Do Any Non-Roster Invitees Have a Shot at Making the Team?

The New York Yankees originally invited 25 non-roster players to their spring training camp this offseason with competition being the theme of the spring down at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Do any of these 25 players have a shot at being the next Johnny Barbato and making the big league club out of spring training? Let’s analyze.

First you have to think about the potential roster spots that are available and up for grabs this spring. The first position that comes to mind is the Yankees bullpen, maybe two or three slots are up for grabs, while the Yankees bench also seems wide open at this point for one or two slots.

You can immediately cross of names like Chance Adams, James Kaprielian, Jordan Montgomery, Nick Rumbelow, Justus Sheffield, Gleyber Torres and Clint Frazier for a plethora of reasons. Innings in Adams case, innings and injury concerns in Kaprielian’s case, Tommy John surgery in Rumbelow’s case, inexperience in Torres and Frazier’s case, etc. leaving 18 players vying for no more than five possible slots on the Yankees team, although that number could be as low as two spots. Who sticks out as a potential hopeful for making the team?

Ruben Tejada may make the team as a utility infielder thus pushing Ronald Torreyes back to the minor leagues or off the team entirely. The former New York Mets second baseman, still somehow just 27-years old, can play adequate defense at second base, third base and shortstop while potentially carrying a bit of a heavier stick than Torreyes and other spring hopefuls including Pete Kozma and Donovan Solano. Obviously he did not show that heavy stick in his small sample size last season with the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Francisco Giants but he has been a 2.0 WAR player twice during his career with the New York Mets showing that the talent is there. He just has to put in the work.

I have to admit that I shook my head a bit when I saw that the New York Yankees sent relief pitcher J.P. Feyereisen to the Arizona Fall League. Not because he isn’t talented or was undeserving but I guess I let my own ignorance get in the way. Once I actually sat down and did the research on the third piece that came back from the Cleveland Indians in the Andrew Miller trade I saw that Feyereisen actually had a pretty great season in Double-A this season. Feyereisen finished Double-A, presumably anyway, with a 1.70 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP with 78 strikeouts in 58.1 innings of work. Feyereisen was equally as strong in the Arizona Fall League posting a 2.57 ERA and could be at the head of the long line of pitchers looking to fill in the middle relief role for the Yankees this spring. Feyereisen, on second review, is probably my leading candidate for the job assuming he has a strong and healthy spring. Not that my opinion or vote counts for anything, but still. He has it.

And finally ladies and gentleman it’s time for my weekly plug of left-handed starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery. Because why not? I am going to continue to push him down everyone’s throats until he is in the Major Leagues because he is too talented and too close not to reach The Show in 2017, in my opinion of course. There’s nothing saying that Montgomery could not sneak in and steal one of the two Yankees starting rotation spots that could be up for grabs this spring and I’m definitely not going to be the one counting him out. Montgomery, just 24-years old, split the 2016 season between Double-A and Triple-A and seemingly has little to nothing left to prove in the minor leagues at this point. Montgomery finished the season with a 14-5 record and a 2.13 ERA and 1.20 WHIP in 139.1 innings of work while an uptick in velocity resulted in 134 total strikeouts across both leagues. Montgomery’s delivery is fluid and his command is almost pinpoint so when you think about this uptick in velocity you stop thinking about his ceiling being that of a middle-of-the-rotation type starter and you start thinking how much more he can be going forward.

You have to remember that all these men got their invites for a reason. They are young, ready and able to do the job. They just have to go out and do it and if they do they may find themselves squaring off with the Tampa Bay Rays on Opening Day 2017 in some capacity. Good luck to all three men. 

Weekly AFL Check In: Brody Koerner

You remember all that stuff I said about JP Feyereisen this morning? The whole thing about facing advanced talent and the fact that the stats aren't as important as the experience. The same applies for Brody Koerner who reached High-A Tampa this season after starting the season with the Charleston Riverdogs.

Koerner's stats are not encouraging but one must remember that he missed most of the season with an injury. It's all about innings and getting his work in right now while trying to stay healthy.

Weekly AFL Check In: J.P. Feyereisen

The New York Yankees acquired J.P. Feyereisen from the Cleveland Indians in the Andrew Miller trade and after a half season in the Yankees organization the team wanted to see more out of their new right-handed arm. For this reason the organization sent Feyereisen down to the Arizona Fall League to pitch for the Scottsdale Scorpions against some advanced talent.

Now while the stats haven't been great the sample size is small. The experience is most important.

Quick Hit: The Yankees Staff and 100 MPH

Baseball America is a wonderful site full of great baseball material to read, both behind the paywall and not. This specific article that I read over the weekend touched on the 51 minor league pitchers that threw 100 MPH or higher this season and there were more than a few Yankees that made the list.

The Yankees that made the cut were Luis Medina (100), J.P. Feyereisen (100), Freicer Perez (100), Domingo German (100), Domingo Acevedo (100), Dillon Tate (100), Daris Vargas (100), Ben Heller (100), and Anyelo Gomez (100).

That's a lot of heat. To see the entire post and list click here. 

Weekly AFL Check In: J.P. Feyereisen

The New York Yankees acquired J.P. Feyereisen from the Cleveland Indians in the Andrew Miller trade and while he has not received the same blog time and attention that Clint Frazier and Justus Sheffield have received that doesn't mean he is any less of a prospect. Feyereisen has actually pitched pretty well this season and could make an impact for the big league club as soon as the 2017 season if everything goes right. I think that has a lot to do with why he is in the Arizona Fall League right now to be completely honest, to give the Yankees an extended look.

How's he doing?

Arizona Fall League Weekly Check In: J.P Feyereisen

Same thing as before. Who is J.P Feyereisen and why is he representing the New York Yankees at the Arizona Fall League in 2016? Unlike Koerner from earlier on in the day Feyereisen had a full season in 2016 with the Akron (Cleveland Indians) and Trenton Thunder affiliates. As far as I can tell the Yankees simply want to evaluate more of what they got in return this season from the Andrew Miller trade and sent Feyereisen to the Scottsdale Scorpions to accomplish that.

Who is J.P. Feyereisen? Feyereisen is a relief pitcher that was drafted in the 16th round of the 2014 MLB First Year Players Draft by the Cleveland Indians before being traded to the Yankees in the Andrew Miller deal because the team got tired of putting his last name on their jerseys. Or something like that.

Four games pitched in with a 1-1 record and a 7.20 ERA. It's not what you want but it's a small sample size.

Yankees Fill Out Their Arizona Fall League Roster

On the final day of August the New York Yankees announced some of their Arizona Fall League representatives for the 2016 season and the roster included first baseman Greg Bird, second baseman Gleyber Torres, shortstop who is going to learn outfield Tyler Wade, third baseman Miguel Andujar and RHP Brody Koerner. At the time the Yankees had three additional roster spots filled out as “TBA’s” and we now know who at least two of those TBA’s will be.

New York announced that they will be sending RHP and former 4^th overall pick from the Texas Rangers Dillon Tate to Scottsdale to represent the Scottsdale Scorpions along with RHP J.P Feyereisen. That leaves one additional slot to be determined and many have speculated and even gone as far as to say that the spot is being left open for RHP James Kaprielian. The Yankees are hoping that Kaprielian can get his elbow healthy enough to pitch in the league to get some work in and get some innings under his belt this season.

I have to say I am extremely excited to see the addition of Tate and the potential addition of Kaprielian to the squad. Tate has shown some great things including an uptick in velocity again since coming over from Texas to New York in the Carlos Beltran trade and all the work and confidence he can get in and build the better if you ask me. Kaprielian on the other hand rode the hype train all the way to the disabled list this season but getting him back and getting him healthy a la Ian Clarkin in 2015 would be huge for both the Yankees and for Kaprielian. Many thought Kaprielian would be called up at some point this season before the injury so getting him some work in now may push his TBA to the Major Leagues to 2017.

Congratulations to both Tate and Feyereisen and here’s to hoping a similar congratulations is in store for Kaprielian here in a few weeks. Make us proud boys!

Trade Reaction: Andrew Miller For Clint Frazier, Justus Sheffield, Ben Heller, and JP Feyereisen

I hate to see Andrew Miller go.

Just look at that face.

He pitched in 104 games since signing with the Yankees, and had an ERA of 1.77 and WHIP of .822. Since 2014 only two relief pitchers had a higher fWAR than Miller, and that was Aroldis Chapman and Dellin Betances.

Not only was Miller an awesome reliever, whether he was the set-up man or closer, but so many people talk up him as a person. From teammates, coaches, and those in the media, Andrew was liked by all.

And to top all that off the Yankees were only paying the guy $9 million a year, and had him under contract for another two years.

But I guess Brian Cashman and others came to the realization that the Yankees were not going to be World Series contenders any time soon, and made moves to build a core of players the team could build around later. Particularly in what will be an extremely exciting 2018-2019 offseason.

In exchange for Miller the Yankees got another nice haul of players.

Firstly there's Clint Frazier. Frazier is a center fielder who was playing for Columbus, the Indians' AAA affiliate. Clint looks like he could be a 20 home run/20 stolen base player in the Majors. But seeing as how he's only played 5 games in AAA, it's not like he's ready to jump into MLB right away. It's likely that Frazier opens next season in Scranton.

Columbus is a nicer town*, but who wouldn't rather be a Yankee?

*I'm a little biased on that.

Next the Yankees received Justus Sheffield from the Indians. Like Frazier, Sheffield is also a former first round draft pick. He's a left-handed starter, currently playing in high-A ball. His numbers don't look great, but Baseball America placed Justus at #69 in their Top 100 Prospect list recently, so there's some big-time upside to the guy.

The final two players coming to New York are Ben Heller and JP Feyereisen. Both of these guys are right-handed relievers. Ben has spent his last 28 games at AAA Columbus, so he could help the Yankees bullpen soon. JP, on the other hand, is currently playing at the AA level, so he could be a year or so away from the big club. Both guys are strikeout pitchers that could help make the Yankees bullpen strong for years to come.

I took a look at the Yankees current crop of prospects and got a big smile on my face. Here are some prospects the Yankees have, and where they rank in Baseball America's midseason Top 100 Prospect List...

Jorge Mateo #19
Clint Frazier #21
Gleyber Torres #27
Gary Sanchez #36
Aaron Judge #42
Justus Sheffield #69
James Kaprielian #99

How awesome is that? And that doesn't include Greg Bird, who could take over for Mark Teixeira at first base on Opening Day 2017. As well as Luis Severino, who's had it rough this season, but is still young and has a ton of upside. And what about the Yankees first rounder this year, Blake Rutherford? He should be in that Top 100 list next season as well.

That's an incredible crop of youngsters.

It seems clear now that the Yankees are selling. Why else would they trade away such an awesome player in Andrew Miller, who they have on a team-friendly contract for another two years? While their asking price for Carlos Beltran is reportedly too high (so was Miller's a few days ago), and Ivan Nova doesn't have that much interest surrounding him, I think we're in for plenty more before the deadline arrives tomorrow night.

Who's Cashman talking to now?

Andrew Miller Traded To Cleveland

Andrew Miller has been traded to the Cleveland Indians.

It's being said that the Yankees will get back center fielder Clint Frazier and left-handed pitcher Justus Sheffield, plus two others.

Initially I wasn't blown away by this news, but I'll give it a little while longer to sink in before reacting. But wow... the Yankees look like they are indeed selling.

Edit: The other two players coming from the Indians are relievers Ben Heller and JP Feyereisen.