Sunday, August 16, 2015

Finishing the Weekend w/ a Robert Refsnyder Rant


Normally I would finish the weekend with an open thread to leave you to talk about whatever you like but I am not feeling that this weekend. Not after Brian Cashman came out in public and actually said aloud that Stephen Drew, not Robert Refsnyder, was the Yankees best option at second base? Come again?

Drew has never been above the .200 mark for the Yankees in his now season and a half with the team. Not on Opening Day, not the first week of the season, never. Cashman did mention that Drew "cares about winning" and "busts his tail" while also pointing out that the team could not upgrade what they have in Drew outside of the organization. Huh? Robert Refsnyder is an upgrade over Drew who also cares about winning and busts his tail, Jose Reyes does too. The Toronto Blue Jays ball boy could probably do better at this point.

I've beat the drum and you know how I feel. Drew sucks, Refsnyder does not. Watch the video.

Jose Reyes to the Yankees: Redux



The Jose Reyes to the New York Yankees rumors are gaining steam after Jon Heyman kicked around the idea before the July 31st trade deadline and after we mentioned it here on the blog. Reyes has now cleared revocable waivers and can be traded to any team for the remainder of the season. Reyes would be expensive in terms of dollars, as you will read here in this article, but if Colorado is willing to eat a lot, or most, of the contract then he is an obvious upgrade at second base.


Here's the original article, agree or disagree? Leave it in the comments section or drop us a tweet @GreedyStripes.


When the Toronto Blue Jays and the Colorado Rockies hooked up for a trade before the July 31st trading deadline the entire market and leagues were turned on their heads. LaTroy Hawkins and Troy Tulowitzki went to the Toronto Blue Jays in the deal while Jose Reyes and a stable of prospects went back to Colorado in the deal. After the shock and awe wore off that the face of the Rockies franchise was finally traded the focus turned to the fact that this deal really made little to no sense for Colorado. Trading Tulowitzki was one thing, trading him for Reyes was another thing unless the Rockies planned on flipping Reyes.

While Colorado never really gained any traction on any trade involving Reyes there were many, including CBS Sports own Jon Heyman, that believed the New York Yankees may get involved. Would that make sense for a team that desperately needed an upgrade at second base and would the financial burdens be worth it when it was all said an done?

Reyes is owed the remainder of his $22 million contract in 2015, $22 million in 2016, $22 million in 2017 and has a $22 million team option in 2018 along with a $4 million buyout. Reyes is on a steep decline as a shortstop and may benefit from a move to second base that requires less range and less of a throwing arm. That gaudy contract is not worth even a Gold Glove defender at second base without a steep upgrade offensively, and that is not Reyes unless the Yankees have a time machine that can turn back the clock to around the 2011 season.

It wouldn't make sense for Colorado to eat the contract because the point of the deal was pinching pennies, and the team saved $50 million worth with the deal despite the huge contract for Reyes, leaving the Yankees and Rockies as less than ideal trade partners. Reyes to the Yankees would have beat Stephen Drew or Brendan Ryan any day in 2015 but it would be just another deal that blocked Robert Refsnyder and that, in my opinion, is not an option.

Game Thread: New York Yankees @ Toronto Blue Jays 8/16


Here we go boys and girls, the time has come for the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays to finish off their three game weekend set head-to-head at the Rogers Centre. This has been one hell of a series with one hell of an atmosphere, I only hope the Yankees faithful can do the same in the Bronx when the team returns home to Yankee Stadium next week. This afternoon the Yankees get a glimpse into the future once again when they send Luis Severino to the mound to face off against the Blue Jays right-hander Drew Hutchison. The game will be played at 1:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.

The Yankees return home tomorrow to play host to the Minnesota Twins so you have just a few hours left to click the Yankees Tickets link at the top of the blog and get your Yankees tickets in hand. HOPE Week is coming at the stadium and so is Andy Pettitte Day so be sure to click the link while there are still tickets available. Enough about tomorrow, let's worry about today. Head over to Twitter and give @GreedyStripes a follow to root for the home team as the Yankees look to beat the Jays this afternoon before heading home to the Bronx.

Severino vs. Hutchison is a matchup we as the fans could be watching for a long, long time between these two clubs. The first chapter is written today, Go Severino and Go Yankees!

New York Yankees Farm System Ranked 10th in MLB


The New York Yankees are finally starting to see the dividends of all those international free agent signings, draft signings and prospect hording that GM Brian Cashman has been doing. The farm is finally beginning to produce not only relief pitchers but positional players and starting pitchers as well. Luis Severino starts here in a couple of hours while Greg Bird is rotating with Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira at the DH position and the first base position. Robert Refsnyder is a legitimate second base option going forward while there is a slew of talent at the team's highest farm affiliate stop, the Scranton/Wilkes Barre RailRiders. No one thought we would see the day but with all this in mind a great baseball mind, Jim Callis, ranked that same Yankees farm system 10th in all of Major League Baseball.

The best farm system in Major League Baseball belongs to the Boston Red Sox after posting seven players in the Top 100 Prospects list according to MLBPipeLine.com. The Top Five is rounded by the Los Angeles Dodgers who have the #1 overall prospect in Corey Seager, the Colorado Rockies, the Chicago Cubs and the Minnesota Twins.

Here is the write up regarding the Yankees on this free article SEEN HERE:

10. New York Yankees
Preseason Top 10: Not ranked
Prospects on Top 100 list: 3

The Yanks drew criticism for not wanting to part with right-hander Luis Severino (No. 16), outfielder Aaron Judge (No. 21) or first baseman Greg Bird at the Trade Deadline, but they upgraded their rotation by simply promoting Severino. New York has position prospects at every spot on the diamond, including speedy shortstop Jorge Mateo (No. 99), sweet-swinging second baseman Robert Refsnyder and slugging catcher Gary Sanchez.

Game Preview: New York Yankees @ Toronto Blue Jays 8/16


The New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays will finish off their three game set this afternoon to conclude one hell of a series. It is hard to believe that this kind of atmosphere not only with the fans but with the players as well is going on in the middle of August, this whole series felt like one big playoff series hasn't it? Anyway, the Yankees will send their rookie star and top pitching prospect Luis Serverino to the mound this afternoon with first place in the division on the line while the Blue Jays counter with Drew Hutchison. The game will be played at 1:05 pm ET and can be seen on the YES Network and MLB TV.


  • Severino will be making his third start of his Major League career this afternoon and it has all the makings of a good one. Severino took a no decision in his last start after giving up just two runs over six innings of work against the Cleveland Indians. Severino is still searching for his first win of his Major League career. 



  • Hutchison is coming off one of his better starts of the season last time out against the Oakland Athletics. This may be the biggest start of the career for Hutchison as he faces off against the mighty New York Yankees in a playoff atmosphere inside the Rogers Centre. 



The Yankees head home tomorrow to play host to the Minnesota Twins inside Yankee Stadium but the team cannot look ahead past this game so neither will we. The American League East Division is on the line here, and will be on the line again when these two teams finish their head-to-head schedule in September. Win, Go Yankees!

Thoughts & Prayers Go Out to John Farrell


I'm a little late to the show here, and for that I apologize, but I wanted to announce that our thoughts and prayers here at The Greedy Pinstripes go out to the manager of the Boston Red Sox, John Farrell. Farrell was diagnosed with Stage I lymphoma that will require chemotherapy. Bench coach Torey Lovullo will manage the last place Boston Red Sox for the remainder of the season. The cancer was diagnosed and found when Farrell was undergoing surgery to repair a hernia.

Farrell has been the manager of the Red Sox since the 2013 season including one World Series victory and is expected to be back with Boston after his nine-week chemotherapy concludes. Once again our thoughts and prayers go out to Farrell. Rivalry or not, cancer sucks.

Weekly Check In: Tyler Wade


The New York Yankees all of a sudden have a ton of depth at key positional players in the minor leagues including the shortstop position. The best of the bunch, or the one that gets the most attention anyway, is Jorge Mateo but the closest one to the Major Leagues may just be Tyler Wade. Wade is far removed from being the team's fourth round pick in the 2013 MLB First Year Players Draft, especially after being promoted all the way to the Double-A Trenton Thunder in recent weeks.

Wade's start to his Trenton career has been less than ideal at the plate but the guy has all the tool's to hit the ball with consistency and stick with the club. This is nothing more than a speed bump, a speed bump I fully expect Wade to get over in the coming weeks.

YearLevGPARH2BHRRBISBBBSOBAOBPSLGOPS
2015A+-AA1064515210612229314071.265.332.335.667
2015A+984185110311228313965.280.349.353.702
2015AA83313101016.094.121.125.246

This Day In New York Yankees History 8/16: Jeter Passes Aparicio


Derek Jeter's name is littered all over the Major League Baseball history books and the history books of the New York Yankees and etched another record for the books on this day in 2009. Jeter went 3-4 on this day and passed Luis Aparicio for the most hits ever compiled by a major league shortstop. Jeter's 2,674th hit passed Aparicio for the record in a 10-3 loss in Seattle.