Down on the Farm

[DoubleX]

I'm thinking Kevin Thompson has a decent chance to make the team out of camp, at least by Yankee standards for farmhands are concerned. He's received a lot of action this spring and he's come through, plus he has very good speed. The Yankees will probably only carry 11 pitchers out of camp due to the injuries to Pavano and Small (and maybe Wright too), so Thompson could make it. The biggest hurdle will probably be Will Nieves. I'd like to see Nieves make the team as the backup catcher, but I don't believe in carrying three catchers. But Nieves is out of options so he might be given a shot out a camp.

[Mariano_Rivera]

I really think it would be nice if Ron Villone could regain his form at least to a degree because the media would not effect him (as some of you have noticed by now I am obsessed with the media's impact on the teams

[Mattingly]

Koyie Hill was claimed off waivers from
the Arizona Diamondbacks today.
(Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images)

Yankees claim C Koyie Hill off waivers from Arizona Diamondbacks

he New York Yankees announced today that they have claimed catcher Koyie Hill off waivers from the Arizona Diamondbacks. With Tuesday's (4/4) outright of RHP Jorge DePaula to Triple-A Columbus, the Yankees' 40-man roster now stands at 40. A corresponding 25-man roster move will be made when Hill reports to the team in Anaheim.

Hill, 27, started 23 games at catcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2005, batting .224 (17-for-76) with five doubles and six RBI as a starter. He has appeared in 50 Major League games with the Diamondbacks and the Los Angeles Dodgers and owns a .231 career batting average (27-for-117) with one home run and 12 RBI. He was acquired by the Diamondbacks from the Dodgers with LHP Bill Murphy and OF Reggie Abercrombie in exchange for OF Steve Finley and C Brent Mayne on July 31, 2004. Originally drafted by the Dodgers in 2000, Hill was designated for assignment by Arizona on April 2.

This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

[Mattingly]

Philip Hughes is Baseball America's top-ranked
prospect in the Yankees organization.
(Nick Laham/Getty Images)

Yanks promote Hughes to Trenton
Top prospect slated to make Eastern League debut Thursday

Former New York Yankees first-round draft pick Philip Hughes was promoted Sunday to the Double-A Trenton Thunder.

Hughes is slated to make his Eastern League debut on Thursday, when the Thunder host the Reading Phillies. The 19-year-old right-hander was 2-3 with a 1.80 ERA in five starts for Tampa in the Class A Advanced Florida State League.

Hughes allowed just 19 hits and two walks in 30 innings, striking out 30. FSL opponents batted just .187 against the 6-foot-5, 220-pound Georgia native. In his last outing on Friday, he gave up two runs on four hits over seven innings with a walk and six strikeouts in a 3-1 defeat to Dunedin.

The Yankees made Hughes the 23rd overall pick in the 2004 draft out of Foothill High School. A year later, in his first full professional season, he went 9-1 with a 2.19 ERA in 12 starts for Charleston of the South Atlantic League. The Yanks promoted him to Tampa, where he was 2-0 with a 3.06 ERA in five games (four starts).

Baseball America tabbed Hughes as the Yankees' No. 1 prospect entering the 2006 season. He attended his first Major League Spring Training earlier this year and went 1-0 with a 5.40 ERA in two games before he was reassigned.

[farmsystem]

I was looking at the Yankees minor league page and saw some interesting stats. First, Eric Duncan's numbers are horrible and he's put up unimpressive numbers up to now. Outside of Hughes the Yankees don't seem to have much in terms of good young starters. Rasner seems to be the only other good starter. Matt Smith seems like a decent lefty but Henn seems to have regressed.

[DoubleX]

I posted this in the Season thread, but why isn't Colter Bean on the big league roster yet? I don't understand why teams keep giving Scott Erickson a chance, the guy was done 6 or 7 seasons ago. Bean is tearing up AAA, he's earned his shot with the big league club.

I also think that Kevin Thompson should have been called up instead of Kevin Reese, since he has more upside, more speed, and more power, and could turn into a pleasant surprise. Whereas Reese is likely an end of the bench filler at best.

Eric Duncan is struggling mightily. At this point, he'd probably be better served by going to AA and getting his bearings there. He's still young enough that this does not have to be a major set back if handled properly.

[TonyStarks]

I posted this in the Season thread, but why isn't Colter Bean on the big league roster yet? I don't understand why teams keep giving Scott Erickson a chance, the guy was done 6 or 7 seasons ago. Bean is tearing up AAA, he's earned his shot with the big league club.

I also think that Kevin Thompson should have been called up instead of Kevin Reese, since he has more upside, more speed, and more power, and could turn into a pleasant surprise. Whereas Reese is likely an end of the bench filler at best.

Eric Duncan is struggling mightily. At this point, he'd probably be better served by going to AA and getting his bearings there. He's still young enough that this does not have to be a major set back if handled properly.

Amen! Why the hell are the Yanks rushing Duncan?
Let him take his licks in AA. He didn't have a good season @ AA last year, so why the hell did they promote him? He should have begun @ AA this season and hopefully he could have followed up his great Fall numbers here and build on that.

As for Colter and Thompson, I asked the same questions in another thread.
Why? Why do the Yanks and other teams waste their time with guys like Erickson and Cairo? Give a younger player a shot and you could be plesantly surprised. I don't understand the logic.


Colter Bean:
21.2 Innings ::: 2-0 Record ::: 12 Hits Allowed ::: 6 BBs ::: 26 Ks ::: 0.42 ERA ::: 0.99 WHP

Bean had a 3.01 ERA and 82 strikeouts in 71 2/3 IP for Triple-A Columbus last season.

[DoubleX]

Amen! Why the hell are the Yanks rushing Duncan?
Let him take his licks in AA. He didn't have a good season @ AA last year, so why the hell did they promote him? He should have begun @ AA this season and hopefully he could have followed up his great Fall numbers here and build on that.

Duncan tore up the Fall league last year, I think he won the league's MVP, so that might have to do with his acceleration to AAA, but you're right, he needs to master AA first.

[TonyStarks]

Duncan tore up the Fall league last year, I think he won the league's MVP, so that might have to do with his acceleration to AAA, but you're right, he needs to master AA first.

Yanks are gonna ruin him.
Also is he back to playing 3B now that Pena has moved into Colombus?
I think he may have had to move to 3B again so Pena could slide into 1B.

[DoubleX]

Yanks are gonna ruin him.
Also is he back to playing 3B now that Pena has moved into Colombus?
I think he may have had to move to 3B again so Pena could slide into 1B.

I don't know where he's been playing, but it would seem logical to have him stay at 1B since Rodriguez will be blocking that path for the foreseeable future.

[TonyStarks]

I don't know where he's been playing, but it would seem logical to have him stay at 1B since Rodriguez will be blocking that path for the foreseeable future.

That does sound logical, but don't the Yanks want Pena's glove @ 1B as a backup for Giambi for now? I thought that's why they picked him up.

[DoubleX]

That does sound logical, but don't the Yanks want Pena's glove @ 1B as a backup for Giambi for now? I thought that's why they picked him up.

Indeed, that's why the perfect answer is to send Duncan down to AA Trenton where he can play 1B full time and get up to speed on that level before tackling AAA.

[mikesty]

*SIGH* Yankee management makes me cringe AGAIN

1. Send down Erickson for Bean and/or Matt Smith

2. Send down Reese for Thompson. I think this will actually happen soon if Crosby has some sort of injury and they conclude thar Reese sucks. BERNIE won't be able to take it anymore - B. Williams should NOT be our everyday outfielder.

3. Give him a few weeks, but if Andy Philips can't break the damn Mendoza line, then send him back to AAA for Pena.. or just get Giambi back at first already. As another poster said, I'd rather have Giambino's stopping and catching ability than Philips throwing/playmaking ability.

[DoubleX]

Looks like Bubba Crosby may be headed to the DL, same with Shawn Chacon, who will at the very least, likely be missing Sunday's start. Here's a NY Daily News Article.

Anyone know who will be replacing Chacon on Sunday? I'd like to see Proctor be given a shot. Hopefully Torre will not go with Erickson.

[TonyStarks]

Looks like Bubba Crosby may be headed to the DL, same with Shawn Chacon, who will at the very least, likely be missing Sunday's start. Here's a NY Daily News Article.

Anyone know who will be replacing Chacon on Sunday? I'd like to see Proctor be given a shot. Hopefully Torre will not go with Erickson.

I think Small may get the start on Sunday unless Torre has a brilliant idea and tells us that Erickson's gonna start.

[Mattingly]

3-zip so far, and those hits just keep on comin'!

I think Small may get the start on Sunday unless Torre has a brilliant idea and tells us that Erickson's gonna start.

If all else fails, I'll find my way and do a little warmup this weekend. Who said I'm only good for the online stuff?

[TonyStarks]

3-zip so far, and those hits just keep on comin'!

If all else fails, I'll find my way and do a little warmup this weekend. Who said I'm only good for the online stuff?

Oh well...so much for that....3 Innings / 5 Runs! LOL
Retire already!!!

[callingit]

I saw Trenton play on Sunday. the future is not very bright. Phillip Hughes has been struggling and Trenton's best hitter is Shelly Duncan, a big first baseman who's batting about .240 with 10 homers. He went 3 for 5 Sunday with a homer, double and single (just missed a second homer-a little out in front), but he's already 27 and still in double-A.

Shawn Chacon started in his rehab assignment, went five not so impressive innings considering who he was pitching against, then left with a 5-3 lead. The bullpen promptly gave up the lead in the top of the sixth and lost the game in the ninth.

[TonyStarks]

Hughes has been struggling but remember, he's 19YO.
He did well during Spring Training and I expect good things out of him.

As for Duncan, I keep saying this. They have to send him back to AA before he loses all confidence and is ruined.

Shelly Duncan is not a very good player.
He doesn't make enough contact but when he does...My my my.
He's like a Rob Deer.

[callingit]

Rob Deer is a very good comparison. BTW, Eric Duncan was sent down to Trenton on Thursday.

[TonyStarks]

Rob Deer is a very good comparison. BTW, Eric Duncan was sent down to Trenton on Thursday.

That's good news. I just hope that Eric hasn't been ruined and knows this isn't a "demotion" per se....just a touch up refresher course.

[Mattingly]

Someone on another board said he was a year or two away. At least he's doing well in Trenton.

Hughes flirts with no-hitter

TRENTON --Sometimes it's the veterans who lead a ball club, and then some days, the kids take over.

Like pitching phenom Philip Hughes.

The young Trenton pitcher was the story last night at Waterfront Park. In just his ninth Double-A start, the 19-year-old right-hander pitched seven one-hit shutout in nings, striking out eight, as the Thunder blanked the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, 3-0. The Fisher Cats pulled off a triple play half- way through the game, but it wasn't enough to overcome Hughes.

Trenton drew first blood in the bottom of the fifth when Eric Dun can drew a lead-off walk, Justin Christian singled and Kevin Howard drove Duncan home. However, the Thunder were taken out of a big inning when catcher Omir San tos grounded to Fisher Cats third baseman Brad Hassey, playing close to the bag. Hassey was able to step on third and force Howard at second. The relay to first easily beat the slow-moving Santos. It was the first triple play involving the Thunder since July 1, 2002.

THUNDER 3 NEW HAMPSHIRE 0 Meanwhile, Hughes took a no-hitter into the top of the sixth before allowing a one- out double down the left field line by the Fisher Cats' Justin Singleton (son of Yankees announcer Ken Singleton). The home crowd of 4,923 gave Hughes a nice hand, but the youngster, temporarily rattled, walked the next batter. Second baseman Gabe Lopez saved him with a nice snare of a pop-up in short center field, and Hughes struck out the next batter.

[Mattingly]

Hopefully, we'll be able to see this guy in 2007. I wouldn't mind one bit.


Tom Mihalek for The New York Times
The Trenton Thunder's Phil
Hughes gave up one hit over
eight innings in a victory on
Friday, his last as a teenager.

Barely 20 Years Old, but Coming of Age Fast

Phil Hughes had no big plans to celebrate the end of his teenage years Friday. He had finished a workday at Waterfront Park in Trenton, and the next day he would be 20 years old. Twenty years old and still a Yankee.

"It was hot tonight," Hughes said outside the clubhouse of the Class AA Trenton Thunder, after pitching eight one-hit innings to beat a team from Norwich, Conn. "I'm pretty gassed. I just want to get in bed."

Then Hughes, the youngest player in the Eastern League and the best prospect in the Yankees' farm system, thought of something else. "I'll probably talk to my mom for a while," he said.

Hughes's parents live in Santa Ana, Calif. He so adores California that he has a tattoo of a swallow on his back as a tribute to his old hometown, San Juan Capistrano, where swallows leave in the fall and return every spring.

Hughes will not be returning soon, at least not permanently. He recently purchased a condominium in Tampa, Fla., the city where Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and George Steinbrenner live. It is where Yankees go for the winter.

[TonyStarks]

On Hughes:

In his last four starts he is 2-1, 0.96 with 33 strikeouts in 28 innings

[DoubleX]

I keep reading that there are all these scouts from other teams watching Hughes every time he pitches. I really, really hope that the Yankees don't do something stupid and trade him, especially for a rental corner OFer like Carlos Lee or Alfonso Soriano. The only player I can rationalize giving Hughes up for is Dontrelle Willis, but I don't see that happening. But even then, I'd rather see Hughes, a potential home grown ace, given a shot to succeed with the team.