Off Season Minor League Thread

[BuckFoston]

Not much happening yet but Ian Kennedy did win the MiLB pitcher of the year award. He is going to be a big impact pitcher for us soon and I look forward to seeing him toe the rubber for the Yankees. Congrats to him... The Yankees also send seven to the Arizona Fall League...Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees: News: Article

[brewersfan19]

Kennedy really does seem like a up and comer. I am excited to see new young talent in baseball, even though he is a Yankee.. hahaha.. You know I had to throw that last part in cause I am Brewers fan.

[browntown653]

Congrats to Kennedy on a fantastic season at every level...I wonder if Dellin Betances will see the bigs next year.

[Veovis]

Betances has a looooong way to go. He didn't pitch a lot of innings this year, so just from that, I'd say he has 2-3 more years to build up his innings. Plus, he needs to work on his mechanics. He needs to be more consistent. He won't move along as fast as Hughes, Joba, and Kennedy. That's alright though, we can wait for him. He'll be great.

I'd look for Alan Horne to make his debut next year though.

[BuckFoston]

Meet Brett Gardner Pinstripes PA: Top 10 Prospects: #10-Brett Gardner and Mitch Hilligoss. Pinstripes PA: Top 10 Prospects: #9-Mitch Hilligoss

[BuckFoston]

Meet Prilys Cuello,

* Age: 19
* Height: 5′11″
* Weight: 168 (listed)
* Position: 2nd Base
* Bats: Switch
* Throws: Right

Scouting Report: Cuello is often compared to Robinson Cano, and they do have some similar skillsets. He projects as a line-drive, offensive type 2nd baseman. Unlike Cano, Cuello shows strong plate discipline and a little bit more of a willingness to drive the ball for a home run. He’s a true switch hitter, excelling against both lefties and righties. He projects to strike out significantly more than Cano, which will result in a lower batting average. Cuello isn’t a poor athlete, but looks like one on defense - he has trouble with all aspects of the position. Still, that is a problem not at all uncommon for 19 year old sluggers. He’s an agile enough guy that he should settle in at second base.

History: Cuello burst on to the scene by hitting .279/.408/.498 in the Dominican Summer League as a 17 year-old. He struck out 69 times in 59 games, but did also take 41 walks. He hit a ridiculous amount of extra base hits - 7 home runs, 4 triples, and 18 doubles, projecting out to 19 home runs, 11 triples, and 50 doubles over a full season.

This Season: Cuello met expectations in his GCL debut. He hit .283/.357/.458 in 47 games for the champs. His power trend continued with 6 home runs, 2 triples, and 7 doubles in the extreme pitcher’s league. His biggest victory was bringing the strikeouts under control - King 39 times while walking 18. His defense was still pretty terrible, but so was half the GCL.

Outlook: It’s hard to not see Cuello in the full-season A ball league next year. He’s just too promising. He’ll play 2nd for Charleston. It’ll take him a long time to rise through the ranks - the Yankees won’t start aggressively promoting him until the defense progresses along with his bat. I would be surprised (barring Cuello hitting .500) to see him Tampa for any more than a few weeks at the end of the year.

Ranking: Eric and I both ranked Cuello at #29. We both felt that he has a lot of promise, but ultimately is too young to really get any higher. There are higher GCL Yankees on this list, but they have far more talent than Prilys. That’s not a knock against him, but an endorsement of the rest of the Yankee’s Latin American program. A big performance in a much larger league (and a much larger sample size) could shoot him up this list by the end of next year. I didn’t really think too much about defense when making this ranking - I think that it’s generally assumed that Cuello won’t have much trouble settling in at second, and deserves the benefit of the doubt at this point.

Pending Pinstripes | MVN - Most Valuable Network » Blog Archive » #30 Prilys Cuello