52 Games To Go, Let's Do This!...

Credit:  Jeff Chevrier-Icon Sportswire

Enjoyed An Off Day...

Monday, Monday.  I am glad it's in the books but it was nice having an off-day while the Yankees enjoyed their free time in Toronto.  But it's now Tuesday and back to work.

Last month, I was in favor of a trade for a proven first baseman like Yonder Alonso (then with the Oakland A’s) or Lucas Duda (then with the New York Mets).  Alonso’s bat cooled about the time Chase Headley started heating up so Headley probably blocked any potential deal that would have brought Alonso to New York as either part of the Sonny Gray trade or a separate trade.  There’s also speculation that the Mets had a similar offer from the Yankees to one they accepted from the Tampa Bay Rays for Duda which showed the only way the Mets would work with the Yankees would be in an “overpay” situation.  

So, where does that leave us with the latest speculation that Jay Bruce would be a good fit for the Yankees?  Primarily an outfielder, he has played 11 games at first base this year making him at least as experienced at the position as Headley.  He is left-handed and has mashed 29 homers this year to go with 75 RBI’s.  He is batting .260/.324/.528.  The 30-year-old is a free agent at the end of the year so he’d be a true rental.  Admittedly, I’ve never been a big fan of Bruce as he has seemed too much like a feast-or-famine type of hitter.  But, like Duda, he might have the swing for Yankee Stadium.   So, I’d have to say that I am intrigued by this one to say the least.  With so much uncertainty around Matt Holliday and Greg Bird, Bruce would bring a big stick to first base/DH for the rest of the year. 

Credit:  Laurence Kesterson-Associated Press

Nevertheless, if the Mets insist an overpay because it’s the Yankees, then it is not worth it.  The Yankees are also included in Bruce's limited no-trade clause but that's nothing $$$ couldn't solve.  I am skeptical that the Mets would ever give the Yankees a player that could potentially help them make the play-offs and risk losing market share as a result.  

I am not sure what I think about rumors the Yankees should pursue Mike Napoli.  He is a proven winner.  His numbers in his age 35 year are down from last year but he still has some thump in his bat with 22 HR's albeit with a batting average that is south of the Todd Frazier line.  Napoli's contract carries a 2018 club option that can be bought out for $2.5 million.  A costly measure, unless the Texas Rangers pay some or all the freight, to add the potential for a few late season bombs.  If only Chris Carter had done what he was paid to do.

Credit:  Ashley Landis-The Dallas Morning News

I hate to see any more prospects shipped away for a six-week need unless it is for someone that can truly be the difference-maker at this point in the season (a player with the potential to help for an October push).  I want to see what Aaron Hicks and Tyler Austin can do, and then there's, hold your breath, Greg Bird at the end of the month.  Okay, maybe don't hold your breath.  I suspect that unless Matt Holliday is able to come back after his DL stint to resemble the player we saw in the first half (unlikely), the DH position is going to be very fluid on a day to day basis with player rotation.

More than anything, the Yankees need Gary Sanchez to step up and deliver the promise he showed us last August and September.  At the moment, he's the most maligned Yankee.  The key will be how he responds to the criticism.  The Yankees are a better team with El Gary in the lineup but he needs to make the defensive plays and wait for his pitches at the plate.  The Yankees play 6 of the next 13 games against the Boston Red Sox and will face Chris Sale twice.  Between the two Red Sox series, the Yankees play a home and away set against the New York Mets for four games.  This is a very crucial two weeks that could go a long way toward deciding the eventual AL East winner.   

According to Baseball America, the Los Angeles Dodgers have released former Yankees LOOGY Tommy Layne.  The Dodgers also removed former Yankees prospect Peter O'Brien from the 40-man roster and outrighted him to Triple A.  The Los Angeles Angels signed former Yankees reliever Branden Pinder, who was released earlier this summer by the Bombers.  I am sure that Angels GM Billy Eppler is relying upon past information about Pinder to take a chance.  I hope it works out for Pinder.  

Next Up:  Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada...

The Toronto Blue Jays may be the AL East cellar dwellers but they always play the Yankees very tough.  The Yankees will see old friend Rob Refsnyder who is currently on the Blue Jays active roster as a backup infielder.

Credit:  Richard Lautens-Toronto Star

The scheduled pitching match-ups are:

TODAY

Yankees:  CC Sabathia (9-4, 3.81 ERA)

Blue Jays:  J.A. Happ (4-8, 3.92 ERA)

WEDNESDAY

Yankees:  Masahiro Tanaka (8-10, 4.93 ERA)

Blue Jays:  Cesar Valdez (1-1, 7.63 ERA)

THURSDAY

Yankees:  Sonny Gray (6-6, 3.41 ERA)

Blue Jays:  Marco Estrada (4-7, 5.12 ERA)

I am not trying to look ahead but it's a bummer that we won't have Sonny Gray for this weekend's series against Boston at Yankee Stadium.  The Red Sox have gone out of their way to ensure that Chris Sale gets three starts against the Yankees in the coming weeks.  

Farewell to #25...

Former Yankee Don Baylor died Monday at age 68 from cancer.  Baylor was American League MVP for the then California Angels in 1979 and he won a World Series with the Minnesota Twins at the end of his 19-year playing career, but I remember his toughness as the Yankees DH from 1983 to 1985, playing along side Don Mattingly and Dave Winfield. He was a magnet for baseballs with 267 HBP's.  I wasn't a fan of the March 1986 trade that sent Baylor to the Boston Red Sox for Mike Easler.  Rest in peace, Mr Baylor...

Have a great Tuesday!  Let's turn a two-game win streak into three!  Go Yankees!

Pitchers, Tommy John Surgery and the Analysis of Why

I hope you find the topic of Tommy John surgery, who it’s happening to and why it’s happening so frequently in today’s game an interesting subject because it’s going to be the only subject we really talk about today on the blog. I put a lot, and I mean a lot, of research into this blog post and rather than have it buried in the masses here in a couple of hours and pushed to the second page I am going to give this post the time on the front page it deserves. All day long. It may take you all day long to read it so take your time and really let the information soak in as we take a look at the pandemic facing Major League Baseball right now. Tommy John surgery.

For the sake of this post we took the last 100 Tommy John surgery recipients and pooled our data from that. I felt like 100 ulnar collateral ligaments not only gave an ample sample size for any conclusion we could draw but it’s also a nice, even number that didn’t require a $400 graphing scientific calculator to spit out the numbers I wanted. Lazy, yet efficient. After pooling the last 100 Tommy John surgery victims we looked at certain criteria listed below in the excel spreadsheet in order to see if we could find a pattern, common denominator or something that may lead to figuring this whole thing out. Do I expect to change the world with this post? No, but I’m hoping that maybe I can spark the mind that does and that would be payment enough for me.

MLB Player Analysis has a Google Doc that you can reference online and that is where most of the information below both in the chart and written in this blog post came from so kudos to them. I included certain things in the chart like average fastball velocity, build/frame and other materials as well that I thought may piece together the puzzle as well so if you want to see the original document you can find it HERE. Without further ado here is the last 100 Tommy John surgery victims (at the time of this writing) and some pertinent information that we will dissect below.

Here are a few bullet notes from what we found that I think really can help us figure out what is going on here and why this is happening at such an alarming rate:

      84% of the pitchers were born in the United States while 8% were from the Dominican Republic, 5% were from Venezuela, 2% were from Japan and 1% were from Australia.

      82% of these pitchers were age 30 or younger while 18% were above 30-years old.

Now this raises an interesting question. 84% of the last 100 pitchers to get Tommy John surgery (at the time of this writing) were born in the United States. Now Major League Baseball, a sport that thrives on being culturally diverse, has players reach the big leagues from all over the country so why are mainly American born pitchers having the surgery and not players from Mexico, Canada, Korea and other parts of the world having this pandemic with their arms? Why have only two from Japan, one from Australia, 5 from Venezuela and 8 from the Dominican Republic had the surgery?

Is it the throwing at such an early age? Is it the throwing of breaking balls as early as Little League? Is it pitching once every five days in the Major Leagues where Japanese pitchers for example throw once a week? Every pitcher not named Mariano Rivera throws breaking stuff so is it fastball velocity? Or is it merely a coincidence? It’s hard to call 84% a coincidence but let’s keep delving into this and see what we find out.

The final thing I wanted to look at was a pitcher’s frame and how fast they throw a fastball. Some say mechanics may have a lot to do with it but when I see a fluid delivery like Chase Whitley and Ivan Nova undergo the surgery while in Yankees uniforms while pitchers like Aroldis Chapman and Tim Lincecum not going under the knife for elbow ligament replacement surgery I tend to think the windup and delivery has little to nothing to do with it as well. For every Carter Capps on this list you have another 10-20 Nathan Eovaldi’s who simply rear back and throw. Is it velocity? Is it frame? Is it both? Or is there simply no common factor here? Let’s look.

The average height and weight for a man in the United States according to a simple Google search is 5’10” and 195.5 pounds. Common sense would tell you that the higher above that average, up to a certain extent of course, the more “durable” you would be assuming conditioning and such being comparable across the board. Well as you can see there is no rhyme or reason to the pitchers frame either. You have big build undergoing the surgery, where stereotypically the bigger framed pitchers are thought to be more durable, while you also have some, albeit less, smaller framed pitchers undergoing the surgery as well. For the longest times the Johan Santana’s and Pedro Martinez type frames were considered to be a walking time bomb but this excel spreadsheet shows that to not be the case anymore, at least when it comes to Tommy John surgery.

And as you can see, and probably already know without me listing it, you have examples from every part of the velocity map here as well. You have your hard throwers like Nathan Eovaldi and the recently deceased, your soft tossers like Bronson Arroyo and Chase Whitley (and remember Jamie Moyer when you consider whether velocity has any bearing on Tommy John surgery) and about everything in between. They are all throwing off the same mound dimensions, using the same ball, etc. etc. etc. You also have players who have had duplicate Tommy John surgeries, Tim Collins, and players who never spent a day on the disabled list throughout their careers, Bronson Arroyo, on the list showing it’s also not a durability issue. It seems like these things simply just happen. And when you replace the ligament these things can still happen. And happen again.

Onward to the “probably useless knowledge but I wanted to include anyway because I found it interesting” portion of the program ladies and gentleman. Carry on.

      72% of the pitchers were right-handed while just 28% were left-handed.

      46% were from American League teams while 54% were from National League teams.

      28% of players never returned to the Major Leagues after their Tommy John surgery while 19% are still under that 12-15 month window which signifies they are still recovering.

      If 12-15 months is the general and average time to be out after a Tommy John surgery then 25% of pitchers missed that mark (again keeping in mind that 19% are still yet to be determined and 28% never returned). Only 28% of pitchers had the surgery and were back in the Major Leagues in 15 months or less.

      44% of these pitchers had Dr. James Andrews conduct the surgery.

So there you have it folks. Are we any better off or more knowledgeable than we were 20 minutes ago? Maybe not but like I said I don’t expect to change the game or the world with this post but maybe, just maybe, I can spark the mind that does with it. One can only hope. I hope you enjoyed reading and I hope this post wasn’t too awful long. If it was I at least hope you learned something from it. Have a great day everyone.

Oh, and please pass this post along to anyone and everyone you think may be interested in it. I put a lot of work and research into this and I want this post to touch as many people as possible. Thank you.

ICYMI: Meet a Prospect: Joe Mantiply Edition

The New York Yankees claimed a left-handed reliever from the Detroit Tigers named Joe Mantiply as the Yankees search and goal to restock their bullpen begins. Mantiply will likely be one of many members to join the Yankees bullpen in some way, shape or form this offseason so let’s meet him. This is Meet a Prospect: The Joe Mantiply Edition.


Joseph Newman Mantiply was born on March 1, 1991 and while playing amateur baseball in Virginia he caught the eye of the New York Mets in the 2009 MLB Draft with their 48th round selection. Mantiply decided to head to college rather than take the step from High School to professional baseball and ultimately attended Virginia Tech University where he was once again drafted by the

Philadelphia Phillies in the 28th round of the 2012 Draft. Another drafting and another decision to return to school for Mantiply but after his senior season the Detroit Tigers came calling in the 27th round of the draft in 2013.



In four seasons in the Tigers minor league system the left-hander has put up a 2.44 ERA including 13 starts while only giving up 11 home runs in 239.1 innings of work. Mantiply can start or be a reliever for the Yankees and his value comes with his ability to keep the ball in the ballpark and keep runs off the board, something any team needs.



In order to make room for Mantiply the Yankees designated Branden Pinder for assignment. He will likely miss most, if not all, of the 2017 season anyway so expect a new minor league deal to follow for the Tommy John recipient.


Welcome to the family Joe.

Meet a Prospect: Joe Mantiply Edition

The New York Yankees claimed a left-handed reliever from the Detroit Tigers named Joe Mantiply as the Yankees search and goal to restock their bullpen begins. Mantiply will likely be one of many members to join the Yankees bullpen in some way, shape or form this offseason so let’s meet him. This is Meet a Prospect: The Joe Mantiply Edition.

Joseph Newman Mantiply was born on March 1, 1991 and while playing amateur baseball in Virginia he caught the eye of the New York Mets in the 2009 MLB Draft with their 48^th round selection. Mantiply decided to head to college rather than take the step from High School to professional baseball and ultimately attended Virginia Tech University where he was once again drafted by the

Philadelphia Phillies in the 28th round of the 2012 Draft. Another drafting and another decision to return to school for Mantiply but after his senior season the Detroit Tigers came calling in the 27th round of the draft in 2013.



In four seasons in the Tigers minor league system the left-hander has put up a 2.44 ERA including 13 starts while only giving up 11 home runs in 239.1 innings of work. Mantiply can start or be a reliever for the Yankees and his value comes with his ability to keep the ball in the ballpark and keep runs off the board, something any team needs.



In order to make room for Mantiply the Yankees designated Branden Pinder for assignment. He will likely miss most, if not all, of the 2017 season anyway so expect a new minor league deal to follow for the Tommy John recipient.


Welcome to the family Joe.

2016 Offseason Calendar for Major League Baseball

Bookmark me because here is the 2016/2017 offseason calendar for Major League Baseball:

Today:
Options decisions are made.

Monday, December 7th:
MiLB free agency begins, qualifying offers are made, the Award season begins and 60-Day DL players have to be activated. The qualifying offer is set at $17.2 million and the Yankees have five players to activate off the 60-Day DL including Nathan Eovaldi, Branden Pinder, Nick Rumbelow, Chad Green and Dustin Ackley.

The GM Meetings also begin on this day and will run through November 10th in Scottsdale.

November 8th:

Free agency officially begins and Gold Glove Awards are announced.

November 10th: 

Silver Slugger Awards announced.

November 14th: 

Decision day on all qualifying offers.

Also starting on the 14th and running through November 17th the major award winners will be announced.

November 18th:

Last day to protect players like Kule Higashioka, Tyler Webb and others from the Rule 5 Draft.

December 1st:

Collective bargaining agreement expires. This is a big one to watch out for.

December 5th - December 8th

2016 Winter Meetings! Also the Rule 5 Draft goes down on Thursday the 8th.

January 18th:

Hall of Fame class announced for 2017.

March 7th - March 22nd:

World Baseball Classic 2017



Spring training, arbitration numbers and hearings are currently TBA. Opening Day is April 2nd.

Recapping 2016: The Major Injuries

The 2016 regular season is over and unfortunately there will be no playoffs for the Bronx Bombers this season despite the best efforts of the club in the second half. That's a shame if you ask me and while many are left searching for a reason why I would instead rather to just recap the season, chalk it up as a learning experience and move on.

Overall injuries hit the Yankees pretty hard but injuries hit every team. All-in-all the Yankees had a few key injuries that really hurt and we'll cover those here this morning as we recap the 2016 season.


2-1-16

Greg Bird has surgery to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder missing the entire 2016 season.

4-12

Nick Rumbelow undergoes Tommy John surgery and will miss the remainder of the season.

4-22

A major member of the Scranton Shuttle and the Yankees bullpen Branden Pinder undergoes Tommy John surgery and will miss the entire 2016 season and likely half of the 2017 season as well.

5-29

Dustin Ackley dives back into first base on a pickoff attempt and tears the labrum in his shoulder while also dislocating it. Season over.

7-2

Connor Mullee transferred to 60-day DL with numbness in his throwing hand.

8-10

Nathan Eovaldi learns he has a torn flexor tendon and torn ulnar collateral ligament resulting in two surgeries including the dreaded Tommy John surgery. 2016 over. 2017 over. Yankees tenure likely over.

9-2

Chad Green sprains his UCL and strains his flexor tendon. While the righty avoids the same surgeries that Nathan Eovaldi could not his season is over nonetheless.

9-13

Aaron Judge strains an oblique muscle and will miss the remainder of the season.

9-22

Masahiro Tanaka has a slight strain in his pitching forearm and misses the final two starts of the season.

These are just a few of the major injuries the Yankees dealt with in 2016. CC Sabathia had his obligatory trip to the DL with a lower leg injury, Mark Teixeira and Chase Headley both had injuries that avoided the disabled list and others. These are just some of the major ones, if I missed one leave it below in the comments.

Update on the Yankees “Scranton Shuttle”

Here is the latest happenings with the New York Yankees and the Scranton Shuttle. Check back next off day for another update and be sure to check out our post from earlier in the week describing how the Scranton Shuttle is not as empty as we all may think. Enjoy the off day Yankees family!

4/15/16:

Yankees option RHP Luis Cessa to Triple-A. Yankees call up LHP Tyler Olson.

4/16/16:

Yankees option LHP Tyler Olson to Triple-A. Yankees call up RHP Branden Pinder.

4/22/16:

Branden Pinder placed on the 15 day DL with an elbow strain that would eventually lead to Tommy John surgery. Nick Goody has been called up in his place.

Help Wanted: Scranton Shuttle Members

So I was walking down the street in front of Yankee Stadium this week when I saw a help wanted poster outside reading "Help Wanted." Me needing a job like I do I immediately checked it out hoping I could snag a job that got me into Yankee Stadium on a nightly basis and I was disappointed to read that the help wanted sign was for new members of the Scranton Shuttle.

Now this is obviously a fictitious story as I have moved to Atlanta, Georgia from the Bronx and I am very much employed but aside from that the rest is pretty accurate. I'm sure the Yankees haven't resorted to posting a sign outside of the stadium for their poor, their tired and their hungry just yet but the Scranton Shuttle is getting awfully thin nowadays.

New York has already lost Branden Pinder, Nick Rumbelow, Bryan Mitchell and Jacob Lindgren to various injuries including a pair of ulnar collateral ligament tears, a serious toe injury and yet another elbow injury for a former 2nd round pick. What's left at the Yankees disposal as far as the Scranton Shuttle goes? More than you would think actually.

The list of available relievers for New York still includes Luis Cessa, Chad Green, Tyler Olson,  and James Pazos on the 40 man roster while Richard Bleier, Tyler Cloyd, Kyle Haynes, Diego Moreno, Vinnie Pestano, Anthony Swarzak and Tyler Webb make up just a few of the options down in Triple-A with the Scranton/Wilkes Barre RailRiders.

There are plenty of more names that could be options as soon as July and by September as well. Names you may know and names you may not know. Names like James Kaprielian, Brady Lail, Daniel Camarena, Cale Coshow, Ronald Herrera, Mark Montgomery, Evan Rutckyj, Matt Tracy and Miguel Sulbaran to name a few.

Injuries suck but don't sleep on the Yankees, their bullpen and the whole Scranton Shuttle just yet.

Injury Update: Pinder Opts for Tommy John Surgery

After an MRI Saturday revealed a torn UCL in RHP Branden Pinder's right elbow, Yankees' manager told the media that the 27-year-old reliever would have to decide between rehabbing the injury and surgery. It was announced Monday night that Pinder has decided to undergo TJ surgery to repair the tear, effectively ending his season. Although Masahiro Tanaka had success rehabbing a partial UCL tear in 2015, surgery is the more common approach, so this isn't much of a surprise. Pinder's surgery is scheduled for today, so at least he can begin recuperating as soon as possible.

The loss of Pinder and fellow Triple-A reliever Nick Rumbelow for the season is a serious blow to the organization's bullpen depth. The team made a move to address this by signing former Yankee Phil Coke to a minor league contract yesterday. The imminent return of Aroldis Chapman from suspension should also provide some relief.

Image Source: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images North America

James Kaprielian placed on MiLB DL with elbow inflammation

Yankees' top pitching prospect James Kaprielian landed on the minor league disabled list Monday with inflammation in his right elbow. Kaprielian, who had been pitching for High-A Tampa, was the team's first round pick (16th overall) in last year's amateur draft. The team announced that the injury will be "treated conservatively," and rightly so, considering this type of issue if often the precursor to the dreaded TJ surgery. The plan is to have Kap rest and eventually begin a throwing program, but at the moment the organization declined to offer a timetable for his return.

This is a crushing blow not just because of Kaprielian's prominence as a prospect, but because he had a legitimate chance to step into the rotation in the second half if everything went smoothly. One of the most attractive aspects of Kaprielian as a draft choice was that he's basically a finished product. He was expected by many to receive a brief tuneup at each level on his way up the ladder and reach the big leagues by August assuming there were no obstacles. This injury completely throws that possibility out the window. Even if the inflammation subsides with rest, the best case scenario, he will be treated with kid gloves and likely have a fairly cautious workload.

Even worse, Kaprielian had been far exceeding expectations in his early work as a professional. He's reportedly been sitting in the 97-99 range with his fastball, an insane jump from the 88-92 offering he had in college. In his first three starts, he's struck out 22 and walked just three in 18 innings of work, allowing just three earned runs.

Elbow issues have become something of an epidemic among Yankees' farmhands in the early going, with Jacob Lindgren, Nick Rumbelow, Branden Pinder, Domingo German, and Ty Hensley among those dealing with one.

Image Source: Elsa/Getty Images North America

Reliever Jacob Lindgren Placed on DL with Elbow Injury

Source: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images North America

Jacob Lindgren, the Yankees second round pick in the 2014 draft, was placed on the disabled list by the High-A Tampa Yankees Saturday with an undisclosed elbow injury. It’s been a disappointing start to the year for Lindgren, who went from an early favorite to break camp in the New York bullpen to being demoted in the first round of roster cuts in spring training. Ranked the 11th best prospect in the organization by MLB.com, Lindgren missed the second half of 2015 following elbow surgery in June.

 He was never known for having strong control, but it’s been abysmal in the last two months. Lindgren walked nine batters and hit one in his seven innings of work for Tampa. A lingering issue with his elbow would be a welcome explanation for his struggles. Lindgren’s pure stuff has been as good as advertised since the team drafted him. He combines a mid-90’s heater with an absolutely filthy wipeout slider. The only thing holding him back from becoming a late inning option for New York is his control.

 The team hasn’t released any information as to the extent of the injury, but hopefully this is not another TJ surgery. Four prominent Yankees’ MiLB arms have suffered torn UCLs in the past month, including Nick Rumbelow, Branden Pinder, Domingo German, and Ty Hensley.

Branden Pinder Considering Tommy John Surgery to Repair UCL Tear

An MRI revealed Saturday that RHP Branden Pinder has a partially torn UCL in his right elbow. No decision has been made yet, but he will likely undergo Tommy John surgery to repair the tear. Even if he opts for rehab, Pinder will almost certainly be shelved for the 2016 season. If he does choose the surgery route, it's possible he will not return until June of 2017, and that's assuming everything goes well.

Pinder was called up last week to replace LHP Tyler Olson. He's only made one appearance for the Yankees this season, giving up two runs in a rocky eighth inning in Wednesday's 5-2 loss to the Athletics. This news comes less than two weeks after it was announced fellow reliever Nick Rumbelow will also miss the 2016 campaign with a UCL tear. Pitching prospects Domingo German and Ty Hensley are two more Yanks who have undergone Tommy John in the past month.

While New York still have more bullpen depth than most clubs, it is considerably thinner than it was coming out of spring training. Pinder and Rumbelow were perhaps the two most successful members of the "Scranton Shuttle" in 2015. Missing an entire season when you are on the cusp of establishing yourself as a major league regular is a nasty blow. RHP Nick Goody was called up Friday to replace Pinder on the 25 man roster. A decision on the TJ surgery should be announced in the next day or two.

Yankees Off Day Update on the Scranton Shuttle

The New York Yankees may have found a new untapped strategy with their bullpen and what I like to refer to as the Scranton Shuttle. New York over the past calendar year has exploited their 40 man roster a bit by consistently moving players in and out of their bullpen to always have a fresh arm to burn out on any given night. We saw it a ton last season with a pitcher coming up for a game to  throw two or three innings only to head back down to Scranton the very next day for a fresh arm for Joe Girardi to use and abuse.

We didn't show this too much attention last season so this season I wanted to take advantage of slow news days or even Yankees off days to keep a running tally on the Scranton Shuttle just for informational purposes only. Keep it bookmarked because we're going to be updating it all the time.

4/15/16:

Yankees option RHP Luis Cessa to Triple-A. Yankees call up LHP Tyler Olson.

4/16/16:

Yankees option LHP Tyler Olson to Triple-A. Yankees call up RHP Branden Pinder.

TGP Prospects Month Top 29 Prospects - #24 Nick Rumbelow

The New York Yankees had a bit of a revolving door in their bullpen last season and many products of their farm system made their MLB debut's out of said bullpen. Branden Pinder was used the most and Caleb Cotham probably took the most off the chin while Nick Goody and James Pazos were used sparingly down the stretch. Possibly the two most important pieces in that revolving door I like to call the Scranton Shuttle were Jacob Lindgren and today's showcase prospect Nick Rumbelow.

Rumbelow was drafted in the 7th round of the 2013 MLB First Year Players Draft by the Yankees out of LSU where he was used predominantly as a relief pitcher. In less than two seasons Rumbelow was making his MLB debut and showcasing his strikeout stuff and stellar command for all in the Bronx to see.

Rumbelow is expecting to see a lot of time in the Yankees bullpen this season and could conceivably win a job out of spring training. This is likely the last time we will see Rumbelow on a Top Prospects list since he will likely exceed his innings pitched limit in 2016 so enjoy it while you can.

24. Nick Rumbelow
25.Jordan Montgomery
26.Trey Amburgey
27. Ben Gamel
28. Austin DeCarr
29. Thairo Estrada
30. James Pazos

Predicting the New York Yankees Bullpen

The New York Yankees bullpen has the possibility of being absolutely ridiculous in 2015, but in a good way. Aroldis Chapman, even with a suspension, will be the Yankees closer for the season while some combination of Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances will pitch behind him in the 7^th and 8^th innings respectively. Behind this three headed monster will be a collection of arms drawn from an ever growing pool of pitchers that were either under contract from previous seasons or acquired in trades this offseason. Either way this is going to be one heck of a prediction post to land down since there will be so many moving parts but I’m going to go ahead anyway and take a stab at predicting the Yankees bullpen that breaks spring training camp this season.

Aroldis Chapman

Andrew Miller

Dellin Betances

Chasen Shreve

James Pazos

Nick Rumbelow

Bryan Mitchell

Ivan Nova

I’m not entirely sold on Kirby Yates although he is right-handed in what is looking to be a very left-handed heavy middle relief core for the Yankees. I honestly don’t know much about the acquisitions of Tyler Olson or what the likes of Anthony Swarzak can bring but I do know that the Yankees need another right-handed arm in that pen. Olson throws left-handed and Swarzak, unless he dominates this spring, is not on the 40 man roster leaving Nick Goody, Nick Rumbelow and Branden Pinder vying for possibly one spot, maybe two. 

I would personally have Jacob Lindgren on my roster but I feel like, again barring a spectacular spring, the Yankees will want him back down in Triple-A to start the season to ease back into things after elbow surgery. For that reason James Pazos will get the shot, the Yankees and manager Joe Girardi love their LOOGY’s, while Nick Rumbelow wins the final spot up for grabs. It could be Goody and it could be Pinder, honestly Pinder was used more often than any of them while Goody was used the most sparingly, but I’m going with my gut on this one and I’m going with Rumbelow, right or wrong. 

Those are my predictions, what are yours? Leave them below in the comments section!

Quick List of Yankees DFA Candidates

The New York Yankees 40 man roster is now full to capacity after the trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers that sent Rob Segedin out west and two recently designated for assignment players, Ronald Torreyes and Tyler Olson, back to the Bronx. It seems unlikely that New York would but if the Yankees want to add another arm to the squad or a final bench piece to the team before Spring Training that means they are going to have to clear out a roster space. Now that roster space can either come via trade, for instance a Brett Gardner for Gio Gonzalez trade with the Nationals where they swap 40 man roster spots, or it can come via the DFA.

Luckily for the Yankees they have a few options that they can DFA if the need for a 40 man roster spot comes up. Here is a quick list that I personally compiled so if I missed someone or if I’m completely off base with another please leave it below in the comments section. Thank you.

Mason Williams

Slade Heathcott

Kirby Yates

Nick Rumbelow

Nick Goody

Branden Pinder

Austin Romine

Having both Heathcott and Williams on the 40 man may seem redundant to some when you consider that Ben Gamel, Dustin Ackley and Aaron Hicks are there as well, so one if not both could conceivably be DFA’d if necessary. Neither would be likely to return. The same redundancy, for lack of a better term, can be seen in the pitching department. I would hate to lose Nick Rumbelow, Branden Pinder, Nick Goody or one of those bullpen arms but this is now becoming a numbers game. Plus these guys have a better chance of clearing and coming back than say Heathcott or Williams. Austin Romine may also lose to out to the numbers game since New York does not need three catchers on the roster and have plenty of depth behind him. Romine may actually be the least likely to return on the list because of his MLB readiness but it is worth mentioning that the young Yankees catcher is also out of minor league options meaning he has to make the team, which seems unlikely, or face waiver and a DFA for the second straight season. 

Looking at the Yankees Bullpen w/ Aroldis Chapman

This time last week the New York Yankees bullpen was suspect, thin and for the first time in a long time a question mark. What a difference a week makes now that Aroldis Chapman was acquired to give the Yankees a three-headed monster at the back end of the bullpen. The Yankees went from having just two trusted bullpen arms to having one of the best bullpens in the league and potentially in Major League history. How does that bullpen look now that Chapman is anchoring it? So glad you asked:

CP: Aroldis Chapman

SU: Andrew Miller

SU: Dellin Betances

RP: Chasen Shreve

RP: Nick Rumbelow / Nick Goody / James Pazos / Branden Pinder / Jacob Lindgren

RP: Bryan Mitchell

LR: Ivan Nova

The Yankees once again have a ton of legitimate options and not enough spots to fill them all. Chapman, Miller, Betances, Mitchell and Nova almost seem like locks at this point although Mitchell could begin the season I Triple-A getting stretched out in case the Yankees need another starter. That leaves a laundry list of options for one (potentially two) spots in the bullpen that is headed by Nick Rumbelow, Nick Goody, James Pazos, Branden Pinder and the forgotten one Jacob Lindgren. 

The 2015 TGP Awards

Welcome ladies and gentleman to the second annual The Greedy Pinstripes Award Show live from Yankee Stadium. We're going to be doing things a little bit differently this time around and we're not going to be handing out the traditional awards. We already know who the MVP is and who the Cy Young and Rookie of the Year Award candidates were for 2015. Those are given out by the BBWAA and the IBWAA, here at The Greedy Pinstripes we have a different set of awards to be given out.

The first award of the night is the "Andruw Jones" award for the player we are likely to rather see elsewhere by June of 2016. This is in no way, shape or form meant to be a slap in the face or an insult, sometimes the team and the fans are going in two totally different directions and the fans want what the fans want. The nominees are Carlos Beltran, Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia and Aroldis Chapman. And the winner is..... Carlos Beltran!

Beltran should be decent with the bat but his defense in right field and his throwing arm out there is not getting any better. In fact it is only going to get worse the more mileage that gets put on those knees and right shoulder. Beltran was not here to accept the award on his own behalf.

The next award is called the "Scranton Shuttle" award and it will go to the player we think made the most trips back and forth between Scranton and the Major Leagues in 2015. The nominees are Caleb Cotham, Branden Pinder, Nick Goody, Nick Rumbelow and Chris Capuano. And the winner is, with 25 appearances in the MLB bullpen and the man who began the Scranton Shuttle in 2015, Mr. Branden Pinder.

Pinder was the first arm to begin the process of coming up, pitching a night, and going back down. Many did it before him but he was continuously called back to the majors when his 10-day window expired. Pinder was out of the country using his frequent flyer miles he built up during the 2015 season and was unavailable to accept the award on his own behalf. 

And the final award of the night goes to the player who got the greediest during the 2015 season. We call it the "Get Greedy" Award and it's the big one of the night. The nominees are CC Sabathia who will make the most in salary with $25 million, Jacoby Ellsbury who is making over $21 million next season and looking to bounce back from a tough 2015 season, Mark Teixeira who will go for the "contract year" in 2016 before hitting free agency presumably for the final time in his career or the entire Yankees bullpen who will likely throw more innings combined than the starting rotation in 2016. And the winner is... the Yankees bullpen!

None of Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller, Dellin Betances, Ivan Nova, Chasen Shreve, James Pazos and the rest of the crew could be here but the bullpen is expected to take on a lot of the load in 2016. Chapman will likely close before hitting free agency next season while Andrew Miller becomes the best 8th inning man in the game. In the 7th, and most times the 6th inning as well, Dellin Betances will be the fire man and the multi-inning reliever while Chasen Shreve, Branden Pinder, James Pazos, Ivan Nova and others compete for the rest of the innings that the starters can't give the team. 

Thank you for coming out to the second annual Greedy Pinstripes Award Show! Happy New Years everybody!

Predictions for the Yankees 25 Man Roster: Pitching

Earlier we took a stab at predicting the 25 man roster for the offense after the Starlin Castro trade with the Chicago Cubs but the pitching took a hit as well. Not only did the Yankees trade Adam Warren to Chicago in the trade that brought Castro back to the Yankees but New York also made another trade during the winter meetings. Yankees GM Brian Cashman sent left-handed relief pitcher Justin Wilson to the Detroit Tigers for a pair of pitching prospects while his bullpen and roster shakeup continued. How will that affect the Yankees in 2016?

SP: Masahiro Tanaka

SP: Luis Severino

SP: Michael Pineda

SP: Nathan Eovaldi

SP: CC Sabathia

CP: Andrew Miller

SU: Dellin Betances

RP: Chasen Shreve

RP: Jacob Lindgren

RP: Branden Pinder

RP: Bryan Mitchell

LR: Ivan Nova

The Brandon Pinder and Jacob Lindgren positions are subject to change and are likely to be a revolving door in 2016. Caleb Cotham, Nick Rumbelow or Nick Goody could easily pitch there instead of Pinder while Tyler Webb or James Pazos could make strides and pass up Lindgren in Spring Training to secure the spot. The other spots seem pretty much etched in stone, even Andrew Miller's spot in my opinion. At some point trading too much bullpen help will become a thing and New York just about there. Miller stays and the youth movement continues while the team tries to contend next season.

The New Pecking Order in the Yankees Bullpen

The New York Yankees rebuild on the fly mission continued through the Winter Meetings and will likely continue all winter long if Brian Cashman has his way. The Yankees have traded away a ton of innings out of their bullpen already with the Adam Warren and Justin Wilson trades all while trading two of their most trusted relief pitchers in the process. A new pecking order or totem pole is being established in the Yankees bullpen and on paper it’s far from the super bullpen that Cashman set out to build and emulate just a few season’s ago. 

Andrew Miller is still here for now holding down the 9^th inning while Dellin Betances seems like a lock for the 8^th inning but what else? Presuming the Yankees bring a 12 man pitching staff with them to Yankee Stadium on Opening Day there are five bullpen slots wide open right now in the Bronx. Bryan Mitchell likely fills one of those roles, although not likely the 7^th inning role, while Ivan Nova leads the charge for the long relief role but what about the other three? Take your pick I guess, remember the Scranton Shuttle we all saw in 2015? 

Fresh arms like Nick Goody, Nick Rumbelow, James Pazos, Caleb Cotham, Branden Pinder and Jacob Lindgren to name a few were called upon more times than most to fill the void in the Yankees bullpen. The best arm, in my opinion, out of the bunch here is Lindgren and he will likely earn a spot if healthy. Remember Lindgren has bone spurs removed from his elbow last season and missed the second half of the year after looking good in a small sample size earlier in the season. Chasen Shreve is also likely to get a spot out of spring training and will likely slide into the 7^th inning role for Joe Girardi. There is evidence that his downfall last season was due to fatigue (release point issues, over throwing, etc.) and not mechanics or injury so it’s also very likely that he returns to his first half form in 2016. 

Two more slots for a whole lot of arms. Obviously Brian Cashman could flip prospects for another relief pitcher, Drew Storen maybe, but as of right now you have to think that James Pazos gets a roster spot as well as Branden Pinder. These two were used more often than any others in their short time on the roster and both did exceptionally well when called upon. It’s hard to work your way into the Circle of Trust and one bad outing can get you out of that circle but both men were on the postseason roster in 2015 and both men seem to have earned the respect of the manager, which goes far here in New York. 

So there you have it. The Yankees bullpen, as of today, will consist of Andrew Miller, Dellin Betances, James Pazos, Branden Pinder, Chasen Shreve, Ivan Nova and Bryan Mitchell. That’s far from the super bullpen that Brian Cashman reached for in multiple offseason’s but it could definitely get the job done in my opinion. It will take a lot of mixing and matching and bullpen management but that is one of the few areas where Joe Girardi excels.