top ten Yankees prospects today

Baseball America published their list of the top ten Yankees prospects today, and the list is free for all. The scouting reports, however, are not. You need a subscription for them. The four names atop the list shouldn’t be a surprise (the order might), but things do get a little wacky after that. Let’s break it down…

1. OF Mason Williams
2. OF Slade Heathcott
3. C Gary Sanchez
4. OF Tyler Austin
5. RHP Jose Campos
6. RHP Brett Marshall
7. 2B Angelo Gumbs
8. LHP Manny Banuelos
9. RHP Ty Hensley
10. RHP Rafael DePaula

Two things stand out about the list. First, the Yankees are suddenly very top heavy with position player prospects, particularly outfielders. Outside of Jesus Montero, their recent top tens were mostly dominated by upper level arms. The Yankees are going to need that infusion of young bats and relatively soon, but Heathcott is only position player on the list who I think will open next year at Double-A. Austin has a chance, but it would surprise me a bit.

(NY Daily News)

Secondly, everyone’s hurt. Five of those ten guys missed significant time this season due to injury, and that doesn’t include Hensley’s shoulder “abnormality” or the month Austin missed with a mild concussion. Heathcott (shoulder) obviously came back healthy and Gumbs (elbow) has as well (based on the fact that he’s playing winter ball), plus Williams (shoulder) was just cleared to resume workouts. Banuelos will miss all of next season with Tommy John surgery though, and a club official said Campos (elbow) will “hopefully” be ready for Spring Training in the subscriber-only write-up. That doesn’t sound promising, but what can you do.

The write-ups include scouting grades (on the 20-80 scale) for each team’s top prospect and the grades for Williams are just insane — 60 hit, 60 power, 70 speed, 70 defense, 50 arm. That’s four above-average tools and one average one. Those are future grades and not present — they think he’ll grow into a 60 hitter, not that he is one today — but they still seem a little optimistic, particularly the power. A 60/60 bat is a .290-.300 hitter with 25 or so homers. Add the 70 speed and 70 defense and you’ve got 30+ steals and near Gold Glove defense. That’s a star player, it’s Grady Sizemore in his prime, but again the grades strike me as optimistic based on everything we’ve heard about Williams to this point.

Elsewhere in the write-up they note that Heathcott offers “explosive tools” — yesterdayKeith Law said Heathcott has louder tools than Williams, though Mason is more refined — and that while Sanchez doesn’t stack up to Montero offensively, he has a much better chance of sticking behind the plate. Campos was “electric” before getting hurt while Banuelos was still struggling to command his fastball. They call DePaula the biggest x-factor in the system and say his “ceiling is as high as any Yankees minor league pitcher.” He’ll make the big jump to High-A Tampa next year.

With Banuelos essentially out for the season, the only top ten prospect who figures to spend significant time at Triple-A next year will be Marshall. The Yankees will have Adam Warren and maybe a veteran signing or two ahead of him on the call-up depth chart, possibly even Dellin Betances if things break right. The talent gap that has been slowly climbing the ladder in recent years has hit Triple-A, meaning the Bombers will have to make sure they bring in some depth pieces via free agency to shore up potential holes on the big league roster. The team’s top prospects just aren’t in a position to help next year, and maybe not in 2014 as well.

boone yankees

What Went Right: Boone Logan’s first half

By Eric Schultz in Players. Tags: Boone Logan, What Went Right · Comments(4) ·

(Nick Laham/Getty Images)

It was a year of two halves for Boone Logan, the Yankees’ polarizing southpaw reliever.  As a founder of the Boone Logan fan club on Twitter and a frequent defender of his, I believe I might be of service in this discussion.  I have always viewed Logan as useful bullpen piece: lefties with his power fastball-slider combo don’t grow on trees, and at times he is not entirely useless against opposite-handed hitters.  He doesn’t have the consistency or command at this stage in his career to be a Matt Thornton type who is deadly against both righties and lefties, but he is a solid contributor in the Yankee ‘pen.  In the first half of 2012, Logan at times looked like he was taking the next step and becoming the kind of shutdown lefty that the Yankees have been fruitlessly seeking for many years.

Logan got off to a strong start to 2012, giving up just one run in the first month of the season, and striking out about 13 batters per nine innings (though with a walk rate approaching 5/9 innings).  May was a rougher month ERA-wise as he gave up five runs in 9 2/3 innings, but his peripherals were vastly improved — he walked just one batter the entire month.  June saw him give up just two runs, though his strikeout rate dropped somewhat.  Overall in those first three months of the season, Logan’s line was: 28 innings, 37 strikeouts, eight runs (2.57 ERA), 11 walks, and two homers allowed while being used very heavily by manager Joe Girardi.

In a post I wrote earlier in the year for TYA, I wondered what was the cause for Logan’s early success.  One area that I highlighted was a change in Logan’s pitch mix, where he was throwing more sliders than in previous years, and fewer fastballs.  He was also getting vastly improved whiff rates on the slider, indicating that he was not losing effectiveness by throwing it more often. There was some tangible evidence suggesting that the big first half was legitimate improvement and not a small sample size fluke.

While it was only three months, Logan’s first half performance was very important for the Yankees.  Their bullpen depth was shortened due to injuries/ineffectiveness of several guys ahead of him on the depth chart.  He often worked in a setup role rather than just as a specialist, and he handled himself quite nicely.  While the Yankees obviously still missedMariano Rivera and Joba Chamberlain, Boone’s early effectiveness did help to cushion the blow.  Logan’s heavy workload in the first half (where he was among the league leader in relief appearances) may have taken a toll on him later in the season, but there is no question that he answered the bell when the team needed him early on.

sandman Yankees

TARRYTOWN, N.Y. -- From a distance of 60 feet and six inches, it took Mariano Rivera all of six tosses to scatter splinters of lumber, a familiar accomplishment for the mortal enemy of Louisville Sluggers everywhere.

But there were no hitters and no catcher as Rivera climbed back atop a mound for the first time since his season-ending injury. His tosses were part of a commercial shoot, during which he gleefully destroyed a wooden camera shield.

"I'm feeling good," said Rivera, who made about 25 throws on the Hackley School's snow-covered diamond. "The rehab has been great; it's been tough, but at the same time, I'm seeing good results. I can't wait to continue and stay 100 percent. A day at a time, like I always tell you guys. A day at a time."

Rivera, who turns 43 later this month, flashed his smooth, iconic form as he tossed prop baseballs toward a protected cameraman, showing no ill effects from a torn right anterior cruciate ligament, an injury that truncated his season in May.

One week ago, Rivera told general manager Brian Cashman that he decided to continue pitching in 2013. Currently a free agent after the expiration of his two-year, $30 million deal, Rivera is leaving negotiations in the hands of Cashman and agent Fernando Cuza.

"Like I told you guys before, I didn't want to go out like that," Rivera said. "At the same time, we haven't discussed anything. We're talking, so hopefully we'll finalize everything."

Rivera had told Cashman in an earlier conversation that he wasn't sure about his plans for 2013, and the game's all-time saves leader had contemplated retirement in the past.

But the memory of writhing in pain on the warning track of Kansas City's Kauffman Stadium is luring him back to change the ending.

"I didn't want to go out like that," he said. "I felt like I have something left, and [I should] give it a shot. Why not?"

Manager Joe Girardi mentioned this week that Rivera was admonished during the season for trying to throw sooner than advised, using the incident as evidence that he believed all along that Rivera planned on returning for another big league season.

But with months to go until the Spring Training report date for pitchers and catchers, Rivera is in no hurry to push his rehab to the next level, no matter how good it might have looked to see him back on a mound.

"I have a long time to go. I'm not rushing," he said. "I just have to make sure that my knee gets stronger. It does. It's getting stronger and stronger every day. I'm happy with that. I just have to continue what I'm doing."

Bryan Hoch is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @bryanhoch and read his MLBlog, Bombers Beat. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Discover MLB.com with your friends

gone for Yankees

Kuroda, Soriano & Swisher all decline qualifying offer

By Mike Axisa

As expected, Rafael Soriano, Nick Swisher, and Hiroki Kuroda have all declined their qualifying offers. The first two guys made their intentions known last night, but there was still a small chance that Kuroda would accept the one-year, $13.3M contract by today’s deadline. He’s generated enough interest so far that finding more money shouldn’t be an issue.

The Yankees are now entitled to draft pick compensation whenever one of these guys signs with another team. That pick will be a supplemental first rounder, though they won’t receive the other team’s first round pick as with the old rules. Based on last year’s slot system, each of these compensation picks will carry a seven-figure slot value, which will really help the draft pool situation. Of course the Yankees will have a hard time replacing all three of these guys if they sign elsewhere, so the pick is little more than a consolation prize. · (4) ·

bad service for USPS aging

i have a on going problem with USPS and stamps not picking up for my business today was one more
 bad service saying they picked up at 10:59am lie i still have not got a pick up i call at 1:15pm 11-9-12

COIT

3400 COIT RD
PLANO, TX 75075-9998

Share this location>

(3400 COIT RD PLANO, TX 75075)

800-ASK-USPS® (800-275-8777)

• Phone 972-599-9631
• Fax 972-599-2267
• TTY 877-889-2457

Retail Hours

• Mon-Fri 9:00am - 5:00pm
• Sat 9:00am - 12:00pm
• Sun Closed

 

Last Collection Hours

• Mon-Fri 5:00pm
• Sat 1:00pm
• Sun Closed

Lobby Hours

• Mon-Sun 12:01am - 11:59pm

 

PO Box Access Hours

• Mon-Sun 12:01am - 11:59pm

Carrier Facility Hours

• Mon-Fri 8:30am - 5:00pm
• Sat 9:00am - 12:00pm
• Sun Closed

and was told they was going to send the person back out to do pick up still haven't

 

well only means one thing we need to bill USPS for this .

https://twitter.com/thundercatsnyy/status/267007228064722944

bad service saying they picked up at 10:59am lie @usps @oigusps@uspsconnect http://twitpic.com/bbshpg 

•  Reply 
•  Delete 
•  Favorite 
•  More

By big k @thundercatsnyy

bad service saying they picked up at 10:59am lie @usps @oigusps @uspsconnect
this Shi'ite Thank you for shipping with the U.S. Postal Service.This is to confirm that a successful Carrier Pickup was made as requested: nope still here 

Yankees lost a gm

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (AP) -- Lee MacPhail, the longtime baseball executive who ruled in the celebrated Pine Tar case and later became part of the only father-son Hall of Fame pairing, has died. He was 95.

He was the oldest Hall of Famer, and he died Thursday night at his home in Delray Beach, Fla., the shrine said Friday.

''There's not much I haven't done off the field other than commissioner,'' he said during a 1985 interview with The Associated Press when he retired after 4 1-2 decades in the sport.

In the second generation of one of baseball's most foremost families - his son, Andy, also was in the front office for several teams - MacPhail's most well-known moment in baseball came in 1983. He upheld Kansas City's protest in the Pine Tar Game against the New York Yankees, restoring a ninth-inning home run to Royals slugger George Brett - also a future Hall of Famer.

''Lee MacPhail was one of the great executives in baseball history and a Hall of Famer in every sense, both personally and professionally,'' Commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement. ''His hallmarks were dignity, common sense and humility. He was not only a remarkable league executive, but was a true baseball man.''

With MacPhail's death, Bobby Doerr at 94 becomes the oldest living Hall of Famer.

''Baseball history has lost a great figure in Lee MacPhail, whose significant impact on the game spanned five decades,'' Hall chairman Jane Forbes Clark said. ''He will always be remembered in Cooperstown as a man of exemplary kindness and a man who always looked after the best interests of the game.''

Lee MacPhail was the son of Larry MacPhail, a top executive with the Cincinnati Reds, Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees.

Born Leland Stanford MacPhail Jr. in Nashville, Tenn., on Oct. 25, 1917, he was general manager at minor league Reading, went on to work for the Yankees in 1949 and spent a decade as farm director and player personnel director, with players he developed winning seven World Series titles.

He moved to the Baltimore Orioles as general manager in 1959 and six years later returned to New York as chief administrative assistant for new baseball Commissioner Spike Eckert. He returned to the Yankees as general manager from 1967-73, and left after George Steinbrenner bought the team to become AL president in 1974.

A member of management's labor negotiating team along with NL President Chub Feeney during the 1981 midseason strike, he also headed the AL when it added the designated hitter for the 1973 season and expanded to Seattle and Toronto for 1977.

After he stepped down as league president following the 1983 season, he served two years as president of the owners' Player Relations Committee, overseeing bargaining during a two-day strike in 1985. He was elected to the Hall as an executive in 1998, 20 years after his father.

In the famed Pine Tar case, MacPhail overruled plate umpire Tim McClelland and crew chief Joe Brinkman and restored a home run to Brett. After Yankees manager Billy Martin argued that Brett's bat had excessive pine tar when he hit a two-run, ninth-inning homer at Yankees Stadium on July 24, McClelland called Brett out, the final out in a 4-3 New York victory.

Brett stormed out of the dugout, eyes bulging, in one of baseball's most replayed arguments. Four days later, MacPhail upheld a protest for the first time as league president, said the home run counted and ordered the game to continue from that point. When the game was completed Aug. 18, the Royals held on to win 5-4.

While the pine tar extended more than 18 inches past the handle, the limit set by baseball's rules, MacPhail said taking away the home run was improper.

''The umpires' interpretation, while technically defensible, is not in accord with the intent or spirit of the rules and that the rules do not provide that a hitter be called out for excessive use of pine tar. The rules provide instead that the bat be removed from the game,'' he wrote. ''Although manager Martin and his staff should be commended for their alertness, it is the strong conviction of the league that games should be won and lost on the playing field - not through technicalities of the rules.''

He retired at the end of that season.

Son Andy became GM of the Minnesota Twins, president of the Chicago Cubs and president of baseball operations of the Orioles. From the next generation, Andy MacPhail IV worked for the Cleveland Indians and is a scout for the Orioles.

The Hall said no services are planned and a memorial will be held later.

CNN Breaking News - CIA Director David Petraeus is quitting, citing personal reasons, a government source says

Los Angeles Lakers fire head coach Mike Brown after 1-4 start to the season, source says - espn http://t.co/HVge2JOP

mike brown been fired from Lakers today

AP sources: Navy SEALs punished for secrets breach - http://bit.ly/SA7CU6

bank of Texas lost in court

If you paid overdraft fees related to a BOKF, N.A.* debit card, check card, or ATM card, you could receive a payment or account credit from a class action settlement.

September 13, 2012 UPDATE: On September 13, 2012, Judge James Lawrence King granted final approval to the Settlement and issued a Final Approval Order and Final Judgment. If no appeals are filed, payments will be mailed to qualifying Settlement Class Members or credited to each qualifying Settlement Class Members’ BOKF, N.A. Account no later than November 16, 2012.

Case Background

The purpose of this website is to inform you about a proposed settlement of this class action lawsuit and about all of your options before the Court decides whether to give “final approval” to the settlement. This website explains the lawsuit, the settlement, your legal rights, what benefits are available, who may be eligible for those benefits, and how to get them.

If approved by the Court, this settlement resolves the cases known as In Re: Checking Account Overdraft Litigation, Case No. 1:09-md-02036-JLK; Terry Case v. Bank of Oklahoma, N.A., W.D. OK Case No. 5:10-00901-L, S.D. FL Case No. 1:11-cv-20815-JLK; Susan Eaton v. Bank of Oklahoma, N.A., et al., Case No. CJ-2010-5209; and Bryan Ramer v. Bank of Oklahoma,N.A., Case No. CJ-2010-05841.

A settlement has been reached with BOKF, N.A. about the posting of debit card transactions in order of highest to lowest dollar amount and resulting overdraft fees. The settlement offers payments to eligible people who paid overdraft fees to Bank of Oklahoma, N.A., Bank of Arkansas, N.A., Bank of Albuquerque, N.A., Bank of Arizona, N.A., Bank of Kansas City, N.A., Bank of Texas, N.A., and Colorado State Bank and Trust, N.A. from January 1, 2005 through August 31, 2011. BOKF, N.A., denies all of plaintiffs’ claims and says that it did nothing wrong.

BOKF, N.A. will pay $19 million to a settlement Fund to make payments to eligible Settlement Class Members as well as to pay attorneys’ fees, costs, expenses, and Service Awards.

Payments or credits will be automatically made to Settlement Class Members. Details on the formulas for determining payment amounts and other settlement benefits are included in the Detailed Notice and the Settlement Agreement, both available on the Documents Page.

If you would like further information about the claims asserted in this case, you can review a copy of the Settlement Agreement on the Documents Page.

* BOKF, N.A.’s subsidiary banks are: Bank of Oklahoma, N.A., Bank of Arkansas, N.A., Bank of Albuquerque, N.A., Bank of Arizona, N.A., Bank of Kansas City, N.A., Bank of Texas, N.A., and Colorado State Bank and Trust, N.A.

Important Dates:

• July 30, 2012
  Deadline to request exclusion from the settlement.
• July 30, 2012
  Deadline to Object to the Proposed settlement
• August 29, 2012
  Fairness Hearing
• September 13, 2012
  Final Approval Granted
• November 16, 2012
  Award payments made to eligible Class Members

http://www.bokfoverdraftsettlement.com/

tino hire

Front office defections: Marlins hire Tino, Pirates hire Livesey By Mike Axisa

The Marlins have hired Tino Martinez to be their big league hitting coach according to multiple reports. While we all remember him for his days as a player, Tino has been with the Yankees as a Specialist Assistant to the GM since 2008. He worked with the club’s minor league prospects down in Tampa throughout the year, and the Yankees had to give him permission to interview with the Marlins. Martinez also did some games on the YES Network but to be honest, I won’t miss him. He was always better seen and not heard, if you catch my drift.

In other news, the Pirates have hired Bill Livesey as a Senior Advisor to GM Neal Huntington. Livesey spent two stints and over 20 years in the Yankees front office, most notably drafting Derek Jeter while serving as the team’s amateur scouting director from 1991-1996. He most recently worked with the team as one of Brian Cashman’s most trusted pro scouts from 2008-2011. · (13

ffb review

Kevin's Corner: FFB Review: "CATSPAW ORDEAL" by Edward Ronns---Reviewed by Barry Ergang

mind slices by Glenn walker

Kevin's Corner: A new review of MIND SLICES-----WELCOME TO HELL ~ by Glenn Walker: Mind Slices by Kevin R. Tipple

time almost

Kevin's Corner: Lesa's Latest Contest--Christmas Mysteries

good medicine

Kevin's Corner: Book Review: "Good Medicine: A Return to Common Sense" by Carol Roberts, M.D.