Austin Romine comes from one of those baseball families it seems so many players come from. His father, Kevin Romine, played 331 games over the course of his major league career. His brother, Andrew Romine, was drafted in the 5th round of the 2007 draft by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and is currently a shortstop in that organization. Austin, himself, was drafted by the Yankees in the 2nd round of the 2007 draft and signed on the day of the deadline for a well above slot $500,000 bonus.

Romine waited until the deadline to sign and since he came out of high school, he barely made it into professional ball in his debut season. The Yankees ended up sending him to the Gulf Coast League for one game. In Romine's three plate appearances that game, he walked, doubled, and struck out. This gave him a very nice .500/.667/.1000 line for the season. However, his BABIP was 1.000, so it was clear that there would be some regression in order in 2008.

Romine stands at 6'2" and is listed at 210 pounds and is bulky. He's built like a catcher, and he also runs like one. At the start of the 2008 season, both Romine and Jesus Montero were in Charleston. The idea was that they would split catching and DH duties and therefore would be kept fresh. The downside to this was that neither of them really got the defensive repetitions they need. While Romine is widely regarded as the "catcher of the future" over Montero because of his defense, it was well below average in his first full professional season. His bat was not, though.

As a young catcher, Romine's numbers are extremely impressive. His walk rate isn't anything to write home about, but I expect it to improve as he gets older and matures. He displays very good control of the strike zone and has a great approach at the plate, so it's almost surprising that he doesn't walk more. While his offensive numbers were down a bit in 2009, he increased his power. Add in the fact that this was done as one of the youngest hitters in the FSL, a notorious pitching league, and it is even more impressive. The average line in the FSL last season was .256/.324/.374. Romine did struggle down the stretch, but that could be attributed to some fatigue after catching all season.

Speaking of catching, Romine's defense improved greatly as he got to catch every day.

His catching statistics increased across the board. On a rate basis, he allowed fewer passed balls, fewer wild pitches, and threw out more runners. This was a showing that Yankee fans expected given Romine's defensive reputation. Romine's footwork is improving, he is athletic, and his arm is strong, so he could continue to improve in the caught stealing department. All together, you can't help but be encouraged the improvements Romine made defensively this past season.

While Romine has only hit 23 home runs thus far in his career, he does have some power potential. His power already spiked up a bit, and if he begins to pull the ball a bit more, no one would be surprised if he hit 20+ home runs in the majors one day.

Romine will start the 2010 season as a 21-year-old in Double-A Trenton. He'll continue to work on his defense, and hopefully his advanced approach leads to an even better offensive season this year. The fact is, though, that Romine's defense and athleticism will get him to the majors; it's his ceiling that depends on his hitting. He will never be Francisco Cervelli behind the plate or Montero in the batter's box. Then again those two are extremely elite in those departments. If Romine continues to progress as he has, it will be interesting to see what the Yankees do when both him and Montero are major league ready. Then again, that is a "problem" that the Yankees would love to have.

Photo Credit: Scott Jontes/MiLB.com

As we head towards real live baseball that counts, we thought it would be nice to compile opinions on the Yankees from around the blogosphere. We sent out various questions to a bloggers from many different Yankees blogs and will be posting their answers throughout the week. We would like to thank everyone for contributing; I think that we have compiled some good information and it's always nice to have varying perspectives.

1. Is there a prospect you see breaking out in 2010 and having more success than he has had in previous years?

Greg Fertel, Pending Pinstripes: I want to go with Jeremy Bleich here, because the common thinking is that he struggled last season after advancing to Trenton. The peripherals tell a different story, and that's why he's a very good bet to improve on last season. The velocity reports from Mark Newman are encouraging as well. Another guy who I think will break out is Brad Suttle. He missed all of last season, but that guy can really hit and I think he'll be able to play third base adequately as well.

Dan LaTorraca, WasWatching: There are a few players that I think will show some serious improvements next season, namely Andrew Brackman and Jeremy Bleich. I don't think their 2009 stats were indicitive of the progress they made toward the end of the year, but they are still regarded as high-ceiling pitchers, so I doubt anyone has really written them off just yet. I think Carmen Angelini still has the potential to develop into a solid player. He's really struggled on both sides of the ball thus far, but with his makeup its only a matter of time before he turns a corner.

Travis G, Pinstripe Alley: Andrew Brackman. I don't really know why, I just want it to be. Generally because it's two years after TJS that pitchers tend to get their 'feel for pitching' back (though that implies the pitcher had it at some point in the past - did Brackman ever have that?).

EJ Fagan, The Yankee U: I think that we'll see a big rebound from Jeremy Bleich. It was always a bit of a mystery why Bleich was getting beat up at Double-A despite looking so good in Tampa, and strong peripherals all season. I'm not sure if we should chalk Bleich's 6.65 ERA up to luck despite a 4.25 FIP, but I still expect him to be very productive in 2010.

Mike Axisa, River Ave Blues: I hate to be "that guy," but I'm going with Andrew Brackman. Call me stubborn if you want, but I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do as he gets further away from Tommy John surgery. We knew he was going to be a bit of a project when the Yanks drafted him, yet there seems to be a lot of people ready to give up on him after his first full season on the mound. He finished 2009 strong, looked good in Instructional League after the season, and looks good so far in camp. I'm cautiously optimistic.

Matt, Fack Youk: I don't know if I'd consider it a break out, but I don't see anyway Andrew Brackman fails to improve upon his 2009. RAB ran a great series on him after the conclusion of the minor league season, and broke down everything that went right and wrong. He was showing signs of improvement late last year and what few tidbits about him came out of camp this year were encouraging. He's more than two years removed from Tommy John surgery at this point. I'm optimistic/hopeful that he'll take a big step forward this year.

Kyle, Replacement Level Yankees Weblog: Kelvin DeLeon has huge power, and I remain hopeful that he can cut down on his Ks as he gets more experience. I think it’s far more likely he breaks out than say Melky Mesa, who got some hype with the same problems at the plate as Kelvin.

Howard Megdal, The Perpetual Post: Definitely Jeremy Bleich. I look at that 6.65 ERA and 8.3 K/9, and I know which one I expect to go way down. Spoiler alert: isn't the K/9.

2. Which prospect that has some hype do you think will disappoint Yankee fans this season?

Greg Fertel, Pending Pinstripes: I'll go with two guys here also. First, Eduardo Nunez still has fans, and it seems that the Yankees like him a at least little bit considering that they added him to their 40-man roster. His BABIP was high and his batting average was empty, with no walks and no power. I wouldn't even be mentioning Christian Garcia because he's a perpetual disappointment, but there has recently been a lot of hype surrounding him. Look, Garcia has nasty stuff, but there's just no reason for anyone to expect him to stay healthy.

Dan LaTorraca, WasWatching: I've never been a big fan of Manny Banuelos as a starter. He's performed very well so far, but I don't think he throws hard enough or stands tall enough to make it as a future starting pitcher. He'd probably flourish in the pen, but I don't think the Yankees will make him a full time reliever just yet. Right now, I don't think he can continue his success as a starter in the higher levels of the minors.

EJ Fagan, The Yankee U: I feel like D.J. Mitchell has been a tad bit overhyped following his breakout season in 2010. He's still a fairly marginal prospect to start in the major leagues. Mitchell needs to take another big step forward with his secondary stuff to break into the Yankees' starting picture at any point in the future. Bullpen? Maybe. More likely, he ends up traded to the Pirates.

Mike Axisa, River Ave Blues: Anyone hoping for big things from Eduardo Nunez is going to be disappointed. As a general rule of thumb, whenever you have a position player whose best tool is his throwing arm, that's a problem. He never cracked a .700 OPS in a full season league until last year, when it jumped 100 points thanks to a .352 BABIP. I'd like to see him do that again before I'm even willing to consider him a prospect.

Matt, Fack Youk: Given all the hype about Jesus, if he proves to be anything less than the second coming.... that's probably a bad analogy. Seriously though, Montero has been incredibly hyped up at this point. While it all appears to be with good reason, baseball history is riddled with the skeletons of can't miss prospects who never panned out. Montero looks like the real deal and I hope he is, but in my years of fandom the same could be said for Ruben Rivera and Brien Taylor, and Hensley Meulens. The level of expectation is incredibly high right now, but if he happens to take a step back this year, let's not forget that 1). he's just 20 years old and playing in AAA, 2). he's been advanced extremely quickly, having spent just a half season each at high A and AA, and 3). that he's trying to master the most demanding defensive position on the diamond.

Kyle, Replacement Level Yankees Weblog: Andrew Brackman again. He has no idea where the ball is going, and his stuff isn’t special anymore. Maybe I should cut him some more slack since it was his first year back from surgery, but I don’t have any hope for a guy that can’t control a high 80s fastball.

Howard Megdal, The Perpetual Post: Until I see even a modicum of success, consider me skeptical of Andrew Brackman. He's already 24, and hasn't displayed enough command to succeed at any professional level.

FanGraphs finished counting down their organizational rankings, and the Yankees came in first. The praise that Dave Cameron, Marc Hulet, and Matthew Carruth have for the Yankees organization is extremely positive and sincere. Seeing smart baseball writers who aren't Yankee fans say such nice things is pretty rare.

Thought it would be a good idea to liveblog this game, should be a fun one:

Prior to the 2008 season, the Yankees signed two players out of Mexico as international free agents. At the time, not much was known about them, but it seems that the Yankees' scouts did a phenomenal job of finding talent with those two pickups. The first signing was Alfredo Aceves, who was a polished 25-year-old at the time. He has already contributed to a World Series victory and should continue to be a cog in the bullpen for seasons to come.

The second signing was a sixteen year old left handed pitcher named Manny Banuelos. When discussing Zach McAllister, I mentioned his ideal pitcher's build. Well, Banuelos certainly doesn't have that. He stands at just 5'10" and weights only 155 pounds. There will always be questions about whether Banuelos's body can hold up to pitching 200 innings in a season, but we can certainly hope.

After signing, Banuelos spent most of the 2008 season in extended spring training. While there, he impressed everyone in the Yankees organization. When the Gulf Coast League started up, the Yankees sent him there to work on pitching in real competition. Banuelos appeared in twelve games but only started three. Don't let that fool you, though. He pitched at least three innings in almost all of his appearances and had some early professional success. His strikeout rate left something to be desired(7.9), but hopes were high for Banuelos at the end of the season.

Spending much of the 2009 season at 18-years-old, I don't think anyone could have expected a better season from the young lefty. He carved through the SAL and made a name for himself as one of the better left-handed pitching prospects in the game. He never walked more than three batters in a start, and only gave up more than three earned runs in one game.

This lends credence to the highest praise you hear about Banuelos, which is that he pitches with the maturity of a major league veteran. Usually, that is not the type of report I'd like to hear about a top prospect. I prefer to hear that a guy has overpowering and dominant stuff, because it is less subjective. In the case of Banuelos, though, the reports are so glowing about his demeanor on the mound that they cannot, and should not be ignored.

Here are a few examples of this praise, from scouts Mike Newman and Frankie Piliere, respectively:

Uncanny for his age, Banuelos showed the maturity and composure of a pitcher in New York, not Charleston pinstripes. Armed with a quiet confidence, he was in control throughout the game and was only in trouble once.

The stuff is above average, but when you consider the advanced feel he has for pitching and the often pinpoint command he possesses it's amazing that he's still only 18. He pitches with such ease and attacks hitters with such a calm demeanor, that he can be a front-of-the-rotation pitcher in the majors a few years from now.

Scouting Report

As I mentioned, Banuelos doesn't display overpowering stuff, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have a good repertoire. His fastball is clocked anywhere from 87-93, but he usually sits in the 89-90 zone. His fastball has late life and sneaks up on hitters, which it makes it effective even without top notch velocity. His excellent command doesn't hurt either.

Banuelos's best pitch is probably his changeup. He doesn't hesitate to throw it at any point in the count, can throw it where he wants, and it is his primary out pitch. He also throws a good curveball, but needs to continue working on his command of it.

Combine his above average repertoire with his poise on the mound and makeup, and it's very easy to see why people are so excited about Banuelos. Most have him as the Yankees top pitching prospect over McAllister, but I'm not sure I see it that way.

Banuelos has a higher upside but still doesn't profile as an ace, and his likelihood of being a successful major league pitcher is below that of McAllister. They are definitely the top two pitching prospects in the organization, but it will take this season to see if one of them really separates himself from the other.

Photo Credit: The Digitel Charleston