Yankees Minor League Baseball Blog

Who might be the dark horse of the Yankees farm system?  George King at Baseball America thinks it might be Andrew Brackman, the tall hurler bounced back in 2010 after a luke warm 2009 debut.  You have to like his strikeout to walk ratio (126/39) and he did it all in 141 innings.  Even better, he did most of that at the more hitter friendly Eastern League while playing with Trenton.  In 2009, he was coming off of Tommy John surgery so hopefully his struggles and his related bounce back were because he wasn’t quite ready after the surgery.

Brackman should start the year at Triple-A but with the Yankees rotation woes, he’s definitely knocking on the door to a major league debut in 2011.  Hopefully this is one of those success stories that goes in the right direction.

The big league club is going to be kicking off their spring season soon but there’s also plenty of great specials this year on Yankees tickets.  It’s been easier to get tickets since the Yankees moved into their new digs but you never know when that’s going to change.

Andrew Brackman fell to 1-6 on the season with a very rough start in the RiverDogs 6-5 loss to Asheville.  He gave up six runs on four hits and four walks with two strikeouts in just a single inning (he did pitch into the second but that was Asheville’s big inning with five runs.

Mitch Abeita went three for four with two runs and an RBI.  Corban Joseph singled three times in the loss.

Andrew Brackman fell to 1-7 and he had a tough time finding the plate in the RiverDogs 10-5 loss to Greenville.  He gave up five runs on eight walks (no hits) with four strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings.

Corban Joseph went two for four with a home run, two RBIs and two runs.  Garrison Lassiter went two for four with a double and an RBI.

The RiverDogs couldn’t get much going at the plate in their 7-2 loss to Augusta and they were held to just five hits.  All five were singles and MelkyMesa singled, drew a walk and drove in one in the loss.

Andrew Brackman was roughed up in his start.  He fell to 1-5 and he gave up six runs on six hits and three walks with five strikeouts in three innings.

Kevin Goldstein recently released his list of the top eleven Yankee prospects and there’s little surprise that Joba Chamberlain is at the top of the list.  The guy ascended all the way from High A Tampa all the way to the Yankee bullpen in what can only be called the fast track and I was happy to hear his future is in the rotation. 

Ian Kennedy pretty much followed Chamberlain through the minor league system and into the majors and he comes in at number two.  Like Chamberlain, he’s a major league ready starter and we should see him in the rotation in 2008.   This is assuming he’s still with the team because he appears to be one of the team’s big bargaining chips in a blockbuster trade.

Austin Jackson is the highest rated position player and he comes in at number three.  Jackson is probably a year away but he could be the heir apparant to Johnny Damon out in centerfield.  He followed up a solid 2007 season with a solid stint in the Hawaiian Winter Baseball League.  He’ll probably play in Trenton to start the 2008 season but him ending things with a cup of coffee with the Yankees.

Jose Tabata and Alan Horne round out the top five.  2007 first round draft pick, Andrew Brackman, is listed as the eighth best prospect and he’ll miss all of 2008 after he had Tommy John surgery in August.  One of the top guys last year, Humberto Sanchez, fell all the way to eleventh with his injury concerns.