Yankees prospect Greg Bird promoted to Double-A Trenton

According to Josh Norris from Baseball America, the New York Yankees have promoted first-base prospect Gregory Bird to AA. He missed sometime early on this season because of a lingering back issue, but has done well since returning. His OPS is the fifth highest in the league. Despite his strong season, it’s doubtful that he would he get a chance at a promotion with Peter O’Brien on the team. But the O’Brien trade cleared up a sizeable logjam in the Yankee system.

The move will not only give Matt Snyder, and Rey Nunez time prove themselves in the short-term, but it should also allow them to promote Mike Ford to Tampa whenever he gets healthy. The move may also lead to Dante Bichette and Eric Jagielo getting reps at first-base, and freeing up room on the roster for Ericson Leonora.

Bird will be about three and a half years younger than his competition, but hopefully he is able to prove enough in his short time in AA to get his name on some top-prospect lists.

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Breaking down MLB.com's mid-season Yankees Top 20 prospects list

This past Sunday, Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo gave their updated mi-season list of every team's Top 20 prospects. The Yankees' list was headlined by Luis Severino, who I ranked tenth coming into this season. My reasoning for ranking him so high was that he seemed to be flying through the Yankees system. Most pitchers don’t go from the GCL to A-ball in one season, yet Severino did so with ease. Considering he hasn't slowed down at all this season, it’s no surprise that he took the number one spot.

The number two ranked prospect was also predictable, as Gary Sanchez is probably their only other guaranteed top-100 prospect at the moment. Sanchez isn't having the type of year people expect, but that might be because people are ignoring just how young he is. Sanchez is almost 4 years younger than his competition. Furthermore he has done much better as of late. People question his defense, but Callis seems to think he improved, and he is still young enough to get better.

After these two players, it’s pretty hard to guess the Yankees' best prospects. MLB.com lists Eric Jagielo as the team’s third best prospect, but others seem to prefer Aaron Judge over him. Callis likes Jagielo's swing in Yankee stadium and feels that his defense is good enough to be a third-baseman. Jagielo was injured for a good chunk of this season, but he has shown good power. His OPS in Tampa is .807 and he has done even better in his last ten games. He has shown much more power on the road, so his numbers would be even better if he played in an average hitting environment.

Jagielo was followed by two players that were drafted after him. Ian Clarkin was ranked 4^th and Aaron Judge was ranked 5^th. Callis seems to think all three of Clarkin's pitches have good potential, and that overall Clarkin could be a number 2 or 3 starter. Clarkin has a very good 12-6 curve, a 90-94 MPH fastball, and a changeup that “features good fade and deception." Clarkin has been pitching very well this year, and might see some time in Tampa. He is probably near his innings limit, but it would be nice to challenge him late in the year.

Judge was ranked 5^th, and in my opinion this was the biggest surprise of the list. Some pundits are talking about him as a potential top-100 guy, and he really seems to have been playing well this year. Granted he started at a low level, but he has shown good hitting ability and a patient approach at the plate. Callis points out that his swing can lead to strikeouts but so far his rates haven’t been that bad, and they have been accompanied with good power and walk numbers. Callis also notes that Judge has good speed and a strong arm, making right field a good spot for him. Callis believes that Judge will move quickly if he keeps showing contact ability. If I had to guess I would say that Judge will be ranked higher at the end of the year, though I doubt he goes to Trenton this season. It’s just too crowded at that level.

6-10 on the list was comprised of Rob Refsynder, Jake Cave, Manny Banuelos, Peter O’Brien and 2014 top pick Jacob Lindgren. Like Judge, I would've thought Refsnyder would be higher ranked, but I can see the logic of keeping him this low until he proves he can play second. Earlier this year Callis said he had gotten better, and in this report he stated that Refsnyder can become an adequate defender. Callis also called him the best pure-hitter in the Yankees system. Assuming Refsnyder isn’t called up this season, I feel that he will be ranked higher at the end of the season. He has a 151 wRC+ in AAA, and now that the Yankees have Prado, they won’t need to play him in right field anymore.

Cave really jumped in these rankings, as he wasn't even ranked in top-20 before this season. Cave has shown his breakout 2013 season was no fluke, and that he is simply a very good hitter. Of course he still hasn’t shown homerun power, but overall he seems like a decent offensive player. He earned a promotion to AA, and so far has done very well there. Hopefully, he shows more patience and power in the next couple of years, because he seems to have a good hit tool. Callis believes he can remain in center, and that he has a strong arm. This will help make up for some of his lack of power.

Banuelos moves up one spot from the pre-season list, which is disappointing but understandable. Banuelos has had two great starts in a row, but his overall numbers in AA are not that great. This of course should be expected from a guy who has an innings limit, and hasn’t pitched in two years. He still has the potential to throw 3 plus pitches, and his control hasn’t been that bad in AA this season. Callis claims that his ceiling is that of a number 2 pitcher.

The next ranked player is the recently traded Peter O’Brien, who has shown nothing but power since signing with the team. With that said, he really doesn’t seem to have contact ability and many people doubt his power will play in the majors. Essentially he is a lot like Mark Trumbo, a power hitter who can’t really field. Keith Law actually called him a worse version of Trumbo which isn’t very encouraging. According to Callis “O'Brien does swing and miss a lot, and he doesn't control the strike zone well, so there's some concern as to how much he'll be able to hit for average and tap into his power against more advanced pitchers.” Overall I will miss him in the system, but he isn’t a lot to pay for a guy like Prado. After the trade MLB.com moved everyone up a spot and added a player at number 20.

Lindgren was a semi-surprising pick for the Yankees. They generally don’t draft relievers in the early rounds, and people expected more from their first pick. But he has done very well so far, and shows the ability to go through the minors very quickly. There’s a good chance he is the first 2014 draft pick to reach the majors. He is already in A+ and he doesn’t seem to be slowing down. He has struck out 26 batters in 14.1 innings, and while his walk total in A+ is high, he should be fine in that regard. I doubt that the Yankees will allow him to reach the majors this season, but early next season, seems pretty realistic.

11-15 on the original list was made up of Luis Torrens, Shane Greene, Greg Bird, Gosuke Katoh, and Jose Ramirez. Torrens has only been a catcher for 2 years, but has shown a good arm at the position. Callis notes that his work ethic and intelligence, will lead to him being a catcher in the long term despite his high pass-ball rate. According to Callis Torrens’ “has the tools to contribute offensively as well. He has good pitch-recognition skills, a patient approach and solid raw power.” It’s unfortunate that an injury kept him out for so long, but he has done really well in Staten Island.

Greene has done pretty well in the majors so far, and looks like he has good stuff. His numbers were surprisingly bad in AAA, but he is a groundball pitcher and who knows how good their defense in AAA is. Greene has a hard sinker, a good slider, and a below average changeup. Despite being mostly a two-pitch-pitcher Callis believes he has the stuff to remain in the rotation. It should also be noted that Greene has a curveball, though Callis didn't rate it. I like Greene, and feel that his high GB % will allow him to stick with the Yankees for a while. Greene greatly benefits from the recent Yankee infield acquisitions.

Greg Bird is another guy I thought would be higher, but like Refsnyder I suppose he has something to prove at his new position. Additionally he has missed some time with a back injury. Callis says that he will need his bat to carry him to the majors, which is for now doesn’t seem like a problem. When healthy he has always produced. Bird currently has a wRC+ of 133 in A+, and may be poised to get some time in AA now that O’Brien is gone.

Katoh is one of the youngest players at his level, so it’s no surprise that the 14^th ranked Yankee has struggled this year. With that said Callis believes he has plus speed, a good hit tool and will be a good defensive second-baseman. Callis also states that he has “good pop for a middle-infielder”. Katoh’s overall numbers may not look good, but over his last 36 games he has an OPS of .803, and really seems to have adjusted to the level.

Ramirez is also having a tough year, but his struggles are mainly injury related. He injured himself in spring training, which forced the Yankees to move him to pen. It was a nice idea but Ramirez has gotten injured in that role as well. He is currently on the disabled list, and it’s doubtful he will get a chance to redeem his early major league struggles this season.

The rest of the top 20 was made up of: Ramon Flores, Tyler Austin, Slade Heathcott, Mason Williams, and Jorge Mateo. Flores was having a great season before getting injured, and trio of former top outfield prospects have either struggled, injured themselves or both. At this point Flores really looks like the best of the four. He had a .799 OPS this season in AAA, and seemed to be on the verge of making his major league debut this season. Austin has battled a wrist injury for two years now, but seems over it now, and has quietly looked a lot better at the plate. He has a .889 OPS in his last ten games, and has gotten his season OPS total up to .721. That still isn’t great, but after his slow start it is kind of impressive.

Williams and Slade have both seen their stocks drop way down. Slade had another season-ending knee injury, and Williams hasn't been able to get his OPS over .600. Unless they rebound next year, it’s likely that this will be the last time either will be ranked this high or perhaps even in the organization.

Jorge Mateo took the last spot on the original list, and he truly is one of the team’s more exciting prospects. Mateo is a super-fast shortstop who has a good hit tool and some power. Callis says teams have already been asking for him in trades, despite the fact that he hasn’t begun A-ball. Unfortunately for the Yankees he seems to be injured at the moment, but he was destroying the GCL when he was playing.  Callis and scouts have high praise for the young SS, Callis’ report states that “Mateo has more upside at the plate than most shortstops. He's wiry strong, and he already shows signs of being able to hit for average and provide double-digit home run totals down the line. Mateo is still just 19 and is six levels removed from the big leagues, but one club official said the organization hasn't had a middle infielder with a ceiling higher than his since Derek Jeter.” I was a bit surprised he was rated higher than Abi Avelino, but I suppose he has the higher ceiling, and it’s not like Avelino was healthy either.

Once the Yankees traded O’Brien, every prospect ranked behind him moved up one, Austin DeCarr was able to make the list. DeCarr was the Yankees third round pick this season, and basically took up most of their draft pool spending limit. Callis feels that DeCarr could develop to above-average pitches (fastball, and curveball), and that DeCarr has shown the ability to throw his changeup for strikes. Callis states his upside is of a number 3 starter.  So far DeCarr has done decently in the GCL, but still has room to improve.

The system may not be considered a top-10 system just yet, but they have a good amount of depth. I feel that at least one of Jose Campos, Bryan Mitchell, Ty Hensley, or Abi Avelino, Miguel Andujar could have cracked this list. With their big international spending spree, fans will hopefully have a lot to look forward to in the next few years.

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Yankees 3, Red Sox 4: New Yankees, same Yankees

The sorta-new-look Yankees lineup made it's debut against the Boston Red Sox on Friday night in Boston, but by looking at the box score, you would have thought that Joe Girardi was running out the same out lineup that has struggled to score runs all season, as the Bombers fell to the Sox and their rookie starter, 4-3.

New look, same results: The Yankees only managed six hits in this one, two of them from Carlos Beltran -- a solo homerun in the 4th inning, his 13th of the season, that put the Yanks on the board after falling behind 2-0, and the second being an RBI single in the 6th inning that scored Jacoby Ellsbury, who walked and stole second base to open the inning. One of the other four Yankee hits was from Derek Jeter, who hit a rare homerun -- a solo shot over The Monster, his 2nd of the year, that pulled the Yankees to within a run in the 8th. Other than that, not much else. Ellsbury and Mark Teixeira each collected a hit, as did Ichiro Suzuki, who started in right field before Martin Prado pinch-hit for him later in the game and went 0-for-2 in his Yankees debut.

Facing his former team: Chris Capuano, who started the season with the Boston Red Sox before he was released in early July, started on the mound for the Yankees. Didn't get a chance to watch the game tonight, so it's hard to say exactly how well he pitched, but he gave up all four Red Sox runs on eight hits, while striking out five without walking a batter over 6.1 innings. The Sox took a 2-0 lead against Capuano in the 3rd inning. Dustin Pedroia hit a ground-rule double over the right field wall for the first run, driving in Brock Holt, who hit a one-out triple just ahead of Pedroia. David Ortiz singled him home a batter later for the second run. David Ross made it a 3-1 game in the 4th inning on an RBI single, and then Pedroia put up the fourth run in the 7th on a single off of Shawn Kelley.

Big league debut: After trading away three of their pitchers on in the final 48 hours leading up to the trading deadline, the Red Sox called up Anthony Ranaudo to make his big league debut against the Bombers on Friday night. Beltran was really the only hitter capable of figuring him out, driving in both of his RBIs against him. However, the right-hander lasted six innings, giving up just two runs on four hits with four walks.

Other notes: Pedroia was the only hitter that Kelley faced out of the bullpen. Matt Thornton pitched the final two outs of the 7th inning, getting Ortiz to ground into a double play on the first pitch he threw, and then Adam Warren took care of the 8th with a 1-2-3 on 12 pitches ..... Chase Headley made a pair of really great plays at third base. The first on a pick in near the third base line in the 3rd inning to make the out, and then a second a few innings later when he laid out for a ball to his right, again getting the out at first base.

Up next: The Yankees and Red Sox continue this series on Saturday afternoon at 4:05 p.m. ET. Allen Webster will start for Boston, while the Yankees will counter with Shane Greene. The game will be on FOX, I believe.

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Thoughts following the epic non-waiver trading deadline

Baseball's non-waiver trading deadline has come and gone, and it's easy to say that this was one of the best trading years in recent memory. I remember sitting at my computer on July 31, 2013 waiting for deals to happen, with almost nothing, not even rumors, coming out. This time, however, there seemed to he something big happening every hour throughout the day -- and yes, I'm including the Jim Bowden fiasco in that.

Anyway, Brian Cashman and the Yankees were pretty quite throughout the day until about the last 30 minutes, then they made a pair of trades right before the 4 p.m. buzzer, picking up Stephen Drew from the Boston Red Sox and Martin Prado from the Arizona Diamondbacks.

My thoughts on the day and the deals the Yankees made.....

1. Entering Thursday, the Yankees had about a 30 percent chance of making the playoffs, according to ESPN.com. With this team it's hard to say whether the moves they made actually make them a playoff team, but rather, are the Yankees a better team? Yes, absolutely. Adding Prado and Drew upgrade the Yankees, easily, on both defense and at the plate. Drew, because Derek Jeter is still alive and well, will take over for Brian Roberts as the full-time second baseman for the rest of the season -- Roberts, by the way, was designated for assignment, or at least he will, by the Yankees. Drew has never played second base before in the Majors, but his natural talents and athleticism beat out those of Roberts', and thus he'll probably be able to play the position just fine. Prado, normally a third baseman, can also play second base and shortstop, but Cashman told reporters yesterday that he'll mostly play in the outfield. That'll glue Ichiro Suzuki to the bench, where he should be and hit better at during the early part of the season before Carlos Beltran got hurt and forced Ichiro to play the outfield full-time.

2. This sets the Yankees up to have a better infield defense again next season. Prado is signed for two more years after this season for another $22 million -- which is a good price, in my opinion -- and they still have Mark Teixeira for two more seasons, at least. Jeter, if you haven't heard yet, is retiring after the season leaving the Yankees with a hole at short, and I'm still a firm believer that Alex Rodriguez has played his last game in pinstripes. Both Drew and Chase Headley are free-agents after the season, meaning the next couple of months are sort of a 2015 audition for both of them, and some people don't realize that. If the Yankees don't like what they see from them for the rest of the season -- although Headley is already proving himself with the bat, and his defense is better than everybody else that has been trotted out there since the A-Rod days -- they don't have the bring them back. However, should both Drew and Headley be back in pinstripes next season, a Headley-Drew-Prado-Teixeira infield core ain't bad, and far better than what the Yanks have had this season.

3. Honestly can't say I saw either of those moves coming, and never even thought of them as possibilities. I mean, the Yankees and Red Sox haven't made a trade together since 1997, so who could have seen that coming. And I thought that if the Yankees were going to bring in anybody else to play right field, it would be somebody with a little bit more power -- someone like Josh Willingham, Alex Rios, or even Marlon Byrd, who the Phillies were apparently asking too much for; in the end, though, none of those players even moved -- but Prado works for now, and more importantly, it gets Ichiro on the bench. Win-win.

4. I don't know who, but I thought that Cashman would be able to find himself another starter. The Yankees were apparently in on the David Price talks, but I guess that Tampa wasn't felling good about moving him within the division, and that, along with the price tag -- which might I say, was pretty low, it seemed -- kept him out of the Bronx. There was some talk about them possibly going after John Danks, but I guess nothing else got very far in that. Cliff Lee was probably going to be the pitcher that they would look at going into August; it was pretty clear that he would clear through waivers once the Phillies decided to go that way with him, but last night's re-injury of his elbow all but take him off of the table for the Yankees not just this season, but maybe going into the offseason, too. Bummer, I was kinda hoping he'd finally end up in the Bronx.

5. Speaking of pitchers, the Yankees might be able to make it to the finish line this season without having to add another starting pitcher through the trade market. Michael Pineda will finally begin a rehab assignment, as he take the mound for Triple-A Scranton on Sunday, officially starting his rehab clock. My guess: if everything goes well -- and that's a big 'if' with Pineda because he seems to suffer another setback every other week -- we could see him back in the Majors in about three weeks, and certainly by the end of August, giving them a big upgrade there. Masahiro Tanaka is going to see a doctor early next week, I believe, and we'll find out then if the plasma shots in his right elbow have taken. If so, I would assume that he'll finally get to start up his throwing program, and if all goes well there -- again, this is a pretty tricky situation when dealing with the ace's elbow -- we might see him back in the bigs sometime near the middle-to-end of September, putting him right in the rotation for the final weeks of the playoff race, and possibly giving them a big boost into postseason, should the Yankees get there in Jeter's final campaign.

6. Overall, I thought that Cashman, who just happens to be in the final year of his contract and is expected to be re-signed this winter, did a great job of making marginal trades without having to give up his best prospects. I mean, he managed to swap Vidal Nuno for Brandon McCarthy, got Chase Headley for a struggling Yangervis Solarte and Rafael De Paula (low-risk, high-reward move), finally upgraded second base with Drew by sending an injured Kelly Johnson to Boston (seriously, how did that move happen?), and only sent Peter O'Brien to Arizona for Prado (loved O'Brien, but realistically, there is no place for him on the big league roster now and in the next couple of years; they sold high on him, and it's alright).

Let's see, what else........oh.

7. This might end up having no effect on the Yankees in the end, but I was thinking that it's a big deal the Yanks will be able to go the final two months without having to deal with Jon Lester and John Lackey in Boston anymore. The Yankees still have to play all seven of their games against the Tigers this month, and that pitching staff will likely give fits, but still, with September being play against only AL East teams, not having to face those starts against could be key. The AL East, with all of the trades and injuries, is pretty hard to predict at this point. The Orioles might be able to keep their lead in the division -- the Yanks play them seven more times. The Blue Jays didn't do anything at the trade deadline and are still beatable. And the Red Sox and Rays are still bottom of the division teams after,especially after Thursday. September is going to be fun and sad at the same time -- because, you know, it's Jeter's final month.

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Minor League Recap - 7/31/14: Jake Cave continues to rake in Double-A Trenton

Triple-A Scranton: 8-4 win vs Gwinnett Braves

LF Jose Pirela: 3-for-5, R, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI
2B Rob Refsnyder: 2-for-5, R, 2 RBI -- hitting .333 over his last 10 games
CF Adonis Garcia: 1-for-5, RBI, K
1B Austin Romine: 1-for-4, 2B, K
C John Ryan Murphy: 2-for-4, R, HR, RBI
DH Kyle Roller: 1-for-4, R, K

Bruce Billings: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K
Matt Daley: 1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Double-A Trenton: 2-1 win vs Portland Sea Dogs

RF Jake Cave: 2-for-4, BB, K -- 17-for-41 (.415) in his last 10 games
LF Ben Gamel: 1-for-3, BB
C Gary Sanchez: 1-for-4, K
CF Mason Williams: 1-for-4, R, 2B, 2 K
2B Casey Stevenson: 2-for-4, RBI, K

Jaron Long: 6.2 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K
Danny Burawa: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Mark Montgomery: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

High-A Tampa: 7-3 loss vs Charlotte Stone Crabs

LF Jose Rosario: 1-for-3, R, 2B, BB
1B Gregory Bird: 0-for-3, BB, K
DH Aaron Judge: 1-for-3, 2 R, 2B, RBI, BB, K
3B Eric Jagielo: 2-for-4, 2B, RBI, 2 K
2B Angelo Gumbs: 0-for-4, 3 K
SS Cito Culver: 0-for-3, BB

Miguel Sulbaran: 7 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K

Low-A Charleston: 1-0 loss vs Hagerstown Suns

CF Mark Payton: 0-for-4, 2 K
SS Abiatal Avelino: 0-for-4, 2 K
DH Tyler Wade: 2-for-4, 2B, 2 K
3B Miguel Andujar: 0-for-3
LF Micheal O'Neill: 0-for-3, K
2B Gosuke Katoh: 1-for-2, BB, K

Chaz Hebert: 7 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

Short Season Staten Island: 11-4 loss vs Lowell Spinners

C Luis Torrens: 1-for-5, RBI
2B Ty McFarland: 1-for-3, RBI, BB
DH Isaias Tejeda: 1-for-4
1B Conner Spencer: 1-for-4, 3 K
LF Chris Breen: 1-for-3, R, BB
RF Austin Aune: 0-for-3, 2 K

Sean Carley: 2.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Dillon McNamara: 3.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

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