Being at work, I can’t really go into detail about Hoffman. Greg Fertel at Pending Pinstripes, lucky for all of us, has done it for me.
My opinion: Hoffman’s pick screams “right-handed caddy for Granderson” to me. He can play a very good center field, had a good platoon split in 2009, and has the experience to stick to the roster. Basically, he can do everything that Gardner can except swipe bags, and for that reason Brett Gardner’s spot on the roster might be in trouble. For a Rule V pick, even the first overall, that’s a pretty good day.
Zach Kroenke was a bit of a loss, and I wouldn’t have been surprised to see the Yankees pick him with the 1st overall pick. He’ll get lefties out for Arizona, and that’s about it. Luckily for the Yankees, Kroenke will be followed in the system by Wilkins De La Rosa and Michael Dunn, so there isn’t a lot to worry about here. The Yankees certainly have faith in Damaso Marte now.
K. Teixeira isn’t much of a loss. He’s maybe our 6th or 7th best depth reliever.
In a move that surprised me a bit, the Yankees added the following players to the 40-man roster today:
Pitchers: Hector Noesi, Ivan Nova, Romulo Sanchez Hitters: Reegie Corona, Eduardo Nunez, Kevin Russo, Austin Jackson.
There is a bit of surprise here. I expected Hector Noesi to be far enough down in the minor leagues to hide on the Triple-A roster this winter. Noesi finished the season by pitching 40 innings in Tampa, his highest level ever. Noesi has been around since 2004, but injuries and a performance-enhancing drug suspension slowed him down. I don’t know much about his stuff, but he’s notable for a mind-blowingly good K/BB ratio (118/15 in 117 innings in 2009, 55/10 in 48 innings in 2008) . However, Noesi is also about to turn 23. I’ll keep anyone with a 0.9 BB/9 any day of the week. 0.9!
I honestly didn’t expect Reegie Corona to survive the Rule V draft, but the Yankees seem to value him as a depth middle infielder. He’s a better hitter than Ramiro Pena, but a much worse fielder. Corona had a pretty good year at Double-A, but had to be sent down after his Triple-A promotion after hitting terribly.
I believe that Romulo Sanchez is very overrated. Brian Bruney may be gone, so they need to meet their quota of big, fat guys with no control.
The Yankees have a few weeks to prepare for the Rule V draft. The Yankees have 40 roster spots, and a list of Rule V eligible young players to protect. The Yankees have shed good players for years now. Could this year be different? How many players will be vulnerable? Is anyone in line for a DFA?
Locks: (25)
Derek Jeter
Mark Teixeira
Robinson Cano
Jorge Posada
Mariano Rivera
Phil Hughes
Nick Swisher
Joba Chamberlain
Ian Kennedy
Phil Coke
Damaso Marte
Francisco Cervelli
Michael Dunn
Mark Melancon
Ramiro Pena
Melky Cabrera
Brett Gardner
Andrew Brackman
Wilkins De La Rosa
Alfredo Aceves
David Robertson
CC Sabathia
AJ Burnett
Andy Pettitte (let’s be honest)
Alex Rodriguez
Near Lock: (2)
Juan Miranda
Chad Gaudin
Threatened: (7)
Edwar Ramirez
Sergio Mitre
Shelley Duncan
Brian Bruney
Jon Albaladejo
Sergio Mitre
Chien-Ming Wang
Christian Garcia
Free Agents: (6)
Jose Molina
Johnny Damon
Hideki Matsui
Eric Hinske
Jerry Hairston
Xavier Nady
Rule V locks:
Austin Jackson
Kevin Russo
Ivan Nova
Rule V eligible, not locks:
Josh Schmidt
Reegie Corona
Eduardo Nunez
Colin Curtis
Zach Kroenke
Romulo Sanchez (Pretty sure he is eligible)
George Kontos (TJ surgery)
The Yankees are going to add at least 2 players to the 40-man to replace Matsui and Damon. They will need spots available for them. I think that we can also expect one of Hinske or Hairston to be retained. That makes 3 spots. That means that between threatened and and on-lock Rule V players needs to be weened down to 7.
My guess is that the Yankees will retain Ramirez, Mitre, Kroenke, Nunez, Wang, and Albaladejo. They will value players that can be optioned down after spring training.
Schmdit will definitely be taken in the Rule V draft. He’s gone. No big loss. Corona will probably be taken, but may have problems sticking with a major league team. Curtis is probably safe, and Sanchez may or may not still be eligible.
Its a much better situation than the Yankees faced last season. Various roster crunches caused them to shed four (the most I can ever remember a team giving up) Rule-V eligible players, all of whom were later returned to traded. The Yankees also would lose Anthony Claggett, Eric Hacker and Steven Jackson to 40-man crunches this season, and had to trade Jeff Marquez for Nick Swisher (not that I’m complaining) last season.
