With hopes of becoming the starting third baseman for the New York Yankees in 2015, Alex Rodriguez has been training with a former seven-time MVP. New York has some good news regarding their farm system as one of their prospects is considered a top 10 starting pitcher.
According to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle, Rodriguez has been working out with Barry Bonds at the Future Prospects facility in San Rafael, Arizona. Attempting a comeback after missing the entire 2014 season and playing in only 265 games over the past four seasons, A-Rod will be turning 40 in July and has to compete with Chase Headley for the starting third base job.
Bonds also trained with Michael Morse, Pablo Sandoval, Brandon Crawford and other members of the San Francisco Giants last offseason at the facility after the team invited him to spring training. Baseball's all-time home run leader served as an instructor and mentor with the Giants while also training some other players, such as Dexter Fowler, on the side.
A former MVP, home run champ and suspected PED user, Bonds is seemingly a good fit to train with Rodriguez, who has also been wildly successful throughout his career, but subject to harsh and incessant criticism in recent years. Although he's owed $61 million over the next three seasons, it's unknown how (or if) the Yankees will use him this upcoming season. General manager Brian Cashman signed third baseman Chase Headley to a four-year, $52 million deal and then publicly stated Rodriguez is going be a "tremendous DH" for the team.
According to sources, Rodriguez thinks the third base job is for him to lose heading into spring training, so it'll be interesting to see how this all plays out.
As for the Yankees' younger players, prospect pitcher Luis Severino is rising in the ranks. The right-hander wasn't among the top 100 prospects prior to the start of the 2014 season, but now, according to MLBPipeLine.com, he's ranked No. 62 overall and No. 7 among starting pitchers in the minor leagues. At only 20 years old, Severino still has some time to develop, but his statistics from 2014 were a big improvement since he advanced through the system quickly and pitched a lot more games. Take a look for yourself:
Yankees' Rookie League and Class-A Charleston in 2013: 4-2 with a 2.45 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 53 strikeouts in 10 games (eight starts).
Class-A Charleston, Advanced Class-A Tampa and Double-A Trenton in 2014: 6-5 with a 2.46 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 127 strikeouts in 24 starts (113 1/3 innings)
"He has a quick arm that fires upper-90s fastballs deep into starts, writes Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com. "His changeup is his best secondary pitch and his slider is improving. His ability to throw strikes and keep the ball down in the zone should help him remain in a rotation."