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January 15, 2008
2008 Spring Training Invitees
The New York Yankees announced today, via a press release, that they have invited 26 players to attend Spring Training next month - in addition to who you would expect to be there.
Did the group total 26 just by chance, or, are the Bombers playing that "26-card" again? Yeah, I'm just kidding here. But, I did find the press release to be interesting - with the Yankees providing mini-bios on the gang of twenty-six. Only in Yankeeland, I suppose...
Kyle Anson, Jason Brown, Jesus Montero, P.J. Pilittere and Austin Romine being there makes sense. With all those pitchers in camp, somebody has to warm them up.
Nick Green, Bernie Castro and Cody Ransom will come in handy down in Tampa - allowing A-Rod and Jeter to leave games in the 4th inning, shower, and get ready for nights on the town.
Marcos Vechionacci and Eric Duncan, well, this might be their last chance to make an impression in a big league camp.
Steven Jackson, Colin Curtis and Daniel McCutchen? While I think they still have very good potential, I'm somewhat surprised to see them get invited - as they've got a long way to go in order to be close to show-worthy.
The rest of the group are either prospects or older-guys looking to get lucky. Brett Gardner, Alan Horne, Austin Jackson, Jose Tabata and Mark Melancon are the prospects - and you probably know all about them by now. Here's my take on the older-guys:
Jason Lane, Greg Porter and Justin Christian: Really there just to give Damon, Matsui, Melky and Abreu some time off during the Spring. They have zero chance of making the team.
Daniel Giese, Heath Phillips, Darrell Rasner, Scott Strickland and Billy Traber:
Of all these pitchers, Rasner gets bonus points out of the gate for doing the Yankees a solid and allowing them to take him off the roster while Carl Pavano screwed the team (yet again). Rasner should see a lot of work this Spring and could make the team, as a long-man, if he does well.
Giese has been in the minors for nine years and has always worked out of the pen. If he makes the Yankees this season, we're in trouble. Although, despite being old, and now with his fifth organization, his minor league numbers always seem to be decent.
Strickland and Traber are flat-out rolls of the dice. If healthy, either one could be a useful last guy in the pen. But, the odds of that happening are slim.
Heath Phillips, now, this guy might be a sleeper. This is what Baseball Amercia had to say about him last September:
Heath Phillips is the Invisible Man of the White Sox's organization.
For the last two seasons, Phillips has been one of the best pitchers in the International League. He took a short break in 2006, but only to help the United States team win the Olympic qualifying tournament in Cuba, and was still the International League's MVP. Yet for all his success at a high level, he has never received much public consideration for a spot in the big leagues.
That's because Phillips is a finesse lefty, not one of the power arms that general manager Ken Williams has collected the last couple years. Given the way the White Sox have seemed to look past Phillips, giving jobs to John Danks and Andrew Sisco in 2007, you wonder if they realize that their ace, lefthander Mark Buehrle, is also a finesse lefty.
"You look around and a lot of teams need pitching,'' a scout for another organization said. "You'd think a guy like [Phillips] could be a No. 5 starter for someone.''
Despite a sturdy 6-foot-3, 225-pound frame, Phillips rarely runs his fastball past the mid-80s. He gets outs by locating his fastball and keeping hitters off balance with a curveball and a changeup. He scores well in the "pitchability'' quotient, fields his position well and is tough to run on.
Phillips, a 10th round pick in 2000, went 7-0, 2.27 during a 10-start stretch that began on July 5, putting him at 12-7, 4.31 through 27 starts. He was tied for the league lead in wins and leading in innings (167) entering the final week of the season.
With a good Spring Training, Phillips can put himself into a spot where he could be called upon if Mussina gets hurt or if one of "the kids" spits the bit.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at January 15, 2008 10:09 PM