Yankees Rule V Decisions….What Should They Do?

Later on today, the Yankees will have to decide which players who are Rule V eligible. The Yankees have 36 on the 40 man roster, however, guys like Esmil Rogers and David Huff could be non-tender candidates. Eury Perez, Zelous Wheeler and even Slade Heathcott could be DFA’d to make room for not only prospects but for free agent signings and trade acquisitions. So who should be kept? 

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Looking at the pitchers, the main guys to look at are Danny Burawa, Mark Montgomery, Branden Pinder and Zach Nuding. Nuding between AA and AAA went 10-7 with a 3.80 ERA. However, he gave up more hits (158) than innings pitched (154) and only struck out 113. Nope.

Pinder could be interesting as a late inning reliever. Though the way the game is going with strikeout guys at the end, he struck out 37 in 39 innings, I’m not sure the Yankees use a spot on him, though he could get picked in the draft. Montgomery  had an interesting season after being demoted, but he’s got ability and can strike people out. Burawa is an absolute flame thrower, though he did struggle in AAA after being promoted.

On the hitting side there are some big name prospects, though not so big on the results. Mason Williams and Cito Culver were supposed to be part of the future. Now there would be absolutely no point in protecting either one. I fully believe Tyler Austin will be protected. He has a hard time staying healthy, but he hit .275 with 20 doubles for Trenton. Kyle Roller is the harder call. Between AA and AAA he hit .300 with 26 homers and 74 RBI, however, he can only play first base.

If I was the Yankees brain trust, I would keep Burawa, Austin AND Roller. To me, with the amount of power lacking in the game today and the fact that Mark Teixeira is about as durable as Derrick Rose is at this point, they need an additional backup plan at first and power doesn’t grow on trees (or steroids) anymore.