Guess who's elbow that is...

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The Scranton Yankees were swept by the Durham Bulls in the IL finals, dropping the last game, 3-2. Considering they didn't have league MVP Shelley Duncan and starter Josh Towers in the playoffs, their run to the finals was very impressive.

After the game, lefty 1B/DH Juan Miranda was promoted to New York. The Cuban is (supposedly) 26-years-old and has a career minor league line of .280/.366/.474 (.290/.369/.498 this year), including extreme platoon splits (.704 OPS vs. LHP, .900 vs. RHP).

No word yet on any other Scrantonians.

After downing the Gwinnett Braves, three games to one, the Scranton Yankees will play in the Governors' Cup finals -

Making his Triple-A debut, McAllister pitched 5 strong innings, holding the Gwinnett Braves scoreless until the Yankees built a big lead that became a 12-3 win.

"He was good," Yankees manager Dave Miley said. "For his first Triple-A start in that environment in the playoffs, he gave us exactly what we needed.

The victory clinched the first-round series and secured a return trip to the championship round, where the Yankees will face [the] Durham [Bulls].

However, the team and league's MVP, Shelley Duncan, will not be with the squad since he's currently in the Bronx. The International League's Rookie of the Year will stay with Scranton though.

Some other minor league news:

• According to Baseball America, Jesus Montero would have been the Minor League Player of the Year if not for a broken finger that sidelined him the last month of the season. Instead, the award went to the Braves' 20-year-old Jason Heyward, who hit .323/.408/.555 between three levels.
• It's fitting that the surgery is named after a one-time Yankee, because another just went through it. This time it was Dellin Betances, who may not pitch again until late next season or possibly 2011.
• Ian Kennedy reappeared, upholding his vow to pitch again this year after suffering an aneurysm in May. He threw two scoreless innings for the Tampa Yankees in game one of the Florida State League finals.

More photos » by LM Otero - AP

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Scranton's beat-writer Chad Jennings gives his take on who's getting promoted:

This new plan with Joba Chamberlain's short starts has changed things considerably. I was expecting only one or two pitchers to go up on September 1 -- New York is already carrying an extra reliever -- but these new Joba Rules* make me think three or four pitchers might go to the Bronx. I still expect only two or three position players.

* I actually kind of like this plan. Every time I think the Yankees are too cautious with their pitchers, I remember that it wasn't so long ago that Fausto Carmona and Francisco Liriano were two of the best pitchers in the American League.

I find it easier to think about September call-ups in terms of positions and roles rather than names and numbers. There are at least a dozen Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees who have earned a call-up, but not all of them will actually get one.

He names the usual suspects: Cervelli, Pena and Melancon, but says we'll a lot more (Edwar, Miranda, Shelley, Ajax, Alby, Claggett, etc.) after the Triple-A playoffs.

The folks from IMG Academies, where New York Yankees' second-round pick John Ryan Murphy learned the game, have passed along some info on the young catching prospect.

Here is a collection of scouting reports about Murphy.

Murphy seems like the latest in a long line of about a gazillion catching prospects the Yankees have stockpiled in their farm system. Seems like they are well-stocked to replace Jorge Posada when that time comes.

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I attended my second Trenton Thunder game of the season tonight, but the first since Jesus Montero was promoted to the team. He went 1-3 with two walks, but oh what a 'one' it was: a seventh inning, game-tying grand-slam on a full count with two outs. He seemed to be looking fastball and got one, hammering it to left-center field.

I've been to about 15 Thunder games in my life, and have seen maybe three homers hit in all that time. There's just something about that ballpark that kills fly-balls, but it wasn't enough to stop Jesus tonight.

The best term to describe him physically is 'man-child'. He's still a teenager but looked bigger than any player on either team.

As for his defense: it was extremely hit and miss. He allowed two passed balls (one with a runner on third), though one was technically scored a 'wild pitch'. On the first one, he had trouble locating the ball, finally found it but made a mediocre throw to first that short-hopped the first-baseman - the runner looked out but was called safe. A few other times he blocked balls in the dirt.

He later threw a dart to second trying to nail a baserunner who was taking a big lead, nearly catching him as he dove back to second. His 'game calling' ability seemed fine as he framed a number of borderline pitches throughout the game, getting a call here and there. For as bad as he supposedly is behind the plate, Trenton pitchers struck out 15 in the game.

Let's hope this game doesn't have a four-hour rain delay (like the Futures Game). The Triple-A All-Star game will be broadcast live on ESPN2 tonight at 10 p.m. from Portland, Oregon.

The only Yankees to make it are Jackson and Duncan (who will respectively hit leadoff and cleanup). (h/t to RAB) Shelley finished second in the homerun derby.

Two Yankees will play in today's Futures Games, Jesus Montero and Manny Banuelos (ESPN2 at 2 p.m.).

Montero will catch and hit fifth. Y'all know about him: 19 years old, phenomenal bat, can he catch full time though? Spanning High-A Tampa and Double-A Trenton, his stats look as such: .330/.386/.542, but he's only thrown out 18% of potential base-stealers.

Scouting report -

I can see him competing for batting titles... Montero is arguably one of the top five pure hitters in minor league baseball.

The southpaw Banuelos is a relative newbie to prospect lists. The 18-year-old is in his second pro year, refining his craft at Low-A Charleston and doing a good job of it: 77.2 ip, 2.20 ERA, 68 K, 1.00 WHIP.

Scouting report -

I've had the opportunity to see a number of former first round picks and top international free agent pitchers and Banuelos ranks right up there with them... At 18, he has a remarkable combination of feel and poise, but it raises the question of how much better he can become.

• Elsewhere in prospect land, Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman does seem to be 21, not 26 as was reported by the New York Times. I'd love to have him in the organization.
  

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So Aroldis Chapman has indeed defected (while in Europe with the Cuban national team). ESPN thinks he'll be with a ML organization by next year, and has a quote from Yankee senior VP Mark Newman saying that Chapman will draw interest from the Yanks. Preliminary assumptions put Chapman's initial contract between $30 and $60 million! Jose Contreras got $32 million for four years, but was considerably older. (h/t to BPro)

- Praise Jesus! 2-5 with another homer (that's four straight games).