Team: New York Yankees Burning Question How will the eagerly anticipated Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre rotation shake down? Yankees fans have already been buying up tickets for a road trip to Lackawanna County Stadium so they can get a first-hand look at a pitching staff that will likely qualify as one of the best in the Minors, at least to start the season (when some of these top prospects will move up to New York is anyone's guess). While decisions still have to be made with the Major League staff that will impact the lower clubs, the rotation will likely feature Phil Hughes, the Yankees' No. 1 pick in 2004, as well as Humberto Sanchez and Ross Ohlendorf, the top prospects acquired in offseason deals with Detroit (for Gary Sheffield) and Arizona (for Randy Johnson), respectively. "Those three are pretty much certain," Yankees senior vice president of baseball operations Mark Newman had said in February. Still, "pretty much" has to wait for the Major League staff to get settled, and for Sanchez to be 100 percent recovered from a sore forearm which has sidelined him so far this spring. "I think a lot of the Scranton rotation will be dependent on what happens with the big-league rotation, so of course we'll see how it shakes down in the next couple of weeks," said Pat Roessler, the Yankees' director of player development. "Our first priority is to have guys ready for the big leagues in case something happens there." The fourth spot in the Scranton rotation will likely be held by right-hander Tyler Clippard, who posted a 3.35 ERA at Trenton last year and was reassigned to Minor League camp on Thursday. That No. 5 position, though, was very much up in the air with a slew of deserving candidates battling it out. "It's an interesting match for the last spot," Newman said, throwing such names as Steven Jackson (over from Arizona with Ohlendorf), Steven White (2.11 at Trenton and 4.71 at Columbus in 2006) and Matt DeSalvo (6-10, 6.40 between Trenton and Triple-A Columbus in 2006) into the mix. If, as it appears, Sanchez joins the rotation a little later than Opening Day, it could mean a reprieve for whoever No. 6 would have been. And those starters who do not make that tough staff could return to Double-A Trenton to start the season, where they would join a potential ace in left-hander Chase Wright, who was 12-3 with a 1.88 ERA at Tampa in 2006 to earn Florida State League Pitcher of the Year honors. So Newman and Roessler know they're going to have some less-than-pleasant conversations with some disappointed pitchers who had hoped to go to Triple-A when camp breaks. But Newman also realizes that things could be a lot worse -- like not having to have those conversations. "They're not a lot of fun for people in player development, but the other side of the coin is that when you're faced with those tough decisions, it's not a bad thing," he said. "I'm going into my 19th season with the Yankees and this is easily the most pitching depth and quality we've ever had in the system." Other News of the Day The Yankees' Minor League camp was infused with a few more pitchers as Hughes, Ohlendorf and Wright were all reassigned from Major League camp to the Himes Complex on Friday. ... RHP Ian Kennedy, the Yankees' top pick in 2006 out of USC, will be taking the mound Saturday in a Minor League intersquad game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays' Class A prospects. He made a very brief pro debut in 2006 with two innings of work at Staten Island. Kennedy and RHP Joba Chamberlain, the club's supplemental first-rounder who will be making his pro debut in '07, are expected to start the season in the Class A Advanced Tampa rotation. Fellow top prospect RHP Dellin Betances, a 6-foot-8 blue chipper out of high school in Brooklyn, will be taken a little slower and could start at Class A Charleston. Betances posted a sparkling 1.16 ERA in seven starts in the Gulf Coast League last summer. Along with the Scranton aces, those three rank as the top pitching prospects in the system. ... The club was pleased with the progress of Kyle Anson, who has been making the transition from third base to catcher. Though he missed part of 2006 with a leg injury, hitting .252 in 37 games at Staten Island in his pro debut, he's back at full health and was making "tremendous progress" according to Roessler. He was clocked at 1.85 seconds throwing to second base on Thursday. #ques_include {width:300px;float:right;margin-left:5px;} #ques_content {border-top:1px solid #4C8CA8;border-left:1px solid #4C8CA8;padding-left:5px;} .ques_schedule {margin-top:5px;font-size:11px;} .ques_dates {font-size:11px;font-style:italic;color:#999;} 
Five Questions with Dellin Betances MiLB.com: Because you're from Brooklyn, we have to ask this. When you were growing up, Mets or Yankees? DB: Yankees, Yankees, Yankees! I liked Gary Sheffield and Derek Jeter. I got to meet (Jeter) this spring. He's a great guy. MiLB.com: Where were you on the day of the draft and how did you react when you found out you'd been drafted by the Yankees? DB: I was at my coach's house in Brooklyn. One of my summer league teammates was drafted the pick before me by Boston. And then they called out my name because we were watching it online on the computer and I couldn't believe it. The Yankees! To grow up being a Yankee fan and be drafted by them was like a dream come true. MiLB.com: What was it like the first time you put on the pinstripes? DB: It was a great feeling. You check all the Hall of Famers who played in that uniform, like Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, it's an honor playing with them. MiLB.com: Who is the one person in history you'd like to have dinner with and why? DB: Roberto Clemente, because he was a great Latin player who did a lot for the game of baseball. MiLB.com: What is your favorite aspect of playing in the Yankees organization and why? DB: Just wearing the Yankees uniform and practicing every day knowing I'm a Yankee. It's a great honor. Lasting Impression Impressions have been made in both the big league and Minor League camps this spring. On the Major League side at Legends Field, outfielder Bronson Sardinha has more than done his part to try to finally make his Major League debut as the 2001 supplemental first-round pick enters his seventh pro season. "He's had a big spring over there and I think he's coming into his own," Roessler said. "We're looking forward to seeing what he can do." Sardinha, whose brothers, Dane and Duke, are also Minor Leaguers, hit 16 homers and drove in 67 runs last season between Trenton (.254) and Triple-A Columbus (.286). Over in the Himes complex, meanwhile, outfielder Justin Christian continued to make the Yankees' decision to sign him out of the independent Frontier League in 2004 look brilliant. Starting his second season as an outfielder after his 2006 conversion from second base, the speedy Christian hit .276 with an organization-best 68 steals at Trenton last summer, leading the Eastern League in steals as well. "He's going to play in the big leagues," Roessler said. "I think he opened a lot of eyes last year making the transition to outfield so easily. He put in a lot of work." Off the Beaten Path It doesn't get much more "off the beaten path" than the Yankees' Minor League complex over on North Himes. Hidden behind Raymond James Stadium (where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers play) on a swath of land that better resembles the kind of spot where they set up a traveling county fair, the Minor Leaguers flash their leather on a set of fields beyond the sight of the thousands upon thousands of fans that gather on the other side of Dale Mabry Boulevard at Legends Field. Parting Shots All you have to do is look at the first names listed (as in the pitchers) for the work groups of each squad to know why there are a lot of smiling faces at Himes Complex these days. With a projected Scranton rotation which should be as impressive as any upper-level 1-2-3 punch in the Minors -- not to mention youngsters like Kennedy, Chamberlain and Betances a few levels down -- what's not to smile about? Even as the skies opened up just long enough to wash out the day's planned intersquad games, the proverbial skies were Yankee pinstripe blue. "We'd had great weather the first 10 days and guys put in a lot of hard work," said Roessler. "Now it's just a matter of let's see who's playing well and get the pitchers their innings. It's really an exciting year with the pitching that we've got lined up."
Lisa Winston is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs. |
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