Looking Forward to St Patrick's Day...

Photo Credit: AP (Rick Scuteri)

Patrick Corbin should be at the forefront for the Yankees…

So many possibilities, where do the Yankees go? November is always a tough month for the Hot Stove League. Lots of talk but not really much action. There’s always the chance for a major trade but we generally have to get much closer to the Baseball Winter Meetings in December for the flurry of activity, then the quietness returns until the start of training camp. I don’t expect this year to be any different.  

No doubt GM Brian Cashman is laying the groundwork for potential trades. He’s talked with the Cleveland Indians, he’s reached out to the Seattle Mariners, and has surely had talks with teams we’ve heard nothing about. The talks now will hopefully yield fruit later, but rest assured, if the Yankees are successful in obtaining Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco or James Paxton, it WILL hurt. For a team on the cusp of a championship, now is not the time to “prospect-hug”. The team must be prepared to pay the price, whatever it may be, to bring in a top of the rotation arm.  

Of the names mentioned, I probably like Kluber the best. He would immediately became the team’s ace, which we clearly need, and his presence would help take pressure off Luis Severino. Less pressure on Sevy would only enhance the chances for him to become the best he can be. But if the Yanks can’t get Kluber, Carrasco would be a welcome addition. I really like James Paxton and I think his name has been mentioned frequently in the past by TGP’s Daniel Burch. My only concern, like many others, is health. Paxton has not proven to be a durable pitcher. But if the team has the opportunity to add Paxton and the price is reasonable, they should do it.  

Photo Credit: USATSI

Regardless of how the trade market plays out, I hope the Yankees do not lose sight of free agent starter Patrick Corbin. He will be costly but I am very fascinated with how his left arm and pitching arsenal would play in Yankee Stadium. He grew up as a Yankees fan and wore #46 in Arizona out of respect for Andy Pettitte. He is a ground ball pitcher with five legitimate pitches although his deadly combinations are the slider, four-seam fastball, and sinker. He’s been praised for his work ethic and the signs show he will be an elite pitcher in his 30’s. Corbin might slot into the third or fourth spot in the rotation depending upon what the Yankees do on the trade market, but he’d ensure the starting rotation is a strength in 2019 compared to its achilles heel in 2018.  

Despite the rumors of so many names, Corbin remains my number one target this off-season.  I hope the Yankees see it the same way. Paired with an ace acquired via trade, or added along with the return of a guy like J.A. Happ or Nathan Eovaldi, the starting rotation will be better next year with Corbin in it. 

Photo Credit: USA Today Sports (Mark J Rebilas)

The Bryce Harper/Manny Machado talk has reached absurd levels. I am anxious for the guys to get their $300 million plus contracts to end the excessive chatter about the two young superstars. I think the Yankees would be foolish to pass on at least one of the rare “young” superstars but it’s not my money. I see the advantage of Bryce’s left-handed bat in the Yankees lineup and I see Manny’s role in bridging the gap at short and eventually providing a superior defender at third. My personal preference may be Machado as I’ve long admired the player but I would shed no tears with the signing of Harper. Still, the Yankees can win without either so if they go big with the starting rotation and bring in a guy like Marwin Gonzalez or Daniel Murphy to help the infield, it will not be the end of the world. I like the chances better with Harper or Machado, but the 2019 Yankees will contend for the World Series regardless of how this plays out. “Go big or go home” applies now more than ever.  

I want the Yankees to end the reign of the Boston Red Sox next season so I am in favor of whatever moves the team has to make to improve. I’d hate to see Miguel Andujar, Estevan Florial, Justus Sheffield, or Albert Abreu leave, but if it improves the team, so be it. Championship windows do not remain open for extended periods of time. You have to take advantage of the opportunities when they present themselves. I am ready for the pain for the greater glory. In Cashman we trust…

Photo Credit: AP (Gregory Bull)

For those keeping score, the Yankees have made some moves this off-season. They’ve re-signed Brett Gardner and CC Sabathia to one-year deals. They re-signed minor league free agent third baseman and defensive-whiz Giovanny Urshela and they signed a minor league deal with former Pirates catcher Ryan Lavarnway. Lavarnway was once a heralded top prospect for the Red Sox, although, now in his 30’s, he has settled into a journeyman role.  He provides much needed catching depth at the upper levels of the farm system. Lavarnway is one of those guys I hope the Yankees don’t need to use but he’s there to help if it becomes necessary. Milwaukee’s Erik Kratz has proven it is never too late to make a significant contribution.  Welcome to the Yankees Family, Ryan!

Photo Credit: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Matt Freed)

The end is within sight for Jacoby Ellsbury. He only has two more years on his contract before the Yankees can exercise their buyout. Ellsbury is owed $42,285,174 for the next two seasons, and the Yankees can then buyout his contract for an additional $5 million. Realistically, I don’t expect Ellsbury to wear the pinstripes again or at least I hope not, but I am glad we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’ve seen some suggest the Yankees should trade Ellsbury for another dead contract (like Miami’s Wei-Yin Chen, owed $58 million for the next three years, or Seattle’s Robinson Cano, owed $120 million over the next five years). No, thanks. I don’t think the Yankees should take on more money to rid themselves of Ellsbury. I like Cano and he might help but financially it makes absolutely no sense. He is clearly on the downhill slide and he’s entering the really ugly side of his ridiculous contract. If the Yankees can finally move Ellsbury even if they have to pay the bulk of his remaining contract, that’s the way to go. If I was a GM for another team and I was convinced that Ellsbury was finally healthy, I’d take a chance on him for no more than a $5 million per year commitment. That’s a lot of money for the Yankees to eat, but it would be worth the investment (addition by subtraction). I am done with Ellsbury and don’t want to see him pull on the pinstripes again.

Yesterday saw two notable names in the game announce their plans to retire. Hats off to Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins and Chase Utley of the Los Angeles Dodgers for long, distinguished careers. Both are names I’d like to see stay in the game in some capacity. I am not sure what their plans are for the future but I wish both the very best as they enter the next phase of their lives. Mauer’s departure certainly opens an opportunity at first base for former Yankee Tyler Austin unless they decide to go in a different direction for new manager Rocco Baldelli. 

Is Sonny Gray still a Yankee? Count me among those who think Cashman will bring a better than expected return for the failed Yankee. I am certain he’ll get at least a strong prospect with upside. We’ll see. Hopefully Gray’s Yankee career is over by this time next month. It would  be great if he could take Luis Cessa and A.J. Cole with him.

As always, Go Yankees!

Game Thread: New York Yankees @ Minnesota Twins 9/11

And just like that it is game time here in the Bronx between the New York Yankees and the Minnesota Twins. In the middle game of their three-game set this week the Yankees will send Sonny Gray to the mound, welcome back, while the Twins will counter with Tyler Duffey. The game will be played at 8:10 pm ET inside Target Field and can be seen on the YES Network. You can also follow along with the game on MLB TV, with the MLB At-Bat app, and by tuning into the Yankees radio broadcast on WFAN with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman.

Follow us on Twitter, @GreedyStripes, and “Like” us on Facebook, The Greedy Pinstripes, to keep up with us and the team all season long. Enjoy the game, hope for Sonny skies ahead, and go Yankees!!

Game Preview: New York Yankees @ Minnesota Twins 9/11

The New York Yankees and the Minnesota Twins will continue their three-game set tonight with the middle game of the series. Welcome back to the starting rotation, Sonny Gray. Tonight the Yankees will send Sonny Gray out to the mound to face off with Tyler Duffey for the Twins. This could either be really good, or really bad, so let’s find out and let’s get to it here in Minnesota.

Gray will re-enter the Yankees rotation for a spot start tonight against the Twins. The Yankees have seemingly conceded the division with this move and are focusing on the Wild Card as they are giving each of their starters an extra day of rest with this move. Since Gray has been removed from the Yankees starting rotation the right-hander has gone 2-0 with a 1.83 ERA in 19.2 innings that spanned six games, one of them as a starting pitchah.

Duffey is tonight's starter for the Twins "bullpen game" tonight inside Target Field. Duffey will pitch an inning or two and will look to improve on his 1-2 record and 9.00 ERA in 14 appearances with the Twins this season. 

The game will be played at 8:10 pm ET inside Target Field and can be seen on the YES Network. You can also follow along with the game on MLB TV, with the MLB At-Bat app, and by tuning into the Yankees radio broadcast on WFAN with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman.

Enjoy the game, even though it appears the Yankees have officially conceded the division with this pitching move… and go Yankees!!

Fantasy Baseball: Who are the Minnesota Twins

If you’re anything like me your fantasy baseball drafts are coming up either sometime later this month or early next month. Some people like to draft as soon as Spring Training begins or even before, which I never understood FYI, but to each their own I guess. So much can happen between now and then. So many sleepers can emerge and so many stars can get injured while prospects can stand up and make a name for themselves making it impossible for the team to ignore. This is especially the case on small market teams that cannot simply outbid everyone else for a player’s services in free agency, a team like the Minnesota Twins perhaps.

Gone are the days of Johan Santana, Joe Mauer in his prime, Justin Morneau the MVP and Torii Hunter the spider and in are players such as Phil Hughes, former Yankee John Ryan Murphy and Korean import Byung-ho Park. 

Park was an absolute monster of a home run hitter during his last two seasons in Korea as he led the Korean Baseball Organization with 52 and 53 home runs respectively in 2014 and 2015. Even if the pitching is different and less difficult in Korea you have to think Park will run into at least 25 straight fastballs here in the states and could push 30-40 home run power. That’s hard to ignore in fantasy baseball, even if it comes with a .250 average and mediocre defense at first base. 

John Ryan Murphy will presumably be the everyday catcher in Minnesota but it’s hard to put a finger on what exactly to expect out of the young right-hander. I did like what I saw personally out of Murphy during his time in New York though. He showed a bit of power and he is a line drive hitter that is capable of a .275 average with plenty of doubles, on-base percentage and home runs if you don’t grab one of the top tier catchers in your draft. He’s a big risk to take and a relative unknown but I love the line drives that his swing produces and I think he can be a serviceable MLB catcher. 

Finally you have the defacto, or infacto depending on how you look at it, ace of the Minnesota Twins in Phil Hughes. Hughes was a monster in his first season with Minnesota as he rarely allowed a walk while striking out a healthy amount along the way. Hughes took a bit of a step back in 2015 and is no longer being relied on as the ace of the Twins staff, that distinction now belongs to Ervin Santana. If you need an ace don’t reach too high for Hughes but if you need around a 10.0 K/9 and 15 or so victories Hughes would be a great grab in the middle-to-later rounds. 

Those are your Minnesota Twins, hopefully one or two of them can help you own your Fantasy Baseball draft and league this season. Have a good night everyone!

Recap: Yankees 4, Twins 3

Greg Bird hit a pair of two-run homers and the Yankees completed a three-game sweep of the Twins,
4-3, on Wednesday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.

Bird is the Word: The surging rookie clubbed a no-doubter to right in the fourth to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead, but perhaps his best highlight of the day came later on. Facing Ervin Santana with the Yanks trailing 3-2 in the sixth, Bird lined another one into the New York bullpen to re-take the advantage -- earning himself a curtain call and unsurprisingly upsetting the Twins' starter.

Lucky Number 13: It might be hard to believe considering he had just 15 in his career prior to the season, but Nathan Eovaldi's win count has reached a baker's dozen. Not in a spectacular way, admittedly -- Eovaldi yielded three earned runs on four hits over seven innings -- but as usual, the righty was good enough.

A Couple of Costly Mistakes: In fact, Eovaldi was perfect through 16 batters, but his chance for a gem disappeared after a rough top of the sixth. Eovaldi walked two and allowed each of the Twins' three runs in that frame, Joe Mauer and Trevor Plouffe having done damage with a two-run single and a bases-loaded infield knock, respectively.

More Help From the Bullpen: Eovaldi's one bad inning indeed made things interesting, but truthfully, the Yankees were still heavy favorites once their bullpen entered the contest. Granted, the team was without two of its better arms in Andrew Miller and Justin Wilson, but with Chasen Shreve and Dellin Betances ready to go instead, the Yankees were nonetheless able to get the final six outs.

That's a lot of K's: Speaking of Betances, how many strikeouts do you think he has right now? 80? 90? Nope, try 101. That's just 34 off his total from last year, and we're only in mid-August.

Next Up: The Yankees will look to continue riding high when they kickoff a home series with the Indians on Thursday night, sending the confident Ivan Nova (5-4, 3.57 ERA) to the mound versus Cleveland's Josh Tomlin (0-1, 2.84 ERA). First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. ET, with YES and WFAN calling the action.

Bring me Ron Gardenhire

I was scrolling around in the comments section of the site when one of our friends and daily frequenter patrick (always a little “p”) mentioned bringing the recently dismissed Twins manager Ron Gardenhire to New York. Why didn’t I think of that? What a great idea!

Gardenhire is a great baseball mind, a player’s manager, and is available for the low, low price of just a contract offer. The biggest issue here is Gardenhire is likely to, and deserves to, get a managing job elsewhere. The best we could theoretically offer him is a third base or first base coach job unfortunately with the promise that once Tony Pena gets the managerial job that he deserves that a promotion for Gardy would follow.

I don’t think I necessarily have to defend a Gardenhire signing to any one reading this but I will hit the high points just to be on the safe side. The Twins organization has shown a reluctance to spend money for quite some time now and instead have relied on their farm system to re-stock the big league club. When the Twins would get some star power in Minnesota they would either lock them up to financially crippling contracts (Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau come to mind) or trade them away for less than their worth (Denard Span comes to mind). When the Twins do decide to spend a little they throw money at players and hope that they stick, for every Phil Hughes they had three Ricky Nolasco’s as of late. None of this is or was Gardenhire’s fault. He did the best he could with what he had or what he got in return when the team traded a versatile Sam Fuld.

In my opinion the GM in Minnesota should have lost his job, not the manager. Minnesota’s loss should be the Yankees gain. Bring me Ron Gardenhire. 

Brian McCann Contract Details

First off I want to say that the Yankees handed down a great free agent deal to free agent catcher Brian McCann last night to give us a huge offensive upgrade at the plate. Good catchers never hit the open market, period, which is why we have been stuck with Chris Stewart the last couple of years, so the Yankees may have actually got a bargain here if you can believe that.

McCann's contract details include a five year deal worth $85 million with a 6th VESTING option for $15 million to bring the entire contract up to a possible $100 million. I predicted he would get a five year deal in the neighborhood of $80 million so I was not all that far off. As much as I wanted him I figured the Texas Rangers would acquire him, obviously before they got Prince Fielder, and I am glad the Yankees got him.

Brian gets a full no trade clause, which could be fun in years four, five, and six, but we have the designated hitter spot just waiting for him. Also Mark Teixeira is all but gone after the 2016 season so we could also work Brian out at first base if we had to.

This is the third highest contract ever given to a catcher followed by Joe Mauer's eight years and $184 million and Mike Piazza's seven year deal worth $91 million. Also this is the biggest free agent catching contracted handed down since the Yankees gave Jorge Posada a four year deal worth $52.4 million, thus proving good catching does not hit the open market.

AAV impact is $17 million per season before the 6th season vests.

With now, once this is official, five catchers on the 40 man roster the Yankees have some work to do. Gary Sanchez was just protected and looks to be ready by the time McCann will be ready to DH or play first base most of the time so he is safe. Francisco Cervelli is a good right handed compliment and backup if he is truly tendered a contract so I see him being safe as well. Chris Stewart is all but a goner here and he may even be the roster move that clears a spot for McCann when that time comes. The fate of JR Murphy and Austin Romine may be trade bait for the Yankees to acquire that starting pitcher, closer/set up man, right fielder, third basemen, etc. Bad news for them is though I cannot see a scenario where the Yankees carry four catchers on the 40 man roster so they both WILL go.

Yankees Could Not Match Offer For Russel Martin

The Pittsburgh Pirates, as predicted by yours truly at TGP, signed Russell Martin on a two year deal worth $17 million which is far under market value. The shocking news came when Russell came out and said the Yankees told him that they could not match the offer or beat it and that is why he is headed to Pittsburgh. Say what?!?!

I can get behind the 2014 luxury tax plan and all that but at what cost? Then today we hear that the Yankees have no intentions of going after Mike Napoli or AJ Pierzynski... say what again ?!?! I am hoping that this is more of a ninja cash type scenario that nets us a Joe Mauer and not the beginning of New York Rays.

Joe Mauer Clears Waivers!?!?

Joe Mauer clears revocable waivers and the question never got asked... how? The American League got first dibs in putting in a claim for him and according to record everyone would go before us except for the Rangers but NO ONE put in a claim for Mauer. My question is, and yes I know I am a little behind, why the hell not? No one wanted to block another team from trying to acquire Mauer? No one wanted to take a shot in the dark? I mean that is essentially what it is, a shot in the dark, because I do not think the Twins would trade Mauer but still. I am pretty disappointed in Brian Cashman right now for not putting in a waiver claim with our current catching situation.

Granted I know that the Twins are still on the hook for approx. $133 million through the 2018 season, I know that Mauer has battled some injuries lately, and yes I know that he had an absolutely awful 2011 season but the guy has stuff that you just cannot teach and do not find every day. He does not fit into the 2014 luxury tax threshold plan the Yankees have but again Joe Mauer is a once in a lifetime kind of catcher that you do not pass on. The hefty AAV of $23 million may be the only downside I see to getting Joe in pinstripes.

Combine the fact that he is a left handed hitter with Kevin Long and mix in a little bit of Yankees Stadium and you will see why the possibility of Mauer on the Yankees absolutely intrigues me. Not to mention that even with a huge contract he will still only be 35 years old when the contract ends so I do not see another Alex Rodriguez situation here. We would have him for his prime and some other team can suffer through his decline, presumably.

Get it done Cash!