The minors today.

AAA: SWB lost 5-1. Wang (L, 2-4, 3.07) 1 R in 5 2/3. Cody Eppley 3 R in 1 IP (5.06 and what a difference a year makes). SWB got only 1 run despite 11 hits. CF Melky Mesa and LF Zoilo Almonte 2 h each. 3B Ronnier Mustelier with 3 hits. Thomas (I should be replacing Ben Francisco) Neal 1 H, 2 walks, .323.

AA: Trenton won 3-0. Matt Tracy 6 IP 2 H 7 K. CF Slade Heathcott w/2rbi.

High A: Tampa won 7-0. Sean Black 5 1/3 scoreless. LF Ben Gamel 3 doubles and 3 RBI.

Low A: Charleston won 2-0. Rafael De Paula 6 scoreless.

The Minors today.

AAA: SWB won 4-3 in 10. Graham Stoneburner 6 IP, 2R. SWB got just 5 hits, 3 by 3b Ronnier Mustelier, who drove in 3 runs.

AA: Trenton got just four hits in losing 2-1. Jose Ramirez (keep an eye on him!) a ND, 5 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 1 walk and 7 K. ERA 1.50. In five games, four starts, the 23 year old Ramirez (RHP) is 0-1, 1.50, 33 K in 24 IP, just 5 walks. Only 11 hits given up.

High A:  Tampa won 4-3 in 13. Scottie Allen 6 IP, 1 R, 7K. Cesar Cabral is back off the DL, but had a very shaky outing. 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 4 walks. CF Ben Gamel 3 hits. SS Carmen Angelini 2 H, rbi. RF Anderson Feliz 2 H, rbi and 3B Dan Fiorito 3 H, rbi.

Low A: 7-6 loss for Charleston. Evan Rutckyj 4 2/3, 2 R, 8 H and 8 K. DH Greg Bird HR, 2 rbi.

The minors today.

How can a catcher never receive more than 150 AB in a minor league season, but continue to climb up the minor league ladder each year? Don’t ask me, but Jeff Farnham has done it in the Yanks’ minor league system. 140 G., 510 minor league AB. .235-4-43. Nothing to write home about. Most AB in a season 142 for Low A Charleston in 2011. But here he is as a backup for AAA SWB. Go figure.

AAA: SWB lost 4-1. Wang went 6 2/3, 4 R, 12H. 2-3, 3.29. Ronnier Mustelier 2 H (3B, .211).

AA: Trenton got only two hits in a 6-2 loss. Both hits were solo HR (Cf Slade Heathcott & LF Neil Medchill).

High A: 9-4 loss for Tampa. 3 h, 2 doubles, 2B Angelo Gumbs. 2 H, double, 2 RBI for C Gary Sanchez.

Low A: 6-3 Charleston win. Rafael De Paula 6 IP, 2 R, 3 H and 11 K. DH Greg Bird 2 H, triple, Hr, 2 RBI. 2 H, HR, 2 RBI for 3B Dante Bichette, Jr.

The minors today.

AAA: SWB lost 12-11. Chris Bootcheck 8 R in 3 IP. Iineffective relief from Josh Spence, Cody Eppley and Jim Miller. RF Thomas Neal 3 for 4, .329, and I hope he replaces Ben Francisco (.100) NOW! 1B Dan Johnson 2 H, HR, 2 RBI. 2 hits each for LF Zoilo Almonte (3 RBI), 3B Ronnier Mustelier (3 RBI), and C Bobby Wilson (1 RBI).

AA: 6-4 win for Trenton. Mikey O’Brien 2 R in 5 IP. 2 H, 2 RBI RF Tyler Austin. SS Ali Castillo 2 RBI. CF Slade Heathcott 2 h, rbi.

High A: 7-2 loss for Tampa. Shane Greene 5 R in 5 IP.

Low A: 6-3 win for Charleston. CF Jake Cave 4 for 5. C Pete O’Brien 1 for 2, HR, 3 RBI. 2 H, solo HR DH Rey Nunez. 3B Dante Bichette Jr. 2 h and an rbi, but he’s hitting just .177.

The minors today. Granderson HR.

AAA: Curtis Granderson (playing LF tonight) went 1 for 5 with a HR, 2 RBI in SWB’s 5-3 win. Chris Bootcheck 3 R in 6 IP. Dellin Betances has now been turned into a reliever. 2 1/3 tonight in relief, no runs, 0 hits, 3 K.   3 H, 2 RBI for OF Zoilo Almonte. 2 H, 3B Ronnier Mustelier, DH Dan Johnson and 2B Corban Joseph. 3 hits for CF Melky Mesa.

AA: 3-2 win for Trenton. Mikey O’Brien 6 scoreless IP.

High A: 7-3 win for Tampa. Scottie Allen 1 R in 6 IP. LF Ben Gamel with 4 RBI. 2 Hits, HR and 2 RBI C Gary Sanchez.

Low A: 8-1 Charleston win.  Rafael De Paula 6 Ip, 1 R, 3 H and 12 K. 2 H, 2 RBI CF Jake Cave. 2 H HR and 2 RBI RF Yeicok Calderon.

 

The minors today

AAA: SWB swept a DH.

Game 1: There are times when Dellin Betances shows his potential, but far too often he lets you down. Today he showed his potential with five no-hit innings as SWB won 5-1. He walked 4 and K’d 3. Sam Demel 2 IP, 1 unearned run. LF Zoilo Almonte 2 hits, HR, 2 RBI. 1B Dan Johnson 2 h, rbi.

Game 2: A 2-1 win. Chris Bootcheck, 34, who had an unimpressive MLB career mostly as a reliever, is having a good year as a starter at AAA. 6 IP, 1 R, 4 H. He is now 4-0, 0.60. Ronnier Mustelier solo HR.

AA: Trenton lost 5-1. Caleb Cotham 2 scoreless innings as the starter. Jeremy Bleich 5 R in 2 2/3. DH Tyler Austin 2 h, triple, RBI.

High A: Tampa won 8-2. Scottie Allen 2 R in 6 IP. 2B Rob Refsnyder 2 hits. 2 H, double, RBI C Gary Sanchez. RF Jose Toussen 2 doubles and 2 hits for 1B Fu-Lin Kuo.

Low A: Charleston lost 5-2. C Pete O’Brien 3 hits, LF Jake Cave 2 hits.

The Minors Today.

AAA. SWB won 6-2. Graham Stoneburner 5 IP, 1 R. RF Addison Maruszak & CF Melky Mesa 2 RBI each. Mustelier 1 for 4, double.

AA: 3-1 Trenton win. Zach Nuding 6 IP, 1 unearned run. Solo HR 2B Jose Pirela.

High A: Tampa lost 4-2. Shane Greene 1 R in 6 IP. Manny Barreda 3 R, 2ER in 2 IP. 2 H, HR, 2 RBI CF Mason Williams. SS Dan Fiorito 3 for 3.

Low A: Charleston won 6-0. Rafael DePaula 5 IP. SS Cito Culver 3H, HR, 2 RBI.

The minors tonight.

AAA: The Yanks will be calling up Preston Claiborne to fill Joba’s place on the team while Joba is on the DL. Claiborne, a 25-yr.-old RHP, was 0-0, 3.48 for SWB so far this year with 3 saves. 10 K in 10 1/3. Last year for AA Trenton and AAA SWB, he was a combined 6-2, 2.96, 6 saves, 78 K in 82 IP.

Luckily nothing was wrong with Mustelier, he just went right to AAA. It was strange how they did it though. Started for A+ last night, pulled after one inning and no at bats. You think he’d have played longer and at least received one AB before switching.

SWB won 4-1 tonight. Brett Marshall 7 scoreless IP. Mustelier 3B, 0 for 3 with a walk in his first game (full game, that is) after coming off the DL. RF Addison Maruszak double and 2 RBI. 2 H, triple, and an RBI for CF Melky Mesa.

AA: 2-1 win for Trenton. Nik Turley 6 IP, 1 R, 2 H and 8 K. LF Ramon Flores 2 H, double, RBI. 2 doubles, RBI for C Nick McCoy.

High A: Tampa lost 8-0, getting just five hits and striking out 11x. Corey Black went 5, 3 R and 11 K.

Low A: Charleston got shut out 6-0. Dan Camarena 6 R, 4 ER in 4 IP. C Pete O’Brien and DH Rey Nunez 2 hits each.

 

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The minors today.

AAA: SWB off.

AA: Trenton lost 2-1. Jose Ramirez continues to be someone to watch for. 5 IP, 1 R (unearned), 1 H, 1 walk and 6 K. So far 2 games at AA, 9 IP, 1 unearned run, 3 H, 2 walks and 12 K for the 23 yr. old RHP. Trenton got 5 hits, 2 each by DH Tyler Austin and RF Neil Medchill.

High A: Tampa had  a DH scheduled.

Game 1: 7-3 win. Starter Scottie Allen went 1 1/3 scoreless, but had to come out of the game. 3b Ronnier Mustelier hopefully didn’t have a setback. He started the game at 3B (his first game coming off the DL), and had to leave after one inning and no at bats. He was supposed to go join AAA tomorrow, but leaving after one inning and no at bats? Hmmm. No other word on him that I can find but that doesn’t look good. Neither does Allen leaving early. Bryan Mitchell 6 IP, 2 R. CF Mason Williams 2 H, HR, 3 RBI.

Game 2: PPD.

Low A: Charleston lost 4-3. Jose Campos 2 R in 3 IP, 7K. 2B Claudio Custodio 2 H, rbi.

Yankees cut Rivera (Juan, that is), keep Overbay and Francisco

In a bit of a surprising move, the Yanks cut Juan Rivera, 34, who hit .244-9-47, OPS+ 81 with the Dodgers last year. His 162 g. average for his career is .274-20-83, OPS+ 102.

Instead, they kept Lyle Overbay, who it appears will be a platoon 1B. Overbay was just picked up three days ago after he was cut by Boston. Overbay is the better defensive 1B (1222 games there as opposed to 106 for Rivera), but in 2011 and 2012 COMBINED, he played in 186 games, (Pit, AZ, Atl) and hit .239-11-57, OPS+ 89. Not only that, but Overbay is 36. He is a lefty hitter, so maybe he can take advantage of the porch. But Overbay was never a big power hitter, as he has a 162 g. average of .270-16-71 OPS+ 108 for his career.

Until Jeter returns from the DL, it appears like Overbay at 1B vs. Righties with Youkilis at 3B, and (like on Opening Day vs. Lester) Youkilis at 1B vs. lefties with Jayson Nix at 3B.

Of course, the Yanks are also hoping that Teixera can return.

The Yanks are also keeping Ben Francisco, 31, as a backup OF. Francisco hit .240-4-15 in 192 AB (3 teams) in 2012. Over the past two seasons COMBINED, he is .242-10-49 in 182 g., OPS+ 89. His 162 g. ave. is .257-15-56, OPS+ 101.

Brennan Boesch apparently will make the team. A lefty bat, Boesch will be a backup OF with Francisco, behind Wells, Gardner and Ichiro (until Granderson returns). Boesch, 27, hit just .240-12-54 for Detroit last year (OPS+ 77). His 162 g. ave. is .259-18-75, OPS+ 96 (100 is average).

With the injuries (Jeter, Granderson, A-Rod and Teix) and defections (Martin, Ibanez, Chavez and Swisher) it’s a patchwork lineup. Which is why many are predicting gloom and doom for the Bronx (Ex?)-Bombers this season.

The 13 position players going north appear to be:

Cervelli, Stewart, Hafner, Overbay, Cano, Nunez, Youkilis, Nix, Boesch, Francisco, Wells, Gardner and Ichiro.

Hopefully A-Rod, Granderson, Jeter and Teixeira get back soon. That 13 looks quite mediocre. Their HR total between the 13 of them could be 100 less than the Yanks hit as a team last year.

Ronnier Mustelier has a bone bruise on his knee from his collision with a railing in chasing a foul ball. Mustelier had an outside chance at best of making the team, but he won’t now. I hope he hits well at AAA and shows a good enough glove. I’d rather have him than say, Nix or Francisco.

Hughes will start on the DL and so will Rapada. Two spots are up for grabs. The ten pitchers so far going north are CC, Kuroda, Pettitte, Nova, Phelps, Joba, Logan, Robertson, Aardsma and Mo.

You wonder if Vidal Nuno (named best rookie in camp) may make it, or Shawn Kelley, Cody Eppley or Jim Miller.

The Yanks are coming north. They will play an exhibition game vs. the Nationals in D.C. Friday and one at West Point vs. Army on Saturday. They will be off Sunday before starting the season Monday vs. Boston.