The "Andrew Bailey" MiLB Deal for Greg Holland

The New York Yankees have never been afraid to take a chance on an injured or aging veteran pitcher in hopes of getting a little lightning in a bottle out of them. We've seen it many times and a few examples of this are the Aaron Small signing, the Bartolo Colon signing, the Freddy Garcia signing and others and New York most recently did it with former Boston Red Sox and Oakland Athletics closer Andrew Bailey. Bailey was signed with the thought that he would not pitch in the first season of his deal but would presumably be ready for the second year, why wouldn't that work with former Royals closer Greg Holland?

Holland will miss the entire 2016 season recovering from Tommy John surgery and will attempt his comeback during the 2017 season. Holland is a free agent currently and may be looking for one of those two year minor league deals we have been seeing over the years. Why can't the team that gives Holland that deal be the Yankees?

The Yankees love having a super bullpen and they had one in 2015 with Justin Wilson, Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller and look to have one in 2016 as well with the trade of Wilson and the acquisition of Aroldis Chapman. What about the 2017 season after Chapman presumably leaves via free agency? Holland could step into the 7th or 8th inning, eventually, for the Yankees while Miller slides back into the 9th inning role for New York.

Even with a growing tear in his right throwing elbow Holland had 32 saves as we entered September of 2015 after refusing to get an MRI or sit down during the season. Holland is a gamer and a champion and wanted to be a part of the first World Series championship team in Kansas City in 30 years. Would he be worth the wait? Absolutely, especially if he comes back from the Tommy John surgery throwing darts the way he did in 2015 and 2014.  Will the Yankees do it? Who knows, but if Holland is willing then they should.

Former Yankees Update: Andrew Bailey

The New York Yankees invested a lot of time, a lot of patience, money, blood, sweat and tears into rehabbing and rehabilitating relief pitcher Andrew Bailey and they finally saw some of the fruits of their labor in 2015. Bailey made it all the way back to the Major Leagues in 2015 after spending parts of the last two seasons inside the Yankees minor league organization rehabbing a serious shoulder injury. Bailey is back, finally, but he won’t be back with the Yankees in 2015.

Bailey, a key piece down the stretch in the Yankees bullpen, has signed a minor league deal with the Philadelphia Phillies. The deal included an invitation to spring training. Bailey, the 2009 Rookie of the Year for the American League, was 0-1 with a 5.19 ERA in 10 games last season. Bailey’s career line includes an 11-13 record and 2.74 ERA with 89 saves in 216 appearances.

Edward Mujica also signed a minor league deal with Philadelphia the same day and will serve as direct spring competition for Bailey this March. The Yankees and Phillies are both in the Grapefruit League so us Yankees fans should see plenty of Bailey this coming spring season. 

Yankees Roster Shuffling Continues

Let's get caught up.

Vicente (Jose) Campos was added to the team's 40 man roster before he hit minor league free agency. He was on the Yankees 40 man roster once before but the team removed him as he was rehabbing and attempting a return from Tommy john surgery.

Domingo German, Jacob Lindgren, Chase Whitley and Mason Williams were activated off the 60 day disabled list and added to the Yankees 40 man roster. These were expected and merely procedural. Whitley will likely head back to at least the 15 day DL when Opening Day rosters are finalized.

Chris Martin was released officially after we released it on Monday night. Martin will sign a contract with the Nippon Ham Fighters in the Japanese League. Andrew Bailey is also hitting free agency after refusing an outright off the 40 man roster despite being under Yankees team control for 2016.

2016 Yankees Arbitration Salary Predictions

Sergio Santos

2015 Salary - $750K million

MLBTR Prediction - $900K

My Prediction - $750K million (recovering from Tommy John surgery)

Andrew Bailey

2015 Salary - $525K

MLBTR Prediction - $900K

My Prediction - $1 million 

Ivan Nova

2015 Salary - $3.3 million

MLBTR Prediction - $4.4 million

My Prediction - $3.8 million 

Michael Pineda

2015 Salary - $2.1 million

MLBTR Prediction - $4.6 million

My Prediction - $5 million 

Dustin Ackley

2015 Salary - $2.6 million

MLBTR Prediction - $3.1 million

My Prediction - $3.5 million 

Nathan Eovaldi

2015 Salary - $3.3 million

MLBTR Prediction - $5.7 million

My Prediction - $6 million 

Adam Warren

2015 Salary - $572K

MLBTR Prediction - $1.5 million

My Prediction - $1.5 million 

Justin Wilson

2015 Salary - $556K

MLBTR Prediction - $1.3 million

My Prediction - $1.5 million 

Didi Gregorius

2015 Salary - $554K

MLBTR Prediction - $2.1 million

My Prediction - $2.5 million 

The T.G.P Game for the Yankees Bullpen

Yesterday afternoon we introduced a game we’ve all probably seen across the blogs just with a different name, we call it the TGP Game for obvious reasons. The “T” stands for tumble, or get worse from 2015 to 2016, while the “G” stands for get better in 2016. The “P” in this game stands for plateau which means the player will be around their 2015 statistics in 2016, original I know but I like playing the game and I wanted to put my own gist to it. Yesterday we tackled the starting rotation and today we’ll tackle the bullpen.

Andrew Miller – P

Miller was fantastic all season long for the New York Yankees and I see no reason, barring injury or unforeseen circumstances, that he can’t be as good or better in 2016. Miller, in my eyes, will be a great free agent signing for Brian Cashman.

Dellin Betances – P

How in the world could Betances get any better in 2016? I can’t see him getting any better than nearly damn perfect but I see no reason why he might be worse next season either. He used to be a starter and he’s used to the heavy workload on the arm. Even visibly exhausted in 2015 he was still sharp when he needed to be, he just struggled with his command overall, and will be back to 100% in 2016.

Justin Wilson – P

The same that has been said for Miller and Betances can be said for Wilson as well. Wilson was a great asset and a strikeout pitcher for New York in 2015. He was a strikeout pitcher and an asset with the Pittsburgh Pirates before that and he looked just as strong in October of 2015 as he did in May of 2015. He can’t get better but he’s still going to be awfully good.

Chasen Shreve – G

It all depends on which Shreve we’re talking about here. The first half Shreve was dominant, tough on lefties and righties and a key piece to the dominant bullpen. The second half Shreve was terrible, home run and wild pitch prone and just generally ineffective. The overall piece of work should get better as I cannot see another second half meltdown in 2016 so I’ll go with better.

Adam Warren – G

Warren is here until further notice but he could start the 2016 season in the Yankees starting rotation before it’s all said and done. Warren shouldn’t be bounced back and forth like he was in 2015 so he should be more consistent and better in 2016.

Andrew Bailey – G

Bailey is finally healthy and ready to come all the way back from his shoulder surgery that almost ended his career. Bailey has been rehabbing with the Yankees for two seasons now and finally made it all the way back to the Major Leagues in 2015. There is no replacement for live MLB caliber hitters so Bailey should be better in 2016 with a few at bats under his belt this season.

Branden Pinder/Caleb Cotham/James Pazos/Jacob Lindgren/ Chris Martin – G

Going to lump all these prospects together as they all battle for presumably the last spot in the Yankees bullpen. There is no replacement for actual MLB experience and all of these men got that in 2015. All that experience should help all of them in 2016 as the Yankees super bullpen continues to mold. 

MLBTR: Yankees Arbitration Salaries for 2016

MLB Trade Rumors has taken their yearly predictions at the salary arbitration numbers for all 30 Major League Baseball teams including the New York Yankees. CLICK HERE to see all 30 predictions and see below for the Yankees predictions. Enjoy.



Yankees (9)

Sergio Santos (5.110) – $900K
Andrew Bailey (5.034) – $900K arbitration projection; has $2MM club option.
Ivan Nova (5.024) – $4.4MM
Michael Pineda (4.099) – $4.6MM
Dustin Ackley (4.087) – $3.1MM
Nate Eovaldi (4.013) – $5.7MM
Adam Warren (3.036) – $1.5MM
Justin Wilson (3.035) – $1.3MM
Didi Gregorius (2.159) – $2.1MM

YES Video: Andrew Bailey's Return to MLB

This was a great piece I thought I would share before this afternoon's Game 162. Andrew Bailey has been rehabbing a shoulder injury for two seasons with the New York Yankees and has finally made his way all the way back to Major League Baseball

Meet a Prospect: Andrew Bailey

One of the latest September call ups to come out of the Yankees farm system was right-handed relief pitcher Andrew Bailey. Bailey’s story is one of triumph and overcoming adversity as he hasn’t reached the Major Leagues in over two full seasons now as he battled back from a shoulder injury. Bailey has been inside the Yankees organization since early on in the 2014 season and the team has been extremely patient while rehabbing him back onto the mound. The Yankees patience and Bailey’s hard work has finally paid off as he’s back on the mound and back in the majors with the New York Yankees so it’s finally time to meet a prospect, veteran Andrew Bailey.

Andrew Scott Bailey was born on May 31, 1984 in Voorhees, New Jersey where he spent his high schools days at Paul VI High School in Haddon Township, New Jersey. Bailey stayed local for his college years as well when he attended Wagner College in Staten Island, New York where he played college baseball. Bailey did enough to garner the attention of MLB scouts while at Wagner and was selected in the sixth round, 188^th overall, in the 2006 MLB First Year Players Draft by the Oakland Athletics. The Athletics wasted no time getting Bailey acclimated to his professional career as the team immediately started him in Double-A fresh out of the draft. A season and a half later the Athletics had Bailey representing them in the Arizona Fall League as a member of the Phoenix Desert Dogs and by 2009 he was pitching out of Billy Beane’s bullpen on Opening Day.

Bailey once again wasted no time putting himself on the map as he represented the Athletics in the 2009 MLB All-Star Game in St. Louis while breaking the Athletics rookie save record with his 24^th save of the season. Bailey finished his rookie campaign with 26 saves and a 1.84 ERA earning the 2009 American League Rookie of the Year Award in November. Bailey’s name was on the map, which is never a good sign for a young player on a team run by Billy Beane, and he was traded to the Boston Red Sox before the 2012 season along with Ryan Sweeney for Josh Reddick and two minor league players. Bailey lasted until April of 2012 before learning that he would require reconstructive surgery on his right thumb. That thumb kept Bailey out of action until August 14, 2012 limiting the right-hander to just 15.1 innings.

Bailey was injured once again for Boston in 2013 but this time he suffered a shoulder injury that would cost him the entire 2013 season after getting into just 30 games and compiling eight saves. Bailey had torn his capsule in his shoulder and damaged the labrum in his throwing shoulder which sent him for an immediate surgery to repair the arm on July 24^th. The Red Sox non-tendered Bailey making him a free agent after 2013 and the New York Yankees came calling on February 22, 2014 signing Bailey to a minor league deal for not only the 2014 season but the 2015 season as well. Signing a player to a two year minor league deal was relatively unheard of at the time but New York apparently had confidence in his shoulder and his ability to work himself back from the career threatening injury.

Bailey suffered numerous setbacks in 2014 which kept him out of the entire season forcing New York to sign him to a new minor league deal for the 2015 season. Bailey was invited to spring training and almost made Joe Girardi’s bullpen out of spring training before another set of setbacks forced him back down to the minor leagues. Bailey is finally healthy and finally ready to show himself, the team that took a waiver on him and the rest of the league that he’s back and back with a vengeance. Welcome back Andrew and welcome to the Yankees family, officially. We’re glad to have you. 

Yankees Reinforcements on the Way

The New York Yankees have announced their first wave of reinforcements and September call ups to be uniform before tonight’s game and that list includes eight players, four of which will require a roster move to be called up. That list includes catcher Austin Romine, second baseman Robert Refsnyder, utility man Jose Pirela, second baseman/outfielder Dustin Ackley, outfielder and pinch runner Rico Noel, right-handed relief pitchers Andrew Bailey and Caleb Cotham and left-handed relief pitcher James Pazos.

Romine was removed off the 40 man roster after spring training but will be added back this month after an injury to Gary Sanchez will likely end his season. The obvious move here is to add Sanchez to the 60 day DL and shut him down for the season unfortunately.

Rico Noel will be listed as an outfielder but the only reason he is here is to steal a base or two late in a game. Noel has 23 stolen bases this season and 283 stolen bases in his minor league career and will likely be added with Cole Figueroa DFA.

Bailey and Pazos both join a deep Yankees bullpen that will be tough to manage for Girardi in the sense that there will likely not be enough innings to match the talent at his disposal. Two roster moves need to be made and part of me believes that Tyler Austin’s days on the 40 man roster may be up as he loses in a numbers game. The other move may involve Domingo German, maybe a phantom 60 day DL trip?
 Who knows?

Refsnyder, Pirela, Ackley and Cotham are already on the 40 man roster so no roster moves will need to be made to accommodate these four. Nick Rumbelow and Nick Goody will also be up when their ten day cool down period expires after being optioned to Triple-A earlier last week.

Quick Hit: Making the Case for Andrew Bailey

The New York Yankees have had a revolving door to their bullpen and an express trolley going in between Yankee Stadium in the Bronx and PNC Field in Scranton for much of this season. New York has seen 21 different relievers on the roster and nine different prospects make their Major League debut out of the Yankees bullpen this season and it seems like every 10 days or so we see the likes of Branden Pinder, Caleb Cotham, Chris Capuano and others coming up from Triple-A for a fresh arm in the Yankees bullpen but one arm that has yet to come up yet this season is Andrew Bailey. Why not?

After spending basically two seasons in the Yankees organization his right throwing shoulder seems to finally be healthy. Bailey has spent the last two seasons rehabbing a torn shoulder labrum and a torn shoulder capsule, both of which are usually career-ending injuries, and has had multiple setbacks during his Yankees tenure in the minor leagues. With that in mind, and let's face it Bailey's shoulder could go kaput at any second, why don't the Yankees bring him up now instead of wasting his bullets in Triple-A? A 40 man roster spot would need to be cleared for Bailey but the Yankees have shown that not to be a problem this season. Bailey is one Chris Martin DFA away from being in the Bronx and adding a veteran arm to the Yankees already dynamic bullpen that finds themselves in the middle of a pennant race.

Rosters expand in less than a week and Bailey could add another power arm to the trio of Adam Warren, Chasen Shreve and Justin Wilson as the Yankees continually look to shorten the game and take the pressure off their starting pitchers. Bailey is a relatively fresh arm throwing just 32 innings at the time of this writing and a veteran arm that has seen postseason runs in his career with the Oakland Athletics and the Boston Red Sox. Bailey could prove invaluable in a 6th or 7th inning role in the Bronx as the team looks to not only reach the postseason but also looks to evaluate talent before finalizing a potential playoff roster.

Could you imagine a bullpen of Andrew Miller, Dellin Betances, Justin Wilson, Chasen Shreve, Adam Warren, Andrew Bailey and Bryan Mitchell? That's game over.

Here's the stat line for the current Scranton/Wilkes Barre RailRiders closer:

Year	Lg	W	L	ERA	G	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9
2015	AA,AAA,A+,Rk	3	0	1.97	26	6	32.0	24	10	7	3	11	40	1.094	6.8	0.8	3.1	11.2

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

So Much Talent Could Be On The Way From Scranton

Brian Cashman has put the Triple-A manager Dave Miley on notice, a ton of players could be coming up to the Bronx for the stretch run in September. The New York Yankees are apparently planning to fully utilize the expanded rosters that come with September call ups and they could potentially wipe out most of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders roster in the process. We have predicted the players that could be coming up in a previous blog post, a blog post that will likely be updated at least once more before September, but we didn't really bring you any stats to go along with it. Well, not until today anyway.

The potential offensive call ups:

Name	G	PA	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Taylor Dugas*	14	53	5	13	1	0	5	0	4	6	.283	.340	.304	.644
Cole Figueroa*	105	435	40	119	19	3	44	4	36	23	.308	.367	.386	.753
Ben Gamel*	110	470	68	128	20	9	55	10	40	87	.301	.360	.478	.838
Slade Heathcott*	49	213	21	49	5	1	18	6	15	44	.250	.302	.321	.623
Aaron Judge	40	172	19	37	7	6	24	5	20	49	.248	.331	.416	.748
Rico Noel	10	13	2	1	0	0	0	3	1	5	.083	.154	.083	.237
Gregorio Petit	25	101	9	23	6	0	10	0	5	13	.240	.277	.302	.579
Jose Pirela	46	200	36	60	13	3	22	5	18	19	.335	.395	.458	.853
Rob Refsnyder	105	469	61	111	24	9	49	10	54	65	.280	.374	.418	.792
Kyle Roller*	104	432	42	80	15	13	53	0	52	125	.217	.326	.370	.696
Austin Romine	79	316	36	75	18	7	41	0	21	46	.259	.313	.393	.706
Gary Sanchez	26	107	13	28	7	4	21	1	11	18	.301	.374	.505	.879
Rob Segedin	40	153	23	39	7	4	13	2	11	30	.281	.342	.432	.774

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

The potential pitching call ups:

Name	W	L	ERA	G	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9
Andrew Bailey	0	0	3.00	5	3	6.0	6	2	2	0	2	9	1.333	9.0	0.0	3.0	13.5
Johnny Barbato	2	0	0.71	8	3	12.2	9	1	1	1	5	10	1.105	6.4	0.7	3.6	7.1
Caleb Cotham	2	0	1.03	16	1	26.1	19	4	3	0	2	27	0.797	6.5	0.0	0.7	9.2
Joel De La Cruz	7	0	3.25	15	0	61.0	59	25	22	4	17	29	1.246	8.7	0.6	2.5	4.3
Jose De Paula*	2	3	5.20	6	0	27.2	32	16	16	0	10	12	1.518	10.4	0.0	3.3	3.9
Jordan Foley	0	1	4.50	2	0	6.0	5	3	3	0	5	5	1.667	7.5	0.0	7.5	7.5
Nick Goody	1	1	1.64	8	2	11.0	10	3	2	0	4	16	1.273	8.2	0.0	3.3	13.1
Brady Lail	1	1	4.50	3	0	16.0	17	9	8	2	8	8	1.562	9.6	1.1	4.5	4.5
Jacob Lindgren*	1	1	1.23	15	3	22.0	16	7	3	0	10	29	1.182	6.5	0.0	4.1	11.9
Jaron Long	5	6	4.94	17	0	85.2	115	55	47	7	23	53	1.611	12.1	0.7	2.4	5.6
Chris Martin	0	1	3.66	14	1	19.2	19	10	8	1	6	17	1.271	8.7	0.5	2.7	7.8
Andrew Miller*	0	0	0.00	1	0	1.0	2	0	0	0	0	1	2.000	18.0	0.0	0.0	9.0
Mark Montgomery	1	0	0.00	4	1	4.1	1	0	0	0	0	4	0.231	2.1	0.0	0.0	8.3
James Pazos*	3	1	1.32	18	2	27.1	20	6	4	0	12	30	1.171	6.6	0.0	4.0	9.9
Branden Pinder	1	3	2.97	22	1	33.1	31	15	11	3	10	35	1.230	8.4	0.8	2.7	9.4
Nick Rumbelow	2	3	4.22	34	7	49.0	43	26	23	4	13	54	1.143	7.9	0.7	2.4	9.9
Eric Ruth	0	1	5.25	2	0	12.0	14	8	7	1	1	3	1.250	10.5	0.8	0.8	2.2
Miguel Sulbaran*	1	0	0.00	1	0	5.0	5	0	0	0	2	3	1.400	9.0	0.0	3.6	5.4
Tyler Webb*	2	3	2.84	25	2	38.0	40	18	12	4	11	41	1.342	9.5	0.9	2.6	9.7

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table