A month from now, Spring Training will be a thing of the past, but there are still jobs to be won and deals to be made over the course of the next four weeks. Here's the latest from Yankees camp…
- Joe Mauer passed along some advice for Jesus Montero through Joe Brescia of the New York Times: the Twins backstop says Montero should make an effort to learn as much as possible from Jorge Posada and Russell Martin. Mauer, an unusually tall catcher like Montero, is excited for the Yankees prospect to arrive in the majors.
- Mike Axisa of River Ave. Blues says that the more he hears Joe Girardi and the Yankees coaching staff, the more he thinks Montero has a legit chance to back Martin up, instead of starting the season at Triple-A.
- Andrew Marchand of ESPNNewYork hears that the Yankees did call the Twins about Francisco Liriano's availability during the offseason. The Twins and Yankees say nothing's happening on that front, however.
- Rob Neyer of SB Nation has trouble imagining a package that would entice the Twins to part with Liriano.
- Newsday's Ken Davidoff says the Yankees' long-term future is bright, even though the club would have preferred to make more pronounced upgrades to its rotation this winter.
Catching advice – fine. If he starts giving endorsement/media advice RUN. Love Joey Sideburns, but he has the personality of lint.
As long as he can be Superman on the diamond, I don’t mind if he comes across like Clark Kent when the game’s over.
“What a joke of a sports town.”
Kinda like your post, huh.
In reference to the media he’s right. The daily news and newsday are only fit for bird cage lining.
Burned!
Not that the Yankees should do it, but I can think of a package that would entice the Twins to move Liriano.
If Joe Mauer is excited for Montero to get to the bigs then I think he must be legit star in the making.
•Newsday’s Ken Davidoff says the Yankees’ long-term future is bright, even though the club would have preferred to make more pronounced upgrades to its rotation this winter
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As much as I would love to get #28 in 2011 and as much as Jeter, Mo, Arod and Posada want to win now I, as a fan, am willing to go into 2011 w/ Sabathia, AJ, HUghes, Nova and whoever wins the #5 spot. If someone meaningful can be had using some of the other prospects not named Montero, Bets, Bans or Brack then cool. If not, then don’t, and I feel strange saying this as a fan of the big market Yanks, mortgage the future. Looking at where the budget is and considering the fact that Arod and Jeter, our main righties, are advanced in age, it would be great if we can hold on to Montero. Romine is the in house plan B if Montero can’t catch long-term. YOung pitching is becoming increasingly difficult to find on the open market and holding on to the 3 b’s this year and allowing them another season to grow can be crucial to the Yanks future.
Gary Sanchez might end up being the best C we have right now but part of me would rather move him then any of the others. If no one of signifigant value can be had at a reasonable price then Yanks might be better served allowing guys like Garys Sanchez, David Adams, JR Murphy, George Stoneburner, Jose Ramirez, Brett Marshall or others to develop and showcase themselves before July. If any of them poke their heads up as real prospects then a package centered around Gary Sanchez and two of the above mentioned to nad a top pitcher if/when teams seperate themselves from the pack.
3 things.
1. Stop saying things I agree with all the time. It’s getting quite redundant!
2. Sanchez seems to be the best pure catcher from that group.
3. I really really hope the killer Bs and Montero are the real deal, and not a product of east coast hype.
Forget about ESPN because they wouldn’t know a top prospect w/o consulting Baseball America’s top 100 list. Do you really think guys like Calis, Manuel and Sickels care more about the name on the back of the jersey vs their own credibility?
Ha! I had a good laugh over George Stoneburner and wondered who in the front office decided to draft someone by that name. Sadly, it turns out to be Graham Stoneburner.
Wow….my bad. I know his name well.
I’m sure the Yankees can have Liriano for nothing from the Twins. In the latest issue of “Baseball Digest” writer Paul Hoynes says that “Nelson” Liriano looks to have the inside track at the Twins #2 starter role. Surely Bill Smith will deal a 46-year-old former second baseman, now pitcher, for a prospect… or a jock strap or two.
well that was absolutely hilarious….
I think Hoynes is a beat writer for the Indians. Obviously, that was a mistake but one that certainly he shoud’ve caught before it went to print.
Regardless of whether you or I think Liriano will be traded let’s focus on one thing. Am I the only one that finds it odd that the Twins balked at the initial offer of 3/$39 that Liriano’s camp was alleged to have asked? After this season he’s 1 year away from free agency and it would seem that would make him less likely to avoid the open market, unless he had concerns about his own health.
Also, please stop basing what the package for Liriano should be based off of what Santana netted them on paper (in terms of BA rankings). Santana was signifigantly more impressive at that stage of his career than Liriano is now. He had 2 Cy Young awards and 3 other top 5 finishes. He also had 4 years of 200 + IP whereas Liriano has had none, although he came close w/1 year above 190 IP.
Where is that dude who argued with me for an hour about Montero still being a catcher?! I want him to come in here RIGHT now!