Yankees prospect Manny Banuelos will undergo Tommy John surgery on Thursday, which is expected to keep the left-hander out of action for the entire 2013 season. The 21-year-old was plagued by injuries this season and made just six Triple-A starts, posting a 4.50 ERA and an 8.2 K/9 rate in 24 innings. Coming into the season, Banuelos was ranked as the 29th-best prospect in the sport by Baseball America.
Here's some more news from around the AL East…
- Blue Jays manager John Farrell denied a recent internet report that claimed there was tension between he and GM Alex Anthopoulos, telling media (including MLB.com's Gregor Chisholm) that the report was "unfounded" and "irresponsible."
- Also from Farrell, "there's nothing to suggest right now changes will be made" to the Blue Jays' coaching staff, tweets Sportsnet.ca's Shi Davidi.
- In the opinion of David Ortiz, the Red Sox didn't err in acquiring Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez, the slugger tells Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston. "No, I think when it comes down to that, I'm a big-time believer that you go for the best that is out there," Ortiz said. "Now if you don't get what you're expecting, that's a different story, but they went for what was the best out there." Edes opines that the Sox should re-sign Ortiz to a two-year contract this winter.
- Though the Yankees went from a big AL East lead in mid-summer to fighting for the division title with two games left, managing general partner Hank Steinbrenner told reporters (including MLB.com's Bryan Hoch) that the team's minor collapse won't lead to any offseason changes. "Are jobs riding on this? Not that I know of," Steinbrenner said. "Jobs are not riding on this, but that's not something I'm concerned about right now. We look at everything in the offseason, as we always do."
Wish ManBan a speedy recovery.
Valentine has been beaten to death by the media, Guillen was before the season began.. Maybe rightfully so there with his off the field rantings.. Now the media is skipping over to Farrell? Who will be the next target of ire by the media now?
They probably can’t “finish off” Leyland in the media now since his Tigers did at least win a DC.. Is it Manuel’s turn after Farrell?
In other news today, Valentine and Farrell have officially set a new record for the most talked about pair of managers in a year where they have combined to lead their teams to at least 180 losses.
From Killer B’s to deadBeats…
It would be easy to agree with Ortiz about the $20M twins, Crawford and Gonzalez if:
1) their performances propelled the Red Sox into the playoffs,
2) they played without incurring prolonged absences due to injury, illness, etc.,
3) they put up offensive numbers that equaled or exceeded their career offensive statistics and
4) they showed the kind of team leadership that baseball fans have come to expect from super star players on championship teams.
Neither player satisfied the aforementioned expectations during their nearly two seasons in Boston so, in hindsight, the signings of the $20M twins were bad deals.
Adrian Gonzalez did every bit of that except reaching the playoffs, which I would hardly call his fault.
He played in 159 games last year, and pretty much the same this year.
He hit .338, a carer high, slugged .548 and produced 6.5 WAR, all of which tied or set carer highs.
This idea that Gonzalez under performed is ridiculous. Padre fans knew what they had were extremely sad to lose him. Boston took him completely for granted and I’m glad he’s back in So Cal where he belongs.
Fans were sold a bill of goods on Gonzo’s offensive prowess, i.e….homeruns, RBI’s etc.. to justify his huge contract. After hitting 17 home runs before the all-star break he became a punch and judy hitter from that point on, and a near non-factor during the September swoon, when the Red Sox went 7-21. He certainly was unproductive when his bat was needed most and he showed no leadership skills that I could discern. As far as San Diego fans were concerned he was the only offensive weapon they had on their team….when he was out of the lineup the Padres looked a lot like the Sox lineup that faced the Yankees tonite…
Please stop this. You are sounding like Shaugnessy from The Globe with that…
Gonzalez OPS last season was .957 (career high) and his slugging was .548, within .003 of being a career high. He won another GG and did a fine job.
In 2012? After a horrendous April-June he was doing fine also. .812/.469 after barely hitting above .250 mid point of June and his doubles was going to break the 50 barrier for Boston. He was well worth the 21m salary and much more than Fielder/Tex are earning theirs at 1b.
You are looking at stats, man…nothing more. Ortiz will always be a favorite in the minds of long time Red Sox fans not because he hit a lot of home runs, which he did, but because he hit many of them in critical moments when it counted in the W/L column. Your stats do not make this connection. Gonzo showed no leadership talent with his bat, his legs, or his arm. I watched too many games on TV and at the ball park to be convinced otherwise.
Can we all agree to stop throwing the word ‘collapse’ around. The team with a ‘minor collapse’ ended the season with the best record in the AL and never surrendered their standing for the last 100+ days. Find a different buzz word, please.