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John Manuel chat:







John, NY: Do you see Mark Melancon making an impact in the Yankees bullpen this season?


John Manuel: (3:37 PM ET ) I could, he got in a lot of innings
last year and his stuff was fairly consistent. He'd do well to
apprentice under Rivera if he's to become a future closer; I'm on the
fence as to his future role, back and forth from closer to setup guy.
Today I'll say closer.

From BP's John Perroto:






Spezzaz0r (NY): What are your thoughts of Daniel McCutchen cracking the
buc's rotation? And for fun, Which of Brackman, Bleich, Heredia,
Betances, De La Rosa break out of the Tampa Yankees' rotation first?



John Perrotto: If McCutchen pitches well this spring, he'll almost
certainly be in the rotation. As far as the Yankees, I'll go with
Betances.

Andrew Brackman, a 6-10 pitcher who played basketball at NC State,
might be the Yankee prospect with the highest ceiling and Newman says
he is ⁈Å"healthy and ready to go⁈  after spending much of last year
recovering from elbow surgery. Brackman showed flashes of brilliance in
the Hawaiian Winter League, Newman said, and should start the season at
either Tampa or Charleston.

⁈Å"In Hawaii, he had mediocre games and very good games,⁈  Newman said.
⁈Å"It was the first time he had pitched in quite a while and it was a
good challenge for him. His velocity was 94-97 (miles per hour) and he
has top of the rotation type stuff.⁈ 

However, Newman cautioned, ⁈Å"Tall pitchers typically need a little more time to make sure all the body parts work together.⁈ 

Eric Duncan, the Yanks⁈⁚ No. 1 pick in 2003, was once thought to be
their top prospect, but he hasn⁈⁚t reached the majors at 24 and was
exposed in the Rule 5 draft and not taken. On Friday, Duncan, a 1B/3B
was taking balls in the outfield. ⁈Å"The more versatility he has
defensively gives him a greater chance to help us,⁈  Newman said. ⁈Å"He is
still relatively young and has had some good, really productive
stretches in his young career. He⁈⁚s been close (to blossoming) and then
kind of backed off. We⁈⁚ll see how it goes.⁈  In 120 games at Triple-A
last season, Duncan hit .233 with 11 homers and 60 RBI⁈ ¦Asked to name a
potential surprise major-league roster candidate coming out of spring
training, Newman said, ⁈Å"Mike Dunn. Lefty, really good arm. Fastball up
to 97 (mph), legit power slider.⁈  Dunn, a 23-year-old former
outfielder, was 5-7 with a 4.49 ERA in 31 games (22 starts) between
Tampa and Double-A Trenton last year.

Just got off the phone with Eric Hacker. It was a good 15 minute
chat⁈ ¦I was driving on my way to Trenton for an impromptu tour of the
redesigned front office, to pick up All-Star Game tickets for the
winner of my fantasy football league and to cover the Trenton Devils
tonight, so I couldn⁈⁚t really write too much down. But here are a few
highlights⁈ ¦

- I asked Hacker about Chad Jennings report
that Mark Newman couldn⁈⁚t rule out the possibility of him starting the
year in the bullpen. He said he hadn⁈⁚t heard about it, but that he
wants to do whatever he can to help the team he⁈⁚s on win, and that if
it means being in the bullpen, then so be it. Hacker did say that he
prefers starting, considering it⁈⁚s the role he⁈⁚s been in for his entire
life.

- Hacker had a busy off-season, getting married and getting named to
the 40-man roster all in the span of about a week. He told me that
until he got the phone call from the Yankees, he had no indication of
whether they were going to add him to the roster or not, and that he
was concerned about his impending minor league agency because all he⁈⁚d
ever known since coming out of high school was being a Yankee. He was
very grateful for the opportunity, pointing out that the Yankees could
have easily given up on him considering his past injury problems.

- Hacker hopes to start the season in Scranton, but did enjoy his
time in Trenton and would be happy to go there as well. He has not
been given any indication as to where he will start the season or what
his role will be.

- Hacker has been in Tampa for a little over a week now, and is anxious
for spring training to get started. Much like Phil Coke, Hacker has a
mentality to where he just wants the ball, and he⁈⁚s very anxious to
show the Yankees what he can do.

http://thunderbaseball.wordpress.com/2009/02/11/happy-hacker/

Kyle Higashioka, C, 19

One
of the better prep catchers available in the 2008 draft, the Yanks
landed Higashioka in the seventh round and signed him to an above slot
$500,000 bonus after giving him the grand tour of the Yankee Stadium.
His calling card is his premium defense behind the plate, but he also
offers plenty of upside offensively thanks specifically to his raw
power. Higashioka rivals Frankie Cervelli as the best defensive catcher
in the system, and he might have the best all-around potential of any
backstop in the system. Also an excellent student, he turned down a
scholarship to Berkeley to turn pro and has drawn raves for his
leadership qualities. The Yankees love Higashioka⁈⁚s potential and could
challenge him with an assignment to Low-A Charleston to start the year.
It⁈⁚s more likely that he⁈⁚ll start in Extended Spring Training followed
by a trip to Short Season Staten Island.

Mikey O⁈⁚Brien, RHSP, 19

An undersized righthander (listed at 5'11?, 185 lbs), O⁈⁚Brien was
thought to be headed to Winthrop until the Yanks reeled him in with a
$200,000 signing bonus in the tenth round last year. Although he⁈⁚s not
a prototypical super-projectable high school pitcher, O⁈⁚Brien⁈⁚s
strength lies in his strong command and advanced feel for pitching. He
works in the low-90⁈⁚s with his fastball and backs it up with a good
changeup, and he⁈⁚s shown the ability to spin a breaking ball. O⁈⁚Brien⁈⁚s
upside isn⁈⁚t sky high, but he could quickly develop into a mid-rotation
workhorse that succeeds because of his ability to set-up and outsmart
hitters rather than sheer stuff. Because he⁈⁚s polished the Yankees
could push him to Low-A Charleston, although an assignment to Extended
Spring Training with a Short Season Staten Island chaser is more likely.

Keith Law:









Stouffer (DC): Keith, if you had to redo your top 100 prospects list right now, are there any changes you would make?



Keith Law: (1:08 PM ET ) I think I was too hard on Jesus Montero's positional question. He should have been 15-20 spots higher.


Brian (Wantagh, NY): You've said Jesus Montero doesn't project
to be a big league catcher. With A-rod and Teix at the corners and
Jeter expected to be somewhere in the outfield in the future where do
you see montero playing?



Keith Law: (2:49 PM ET ) First base, for someone else, I suppose.




Brian (Wantagh, NY): What happened to Humberto Sanchez? He was the centerpiece of the Sheffield deal a few years back.



Keith Law: (2:15 PM ET ) Blew his elbow out and missed two years. He was back and throwing in relief in September. Still has good velo, still fat.

Anthony Claggett (right)
In camp to make the case that he can handle major league hitters if needed this season.
Likely to end up in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre bullpen.
Worth knowing that Baseball America labeled Claggett's slider the best in the organization.

Phil Coke
In camp to make the Yankees want him in the big league bullpen rather than the Triple-A rotation.
Likely to end up
in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre rotation, but I'm saying that strictly
because the Yankees have told him to prepare himself as a starter. He
seems to have as good a chance as any of the candidates to land one of
those big league bullpen openings.
Worth knowing
that Coke made one spot start for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre early last
season and was knocked around, but he returned to Triple-A late in the
year and went 11 straight relief outings without a run.

J.B. Cox
In camp to open some eyes and put himself back on the big league radar.
Likely to end up in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre bullpen.
Worth knowing
that heading into 2007 Cox was considered a Top 10 prospect, but Tommy
John surgery in 2007 and a bad second half in 2008 have hurt his stock.
I've seen him pitch really well and I've seen him struggle. He doesn't
throw hard, but when he's on he pounds the lower half of the zone and
rarely allows solid contact.

Wilkins De La Rosa (right)
In camp to get his feet wet with the big leaguers and tell reporters whether or not his first name has an S at the end.
Likely to end up
in the Tampa rotation. Although he seems to profile as a lefty reliever
down the road, everything I've read suggests he's going to keep working
out of the rotation for the time being.
Worth knowing
that De La Rosa had to be added to the 40-man this winter to keep him
from six-year free agency. He started his career as a not-very-good
outfielder.

Michael Dunn
In camp to make the kind of impression that could accelerate his climb through the system.
Likely to end up in the Trenton bullpen.
Worth knowing that Mark Newman has said Dunn could be a surprise big league roster candidate this spring.