Should/Will the Yankees Be “In” On Any of These Players Who Cleared Waivers?

The August waiver wire trade deadline may be a bit more complicated for teams to pull off deals but it doesn’t necessarily make it impossible, especially if that player you’re looking to acquire clears waivers. There have been more than a few notable veteran players that have already cleared waivers, and keep in mind that not every team releases the name of every player that clears waivers and are not obligated to do so either, which leaves me wondering if the Yankees should be or will be interested in any of them. Before we jump into the list though and talk about any potential trades for the Bombers I will preface the post by saying that Hal Steinbrenner, the Yankees principal owner, has stated that the Yankees payroll is now frozen. No more payroll will be added in 2017, period. Keep that in mind when suggesting or thinking about potential trades this season.

The most current and up to date list that I have of players that has cleared revocable waivers includes Jay Bruce, Curtis Granderson, Justin Verlander, Chris Davis, RA Dickey, Jim Johnson, Bryce Harper, Joey Votto, Justin Upton, Felix Hernandez, Brandon Crawford, Yoenis Cespedes, Asdrubal Cabrera, Neil Walker and AJ Ramos. This list admittedly may be out of date due to teams not releasing who has cleared waivers but this is the most current list according to MLB Trade Rumors so for the sake of simplicity and this post we will go with it.

The Yankees don’t need an outfielder, in fact when Tyler Austin and Aaron Hicks return from their rehab assignments the team may have too many outfielders and not enough roster spots to accommodate them all, meaning that you can immediately mark Bruce, Granderson, Harper, Upton and Cespedes off the list for New York. The Orioles are unlikely to trade Davis within the division, especially to the Yankees, and you have that whole no more payroll thing marking him off the list as well. Votto has a full no-trade clause and is owed a ton of money throughout the end of his contract, #PayrollFreeze, and the same can be said for the Tigers starter Justin Verlander who may be a member of the Houston Astros before this post even goes live.

Taking those names off the list leaves Dickey, a hard no, Johnson, a former AL saves leader and an attractive setup man option, Hernandez, yes please but #PayrollFreeze, Brandon Crawford, this move was purely procedural and the Giants are not going to move him, Cabrera, no thank you, Walker, no thank you, and Ramos, another dependable bullpen arm that New York may or may not need. Looking at the list it looks like the only options New York really has at this time is Jim Johnson, AJ Ramos or maybe Felix Hernandez. The Mariners seem willing to go for it in 2017 as the team has a Wild Card spot in their sights though making the Hernandez trade less and less likely, although not impossible given his salary and the salary restraints in Seattle right now.

Do the Yankees really need Ramos or Johnson? I mean, sure, it would be nice to get greedy and acquire one or both of them but neither are a real need. Both, though, will cost real prospects and that’s just not something I am willing to do and is not something I think the Yankees are willing to do either to be completely honest. Also, as much as I hate to admit this, the Hernandez trade opportunity is likely a pipe dream. Again, I am not completely counting it out but I just can’t see New York pulling this off or Seattle willing to make the trade. Hernandez hasn’t been Hernandez in 2017, he has struggled some and battled injuries including the bursitis that he learned about and was diagnosed with yesterday, which is one of the only reasons I have hope but that payroll freeze is really going to get in the way. Conceivably the Yankees could include better prospects and have Seattle kick in his salary like they did with the Minnesota Twins and Jaime Garcia but that seems unlikely as well.

Who knows what is going to happen between now and August 31^st but as it stands right now it looks like all the Yankees heavy lifting is all but done. Brian Cashman is likely just sitting on a beach somewhere sipping on fruity drinks with little paper umbrellas floating in the glass, and he deserves to be after what he did for the team before the July 31^st trading deadline. Brace yourselves Yankees family, winter is coming to the Bronx and it won’t include any fresh, new characters to kill off two episodes in. 

The Giants Offense vs. the Mets Pitching

Hey, the New York Mets offense had to suffer through their career stats against Madison Bumgarner being blasted for all to see on the blog this morning so it’s only fair that Buster Posey, Brandon Crawford and company have to go through the same treatment this afternoon with their career stats against Noah Syndergaard also being showcased here for all to see. We’re all about equality here and stuff so here are the San Francisco Giants offensive numbers against tonight’s Mets starter Noah Syndergaard.

                                                                                  

All photos and stats courtesy of ESPN.com. Don’t feel bad guys, I wouldn’t hit well against Syndergaard either if that makes you feel any better about tonight. 

Fantasy Baseball: So You Need a Shortstop?

The shortstop position around Major League Baseball is much like the second base position and the catcher position, offensively speaking it seems to either be feast or famine. All three positions are very top heavy with a few average replacements and a whole lot that don’t offer much in the terms of fantasy value. The shortstop position may be the most anemic of the three though which is why so many find it hard to find a suitable shortstop once the likes of Carlos Correa and the other top-tier shortstops come off the board, that’s where I come in to help. 

Carlos Correa is probably the best shortstop in the game right now while Troy Tulowitzki, in his Coors Field days anyway, and Brandon Crawford fill out the top three in no particular order. Behind them is in my opinion a steep fall off in production as far as fantasy goes so if you don’t get these three recognizable faces you may be left wondering what to do. If it was I and I missed out on one of those three I would definitely take a look at Corey Seager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Xander Bogaerts of the Boston Red Sox or Ian Desmond if he ever finds a home between now and draft day. The longer Desmond has to wait for a job, and especially if it eats up some of his spring training time, the farther away I step away from him. See Stephen Drew the year he was offered a qualifying offer, it could happen to Desmond as well. 

Behind this group of men are some rookies and young guys looking to take the next step forward towards superstardom. These players come with risks of taking a step back or having the sophomore slump but if they continue their production like they did last year they can be notable additions to your team. This list includes Francisco Lindor of the Indians, Addison Russell of the Chicago Cubs and Didi Gregorius of the New York Yankees. Some may think I think too highly of Didi or that I am letting my Yankees fandom get in the way but his stats after the first two months of the season were fantastic. Once he settled in and got comfortable he was one of the most consistent hitters in the Yankees lineup and he’s only going to get better as he matures. Again, he comes with a risk but he is a high risk and high reward type player at least. 

Speaking of Didi his teammate Starlin Castro will be eligible at second base and shortstop next season and is just 26-years old. Castro hit much better after moving to second base last season with Chicago and could be in line for a nice season in the Bronx in 2016. Behind Castro is another fall off that starts with Elvis Andrus and ends with Jhonny Peralta. These players along with Alcides Escobar, JJ Hardy, Marcus Semien and Brad Miller are what they are, you basically know what you are going to get from these players. They are not your last resort but they aren’t your first resort either, they are more marginal players as far as fantasy goes. If you miss out on one of these players, well your draft may be over unless you can find a nice sleeper pick, maybe Ketel Marte of Seattle or Jean Segura of Arizona. 

Shortstops can be a tricky position to draft unfortunately so I tend to personally go high and grab one of the top tiered players. The shortstop can make or break your draft because if you go too high on a guy and he busts or gets injured you are left reeling for the rest of your season but if you wait too long you may be stuck with a Andrelton Simmons or Adeiny Hechavarria and nobody wants that… do they?

Fantasy Baseball: Who are the San Francisco Giants?

We’re drawing closer and closer to the beginning of Spring Training, the report of pitchers and catchers and presumably we’re drawing closer and closer to your fantasy draft. We’ve gone over many of the teams around the league and showcased some of the sleeper talent and the young talent that could make an impact not only now but later on in the season as well and this time will be no different as we showcase the talent currently in the San Francisco Giants organization. Since it’s Prospects Month and all we won’t waste much time on Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto, Jeff Samardzija or Buster Posey as you likely already know those names and know they can all help your team out so I would rather spend the time looking at a few names you may or may not know. 

The trio of Brandon Crawford, Brandon Belt and Matt Duffy are probably household names by now but some people either don’t watch West Coast baseball or they don’t watch National League baseball so I’ll touch on them briefly just in case you are one of them. Crawford is a defensive shortstop that hit 21 home runs and knocked in 84 RBI’s last year. That’s great for a shortstop but that’s phenomenal for any player inside AT&T Park in San Francisco so grab him if you can. Belt is an injury concern but when he’s healthy he’s a 30 home run guy and a pretty good first baseman as well and is likely worth the risk after a long winter to rest and rehab. Finally Duffy broke out a bit last season batting .295 with 12 home runs and 12 stolen bases and should continue to improve as he enters his prime. He’s not the best third baseman in the league but he’s adequate and sometimes it is adequate and not the super stars that win you your league. 

Those are names you likely know but unless you were watching the Giants last September you don’t know the name Jarrett Parker. Parker is an outfielder that broke out in a big way last September for the club batting an even .400 with six home runs and 14 RBI in just 40 at bats. Parker won’t hit .400 all season and he may not even break camp with the team unless an injury occurs but it’s those players that show you that the big stage doesn’t bother him that generally have the most success in fantasy and I truly believe Parker fits that mold. 

Finally you have the trio of Clayton Blackburn, Adalberto Mejia and Tyler Beede. None of these three will likely break camp with the club but at least one, if not all three, may make the Major Leagues this season if and when an injury occurs. Currently San Francisco has some combination of Jake Peavy and Matt Cain in their rotation and there are obvious concerns and question marks with both of their health and effectiveness entering 2016. Any one of these three could come up and get significant starting time if an injury occurs so keep them on your watch list. 

There you go, we went into extra innings for this post. Rather than bring you three potential players or prospects we brought you a whopping seven. Maybe they help, maybe they won’t but it doesn’t hurt to keep them bookmarked just in case. You never know when you might need someone for that second half push next season. Enjoy and tell a friend!

Using the Brandon Crawford Extension w/ Didi Gregorius

Apparently winning a Gold Glove Award is a lot more lucrative then it used to be in Major League Baseball, just ask Brandon Crawford. Crawford won a Gold Glove Award at shortstop for the National League last week and was rewarded for it this week with a new six-year contract that will take him through the 2021 season and pay him $75 million.

Obviously there was a lot more to the extension for Crawford and the Giants then just the Gold Glove but there are at least some similarities that the New York Yankees can potentially use if they choose to extend their shortstop Didi Gregorius. This will be the ultimate test of who actually reads the article and who just see’s the title and runs with it because I’m not suggesting the Yankees extend him until after the 2016 or 2017 season, not today,  with some obvious stipulations included. Health is obviously one and the second, and largest, is that his production both at the plate and in the field look more like what they looked like in the final four months of the season and less like the first month-and-a-half to two months.

San Francisco essentially bought out the final two years of arbitration that Crawford was owed and four years of free agency. Crawford, now 28-years old, batted .256 with 21 home runs and 84 RBI for San Francisco this season including his first Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Award along with his first trip to the All-Star Game. Crawford now has four seasons under his belt, to Didi’s just one full season in 2015, and has played in at least 143 games in each of them after making his MLB debut in May of 2011. Crawford has already helped the Giants win the World Series in 2012 and 2014 so obviously Didi has some catching up to do but this sets the tone for future talks between Gregorius and the Yankees on an extension.

I’m not saying the Yankees should extend Didi today, they should absolutely wait another full season or two and truly see what they have in Gregorius, but I like the idea of paying him sooner rather than overpaying, or potentially losing him, later. I’m personally keeping my eyes on this situation and following it closely.