Wednesday, March 13, 2019

A Spring Training Trade Yankees Should Explore

Marlins pitcher Adam Conley is one left-handed reliever who could be of interest to teams around the league. In the last 4 years (with the exception of the 2015 season), Conley has seen himself bounce from the majors to the minors (AAA) on numerous occasions. Conley pitched as a SP in his first three seasons in the big leagues and did a very good job of it in his first two years…




Photo: Mitchell Layton/Getty Images North America
2015
  • IP: 67 (all stats per FanGraphs)
  • ERA: 3.76
  • K/9: 7.93
  • BB/9: 2.82
  • WHIP: 1.28
2016
  • IP: 133.1 
  • ERA: 3.85
  • K/9: 8.37
  • BB/9: 4.19
  • WHIP: 1.40
but in 2017, things started to fall apart (his strikeout rate regressed to 6.31 K/9 and his HR/9 ballooned to 1.67 [in his previous two seasons, his HR/9 was under 1.00] as his ERA rose to a startling 6.14. The following year (2018), the Marlins decided to convert Conley to a reliever. His numbers did improve by a quite bit…
2018
  • IP: 50.2
  • ERA: 4.09
  • K/9: 8.88
  • BB/9: 3.20
  • WHIP: 1.09 (lowest/best in his career)
  • HR/9: 0.89
  • SwStr%: 14.5 (up 4.9% from 2017)
  • Fastball velocity: 95.7 mph (up 5.8 mph from 2017)
The New York Yankees are one team that could potentially be interested in acquiring Adam Conley. The Marlins would presumably be open to parting ways with Conley. Here are a number of compelling reasons why:
  • He has no minor league options (might not want him to take up a 25-man-roster spot over a talented/raw player whom the Marlins want to see more from) remaining
  • They have two other LHPs who are likely to pitch out of their bullpen in 2019: Wei-Yin Chen and Jarlin Garcia
  • He’s already 28 years old

New York Yankees

The Yankees could really use another experienced southpaw reliever. Other than Aroldis Chapman, their probable closer, they don’t have much in terms of depth (of LHPs in the pen). Here’s what they could conceivably give up in return for Adam Conley…
New York Yankees trade RHP Luis Cessa and LHP Stephen Tarpley to the Miami Marlins for LHP Adam Conley
Luis Cessa, 26-years-old, struggled in 2018 with the Yankees (5.24 ERA in 44.2 IP), but his peripheral stats provide a glimpse of hope…
  • K/9: 7.86
  • BB/9: 2.62
  • FIP: 3.74
  • xFIP: 3.84
With Cessa being out of options, it makes sense for the Yankees to look to move him. He could pitch full time out of the Marlins’ pen. His AAA stats are also promising (2.73 ERA in just over 25 IP). 
26-year-old Stephen Tarpley has yet to be a given a chance to establish himself as an MLB caliber relief pitcher (only 9 major league IP on his resume); however, he performed exceptionally well in AAA and could take on a role similar to that of the one Conley had (with the Marlins)…
  • IP: 34
  • K/9: 10.06
  • BB/9: 2.91
  • ERA: 2.65

2 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. I agree. I don't like the idea of trading him before we have a better idea of what he can bring to the MLB club.

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