sorry, Eric Duncan, does that hit too close to home?

He still isn’t sure what the word “hit” means, you may have to choose a new word.

Home, the one base he could never seem to advance past.

Always have to wonder with Duncan if it was just a poor pick, or an example of how you can wreck a prospect by rushing him.  Not that he would have ever been an All Star or anything, but maybe if they hadn’t pushed him as hard he could have at least been a Major Leaguer.  He certainly didn’t lack for effort.  We’ll never know.  I do think Duncan is one of the reasons why the Yankees seem to move players more slowly now, FWIW.

I can’t even recall the last Yankees offensive prospect that came seemingly out of nowhere like this.

Cano maybe?  He was thought of as more of at best a bench piece because he couldn’t hit enough to overcome his defense.  Gardner is more recent and has certainly done better than non-TSBG Fan Club members expected, but definitely not the “wow” factor of Cano or what Austin has done so far.

After trading Jesus Montero, it is great to see someone new that I can realistically pin my future hopes on for the Yankees lineup.

Williams and Sanchez are also down there, and both of those may soon be getting promotions to Tampa.  It’s entirely possible that 2015 could have Williams starting in CF, Sanchez behind the plate, and Austin in RF.  Hopefully they can add in a pitcher for a new Core Four…

[4] Bichette too, he’s not having a great year, but scouts tend to be pretty optimistic on him. And I kind of like Culver, the hitting isn’t quite there yet, but his defense is good and he has very good plate discipline.

Out of all of them, I like Austin and Sanchez most. I’m looking forward to see if Williams fills out and develops some more power.

By the way, I just looked through his game logs on ESPN.com and and as far as I can tell Frank Francisco has never struck out the side against the Yankees.

[0] After trading Jesus Montero, it is great to see someone new that I can unrealistically pin my future hopes on for the Yankees lineup
None of these guys will never make a Yankee lineup.  They’re tradebait or lineup filler at best.  The ones that show any promise at the advanced levels will be packaged up and shipped off for an established player.  But I’m an optimist.

Just for fun, from 2009, here are John Sickel’s projected Yankee 2012 major leaguers:

PROJECTED 2012 LINEUP
Catcher   Austin Romine
First Base   Alex Rodriguez
Second Base   Robinson Cano
Third Base   Bradley Suttle
Shortstop   Derek Jeter
Left Field   Xavier Nady
Center Field   Brett Gardner
Right Field   Austin Jackson
Designated Hitter   Jesus Montero
No. 1 Starter   Joba Chamberlain
No. 2 Starter   Chien-Ming Wang
No. 3 Starter   Andrew Brackman
No. 4 Starter   Dellin Betances
No. 5 Starter   Phil Hughes
Closer   Mark Melancon

Granted it doesn’t take into account future free agent signings (Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia) or trade acquisitions (Granderson).  But is interesting to look back and see who was thought highly of before.

Duncan was always more potential then achievement.  He was projected because the power he demonstrated at a young age to develop into a star.  Austin is doing it all now OBP and SLG.  Austin looks to have the best chance to succeed followed by Williams and Sanchez.

No. 1 Starter   Joba Chamberlain

Joba should be starting! rabble rabble rabble!

At least we’ve still got Mo pitching and ARod playing 3B. Take that John Sickels. That cheap rotation is dreamy though.

[10] And he nailed the #5 starter ...

Be fair to the guy, he had to project all holes filled by home grown talent but no one in their right mind would have thought for a second that the Yankees would never sign an outside free agent over a 3 year period.  Any lineup you throw out there 3 years in advance using those assumptions is going to be a joke…

except maybe now with 189.

[5] Oh yeah, LOTS of exciting young prospects in the system.  I think the best bets are the 3 I mentioned, but there are the two you mention, Ravel Santana in short season (and some others), not to mention a trio in Tampa - Segedin who is a little old but should graduate to Trenton soon, Flores who is young and starting to heat up, Murphy who is age appropriate, starting to heat up, and a catcher with enough athleticism (and possibly bat) to move to 3rd or corner OF. 

Williams is often thought of to have the best chance long term b/c his defense in the OF is (I believe) already a plus, and people who have seen him live think hey’ll keep that.  But those three are definitely the bright lights, and all look to be fast movers through the system.  I wouldn’t be surprised if any or all start next year in Trenton, and are contributing in the majors as early as spring 2014.  Mid year callup to Trenton next year and cup of coffee in September 2014 is more likely though.

[13] Austin and Sanchez will almost certainly be getting promoted this year (pretty soon), Williams is likely, and at somepoint Heathcott will leave short-season for an A team. Unless Bichette starts mashing it seems like they will keep he and Culver at Charleston for the remainder of the year.

[8] Well, most high school picks are more potential than achievement, right?  Some more so than others maybe, but once you get outside of the ARod or Harper level of high school prospects, you’re mostly looking at potential that needs serious development.  It’s that development part; IDK if there is a point where you miss out on the necessary development at a young age that you can “wreck” a prospect, or if there even is if the Yankees did that with Duncan.

But from what I observed of him in Scranton he certainly seemed to have the right ethic and work attitude, so I don’t think he’s one of those that didn’t live up to potential because of issues there.  He could have just been a bad pick, where his potential was overestimated and AAA player was always his ceiling.  I’m willing to bet that if he wasn’t rushed he could have been more than that.  AAAA may have been it though.

[15] I think he mean more potential than achievement in the minors. Sort of like Nova who alway had the tools to be an ML player but never the results to back up the quality of tools. IIRC, Duncan had a good year or two in the low minors and then was rushed into AA and AAA and his game never came together. Similarly Nova always drew rave reviews for stuff but never really backed it up with results until AAA and the ML.

[14] Agreed on all points, and I think Segedin will definitely be moving to AA at that time as well.  Murphy is a more interesting case.  His .675 OPS is meh, but his peripherals are decent (though isoP would be nice to be higher), and he’s a catcher.  So IDK if they’d keep him in Tampa a few more weeks and let he and Sanchez split DH/C time and see if Murphy continues to improve (.813 OPS so far in June), or if they’ll promote him to AA so he and Sanchez can both catch as much as possible.  Flores will definitely stay in Tampa for the rest of the year.

Will be interesting what they do with some of the other SS guys like Bird, and also what they do with the pitchers.  I think the only pitcher likely to be promoted before August - other than some college relievers - is Turley.

[16] Ah…yeah that’s part of what I talked about with rushing him.  He didn’t really show that he had mastered any level.  I think he did decently (but not great) at any level, INCLUDING AA.  Then the moved him to AAA after half a season in Trenton and he bombed.  They sent him back down and then to the AFL, where he raked.  So the Yankees decided he was “fixed” and promoted him to AAA and left him there despite struggling.  Looking back he should have had a full year at AA, and then moved to AAA.  Or after he failed in AAA they shouldn’t have been overly swayed by the AFL results.

Of course at the same time, perhaps they already knew he wouldn’t amount to anything and were hoping he would have early success in AAA to boost his trade value.

What’s a Bradley Suttle?

[19] “best pure hitter in the 2006 draft” or something like that. He destroyed his shoulder.

[19 & 20] Yeah, early 4th round pick of Yankees out of college.  Switch hitter who played 3rd and drew a lot of comparisons to Chipper Jones.  Hit well in Charleston as a 22 year old before his first shoulder surgery cost him his age 23 season.  Returned and hit well as a 24 year old in Tampa.  Played so-so as a 25 year old in Trenton before second surgery ended his career.

[10] Zing!

Why got excited about a prospect when we can just shovel some more money at A-rod for a few extra seasons.

anyone know anything about that Cuban(?) OF in triple A?

[24] He’s hit everywhere, but doesn’t do anything great. He’s basically a utility corner/OF utility player (he might be able to play 2B). Not too much upside as he’s already 25+. But will probably be a solid bench piece who can fill in wherever needed without being terrible defensively or offensively.