Article Revisit: 2017 Closes the Door on Another Era

Back almost one year ago to the day I wrote the following article labeled “2017 Closes the Door on Another Era” and the basic premise of the article was “out with the old and in with the new.” In the article I described how Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira would be riding off into the retirement sunset while other veterans such as Andrew Miller, Carlos Beltran, Ivan Nova and (temporarily at least) Aroldis Chapman had said their goodbye’s after being traded away. I opinioned that in their place would come members of the Yankees as a youth movement would finally hit the Bronx and I finished the article with the words” Embrace the change, it’s coming either way.” Who would have thought the change that was coming was going to be this sudden, this extreme and this damn fun? Well besides me of course. Enjoy the article as we look back on it from one year ago.

Saturday, October 1, 2016

2017 Closes the Door on Another Era

The 2016 season has been a huge season for not only the New York Yankees team but for the entire Yankees organization in many ways. Out with the old and in with the new seemed to be the theme as players like Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira either retired or announced their intentions to retire while other players like Andrew Miller, Carlos Beltran, Ivan Nova and Aroldis Chapman said their goodbye’s after being traded to other teams. The door is being shut on the era that began back in 2009 when Brian Cashman unloaded on the free agent market adding any and all top talent that he wanted and that door and era will be completely shut after the 2017 season.

Leftovers from that era are CC Sabathia, Michael Pineda, Nathan Eovaldi and Masahiro Tanaka among others and all four could be free agents after the season. Sabathia, Pineda and Eovaldi’s contracts run out while Tanaka can opt out after the 2017 season while looking for a new deal and assuming his health I find that opt-out a true possibility heading into next season. In their spots may be a combination of Luis Severino, Luis Cessa, Bryan Mitchell, Chad Green, James Kaprielian and others.

Yes, Brett Gardner has a deal that runs through the 2018 season while Jacoby Ellsbury is owed somewhere near $90 million but while Gardner is moveable the Ellsbury contract is probably not. We won’t see a 100% turnover after the 2017 season but the era will be closed nonetheless, especially if Gardner is moved this offseason or next July. Brian McCann may also be moved this offseason back to the Atlanta Braves so they can sell tickets in their new stadium. Either way the only constant is change and a new door is opening for New York beginning in 2017.

That door is labeled “youth” and it’s a beautiful thing. So as we say goodbye to the latest era of bad contracts and veteran presences in the clubhouse we say hello to manageable contracts, youth and possibly a new core. Or maybe a new dynasty. I’m not going to be the one to tell them it won’t happen. Embrace the change, it’s coming either way. 

Checking in w/ the Traded Yankees Prospects in 2017

The New York Yankees made quite a few traded this past July 31^st trading deadline that included some highly touted prospects inside their farm system. Let’s check back in with those prospects one last time and maybe gauge how these trades are going to work out for both teams going forward. Obviously it is way too early to tell on these trades involving prospects but this look can give us all hopefully a detailed first impression of the deals.

The Yankees acquire David Robertson, Tommy Kahnle and Todd Frazier.

The White Sox acquire Blake Rutherford, Ian Clarkin, Tito Polo and Tyler Clippard.

In the weeks leading up to the deal there were many scouts that had their doubts about Rutherford’s ability to hit for hard contact and power. Many wondered if the Yankees would be patient with Rutherford or trade him while his value was still high and we all obviously got the answer to that question with this deal. Rutherford has hit .228/.302/.272 with a 72 wRC+ since the trade as of the time of this writing and has still yet to hit for power or hard contact. He’s still young and was technically drafted out of High School, although he was a 19-year old player drafted out of High School, so the sky is still the limit on this kid but it seems as though the Yankees may have gotten the better end of that deal as of right now. Three years from now we could be talking about the worst trade in the Brian Cashman era. You can’t predict baseball.

Clarkin made two whole starts for his new team before a strained oblique landed the lefty in a familiar place, on the disabled list. Clarkin pitched a whole eight innings for the White Sox and pitched to a 6.04 FIP in an extremely small sample size. Different name, same story for Polo who has only managed 79 plate appearances for the White Sox before landing on the disabled list. Polo will represent the White Sox in the Arizona Fall League though because when he was healthy he did produce a .278/.342/.389 and 113 wRC+ batting line.

Finally the curious case of Tyler Clippard. Clippard was terrible in the Bronx, he rebuilt some of his stock with the White Sox and was ultimately flipped to the Houston Astros in a second trade this season. Since joining Houston, again at the time of this writing, Clippard has been back to his old ways posting a 7.71 ERA and 4.85 FIP with Houston but he may ultimately get a World Series ring out of it regardless so I doubt he’s too bothered by it. Clippard looks a lot like the pitcher we saw in New York and a lot less like the guy who had a 1.80 ERA with the Chicago White Sox.

The New York Yankees acquire Jaime Garcia and cash considerations.

The Minnesota Twins acquire Zack Littell and Dietrich Enns.

The Yankees basically got Garcia for free in terms of dollars and cents but not in terms of prospects as the team had to part with a pair of minor league pitchers in the deal. Neither pitcher really fit in with the Yankees long term plans to be completely honest although Enns could have been a bullpen piece for the team going forward. Enns did make his MLB debut this season pitching 2.1 innings allowing two runs on five hits. Shortly after the rough outing in which he labored heavily through his two-plus innings Enns was placed on the disabled list with a should injury. Enns is currently pitching in minor league rehab games and could be a September call up for Minnesota.

Littell has pitched well for the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts pitching to a 2.81 ERA and 3.51 FIP in seven starts. Littell does not fit the mold that the Yankees have seemingly fallen in love with since he is a soft-tossing left-hander but Littell has pitched well in every stop he has made throughout his minor league career so this one may be a hard loss to look back on in three-to-four years.

The New York Yankees acquire Sonny Gray.

The Oakland Athletics acquire Jorge Mateo, Dustin Fowler and James Kaprielian.

The big one, the trade that made the Yankees the Yankees again. The trade that sent three big prospects to the Athletics for right-handed pitcher Sonny Gray. Mateo was obviously the centerpiece of the deal and has hit .283/.328/.480 with two home runs for the Midland Rockhounds. Mateo is striking out at nearly a 23% clip but has played nice defense and has been a nice pickup for Oakland overall.

Both Fowler, knee, and Kaprielian, Tommy John surgery, have suffered season-ending injuries and will not play for Oakland this season. The A’s had their eyes on the future though when they made this deal while New York had their eyes on the present, 2018 and 2019. This deal could be one of those deals that ultimately work out equally as well for both teams given time. 

Digging Through the TGP Archive: Jordan Montgomery

This post was written almost a year ago to the day about the sudden emergence of Jordan Montgomery. It feels good to get one right every once in a while so I just wanted to share. Enjoy this look back into the Greedy Pinstripes archive.

Saturday, August 20, 2016

Don’t Look Now but Jordan Montgomery is Coming

I have said it many times in my blog posts here at The Greedy Pinstripes and I am about to eat some crow for it too. I have been hard on the Yankees and their farm system for their seemingly lack of good quality starting pitching but while doing research for another blog post, a post that I ultimately scrapped and decided to write this instead, I found a few diamonds in the rough that many blogs and websites are not talking about. Chance Adams is one, Bryan Mitchell who is progressing through a rehab assignment is another and the final piece is the man we will showcase and talk about today, Jordan Montgomery.


Montgomery was a 2014 Draft pick by the Yankees in the fourth round and at the time it was widely thought that Montgomery was drafted to a bullpen piece for the Yankees going forward despite impressive numbers as a starter at the University of South Carolina. Montgomery, another one of those big-framed and hard-throwing pitchers the Yankees love, now stands just one step away from the Bronx after a mid-season promotion to Scranton/Wilkes Barre, a promotion and a run through the Yankees farm system that no one is seemingly talking about right now.


Montgomery credits a spike in velocity for his recent success. When Montgomery was drafted he was throwing in the 88-92 MPH range with movement and sink, with plus command as well, but these days Montgomery is seen throwing in more of the 91-94 MPH range with the same dip, sink and command. Montgomery has also improved on his changeup, his curveball and his cut fastball while improving his strikeouts per nine innings to almost 12 batters per nine in 2015.



James Kaprielian is probably the Yankees top pitching prospect, Domingo Acevedo is probably the Yankees pitching prospect with the highest ceiling and Justus Sheffield may be the Yankees pitching prospect that is showing the most promise right now but if you need a starting pitching prospect that can come up and not only come up now but come up and compete while keeping his team in games and giving his team the best shot to win, well you better watch out for Jordan Montgomery because he may be the man for the job.

The State of the Yankees Farm System After the Trade Deadline

The New York Yankees acquired Sonny Gray, Jaime Garcia, David Robertson, Todd Frazier and Tommy Kahnle before the July 31^st trading deadline and the team did so by giving up just two of the team’s Top 10 prospects. The Yankees likely feel like they won the trade deadline this season and the organization has to feel good about the farm system still being loaded and deep but what does Baseball American think? Well we don’t have to wait long to find out as the publication has released their team farm system rankings for the second half of 2017.

Before the July 31^st trading deadline the Yankees had the top farm system in all of Major League Baseball according to Baseball America but after trading away the likes of James Kaprielian, Jorge Mateo, Dustin Fowler and Zack Littell the Yankees system has fallen to 7^th best overall. Trading away Blake Rutherford likely didn’t help the Yankees cause either but the team is still primed for a youth movement beyond 2017 while also potentially competing for a postseason spot this season. You can’t argue against that logic in my opinion.

New York still has several prospects in Baseball America’s top 100 prospects list including shortstop Gleyber Torres (3^rd overall), outfielder Clint Frazier (49^th overall), right-handed starter Chance Adams (56^th overall), center fielder Estevan Florial (71^st overall) and left-handed starting pitcher Justus Sheffield (73^rd overall). But hey, fire Cashman right?

Meet a Prospect Special Edition: OMG IT’S SONNY GRAY

Ladies and gentleman for the foreseeable future it is always going to be Sonny here in the Bronx after the New York Yankees acquired the Oakland Athletics right-hander before the July 31^st trading deadline. As we all know by now the Yankees sent center fielder Dustin Fowler, shortstop/center fielder Jorge Mateo and right-handed starting pitcher James Kaprielian back in the deal for Gray and cash considerations but do we as a fan base really know what we are getting back in Gray? The problem with players who play on the West Coast like Gray has with the Oakland Athletics is I don’t believe they get truly appreciated since a lot of the country is asleep when they are doing their best work. Thank goodness for the internet, for MLB Network and Sportscenter and for Meet a Prospect Special Editions here on The Greedy Pinstripes. This is Meet a Prospect: The Sonny Gray Special Edition.

Sonny Douglas Gray was born on November 7, 1989 in Nashville, Tennessee to Cindy and Jesse Gray and lived in Nashville until his family moved to Smyrna, Tennessee before Sonny’s eight grade year. Sonny attended Smyrna High School while in Smyrna, Tennessee but his high school career started out with a tragedy. Sonny lost his father in a car accident during his freshman year of high school. Gray did not let that deter him on the field and may have even used baseball as a coping mechanism as the right-hander was named Freshman of the Year in District 9AAA as a left fielder and pitcher. Gray battled injuries during his sophomore season, a sign of what was to come unfortunately, but came back strong to close out his high school career posting an 11-2 record and a 0.95 ERA as a junior followed up by a 4-0 record and 0.79 ERA as a senior before once again succumbing to injury. Some of the injuries may have come while Gray was also the high school’s starting quarterback in football as he guided the team to back-to-back 5A State titles in 2006 and 2007.

Gray was drafted out of High School by the Chicago Cubs in the 27^th round of the 2008 MLB Draft but opted to go through with his commitment to Vanderbilt University where he began his collegiate career. Gray started out at Vanderbilt as a relief pitcher where the righty collected four saves before the team moved him to their starting rotation. Gray excelled as the team’s ace going 10-5 with a 3.48 ERA and 113 strikeouts in 2010 followed by a dominating 12-4 record and 2.43 ERA with 132 strikeouts in 2011. In 2011, Gray’s junior season, the right-hander led Vanderbilt to their first-ever College World Series berth reaching the semifinals before losing to national runner-up Florida. Gray did enough during that junior season and in the College World Series to catch the attention and the eyes of scouts in the Oakland Athletics organization who drafted him 18^th overall in the 2011 MLB Draft. Gray decided to forego his senior season and signed with Oakland for a $1.54 million signing bonus.

Gray dominated the Athletics minor league system from 2011 – 2013 before ultimately getting called up to the Major Leagues on July 10, 2013 to replace Dan Straily. Gray made his MLB the same day out of the Oakland bullpen pitching two innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates giving up just one hit while not allowing a run or a walk. Gray had three strikeouts in the performance which would net him a second appearance with the team before being sent back down to the minors. Gray would return on August 10 to make his first MLB start against the Toronto Blue Jays and Mark Buehrle and the right-hander did enough to never get sent back down. Gray helped lead Oakland to the postseason in 2013 and even started Game 2 of the American League Division Series against Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers. In that playoff start Gray pitched eight shutout innings before the Athletics walked off in the bottom of the ninth to win the game. With that start the Athletics had the confidence to start Gray in Game 5 of that series once again facing off with Verlander for Detroit. Gray was not as sharp this time allowing three runs in 5+ innings resulting in a 3-0 loss for Oakland and an elimination from the American League playoffs.  

Gray started on Opening Day for the Athletics in 2014 against the Cleveland Indians and after a couple AL Pitcher of the Month Awards the Oakland right-hander led the Athletics right back to the playoffs in 2014. The A’s would once again see their season end earlier than they wanted as the team lost the AL Wild Card Game to the Kansas City Royals in extra innings. Gray was back on the mound in 2015 for Opening Day and continued to pitch well enough that the righty made his first All-Star Game appearance for the American League. Gray finished the season with a 14-7 record and a 2.73 ERA which placed him third in the AL Cy Young Award voting behind Dallas Keuchel and David Price. Gray came into the 2016 looking to build on that successful 2015 season but injuries hampered the right-hander and landed him on the disabled list twice that season. Gray finished with an underwhelming 5-11 record and a 5.69 ERA which may have led to him falling out of grace with the A’s.

Gray pitched well in 2017 for Oakland and more importantly he stayed healthy until the July 31^st trading deadline when the New York Yankees and their GM Brian Cashman came calling. Gray will now don Yankees pinstripes for the next three seasons or longer and will look to be the future and the ace of the staff here in the Bronx. Gray brings along with him a four-seam fastball that sits around the 92-93 MPH but can also touch as high as 95 MPH, a high-80’s MPH slider, a curveball that sits in the low 80’s MPH, a cutter that sits around 92 MPH and a changeup that usually sits around 88 MPH.

Welcome to the family Sonny! It’s always going to be Sonny in the Bronx from now on thanks to you. 

There's No Doubt About This Trade

The majority of Yankees fans and members of the media like the trade for Sonny Gray for the Yankees. That's not to say they don't like the deal for Oakland, but who cares about them? Am I right? You're here for the New York freakin' Yankees.

As I was saying, most people not only like that Gray is a Yankee, but they like the way he became a Yankee. If you've been locked in a cellar for the past 20 hours, let me catch you up to speed...

The Yankees and Athletics agreed to a trade yesterday that sent Sonny Gray to New York, while sending prospects Jorge Mateo, Dustin Fowler, and James Kaprielian to Oakland.

First thing's first, acquiring Sonny Gray is a good thing for the Yankees. Since his MLB debut in 2013 (he's still just 27 years old, by the way), Sonny has started 112 games, putting up an ERA of 3.42 and WHIP of 1.200. He's averaged just under three walks every nine innings, while striking out a little under eight batters per nine. By the way, those numbers include his injury riddled 2016, in which he had career worsts in all four of those statistics.

That injury history refers to Sonny going on the disabled list last May due to a strained right trapezius muscle, and then again in August due to a strained right forearm. Sadly that wasn't it as Gray missed all of April this season due to a strained right shoulder (he was not put on the disabled list, but instead assigned to the minors for rehabilitation).

So acquiring Gray does not come without some risk, especially since all of those injuries involve his throwing arm. Thankfully, he's proven that as long as he's healthy he's a starter that you can run out there every five days and feel good about your chances of winning. Which is something this year's team needs in order to win the American League East, and do a little more damage in the postseason.

Another good thing is that Sonny is just an arbitration eligible player, and will not be a free agent until after the 2019 season. Fangraphs values Gray at $17.7 million so far this season, but he will make just $3.575 million. That's a gigantic return on investment. And while Sonny will surely get a raise next year, it will go a long way into the team finally reaching it's goal of getting under the Luxury Tax threshold.

There's no doubt that it's a good to great thing bringing Mr. Gray on board. However, when valuing his acquisition, you must also look at what it cost to get him.

"This total could hurt."

I touched on this Friday, where I pointed out that the outfield for the future is set, and then some. Clint Frazier and Aaron Judge have the corner spots locked down for at least another five years. Center field is a bit of a question, but not in a bad way. I'd like to see Brian Cashman find a way to move him, but Jacoby Ellsbury can play CF, and is signed through 2020. Brett Gardner's contract runs through next season. And Aaron Hicks, who is not too far from returning from the disabled list, won't be a free agent until after the 2019 season. And that doesn't include the fact that I really want the Yankees to sign Bryce Harper when he becomes a free agent after next season (unfortunately, Bryce hasn't played CF since 2015, but we'll figure that out once he's signed).

Oh, and the Yankees still have Estevan Florial, who is probably two or three years away from being MLB-ready. Not to mention Billy McKinney, who has been hitting really well since getting promoted to AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

So the losses of Mateo and Fowler should not lead to any trouble at all.

Now for the starting rotation of the future, which has at least one question, making the loss of possible future starter James Kaprielian hurt a bit.

Gray won't be a free agent until after the 2019 season, while Luis Severino and Jordan Montgomery won't be a free agent until after the 2022 season. After that the team may have Masahiro Tanaka through 2020 if he doesn't opt out of his contract after the season (I could see the Yanks re-signing him even if he does opt out). That leaves one more spot for 2018, which could be filled by CC Sabathia (he's been mentioned as a candidate for a one year deal for 2018). If not CC, then there's Chance Adams, who's been killing it at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Or even Domingo Acevedo, who was a beast for Trenton, and will join Scranton/Wilkes-Barre here soon. Then there's Justus Sheffield, who is not far from the Majors as he's spent all of 2017 at AA Trenton. A little further down the line is highly regarded pitching prospect Albert Abreu. That's still a ton of depth.

So the Yankees improved their chances of winning this year, helped solidify the rotation for the next two years, still have a great shot at getting under the Luxury Tax threshold next season, and are left with a number of options to fill their roster from within for years to come.

Yes, losing any good prospect hurts, especially when it's three at once. I wasn't sold on Mateo continuing to dominate, but I liked the guy and thought he could be an option for the team in a few years. Even though he's constantly hurt, Kaprielian still has a high ceiling, so he could hurt us as early as next season. And then there's Fowler, who despite having suffered a serious knee injury leading to surgery, could be a solid piece for the Oakland A's next year and beyond. So I don't want you to think I'm disregarding those three... not at all.

But when you look at the whole of the deal, there's no doubt in my mind that the Yankees did the right thing here. So while you're entitled to your opinions...

BREAKING NEWS: Yankees Acquire Sonny Gray for Three Prospects

The New York Yankees wanted Sonny Gray and the Yankees got their man acquiring the right-hander for three prospects. The three prospects heading back to the Oakland Athletics are RHP James Kaprielian (currently out for the remainder of the season with Tommy John surgery), CF/SS Jorge Mateo and CF Dustin Fowler (out for the season with a torn ligament in his knee). More to come later.

Every Significant Brian Cashman Draft Pick Signing

The state of the farm system begins and ends in the draft so the fact that the New York Yankees finally have a farm system to speak of may be the workings of Brian Cashman. Sure, trades for Gleyber Torres, Clint Frazier, Justus Sheffield, Dillon Tate, Albert Abreu and others never hurt but quietly and surprisingly to some the Yankees have done well in the draft of late as well. The system is stocked with talent from top to bottom and is deep as it has ever been so do we finally praise Cashman for this? Or do we, the fan base, still think Cashman couldn’t draft his way out of a wet paper bag and hit water if he fell out of a boat? Here are his significant draft picks since he took over as the Yankees GM, in my opinion so if I missed one leave it below in the comments section, for better or worse.

1998:

1st round (24th overall): OF Andy Brown - Richmond (IN) High School

1st round (43rd overall): P Mark Prior - University High School (San Diego) Did Not Sign

1999:

1st round (27th overall): P David Walling - University of Arkansas

7th round: IF Andy Phillips - University of Alabama

31st round: OF Kevin Thompson - Grayson County College

2000:

1st round (28th overall): C David Parrish - University of Michigan

1st round (34th overall): SS Bronson Sardinha - Kamehameha High School

1st round (42nd overall): P Jon Skaggs - Rice University

4th round: P Matt Smith - Oklahoma State University

10th round: P Jason Anderson - University of Illinois

26th round: P Sean Henn - McLennan Community College

2001:

1st round (23rd overall): OF John-Ford Griffin - Florida State University

2nd round: OF Shelley Duncan - University of Arizona

3rd round: P Chase Wright - Iowa Park High School

2002:

23rd round: P Eric Hacker - Duncanville High School

26th round: P Phil Coke - San Joaquin Delta College

2003:

1st round (27th overall): 3B Eric Duncan - Seton Hall Prep High School

9th round: P Tyler Clippard - J.W. Mitchell High School

10th round: P T.J. Beam - University of Mississippi

19th round: P Jeff Karstens - Texas Tech University

43rd round: P Justin Berg - Indian Hills Community College

2004:

1st round (23rd overall): P Philip Hughes - Foothill High School (Santa Ana, CA)

1st round (37th overall): C Jonathan Poterson - Chandler (AZ) High School

1st round (41st overall): P Jeff Marquez - Sacramento City College

33rd round: P Mike Dunn - College of Southern Nevada

2005:

1st round (17th overall): SS C.J. Henry - Putnam City High School

3rd round: OF Brett Gardner - College of Charleston

8th round: OF Austin Jackson - Billy Ryan High School

2006:

1st round (21st overall): P Ian Kennedy - University of Southern California

1st round (41st overall): P Joba Chamberlain - University of Nebraska

3rd round: P Zach McAllister - Illinois Valley Central High School

4th round: OF Colin Curtis - Arizona State University

5th round: P George Kontos - Northwestern University

8th round: P Dellin Betances - Grand Street High School

9th round: P Mark Melancon - University of Arizona

13th round: P Daniel McCutchen - University of Oklahoma

17th round: P David Robertson - University of Alabama

20th round: OF Kevin Russo - Baylor University

2007:

1st round (30th overall): P Andrew Brackman - University of North Carolina

2nd round: C Austin Romine - El Toro High School

27th round: IF Brandon Laird - Cypress College

2008:

1st round: (28th overall): P Gerrit Cole - Orange Lutheran High School Did Not Sign

1st round: (44th overall): P Jeremy Bleich - Stanford University

3rd round: IF David Adams - University of Virginia

4th round: IF Corban Joseph - Franklin (TN) High School

6th round: P Brett Marshall - Ross S. Sterling High School

10th round: P D.J. Mitchell - Clemson University

14th round: P David Phelps - University of Notre Dame

2009:

1st round (29th overall): OF Slade Heathcott - Texas High School

2nd round: C John Ryan Murphy - The Pendleton School

4th round: P Adam Warren - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

5th round: P Caleb Cotham - Vanderbilt University

16th round: P Bryan Mitchell - Rockingham County High School

2010:

1st round (32nd overall): SS Cito Culver - West Irondequoit High School

2011:

1st round (51st overall): 3B Dante Bichette, Jr. - Orangewood Christian High School

5th round: 1B Greg Bird - Grandview High School (Aurora)

16th round: P Branden Pinder - California State University, Long Beach

2012:

1st round (30th overall): P Ty Hensley - Edmond Santa Fe High School

2nd round: C Peter O'Brien - University of Miami

4th round: P Corey Black - Faulkner University

2013:

1st round (26th overall): 3B Eric Jagielo - University of Notre Dame

1st round (32nd overall): OF Aaron Judge - Fresno State University

1st round (33rd overall): P Ian Clarkin - James Madison High School (San Diego)

7th round: P Nick Rumbelow - Louisiana State University

2014:

2nd round: P Jacob Lindgren - Mississippi State University

6th round: P Jonathan Holder - Mississippi State University

2015:

1st round (16th overall): P James Kaprielian - UCLA

1st round (30th overall): SS Kyle Holder - University of San Diego

2016:

1st round (18th overall): OF Blake Rutherford - Chaminade College Preparatory School

All draft picks and information credited to Baseball Reference as a source. I went ahead and also bolded some of the picks I found to be successful at the Major League level. Enjoy and check back later for more on what may go down in infamy as Brian Cashman Day here on the blog.

Good Hitting < Bad Pitching…

Credit:  Frank Gunn-Associated Press

Blue Jays 7, Yankees 5…

Bummer…

I was hoping for better results last night with Big Mike on the mound.  The Yankees tried a valiant comeback with a couple of two-run home runs but it was not enough.  

The Yankees were in an early hole when the Blue Jays scored three runs off Pineda in the first.  Josh Donaldson homered with one out and no one on.  After getting Joey Bats for the second out, Pineda walked Kendrys Morales.  That brought up Justin Smoak, who is having a breakout year at age 30.  Unfortunately, Smoak smoked the ball to right center and I was having visions of Pineda from years past.

The Blue Jays picked up a couple of more runs in the third and fourth innings to lead 5-0 when the Yankees began their comeback in the sixth.  Gary Sanchez led off with a single and Aaron Judge followed with his 18th homer.  It ended Francisco Liriano’s start.  Reliever Danny Barnes walked Matt Holliday on a 3-2 count and the next batter up, Starlin Castro, brought the Yankees to within a run at 5-4 with a homer to right center.  

Credit:  Tom Szczerbowski-Getty Images

The Blue Jays came right back in the bottom of the sixth when Donaldson hit his second homer of the night, a solo shot.  

The Yankees scored a run in the seventh when Matt Holliday doubled to score Aaron Judge who had walked in the previous at-bat.  But again, the Blue Jays answered in the bottom of the frame.  After Justin Smoak reached first on an error charged to Chris Carter (Yankees challenged the play and lost), Troy Tulowitzki doubled to push Smoak to third.  Devon Travis then hit a sac fly to score Smoak, bringing the score to 7-5.  

From there, the Yankees were unable to mount any threats against the Blue Jays bullpen and it was game over.  

It was a disappointing start by Michael Pineda (6-3).  He went five innings, giving up 10 hits and 5 runs.  He walked 3 batters while only striking out one.  He was unable to overcome that first inning breakdown when he allowed the two home runs.  Of course, it didn’t help that neither Jonathan Holder nor Adam Warren were able to deliver clean innings.  

Credit:  Getty Images

The Yankees (31-21) remain in first place in the AL East, but the Baltimore Orioles did pick up a game and leap frogged Boston with a 3-2 win over the Red Sox.  The Orioles are 2 1/2 games back, while the Red Sox remain 3 games behind.  The Blue Jays may be in last place but they are just 5 1/2 games behind the leaders.   The only division that is tighter is the NL Central where the first place Milwaukee Brewers lead the last place Pittsburgh Pirates by only four games.  It must be nice to be a Houston Astros or Washington Nationals fan with double digit leads over their closest competitors.  One day, it will be our time to shine.  

Odds & Ends…

The rumors of Gleyber Torres to the Bronx seem to be picking up steam.  I don’t think he’s ready yet, but reports are indicating that we could see Torres as early as next month.  There’s no doubt the kid has maturity beyond his years and is a special talent, but I feel that he is an asset for opening in Spring 2018.  The lackluster play of Chase Headley, of course, is forcing acceleration of the plan.  At AAA-Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Torres is currently batting .212 (7-for-33).  In last night’s 7-5 win over the Toledo Mud Hens, Torres was 1-for-4 with a single and a run scored.  Two of his outs were by strikeout, and he walked once.  He was charged with a fielding error, his fourth at AAA.  

Credit:  Butch Dill-USA TODAY Sports

It appears that ultimately this may come down to a choice between Tyler Austin or Torres.  If Torres is called up, Headley becomes the backup first/third baseman.  If Austin comes up, he backs up Greg Bird at first, with Ronald Torreyes remaining the primary backup at third for Headley.  None of these scenarios bode well for Chris Carter.  We still have the potential problem at first (what if Bird continues to struggle when he returns) but there’s clearly some difficult decisions looming on the horizon.  

Austin was 1-for-4 (single) for the RailRiders yesterday.

All he does is friggin’ win.  The story of Chance Adams is amazing.  In a short time, he’s become a minor league legend.  Since being drafted in the fifth round in 2015, he’s 23-3 with 1.96 ERA in 34 games started covering 220 2/3 innings.  He has struck out 248 batters.  In the 2015 MLB Draft, current Yankees pitching prospect Dillon Tate was the fourth overall selection by the Texas Rangers.  Adams wasn’t chosen until 149 picks later.  2015 was the year the Yankees chose James Kaprielian as their first round choice.  We know the talent that Kaprielian possesses but staying healthy has been another matter.  Before the Yankees took Adams, they chose two other pitchers after Kaprielian…Jeff Degano and Drew Finley.  In a do-over, I think you’d take Adams over any of the three or four if you threw in Tate.  I still have high hopes for Kaprielian, but there is so much to be excited about Adams.   I liked the quote from AA-Trenton Thunder manager Bobby Mitchell, “He is just a big leaguer in the making”.  The finished product is probably not too far away.

Credit:  Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

In AAA transactions on Friday, the RailRiders released LHP Jason Gurka.  Gurka was signed as a minor league free agent in December 2016.  He appeared in a few Spring Training games, but wasn’t going to be an arm for consideration at the big league level.  For the RailRiders, he was 0-0 with 5.40 ERA in 16 2/3 innings.  He did strike out 20 batters so I am sure that he’ll get a look by another organization.  Best of luck to him.

Have a great Saturday!  Go Yankees!

Pinstripes Prospects Updated Top 50 Prospect List

Photo courtesy of Pinstriped Prospects

The New York Yankees, depending on who you read and who you trust, either has the best farm system or the second best farm system in all of Major League Baseball. Whether they are first or second in the league is a matter of opinion but either way I think we can all agree that New York has a pretty damn good farm system. When I start researching the Yankees and their prospects my first stop I make is at our friends over at Pinstriped Prospects. When I checked this week I read their updated Top 50 Yankees Prospect list. You can see the complete list here:

https://pinstripedprospects.com/updated-2017-new-york-yankees-top-50-prospect-list-21767

Just for reference here are the Top 10 Yankees prospects from the list:

Gleyber Torres

Blake Rutherford

Clint Frazier

Chance Adams

James Kaprielian

Justus Sheffield

Tyler Wade

Estevan Florial

Domingo Acevedo

Wilkerman Garcia

Check out the remainder of the list and all their write-ups and reasoning by clicking the link above. 

To Protect James Kaprielian or to Not Protect James Kaprielian

Contrary to popular belief the Greedy Pinstripes is not the only shop in town covering the New York Yankees and their minor league affiliates. I say that with extreme sarcasm but there are some publications out there that truly either think that or at the very least act like it. That’s not me and that’s not us. We strove to be different and do it our way when we started this blog over five years ago and I think we’ve done a pretty damn good job at it personally, but I am clearly bias on the matter truth be told. I said all that to say this. I’m not afraid and have never been afraid to read other people’s work and I absolutely have no problem giving credit where credit is due which leads me to Lou DiPietro’s recent article YESNetwork.com regarding James Kaprielian, the upcoming decision on whether to add him to the 40 man roster and whether to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft or not. Here are my thoughts on his article which can be seen on the YESNetwork.com.

As we all know the Yankees right-handed pitching prospect underwent Tommy John surgery last week which will keep him out at least until the halfway point of the 2018 season. This is important because the Yankees have until after the 2018 season to decide whether they should and will add Kaprielian to the 40 man roster as a way of protecting him from being taken by other teams in the annual Rule 5 Draft. This, in my opinion, should not even be up for discussion. Protect Kaprielian, period.

Kaprielian missed basically the entire 2016 season with a right flexor strain in his elbow and will miss all of this season as well with the elbow injury but don’t think that will deter teams from taking him in the Rule 5 Draft. If history has taught us anything it is that Kaprielian will be taken regardless, whether it is in the Major League phase or the minor league phase of the draft. In his article DiPietro points out that the Yankees have lost pitchers like Ty Hensley in the minor league phase in recent years and Hensley has had many more injuries and is farther away from the Majors than Kaprielian is today. Without a doubt if Kaprielian is left unprotected one of the other 29 teams in the league will snatch him up, there is zero doubt in my mind.

There’s some pitchers and players you take a chance with in the Rule 5 Draft, Dietrich Enns for example this past season who I thought would ultimately be taken and wasn’t, and there are others you absolutely cannot take a chance with, Miguel Andujar from this winter for example, and Kaprielian is definitely more of the latter than the former. So for now, and I doubt my mind changes much between now and October of 2018, you must protect Kaprielian on the 40 man roster.

What say you? Leave it below in the comments section or tweet us @GreedyStripes with your thoughts. 

3 Minus 1 Equals 2...

Credit:  Globe Staff/John Tlumacki

Impressive math skills, huh?  With Tuesday’s rain-out, the 2017 opening Yankees-Red Sox series becomes a two game affair.  It plays havoc with a wager I hold every year with a die-hard Red Sox fan.  Years ago, when we were both bloggers, we started making bets on every series.  Over the years, I’ve had to wear Red Sox caps in photos (including a pink one one year), write long posts about past and present Red Sox players, and sport Red Sox-related profile pics through social media.  My friend no longer blogs so the current bets tend to revolve around FaceBook profile and cover pics.  With only two games, a split means the win goes to the team with the most runs scored.  The loser has to use a Red Sox player as their FaceBook profile pic for three days under the current bet.  So, I have a vested interest in the Yankees to take this series.  Yes, it’s all about me.

The rained out game will be made up on Sunday, July 16th as part of a day-night double-header.   The scheduled starters are pushed back a day so Luis Severino takes the mound today against AL Cy Young Award Winner Rick “Justin Verlander Deserved It More” Porcello while Masahiro Tanaka, in the series marquee matchup, faces Chris Sale on Thursday.  CC Sabathia becomes an observer for this series, with a probable early flight back to New York for Friday’s start against the AL East leading Baltimore Orioles.

It’s raining again today in Boston but hopefully the rain gods will make way for the 7:10 pm EDT start time to allow a few hours of clear skies.  Oh yeah, this is Yankees-Red Sox, better make that four hours of clear skies.

I am not sure what I think about the possibility of Derek Jeter becoming an owner in Major League Baseball.  As Bloomberg reported yesterday, the group led by former Presidential candidate and Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Jeter won the auction for exclusive negotiating rights to buy the Miami Marlins.  The sides still have to hammer out a formal written agreement that must be approved by MLB owners, but I do not see any roadblocks to the eventual sale.  

I suppose that all things considered, it would have been worse for Jeter to buy his local Tampa Bay Rays.  Under that scenario, the Yankees would have had to face a Jeter-owned team 19 times a year in the fight for the American League East.  With Jeter owning a National League team, the Yankees won’t face the Marlins except for every few years in inter-league play.  There’s the possibility that the Yankees could face the Jeter-owned Marlins in the World Series at some point.  But for the most part, they won’t step foot on the same field at the same time.  So, this is probably the best situation for Jeter’s dream to be a Major League owner, particularly considering the Steinbrenner Family has no interest in selling the Yankees.  

It was tough to watch Don Mattingly, a lifetime Yankee, put on another team’s jersey.  If I have a second favorite or National League favorite team, it is probably the Los Angeles Dodgers (okay, not probably, it is).  Mattingly as an assistant coach for Joe Torre in Los Angeles and then later the manager was very palatable.  I was fortunate to live in Los Angeles during the Mattingly regime and I enjoyed having a long-time favorite player as manager of the local team.  I remain a fan of Mattingly’s even though he now calls Miami home, but it’s weird.  I am hopeful that he finds his way back home to Yankee Stadium one day.  I do not know Jeter’s intended ownership percentage or how active he will be as the face of the organization.  Unlike Mattingly, he won’t be putting on a Marlins uniform so technically the Yankees uniform should remain his only one.  Magic Johnson is one of the owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers but activity-wise, he is a bigger part of the Los Angeles Lakers.  Will Jeter take that type of passive ownership role or will he be the front man for the team like Denver Broncos non-owner John Elway?  I can’t really see Jeb Bush taking a backseat to Jeter unless Jeter has the greater ownership interest.  These are the things that will shake themselves out in the course of the coming days, weeks and months.  Congrats to Jeter for apparent achievement of his lifelong dream.  I hope he still finds time to visit the old stomping grounds on occasion.  

Credit:  Getty Images

I saw an article today on the YES Network asking if the Yankees should protect James Kaprielian on the 40-man roster next year in advance of the 2018 Rule 5 Draft.  I want to say now, they had better make room.  This should not even be a discussion.  I will be very upset if the Yankees do not add him to the 40-man next year and risk losing him.  I was mad about the sequence of events that led to Jacob Lindgren signing with the Atlanta Braves.  I hope we do not have a repeat situation with Kaprielian.  I know that he has been plagued by injuries and his body of work in the minor leagues is fairly slim, but he is a top talent.  If, I know…ifs and buts…, if he can stay healthy, I really feel that he’ll be a high end starter in the rotation.  I am steadfastly a fan of Kaprielian’s and I look forward to the day he takes the mound at Yankee Stadium.

The San Diego Padres, who had been carrying three catchers including Rule 5 draftee Luis Torrens (from the Yankees), demoted one of the catchers to AAA.  Starter Austin Hedges has played very well this year.  The catcher sent to AAA, Christian Bethancourt, was attempting to be a combo pitcher/catcher.  The demotion leaves the soon-to-be 21 year-old Torrens as the primary backup for Hedges.  In reality, Torrens should be no higher than A or AA so I am optimistic that events will force the Padres to upgrade backup catching to more seasoned talent to pave the way for the return of Torrens to New York.   But as each month goes by, the chances decrease.  Time will tell.

Have a great Wednesday!  I hope it’s a dry one!