Yankees Settle All Arbitration-Eligible Cases...

New deals for the 9 Arb-Eligible Yankees…

ESPN MLB Insider Jeff Passan set the stage for the chaotic day yesterday when he tweeted: “Your Twitter feeds are going to be deluged today. Between now and this afternoon, 155 arbitration-eligible players will either agree upon salaries for the 2020 season or exchange desired salary numbers with teams. It’s always an extraordinarily hectic day for players and teams.” He was right. When the dust settled, all but 20 players had agreed to salary deals. Fortunately, none of those guys were Yankees as all nine players settled with the team. 

With visions of Yankees Team President Randy Levine spiking a figurative football a few years ago when the Yankees beat Dellin Betances in arbitration, I am glad the team avoided the ugly confrontation with their players again this year. 

For the arb-eligible Yankees, here are the results. The figures in parentheses are the projections per MLB Trade Rumors:

·      James Paxton, $12.5 million ($12.9M)

·      Aaron Judge, $8.5 million ($6.4M)

·      Gary Sanchez, $5 million ($5.6M)

·      Tommy Kahnle, $2.65 million ($3.0M)

·      Gio Urshela, $2.475 million ($2.2M)

·      Chad Green, $1.275 million ($1.4M)

·      Luis Cessa, $895,000 ($1.1M)

·      Jordan Montgomery, $805,000 ($1.2M)

·      Jonathan Holder, $750,000 ($800K)

I’d say the Yankees did a very good job bringing resolution to these cases. The only player who made significantly more than his projection was Aaron Judge and there’s no doubt he is worth the money, if not more. No doubt he would have made much more on the agreement if he had not missed so much time last year. Not sure he would have matched Cody Bellinger’s record first-year arbitration salary of $11.5 million considering Cody’s MVP year, but he would have been close as arguably the Yankees’ best position player. 

Photo Credit: Mike Ehrmann, Getty Images

Jeff Passan also reported the following players did not settle and, barring agreements between now and then, are expected to go to arbitration hearings:

·      Jesus Aguilar

·      Nick Ahmed

·      Pedro Baez

·      Andrew Benintendi

·      Jose Berrios

·      Archie Bradley

·      Aledmys Diaz

·      Brian Goodwin

·      Shane Greene

·      Josh Hader

·      Max Muncy

·      Hector Neris

·      Joc Pederson

·      J.T. Realmuto

·      Eduardo Rodriguez

·      George Springer

·      Trevor Story

·      Brent Suter

·      Chris Taylor

·      Tony Wolters

The Los Angeles Dodgers, a team that historically settles with their arb-eligible players, really stick out on this list. So do the Boston Red Sox who did settle with much rumored trade candidate Mookie Betts for $27 million. It really makes me appreciate the Yankees for ensuring agreements with all of their players. Happy Yankees make for happy Yankee fans.  

No big news for the Yankees so far in the new year, player-wise anyway. They did sign former Colorado Rockies catcher Chris Iannetta this week to a minor league deal with the presumed Spring Training invitation. Iannetta was released by the Rockies last August. He’s clearly a depth signing as I hold no expectation he’ll beat out Kyle Higashioka for backup catching duties but he does help to provide support if either Gary Sanchez or Higgy go down with injuries. I like the thought of Iannetta better than the recently re-signed Erik Kratz. 

Iannetta, who will be 37 shortly after the start of the season, has clearly seen his better days. Steamer projects him to play 60 games with 2 home runs and 7 RBIs, batting .218/.314/.402, .304 wOBA and 88 wRC+. In other words, pray for good health behind the plate.

There was a part of me hoping for a reunion with catcher John Ryan Murphy despite his underwhelming performance with the bat since he left the Yankees. He is no longer an option after signing a minor league deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates yesterday. Hard to believe that Murphy is still only 28. Pittsburgh is probably a good place for him to land since the Pirates seem to have a way of resurrecting former Yankee backup catchers. 

The Yankees also signed former Los Angeles Angels starter Nick Tropeano, a Long Island native, to a minor league deal. Tropeano, 29, a righty, is presumably depth for Triple A. While he showed promise for the Angels a few years ago, he’s never been the same since undergoing Tommy John surgery in August 2016. Last year, he gave up 15 runs in 13 2/3 innings at the Major League level for the Halos. He took his only loss last July in a dreadful start against the Baltimore Orioles when he was hammered for 7 runs in five innings. Here’s hoping for greater success with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. He does carry an infamous stat. He’s the only pitcher to record a one-pitch strikeout.  He was pitching in Double A for the Houston Astros affiliate in August 2013. In the sixth inning of a game against the A’s affiliate, the batter, Vinnie Catricala, took a pitch he thought was outside. When the ump called strike, Catricala stepped out of the batter’s box to protest the call. The umpire, Ron Teague, invoking a little known rule, called an automatic strike. When Catricala didn’t step back into the box as instructed by Teague, the ump called him out by strikeout. Tropeano, with one pitch, observed the strikeout while standing on the pitching mound.  It’s something the game may never see again. For Catricala, the total of 9.4 seconds out of the batter’s box combined with his arguing, earned him an ejection from the game.    

While I still expect the Yankees to trade RHP J.A. Happ and most, if not all, of his contract, Happ who wore #33 in Toronto with the Blue Jays, dropped #34 this week to take Greg Bird’s vacated number. The Yankees still need to clear room on the 40-man roster once the Brett Gardner deal becomes official. Not sure what is taking so long. At first, I thought the holidays were the obstacle but at this point, it must be about clearing space on the roster. Who knows. I am sure it will be official before Gardy has to report to Tampa next month. If the Yankees had to drop someone right now, my vote would be for Stephen Tarpley. But for luxury tax purposes, the best case scenario is to move Happ’s money to open a spot for Gardy. I have full confidence in Jordan Montgomery as the team’s fifth starter.

I think the Yankees will continue to look for clever minor league signings (the low cost/high reward variety). Although they’ve been heavily criticized this off-season for their inactivity, I liked the Los Angeles Dodgers signing of former Milwaukee Brewers starter Jimmy Nelson. Granted, Nelson may never be the pitcher he once was, but I thought it was a good risk to take. There was a time that Nelson represented the hope of the Brewers starting rotation until he was derailed by injuries. Nelson is only 30 and he’s someone that I’d take a chance on. I’d like to see the Yankees find that type of deal with a pitcher who could presumably offer more than say a guy like Tropeano. As for Nelson, he is probably better suited for the bullpen at this point of his career, but he always made me think of CC Sabathia for no other reason than he wore the same number with the Brewers as CC did (#52) and is the same heighth (6’6”). For the Sabathia Stans, I am not comparing their stats or implying any close relationship. 

I fully expect to hear reports of Yankees GM Brian Cashman rummaging through dumpsters between now and February 12^th. There will be no Josh Hader or Nolan Arenado sightings in Tampa next month but there could be a few recognizable names ready to compete for roles with the team. 

For those of you arguing between Miguel Andujar and Gio Urshela, both players can co-exist on the Yankees roster. I am glad to have both and looking forward to their respective contributions. I have no desire to pick one over the other. Ultimately, Aaron Boone and his staff will make the right choices about who to play and where. I can easily see scenarios with both players in the lineup, producing and helping the Yankees in their drive to dominate the American League.

As always, Go Yankees!

A Memorable Day and Night at Yankee Stadium...

Happy Mother’s Day!  With no offense to Derek Jeter, that’s still the primary special occasion today.  So I hope it’s a wonderful Mother’s Day for all mothers in the Yankees Universe.  This is your day!  None of us would be here getting ready to celebrate Derek Jeter Night if not for you.

Congrats to Derek Jeter as he gets ready to leave a permanent reminder of his notable Yankee achievements in Monument Park.  Unless someone eventually takes number “0”, it’s the final single-digit number to be retired.  TGP’s Daniel Burch wrote a great tribute to Jeter with his latest Meet A Prospect feature yesterday so I am not going to try and reinvent the wheel.

As the number 2 begins to make its way to the Monument Park Wall, it’s hard not to remember when it was worn by the late Bobby Murcer.  Murcer wore the number when he was reacquired from the Chicago Cubs in 1979 until his release in 1983.  Bobby was a great Yankee.  I don’t really remember much of his first tour with the Yankees, but growing up in the Midwest, Murcer was constantly on TV with the Cubs.  I knew his history with the Yankees and he was a welcome addition to the 1979 Yankees which would soon be marred by one of the team’s greatest tragedies (the death of catcher Thurman Munson).  As a close friend of Munson, Murcer’s actions and words in the days following the tragic plane crash in Akron, Ohio were huge.  It was easy to see how much Murcer loved Munson and the Yankees.  We were later privileged to have Murcer as a Yankees broadcaster until his passing.

Of course, #2 recognition also has to be given to Mark Koenig who was the first Yankee to wear the number in 1929 courtesy of his spot in the lineup.  Koenig, the team’s shortstop, was part of the famed 1927 Murderer’s Row, when he batted second in front of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Bob Meusel and Tony Lazzeri.

Yankees third baseman Red Rolfe wore the number from 1931 until his retirement after the 1942 season.  

The only person to wear #2 for more years than Jeter was Frankie Crosetti.  Also a shortstop, Crosetti spent his entire 17-year playing career as a member of the Yankees.  He started wearing #2 in the final years of his playing career in 1945 and continued throughout his 20-year coaching career with the team which ended in 1968.

While Number 2 is being retired for Jeter, the number will forever carry the significant contributions of those who wore the number before the kid from Kalamazoo.  

The first game of today’s double-header begins at 2:05 pm Eastern.  The Derek Jeter Night pre-game ceremony scheduled between games will start no earlier than 6:30 pm ET.  The second game of the doubleheader will begin following the pregame ceremony but no earlier than 7:30 pm ET.  Many former teammates will be in attendance including David Cone, Tino Martinez, Hideki Matsui, Paul O’Neill, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, Gerald Williams, and Bernie Williams.  Former Yankee greats Reggie Jackson and Willie Randolph will also be there, along with Dick Groch, an area scout who signed Jeter, former Yankees head athletic trainer Gene Monahan, and Jean “Soot” Zimmer, widow of former Yankees coach Don Zimmer.  

Derek Jeter, this is your day…your night.  Enjoy!

The New York Post’s Steve Serby had a Q&A with Aaron Hicks this morning.  When asked what is the biggest criticism he’s heard that bothers him the most, he responded:  “I don’t want to be considered…I want to be a starter.  I don’t want to be a fourth outfielder.  That’s kind of something that I don’t like.  I’m better than a fourth outfielder.”  I agree 100%.  Sadly it is time for GM Brian Cashman to create the room in the outfield for Hicks to start.  Without question, I would love for the Yankees to move Jacoby Ellsbury, but that’s not happening.  So, it is back to Brett Gardner as the most marketable outfield asset for a trade.  Gardner’s recent homer binge hopefully raised his perceived value.  

Bryce Harper and the Washington Nationals agreed to a one-year $21.65 million contract for the 2018 season.  It includes a $1 million incentive if he win’s the MVP Award. The contract buys out Harper’s final year of arbitration eligibility and he maintains eligibility to become a free agent following the 2018 season.  He’s making $13.625 million this year.  To celebrate his new contract, he hit a walk-off two-run homer to beat the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday.  I am anxious to see what he does when he signs that 10-year $400 million deal with the Yankees in a couple of years.  Hal, it’s just money…

It’s not really Yankees news but Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Chris Iannetta took a fastball to the face in Friday’s action.  The pitch fractured some teeth and Iannetta’s nose, but the catcher is doing okay and hoping to avoid a DL stint.  The pitch was thrown by former Yankees prospect Johnny Barbato, who was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates earlier this year.  All the best to Iannetta with his recovery.  It could have been much worse and I am thankful it was not.  

Credit:  Mark J Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports

Have a great Mother’s Day and Derek Jeter Night!  Let’s take two!