Another Dellin Post & Jeter Hates Europe

The Daily News has a piece on Derek Jeter and his inability to escape last year's playoff banishment.

A few days after the upstart Tigers put away the Yanks, cementing another disappointing October in the Bronx, Jeter was at a restaurant with a friend during one stop on his six-day, six-city holiday - he couldn't quite remember the city, London, perhaps - when a Tigers fan reminded him that the Yankees lost a series they had controlled.

I didn't know anyone from Detroit had any interest in Europe. I thought they only built cars and watched the Pistons.


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As I posted on recently, the SWB Yankees will have one hell of rotation - so will the lower level Minor League affiliates. Frequently, I let my excitement for Dellin Betances' potential overcome reasonable thought. However, today's Daily News asserts just how special the 6'9 teenage Brooklynite may become.

Yankee rookie Dellin Betances showed up early for work, arriving at the Yankees' training complex in Tampa last Monday, a month before most minor-leaguers are scheduled to appear for spring training.

Coach Mel Martinez said Betances bulked up from 215 pounds to 230 over the winter, and his velocity rose accordingly. "I promise he's throwing 96 miles per hour," Martinez said. "He looks great. He's ready . . . I really think we'll see him in a Yankee uniform in two years."

Baseball America has projected Betances as a starter in the Yankees rotation by 2010, and Youth Service coach Mel Zitter, who worked as a scout for the Devil Rays and Indians before becoming a director for the Brooklyn-based youth program, said the righty is on the right path to pitch in the Bronx. The fact that the Yanks invited Betances to spring training, Zitter said, is an indication that they're putting a premium what the 6-10 hurler brings to the mound.

Dellin's brother also explained that the young RHP went to the gym everyday at 7:30am, showing the hunger & discipline you like to see in a pitching prospect. Yankee fans must now cross their fingers and hope he can remain healthy over the next two years.