UPDATE: The first poll has now closed. Here are the results:

Prospect A: 53% (139 votes)

Prospect B: 47% (123 votes)

Based on 262 votes

Additional information and a new poll has been posted after the jump.

Let’s have a little fun today with something I like to call "Prospect Roulette". This edition focuses on pitching prospect Manny Banuelos.

Here is how the game will work:

- I will post complete scouting reports for two comparable left-handed prospects, in this case Banuelos, and a similar prospect from another organization. The reports will not feature names, simply ‘Prospect A’ and ‘Prospect B’.

- I’ll include opinions from scouting outlets to give you an idea of how the industry feels about each player. I won’t divulge what outlets I’m using initially (to maintain anonymity).

- After sifting through the information provided, you’ll have an opportunity to vote for which pitcher you’d rather have in the Yankees organization.

- I’ll allow five hours of discussion, debate, and voting on the prospects before closing the first poll.

- I’ll then provide the names of each prospect, specific sources I cited, and further analysis and opinion. I'll then set up a new poll using player names, to see if opinions change or stay the same.

Interested in playing? Then step right up! Check your biases at the door and get ready to place your bets. You're about to enter the high stakes world of "Prospect Roulette".

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I reached out to Mike Ashmore, a beat writer for the Trenton Thunder, and asked if he would be willing to do a little recap of the Double-A season. As he was the first time, Mike was more than willing to help me out. To read some of Mike's stuff, which is fantastic, you can follow him on twitter and check out his blog, Mike Ashmore's Thunder Thoughts.

Frank: Talk a bit about what you saw from Manny Banuelos before he was promoted. Did he have more to work on in AA or was he ready for the next step?

Mike: I'd have liked to have seen Manny stay in Double-A a little longer just to see if he could improve on his consistency.There was never any doubt that the stuff and the talent were there, but he could just never string together that stretch of two or three starts where he didn't run into trouble...heck, there really wasn't any one start that I saw where he flat out blew me away. Was it probably time for him to be challenged at the next level? Sure. I just wasn't 100 percent sure he showed that he was ready for it.

Frank: Dellin Betances, same question. 

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As some of you probably remember, we reported back on June 18 of this year that the New York Yankees had drafted young Dante Bichette Jr. with their supplemental round pick in the MLB draft. 

The third baseman signed immediately with the Yankees and began his campaign in rookie ball. Some fans old enough to recognize that his father was Dante Bichette Sr., who spent fourteen years in major league baseball, definitely held higher than normal expectations out of him. After all, Bichette Sr. was the runner-up most valuable player in 1995 and compiled above-average statistics at the MLB level (1,704 games, 1,906 hits, 401 doubles, 274 homers, 1141 RBI, and a triple slash of .299/.336/.499). 

His 2011 season was certainly memorable. The following are his statistics from the Gulf Coast League, taken from baseball-reference.

52 games: 67 for 196 (.342), .446 OBP, .505 SLG, 17 doubles, three triples, three homers and 47 RBI. In fact, his RBI, doubles and hits totals were tops in the league.

For those efforts, he was rewarded earlier this afternoon, being named MVP of the Gulf Coast League. 

Congratulations, Dante. We all look forward to following your progress through the minor leagues all the way to the majors. Keep up the good work! 

Follow me on twitter @csm5206

In the middle of the last decade, the Yankees had two top ten pitching prospects by the names of Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain. They now have two new top pitching prospects, Manny Banuelos and Dellin Betances.

I believe the Yankees did their best with Hughes. Injuries happen, and none of those injuries were to his arm. It's hard to fault the Yankees on that one. However, I do find fault in their development of Joba.

Joba spent one season in the minor leagues, 2007, tossing 88 1/3 innings over three different levels. He dominated, but his brilliance blinded the Yankees. He needed to build up his innings in order to be an effective starter, but the Yankees and their win now mentality got in the way of his overall development. 

Joba then got called up and tossed 24 innings in the regular season, plus another 3 2/3 in the postseason, giving him 116 innings on the year. It was an exceptional first professional season.

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Dante Bichette, Jr. was a playoff hero in his first professional season, leading the Yankees to the Gulf Coast League title over the Marlins, two games to one. It was the team's first league title since 2007.

The son of the former All-Star of the same name capped off a fantastic debut year with a .429 batting average in the four-game playoffs, including a game-tying homer in the 3-1 clincher last night.

The club's manager, Carlos Mendoza, called Bichette his MVP. Since debuting in June, the 18-year-old has hit .342/.446/.505 in 240 PA.

It'll be interesting to see where Bichette begins 2012: full-season Charleston or short season Staten Island.

Mood Music - Hills of Eternity by Buckethead

The September first roster expansion and the end of the minor league seasons are drawing nigh, which means several things:  These posts are soon to be a distant memory and the Yankees roster will swell with September call ups.

The current (and uninjured) members of the 40 man roster who are not with the team: Kevin Whelan, Raul Valdes, Ryan Pope, Lance Pendleton, Aaron Laffey, Melky Mesa, Brandon Laird, Greg Golson, Steve Garrison, Chris Dickerson, Andrew Brackman, and Dellin Betances.  Fairly uninspiring.

As you'd likely expect, the boost will be in warm bodies to absorb some time in the last few months of the season, as the Yankees appear destined for another crawl to the finish line.  Greg Golson would have a spot on my playoff roster, I know the Binder is itching for a second lefty, and these September innings may determine who fills out the bench.

I won't mention the other guy who could hit his way on to the playoff roster.  But yeah, him too.  A few assorted notes:

• David Phelps is back at AAA, and in his last start: 6.1 IP - 1 ER - 8 H - 0 BB - 3 K
• Excitement about Mason Williams
• A look at when teams have failed to sign their first round pick, including the Yankees missing out on Gerrit Cole.

Mood Music - Clocks

The deadline to sign draft picks passed this week, with some mixed results.  Some picks, like scalding hot (.345/.445/.509) Dante Bichette Jr. were locked up long ago, but the Yankees were able to make a few more signings before the deadline hit.

Among the top selections with whom New York came to late agreements were Gregory Bird (fifth round, 179th overall) for $1.1 million and outfielder Jake Cave (sixth round, 209th overall) for $825,000.

I won't presume to be terribly knowledgeable about these amateur players, but signing the guys that the organization wanted is definitely a good thing.  The biggest loss seems to be the second selection the Yankees made, pitcher Sam Stafford, who will be returning to the University of Texas.  As compensation, the Yankees will pick 89th in the 2012 draft.

Brian Cashman on this year's draft philosophy:

Damon [Oppenheimer] and his staff went for tools and high-ceiling guys.  We had to wait so long [to make a selection], but I think they did a terrific job now that the process is over."

In the earliest of early returns, Dante Bichette Jr. has had a tremendous start to his Yankee career, and hopefully some of the rest of this draft crop can match his success.

Mood Music - You Can't Always Get What You Want by The Rolling Stones

As you may have seen yesterday, the New York Yankees have promoted fireballing right-hander Dellin Betances to AAA.  John Nalbone from NJ.com recapped Betances' time in AA and provided some thoughts on what the rest of the season might hold for him:

He was able to pitch around trouble during the first half, and at one time led the league in ERA. But Betances departs Trenton with an average of 4.7 walks per-nine innings, and an ERA nearly double what it was after his first 11 starts (1.76).

Sources in New York insist Betances, along with his good friend and former Thunder teammate Manny Banuelos, will join the Yankees after rosters expand Sept. 1.

Betances threw a gem his last time out (7 IP - 1 ER - 6 K), and I hope he can carry his success on to AAA, but I have to really question the advisability of putting him in the pen for the stretch run.  Before the inevitable comparison, when the Yankees caught lightning in a bottle with Joba Chamberlain in 2007, a) Joba was lighting up the minor leagues, and b) the Yankees bullpen was awful.

In 2007, outside of Mariano Rivera and the 24 late innings of Joba, Yankees relievers combined for -0.9 WAR, with important innings being pitched by the likes of Scott Proctor, Brian Bruney, Kyle Farnsworth, Ron Villone, Mike Myers, and Luis Vizcaino.  The bridge to Rivera was a complete disaster, so using Joba for the stretch run made sense.

The 2011 bullpen is not a disaster; it has been one of the biggest strengths of the team.  With David Robertson and Rafael Soriano entrenched in the 7th and 8th inning roles and solid middle relief showings from Cory Wade and Luis Ayala, where exactly does a combustible rookie fit on the Binder's depth chart?  Maybe the sixth best option for a righty reliever?

With the way that Girardi likes to play matchups, especially in the playoffs, I could see Manny Banuelos being able to make a contribution out of the pen, and maybe that's worth a shot, but I just don't see it with Betances.  Get him up to 130-150 innings, shut him down, and let him travel with the team once the minor league season ends.

Finally, some things that may not have circulated the inter-google: Gary Sanchez is out for the season with a hand injury.  David Phelps has made two rehab starts in the Gulf Coast League and is yet to give up an earned run (7 IP).