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Miguel Andujar & Gleyber Torres / Photo Credit: Julio Aguilar, Getty Images

33 Wins in 46 Games, 6 ½ Game Lead…

It has been quite a week…where do we start?

For starters, the Yankees have a plethora of brilliant ones. Nestor Cortes, Jr has been a godsend, and arguably the best pitcher in the rotation. In the first two games Thursday and Friday against the Rays at the warehouse called Tropicana Field in St Petersburg, Florida, Cortes, and Jameson Taillon each went eight strong innings against last year’s AL East champions, and the only run scored was a runner Cortes left when he tried, unsuccessfully, to pitch into the ninth inning. Both men struck out five Rays. There is no doubt in my mind that these are games the Yankees would have lost last year. It is a testament to the strength and cohesiveness of the 2022 New York Yankees.

When the Yankees win, it is friggin’ FANTASTIC! When they lose, it is the end of the World. Last year’s team gave us too many runs through the valleys. This year, onward and upward! Life is good.

I preface this by saying I wish injury upon no one. However, I am relieved that Aroldis Chapman has been removed, albeit temporarily, from his closer’s role with his placement on the injury list due to Achilles tendinitis. It has allowed the best reliever in the Yankees bullpen, Clay Holmes, to ascend to the throne. I do not know about you, but my confidence at the end of games has improved significantly.

Clay "The Closer" Holmes / Photo Credit: Getty Images

Holmes has pitched in twenty-three games this season, a total of twenty-four and a half innings. He has only given up one run on fifteen hits and has only walked two batters. He is 4-0 and has accumulated six saves and has not blown a save opportunity. He has punched out twenty-six batters and his fWAR is 1.0. I do not need to tell anybody those stats are damn good. Aroldis Chapman is a free agent at the end of the year. The Yankees should not be concerned with Chapman’s ego. It is a foregone conclusion he will not be back. Chapman has pitched a little more than ten fewer innings than Holmes, yet he has walked ten batters to Clay’s two. He has given up thirteen hits, six runs, and two home runs…with three wild pitches. Holmes has not surrendered a home run and has only thrown one wild pitch. Give me ninth inning certainty, give me Clayton Walter Holmes.

As for Chapman, he should join the setup crew when he returns. Choose his spots. If he demands a trade, comply with his wishes. I do not expect Chapman to rediscover gold. He is 34. He was great in his younger days, and maybe he can find new pitches, but not on our dime. It is time to move on. I am more excited about the return of Zack Britton from the Injured List than I am with Chapman. Britton knows a thing or two about being the most dominant closer in the game but even he should not close over Holmes.

Give props where they are due. The Holmes trade, which sent infield prospect Diego Castillo and Hoy Park to the Pittsburgh Pirates last July, ranks as one of the greatest in the Brian Cashman era. I can still remember my first reaction to the trade. “Who?” Cashman’s brilliance won out the day and I am extremely grateful Clay Holmes is a Yankee. Too often in years past, unheralded Pirates would go to Tampa and flourish. Turnabout is fair play. You could put Jameson Taillon on the list of great trades, but he was recognized, when he was still a Pirate, as a potentially great pitcher. His only vice was health. Still, Cashman placed his faith in Gerrit Cole’s buddy, and it has paid off too. So, congratulations Cashman. I have been down on you often, but I recognize you built the 2022 Yankees. Although you chose a different recipe than the one, we, the fans, wanted, the results have far exceeded expectations. Thank you for bringing the fun back to the Bronx.

Josh Donaldson suspended, sick and then hurt. What a week NOT to be Josh Donaldson! For calling Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson ‘Jackie,’ Donald received a one-game suspension. I agree. Something had to be done even if one-game seems light. Although Manager Aaron Boone was supportive of Donaldson, strong words from Aaron Judge brought light to the extremely sensitive issue. Although my initial reaction was the invocation of Jackie’s name was not racist, I have been able to see this in a different light and understand how the word could be viewed as inflammatory regardless of what Anderson may have said in the past.

Donaldson and Anderson will never be best buddies. They did not have the type of relationship that allowed playful words to be exchanged with each other. My bigger concern now is if Donaldson has alienated himself from a few of his current teammates. To Donaldson’s defense, he did issue a public apology to Anderson and the family of Jackie Robinson. Unfortunately, an apology only goes so far. Donaldson is not going to change who he is.

Donaldson was placed on the COVID-19 list earlier in the week with symptoms of the virus and has since been placed on the Injured List for shoulder inflammation. Although I appreciate the job Donaldson has done this year, particularly with the glove and the ‘take no shit’ attitude he brings to the team, the time away is probably good. Team chemistry is particularly important to me. I have not been in the Yankees Clubhouse, but you can sense that there is something different and incredibly special about this year’s team. I do not want anything to disrupt it. Hopefully, Donaldson returns to the team with some degree of remorse and can repair any potentially damaged relationships.

Chad Green, I am sorry. It was announced that Green, like Luis Gil before him, will need Tommy John surgery. I have been down on Green, but this is not how I wanted it to end for him. Since he will be a free agent at the end of the year, I wonder if the Yankees will simply move on like they once did with Michael Pineda and Nate Eovaldi. It would be nice to see the Yankees bring him back on a back-loaded two-year contract to help him through the rehabilitation and eventual return (he is expected to be out twelve to eighteen months), but I understand how valuable spots on the forty-man roster can be. Do you protect Green this winter or a young prospect with Clay Holmes or Luis Severino potential? As much as I appreciated the great years Green brought to the Yankees bullpen, it is most likely time for it to end and I am terribly sorry. I hope Green can recover and eventually find the payday that will set him up for the rest of his life.

Chad Green / Photo Credit: AP

Welcome to the Yankees, Matt Carpenter! The longtime St Louis Cardinals infielder is now a Yankee. I get that he has seen his better days. He is thirty-six and has not been great since 2018. The Cardinals chose not to re-sign him last Fall, and he subsequently signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers. Last week, after failing to make the Rangers’ major league roster and stuck playing in Triple A, he asked for and received his release. There is hope off-season work he did to revamp his swing will pay dividends. He will never be the All-Star player he once was, but if he can help, great. Given the recent rash of injuries (Donaldson, Giancarlo Stanton, DJ LeMahieu, etc.), Carpenter has a chance to contribute. In his first two games with the Yankees, he has homered once (last night) and scored three runs. I have no idea what his future holds. When everybody is healthy, he seems to be the odd one out. Marwin Gonzalez has proven his value with his versatility and appears to be the more valuable of the two players. I guess we will just enjoy the ride and see where it takes us. Feel free to swing for the fences (or into the deep corners), Matt. Welcome!

Matt Carpenter / Photo Credit: AP

Welcome back to the Yankees, Manny Banuelos! Manny, after starting the year with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, has finally achieved his dream of making the Yankees roster. Sporting Dellin Betances’ old number (68), he has yet to appear in a game but hopefully he will get his turn. Like Carpenter, I do not know how long Manny’s pinstriped dream will last. It could be short. I hope he makes the most of his latest opportunity. It has been a long, hard road for him, and I will really enjoy it if he finally achieves success. We are far removed from the Killer B’s (Banuelos, Betances, and Andrew Brackman) and Manny no longer holds the promise he once did, but conversely, he has worked extremely hard to get here and has earned this shot.

The Yankees also brought back another former Yankee on a minor league deal when reliever Shane Greene was signed. Greene was traded to Detroit in the 2014 three-team trade that brought shortstop Didi Gregorius to the Yankees from the Arizona Diamondbacks. Greene developed into an All-Star reliever and saved thirty-two games for the Tigers in 2018. Greene was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers to a minor league deal in March and had been pitching for their Triple A club this year. He was called up to the Dodgers on May 15^th, pitched two scoreless innings and was designated for assignment two days later when the Dodgers activated one-time Yankees punching bag David Price. Like with Banuelos, I would like to see Greene find success with his original team. Given the injuries in the bullpen, he may get his chance.

Thanks to JP Sears for his successful spot start this week. It was a quick trip from and back to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre but with family in attendance, Sears performed brilliantly on Wednesday, May 25^th when he pitched five scoreless innings against the Baltimore Orioles and held them to three hits. It was the second victory of the year for Sears. No doubt we will see Sears again. It was tough losing Luis Gil for the year, but I am glad Sears is making the most of his opportunities. There is confidence with both Sears and Clarke Schmidt as rotation stand-ins.

JP Sears

Lastly but most importantly, my thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the victims of the horrific shootings in Uvalde, Texas. Every story of the children and two teachers lost are heartbreaking. I am not against guns, but clearly, this country can do so much better with gun control and safety. I get that it is impossible to keep guns out of the hands of professional, cold-blooded killers, but an eighteen-year-old kid should not be permitted to buy an assault-style weapon. I am disappointed that we, as a country, have not learned anything from the tragedies of Columbine, Sandy Hook and now Robb Elementary. Throw partisanship out the window, the solutions and remedies require full and unwavering bipartisan support. We must all come together to stop senseless violence and loss of life.

Photo Credit: Jae C Hong, AP

As always, Go Yankees!

Meet the 2019 Yankees: Didi Gregorius

The New York Yankees will be without their starting shortstop for at least a portion of the 2019 season, but that doesn’t mean we are going to leave him out of our introductions. Didi has already begun a throwing program as a part of his rehab with Tommy John surgery and looks to be on track for a July or August return to the club. The Yankees have depth around Didi and can afford to give Gregorius all the time that he needs to fully heal and recover, so while he does that let’s get reacquainted with the emoji man himself. Sir Didi Gregorius.

Didi Gregorius, recently 29-years old, is a left-handed batting and right-handed throwing shortstop that came over to the New York Yankees to replace the legendary Derek Jeter. Didi, all 6’3” and 205 lbs. of him, is a very aggressive hitter at the plate and has all the tools to hit .300 and 30 home runs in a season, especially playing his home games inside of Yankee Stadium. Didi is under 30% with his swings and misses and is more than happy to take his walks and keep the line moving in the Yankees lineup. I, myself, deemed him the best complete hitter in the Yankees lineup before the 2018 season and even had him hitting 3^rd in the lineup, a comment and opinion that I was absolutely grilled for on Twitter and in the blog… well, until it became a reality for Aaron Boone and the team that season.

Sir Mariekson Julius “Didi” Gregorius was born on February 18^th, 1990 (happy belated to Didi) in Amsterdam, Netherlands to Johannes Gregorius Sr. and Sheritsa Stroop. At the time of Didi’s birth, his father pitched for the Amsterdam Pirates in Honkbal Hoofdklasse while also working as a carpenter. His mother, Stroop, played for the Dutch national softball team while his older brother, Johannes, Jr., pitched professionally in Honkbal Hoofdklasse as well as the Italian Baseball League. Didi had baseball in his blood and began playing tee-ball in the Netherlands before being moved at the age of five to Curacoa. Didi adopted the nickname because his teammates could not pronounce his given name, Mariekson. It probably wasn’t an issue for Gregorius, given the fact that he speaks four different languages including English, Dutch, Papiamentu, and Spanish. That, along with his on-the-field play, caught the eye of the Cincinnati Reds who signed Didi as an amateur free agent in 2007. Didi chose the Reds over other suitors, including the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres, because of Cincinnati’s willingness to start Gregorius in the United States rather than the Dominican or Venezuelan Summer Leagues. Gregorius worked his way through the Reds minor league system until he earned a September call-up on September 1, 2012. Gregorius played in eight games for the Reds that season and was assigned to the Arizona Fall League following the season.

With Didi being blocked at shortstop by Zack Cozart, the Reds ultimate traded Gregorius to the Arizona Diamondbacks as a part of a three-team trade involving the Cleveland Indians. The Reds sent Gregorius along with Drew Stubbs in exchange for Shin-Soo Choo and Jason Donald. The Indians then sent Gregorius to Arizona with reliever Tony Sipp and infielder Lars Anderson for pitchers Trevor Bauer, Bryan Shaw and Matt Albers. Gregorius played 103 games for the Diamondbacks in 2013 before heading into camp with the Diamondbacks in 2014 to compete for the starting job with Chris Owings. Owings ultimately won the job out of spring and Didi began the season back in Triple-A, although an injury to Cliff Pennington brought Gregorius back to the big-league club for the remainder of the 2014 season.

The Yankees needed a shortstop after the retirement of Derek Jeter, and they set their eyes on Gregorius. The Yankees, in another three-team trade, sent young pitcher Shane Greene to the Detroit Tigers while receiving Gregorius back from the Diamondbacks. Detroit then sent Robbie Ray and Domingo Leyba to Arizona. Gregorius struggled out of the gate for the Yankees in 2015, but eventually turned it around to have a good season. Gregorius really took off for the Yankees in 2016, finishing the season with a .276 average with 20 home runs and 70 RBI, including a career high in hits (155), doubles (32), home runs (20), and RBI (70). Gregorius would miss the beginning of the 2017 season after injuring his shoulder in the World Baseball Classic. Gregorius was activated on April 28 and immediately began assaulting opposing pitchers to the tune of a .286 average with 25 home runs and 87 RBI, all while missing the entire first month of the season. Didi did not stop hitting home runs in the postseason in 2017 either as the Yankees shortstop hit a game-tying three-run home run in the first inning of the 2017 American League Wild Card Game after the Minnesota Twins had taken an early 3-0 lead. Didi hit two home runs off Corey Kluber in the ALDS Game 5 as well, leading the Yankees within one game of the 2017 World Series before falling to the eventual World Series Champion Houston Astros.

Didi finished the 2018 season with over 20 home runs for the third straight season, but by the time the Yankees were eliminated in the American League Division Series at the hands of the Boston Red Sox the team announced that Didi would require Tommy John surgery on his throwing right elbow. Didi is expected to be out until July 1^st at the earliest, but more than likely until August of this season. Until then, Troy Tulowitzki will try and keep his shortstop position warm for him. Get well soon, Didi, and we sure will miss you on the field while your elbow mends.

TGP Prospects Night Open Thread featuring Didi Gregorius

Didi Gregorius has been through a lot in his very short MLB career. Gregorius was originally signed as an international free agent by the Cincinnati Reds before the Arizona Diamondbacks traded their top pitching prospect to the Reds for Gregorius. Gregorius went on to hit his first Major League home run inside Yankee Stadium as a member of the Diamondbacks against the Yankees and Phil Hughes in what was a strong rookie campaign. The Yankees had a front row seat at what Gregorius can do with that home run and they acquired his services in the winter before the 2015 season in the deal that basically saw New York give up Shane Greene. 

You can learn all this and more in the video above that showcases Didi's rise as a rookie in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. It even has an interview with Didi, Andrelton Simmons of the Atlanta Braves (at the time) and Didi's coaches and managers. It's worth the watch so check it out. 

Most Popular Article of the Week: Alex Rodriguez the Mentor?

From Eliot Podgorsky originally seen here:


As the Yankees youth movement continues, they should begin to place a greater emphasis on having their veterans teach younger players everything they can. While players like Mark Teixeira, Carlos Beltran and C.C. Sabathia all have valuable knowledge to impart on younger players I firmly believe that Alex Rodriguez is the player who can help the young guns the most.


Rodriguez is often mentioned as a future managerial candidate. He has eaten, slept and breathed baseball since he was a teenager. His entire adult life has been about the game. He is going to be a baseball lifer. The skills and techniques he has picked up along the way are something that should not disappear when he retires.


Rodriguez has already started helping the Yankees beyond being a player. At the beginning of the 2015 season, Didi Gregorius was struggling offensively and defensively. The shadow of Derek Jeter still loomed largely, and Shane Greene was off to a blistering start. Fans and reporters were calling the trade a bust. Rodriguez worked with Gregorius on his footwork and defense. Gregorius' defense improved too, and that allowed him to focus on his offensive game which was always the biggest concern for him. His offensive game improved steadily throughout the season. The concerns are no longer about if he is a long-term solution at shortstop but rather how much better is he going to get.

Alex Rodriguez tutoring Didi Gregorius

Having Rodriguez as a mentor seem strange considering that until Jenrry Mejia was suspended for life last week, A-Rod was the player who had served the longest PED-related suspension. However, his path to redemption adds to what he can teach players. For the longest time, A-Rod was all about himself. His banishment from baseball changed him, and he is now all about the team. A team first mentality is something you want all players to have. His PED history also serves as a reminder what happens when shortcuts are taken. At one time a sure-fire future Hall-of-Famer he will now be lucky to get in.


Just as Manny Ramirez served as a Player-Coach for the Triple-A team of the Chicago Cubs, I believe A-Rod should fill a similar role with the Yankees albeit playing more often. What do you think of the Yankees using Alex Rodriguez to mentor young players and be a Player-Coach?

Digging in the TGP Archive: Didi Gregorius Due for an Offensive Breakout?

See the original post HERE. I make the case for Didi Gregorius having an offensive breakout during the 2015 season long before he did. I guess I need to make another bold prediction or two, no?

First and foremost I want to start off by saying that I was 100% in favor of basically the Shane Greene for Didi Gregorius trade. As much as I love Shane Greene and that slider he is replaceable in the organization with Bryan Mitchell, in the farm system with Manny Banuelos and on the free agency market with Brandon McCarthy, Jon Lester and/or Max Scherzer. There are no above average shortstops on the team right now and the farm system is barren at the position, although not as barren as the free agency market. Didi is better than Stephen Drew, Asdrubal Cabrera, Jed Lowrie and Brendan Ryan.

I realize that Gregorius is not without his faults, especially on the offensive side of the game, but that doesn't worry me as much when I look at the stats. First it's worth mentioning that Didi was a much better hitter in Triple-A than he has been in the majors but I have to wonder if he is due for a breakout season. In 2014 Gregorius hit just .226 in 80 games and still gathered a WAR, 1.1, that was more than five times better than Derek Jeter's 0.2 WAR.

I think Didi has simply fallen into a mixture of not playing enough while running into some bad luck when he plays. First and foremost Gregorius needs to play everyday and the team needs to ditch the "Brendan Ryan platoon" right now before it gets into his head. I mention this because Didi's BAbip was incredibly low at .257, down from his career BAbip of .280 (which granted is a little skewed by a partial season in 2012 with Cincinnati), while his line drive percentage was up to 28% and has gone up every season in the majors. These stats, along with the fact that Didi is still young and left handed inside Yankee Stadium, tell me that Gregorius is due to bounce back and possibly breakout as soon as 2015.

Brian Cashman’s Plan to Rebuild the Franchise

Disclaimer: I know going in that this article is not going to be a popular one. Brian Cashman could give 99% of his assets to charity and people would want him to give the other 1%. Cashman could win 160 games and some fans would wonder why the team lost the other two. Brian Cashman could be hounded to hold onto his prospects rather than trading them for 30-something’s (Ben Zobrist) and then when he does get hounded for standing pat and only acquiring Dustin Ackley. There is no winning for Cashman, it’s a tough crowd out here. With that said I believe I have deciphered Cashman’s master plan to not only rebuild the team but rebuild the franchise and I know going in that not many people are going to agree… and that’s okay.

One commenter here on the site specifically has said that the New York Yankees have no farm system to speak of. I disagree, New York just uses their farm system differently. For many years it was to simply acquire the next big thing on the trade market with all eye’s set on another World Series championship. Now that the system is actually beginning to produce talent, finally, Cashman is taking full advantage of that. Cashman is not a talent evaluator, and he’s not paid to be but if he were paid to be he would be terrible at his job, he is a GM that like almost any other GM relies on the scouting reports and the word of his scouts and trusted advisers. Those advisers have led to, just to name a few, the trades that sent Shane Greene out and brought Didi Gregorius in. Trades that sent David Phelps out and Nathan Eovaldi in. Trades that sent John Ryan Murphy out and sent Aaron Hicks in.

Do you see a trend developing here? Cashman cannot simply draft Top 10 talent in the first round so he is acquiring everyone else’s young talent with his young talent. Truth be told most people overvalue Yankees prospects simply because of the caliber of the team, an opposing GM will ask for the Yankees top prospects, get denied and then settle for a much lesser package(on paper) elsewhere. For the longest time that kept Cashman from making the right deals and forced him, if he wanted to keep his job and the “World Series or bust” mantra alive, to overpay thus emptying the farm. Not anymore.

Now Cashman is trading someone, Greene, who never projected to be above a #3 starter and got an everyday shortstop out of it. Go try and find an everyday shortstop on the free agent market or at the trade deadline and then try to get an, at best, #3 starter and see which is easier to acquire. Now Cashman is trading a backup catcher with marginal defense, not my words but from the scouting report and keyboard of Mike Axisa who analyzed the trade for about 5,000 words over at River Ave Blues, for what could be (keywords, could be) an everyday outfielder with speed, elite defense and occasional pop. Now Cashman is trading pitchers who were bounced around back and forth between the bullpen and the rotation and never projected to be more than a 5^th starter or long relief pitcher for an evolving starting pitcher that could, my opinion, be a #2 starter at the current rate of development and projection.

With drafting high and acquiring players who were drafted high you’re always going to have a risk involved with any deal. You don’t want to whiff on high draft picks and when you do you don’t want to trade them too early before they realize their potential. When the team who drafted this high draft pick or acquired this high-end projected talent, most recently Hicks who was a first round talent for Minnesota, you’re also taking a risk. The risk is much less obviously after two or three subpar seasons but the risk is there nonetheless. What Cashman is doing is not just using the quote that is showcased on the Statue of Liberty to take your tired, your poor and your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Cashman is taking you’re high end talent that have played for bad teams and lost the drive to be great, the players that haven’t seen their true potential for whatever reason (late bloomer, no protection in the lineup, bounced back and forth between Triple-A and the Major Leagues, rushed in the minor leagues, small sample size etc.) and is giving them the freedom to breathe free…. Just in New York.

If you’re an opposing GM and you’re reading this, watch out. Brian Cashman is coming for your young talent and he’s going to make them his own. That’s the plan anyway, until someone else catches on. 

Familiar Faces in Different Places… The Recap

The theme of the 2015 offseason for the New York Yankees was new faces in different places as the team saw plenty of turnover from the 2014 season. Francisco Cervelli was gone and John Ryan Murphy was in along with Justin Wilson. David Phelps and Martin Prado were gone while Garrett Jones, Nathan Eovaldi and Stephen Drew were in. Shane Greene was gone and Didi Gregorius was in. Brian Cashman the man credited with making these moves, was raked over the coals when he made these moves but have they surprising worked out for the New York Yankees GM?

Francisco Cervelli:

Year	G	PA	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
2015	120	469	51	124	15	6	39	1	44	83	.300	.378	.404	.782	115

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

John Ryan Murphy:

Year	G	PA	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
2015	61	153	19	39	8	3	14	0	9	37	.281	.322	.417	.740	103

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Justin Wilson:

Year	W	L	ERA	G	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA+	FIP	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9
2015	5	0	3.04	69	56.1	46	19	19	2	19	62	132	2.52	1.154	7.3	0.3	3.0	9.9

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

David Phelps:

Year	W	L	ERA	G	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA+	FIP	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9
2015	4	8	4.50	23	112.0	119	59	56	11	33	77	86	4.03	1.357	9.6	0.9	2.7	6.2

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Martin Prado:

Year	G	PA	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
2015	120	514	49	134	22	9	56	1	33	65	.287	.335	.396	.731	102

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Garrett Jones:

Year	G	PA	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
2015	57	152	12	31	4	5	17	0	8	37	.215	.257	.361	.618	69

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Nathan Eovaldi:

Year	W	L	ERA	G	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA+	FIP	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9
2015	14	3	4.20	27	154.1	175	72	72	10	49	121	95	3.43	1.451	10.2	0.6	2.9	7.1

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Stephen Drew:

Year	G	PA	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
2015	131	428	43	77	16	17	44	0	37	71	.201	.271	.381	.652	79

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Shane Greene:

Year	W	L	ERA	G	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA+	FIP	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9
2015	4	8	6.88	18	83.2	103	67	64	13	27	50	57	5.15	1.554	11.1	1.4	2.9	5.4

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Didi Gregorius:

Year	G	PA	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
2015	143	537	56	131	22	9	52	4	27	78	.266	.315	.370	.685	89

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

As you can see it clearly looks like the Yankees won the trade involving Wilson for Cervelli. Wilson has been an integral part of the Yankees bullpen and Murphy has been no slouch both behind the plate and at the dish as he backs up Brian McCann.

Say what you will about the body of work that Eovaldi has put forward this season but 14 victories in the Major Leagues is 14 victories in the Major Leagues regardless of his run support. David Phelps didn’t exactly force the Yankees fans to miss him and while Martin Prado would have been a perfect fit for the 2015 Yankees and beyond, he’s under team control at least through 2016, the Yankees needed pitching at the point of the trade more so than the infield help. This one could go either way depending on how pessimistic you want to look at things but I think most people would agree this was another win for the Cashman.

Shane Greene has flopped in Detroit and Gregorius has been in the middle of everything good that is the New York Yankees this season. He hasn’t replaced Jeter but he’s made a lot of us forget about him and I don’t think anyone expected to be reading this in September of 2015, a mere season removed from the Captain’s retirement.