Free Kevin Russo?
The Yankees drafted Kevin Russo in the 20th round of the 2006 June Draft out of Baylor University. He’s a local kid from Long Island and he are his minor league stats, to date:
Year Age Tm Lg Lev G PA BB SO BA OBP SLG 2006 21 Yankees GULF Rook 45 181 20 18 .273 .383 .400 2007 22 Tampa FLOR A_adv 109 414 15 66 .281 .311 .369 2008 23 Trenton EL AA 71 298 23 42 .307 .363 .416 2009 24 Scranton IL AAA 68 307 33 39 .328 .405 .415
You never hear much about Russo in terms of being a top Yankees prospect. But, the kid can handle the bat and get on-base. The problem is: He’s 24-years old now and plays second base. So, he has 26-year old Robinson Cano in front of him at the major league level and 22-year old Reegie Corona behind him at Double-A Trenton in the Yankees system. Seeing this, I wonder what the Yankees plans are for Russo – if any? Maybe it’s time to see if there’s a market for him, somewhere, and give a chance to play at the next level? If the Yanks do move him, and he does well, I won’t be shocked.
They need to have him play other positions so he can have more value, and he needs stay healthy.
If I were Russo, I wouldn’t worry about Corona. He spent part of 3 seasons @ Trenton. The M’s returned him after taking him in the Rule V draft. At best, he’ll be a utility infielder.