Today is September 1st and the Yankees are sitting alone in 1st place. The Rays are just one game back though and have proven that they will not back down this season. The Yankees are also eight games up on the Red Sox for the Wild-Card lead, but with six head-to-head games left against them that lead isn’t exactly air-tight. The Yankees also have the toughest schedule of all three teams so nothing is locked in place. Get ready for what could be an exciting month.

Here are some notes:

• The rosters expand to 40 players today. The first call-ups: OF Greg Golson, C Chad Moeller, and RHP Jonathan Albaladejo. More will join the team later on.
• Lance Berkman is still expected to be activated today although no announcements have been made.
• Alfredo Aceves isn’t going to be activated today like I had originally guessed. There have been no reports about further back problems, but he hasn’t been sharp in his rehab outings.
• Javier Vazquez in the rotation? Not yet, for now Dustin Moseley‘s spot is secure.
• Andy Pettitte will throw another bullpen today. If that goes well a rehab start can’t be far behind.
• There is no time table for Damaso Marte‘s return, but it isn’t likely to be soon.
• Minor league outfielder Melky Mesa won the Florida State League’s Player of the Year award.
• Arizona Fall League rosters have been announced. Yankee minor leaguers participating: C Austin Romine, 3B Brandon Laird, 2B Corban Joseph, RHP George Kontos, and RHP Craig Heyer. There are spots on the roster open so more could be added later on.

I’m disappointed that Vazquez is not being put back in the rotation, but perhaps others are right in thinking that more time off could benefit him. It’s also somewhat of a surprise to see Aceves staying in the minors. I guess the Yankees don’t like what they’ve seen from him.

I like September call-ups. It’s always fun getting to see new players on the roster. Golson’s job will be to come off the bench as a runner and defensive replacement. I don’t expect he’ll get many starts or at bats. Moeller will just be here for insurance and maybe some late inning defensive duties. Albaladejo will get a shot to show if he can help the team in the playoffs or not. The Yankees have been carrying three long-men, Sergio Mitre, Chad Gaudin, and Vazquez. That’s overkill. If Albaladejo can pitch well, he has a shot at the playoff roster.

For those who don’t know much about Mesa, I’ve had a chance to see him play quite a bit. He’s fast, has a cannon for an arm, good range in the outfield, and he hits for power. His drawback has always been that he swings at everything to the point where it’s almost comical. My experience watching him was in 2008 when he was with the Staten Island Yankees. Since then he’s improved on his over aggressiveness at the plate, but improvements can still be made. He could probably make it to the majors on his speed and defense alone though, a la Golson.

The Yankees beat the Diamondbacks 9-3 last night behind a strong seven inning performance by Andy Pettitte and a big home run by Alex Rodriguez. The score was a lot closer until the 8th inning when the Yankees broke it open with six runs in the 8th.

Here are some notes:

• The home run by A-Rod snapped a streak of 49 at bats without a homer.
• Since he saw the Dr. about his groin, A-Rod is 5-for-25 (.200) with a .686 OPS.
• Both A-Rod and Jorge Posada played in the field in back-to-back games yesterday and were fine. Not sure if either or both will be in the field today.
• Outfielder Colin Curtis made his MLB debut pinch hitting for Pettitte in the 8th and he smacked a 2-run double.
• Despite walking the first batter he saw, Joba Chamberlain was crisp yesterday hitting 98 mph and now dropping below 95.
• Dellin Betances last night: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K.
• RHP Hector Noesi and C Austine Romine, both of Double-A Trenton, were named to the 2010 Futures Games that takes place during the All-Star weekend.

About the Future Games. Each team can have up to two players maximum and players can’t participate three times. Jesus Montero has already played twice so he was ineligible. Those are two good choices as any as both are having strong seasons.

According to George King of the NY Post, the Mariners have been busy scouting the Yankees farm system in anticipation of the Yankees trying to trade for LHP Cliff Lee at the deadline this season.

A source told King that they are interested in minor league infielder Eduardo Nunez plus one of the Yankees minor league catchers (Triple-A catcher Jesus Montero is their top prospect and Double-A catcher Austin Romine is their second best prospect. Catchers Gary Sanchez and JR Murphy are also elite prospects in the organization).

Let me be clear, King is reporting that the Mariners think that the Yankees are going to make a play for Lee. So far the Yankees have made no indication that they are interested and earlier in the season when Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt requested a trade we heard that the Yankees were happy with their rotation and weren’t interested in adding a pitcher. That was when their no. 5 starter Javier Vazquez was pitching poorly too, but as of late he has been a sufficient backend of the rotation pitcher.

Aside from the Yankees stocked rotation (CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Andy Pettitte, Phil Hughes, and Vazquez) there are two other reasons why this doesn’t make a lot of sense.

2 Reasons it Won’t Happen

The first reason is that in the past Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has resisted trading prospects for players close to free agency. It is just not his style to deal prospects and then give a player a bunch of money. However, this could mean that the Yankees are only interested in Lee as a rental and will look to offer him arbitration and net a couple of first round draft picks for the type-A free agent.

The other reason is that the Yankees have a firm policy of not extending player’s contracts until the contract has expired. They’ve made this very public recently in the case of Derek Jeter. The M’s seem to think that the Yankees might be interested in dealing for him as long as they have a window to sign an extension. It could be possible that the Yankees could make an exception here fearing that Lee might opt to sign somewhere else this offseason.

2 Reasons Why it Could Happen

There are a couple of reasons why this could happen. The first is like I briefly mentioned above, the Yankees might be so desperate to make sure they get Lee this offseason that they would be eager to be able to negotiate early with him. However, that is not guaranteed as the Phillies already traded Lee thinking that he wanted to test the free agent waters and the Yankees might not be willing to risk trying to make a deal only to not be able to agree to an extension. Signing a Roy Halladay type of deal on their terms (3-years $60 million) could be more likely if they have an exclusive window to sign him though.

The other reason is because of Phil Hughes. Hughes is on a innings limit this season around 175 and the way he’s pitched this year makes it all the more important to protect his arm. The Yankees might not want to use him in a post season rotation and instead opt to improve their bullpen with Hughes. At that point Vazquez than becomes their 4th starter, a scary proposition in the playoffs where every game would be a high pressure situation against a formidable opponent.

Overall, I don’t expect the Yankees to make a deal for Lee midseason, but when it comes to stuff like this, especially with the Bombers, you can just never tell for sure. I could see the Yankees be willing to deal Nunez, but their catchers are all big time prospects. Dealing one of them for a 6th starting pitcher, even one as good as Lee, doesn’t make a ton of sense.

For those of you who don’t know who he is, Mike Ashmore runs a Trenton Thunder blog for the Hunterdon County Democrat. He’s also one of the better and more hard working bloggers out there covering the Yankees organization.

Well, I’d say he topped himself yesterday as he interviewed at least nine members of the organization during the Thunder’s media day.

Here are the interviews:

Tony Franklin
Grant Duff
Ryan Pope
Tommy Phelps
Brandon Laird
Christian Garcia
Austin Romine
DJ Mitchell
Josh Schmidt

He’s also got a pretty good recap of the entire media day here.

That was yesterday and we know Ashmore never rests so today he posted rundowns on the Thunder’s pitching and positional players.

So keep yourself busy for a while by checking out those links. Remember, like Ashmore, we never let up with Yankees coverage. So be sure to check back with Bronx Baseball Daily later for more.

The Yankees season officially kicked off last night as they lost 9-7 against the Boston Red Sox and the minor league affiliates are set to get going next.

Here is the Double-A Trenton Thunder roster via Mike Ashmore:

PITCHERS (13): Cory Arbiso, Wilkins Arias, Jeremy Bleich, Noel Castillo, Wilkin De La Rosa, Grant Duff, Christian Garcia, D.J. Mitchell, Lance Pendleton, David Phelps, Ryan Pope, Josh Schmidt, Eric Wordekemper

CATCHERS (2): Jose Gil, Austin Romine

INFIELDERS (7): David Adams, Neall French, Brandon Laird, Luis Nunez, Kevin Smith, Justin Snyder, Marcos Vechionacci

OUTFIELDERS (4): Daniel Brewer, Edwar Gonzalez, Austin Krum, Damon Sublett

As Ashmore noted, this is 26 players for what will eventually be a 24-man roster. This means two players are going to have to be trimmed before this becomes an official roster. That could be players added to the DL or it could be players sent down to lower levels.

Thoughts: This team has some serious talent and it’s nice to see some of the Yankees prospects making it closer to the major league level. Among the better prospects include Austin Romine and the starting rotation, Christian Garcia, D.J. Mitchell, David Phelps, Jeremy Bleich, and Ryan Pope. Of those players you can expect that Garcia and Bleich should be promoted to Triple-A Scranton if they play well. The others, if they play well, may take a bit longer to get promoted.

David Adams, Brandon Laird, and Dan Brewer are also a few to keep an eye on. Other, more longshot, prospects include Wilkin De La Rosa, Grant Duff, Marcos Vechionacci, and Damon Sublett. Sublett and Vechionacci are two players who at one point were much more serious prospects, but have taken a step back. I would say 2010 is a pretty important year for each of them as another bad season would almost certainly doom their possibility to make it within this organization.

The Yankees made their most significant cuts so far this spring when they sent the organization’s top catchers Jesus Montero and Austin Romine to the minor league camp along with outfielders Colin Curtis and Reid Gorecki according to Chad Jennings of the Journal News.

That leaves 46 players remaining in camp, a number that will eventually be whittled down to 25 before the season starts.

Cutting those players was not significant because they had a shot at making it to the Bronx, but because they’re some of the biggest names among their prospects. Montero is their top prospect overall and is expected to start the season in triple-A Scranton. Romine will start the season in double-A Trenton.

Curtis and Gorecki are likely to both start the season in triple-A. Curtis will have a real chance to make the Yankees team next year or even this year if things go right for him. He’s a prospect in that scouts have said he has the tools to play at the major league level, but not as a starter, particularly with the Yankees he projects to be a fourth outfielder.

Gorecki recently signed with the Yankees as a minor league free agent. At this time it is hard to tell exactly what role the Yankees expect for him, but as of right now he’ll compete for a starting job in triple-A Scranton. His chances would be greatly if the Yankees are forced to return Rule 5 draftee Jamie Hoffmann back to the Dodgers.

Photo by Bryan Hoch

Here are some news and stories of note from yesterday:

• The Yankees lost in a walk-off 3-2 to the Phillies yesterday.
• CC Sabathia pitched, 2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO, and said afterwards he was “so-so”.
• Nick Johnson was scratched with a stiff lower back he tweaked in the batting cage.
• Austin Romine and Zach McAllister won the 2009 Kevin Lawn “Player of the Year” and “Pitcher of the Year” awards.
• Jesus Montero played yesterday and got a single in one at bat. He also spoke with Chris Shearn of the YES Network about when he’ll reach the Bronx, working with Jorge Posada, and other stuff. Take a look.

The Yankees offense hasn’t been pretty so far this spring, but remember spring training stats don’t mean much. Besides, all the starters have been out of the games by the 6th inning anyways and the starters are only pitching two innings. Speaking of starters, CC Sabathia managed to throw two shutout innings but they were not pretty, allowing two baserunners each inning. He said he has stuff to work on, but he’s not worried.

Nick Johnson said that if this were the regular season he would have played, but since it’s early he came out of the lineup. Apparently he wasn’t wearing turf shoes in the batting cage and tweaked his bat because of it. At least that was his excuse. He’s expected to be fine.

Good to hear Romine and McAllister won awards, but it doesn’t mean much. They’ll start in double-A and triple-A respectively and both could play large roles as soon as next year. After Montero they’re probably two of the players I’ve wanted to watch this spring. Eduardo Nunez is becoming another one.

Also, one thing to note about Montero, he really wants to catch and he seems very dedicated to improving himself.

Before getting into this week’s stories, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to give a friendly reminder of the previews that we’ve been doing here at BBD. If you’ve missed our 2010 Player Previews, here’s a link. If you liked those, stay tuned as you’ll find more previews coming soon. This time, we’ll be highlighting some players who you may or may not see in the Bronx at some point in 2010. We’re talking prospects and veterans who might start the year in Scranton Wilkes-Barre, but have a good shot at seeing time with the big club.

Posada leading the way for Cervelli, Montero, Romine.

Amongst conversation over the past few years that one day Jorge Posada may have to yield his position to some new blood, the 38-year old catcher remains the Yankees force behind the plate. His time, however, will end at some point within the next few years. When it does, the Yankees would like to believe it will be taken over by one of the young catchers already in the system.

Among those potential apprentices are likely 2010 back-up, Francisco Cervelli and two of the Yankees top prospects in Jesus Montero and Austin Romine.

So what does Jorge think of his potential competition in years to come?

“Cervelli is awesome, I love Romine, I love Montero,” Posada said. “For me, it’s easy, because these kids want to be taught. They listen. They follow you. Montero is like, ‘What are we going to do today?’ They’re going to follow me around, and hopefully we can work together. Whatever I have to teach, I’ll probably do a little bit of it.”

Source: Yankees.com

Truthfully, Cervelli still projects as the one more likely to be a back-up in the Yankees organization, especially considering the hype surrounding Jesus Montero.  To be fair, however, one should not forget Romine. After all, we’re talking about Florida State League Hitter of the Year in 2009. He isn’t that bad with a glove either.

He doesn’t have the potential power that Montero could provide…though questions remain if he could remain at the position.In the meantime, Jorge Posada is the Yankees starting catcher. Much like Girardi helped make Posada the player he is today, Posada seems to be enjoying his new role this spring training.

As for Girardi: “The thing about it is, I want to see them all play,” Girardi said. “I’m a big believer that if you come to Spring Training and do the work, you should play. I want to see every catcher here play. I think it’s important so you know exactly what you’ve got, how close they are and what they need to work on.”

McAllister makes impression on Girardi

Speaking of Jorge Posada, he’s gotten to work with more than a few catchers this spring. One of those people is Zach McAllister. Barely into spring, McAllister has impressed manager Joe Girardi in his work with Posada.

“He’s got a very good sinker, and he has very good command of his fastball,” Girardi said after watching McAllister throw to Jorge Posada in a Sunday morning bullpen session. Next, “You want to see how [he] reacts in a game.”

Source: NewJersey.com

To learn more about McAllister, stay tuned to our upcoming preview series.

Meet the Charleston RiverDogs New 1st Base Coach

Trenton fans may remember him. His name: Carlos Mendoza. Mendoza spent four years in the Yankees organization, primarily in a back-up role, and was a key part of the Thunder’s 2007 championship season.

Mike Ashmore provided some great background on one of the Yankees’ newest coaches at his blog. Check it out.

Odds and Ends: Some Local Stories on the Yankees Minor League Squads

Get your dance on: Trenton Thunder to have dance team at select home games

Oh Say Can You Sing: Scranton Auditioning National Anthem Try Outs

A Baltimore Orioles blog called Camden Depot has ranked the rop catchers in the American League East who are under the age of 26 and they ranked Yankees prospects Jesus Montero and Austin Romine at no. 2 and 3 respectively.

Here is their writeup on Montero:

As with Wieters, Montero is considered a very advanced offensive prospect, garnering comparisons to some of the game’s best sluggers and drawing raves for his natural power and ability to square up on the baseball. Some scouts have even graded him as an 80 on the 20-80 scale for hitting and power. After destroying advanced A-level ball to the tune of .356/.406/.583, Montero was well on his way to similarly dominating AA pitching (.317/.370/.539) before breaking his middle finger and being shelved for the remainder of the season.

Unlike Wieters, however, Montero’s future as a catcher is in doubt. Whereas some scouts project him as a poor defensive catcher with a ceiling of Mike Piazza’s skills behind the plate, others believe that the Yankees are prolonging the inevitable and that Montero will indeed either man first base or be a full-time DH upon reaching the big leagues. Scouts cite a lack of natural athleticism and poor footwork behind the plate, and, despite a strong throwing arm, nearly all those who have watched Montero behind the plate feel that he is no better than a below average defensive prospect.

Here is what they said about Romine:

With Montero’s promotion to AAA after only 167 at-bats at AA, his former platoon-mate Austin Romine will be granted the full-time catching duties at AA-Trenton in 2010. Romine is considered an all-around catching prospect with above-average raw power and solidly above-average skills behind home plate, including a strong and accurate arm. Additionally, Romine is viewed as a good athlete with fair speed for a catcher, evidenced by his 11 steals (out of 16 chances). The 2009 Florida State Player of the Year,Romine – and not Montero – appears to be the heir apparent to Jorge Posada as the everyday catcher of the future for the New York Yankees.

Obviously as a Orioles blog Matt Wieters is ranked no. 1 and honestly you can’t argue against that. For as good as Montero might be Wieters has already played at the major league level and did pretty well for himself in his rookie season. Ranked third on this list is Rays catcher, and former Yankees prospect, Dioner Navarro. Let’s be honest here, if that’s the depth the AL East has in catchers under 26 then it isn’t much of a surprise that the Montero and Romine have made this list. Still, it’s good to know that the Red Sox don’t have somebody with their talent knocking on the door. Or maybe that’s actually a bad thing with Joe Mauer knocking on the door of free agency.

What do you think? Anyone missing from this list?

This time it comes from Robert Pimpsner of Baseball Digest who covered the Staten Island Yankees for years at his site Baby-Bombers.com.

Here is his list:

1. Jesus Montero C
2. Austin Romine C
3. Manny Banuelos LHP
4. Slade Heathcott OF
5. Zach McAllister RHP
6. JR Murphy C
7. Andrew Brackman RHP
8. Wilkins De La Rosa LHP
9. Jeremy Bleich LHP
10. Ivan Nova RHP

Catchers, pitchers, and one outfielder make up this entire list. He also lists right handed pitchers Jose A. Ramirez, DJ Mitchell, Christian Garcia, Hector Noesi, and infielders Bradley Suttle, Corban Joseph, and catchers Gary Sanchez and Kyle Higashioka as other names to know.

The only can’t miss prospect on this list is probably Montero. Romine and Banuelos look pretty promising as well. The good thing about this list is that about seven of these players (Banuelos, Heathcott, and Murphy being the exceptions) should contribute in the Bronx, at least slightly, by the end of the 2011 season. While they may not all be huge impact players there could be a few hidden gems in this list.