Josh Norris of The Trentonian reported today that Manny Banuelos, the Yankees' top pitching prospect, will undergo Tommy John surgery on October 4th which will put him out through the entire 2013 season. TJ surgery typically requires a recovery time of 18 months, putting his anticipated return date around April 2014.
This is a huge blow to the Yankees, particularly their goal of being under $189M for the 2014 season. At best Manny will start 2014 in AAA and can make it to the Bronx after the All Star break. I wouldn't count on him at all for 2014 and I doubt the Yankees will either, likely necessitating a free agent signing that will be expensive relative to what MB would have cost. Aside from budget issues, this has to be disappointing for anyone anticipating the star pitcher Banuelos was forecasted to be as recently as April when Baseball America rated him the 29th best prospect in all of baseball. Two days ago I rated Manny the 4th best prospect in the system with an A grade and a score of 90. In light of this news I would drop his grade to B, which would place him number 9 on the list.
Good luck to Manny in his recovery and the Yankees I their attempt to work around this issue.
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