YANKEES ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME WITH LUIS MEDINA

I like to prospect watch a lot. My favorite prospects to keep tabs on are pitchers, mainly because the Yankees are so terrible at scouting and developing pitchers. I watch these pitching prospects in hopes to finding that special pitcher that we've all been waiting for.

I've been paying closer attention to Luis Medina since Aaron Boone visited the Yankees minor league spring training complex back in February. Medina was fresh from playing winter ball in Puerto Rico where he made some positive improvements that had a lot of people buzzing and Boone was singing his praises.
"I wouldn’t put anything past him because the talent is special," Boone said. "He’s somebody we’re very excited about. … You never know what can happen this year. We feel he has a bright future, a major league future."

But just how special is Medina? We will find out how special in a relatively short amount of time. The clock is ticking on Medina's Yankees future, read more HERE. Medina has been pitching well at Double-A Somerset but is in his last minor-league option year. The Yankees will need to watch his progress this year and decide if he will be part of the team's future. If he is part of the team's future then they need to decide if he will be a starter or part of the bullpen. If they do make room for him, they will need to add him to their active roster next season but if not....they may need to consider trading him over the summer.

Medina has come a long way since he started his journey with the Yankees at 17. He used to crumble under pressure and couldn't maintain control on the mound. His lack of control led to a lot of walks but things are changing. Now he has command, a hard breaking curveball and a trademark fastball that has reached up to 103 mph. He's currently touting a 2.31 ERA in four starts, now if he could just develop an equally impressive third pitch the Yankees just might have something.

Medina has made a lot of improvements and he's headed in the right direction. Now we just have to wait and see what the Yankees do. The Yankees have a year to make up their minds. It sounds like a lot of time, but not if they are considering trading him soon. 

I'm going to keep watching Medina, he's intriguing. Hopefully he can keep the Yankees intrigued also....otherwise he will be wearing another uniform soon.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj