2013: Zoilo Almonte

[virgonomic]

ETA: That's Zoilo; mods please fix.

Aside from the cool name, anything to see here?

[Bob Kohm]

Cashman claims that he can handle the everyday RF job for the Yankees in the future, but I see a replacement level outfielder with some speed and some pop. 4th OF type.

[revo]

he certainly deserved a shot, this is his 8th year in the minors!

[Moonlight J]

yea, he's a reserve type guy who is being forced into a starting role because, well, Vernon Wells sucks goats again

[onejayhawk]

yea, he's a reserve type guy who is being forced into a starting role because, well, Vernon Wells sucks goats again

How is Vernon Wells on a payroll?

J

[Kevin Seitzer]

he certainly deserved a shot, this is his 8th year in the minors!

Which tells you what the other 29 teams thought about him.

[Long John]

There's nothing wrong with a flash in the pan if he helps me achieve baseball victory.

[Don Quixote]

How is Vernon Wells on a payroll?

J

Because his contract runs through next season for $21 million each year, no less.

Nice work if you can get it.

[joncarlos]

Which tells you what the other 29 teams thought about him.

Those 29 teams thought pretty similar things about Raul Ibanez and Eric Chavez last year, and Travis Hafner this year.

Of course, those other 29 teams don't have the Yankees' short porch, so they can ignore all-or-nothing lefties more freely than the Yankees.

(Granted, Zoilo is a switch hitter, but he still has that short porch 2/3 of the time)

[Kevin Seitzer]

Those 29 teams thought pretty similar things about Raul Ibanez and Eric Chavez last year, and Travis Hafner this year.

Of course, those other 29 teams don't have the Yankees' short porch, so they can ignore all-or-nothing lefties more freely than the Yankees.

(Granted, Zoilo is a switch hitter, but he still has that short porch 2/3 of the time)

Apples to oranges. Teams treat old, injury-prone, free agent players as a much different class of assets than young, healthy, pre-arb players with options remaining.

What is the best minor league free agent signing that you can think of over the last five years among players that still had options remaining?

Edit to add: Never mind. Almonte wasn't a minor-league free agent signing. I saw that he was eligible for the Rule 5 draft for the first time in 2009 and that he is only on his second option year and assumed that he would have been a minor-league free agent in there somewhere. But he didn't start playing until 2006, so he wouldn't have become a minor-league free agent until after the 2011 season, when the Yankees added him to their 40-man roster to prevent him from leaving. I'm not sure why he was Rule 5 eligible in 2009 instead of 2010. Rule 5 has some strange quirks, particularly for Latin players who sign but don't start playing immediately.