Projecting Kevin Russo

Written by Greg Fertel | 23 April 2009

Kevin Russo is an interesting prospect to look at, given the Yankees current weak utility player situation. Even through the first few weeks of the season, it is very evident that Cody Ransom is not the answer to the Yankees utility problems. While Ramiro Pena appears to be as slick a fielder as they come, he has never shown that he has any skills with the bat. When the Yankees sent Russo to the AFL this past offseason, it definitely raised some eyebrows.

No one viewed him as a prospect at the time, but it seems the Yankees saw something in him, because he went to the AFL and hit .309/.377/.464 while playing mostly second base, but also slotting in as a third baseman and getting some playing time at shortstop. Following this performance, he was rated the Yankees 31st best prospect. According to Russo's TotalZone rating from minorleaguesplits.com, he is consistently a slightly above average second baseman and an average third baseman when it comes to defense. From Fangraphs Position Adjustments, one could guess that he'd be slightly below average at shortstop if he learned to play there.

This season, along with the entire Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, Russo has started off tearing the cover off the ball. He is currently batting .382/.417/.471 in AAA and has shown very significant improvement every season. His batting average is sure to go down to the .280-.320 range, but I expect his walk rate to match the rate he kept last season and in the AFL, which will keep his value solid. While Russo does not have a high ceiling, I see him being a valuable bench player for the Yankees next season, and possibly even an improvement over Cody Ransom at midseason this year.

At 24 years old, Russo has yet to enter his peak and still has a few years to improve. If he continues to improve at this rate, I could see him being the type of player who can come off the bench and play all of the infield positions along with right and left field while batting in the viscinity of .285/.335/.410 in his peak years, which would make for a very good bench player. Russo won't be a future starter for the Yankees, but his versatility could definitely allow him to slot into a bench role with them or be a piece in a trade and end up becoming a starting 2nd baseman for a lesser team. The fact that the Yankees sent him to the AFL and have him moving around the diamond means they see some value in him. Even though Ramiro Pena was added to the 40-man and 25-man before Russo, I still see Russo being a more valuable long-term asset than Pena will be.