Yankees Scratch Their Ich For An Outfielder

Shane Victorino, Denard Span, Justin Upton; those are the names we kept hearing that the Yankees were looking at to bolster their outfield once it was learned Brett Gardner was likely done for the season.

But as we've seen in the past, GM Brian Cashman made a move for a player that no one heard mentioned. Late this afternoon, that player turned out to be Ichiro Suzuki, the multiple All-Star right fielder for the Seattle Mariners.

Suzuki is a free agent after this season, so the cost wasn't all that much- minor league pitchers D.J. Mitchell, who has had a few cups of coffee with the big squad, and Danny Farquhar.  The Yankees will also assume the $2.225MM remaining on  Suzuki's contract.

Suzuki been a nine time All-Star since he signed with the Seattle Mariners before the 2001 season. In his first season alone, Suzuki captured the AL Rookie of the Year and MVP Awards. To date, he's collected 2,533 hits, including a record 262 in 2004. Suzuki topped the 200 hit plateau in the first 10 seasons of his 12 year career. At the moment, the 38-year old is hitting a career low .261 and has posted a career low .642 OPS (His .645 OPS in 2011 was the worst of his career to this point).

Beside being a hitting machine, Suzuki has stolen 438 bases, though he has attempted just 17 this season (with 15 swipes). He stole 40 in 47 attempts last season and has stolen bases at an 83.4% clip in his career.

Suzuki is also known for his prowess in right field, though he will be playing left field for the Yankees (Joe Girardi did mention that Suzuki will play right field on days Nick Swisher DH's or has a day off). He won Gold Gloves in each of the first 10 seasons of his career and has amassed 100 assists, though most base runners will not tempt fate on his cannon of an arm.

Mitchell was the Yankees 10th round pick out of Clemson in 2008. He compiled a 44-24 (.647) record with a 3.56 ERA in 94 minor league appearances, 87 of which were starts. Ironically, Farquhar was a 10th round pick by the Toronto Blue Jays in the same 2008 draft. He's been in the Blue Jays, Oakland A's, and Yankees organization this season. Neither pitcher is considered to have a high ceiling.

Suzuki wore 51 with the Mariners, but the Yankees wisely did not make that number available in honor of Bernie Williams. Suzuki chose to wear #31 and will bat 8th as the Yankees open their series in Seattle Monday evening.

Time to Say Adios to Freddy Garcia

Freddy Garcia was a huge find for the 2011 season - a 12-8 record to go along with a 3.62 ERA in 25 starts (plus one relief appearance.) Based on that performance, the Yankees brought him back for 2012. But this isn't your Father's Oldsmobile Garcia of a year ago.

The 2012 version of Garcia is out of the ball game before most people have settled into their seats. The 35-yr old has lasted just 13.2 innings in four starts and hasn't made it out of the second inning in his last two appearances,. Garcia told reporters prior to Saturday's start that he had made adjustments to his mechanics. Apparently all that did was make the ball go farther for the Yankees opponent (the Detroit Tigers) as he got hammered for six runs in 1.2 IP.

Garcia's record is "just" 0-2 because the Yankees came back from 4-0 and 5-0 to win his other two starts. His overall numbers are awful - 13.2 IP 19 H 20 R 19 ER 5 BB 11 K 3 HR 12.51 ERA.

If for some reason the Yankees don't want to DFA him, they need to at least move Garcia to the pen and switch places with long man David Phelps. The Yankees could also use D.J. Mitchell in Garcia's spot, though the Clemson product was recalled this (Sunday) morning more likely to add another arm to the bullpen (Phelps and Cody Eppley both worked three innings on Saturday).

Update: 1:30 PM 4.29 - Garcia has been sent to the bullpen. No official announcement as of yet, but likely Phelps will take his spot, with Mitchell being a less likely option.

Mitchell Throws Clunker in Tampa Debut

D.J. Mitchell was making his first year of pro ball look pretty easy at Charleston, so the Yankees promoted the Clemson product to Tampa. Things were a little different for Mitchell in his first start for the Yankees' representatives in the Florida State League earlier today.

Mitchell was charged with 6 runs in 4.1 innings in the Yankees 9-6 loss to the Daytona Cubs. He allowed 2 runs in the 1st inning and seemed to have settled down, but the Cubs put a 6-spot on the board in the 5th inning, with most of the damage done against Mitchell. He finished his day with 8 strikeouts.

Prior to his promotion, Mitchell went 4-1, 1.95 in six South Atlantic League starts. He allowed less than a hit per inning and walked just 6 while striking out 42 batters in 37 innings pitched.

On the bright side, Über prospect Jesus Montero was 4-5 in today's game to raise his average to .336 and infielder Mitch Hilligoss is now hitting a robust .353 after today's 3-hit game.

D.J. Mitchell nearly unhittable in Yankees debut

D.J. Mitchell made an immediate impact in the Yankees organization last night, throwing six innings of 1-hit ball in his professional debut for the Charleston RiverDogs (SAL). The 'Dogs topped the Rome Braves 4-2 for their first win of the season.

Mitchell was selected by the Yankees in the 10th round of the 2008 amateur draft after a solid two years at Clemson University. (Mike Ashmore profiled Mitchell last month.) The 6', 170 lb right-hander didn't walk a batter and struck out 6, while retiring nine more batters on ground outs. Only two Braves hitters flied out.

Brian Baisley led the RiverDogs with a pair of doubles, and an RBI and a run scored. Pat Venditte picked up a save with a scoreless ninth inning.

	April 10, 2009
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Rome 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 4 1 Charleston 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 1 X 4 8 1 W: D. Mitchell (1-0, 0.00); L: Y. Castro (0-1, 6.75); SV: P. Venditte (1) HR: None.

Brackman roughed up in season debut

Plenty of eyes will be on the RiverDogs this season and they will mainly be looking up. That's because 2007 first round pick, 6'10" Andrew Brackman (seen here between fellow pitchers Manny Banuelos and D.J. Mitchell), will be starting the season in South Carolina.

Brackman was drafted by the Yankees despite knowing he would need Tommy John surgery. Some thing it was a mistake, but the Yankees are confident they knew exactly what they were doing.

You can bet though that Brackman would like to put his season debut last night behind him. The 6'10" right-hander allowed 5 earned runs (6 total) in 5 innings pitched in the RiverDogs 8-2 loss to the Rome Braves. Brackman gave up 5 hits, walked 3, and struck out 5. He was handed a 2-0 lead, but with his team clinging to a 2-1 margin, gave up four runs in the fourth inning.

The River Dogs played a sloppy game, committing 5 errors, including a pair by shortstop Carmen Angelini. He did try to make up for it at the plate by leading the RiverDogs with 3 hits and also drove in a run.

	April 9, 2009
	Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Rome 0 0 1 4 1 0 0 0 2 8 7 0 Charleston 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 13 5 W: R. Sullivan (1-0, 3.60); L: A. Brackman (0-1, 9.00); SV: E. Spruill (1) HR: None.

The Post and Courier has more on the Charleston pitching staff that comes with high expectations this year.

RiverDogs GM Dave Echols maintains a blog on the team's official site and was excited about Thursday's opener.

Opening Day is almost here! MLB has started and our turn will be here on Thursday. Don’t miss arguably the best time of the year and don’t be late as we introduce your 2009 Charleston RiverDogs via and Opening Day Parade – with a little taste of NY in Charleston brought to you this year by Comcast.

A few familiar faces (Angelini, Almonte & Baisley), a 6’10” RHP (Brackman), a Clemson Tiger (DJ Mitchell) and an ambidextrous pitcher (Venditte) help fill out our roster. Take advantage of our first, meet the team party / practice tonight from 6pm – 8pm. A new opportunity to mingle with the players for a short period of time then watch the open practice.

Every team is different but we trust Torre will be use his past success in managing the RiverDogs to help guide this team thru the summer season. You’ll be catching his blog throughout the summer as well.

Come out and enjoy the start of a relaxing summer of RiverDogs baseball. Thursday, April 9^th we battle the Atlanta Braves affiliate from Rome, GA and begin a 140 game quest to bring a championship to Charleston.

We will introduce a few new food items (Mellow Mushroom pizza, sushi), a few new promotions but with the same Fun Is Good approach. Who knows, maybe you’ll see Bill Murray walking the concourse, get a chance to tell Mike Veeck your favorite promotion or see future New York Yankee make a great play.

Baseball is back in Charleston, come out to The Joe, relax and let us entertain you.

Dave

Picks 290 and 320

We continue our look today at the Yankees 2008 draft picks with the 290th and 320th selections overall.

The Yankees selected Mikey O'Brien, a senior right-handed pitcher for Hidden Valley High in Roanoke, Virginia, with their 9th round pick. O'Brien also had a scholarship offer to Winthrop University.

"I'm going to sit down with my parents after I meet with the Yankees and the Winthrop coach and decide what's best for me," O'Brien said. "I'm just kind of living it up tonight."

O'Brien, the highest high school draft pick in the state this year, is a diabetic.

"It's something we can adjust to," Yankees scout Scott Lovekamp said of O'Brien's diabetes. "The biggest credit goes to Mikey because he's been able to adjust to it."

Lovekamp said he clocked O'Brien at 93 mph.

O'Brien went 11-1 with a 0.69 ERA this year.

"All that hard work really paid off," O'Brien said. "Everybody dreams of playing professional baseball, and now I guess I've got that chance."

The Yankees 10th round selection was Clemson University jr. right-hander D.J. Mitchell.
From CSTV.com

He became the first Tiger to be drafted by the Yankees since 1990. Mitchell had a 6-5 record and 3.47 ERA in 20 appearances (14 starts) in 2008. He also allowed 97 hits and 40 walks with 106 strikeouts in 98.2 innings pitched. His strikeout total was the most by a Tiger since 1996, when Kris Benson struck out 204.

Biographical Data
Player Name:	D.J. Mitchell
Position:	Starting Pitcher
School:	Clemson University
School Type:	College
Academic Class:	Junior
Birthdate:	05/13/87
Height:	6'2"
Weight:	165 lbs.
Bats:	Right
Throws:	Right
Report Date(s):	04/04/08
Game(s):	Miami

Focus Area	Comments
Fastball:	Mitchell threw his fastball in the 88-92 mph range.
Fastball movement:	He has average life on his fastball.
Curve:	He occasionally flashes an average curve that he throws 74-75 mph.
Changeup:	His changeup is slightly below average.
Control:	His overall command is average, though command of his changeup is below-average.
Poise:	He competed well. He's very aggressive with the stuff he has. He kept his team in the ballgame and gave them a chance to win.
Physical Description:	Mitchell is wiry, strong and athletic. He has limited strength projections and probably won't put on much weight.
Medical Update:	Healthy.
Strengths:	He's very competitive and goes right after hitters, using the stuff he does have to help his team win games.
Weaknesses:	None of his pitches grade out as better than average. His stuff is what it is and there's not much projection.
Summary:	Building off a strong Cape League season, Mitchell has had a solid junior season as Clemson's Friday starter. He's wiry and athletic and while he doesn't possess the greatest pure stuff in the world, he gets the most out of it by going right after hitters and keeping his team in games. There may not be a ton of upside or projection, but there's always a market for a college hurler who battles.

Picks 290 and 320

We continue our look today at the Yankees 2008 draft picks with the 290th and 320th selections overall.

The Yankees selected Mikey O'Brien, a senior right-handed pitcher for Hidden Valley High in Roanoke, Virginia, with their 9th round pick. O'Brien also had a scholarship offer to Winthrop University.

"I'm going to sit down with my parents after I meet with the Yankees and the Winthrop coach and decide what's best for me," O'Brien said. "I'm just kind of living it up tonight."

O'Brien, the highest high school draft pick in the state this year, is a diabetic.

"It's something we can adjust to," Yankees scout Scott Lovekamp said of O'Brien's diabetes. "The biggest credit goes to Mikey because he's been able to adjust to it."

Lovekamp said he clocked O'Brien at 93 mph.

O'Brien went 11-1 with a 0.69 ERA this year.

"All that hard work really paid off," O'Brien said. "Everybody dreams of playing professional baseball, and now I guess I've got that chance."

The Yankees 10th round selection was Clemson University jr. right-hander D.J. Mitchell.
From CSTV.com

He became the first Tiger to be drafted by the Yankees since 1990. Mitchell had a 6-5 record and 3.47 ERA in 20 appearances (14 starts) in 2008. He also allowed 97 hits and 40 walks with 106 strikeouts in 98.2 innings pitched. His strikeout total was the most by a Tiger since 1996, when Kris Benson struck out 204.

Biographical Data
Player Name:	D.J. Mitchell
Position:	Starting Pitcher
School:	Clemson University
School Type:	College
Academic Class:	Junior
Birthdate:	05/13/87
Height:	6'2"
Weight:	165 lbs.
Bats:	Right
Throws:	Right
Report Date(s):	04/04/08
Game(s):	Miami

Focus Area	Comments
Fastball:	Mitchell threw his fastball in the 88-92 mph range.
Fastball movement:	He has average life on his fastball.
Curve:	He occasionally flashes an average curve that he throws 74-75 mph.
Changeup:	His changeup is slightly below average.
Control:	His overall command is average, though command of his changeup is below-average.
Poise:	He competed well. He's very aggressive with the stuff he has. He kept his team in the ballgame and gave them a chance to win.
Physical Description:	Mitchell is wiry, strong and athletic. He has limited strength projections and probably won't put on much weight.
Medical Update:	Healthy.
Strengths:	He's very competitive and goes right after hitters, using the stuff he does have to help his team win games.
Weaknesses:	None of his pitches grade out as better than average. His stuff is what it is and there's not much projection.
Summary:	Building off a strong Cape League season, Mitchell has had a solid junior season as Clemson's Friday starter. He's wiry and athletic and while he doesn't possess the greatest pure stuff in the world, he gets the most out of it by going right after hitters and keeping his team in games. There may not be a ton of upside or projection, but there's always a market for a college hurler who battles.