Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Yankees Trade Ben Gamel for Two Prospects


The New York Yankees have traded outfielder Ben Gamel to the Seattle Mariners in a deal that will bring two pitching prospects back to the organization. Right-handed pitchers Jio Orozco and Juan De Paula are coming back from Seattle in the deal.

Gamel fell victim to a numbers game here in the Bronx as the Yankees have far too many outfielders, and far too many talented players that need protecting in the Rule 5 Draft this winter, and not enough opportunities for the best hair in the organization to get a true shot. I'm disappointed in losing the Triple-A Player of the Year in 2016 but at the same time I'm happy to see him get a long and a true shot inside Safeco Field. It's bittersweet for me.

In return the Yankees will get a 19-year old power arm in Orozco (Seattle's 20th best prospect at the time of the trade) and an 18-year old recently signed international free agent out of the Dominican Republic. Both come with a ton of projections and talent but both are too far away to really get too excited about just yet. Orozco shows promise with at least three of his pitches but has only reached Rookie Ball while De Paula has spent his tenure with the Mariners organization in the Dominican Summer League.

I hate to see you go Ben but I wish you well in your travels. Stay well.

7 comments:

  1. It's disappointing that his performance didn't warrant a real look at the pros. I'm also confused why his value was lower than some loser like heathcott or Williams that can't stay healthy for more than twenty games in a season.

    But there's a real question here... If this becomes problematic from an outfield logjam, where we are forced to trade away an AAA player for junk, isn't the same thing going to happen in say two years with a surplus of middle infielders?

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  2. Like I have said in the past the elf has his favorite teams to deal with and Seattle is one of them. I would've liked it if Gamel could've stayed on board and I understand the rule 5 problem so I guess it was a move that had too be made

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  3. Ben Gamel...a favorite of mine.
    But there was no slot for the young man. Understandable.
    More middle infielders, and talented OF's await the same fate.
    Let's hope there is an equal return.
    Gamel....liked him.

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  4. With Seattle Gamel will have a chance to contend for a major league job with us...not much!
    He is showing well right now but he is in the mix with about 5+/- OFs all of which are good....Clint Frazier, Jake Cave, Dustin Fowler, Heathcott, Mason Williams and Blake Rutherford (a few years away).
    Right now we have nowhere to play him and we need his spot on the 40 man.
    Good Luck Ben, show us what we lost...except against us!

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  5. I still don't get the deal. Trade him if you have an outfield log jam and you need a 40 man roster spot. fine. You added two projectable pitchers that could do something one day. Great. But then 10 minutes later you acquire Eric Young Jr. Why?

    To steal bases? Gamel has four less stolen bases in less games that Young Jr. and Young didn't win MILB player of the year. Young just sucks up the 40 man roster spot and an outfield position. Just like Gamel was. Why not just pinch run Gamel?

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    Replies
    1. True Daniel, nothing seems to add up now days!

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    2. Young will be released at the end of the season, so he doesn't count in terms of the logjam. Gamel had value in a trade due to a higher ceiling than Young.

      Now, could Gamel have been dealt later? I suppose. Perhaps Cashman felt this was as good a package as they could get for Gamel... now or later. IDK

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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)