Florida Instructional League Notebook

Instructional league is usually about teams bringing in their younger, less experienced players for some intensive training, "bringing up to speed" and "getting to know you" work. Injured players come and rehab, players who need to make up for lost time.

This year, though, the New York Yankees decided to do things a little bit differently.

As a result, you saw something you rarely see -- the top two players from an Advanced A league on hand for instructs.

The Yankees boasted a clean sweep of the major honors in the Florida State League this past season as first baseman Cody Ehlers got the nod for Most Valuable Player while left-hander Chase Wright was named the league's best pitcher.

Ehlers, 24, batted .298 in 134 games, hitting 18 homers and driving in a league-high 106 runs. Wright, 23, was 12-3 with a league-leading 1.88 ERA, striking out 100 batters over 119 2/3 innings and allowing one home run all year. He moved from the bullpen to the rotation in late June when the rotation situation thinned out with the promotion of such pitchers as Philip Hughes, and posted a 1.64 ERA in 14 starts.

Wright had been a starter for most of his career, so the move from pen back to rotation was welcome.

"They just had an overloaded rotation and I was the odd man out," he said, "but I've been a starter since I was little bitty so it wasn't a problem for me."

So the obvious question would seem to be: What are these guys doing here?

"With Chase, we're working on a few delivery issues: how he lands, the kind of extension he gets, the consistency of his release point," explained Mark Newman, the Yankees' senior vice president of Baseball Operations. "Cody is basically working on polishing a few parts of his defensive game."

The Yankees' instructional league is abbreviated, just 17 days, and the organization limited the number of players it brought in to just 30, 12 pitchers and 18 position players. They were carefully selected and each one worked on one or two specific issues that needed improvement or tweaking.

"We're trying to enhance individual skills of individual players," Newman said. "We make sure they don't get bored or overworked. I've been through long torturous instructional leagues where players would rather have had daily dental work for a month, so we've changed the approach."

Although they had been through long regular season campaigns, neither Wright nor Ehlers minded the return trip to Tampa. Recent past history may have made the option a little more attractive.

"We had Melky Cabrera in minicamp here last year and Robinson Cano here the year before, and those minicamp experiences preceded their appearances on the Major League scene," Newman said.

Ehlers was more than happy to come back down to Florida, though his return was up in the air at first as he rested a sore elbow. But after some down time spent trout fishing, his elbow was feeling better and he was glad for the opportunity.

"I like coming here, meeting some of the other players I didn't know and working with other members of the coaching staff," he said. "It's more personal, more of a one-on-one type situation, and you get a lot of attention."

Wright was also happy to pitch in the minicamp.

"I've never been to one before, so I was pretty excited," he said. "They wanted me to work on my curveball because I pretty much pitched all season with just my fastball and change-up. I think it's only going to make me better to get the third pitch."

Tampa Bay Devil Rays
The Devil Rays' "new kids on the block" had not only changed their mailing addresses, they were also seeing some time at new -- or at least relatively new -- positions during instructional league play.

Tampa Bay acquired outfielder Sergio Pedroza and shortstop-turned-outfielder-turned-first baseman Joel Guzman from the Los Angeles Dodgers in a deadline deal for veteran Julio Lugo.

The first half of the season at Triple-A Las Vegas, Guzman mostly saw time in left field and at first base, with nine games at third and a few Major League appearances at the hot corner. Upon his arrival at Triple-A Durham, however, Guzman was installed in left field.

He stayed there for just two weeks, though, moving to third base for the final three weeks of the season. And that, for now at least, appears to be where the Devil Rays see the 6-foot-6 slugging prospect.

Guzman spent two weeks refining his third base play at instructional before leaving for his native Dominican Republic, where he is expected to play third in winter ball for Estrellas.

Pedroza, a 2005 draft pick out of Cal State-Fullerton who had played almost exclusively in right field thus far in his pro career, was getting some work behind the plate.

"We're getting a little look to see how he can take to catching," Devil Rays director of Minor League Operations Mitch Lukevics said. "So far so good, but it's in the primitive stages. I think he welcomed the opportunity to give it a try. We're looking for arm strength and how he handles the rigors of the position."

If Pedroza can morph into a catcher, it would give the Rays quite an offensive threat at that spot. They are overloaded in the outfield, but Pedroza put up some impressive numbers in 2006, combining to hit .277 with 28 homers and 93 RBIs between Class A Columbus and Class A Advanced Vero Beach for the Dodgers and Class A Advanced Visalia after his trade to the Rays.

Philadelphia Phillies
If you're looking for a poster boy for the value of instructional league, you need look no further than 19-year-old Philadelphia Phillies pitching prospect Carlos Carrasco.

Considered a tremendous raw talent after signing at age 16 from Venezuela. Carrasco was frankly a disappointment in what was supposed to be his full-season debut in 2005. He posted a 7.04 ERA in 13 starts at Class A Lakewood.

After the season, he headed down to instructs in Clearwater and worked on mechanics, delivery and tempo, particular with his off-speed pitches.

"His mechanics had been messing him up totally," explained Steve Noworyta, the Phillies' director of Minor League Operations. "He just didn't have a good tempo with his delivery. But in his last start here in instructs last year, we asked him to pick up the tempo a little, and from that point he just took off."

Carrasco built off that late success this season back at Lakewood, going 12-6 with a 2.26 ERA and limiting Sally League batters to a .182 average. And while older teammate Matt Maloney was named the South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Year, going 16-9 with a 2.03 ERA, it was Carrasco who was universally acknowledged as the top prospect of the squad.

He earned the Phillies' Minor League Pitcher of the Year award this year and was the starting pitcher in a combined no-hitter earlier in the season.

This fall he's returned to Clearwater with less drastic work needed.

"He just basically needs a little more experience retooling and redefining everything, working on conditioning and getting a little stronger," Noworyta said.