Yankees got a hoss in Ross

[jacksonianmarch]

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/ba...p-409054c.html

BY ANTHONY McCARRON
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER


One scout at the Princeton-Old Dominion game clocked the ball that struck Ross Ohlendorf above the right elbow as traveling 106 mph coming off the bat. Ohlendorf, pitching a few years ago in a marquee game against ODU star Justin Verlander that attracted more than 100 talent evaluators, reached down, picked up the ball that had just stung him and threw out the runner at first.
"I went out there to get him out of there," Princeton coach Scott Bradley recalled. "You could see the welt. But he said, 'You gotta let me stay in. I'm fine.' He got the next guy out with a 94 mile-an-hour fastball. He pitched the sixth inning, too.

"He's a guy who was one of the brightest we had at Princeton, got high honors out of the engineering program and couldn't be any nicer. But that doesn't mean he isn't some kind of tough hombre, too."

Ohlendorf, 24, beat Verlander, last season's AL Rookie of the Year, that day and the Yankees believe his career highlights are just starting. According to sources from inside and outside the organization, the righthander was the key prospect the Yanks wanted from Arizona in any deal for Randy Johnson.

Ohlendorf, 25, was 10-8 for the Diamondbacks' Double-A team last season and had a chance to crack Arizona's rotation this spring. He's been taught by ex-major leaguers since at least high school, when Keith Moreland was his coach in Texas. Bradley played in the majors from 1984-92, including 1984-85 for the Yankees.

"He's a phenomenal young man," Bradley said. "He's an absolute horse with big, thick calves and big, strong legs. He's a power-sinker guy and hitters will have a tough time getting on top of that pitch."

Bradley recalled looking at Ohlendorf's stats the last two years and wondering if his former player was throwing too many innings - he pitched 157 in his first full year, 2005, and 177-2/3 last season, not counting the postseason or a stint in Triple-A. "A lot of organizations wouldn't think of letting a guy throw that much and I called a friend of mine who works for the Diamondbacks and said, 'Are you concerned?' He said, 'Normally, we would be.'"

Turns out, though, that Ohlendorf's velocity was consistently higher at the end of the season - from 91-95 mph hour - than it was at the start, when he was averaging 89-93. "My friends said, 'He's getting stronger while everyone else is getting tired,'" Bradley said.

"He's going to be a bona-fide big-league pitcher," Bradley added. "I think so much of this kid."

[Mr Crunchy]

i have a question jack
does mlb still have a 40 man roster??
based on your projections i think there are 200 guys that suiting up in stripes this year

[26 Reasons to Hate Us]

Young pitcher steal of a deal for Yanks

http://www.nypost.com/seven/01052007...vin_kernan.htm

January 5, 2007 -- The Yankees hope they have something similar to Chien-Ming Wang in young Ross Ohlendorf, the pitcher they targeted in the Randy Johnson deal with the Diamondbacks.

"This kid is special," explained a National League scout last night. The scout has closely watched the development of Ohlendorf, 24, a sinkerballer, like Wang. The 6-foot-4, 230-pound right-hander struck out 125 batters and walked only 29 last year in the minors as he posted a 10-8 record with a 3.29 ERA at Double-A Tennessee and a 0-0 mark with a 1.28 ERA at Triple-A Tucson.

"He's a tough kid, a smart kid," the scout said of the former Princeton star. "He got over 1,500 on his SATs."

The Diamondbacks thought highly of Ohlendorf, too, but to get Johnson, they thought the gamble was worth it.

The Yankees also will receive major league reliever Luis Vizcaino and two other minor leaguers in the trade. The deal was tentatively agreed upon yesterday and will be finalized when Johnson and the Diamondbacks come to terms on a one-year extension for 2008. The two sides have until 5 p.m. Sunday to work out the extension, which will not be a problem.

Johnson wants to go home to Arizona and the Yankees, who are replenishing their farm system through the trades of Gary Sheffield and Johnson, believe Ohlendorf is the type of pitcher who could bust into the rotation soon. That was the plan for him in Arizona.

"He really has a power arm," said the scout. "He's the kind of kid you just love to have. He's special."

As for the other young players in the deal, shortstop Alberto Gonzalez, 23, and Double-A pitcher Steven Jackson, 24, here is the scout's take:

"Gonzalez's bat is a little weak, but he can start for a lot of teams right now at short," the scout said. "He reminds me of Orlando Cabrera. He can definitely help a big league team. He could be around for 10 years.

"Jackson is a competitor, they could turn him around in another trade, but Ohlendorf is the story of this trade. [Yankees GM] Brian [Cashman] got a steal."

[jacksonianmarch]

Originally Posted by Mr Crunchy

i have a question jack
does mlb still have a 40 man roster??
based on your projections i think there are 200 guys that suiting up in stripes this year

LOL. That made me laugh Crunchy.

Based on the ETAs I have read it sounds like the Bronx is gonna be a revolving door on the field. Obviously, those ETAs are just when these guys are projected to be ready for the leap, not when they will have room for them.

[Mr Crunchy]

seems every year the sox break a record for players used
this isnt a good thing mind you
in the never ending struggle for balancing youth and age it seems to me the yanks are finally making a concerted effort to banking some talent

of course come july 31st if theyre 6 back this may change the price of poker
i can see steinbrenner now
gurbing up his creme of furina after corkey farnsworth walks in the winning run in the 12th inning against baltimore on july 29th

OHLENDORF??
he sounds like a member of the gestapo
go get me eric milton
i always liked that kid

[jacksonianmarch]

Originally Posted by Mr Crunchy

seems every year the sox break a record for players used
this isnt a good thing mind you
in the never ending struggle for balancing youth and age it seems to me the yanks are finally making a concerted effort to banking some talent

of course come july 31st if theyre 6 back this may change the price of poker
i can see steinbrenner now
gurbing up his creme of furina after corkey farnsworth walks in the winning run in the 12th inning against baltimore on july 29th

OHLENDORF??
he sounds like a member of the gestapo
go get me eric milton
i always liked that kid

eric Milton? He makes the disappearing ball trick look like it is child's play. Now you see the ball moving towards the plate, now the ball disappears over the fence. He is the best mistake we never made.

[jacksonianmarch]

Originally Posted by Mr Crunchy

seems every year the sox break a record for players used
this isnt a good thing mind you
in the never ending struggle for balancing youth and age it seems to me the yanks are finally making a concerted effort to banking some talent

of course come july 31st if theyre 6 back this may change the price of poker
i can see steinbrenner now
gurbing up his creme of furina after corkey farnsworth walks in the winning run in the 12th inning against baltimore on july 29th

OHLENDORF??
he sounds like a member of the gestapo
go get me eric milton
i always liked that kid

george may be pissing and shitting himself by then regardless of the yankee position. Word is, he aint doin so hot.

[Mr Crunchy]

milton had a couple good years with the twins
the guy they traded milton for ended up knocking out keith olbermans mother who was sitting 40 rows deep with a simple throw from 2nd to 1st
remember him??
he was no steve sax

[He Hate Me]

Originally Posted by Mr Crunchy

milton had a couple good years with the twins
the guy they traded milton for ended up knocking out keith olbermans mother who was sitting 40 rows deep with a simple throw from 2nd to 1st
remember him??
he was no steve sax

He was also the leadoff hitter for us during 1998-2000. I'd say it worked out pretty well for us.

[jacksonianmarch]

Originally Posted by He Hate Me

He was also the leadoff hitter for us during 1998-2000. I'd say it worked out pretty well for us.

I agree. I'd sell every single player in the yankee minor leagues for an 06-08 championship run.

[Mr Crunchy]

see
this is what ive been saying
fuck the prospects
theyre good for trade bait and every so often you get a wang or a paplebon or a cano

[jacksonianmarch]

Originally Posted by Mr Crunchy

see
this is what ive been saying
fuck the prospects
theyre good for trade bait and every so often you get a wang or a paplebon or a cano

Nah, that is not what I am saying. I would trade them all for a dynasty. If you told me, listen, I'll give you a world championship in 07, then complete misery for the next 5 years I wouldnt take it. Nothing is more fun than watching something wonderful blossom, win a championship, and have hope for more afterwards. I dont want to relive the 80s after we won it all in the late 70s. I'd rather not relive the days of Steve Howe, Mike Pagliarulo, and Pascual Perez. Give me sustained excellence and a chance at the title every yr. No valleys, all peaks.

[Mr Crunchy]

ya i know jack
i agree its nice to see a home grown kid spend his entire career in boston with sunshine and good will towards man kind
i mean look how well nomar did emotionally playing here right??

my point is this
with our fiscal resources it is almost a certainty that both teams will be competetive always due to the insanity of the money being spent...
pitching wins in baseball
pitching costs money
ny and boston have it and will be in the middle of any and all big name moves when it comes to the above mentioned arena

this is why i fear not whether clay buckholtz can keep his slider down or if jacoby ellsburg can hit a major league curve and lay off the split finger in the dust
i am of the mindset that they can be replaced with a fistfull of dollars and if that dont work then a few dollars more

[jacksonianmarch]

That is where I differ with you Mr C. If a fistful of dollars could buy us pitching we wouldnt have taken the fist square in our bumhole the past few seasons. Teams are smartening up. You dont see the young aces hit the market anymore. Santana, Sheets, Peavy, Oswalt, etc all are being locked up prior to hitting the market. This leaves #3 and #4 starters to hit the market. And then there is the adjustment to the AL, then to the ALE, then to NYC and the rivalry and the like. But if you want to get a young pitcher in his prime, you better pony up the prospects. Either develop them yourselves or deal for them. That is the fatal flaw with George's reasoning the past few yrs. That is something that is being righted by Cash.

And I like developing kids here. Because it is all they know. Yankee stadium = major leagues. It makes it easier than someone who hits the majors, adjusts to it, then has to adjust again to one hell of a crazy place. And, if a kid dont have the cajones to fit here, then we owe him nothing, we can deal him away. If a FA doesnt have the stones to hang here, we are stuck with em.

[jacksonianmarch]

Originally Posted by Mr Crunchy

ya i know jack
i agree its nice to see a home grown kid spend his entire career in boston with sunshine and good will towards man kind
i mean look how well nomar did emotionally playing here right??

my point is this
with our fiscal resources it is almost a certainty that both teams will be competetive always due to the insanity of the money being spent...
pitching wins in baseball
pitching costs money
ny and boston have it and will be in the middle of any and all big name moves when it comes to the above mentioned arena

this is why i fear not whether clay buckholtz can keep his slider down or if jacoby ellsburg can hit a major league curve and lay off the split finger in the dust
i am of the mindset that they can be replaced with a fistfull of dollars and if that dont work then a few dollars more

and trust me on this one. If the sox prospects all develop well, hit no snags and make it to AAA, then you'd be singing a different tune. Offense is different. That is why I really dont care about Duncan. Tabata is nice but a long way away. This SS kid could be the next best thing since sliced bread, I really dont care all that much. We can buy offense. There is always someone available who will hit as long as you are willing to pay the piper, but pitching, WHOA NELLY. That is something that is a problem buy.