Yankees Minor League Baseball Blog

Tyler Clippard was the Yankees ninth round pick back in 2003.  He made his minor league debut that season and pitched in the Gulf Coast League where he had an impressive 56/5 strikeout to walk ratio in 43 2/3 innings.  He followed that up in 2004 with a full season at Battle Creek where once again he kept an impressive strikeout to walk ratio.  He also gave up his share of runs though.  His ERA was 3.44 but he also gave up 14 unearned runs.  In 2005, he moved up to Tampa and seemed to turn the corner.  He struck out more guys but kept his walk rate the same and his ERA of 3.18 was more indicative of the damage he caused because he gave up only four unearned runs and his WHIP was just on the north side of 1.000.

In 2006, he made the move up to Double A and remained impressive.  His walk rate was up (55 walks in 166 1/3 innings) and he did give up 14 homeruns but he also struck out 175.  John Sickels liked him best and ranked him fifth with a B rating and he speculates the Clippard will start the season at Triple A.  Also keep in mind that this kid is only 22 years old.  He still have plenty of time to blossom.

The number seven prospect for the Yankees is J. Brent Cox, the Yankees second round pick in 2005.  He was the closer for the Texas Longhorns in 2005 and he made his minor league debut for Tampa in 2005.  There, he nearly struck out a batter an inning and kept his walk rate down en route to a solid debut.  In 2006, he made the jump to Double A where he was also effective.  His strikeout rate was down (60 in 77 innings) and his walk rate was up (24) but he had a rock solid 1.75 ERA as mostly a long reliever.  He keeps the ball down and in 104 2/3 innings, he’s given up only three homeruns.

Cox should start the season at Double A and you’re looking at a guy who could be mainstay in the Yankees pen beginning in 2008.  He’s probably not closer material but he’d make a very good set up man.  Regardless, he bears watching as he makes what should be his final minor league season this year.

Coming in at number eight is the Yankees first round pick in 2006, Ian Kennedy.  He had his best showing on the Baseball America list where he finished fifth and his lowest showing was tenth on John Sickels list.  He slipped to the Yankees in the first round because of a lackluster 2006 college season at Southern Cal and he made a single start at Staten Island in which he threw 2 2/3 shutout innings. 

There’s not a lot on Kennedy but we should find out a lot in 2007.  Kevin Goldstein expects him to start the season in Tampa, and if he plays well enough, you should expect to see him at Double A at some point during the season.

Coming in at the number nine spot is starting pitching prospect Christian Garcia.  The Yankees third round pick in 2004, Garcia made his minor league debut that year in Gulf Coast League and tore through hitter after hitter.  He struck out 47 in 38 innings and he gave up only one homerun.  He then jumped to Charleston in 2005 and while he started walking guys (53 in 106 innings), he kept his strikeouts up (103).

In 2006, he repeated at Charleston and had a pretty decent season there until he was shut down because of a strained oblique.  He’s only 21 so it’s not like he’ll have to repeat at a level way below him and he’s supposed to be ready to go in 2007.  Out of all of the prospect lists, Baseball America liked him the best and had him at number six.  He also showed up on John Sickels list at nine.  He should finally get a promotion this year and he should start the season at Tampa.

Jayson Stark’s last column was on Phillip Hughes and the Yankees shift towards rebuilding their farm system.  When asked, Brian Cashman pulled no punches when he said those days where the Yankees purged their farm system for some immediate help was over with.  The Yankees are going to build a solid core of young players and tops on the list is Phillip Hughes.

In addition, you should check out this organizational preview of the Yankees farm system.  Good stuff.

Alright, Kevin Whelan kicks off the Yankees top ten prospect list using the aggregates of the three lists in the left side bar.  Oddly, Whelan only shows up on one list, but he was high enough to pick up enough points to land him just in the top ten.  He doesn’t show up on John Sickels or Baseball America’s top ten but he was sixth on Kevin Goldstein’s list, so here he is.

Whelan was the Tigers fourth round pick in 2005 after the right hander pitched for Texas A&M.  He was actually pretty phenomonal in two stops that finished at Low A and he struck out 41 batters in 24 1/3 innings.  He continued this trend last year when he got promoted to High A and as Lakeland’s closer, he struck out 69 in 54 innings.

Now he’s ours.  He was one of the secondary prospects in the Gary Sheffield trade and in the future closer if he can continue to progress at the higher minor league levels.  Keep an eye on him (here) as he moves up to Double A in 2007.

The Yankees are pretty well represented on Baseball America’s top 100 prospect list.  Of course Phillip Hughes is near the top at number four.  Further down the list is outfield prospect Jose Tabata at 27, Humberto Sanchez landed at number 57, Joba Chamberlain was 75 and just making the cut is Dellin Betances at 100.

That’s a solid crop.  You figure an average team should have about three guys on there and for the Yankees to have three in the top 60 is particularly impressive.