According to Chad Jennings, the Yankees have ticketed 6 players to play in the Arizona Fall League during the offseason. These players include Tampa catcher Austin Romine, RHP Ian Kennedy (rehabbing after aneurysm surgery), Scranton outfielder Colin Curtis, Tampa 3b Brandon Laird, and AAA lefty relievers Zach Kroenke and Mike Dunn. According to Jennings, there may be a few additional players added, most likely pitchers.
I’m interested to see what Romine and Laird can do in the typically hitter-friendly AFL, but am a little surprised that Jesus Montero is not on the list. Maybe he will be added later, or perhaps his injury was worse than it seems. Ian Kennedy will be able to get some much-needed innings in Arizona. The rules for AFL eligibility are below, which might indicate that one of Laird or Romine will have to be promoted to AA by season’s end.
- All Triple-A and Double-A players are eligible, provided the players are on at least a Double-A level roster no later than Aug. 1.
- One player below the Double-A level is allowed per Major League team.
- One foreign player is allowed, as long as the player does not reside in a country that participates in winter ball, as part of the Caribbean Confederation or the Australian winter league.
- No players with more than one year of credited Major League service as of August 31 are eligible, except a team may select one player picked in the most recently concluded Major League Rule 5 Draft.
- To be eligible, players on Minor League disabled lists must be activated at least 45 days before the conclusion of their respective seasons.
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4 Responses to Romine, Kennedy, among those ticketed for AFL
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TIQ IQ
Reading those rules, it does not appear that there is any way both Laird and Romine can play in the AFL. Given that “the players [must be] on at least a Double-A level roster no later than Aug. 1″, it’s too late to make that move.
As for Jesus, the disabled list looks to be the problem for him, as he won’t be off the disabled list 45 days before the end of the season. I’m guessing he goes to one of the winter ball leagues.
That’s a good point, I wonder what the Yanks will do about that.
Well…I wonder if Montero is promoted to the ML roster if that would count as resetting the 45 day clock since the ML season (including playoffs) lasts into November.
The rules have been changed this year since the Hawaii league folded. Two below AA are allowed now.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090730&content_id=6156788&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb