And here’s the big one:
Catcher: Austin Romine
1st Base: Brandon Laird
2nd Base: Justin Snyder
Shortstop: Mitch Hilligoss / Walter Ibarra*
3rd Base: Bradley Suttle
Left Field: Eric Fryer
Center Field: Austin Krum
Right Field: Tim Battle
Designated Hitter: Jesus Montero
Others: David Williams, Wady Rufino, Brian Baisley, D.J. Hollingsworth
Starting Pitcher: Dellin Betances
Starting Pitcher: Wilkins De La Rosa
Starting Pitcher: Jairo Heredia
Starting Pitcher: Ryan Pope
Starting Pitcher: Jeremy Bleich
Relief Pitcher: Jon Hovis
Relief Pitcher: Edgar Soto
Relief Pitcher: Kevin Whelan
Relief Pitcher: Wilkins Arias
Relief Pitcher: Phil Barteski
Relief Pitcher: Lance Pendleton
I starred shortstop because really, I have no idea who is going to play there. Hilligoss is a terrible defensive shortstop, and completely failed to hit anything last season. Hilligoss will get playing time as a super-sub. Walter Ibarra is my next best guess to get playing time there, although a return of Reegie Corona could bump Eduardo Nunez back to Tampa.
Tampa’s roster is pure awesome every where you look. Opposing pitchers aren’t going to be crazy about facing Snyder-Krum-Montero-Suttle-Romine-Fryer-Laird at the top of the lineup. They all get on base reasonable well, and should hit their share of home runs.
The pitching staff is just as good. Betances and De La Rosa have some of the best stuff that one could ask for. Pope and Heredia are top control pitchers. Jeremy Bleich just went to the College World Series, and dominated Winter Ball. The bullpen contains no big names, although Lance Pendleton could become a useful prospect. To be honest, I’ve got no idea who is really going to end up making the Tampa bullpen. Those names are just guesses. Besides Pendleton and maybe Hovis, no one on that list would force the Yankees to hesitate before moving them down for a real prospect.
Tampa is clearly the team to watch in 2009.
Related posts:
What is up with Whelan in Tampa? That is pretty weak. The rotation is pretty spectacular, and I could see Brackman joining it at some point.
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mryankee Reply:
March 17th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
What about Brandon Laird I thought he had a pretty impressive year a lot of power? we never hear his name in terms of legit prospects.
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Moshe Mandel Reply:
March 17th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
No position really, but I do like him. He has great power, and that means he will get an MLB shot.
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mryankee Reply:
March 17th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
So is he a bad third baseman average? I have not seen that he is at spring training.
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EJ Fagan Reply:
March 17th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
He spent last year switching back and forth with Suttle at 1b/3b. I expect that to happen again this year – but Suttle is the better 3b prospect in all respects.
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Moshe Mandel Reply:
March 17th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
I dont think that he is in camp. He is not very good anywhere on the field, so they stashed him at first to see if he can become passable there.
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Awesome in every way. Suttle goes up quickly if he starts hot, so there will be a gap at ss and 3b.
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Great List. I would guess that some of that offense should graduate to Double A this season. Is Tim Battle really a potential starting OF? I think he did well in his brief visit to AAA but it seems pretty unlikely for him to be an every day player based on his history with the organization.
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EJ Fagan Reply:
March 17th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
He’s a great defensive outfielder, the Yankee’s pet project, and doesn’t have a ton of competition. He’ll definitely lose playing time, but I don’t see anyone really bumping him off.
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EJ, is Whelan cooked? Does the lack of control render him a non-prospect?
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Greg Reply:
March 18th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
This is what I was thinking as well, you’re pretty down on Whelan EJ.
Lets not forget, wasn’t it BA who called him a top 5 relief prospect a few years back.
The stuff is still there, I see him more in the AA mix.
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I think that Wilkins De La Rosa has a chance to be the number 1 guy over Betances even though Betances is definitely the better prospect. De La Rosa had a better year last year and was fairly consistent. Even though Betances certainly was more consistent and he cut down on the walks when he came back after the injury, I still see De La Rosa as the guy they would have be their stopper based on his better consistency and control.
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Marsuzak is a good option for SS in Tampa.
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