Yankees Prospects: Foreign winter leagues in review

Venezuelan Winter League

Francisco Arcia, C – .184/.228/.218, 25 G, 87 AB, 8 RBI, 4 BB, 21 SO
There's not much to see here, but expect to see Arcia in spring training again as an extra catcher. He could also serve as the backup catcher at Triple-A.

Ali Castillo, SS – .305/.346/.408, 59 G, 233 AB, 2 HR, 20 RBI, 14 BB, 34 SO, 16 SB
While not much is expected from Castillo going forward, the 25-year-old infielder had a great Winter. Not only did he hit the ball, but he also ran like crazy. It's entirely possible he gets an invite to big league camp this year and he should serve as the starting shortstop in Scranton.

Ramon Flores, OF – .347/.435/.505, 56 G, 196 AB, 5 HR, 29 RBI, 31 BB, 33 SO, 2 SB
This is exactly what you want to see from Flores after his solid 2014 season was interrupted by a scary ankle injury. He clearly isn't broken and hopefully he will have a big season in Triple-A this year that could lead to an eventual call up.

Adonis Garcia, OF – .313/.369/.468, 57 G, 233 AB, 7 HR, 41 RBI, 15 BB, 22 SO, 4 SB
At this point, we know Garcia is going to hit minor league pitching, but how is he expected to break through when he's going to turn 30 this year? It might be time to give up on the idea of seeing him in the majors and just accept his status as a Quad-A player.

Ericson Leonora, OF – .273/.273/.545, 5 G, 11 AB, 5 SO
Heading into his age-22 season, Leonora has yet to spend a full season out of rookie ball. He hasn't played a whole lot, though he's shown he's not completely useless with the bat in limited time. Maybe 2015 is the year he moves up.

Jose Pirela, 2B – .296/.394/.515, 47 G, 169 AB, 6 HR, 22 RBI, 26 BB, 30 SO, 3 SB
It shouldn't be a surprise to see Jose Pirela dominate the Venezuelan Winter League; he does it every year. Now that he's on the 40-man roster and in the major league picture, it's encouraging to see him continue to have a good season all year long. Hopefully he can take that success into spring training and keep it going because he's a hot streak away from a major league role now.

Jackson Valera, C – 3 G
He didn't get much of a shot this year, but Valera should be one of the catchers at either Low-A Charleston or High-A Tampa this year.

Diego Moreno, RHP – 4.70 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 24 G, 23.0 IP, 8 SV, 7 BB, 16 K
Acquired in the A.J. Burnett trade, Moreno recently re-signed with the Yankees, though at 27 he's hardly going to be considered much of a major league option. He should offer a similar line in Triple-A this year and then it's likely that the organization moves on from him after the season is over.

Dominican Winter League

Abiatal Avelino, SS – .250/.250/.500, 1 G, SO
For some reason, Avelino only managed to get into one game where he managed to collect a hit in four at-bats. If he's hurt, hopefully it won't be anything too serious. After a disappointing year in Low-A Charleston, it's like that the organization will have the 19-year-old start there again to begin the year.

Joel De La Cruz, RHP – 0.00 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 7 G, 6.0 IP, 2 BB, 6 K
He didn't get that much playing time, but he made good use of the time he had. If he's going to be used as a starter again, the Triple-A rotation is going to need him to continue what he's done.

Jose De Paula, LHP – 0.90 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 2 GS, 10.0 IP, 2 BB, 10 K
Picked up from the Giants, De Paula looks to be a solid choice to serve as Triple-A rotation depth. The left-handed starter did solid work in two starts this Winter and hopefully he can offer more of that for the RailRiders.

Gonzalez Germen, RHP – 7.71 ERA, 1.71 WHIP, 10 G, 7.0 IP, 3 BB, 4 K
Already an underwhelming option for the 40-man roster, Germen did nothing to change that opinion this Winter. He'll likely get sent to Scranton, but since he hasn't benefitted much from the conversion to reliever, the idea of stretching him back out as a starter should at least be explored.

Eduaro de Oleo, C – 3 G, 3 AB, 2 SO
Known to Baby Bomber readers simply as "The Baby," de Oleo isn't much of a prospect so his lack of playing time doesn't really mean anything. He should see some time in High-A Tampa at some point in the season.

Eury Perez, OF – .194/.202/.258, 30 G, 93 AB, HR, 3 RBI, 21 K
It's a little surprising how long Perez has held onto a 40-man roster spot with all the outfield options the Yankees currently have. His Winter performance didn't do anything to help the matter as he's bound to be cut before Opening Day.

Esmil Rogers, RHP – 4.63 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 3 GS, 11.2 IP, 4 BB, 18 K
We already know that Rogers is going to be on the big league team next year, so it would have been nice to see him pitch better against Dominican League competition. At the very least, his peripherals were solid, which is probably something the Yankees liked to see.

Jose Rosario, INF/OF – .259/.355/.333, 10 G, 27 AB, 2 RBI, 4 BB, 2 SO, SB
There isn't much hype surrounding Rosario, but he can play everywhere and actually hit decently in 2014. He seemed to continue that streak this Winter and could really use more of that heading into the season.

Mexican Winter League

Giovanny Gallegos, RHP – 1.69 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 16 G, 16.0 IP, 5 BB, 12 K
At one point Gallegos was considered an up-and-coming prospect, but after two disappointing seasons he's mostly been forgotten. After a successful Winter the Yankees can only hope that he brings his success back with him to the US.

Luis Niebla, RHP – 2.87 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 9 GS, 37.2 IP, 18 BB, 27 K
The 24-year-old righty continued his successful year into Winter, but it's probably not going to amount to much for him. He's seen success, but it's likely due to him being older than the competition, rather than actually having advanced stuff.

Australian Baseball League

Adam Silva, OF | ABL – .236/.313/.303, 12 RBI, 8 BB, 23 SO
The Australian Yankee still has a few more weeks of baseball to play, but he's not likely to do anything better than what he's already shown so far. Hopefully he gets some playing time this year so he can finally show what he can do against better competition.

Puerto Rican Winter League

Vince Conde, SS | PWL – .200/.200/400, 4 G, 5 AB, SO
Recent draft pick Vince Conde got a few at-bats this Winter in order to warm up for next season. It will be interesting to see how he does as a shortstop in 2015.