Minor League Ball’s Top 20 Yankees Prospects!!

My apologies for the completely unprofessional “!!” at the end of the post title but I can’t help it, I’m me and I love Yankees prospects. Who needs professionalism anyway? I highly doubt you’re here reading my work because I am the most professional writer, you are here because you like my work and you like the way I do things. When I started this blog I always said I would do things my way and if that meant never making it “big” or being well-known that I would be okay with that, and those words still ring true today. So, without further ado, Minor League Ball’s Top 20 Yankees Prospects List!!! There, I did three exclamation points that time. Ban professionalism.

1.       Gleyber Torres

2.       Chance Adams

3.       Estevan Florial

4.       Justus Sheffield

5.       Miguel Andujar

6.       Domingo Acevedo

7.       Jorge Guzman (not updated since the trade)

8.       Albert Abreu

9.       Freicer Perez

10.   Thairo Estrada

11.   Nick Solak

12.   Dillon Tate

13.   Domingo German

14.   Billy McKinney

15.   Luis Medina

16.   Matt Sauer

17.   Trevor Stephan

18.   Taylor Widener

19.   Nolan Martinez

20.   Nestor Cortes (TAKEN IN RULE 5 DRAFT)

For the complete write-ups on the prospects and such head over to Minor League Ball and check out their post. They put in a lot of work over there and provide a ton of great content and they deserve all the views they get and many more. Head over there, be the good guy, and give them some clicks for their awesome content. Thanks in advance guys and girls. Go Yankees!!

Gleyber Torres is Your Opening Day 2nd Baseman, Deal With It

I think I was just one of many that either stayed up late the night the news broke that Giancarlo Stanton was coming to the Yankees via trade or one that woke up to utter shock that the reigning National League MVP was Bronx-bound. We all as a fan base waited anxiously to see what the Yankees would be giving up, how much of the Stanton contract they would be paying etc. but while most waited I began to brainstorm. I am always looking ahead and when we learned that Starlin Castro was going to be involved in the deal my immediate thought was not whether the Yankees would set an MLB record for home runs by a team in 2018, but who would play second base replacing Castro? I’m weird, I know. My immediate thought went to Ronald Torreyes or Tyler Wade as they finished the 2018 season healthy, are both on the 40-man roster and with Torreyes specifically had success at the MLB level in a small sample size. Torreyes filled in admirably for an injured Didi Gregorius at the beginning of the 2017 season but I don’t see him doing it again here in 2018, not with a healthy Gleyber Torres on the roster that some inside the Yankees organization wanted to start the season at the MLB level last season. Those same personnel members will push for Torres being in the Bronx on Opening Day 2018 assuming the Yankees still need a second baseman then and this time I think they will get their wish.

Gleyber Torres will be the Yankees Opening Day second baseman in 2018, deal with it. I said “deal with it” because to my surprise I was roasted on Twitter the day of the Stanton trade for saying so. You would be surprised to read some of the responses that I got to that tweet. Many said I was crazy, that Torres was still injured (no he’s not), not ready (yes he is, he was last season), or that it just wasn’t going to happen but I am not buying it just because you said so. Not many had Aaron Judge starting in right field at the beginning of the 2017 season because of his strikeouts, his inexperience and because of his lack of a blockbuster September call-up the season prior. How did that work out? The Yankees have the offense and the veteran leadership in the infield with Didi Gregorius to deal with and survive the growing pains for Gleyber, and they should. Don’t wait until June, don’t wait to save a few dollars. We are the New York Yankees and we are back to being the New York Yankees again, after 2018 I don’t want to hear about money or the budget or the luxury tax ever again. Ever.  

Stop babying prospects and stop coddling the young guys. Let them play with the young guys around them and figure it out on their own. Derek Jeter wasn’t handled like a porcelain doll, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, Bernie Williams and Andy Pettitte weren’t either. Robinson Cano wasn’t. Chein-Ming Wang wasn’t. Aaron Judge wasn’t. I can keep going but I think you get my ultimate point, that Gleyber Torres shouldn’t be either so say hello to your Opening Day starting second baseman and also wish him a Happy belated Birthday as well.

#EnterGleyber

Is Jabari Blash a Part of a Bigger Plan/Deal for New York?

When the New York Yankees traded away Chase Headley and Bryan Mitchell to the San Diego Padres for outfielder Jabari Blash I think most thought that this was simply a salary dump for the Bronx Bombers. The Yankees sent $500,000 in cash considerations along with Mitchell, Headley and the former Yankees third baseman’s $13 million in salary but I don’t think this was simply a salary dump. Why would Cashman take on ANOTHER outfielder, especially an outfielder that is 28-years old and hasn’t excelled at the Major League level to date? I think Blash is part of a much bigger plan and deal and I am wondering if that bigger plan and deal has anything to do with the Chicago White Sox and their presumable acquisition of Orioles third baseman Manny Machado.  

George A. King III reported this week that the Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos would never trade Manny Machado to the New York Yankees, but the Chicago White Sox owner and GM would. The White Sox have been one of the most aggressive suitors for Machado’s services despite being in the middle of a total rebuild. This deal doesn’t make sense for the White Sox as Machado is just one year away from free agency unless one of two things happens, Machado signs an extension, or the White Sox ultimately flip Machado either now or in July before the trade deadline for prospects to speed up the rebuild. I am personally leaning towards the latter being more likely than the former, you have to think Machado wants to hit the free agent market at just 26-years old, and with that thought process and the Yankees need for a third baseman the stars may be aligning.  

Why does it make sense for the Yankees? I mean, besides the obvious as Machado is an incredible talent. Machado is still under a team friendly deal that will pay him an estimated $17.3 million in his final year of arbitration according to Baseball Reference and their estimations. Adding Machado, CC Sabathia for $10 - $12 million on a one-year deal, and Gleyber Torres to second base and the Yankees can still get under the luxury tax threshold while calling it an offseason before Christmas. Not bad for a team that couldn’t seemingly find a suitable manager just a few weeks ago.  

Blash would be just one of the many prospects the Yankees could trade to the White Sox if they were to acquire and then flip Machado to the Bronx. Clint Frazier could be another. I am not an expert on the Chicago White Sox and I am not sure of their needs, but you have to think they will at least ask for Frazier, Chance Adams, Justus Sheffield and others. If the White Sox give up some of their elite prospects to acquire Machado, and they would likely have to give up at least one, then the Yankees would have to compensate them for that in the deal. Would Frazier, Blash and Adams be enough? That’s a good question, I would hope so. I know one thing though, Machado won’t come cheap like Giancarlo Stanton did.   

The kicker here? The Yankees could conceivably trade Machado in July for even better prospects then they will theoretically and hypothetically give up to the Chicago White Sox in a deal while sliding Miguel Andujar into the third base position. This screams Aroldis Chapman all over again and if it happens, especially if the Yankees then turned around and signed Machado via free agency next winter, I will be the first person in line to kiss the feet of Yankees GM Brian Cashman. Something is brewing here; the Yankees didn’t just acquire Blash because they liked him. Stay tuned. 

So it Seems… Brian Cashman the Hall of Famer

Good morning everyone and what a Winter Meetings week this has been for the New York Yankees. With the Winter Meetings now done, and maybe the majority of the Yankees heavy lifting done, you have to look ahead and wonder what this means for the future of Brian Cashman. Cashman took over for Al Watson back before the 1998 season essentially walking into a dynasty and now has all the pieces to start another dynasty, this time all on his own. Cashman, even now in my opinion, has to be a Hall of Fame General Manager, doesn’t he?

Cashman’s led 1998 Yankees, again he didn’t really build this team and I totally understand that, won an American League record 114 games en route to their second World Series Championship in two seasons. Cashman and his Yankees would then win the 1999, 2000 and 2009 World Series Championships while also winning the American League Pennant in 2001 and 2003. Cashman also put the team on the field that made it to the AL Championship Series multiple times including the 2012 and 2017 seasons.

Sure, Cashman has had the money to throw at players and sure, talent can overcome a lot of bad decision making sometimes but no one can deny that the Yankees GM has been an absolute wizard in the trade arena. I mean, come on. Cashman essentially turned Brendan Ryan into Giancarlo Stanton player wise and turned Chase Headley and Starlin Castro into Giancarlo Stanton money wise. That’s genius and the scary part is after signing a new five-year deal, Cashman is far from done.

Cashman is a Hall of Fame GM right now, in five years we may be talking about possibly the best GM in the history of Major League Baseball. Especially if he can swing a trade for Manny Machado from the Chicago White Sox, but more on that later and so much more.

Speaking of the Hall of Fame, you my Kari are definitely a Hall of Famer. No woman has ever been more beautiful, more awesome, more caring, more kind or more generally awesome as you. And somehow, someway, you are mine. I thank God every day for you multiple times a day, usually after looking into those gorgeous blue eyes. I loves you, always have and always will.

Have a great day everyone!