Former Yankees Update : DJ Mitchell

The forgotten guy that the Yankees gave up, DJ Mitchell,for Ichiro Suzuki this July has been designated for assignment today to make room for the recently signed and former Yankee Raul Ibanez. I do not think the Yankees would take a waiver on him unless they could stash him in AAA but it is a slow news day so it was worth noting. I was always a fan of DJ Mitchell and compared him a lot to Ramiro Mendoza of the 90's dynasty teams.

Yankees Acquire Ichiro Suzuki

MLB Network just broke the news that the New York Yankees, playing in Seattle tonight, have acquired Ichiro Suzuki for 2 minor league pitchers. More details to come when they become available.

DJ Mitchell and Danny Farquhar look like the two pitchers that are going to Seattle. I absolutely HATE losing DJ Mitchell for Ichiro but he is what he is... a bullpen arm. We have plenty of those available in the minor leagues.

The Yankees are also apparently getting cash in return for Ichiro who is in the final year of his contract. This year Ichiro is set to make $17 million this year but that will obviously be pro rated since we will get less then half a season of Ichiro. MLBTR is reporting that the Yankees will be getting "significant" money back in the deal.

The big issue is does Ichiro wear Bernie William's number 51? Stay tuned...

According to Joel Sherman, The Yankees are only on hook for $2 million of Ichiro's remaining salary for the rest of this season.

DeWayne Wise has been designated for assignment (DFA) to make room for Ichiro on the 25 man roster which means Ichiro will be active for TONIGHT'S GAME!! I fully expect Ichiro to bat in the 9 spot for the Yankees and play RF for now while Swisher is out and will play LF for the rest of the season while Brett Gardner is out.

David Phelps Called Up, DJ Mitchell Sent Down

The Yankees called up David Phelps from AAA Empire State Yankees late yesterday and sent down DJ Mitchell to make room on the roster. Phelps has been absolutely dealing down in the minor leagues and DJ Mitchell has not been used very much since being in the Yankees pen. I wish the Yankees would let Phelps start in place of Freddy Garcia tonight in Oakland but I do not see that happening. 

What scares me about this whole deal is I wonder if this is just a showcase for a July trade for a Justin Upton or Shane Victorino or someone like that. I sure do like David Phelps and I would hate to see him go but for Justin Upton I would survive.

Who Is In... Who Is Out?

Today being another off day got me thinking just what the Yankees are going to do when all of their current disabled and DL'd players come back to action. The Yankees have quite an impressive list of players on the DL currently including Brett Gardner, Mariano Rivera, CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte, Joba Chamberlain, David Aardsma, and some other guys that we do not expect to see this year. The 40 man roster is full... what do we do?

Let us start with Joba Chamberlain who just got off of an ankle surgery after a freak trampoline accident and a tommy john surgery. He threw his first rehab game pitching 1 IP with 2 K's and an unearned run. The most important part, to me, was the 97 mph. We have not seen that kind of velocity since he was a dominant set up man for Mariano Rivera. Who goes down when Joba makes it all the way back to the majors? If you ask me today, and I know I am going to shock some people, but I say DJ Mitchell will go back down to AAA Empire State Yankees. I know a lot of people think Chad Qualls was just keeping the seat warm for Joba but he has pitched very effectively in a ROOGY kind of position. I like his veteran leadership and I love matchups in the pen. That is why Rapada stays for me and keeps me two left handers in the bullpen. Do not get me wrong I love what I see out of DJ Mitchell but he is a young guy and has plenty of time to make the pen out of spring training next season.

Brett Gardner has played a total of nine games this season to the tune of 28 at bats. He has been battling an elbow injury and elbow setback after elbow setback. The Yankees really "need" his speed and presence in the lineup, if anything to get Raul Ibanez back on the bench where he belongs. We currently are carrying 6 outfielders because of the lack of need of a 5th starter right before and right after the All Star break. We will not have five when Gardner comes back, which is slated to be in late July. I expect that Darnell McDonald be cut and David Phelps to be called back up, now fully stretched out and dominating AA batters, to fill the starting spot for Andy Pettitte or long man spot for Freddy Garcia. DeWayne Wise has been a pleasant surprise for the Yankees this season and some even say that he may have turned the Yankees season around... but when Brett Gardner comes back he is going to be DFA'd.

I do not expect Mariano Rivera to pitch again this season after tearing his ACL shagging fly balls in the outfield. Even with a partial tear it will still be tough after sitting and waiting for about a month to get rid of a blood clot and reduce swelling before he even had surgery. Also the fact that it would be a September comeback anyway means the rosters would be expanded so we would not need to make a roster move. My question is what do we do, saying he comes back and is healthy and effective, come playoff time? I would have to think that Clay Rapada , as of today, would have to lose his roster spot and we keep Qualls, Joba, and co. This is probably all wishful thinking though.

If David Aardsma can get good news from his little set back and fully come back from tommy john surgery and be healthy then we have a cluster and a big "problem" in our bullpen. That means with Joba back, assuming anyway, that someone who is very effective would have to go down. I mean I guess we could push him back till September when the rosters expand but that is no fun to speculate about. Would a very effective and big surprise in Cody Eppley be sent down? This is certainly a good problem to have.

The Yankees do not really need to make any moves in this years July 31st trade deadline. The Yankees have an ace, a #2 starter, a dominant closer, a dominant (at times) set up relief pitcher, and an all star caliber speed demon of a left fielder coming off the DL soon in reserve. All the Yankees have to do is get healthy and they will add more to their team then any team will at this year's trading deadline.

Roster Moves and Rotation News

Well, we finally got what we've been asking for for weeks. Sort of.

Freddy Garcia has been moved to the bullpen. However, Girardi didn't say who will replace Sweaty in the rotation. It could be David Phelps, who's thrown 17.2 innings this season to an ERA of 3.57 and WHIP of 1.075. But that wasn't the only move the team made today, as Cody Eppley was sent down to AAA and DJ Mitchell was called up to take his place.

Mitchell has started four games for the Empire State Yankees, with a 2-1 record and an ERA of 3.13. In 23 innings DJ has allowed 13 hits and 7 walks, giving him a WHIP of only 0.87. Even better is the fact he's struck out 21 batters, giving him a 3:1 K/BB ratio. So he could be the man to take the 5th rotation spot, instead of Phelps.

I'll be looking out to see whether DJ pitches today, as that could let us know what will happen on Thursday... which would have been the day of Garcia's next start.

EDIT: As per Joe Girardi's announcement, David Phelps will be taking Freddy Garcia's rotation spot.

Tigers @ Yankees 4/28

UPDATE:

Freddy Garcia got shelled again, and did not get out of the 2nd inning again. Pitching 1.2 IP, and giving up 6 ER, Garcia is doing nothing at this point but hurting this team. I believe I was one of the few calling for concern when we signed him saying that the league, and especially the AL East, would have to catch up to his junk ball routine. I'm just saying... David Phelps. DJ Mitchell as the long man in the pen, and get rid of this bum. 

I Suck At This Game

After a wild night, and a great game by the way if anyone missed it,  of back and forth offensive baseball mixed in with great Yankees bullpen pitching the same two teams will go head to head again at the stadium. Today , at 4:05 pm ET, Freddy Garcia will face off against Drew Smyly in the second game of this three game set.

The question I have is will Freddy Garcia throw more wild pitches today or give up more home runs? I hate to be pessimistic, especially being a blogger AND a fan, but how can you have any confidence in Garcia at this point?

Here is the lineup:

Derek Jeter DH
Nick Swisher RF
Robinson Cano 2B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Mark Teixeira 1B
Curtis Granderson CF
Andruw Jones LF
Russell Martin C
Eduardo Nunez SS

Joba's Loss Is Not Massive

I haven't heard anybody say they're worried about David Robertson since he suffered a bone bruise on his right/push-off foot about 2 weeks ago. Not that they should have been. However, just in case, I wanted to pass along a report from ESPN.com that David Robertson threw 29 pitches in a simulated inning Friday morning. And he'll apparently throw in a Spring Training game sometime next week.

With the loss of Joba Chamberlain, possibly forever, I'll be keeping a close eye on David Robertson. Although I'm not really worried about the bullpen (read my post about the Joba news here), there is a small chance Rafael Soriano opts out of his contract after this season, Rivera retires, leaving Robertson as the top reliever.

I may not be a prospect hugger like our good friend, Burch, but I believe the minors offers somebody that could take over a key roll in the 'pen. Whether or not that's Dellin Betances, who some believe is a future reliever rather than a future starter, or somebody else, there's a lot of talent to choose from.

CC Sabathia is signed through 2016 (with an option for 2017), Michael Pineda is under team control through 2016, Ivan Nova is under team control through 2016, and Manny Banuelos looks like he could help the Yankee rotation right now (even if he started this season in New York, he'd be under team control through 2017). So there may only be one rotation spot for Dellin Betances, Adam Warren, David Phelps, DJ Mitchell, Jose Campos, etc. So the bullpen will have a number of options to fill in where needed.

Strange seeing me talk about prospects helping the big club in the future, huh? Just don't expect me to talk like that when it comes to starters or everyday hitters.

Austin Romine & DJ Mitchell Win Kevin Lawn Awards for 2011

Austin Romine was the Yankees minor league system's best hitter by winning the 2011 Kevin Lawn award for hitting. This is his second time winning the award, the first time being in 2009. In AA affiliate Trenton (and a short call up to AAA Scranton and an even shorter time up in the show) he posted a .332 wOBA (weighted on base) in route to the award.

DJ Mitchell was the Yankees minor league system's best pitcher for the 2011 season and won the 2011 Kevin Lawn award for pitching. This was actually surprising for me because he pitches in the same rotation as Adam Warren and David Phelps, although he was injured, and still brought home the award.

The Pettitte News Confuses Me

I didn't plan on writing again until Monday, as I traveled out of town for St. Patrick's Day, but I had to chime in regarding Andy Pettitte returning to the Yankees.

On the surface this is awesome news. Andy Pettitte has been a key part of 5 World Championships for the Bombers, and put up a 3.98 ERA in 405 starts (2535.2 innings pitched) for them over 13 seasons. And even though he only threw 129 innings in 2010, Pettitte did give up only 4 runs in 14 innings (2 starts) in the postseason (if the Yankees could have figured out Cliff Lee at all Pettitte may have won both of those starts). So it's hard to be upset by the news.

But I'm still confused by this.

The Yankees certainly don't need another starter. We already have Phil Hughes or Freddy Garcia lined up to be the #5 starter. And that right there already has concerns attached to it, as Freddy has very limited experience out of the bullpen (4 out of 2076.1 innings in his career), and many (myself included) want to see Hughes get another shot as a starter. So bringing Andy into the equation causes more issues than it solves.

Now, I readily admit that having too much pitching is never a bad thing. A team is much better off having too many options to choose from, as injury or ineffectiveness is bound to come up somewhere. But what about the AAA guys?

The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Empire State Yankees rotation is already set with Manny Banuelos, Dellin Betances, David Phelps, Adam Warren, and DJ Mitchell. There's a chance that Pettitte is put into the MLB rotation, Garcia is in the bullpen, and Hughes (who has an minor-league option remaining) is sent to AAA. Which would bump one of the previous 5 guys down to AA. That wouldn't be a horrible thing, but I believe each of those pitchers should be working in AAA to prepare for a possible spot in the MLB rotation in 2013.

Andy Pettitte could also mean Freddy Garcia is traded. But what could the Yankees really get for him? Freddy should get the team something useful, as Garcia showed last year that he's still got plenty to offer a team's pitching staff, but the idea that the Yanks could just deal him doesn't exactly excite me. It's not like the Yankees could get Andre Ethier in return for Sweaty Freddy.

Look, the move is not awful by any means, but it's hard to grasp what the Yankees were thinking. Well, it's hard to grasp what they were thinking beyond "it's Andy f'n Pettitte, if he wants to pitch we're going to bring him back".

Mitchell in '13?

I'm not the prospect guy around here. In fact, we go outside of TGP in order to post information on them. But I would like to point out something that I've noticed this spring...

DJ Mitchell finished 14th in our Top 20 Prospect list (behind Banuelos, Betances, Campos, Warren, and Phelps), he finished 16th in River Ave Blue's Top Prospect list (behind Banuelos, Betances, Campos, Warren, Phelps, and Marshall), and DJ was 16th according to Kevin Goldstein at Baseball Prospectus (behind Banuelos, Betances, Campos, Marshall, and Warren). But so far this spring it's Mitchell that's the one impressing me the most.

I know, Spring Training stats don't mean a whole heck of a lot. But it's hard not to be impressed by his 7 innings this spring, in which he's given up a batting average against of .130 and WHIP of .71. What's stood out to me the most is that he's using a cutter, to go along with three other pitches (fastball, changeup, and curveball).

In 161.1 innings last season Mitchell had an ERA of 3.18 and WHIP of 1.351. His 6.2 K/9 is not going to blow people away, and neither will his BB/9 of 3.5, but there's a chance that DJ Mitchell is in the Yankee rotation to start 2013, instead of some other names that have been discussed well before him.