Yankees Deal Pirela and Murphy, Acquire Hicks

Jose Pirela and John Ryan Murphy are the first Yankees on the move this offseason.

The Yankees swung into action Wednesday eliminating one of the competitors for the 2016 second base job and possibly adding a player that could spell the end of Brett Gardner in Pinstripes.

First, GM Brian Cashman sent second baseman Jose Pirela to the San Diego Padres for pitching prospect Ronald Herrera. Pirela had an excellent 2015 Spring Training and looked poised to head north when the regular season started until a  collision with an outfield wall and the resultant concussion that followed landed him on the disabled list.

Pirela hit .333 in seven games for the Bronx Bombers in 2014, before he appeared in 37 games this past season. He wasn't able to take advantage of his opportunity, with just 17 hits in 74 at-bats and a .558 OPS. His departure could mean the Yankees will go with a platoon of Dustin Ackley and Rob Refsnyder at second base next season

Later Wednesday the Yankees acquired one-time outfield prospect Aaron Hicks from the Minnesota Twins for backup catcher John Ryan Murphy. Hicks was the 14th overall pick in the 2008 MLB Amateur Draft and made his MLB debut in 2013. It's been no picnic at the plate for the 26-year old switch-hitter, although he began to show some promise in the latter part of the 2015 season.

Hicks made a career high 390 plate appearances this past season and produced 11 home runs, 33 RBI and stole 13 bases. He has the opportunity to strengthen the Yankees lineup against left-handers - he produced an .870 OPS against southpaws last season - and will likely replace Chris Young as a fourth outfielder. There have also been rumors that the Yankees might be willing to part with left fielder Brett Gardner for the right price. Gardner has had poor second halves of the season the last two years though new hitting coach Alan Cockrell recently told the media that Gardner played with a wrist injury all season.

The departure of Murphy, who did a solid job (.277/.327/.406) as Brian McCann's backup in 2015, could mean that long-time prospect Gary Sanchez gets a shot at being the #2 catcher next season. Still just 23-years of age, Sanchez has been in the Yankees' farm system since they signed him out of his native Venezuela in 2009. He's had his ups and down at the plate throughout his minor league career, but has been on a tear playing in the Arizona Fall League the past month.

The 20-year old Herrera, himself a native of Venezuela, was originally signed by the Oakland A's before he was acquired by the Padres in 2014. He put up solid numbers for advanced-A ball club Lake Elsinore of the California League - 3.88 ERA, 1.255 WHIP - in 2015 before he struggled in eight starts for Double-A San Antonio. Herrera has a low 90s fastball, a strong curveball and a changeup.

Sanchez Promoted To Triple-A

Gary Sanchez joins recently promoted Thunder teammates Luis Severino and Aaron Judge in Scranton.

Gary Sanchez has been a highly touted prospect since the Yankees signed him as a free agent teenager out of the Dominican  Republic in 2009. In fact, this is the first season since 2011 that Sanchez has not been ranked in top 100 prospects by Baseball America, MLB.com, and Baseball Prospectus.

Sanchez has appeared to overcome the immaturity that plagued him earlier in his career and recently got on a hot streak at Double-A Trenton. He leaves the Thunder with a slash line of .262/.319/.476 with 12 HR and 36 RBI in 58 games.

The 22-year old's best season came in 2012 when he played for Charleston ('A') and Tampa ('A+'). He produced an .829 OPS with career highs in home runs (18) and RBI (85). There has been speculation that the Yankees may use him as trade bait at the upcoming non-waiver trade deadline.

Trenton Thunder Named Minor League Team of the Year

The Yankees Double-A team, the Trenton Thunder, came out on top in a fan poll for the top minor league baseball team. The team featured some of the top prospects in the organization - catcher Gary Sanchez, pitcher Danny Burawa, and outfielders Mason Williams, Slade Heathcott, and Tyler Austin.

The team also had rehab visits from Curtis Granderson and Alex Rodriguez.

Below is the press release from the Thunder:

(TRENTON, NJ) MiLB.com, the official website of Minor League Baseball, has named the Trenton Thunder, Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, "Team of the Year" following a three week online voting period this month. The honor is part of the annual "MiLBY" Awards which are presented by MiLB.com each fall.  

The Thunder were the champions of the Eastern League after earning the East Division Wild Card during the regular season.  Trenton got hot at the end of the year and finished on a nine-game winning streak including sweeps of the first place Binghamton Mets in the Eastern Division Championship and the Western Division Champs, the Harrisburg Senators, to earn the title. Trenton became the first team to sweep both rounds of the EL postseason since 1991. 

The title is the franchise’s third in its 20 seasons in Trenton, all under the watch of Manager Tony Franklin. In Franklin's seven years with the Thunder, he has led them to the EL Championship Series five times.   

MiLBYs are the end-of-season awards that honor the best players, teams and performances of the Minor League season. For three weeks, fans chose their favorites in 13 categories at milb.com. The official website of Minor League Baseball announces Fans' Choice winners as well as MiLB.com staff picks for the major awards.

Trenton is a finalist for two additional MiLBY Awards that will be announced on Thursday, October 31. The Retirement Party for Chase That Golden Thunder is a nominee for "Promotion of the Year" and a tribute video for Chase is up for "Mascot Clip of the Year".  

The Thunder will begin the 2014 season on at home on Thursday, April 3.  Season tickets, group outings, Pic-A-Plans, and Mini Plan renewals are on sale now.  For more information about tickets, fans should call 609-394-3300 or visit trentonthunder.com.

Thunder Bring the Thunder to Capture Eastern League Title

The Trenton Thunder celebrate the Eastern league title

The Trenton Thunder were not supposed to make it past the first round of the Eastern League playoffs. Not only did they advance, but they didn't lose a single game in capturing the third title in their history. The Thunder finished off the Harrisburg Senators 11-4 Thursday night to win the championship for the first time since 2008. (The Thunder's first title came the year before.)

The Yankees Double-A affiliate went up against the Mets' Binghamton squad in the playoffs opening round. The B-Mets won the league's eastern division by 12 games over the second place Thunder and were heavily favored to win the series, but Trenton got hot at the right time.

The Thunder rode a nine game winning streak into the playoffs and never let up. The tone for the series and playoffs was set in the first game of the first round. The Mets scored a pair of runs in the top of the 10th inning to take a 5-3 lead, but the Thunder rallied with two outs in their final at-bat.

Jose Pirela doubled and scored on Gary Sanchez's single. Tyler Austin's infield single moved to pinch-runner Francisco Arcia into scoring position and it paid off when Casey Stevenson singled to tie the game. Ben Gamel brought Austin home with the game winning run with a single of his own to right field.  The Thunder's 2-out, 5-hit rally came against Mets closer Jeff Walters, who saved 38 games during the regular season.

Another nail biter followed in Game 2 with the Thunder's Mikey O'Brien and the Mets' Darin Gorski locked into a 1-1 pitcher's duel. It stayed that way until the 7th inning when Mason Williams reached on a 1-out single and scored the go ahead run on a 2-out double by Ali Castillo.

Tommy Kahnle closed things out for the Thunder in the 9th with a pair of strikeouts and a ground out after Blake Forsythe drew a 2-out walk.

The series moved on to Binghamton where the Mets hoped to get up off the canvas and rally, but the Yankees pitching staff would have none of it. Despite the fact they gave up 11 hits, starter Shane Greene and relievers Pat Venditte, Branden Pinder, Manny Barreda, and Danny Burawa kept the Mets off the scoreboard.

The offense, meanwhile, put two on the board in the 5th inning and another in the 7th. Reegie Corona and Castillo each picked up an RBI in the process. Burawa picked up the final four outs, three by strikeout, to clinch the series.

Harrisburg, Washington's Double-A affiliate and the western division's regular season champs, advanced to the finals in four games by defeating the second place Erie SeaWolves.

Trenton blew Game 1 open with a 5-run 3rd inning and cruised to an 8-2 win. Williams drove in two in the big inning with a single and later added a sacrifice fly. Nik Turley stuck out 10 over six innings to earn the victory.

The Thunder had to rally from 3-1 and 4-3 deficits to capture Game 2. Starter Bryan Mitchell struggled with his control and walked seven Senators, but Francisco Rondon, Burawa, and Kahnle kept Harrisburg in check over the final 3.2 innings.

Down a run in the 7th, Austin and Kyle Roller drew back-to-back 1-out walks from reliever Richie Mirowski. Another clutch hit by Gamel loaded the bases and Corono followed with a single of his own to tie the game at 4-4. Castillo hit a grounder to second baseman Rick Hague, but his only play to was to first base as pinch-runner Stevenson scored the go ahead run.

Harrisburg put two men on in the 9th, but Kahnle retired Billy Goodwin on a fly out and struck out Steven Souza to end the game and earn Rondon the victory. Just like Binghamton, Harrisburg returned home with the hopes of rallying from a 2-0 deficit, but the Thunder quickly put that idea to bed in Game 3.

Down 1-0 in the 3rd inning, the Thunder on a thunderous night back in their home state, scored five times to take control of the game. Senators starter Nathan Karnes put up a 3.26 ERA during the regular season and held opponents to a .224 average, but he wouldn't make it out of the 3rd inning Thursday night.

Like their playoff opening rally, the damage came with two outs. Williams started it with a 1-out single, but things didn't get going until Ramon Flores made the second out of the inning. After Pirela was hit by a pitch, Sanchez tied the game with a ribbie single.  A wild pitch put Trenton ahead 2-1 and Austin followed with an RBI triple.

Gamel's double made it a 4-1 game and the Thunder added another run after Karnes and reliever Matt Swynenberg combined to walk three straight hitters. Castillo and Pirela chipped in with home runs later in the game and the Thunder rolled to an 11-4 victory to give  Greene his second victory of the playoffs.. Pinder allowed an unearned run in the 9th, but with two on and two outs got Jeff Howell to fly out to Williams in center to set off the celebration.

Congratulations to the Thunder - GM/COO Will Smith, manager superba Tony Franklin, coaches Justin Turner, Tommy Phelps, and Luis Dorante, and the entire team and employees.

Cerving Notice

Francisco Cervelli has his smile back

A year ago Francisco Cervelli was not a happy man. He had nailed down the backup job to starting catcher Russell Martin and was ready to travel north with the team for the 2012 season. At least Cervelli thought he had nailed down the job. Two days before the start of the regular season the Yankees acquired catcher Chris Stewart from the San Francisco Giants for minor league reliever George Kontos.

In a matter of hours Cervelli had gone from riding high to riding throughout the International League...literally. The home field of the Scranton-Wilkes Barres Yankees was being renovated, every game played was, in effect, a road game.

Cervelli was angry, pouted, and got off to a bad start in the minors. He wouldn't return to the Major Leagues until the rosters expanded in September. He hit just .246 and slugged .316 for Scranton. It appeared his days in pinstripes were numbered.

The off-season changed all that. The Yankees decided to meet the league's $189MM salary ceiling to avoid the luxury tax for the 2014 season. Doing that meant letting Martin sign elsewhere as a free agent.  Cervelli came to camp refreshed and renewed, and with his head on straight.  Originally slated to play in the World Baseball Class (WBC), Cervelli changed his mind and opted to compete with Chris Stewart for the starting catching job on the Yankees.

At the conclusion of Spring Training, Joe Girardi wasn't sure how he would split up the time between his two backstops. Cervelli made the decision for him; he entered Saturday's play swinging a hot bat and has worked well with the pitching staff.  Yes, there's the occasional one or two hop throw into centerfield on a stolen bsae attempt, but to this point he has fans not caring that the Yankees didn't make much of an effort to keep Martin. (Who, oddly enough, enters Saturday's play just 8-45 on the season.)

Not known for power, Cervelli is already half way to his career high of four home runs. He hit a 9th inning home run against Arizona Diamondbacks closer J.J. Putz Thursday night to send the game into extra innings. More impressive is his 1.012 OPS through 12 games, one of the highlights of which is he's drawn more walks (8) than he has struck out (5).  It's a small sample, but he's 3-4 with runners in scoring position.

Cervelli even played an inning at second base when the Yankees got in a tight jam. No matter where he is on the field, Cervelli has his smile and confidence back, and he knows not to take anything for granted.

YCN: Mason Williams Rockets to the Top of the 2013 Yankees Prospect List

For some reason Yahoo has decided to move the Yahoo Sports contributor articles into Yahoo Voices, which doesn't get the exposure that the sports section does. That being said, I have written a new article, published in Voices, that details the Yankees top 10 prospects (determined by Baseball America) for 2013.

Mason Williams has been steadily moving up the ranks is number 1 this year. Gary Sanchez and Slade Heathcott are in the top 10 as well, while Dellin Betances and Dante Bichette dropped off from last year's list.

To see the full article, click here, and thank you.

Here's the list of the BA's top 10 Yankees prospects for the last decade.

Year	Player, Pos	2012 Org
2003	Jose Contreras, rhp	Phillies
2004	Dioner Navarro, c	Reds
2005	Eric Duncan, 3b	Royals
2006	Phil Hughes, rhp	Yankees
2007	Phil Hughes, rhp	Yankees
2008	Joba Chamberlain, rhp	Yankees
2009	Austin Jackson, of	Tigers
2010	Jesus Montero, c	Mariners
2011	Jesus Montero, c	Mariners
2012	Jesus Montero, c	Mariners

Sanchez Heart Surgery Successful

Toh to @jnorris427 who always does a great job covering the Trenton Thunder and informing us of Yankees' prospect news. It was reported by George King of the post last week that catcher Gary Sanchez had undergone tests on hearts, but no further details were given.

It turns out an EKG showed an extra heart nerve that had been there from birth. Doctors cauterized the nerve and Sanchez will be ready to resume spring training workouts on Monday.