Yankees top prospects [Baseball America]

I like to check in on Yankees prospects during the season from time to time, but the offseason gives me a chance to analyze them more closely.

Baseball America is the go-to source for MLB prospects, and Trenton Thunder beat writer Josh Norris got a hold of its 2011 top 10 Yankees prospects before it released them. Without further ado, here are the top 10 (in comparison to last year):

What happened to…?
Arodys Vizcaino was traded to the Braves in the Javier Vazquez deal … Zach McAllister went to the Indians in the Austin Kearns deal … J.R. Murphy had a rough year in mid-A ball … Jeremy Bleich underperformed in AAA.

New guys…
Dellin Betances made a name for himself, again, last year in high-A and AA … Hector Noesi shined in AA last year and earned a promotion to AAA … Eduardo Nunez had a brief stint in the majors last year, showing he could hit, run and field … Brandon Laird showed great power numbers for AA and earned a promotion to AAA.

Newman’s notes on Yankees prospects

Yankees VP of baseball operations Mark Newman had a lot to say about the Yankees prospects yesterday. Beat writer Chad Jennings separated them into posts on the pitching and position players. Here they are in short:

Pitchers
Aroldis Chapman:

Newman said the reports were exactly what he expected: Huge fastball. Spotty command. Inconsistent secondary pitches. “But if you don’t like that, you need to be in another business,” Newman said.

“(He would start in) A or Double-A,” Newman said. “Wherever it is he pitches, he needs to be comfortable and he needs to work on the command and secondary pitches. And when he gets that, he’s going to take off.”

Wilkin De La Rosa & Jeremy Bleich:

De la Rosa and Bleich will be in a Double-A rotation that will most likely include recent 40-man addition Hector Noesi. Noesi made just nine High-A starts last year, but Newman said he will “probably” open in Trenton.

Christian Garcia:

Put Chris Garcia in the Double-A rotation as well. The high-ceiling, often-injured right-hander is currently throwing and should be ready to open the season back in Trenton.

Dellin Betances:

Newman said Betances should be ready to pitch close to the start of the season. He’s slated for High-A Tampa.

Alan Horne:

“He’s healthy. He’s got to come back and see if he can recapture it.”

Andrew Brackman:

“Brack’s got stuff that’s top-of-the-rotation stuff,” Newman said. Brackman’s overall numbers were bad last season, but through his last four appearances he pitched 10 scoreless innings, walking none and striking out nine.

Position players
On Brett Gardner’s bad jumps:

“We can simulate everything in the minor leagues except the three decks,” Newman said. That third deck makes the ball difficult to track, and it takes some getting used to.

On Juan Miranda being benched in the Dominican Winter League:

“I think they brought in one of their superstar guys,” Newman said. “But (Miranda) played well.” Through 13 games, Miranda has a .409 average with two home runs and 11 RBI.

Jamie Hoffmann:

“He’s a big guy that can run. He’s a toolsy guy. I hope we can keep him because I really like the guy.”

Colin Curtis:

The good news is, Curtis destroyed the Arizona Fall League with a .397 average, .472 on-base and five home runs. That’s an offensive league, but still, those are great numbers. “He led the league in OPS. Everything being relative, relative to the rest of the league, he was still really good.”

Catching situation:

Triple-A: Jesus Montero
Double-A: Austin Romine
High-A: undefined
Low-A: Kyle Higashioka
Extended ST: Gary Sanchez and J.R. Murphy