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Fast Times: A Brief History of Sean Henn
2005-05-04 13:35
by Cliff Corcoran

The newly twenty-four-year-old Fort Worth, Texas native Sean Michael Henn is a sturdy, six-foot-five lefty who was drafted by the Yankees not once, but twice, in the 30th round of the 1999 amateur draft and the 26th round of the 2000 draft. The Yanks finally signed him to a record $1.701 million bonus as a draft-and-follow in 2001 (he attended McLennan Community College in Texas in the interim). According to an informative post over at Off the Façade, at the time Henn was drafted, "He sported an upper-90s fastball along with some nasty breaking pitches," but did not throw a pitch as a Yankee farmhand before having to undergo Tommy John surgery later in 2001.

Henn finally got to take the mound as a professional ballplayer in 2003, when he made two dominant rookie league appearances before moving on to make sixteen starts for single-A Tampa, in which he had moderate success. Last year, Henn made a brief appearance in spring training with the big club before spending the entire season with double-A Trenton, posting a 4.41 ERA, a 1.44 WHIP and an equally middling 1.87 K/BB ratio (6.50 K/9 and 3.47 BB/9, both slight improvements over his single-A numbers) in 27 starts. This year, he again spent the spring with the major league club before returning to Trenton, where he has posted the following line in four starts:

25.1 IP, 16 H, 2 ER, 1 HR, 9 BB, 21 K

That translates into the following rate stats: 7.46 K/9, 3.19 BB/9, 2.33 K/BB, all of which show a continuation of the improvements he made in those categories in 2004. Those improvements would support the suggestion that Henn is still rebuilding his arm strength coming off his 2001 surgery. Of course they could also suggest that Henn is simply improving as a pitcher. As it stands, he's not a dominating prospect, but a pitcher with potential who's a bit old for double-A (though that's the fault of the surgery). With that in mind, as much as I'd love to see Henn pitch well enough to allow the Yankees send Kevin Brown to the DL or Tampa to work out his problems, I'd much rather see Henn return to the minors, work his way to Columbus this season and throw his hat into the ring for next year's rotation, if not 2007's.

Comments
2005-05-04 14:42:31
1.   JohnnyC
Cliff, since there's no plan to DL Brown (which should be what they're planning to do) and RJ has admantly denied his groin will keep him out longer than 1 turn, you'll probably get your wish. Of course, if Henn bombs, it's a moot point. Frankly, I'm a little surprised they chose to promote Henn from AA. It's not pro forma for this organization. Which leads me to think that Cashman won out over the usually very rookie-phobic Torre, who, I'm sure would have preferred the yawn-inspiring but "experienced" Pete Munro and Aaron Small.
2005-05-04 15:56:48
2.   tocho
What ever happened to DePaula?
2005-05-04 16:17:11
3.   Marcus
DePaula had Tommy John surgery last spring. Here's the run down on the Yankees farm system:

http://www.bergen.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkxMTImZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTY2ODg3MTQmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2

2005-05-04 17:28:03
4.   wishama
Based on tonight's performance, Sean Henn is now competing for the spot of ace on the Yankees. No regulatr everyday overpaid professional pitcher has shown anything more. #1 Wang, #2 Henn, #3 RJ, #4 Pavano, #5 10 yr old girl sitting behind the dugout
2005-05-04 17:28:34
5.   tocho
Thanks.

By the way we are getting killed...again...

2005-05-04 17:47:48
6.   rbj
Cano now hasn't endeared himself to Torre. Womack should be in center (if you're going to do that), Matsui should remain in left.
2005-05-04 19:19:33
7.   wishama
When do we start discussing how Joe Torre is not qualified to manage this team.
2005-05-04 19:28:58
8.   Marcus
Did Cano miss the bag in the bottom of the 8th on the grounder to Gordon? I'm watching the online Gamecast and it said:

"Julio Lugo grounds out, pitcher Tom Gordon to second baseman Robinson Cano to first baseman Tino Martinez. Carl Crawford to 2nd."

2005-05-04 19:33:01
9.   redshift
Please George, do something. You've never been one to delay taking action. No matter how stupid a move you make, there's no way it can make this team any worse.

Also, it seems like the only guy on the team who knows how to really dig in is Tino - he has been very hot lately. I'm not surprised.

2005-05-04 19:45:41
10.   JeremyM
Does anyone else feel like we've now hit rock bottom, and it's uphill from here? Of course, I thought we were taking game 7 as well, and that Brown was going to be nails that game.
2005-05-04 20:01:40
11.   murphy
in 1990, Lee Gutterman let the yankees in wins with 11 - OUT OF THE BULLPEN!!! THAT's what this all feels like. so help me god, if we trade for rick rhoden, i may never stop crying.
2005-05-04 21:53:27
12.   brockdc
I'm trying to quantify my depression right now, and I guess it's tantamount to when a pet gets really sick and needs to go to the vet. This dog is sick.

On a lighter note, remember the banter over the fact that, even though Torre's decision making has been questionable this season, he's still only cost the Yankees 2-3 games at most. Count tonight as number four. I don't really know where to start, but if he keeps putting Quantrill out there for multiple innings - in key situations - we will not make it to .500.

Speaking of which: If this team does not finish the season at .500, will they have become the biggest flop in baseball history? I know the Mets had some beauties in the early 90's. Just throwin' it out there.

RJ needs to shut the hell up and be lights out the rest of the way.

2005-05-05 03:57:52
13.   Shaun P
I hope that George DOESN'T do something. Given the way he does things now - acquire old, over-priced, ineffective veterans - he'd probably try to 'solve' the OF problem by trading for Ken Griffey Jr. That would be the last nail in the coffin.
2005-05-05 05:22:32
14.   KJC
"If this team does not finish the season at .500..."

As much as I'd like to see it happen, there is no way the Yanks are finishing the season under .500...

2005-05-05 05:31:24
15.   Alex Belth
Yeah, this team is not going to finish under .500. They have some good baseball in them for sure. They will have some winning streaks and months. Whether it will be enough to make the post-season, that's another question.

And, really, I don't know how Joe Torre is supposed to turn water into wine here. At some point it comes down to the players on the field.

2005-05-05 05:41:05
16.   singledd
I don't think you can blame Torre's moves for this year. He ain't Manager of the Year, but it is ultimately the players who are responsible... players who have no energy... no killer instinct. Didn't Quantrill have one of the pen's best ERAs (until last night)?

The truth is this off-season killed us (and just about EVERY blogger knew this). I didn't expect it to be this bad, and it will get better, but the odds of a postseason are very, very slim.

Lets look at 2006 and 2007. ARod and Matsui (and maybe Giambi is he is still breathing)are the only ones who MAY get better... and a long list of those in decline (Posada, RJ in 2007?, Moose, Rivera, Womack). If Giambi and Bernie don't step up, lets bring up some kids and see who might have value for us next year. If we don't let the kids prove they have real value to us, it will be Phillips/Cano/Wang for Griffey or some such further idiocy and decimation of the farm.

Whos contracts are up THIS year?
Whos contracts are up NEXT year?

Now is the time to make sure we don't have a shitty team for the next 5 years. We are heading in that direction (the luxury tax only gets higher, right?). Between Jetes, ARod, Giambi and Matsui's upcoming contract, we are already spending a fortune. If we can have 2 or 3 (Phillips, Cano, Wang, Henn, [anybody else?])inexpensive players for the next few years, keep Jetes, ARod and Matsui, we may be able to buy the other positions and not be in the toilet.

I was a fan in '65. This year doesn't matter. If a miracle happens.. great. But we need to make sure that this is a 'transition' year, and not the beginning of a decade of horror.

And in terms of the farm, are they any players that will will 'loose' that will get us draft picks?

2005-05-05 12:19:44
17.   brockdc
We can give some of these young guys all the playing time in the world, but the fact of the matter is that none of them are solid prospects. All our solid prospects are now playing elsewhere.

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