in extended spring training and didn’t join Low-A Charleston until June.

Vice president of baseball operations Mark Newman said the Yankees will “most likely” do the same thing this season with both Culver and second-round pick Angelo Gumbs. Both are 18 years old and developing at key defensive positions. Rushing them is not in the plans.

The same sort of caution could be true for fourth-round pick Mason Williams, a 19-year-old center fielder who played five Gulf Coast League games last season. Newman said the Yankees will “see where he is” in spring training before deciding where Williams opens the season.

Newman said there’s “no question” Culver will continue to be developed as a shortstop, but Gumbs will be tested at different positions. He could see some time at second base, and center field is a legitimate option. “We’re still in the evaluation stage,” Newman said.

• Speaking of Heathcott, he hit .258/.359/.352 with 101 strikeouts in 76 games with Charleston last season. It’s entirely possible he’ll return to Charleston for the beginning of the 2011 season. “We’ll see,” Newman said.

• Last year’s third-round draft pick, Rob Segedin, was selected out of Tulane, so he’s older and more advanced than Culver and Gumbs. Segedin will open in Charleston, where he’ll continue to play third base while also getting some reps in right field.

• If David Adams, Corban Joseph and Brad Suttle all open the season in Double-A, they’ll have to mix and match positions, including some reps at DH, to give all three regular at-bats. Newman said there’s a chance one of those three could open at a different level, but it’s a “low” chance.

• Outfielder Cody Johnson, acquired from the Braves this winter, is most likely heading for Double-A instead of Triple-A. He’s been in Double-A for part of the past two seasons, but he has yet to hit above .189 at that level. The guy does have some power, though.

• Don’t rule out lefty Shaeffer Hall for Double-A. He opened last season in Low-A Charleston but pitched his way to High-A Tampa where he had nine wins and a 3.91 ERA in 15 appearances. This is only his second full season, but Hall is already 23 years old, so the Yankees might push him to Trenton to open the season.

• The Yankees have not decided where shortstop Carmen Angelini will open the season — Tampa or Charleston — but this is clearly a season when Angelini needs to finally show something at the plate. “He needs to get it going,” Newman said. Culver and Gumbs are already overshadowing him in the lower levels.

• Pretty much every scouting report you’ll ever read about Graham Stoneburner suggests his ultimate role could be as a reliever rather than a starter. The Yankees, though, will continue to use Stoneburner out of the rotation, and they believe that he could remain a starter if his changeup continues to develop. Stoneburner had a 2.41 ERA between Tampa and Charleston last season, and the Yankees won’t change his role until he pitches himself out of the rotation. “The game is smarter than us,” Newman said.

• I mentioned Anderson Feliz in yesterday’s look at the Yankees second base depth, and Newman sounds excited about the young middle infielder. “He’s a good player,” Newman said. “He’s got hitting ability. He’s got power. He can run.” Feliz is probably going to open in Charleston.

• Fu-Lin Kuo, a third baseman out of Taiwan, could be developing into a legitimate prospect. “He looked like it at times last year,” Newman said. Last season Kuo hit .243 in the Gulf Coast League, but that was his first season in the United States, and Newman said it’s hard to make much of those stats because of the significant cultural adjustment. The Yankees saw some flashes of promise at the plate. Kuo is probably going to open the season back in extended spring training, but he’s a player to keep the name in the back of your mind for now.

Pretty sure Pete took that picture of Heathcott. I just found it in the blog archives.

This morning, Yankees vice president of baseball operations Mark Newman was good enough to provide some updates on a few of the injured players in the Yankees minor league system.

Two quick updates: Damon Sublett missed most of last year with a thumb injury, but he was back by the end of the season and is expected to be fine for spring training. Jairo Heredia, who seems to have been perpetually injured, made it through last season and is expected to still be healthy heading into spring training.

Eduardo Nunez
Bruised face
Back in December, Nunez was hit in the face by a botched bunt attempt in the Dominican Winter League. He missed some time, but he’s back on the field, playing shortstop again in the DWL postseason. He should be 100 percent in spring training.

Reegie Corona
Broken arm
In late July, Corona had to be carried off the field after a violent collision on the final play of the game. The diagnosis was ultimately a broken humerus bone in his right arm. Corona is in Tampa, but he won’t be healthy enough to open the season on an active roster. He’ll likely be limited to designated hitter before he’s ready to play the field.

David Adams
Broken ankle
Initially labeled as a sprain, Adams fractured his ankle sliding into second base back in May. He missed the rest of the season, but Adams is healthy again and should be ready to open the season, probably back in Trenton.

Jeremy Bleich
Torn labrum
A supplemental first-round pick in 2008, Bleich was eight games into the Double-A season when he underwent surgery to repair a torn left labrum. He’s expected to pitch again in 2011, but Newman said it’s unlikely Bleich will be able to open the season.

Carmen Angelini
Torn hip labrum
A significant risk-reward pick back in 2007, Angelini struggled through his first three professional seasons, then lost all of last year because of a hip injury and a few smaller lower-body ailments. Angelini is healthy again, but it’s uncertain whether he’ll open in Tampa or return to Charleston, where he played all of 2008 and part of 2009.

Caleb Cotham
Knee and shoulder surgeries
A fifth-round pick out of Vanderbilt in 2009, Cotham has pitched eight professional innings, but he’s missed most of two seasons because of knee surgery followed by shoulder surgery to repair his labrum. Cotham showed quite a bit of promise before the injuries — “Good arm, strike thrower,” Newman said — but shoulders are tough and Cotham has missed a lot of time. He’s throwing again, but Newman said they won’t know much until he gets into spring training.

Robinson Cano is signed through 2013, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him stay with the Yankees well beyond his current contract. Second base is not up for grabs today, and it might not be up for grabs until the end of the decade. The Yankees have second base talent coming up through the system, but the bulk of that talent brings defensive versatility and could emerge as some sort of utility option should Cano keep his hold on second.

In the big leagues
If Cano continues his current production, and carries that into his mid-to-late 30s, the Yankees might never have a need for any of the players currently in the system to see significant time at second base. Cano is 28 years old and should be just now entering his prime. He showed last season that he’s already developed into one of the best hitters in the American League, and certainly one of the top second basemen in baseball. The Yankees have an abundance of players who could fill-in at second base to cover any sort of short-term need — nagging injury, unexpected absence — but the organization’s best-case scenario is to simply stick with Cano for the foreseeable future.

On the verge
Here’s the list: Eduardo Nunez, Ramiro Pena, Kevin Russo, Reegie Corona, David Adams and Corban Joseph. Six young players, all of them ready to play second base at Double-A or higher, and all of them with enough tools to play some sort of role in the big leagues sooner rather than later. Each of them can also play at least one other position, which some defensive flexibility for potential bench roles down the line. Nunez, Pena and Russo have already gotten to New York, Corona has a spot on the 40-man and needs to come back from a late-season shoulder injury, and Adams was hitting in Trenton before an ankle injury cost him most of last season. The name to watch might be Joseph, a former fourth-round pick who’s been building prospect buzz with his bat the past two years. 

Deep in the system
The top second base prospect in the lower levels was Jimmy Paredes, who put himself on the prospect map with a strong 2010 season. Paredes, though, was traded to Houston in the Lance Berkman deal, and without him, the top lower-level second base prospect might be Anderson Feliz, a former shortstop out of the Dominican Republic who hit .273 with some power in the Gulf Coast League last year. Of course, the real second base depth might ultimately depend on the development of Cito Culver and Angelo Gumbs, last year’s first- and second-round draft picks. Both are shortstops, but Cano also saw a lot of time at shortstop when he was a kid. As they develop, Culver or Gumbs could — in theory — find themselves shifted to second base.

Organizational depth chart
My own rough guess. It’s far too early for the Yankees to settle on who will be where next season.
New York: Robinson Cano
Scranton/WB: Kevin Russo, Reegie Corona
Trenton: David Adams, Corban Joseph
Tampa: Walter Ibbara, Emerson Landoni, Kevin Mahoney
Charleston: Anderson Feliz, Casey Stevenson

The big league depth chart beyond Cano probably begins with two players not listed here. Nunez and Pena are the front-runners for the big league utility job, and those two probably have a leg up should the Yankees need someone to fill in at second base for a few games (or even a few months). Russo is also in that discussion, and Adams or Joseph could climb into the mix by the end of the summer.

I have more than one player listed at every minor league level because there are a lot of multi-position players who are going to need time at second. Tampa especially could be a bit of a mix-and-match. The natural fit should have been the since-traded Paredes, and without him, a series of utility types — none of them highly touted — could get opportunities in High-A. Stevenson was the Yankees 25th-round pick last year, and he got most of the second base time at Staten Island last season, but Feliz is the bigger name of the lower-level second basemen. Additional upper-level bench depth will come from versatile infielders like Justin Snyder, Luis Nunez and Doug Bernier.

Associated Press photo of Cano, headshots of Cano, Joseph and Feliz

Let’s go heavy on prospects today, shall we? This is Baseball America’s Top 30 Yankees prospects heading into this season, listed with each player’s rank at the beginning of the season and the level where he finished the season.

No. 1 Jesus Montero
Triple-A catcher
After a rocky start to the season, Montero turned things around in the second half and could fight for a big league job in spring training. He remains one of the elite prospects in baseball, with the only significant questions being where he’ll play in the field.

No. 2 Austin Romine
Double-A catcher
Romine dropped to sixth in this year’s rankings, but I’m not sure his ceiling or expectations have fallen. He had a kind of Derek Jeter-type season, starting strong and finishing strong, with three rough months in the middle. He’s in the Arizona Fall League now, and it’s easy to forget that he hasn’t turned 22 yet. Still very highly regarded, but he was passed on Baseball America’s list by young players and injured players whose stock soared after strong seasons.

No. 3 Arodys Vizcaino
Traded to the Braves
The big prospect in The Boone Logan Trade had a 2.74 ERA between two Class-A levels this season, but he was shutdown with an elbow injury.

No. 4 Slade Heathcott
Low-A center fielder
Got to Charleston at the start of June, and he might have lost a little ground in the prospect standings — he hit .258 with 101 strikeouts — but it’s hard to read too much into a 19-year-old’s first season of pro ball. He still in Baseball America’s Top 10 for the orgnization.

No. 5  Zach McAllister
Traded to Cleveland
This was the cost for two months of Austin Kearns. Had he stuck around, McAllister probably would have fallen out of the Top 10 after a 5.09 ERA in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He was certainly overshadowed by several other upper-level pitchers.

No. 6 Manny Banuelos
Double-A left-handed starter
After a healthy second half that took him from High-A to Double-A, Banuelos is living up to expectations. Building up his workload seems to be the next step in his development. He’s in the Arizona Fall League right now and could pitch himself to the cusp of the big leagues next season. At 19 years old, he’s the youngest of the Yankees Killer B pitching prospects.

No. 7 Gary Sanchez
Short-season catcher
He’s been compared to Montero, except with more defensive tools. That’s why he moved all the way to No. 2 on this year’s Baseball America list. There is a ton of talent, but also a long way to go.

No. 8 J.R. Murphy
Low-A catcher
In so many ways, Murphy is “the other” catching prospect in the Yankees system. He’s only 19 years old — one year older than Sanchez — and he already held his own in Charleston. The power started to show in the second half.

No. 9 Jeremy Bleich
Injured Double-A left-handed starter
Stock took a hit because of shoulder surgery. He made only eight starts for Trenton. Hard to learn much about him from this season.

No. 10 Andrew Brackman
Double-A right-handed starter
This season might have been the best-case scenario for Brackman, the towering right-hander who had Tommy John surgery before throwing a single professional pitch. Brackman has always been a high-end talent, but he lived up to those expectations with a healthy and much-improved second season.

No. 11 Bryan Mitchell
Short-season right-handed starter
Opened in extended spring training, then pitched in the Gulf Coast League and got up to Staten Island in September.  Still young, and Rookie Ball opponents hit .190 against him. Obvious potential. Obviously young.

No. 12 Mike Dunn
Traded to Atlanta
Another part of The Boone Logan Trade, he pitched his way to Atlanta but the Yankees might have gotten the better of the two young lefties in that trade.

No. 13 Corban Joseph
Double-A second baseman
Terrific numbers in Tampa sparked a second-half call-up to Trenton, where Joseph struggled with his first taste of upper-level pitching. Could play second or third base. Nothing especially flashy, but he lived up to expectation and might have exceeded it with his promotion.

No. 14 Eduardo Nunez
Major League shortstop
Nunez had to prove that 2009 was not a fluke, and he did just that with a terrific Triple-A season that ended with a call-up to New York and a late spot on the postseason roster.  He hit .289 in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, but also showed an improved glove. That combination pushed him into the Yankees Top 10.

No. 15 Mark Melancon
Traded to Houston
Sent to the Astros in the Lance Berkman deal, Melancon simply never made that final step with the Yankees. He pitched pretty well in 20 appearances for the Astros.

No. 16 Ivan Nova
Major League right-handed starter
The Yankees always liked Nova’s potential, but he developed slowly until a strong 2009 season that landed him a spot on the 40-man. Now he’s a candidate for a spot in the back of the big league rotation. He’s the most advanced of the Yankees many upper-level pitching prospects.

No. 17 D.J. Mitchell
Triple-A right-handed starter
Moved into the Yankees Top 20 prospects, then got an invitation to big league camp, then pitched his way from Double-A to Triple-A. He generated better than a 2-to-1 ground out to fly out ratio in Double-A, then had a 3.57 ERA in three Triple-A starts. Overshadowed by some teammates, but he had a very nice season.

No. 18 Melky Mesa
High-A center fielder
He obviously did something right because now he’s on the 40-man roster. The MVP of the Florida State League has legitimate power and speed, but he also strikes out a ton and this year’s .260 average was actually his career-high. A complete wild card in this system.

No. 19 Kelvin DeLeon
Short-season right fielder
Stock might have slipped through a .236 average with six home runs and 80 strikeouts. Just turned 20, so there’s plenty of room to grow, but also a long way to go.

No. 20 Jose Ramirez
Low-A right-handed starter
A good arm lurking in the lower-levels of the Yankees minor league system, he had a  3.60 ERA with 105 strikeouts in Charleston this season. For now, he exists in the shadows of the pitchers ahead of him, but he’s certainly not an unknown. He’s a legitimate prospect in his own right.

No. 21 Graham Stoneburner
High-A right-handed starter
Leading into this season, Stoneburner was a favorite among writers and bloggers who closely follow the Yankees minor league system. He proved those believers right with a 2.41 ERA between Charleston and Tampa. He could be one of the fastest-rising stars in the organization, and there is considerable speculation that he could eventually end up in the bullpen, making ascent even faster.

No. 22 David Adams
Injured Double-A second baseman
Off to a .309 start in Trenton, Adams’ season was cut short by an ankle injury that cost him the bulk of the year and might have cost the Yankees a shot at Cliff Lee. I tend to lump Adams and Joseph together as Double-A guys able to play second or third. He seemed to be showing a lot this season, but it’s hard to make much of 39 games.

No. 23 Caleb Cotham
Injured
Cotham should have been in Charleston, but a pair of surgeries left him unable to pitch in an actual game this season. He has only eight professional innings to his name.

No. 24. Hector Noesi
Triple-A right-handed starter
Noesi had pitched only nine games above Low A when the Yankees put him on the 40-man roster this season. That said a lot about their expectations, and Noesi lived up them with a season that catapulted him into Baseball America’s Top 10. From High-A to Double-A to Triple-A, he could be next year’s Ivan Nova.

No. 25 David Phelps
Triple-A right-handed starter
There’s a common theme among most of these back-end starting pitchers: Except the injured Cotham, they were all outstanding. This was Phelps’ second full season, and he finished it with a 3.07 ERA in 12 Triple-A outings.

No. 26 Adam Warren
Double-A right-handed starter
Kind of like a one-year-younger version of Phelps, Warren had a 3.15 ERA in 10 Double-A starts after opening the year with a 2.22 in Tampa. The upper-level pitching depth in this system is incredible, as evidenced by the fact neither Phelps nor Warren deserved a spot among the Yankees Top 10 prospects.

No. 27 Kevin Russo
Major League utility
Russo’s value is in his ability to do a lot of things well. He served that role perfectly  as a call-up who shifted to left-field when the Yankees were searching for outfield help. Nothing flashy, but when he was getting regular at-bats, he was contributing. He could easily play that same role next season.

No. 28 Dellin Betances
Double-A right-handed starter
This is the biggest leap of the bunch, and his jump into the Top 10 had as much to do with his health as his performance. Betances has always been a premier talent, but this year he got healthy and stayed healthy through a dominant second half. Expectations are sky
high again. He just has to stay off the disabled list this time.

No. 29 Jairo Heredia
High-A right-handed starter
Kind of like Nova in 2008 and Noesi in 2009, the Yankees have to decide whether to protect Heredia from the Rule 5 or take their chances that an unproven but talented young pitcher will sneak through. Heredia just turned 21, but he pitched just six times above Low A this season. Opponents there hit .359 against him.

No. 30 Jamie Hoffmann
Rule 5 pick sent back to Dodgers
The Yankees were clearly never planning to bring back Brian Bruney this offseason, so they traded him away for the right to draft Hoffmann. He hung around spring training for a while, but was ultimately sent back to the Dodgers. He hit .310 with eight home runs, 17 steals and 36 doubles in Triple-A.

First pitch of the World Series is just minutes away, and it’s the team that landed Cliff Lee that’s representing the American League.

On the morning of July 9, the Yankees seemed on their way to being that team. They had a deal in place, acquiring Lee for a package of prospects headlined by Jesus Montero. It was more or less a press release away from being done. The Yankees were — oddly enough — in Seattle at the time, and I just remember a long day of phone calls and text messages, and constantly refreshing the Twitter account of any writer who seemed plugged into the Mariners front office.

No need to rehash the whole thing here, but the short story is this: The Mariners were spooked by David Adams’ faulty ankle. They asked to change the package, and Brian Cashman said no. Adams had been on the disabled list for weeks, and it’s hard to imagine the injury came as a surprise. We’ll never know of course, but it’s easy to imagine the whole thing being a ploy by the Mariners.

Suddenly, the Rangers were in the mix, and Lee was on his way to Texas for a package built around Justin Smoak.

“I would do the same thing again,” Cashman said.

Here’s Mariners president Chuck Armstrong’s account of what happened that day:

“I went home Thursday night, thinking we had a deal with the Yankees,” Armstrong told the Seattle Times. “Pending an exchange of the physical information of the players involved. The next morning, when we got into the details of the physicals of the players involved, one of the players that was coming to us from the Yankees was disabled, and based upon the best medical information that our team medical director, Edward Khalfayan, had, he recommended that we not proceed.

“Jack (Zduriencik) and his people then spent some time with the Yankees trying to come up with an alternative player, or players, to replace that player. Or even players to be named later. If we could come up with that. In the meantime, other clubs became involved. The White Sox, Minnesota and Texas to name a few.”

Given the end results, it’s easy to second guess and wonder if Cashman should have agreed to the changes – apparently adding either Ivan Nova or Eduardo Nunez to the deal – but from an outside perspective, the whole thing seems odd. From the Mariners perspective, they were really shocked that Adams had a bad ankle? From the Yankees perspective, Nova or Nunez was a deal breaker?

It just doesn’t add up, and that’s coming from a guy who really likes both Nova and Nunez. Truth is, these deals generally have more to do with the biggest names involved, and if the Mariners preferred Smoak over Montero, then Lee was always going to end up in Texas.

Was it a turning point for the Yankees season? It very well could have been, but it also could have been Cashman being taken for a ride and refusing to participate.

“When you put yourself in a position to make decisions like that, you make them and you live with them,” Cashman said.

Associated Press photo of Lee

Every report seems to mention the same two names — Jesus Montero and David Adams — going to the Mariners in the possible Cliff Lee deal. There could be a third prospect as well. For now we know these two names.

Jesus Montero
Triple-A, catcher
.253, 6 HR, 35 RBI
Considered one of the top hitting prospects in baseball, Montero  has routinely faced questions about his ability to stay behind the plate. He seems to have made progress as a catcher, but it’s always been his bat that has wowed scouts and tantalized executives.
Why keep him? Because he can hit, and he’s shown signs of adjusting to Triple-A the past month and a half. After rocky two months, Montero was hitting .283 since June. His power numbers haven’t been overwhelming, but there’s enough of a track record to think that won’t be a problem.
Why trade him? Because there’s still no guarantee that he’s a viable defensive option in the major leagues, but mostly because Austin Romine is right behind him, apparently ready for a call-up to Triple-A. Romine is believed to be more polished behind the plate, and he’s hitting .281 with six home runs and 44 RBI in Double-A. The Yankees also have Gary Sanchez, J.R. Murphy and Kyle Higashioka in the minors, plus Jorge Posada signed for one more year in the majors. Catcher is a position of strength and depth in the system.

David Adams
Double-A, second baseman
.309, 3 HR, 32 RBI
Injured since mid-May, Adams was off to a terrific start in Double-A. He’s a former third-round pick who breezed through Low-A and High-A last season, but an ankle injury sidelined him this season. He entered the season as clearly one of the top two or three infield prospects in the system.
Why keep him? Because he might have enough bat to be more than a utility man in the big leagues. The Yankees have plenty of utility options, but Adams is a fairly polished hitter out of the University of Virginia. He has some experience at third base, so he could become defensively flexible if necessary.
Why trade him? Mostly because Robinson Cano is an MVP candidate, Alex Rodriguez is a superstar and neither is going anywhere. Also, one of the Yankees prospects-on-the-rise is High-A second baseman Corban Joseph who’s hitting .315 with six home runs down in Tampa. Not to knock him, but given the player’s ultimate upside and the Yankees current roster status, clearly Montero is tougher to give up than Adams.