Yankees Settle All Arbitration-Eligible Cases...

New deals for the 9 Arb-Eligible Yankees…

ESPN MLB Insider Jeff Passan set the stage for the chaotic day yesterday when he tweeted: “Your Twitter feeds are going to be deluged today. Between now and this afternoon, 155 arbitration-eligible players will either agree upon salaries for the 2020 season or exchange desired salary numbers with teams. It’s always an extraordinarily hectic day for players and teams.” He was right. When the dust settled, all but 20 players had agreed to salary deals. Fortunately, none of those guys were Yankees as all nine players settled with the team. 

With visions of Yankees Team President Randy Levine spiking a figurative football a few years ago when the Yankees beat Dellin Betances in arbitration, I am glad the team avoided the ugly confrontation with their players again this year. 

For the arb-eligible Yankees, here are the results. The figures in parentheses are the projections per MLB Trade Rumors:

·      James Paxton, $12.5 million ($12.9M)

·      Aaron Judge, $8.5 million ($6.4M)

·      Gary Sanchez, $5 million ($5.6M)

·      Tommy Kahnle, $2.65 million ($3.0M)

·      Gio Urshela, $2.475 million ($2.2M)

·      Chad Green, $1.275 million ($1.4M)

·      Luis Cessa, $895,000 ($1.1M)

·      Jordan Montgomery, $805,000 ($1.2M)

·      Jonathan Holder, $750,000 ($800K)

I’d say the Yankees did a very good job bringing resolution to these cases. The only player who made significantly more than his projection was Aaron Judge and there’s no doubt he is worth the money, if not more. No doubt he would have made much more on the agreement if he had not missed so much time last year. Not sure he would have matched Cody Bellinger’s record first-year arbitration salary of $11.5 million considering Cody’s MVP year, but he would have been close as arguably the Yankees’ best position player. 

Photo Credit: Mike Ehrmann, Getty Images

Jeff Passan also reported the following players did not settle and, barring agreements between now and then, are expected to go to arbitration hearings:

·      Jesus Aguilar

·      Nick Ahmed

·      Pedro Baez

·      Andrew Benintendi

·      Jose Berrios

·      Archie Bradley

·      Aledmys Diaz

·      Brian Goodwin

·      Shane Greene

·      Josh Hader

·      Max Muncy

·      Hector Neris

·      Joc Pederson

·      J.T. Realmuto

·      Eduardo Rodriguez

·      George Springer

·      Trevor Story

·      Brent Suter

·      Chris Taylor

·      Tony Wolters

The Los Angeles Dodgers, a team that historically settles with their arb-eligible players, really stick out on this list. So do the Boston Red Sox who did settle with much rumored trade candidate Mookie Betts for $27 million. It really makes me appreciate the Yankees for ensuring agreements with all of their players. Happy Yankees make for happy Yankee fans.  

No big news for the Yankees so far in the new year, player-wise anyway. They did sign former Colorado Rockies catcher Chris Iannetta this week to a minor league deal with the presumed Spring Training invitation. Iannetta was released by the Rockies last August. He’s clearly a depth signing as I hold no expectation he’ll beat out Kyle Higashioka for backup catching duties but he does help to provide support if either Gary Sanchez or Higgy go down with injuries. I like the thought of Iannetta better than the recently re-signed Erik Kratz. 

Iannetta, who will be 37 shortly after the start of the season, has clearly seen his better days. Steamer projects him to play 60 games with 2 home runs and 7 RBIs, batting .218/.314/.402, .304 wOBA and 88 wRC+. In other words, pray for good health behind the plate.

There was a part of me hoping for a reunion with catcher John Ryan Murphy despite his underwhelming performance with the bat since he left the Yankees. He is no longer an option after signing a minor league deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates yesterday. Hard to believe that Murphy is still only 28. Pittsburgh is probably a good place for him to land since the Pirates seem to have a way of resurrecting former Yankee backup catchers. 

The Yankees also signed former Los Angeles Angels starter Nick Tropeano, a Long Island native, to a minor league deal. Tropeano, 29, a righty, is presumably depth for Triple A. While he showed promise for the Angels a few years ago, he’s never been the same since undergoing Tommy John surgery in August 2016. Last year, he gave up 15 runs in 13 2/3 innings at the Major League level for the Halos. He took his only loss last July in a dreadful start against the Baltimore Orioles when he was hammered for 7 runs in five innings. Here’s hoping for greater success with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. He does carry an infamous stat. He’s the only pitcher to record a one-pitch strikeout.  He was pitching in Double A for the Houston Astros affiliate in August 2013. In the sixth inning of a game against the A’s affiliate, the batter, Vinnie Catricala, took a pitch he thought was outside. When the ump called strike, Catricala stepped out of the batter’s box to protest the call. The umpire, Ron Teague, invoking a little known rule, called an automatic strike. When Catricala didn’t step back into the box as instructed by Teague, the ump called him out by strikeout. Tropeano, with one pitch, observed the strikeout while standing on the pitching mound.  It’s something the game may never see again. For Catricala, the total of 9.4 seconds out of the batter’s box combined with his arguing, earned him an ejection from the game.    

While I still expect the Yankees to trade RHP J.A. Happ and most, if not all, of his contract, Happ who wore #33 in Toronto with the Blue Jays, dropped #34 this week to take Greg Bird’s vacated number. The Yankees still need to clear room on the 40-man roster once the Brett Gardner deal becomes official. Not sure what is taking so long. At first, I thought the holidays were the obstacle but at this point, it must be about clearing space on the roster. Who knows. I am sure it will be official before Gardy has to report to Tampa next month. If the Yankees had to drop someone right now, my vote would be for Stephen Tarpley. But for luxury tax purposes, the best case scenario is to move Happ’s money to open a spot for Gardy. I have full confidence in Jordan Montgomery as the team’s fifth starter.

I think the Yankees will continue to look for clever minor league signings (the low cost/high reward variety). Although they’ve been heavily criticized this off-season for their inactivity, I liked the Los Angeles Dodgers signing of former Milwaukee Brewers starter Jimmy Nelson. Granted, Nelson may never be the pitcher he once was, but I thought it was a good risk to take. There was a time that Nelson represented the hope of the Brewers starting rotation until he was derailed by injuries. Nelson is only 30 and he’s someone that I’d take a chance on. I’d like to see the Yankees find that type of deal with a pitcher who could presumably offer more than say a guy like Tropeano. As for Nelson, he is probably better suited for the bullpen at this point of his career, but he always made me think of CC Sabathia for no other reason than he wore the same number with the Brewers as CC did (#52) and is the same heighth (6’6”). For the Sabathia Stans, I am not comparing their stats or implying any close relationship. 

I fully expect to hear reports of Yankees GM Brian Cashman rummaging through dumpsters between now and February 12^th. There will be no Josh Hader or Nolan Arenado sightings in Tampa next month but there could be a few recognizable names ready to compete for roles with the team. 

For those of you arguing between Miguel Andujar and Gio Urshela, both players can co-exist on the Yankees roster. I am glad to have both and looking forward to their respective contributions. I have no desire to pick one over the other. Ultimately, Aaron Boone and his staff will make the right choices about who to play and where. I can easily see scenarios with both players in the lineup, producing and helping the Yankees in their drive to dominate the American League.

As always, Go Yankees!

Predicting the 2019 Season: The World Series

The field is set and it’s the New York Yankees with the home field advantage over the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers already slayed one goliath when they took down the team with the best record in all of Major League Baseball, the Los Angeles Dodgers, in the NLCS, and the team will look to do so again against the New York Yankees in the World Series. Will Milwaukee win its first World Series in their franchise’s history? Or will the Yankees win their 28^th world championship overall and their first since the 2009 season?

Game One – Yankee Stadium – Tuesday, October 22th

Luis Severino vs. Jhoulys Chacin

The Milwaukee Brewers have made just one appearance in the World Series and that was back in 1982 as a member of the American League. The Brewers would ultimately fall to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games marking their only trip to the Fall Classic. The nerves of their first World Series trip in over 30 years, mixed in with a great pitching performance by Luis Severino, and the Yankees take a quick 1-0 series lead with a commanding victory.

Yankees lead the series 1-0

Game Two – Yankee Stadium – Wednesday, October 25th

James Paxton vs. Chase Anderson

James Paxton will make his first World Series start of his career for the Yankees while Chase Anderson will make his first World Series start for the Brewers. Neither pitcher will be incredibly effective, but the Yankees bullpen will lock down the game and give the Yankees a commanding 2-0 lead behind a big game from Didi Gregorius.

Yankees lead the series 2-0

Game Three – Miller Park – Friday, October 25th

Masahiro Tanaka vs. Zach Davies

The curious case of Masahiro Tanaka. Sometimes Tanaka can be absolutely unhittable with his splitter striking out opposing batters, and then sometimes he is just incredibly hittable. Unfortunately, for the Yankees anyway, the latter Tanaka and not the former will show up to this start tonight. The Brewers will ride the emotions and energy from the crowd to a huge victory, setting the tone for the remainder of the home stand.

Yankees lead the series 2-1

Game Four – Miller Park – Saturday, October 26th

JA Happ vs. Jimmy Nelson

Happ is a stone-cold veteran that has been here before. Happ has a World Series ring on his mantle and another trip to the Fall Classic against the New York Yankees in 2009. There is ice in Happ’s veins when it comes to pitching in the postseason and he will be completely overwhelming for the Yankees in this start tonight. Happ leads the Yankees to the victory and brings them within one game of their 28^th World Series championship.

Yankees lead the series 3-1

Game Five – Miller Park – Sunday, October 27^th

Luis Severino vs. Jhoulys Chacin

The Brewers are better than a lot of teams with their backs against the wall, and they will do that again tonight against the Yankees ace. Severino will pitch well, but the Brewers offense will be relentless against him and the Yankees bullpen, grinding out a victory and allowing the series to shift back to New York.

Yankees lead the series 3-2

Game Six – Yankee Stadium – Tuesday, October 29th

James Paxton vs. Chase Anderson

James Paxton is back on the mound for his second start of his World Series career, but unfortunately, he will be equally as ineffective as he was in Game Two? Why? Because it’s more dramatic if these predictions go seven games, even though I really see the Yankees closing the door at home in Game Six behind Big Maple.

Yankees and Brewers tied at 3-3

Game Seven – Yankee Stadium – Wednesday, October 30th

Masahiro Tanaka vs. Jhoulys Chacin

Game seven of the World Series at Yankee Stadium. It doesn’t get any better than this. The Yankees have Masahiro Tanaka on the mound with a short leash, while the Brewers were forced to bring back their ace on just two days rest. Both teams will go all-in and remove their starter at the first sign of trouble, but the difference is that the Yankees have a much deeper, and ultimately much better, bullpen. The bullpen will be the difference maker. While the Yankees bullpen puts up six shutout innings, the Brewers bullpen will fold when it matters most, giving the Yankees their 28^th World Series championship.

Yankees win series 4-3

Congratulations to the New York Yankees! All the patience, getting under the luxury tax, and waiting on the new core to come up through the minor league system finally paid off. See you all in the Canyon of Heroes.

Fantasy Baseball: Who are the Milwaukee Brewers?

Fantasy Baseball season will be here before you know it, if it’s not already here for some, and I have been focusing on some of the players you can draft later on in your draft that can win you your league. With a team like the Milwaukee Brewers you know that Ryan Braun is going to carry the team and you know that even in a down year like 2015 Jonathan Lucroy is still going to be one of the better catchers in the league but what about a few of the names that you don’t necessarily know? Names like Jimmy Nelson, Chris Carter, Will Smith and Corey Knebel.

Jimmy Nelson enters 2016 ready for his age 26 season and ready to be the ace for the Milwaukee Brewers. Nelson has struggled with his control to date but he is a physical pitcher that can give you wins with a low ERA. Nelson is not a huge strikeout guy and is more of a pitch to contact type pitcher with a nice ground ball rate and may be available around Round 15 or later. He’s not David Price or Zack Greinke but he’d be a fine fourth or fifth starter on your team, especially in those leagues that are especially deep.

Chris Carter, former Houston Astro, looks to be the starting first baseman in Milwaukee in 2016 which could be a good thing for you if you’re looking for some power. Carter may hit 30-40 home runs a year with Braun hitting behind him or in front of him in the Brewers lineup but the problem is he’s likely to only add about a .220 average along with it and not many RBI. If you need a home run guy later in the draft that is almost guaranteed to play every day then Carter is your guy. If you need a mix of power, speed, runs scored and average then stay away from Carter because he’s not going to give it to you.

Finally the Brewers look like they will have a closer by committee or an intense competition this spring for the newly vacated closer spot left behind by the trade of Francisco Rodriguez. Vying for the saves in Milwaukee will be Will Smith, Corey Knebel and even Jeremy Jeffress may get a shot or two to close. Smith is a high strikeout guy averaging almost 13 K’s per nine innings while Knebel, just 23-years old, had almost 10 K’s per nine in 2015. All three could get chances to close games this season and as you know even the team with the worst records still have closers who save 30-40 games almost every single season.

Those are my picks, if I overlooked or over-valued someone please let me know below in the comments section or by sending me a tweet on twitter @GreedyStripes.