NYCurve Yankees Blog

2008 Draftees: Samuel Mende, Matthew Summers

This post is part of the MLB Draft 2008 get-to-know the draftees series.

Samuel Mende, a shortstop from Clearwater Central Catholic High School in Florida was selected in the 40th round by the Yankees, as the 1220th overall picked. Mende, who turned 18 in January is a 6’1, 166lbs. right-handed middle infielder. He was named to the first team All State Baseball team for 3A players as a middle infielder. His high school squad at CCHS finished the 2008 season with a final record of 26-4.

Mende does not have a ton of power, but he seems to hit the ball well. His expertise is really on the other side of the ball though, where some may call him a “wizard” of the glove. It’s always nice to have a reliable middle infielder and that is exactly what Mende can bring to the club. He has been signed for the league minimum of $400,000.

In the 43rd round of the draft the Yankees selected Matthew Summers, a right-handed pitcher out of Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, Arizona. He is listed at 6’1, 195lbs and turns 19 years old in August. He has shown tremendous work ethic and that should serve him well as he tries to prove himself at a young age. Currently, Summers has also signed with the Yankees for the minimum of $400,000/year.

This post is part of the MLB Draft 2008 get-to-know the draftees series.

The Kennedy Conundrum

Ian Kennedy is one of the top prospects in baseball right now. He has played extraordinarily throughout his career at all levels. All levels except one. In his “second chance” in the bigs, Kennedy failed miserably, lasting under three innings. The Angels’ batters were all over him and he wasn’t able to catch a break. It is still early in his career and he will certainly have more shots at proving himself, but sadly when -if- he breaks through is unknown.

For the Yankees this is devastating news, as we really needed him to do well in place of Joba. Hopefully this was just a one night thing, but looking at Kennedy’s performances thus far this year, we can’t count on it. Currently, we are still in third place, but are now 7 games behind Tampa. With the season flying by, we really need to pick it up and start winning soon if we want to make the playoffs. Joba did tell reporters recently that he plans on being back later this month, but until then we really need Rasner, Kennedy, and Ponson to pretty well as a unit.

Even after the outcome of this season is decided, the Kennedy question will still exists (unless he is able to make a quick turnaround of course.) How long will it be until we see IPK develop into a major league pitcher?

What’s next for the Yankees?

It has been quite a road for the Yanks thus far this season, with a plethora of big happenings, both good and bad. The team continues to fight on in the death match with the Red Sox and Rays, but the injury bug just won’t go away. Combine that with the reliance on young guys and you can really see that the Yanks have been through a lot. First it was the struggles of Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy, as they continue to try and find their place in the bigs. Then it was Chien-Ming Wang getting hurt while base running, and after that Posada and Matsui leaving a void in the lineup after sustaining injuries.

The Yankees, as always, didn’t give up as they continued to stay in it with the likes of Darrell Rasner, Dan Giese, and Sidney Ponson stepping up when needed. Brian Cashman responded with a couple of deadline moves, bringing in good replacements for Posada and Matsui with Ivan Rodriguez and Xavier Nady as well as extra bullpen help in Damaso Marte. Yet, the injury bug still didn’t care. It has bit again and Pudge is now out, again leaving the Yanks without a good-hitting catcher. Joba has also been struck, having been placed on the 15-day deal and putting even more pressure on the iffy rotation.

Yet, the Yankees will continue on. We really have no other choice. Andy Pettitte will likely continue to play consistently and Mike Mussina looks like he can keep this up. But, after that it’s still a mess. Perhaps Sidney Ponson will be able to keep up this run, but it’ll have to be something we hold our breath with. Same goes for Giese and whoever the other starter will end up being (for now its Kennedy, but I don’t know how long that will last; hopefully he can surprise us.) Let’s just hope that this group can keep us in it until Joba comes back, if he does this season.

Favre’s a Jet!

Brett Favre has been traded to the Jets! I know its not baseball-related news, but it is huge and it does have to do with New York sports (plus, I’m a Jets fan.) This move really improves the team at the biggest question and if Favre plays anything like he did last year, that could mean a playoff appearance and maybe more for the Jets. On top of that, Favre and the Jets get to take on Brady and the Cheatriots twice a year, in what are bound to be great games. It’s going to be great!

This Blog is Not Dead

As many of you may have noticed, this blog hasn’t been posted on for about 10 days and I would like to apologize for that. I have just been really busy and was out of town for a while, leaving me no time to write. Rodney hasn’t been writing either because he has had to leave the blog due to personal reasons. You will still see a few “get to know the draftees” posts by him which he wrote earlier, but you won’t see anymore from him after that. I want to thank him for contributing and hopefully he’ll come by to visit and participate via comments from time-to-time.

As for the future of this blog, I will do my best to post more consistently. I don’t know about preview posts for every game, but the big news (and analysis) will certainly be covered here. The previews aren’t really anything special since tons of sites and major sports hubs do them anyway. As the blog moves forward I will focus more on analysis and speculation, as well as covering the often overlooked parts of the Yankee universe, such as more on prospects. Things should pick up again shortly and I really hope you guys stick around. If you have any suggestions or comments, I would love to hear them via comments or the contact form.

Yankees Acquire Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte

Just like always, the Yankees aren’t willing to settle for less than a championship this year. Thank god we have management that always wants to win. With the trade deadline approaching, Cashman’s crew was busy once more despite some suggestions not too long ago that it was time to call it quits for 2008. What they came up with will certainly be a nice help for this year and thankfully not too big a hit for the future.

First off I want to say that Cashman hasn’t sold out. He is still sticking by our young prospects and the fact that we still have Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes shows that. This move does send away prospects, but without them the farm system is far from depleted. We still have good depth at their positions and it really shouldn’t be a big hit. Add that with the fact that Nady and Marte are in their prime and not on the downhill just yet, and this move makes a lot of sense for us.

The prospects we will part with are Jose Tabata, Ross Ohlendorf, Phil Coke, and George Kontos. Kontos and Coke aren’t likely to become anything special, although Tabata and Ohlendorf certainly seem to have a future. Tabata is considered one of the best athletes in the organization, but he is an outfielder, a position that we have a huge abundance at. Add that with the fact that he is struggling this year and that Nady is also an outfielder, and it doesn’t seem that bad to let him go. Nady will be a great addition to the squad, as he will certainly help the struggling lineup. He bats right-handed as well, which is a big plus since most of our bats are lefties at the moment. He will also be some good insurance should we choose to let Abreu walk next year.

Ross Ohlendorf showed some good potential this year, but the Yankees have a lot of good arms in the farm system, but most just aren’t ready yet. Marte gives us someone who can help the team right now, in a bullpen that will welcome him. With a cohort of young pitchers and the extensive resources we have, I am not too worried about our pitching situation in the future.

So, that’s basically what the trade is all about. Of course everyone won’t agree with my views, but I believe that letting go of these prospects was worth it, especially considering what we got in return and what we have left. Don’t get me wrong, I am all about keeping a strong farm system, but sometimes you just have to let some guys go if you want to win in the present (if we did a deal like IPK for Fuentes, as the Rockies are supposedly seeking, then I would be 100% against it, but looking at who we lost and who we got, it certainly isn’t bad.) Although the 2008 Yankees have received a lot of scrutiny this year with predictions that we wouldn’t make it in the ultra-competitive AL East, I think that we do still have a chance and I am glad to know that the organization feels similarly.

Update: Instead of George Kontos and Phil Coke, the Pirates will be receiving Dan McCutchen and Jeff Karstens. Apparently they had a choice of two players out of a pool of several (including Kontos and Coke) and decided to go with Karstens and McCutchen. It really isn’t that big a deal because none of them are anywhere near big prospects and chances are none of them will have a big impact in the future.