The Yankees made some minor league cuts the other day, with several decently significant names involved. Among the recently released players were RHP Luke Greinke, IF Braedyn Pruitt and catcher Joseph Muich.

Luke Greinke had surgery near the end (or after) Staten Island’s 2008 season and wouldn’t have been around for pretty much the entire 2009 season. I think the Yankees probably drafted him, hoping it would help land his brother Zack Greinke last winter from the Royals. When that didn’t happen, and with the recent arm troubles - Luke became expendable. The Yankee minor league system is teeming with good, young pitching talent and with another draft a few months away, there is no need for injured pitchers who might not have the same ceiling as other injured hurlers.

I spoke to a Yankee coach last season about Pruitt. He said Pruitt did well in Staten Island in 2007, but was skipped over Charleston in 2008, really struggling in High A Tampa. When he was shipped back, first to Charleston then to Staten Island in June, his confidence was shot and his hitting mechanics were way off. The mechanics were so off that he literally had no power and the ball didn’t jump off his bat, but limped off. Combined with his low level of confidence, he was an easy out most of the time.

With the emergence of hitters Justin Snyder, Damon Sublett, Montero, Austin Romine, Brandon Laird and even Bradley Suttle, Pruitt was very expendable. An organization cannot spend considerable amounts of time with a hitter whose confidence is shot, especially when he provides no power.

Both Greinke and Pruitt will likely sign with another team (Greinke to the Royals?).

Muich wasn’t much of a prospect and was kept around basically because the Yankees most always keep three catchers at each level of play. He was a good guy to talk with, and when I covered the Trenton Thunder, Muich and I would talk college baseball. He went to Wichita State and caught the Mets’ Mike Pelfrey for several seasons, also playing with the Yankees minor league infielder Sublett.

Keep an eye out for Sublett, who might have the quickest bat in the entire Yankee system. He was hurt last year but hit well in the tough Florida State League before his injury and had a pretty decent Winter League performance in Hawaii. He gets the good part of the bat on the ball very consistently, and has a very keen batting eye. 

All in all, the Yankees did what they needed to do - unload some dead weight and prep for a new draft class. There are too many good players in the system for so few spots right now as it is. And the Yankees are very likely to continue with their system of plucking top round talent in the middle rounds and blowing them away with big money.