16 Yankees Minor Leaguers Hit Free Agency

16 members of the New York Yankees have officially hit the minor league free agent market. Here is the list:



Andury Acevedo (AAA)

Scottie Allen (AA)

Joel de la Cruz (AAA)

Diego Moreno (AAA)

Wilking Rodriguez (AAA)

Cesar Vargas (AAA)
Jose De Paula (AAA)

Aaron Dott (AA)
Francisco Arcia (AA)

Juan Graterol (AAA)

Kyle Higashioka (AAA)
Cole Figueroa (AAA)

Ali Castillo (AAA)

Jose Rosario (AA)
Ericson Leonora (Hi A)

Rico Noel (AAA)

Yankees Roster Moves for 6/24

Yet another day and another full set of roster moves for the New York Yankees, let's get caught up:

Brendan Ryan has been added to the 15 day DL with an upper back strain. Is this a phantom DL move or is Ryan really injured, again? Time will only tell.

Jose De Paula was designated for assignment by the team.

Ivan Nova was activated off the 60 day DL.

Stephen Drew was activated off the paternity list.

Branden Pinder and Diego Moreno were optioned to Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre.

Yankees Roster Shuffling for 6/22

The New York Yankees had another day full of roster shuffling today as the team announced three new pitchers heading to the team including Tommy John surgery victim Ivan Nova. Nova will be activated in time for Wednesday afternoon's start against Cole Hamels and the Philadelphia Phillies marking his first professional start since his Tommy John surgery.

For now New York will go ahead with the six-man rotation including Nova.

The team also announced the call ups of RHP Diego Moreno and RHP Nick Rumbelow while Sergio Santos has been transferred to the 60 day DL. LHP Jose DePaula and RHP Danny Burawa have been optioned to Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre with the RailRiders.

Yankees Option Five More to Minor League Camp

The New York Yankees have announced their latest round of cuts from major league camp to minor league camp. The list of players going down includes OF Tyler Austin, RHP Danny Burawa and LHP Jose De Paula going to Triple-A while OF Mason Williams went to Double-A. RHP Wilking Rodriguez has been assigned to minor league camp but no affiliate was specifically mentioned.

Nick Rumbelow sent a scare to reporters this morning when his locker was cleared out but apparently, as of right now anyway, is still in Yankees camp. If you can look at me with a straight face and tell me the best team in leaving Tampa and going north with Austin in Scranton and Chris Young on the roster and truly mean it I'll give you $1.

Most Popular Article of the Week: The Yankees' Offseason So Far

The most popular article of the week comes from Bryan Van Dusen as he shares his thoughts on the Yankees offseason so far. Enjoy.

So far this offseason is like riding a roller coaster.

First there was the signing of Chris Young to be the team's fourth outfielder. I wasn't worked up one way or another by this signing, as it's just a bench player. However, I'd rather see that spot given to a youngster, since Young is hardly somebody that's going to be a difference maker. Speaking of which, I'm not fooled by his time with the team last season, as that type of output is way above what he's done in his nine year MLB career.

That signing was followed up by the signing of left-handed pitcher Jose De Paula. If I didn't care a whole lot about the signing of Chris Young, this acquisition certainly wasn't going to get me hot and bothered. My initial thought was that De Paula was going to be a 2nd lefty in the bullpen until Jacob Lindgren is brought up.

Finally came some fairly big news, as the Yankees traded Shane Greene to the Arizona Diamondbacks for shortstop Didi Gregorius. I was really happy with this move. Sure, it stunk seeing Shane Greene shipped off, but the deal made a ton of sense for a team in dire need of a shortstop to replace the retired Derek Jeter. Don't get me wrong, I don't believe Didi will be a star. However, the Yankees made a nice move to get younger and gear up for the future, rather than just shell out big money for somebody like Hanley Ramirez, or settle on a so-so veteran like Stephen Drew.

My smile got a little wider when I learned that we had signed Andrew Miller, a 29-year-old lefty reliever. Here we have a guy that's struck out 13.6 batters per 9 innings over the past three years, and should be an incredible compliment to Dellin Betances, a right-hander that stuck out 13.5 guys per 9 innings last season. Of course, I assumed the Yankees would bring back David Robertson to be their closer, and complete a vicious three-headed monster in the bullpen.

I understand that the Yankees have been able to build a strong bullpen year in and year out, so there's really no need to spend a lot of money on relievers. But why spend $36 million on Andrew Miller only to let David Robertson, a better reliever, sign elsewhere for just a couple million more dollars per season (Miller and Robertson both signed four year deals)? If they had only planned on signing one of them from the start, why not spend a few more dollars to get the better of the two? If Andrew were two years younger than David I could make sense of it, but Miller isn't even two months younger than Robertson.

Not surprisingly, my reaction was tame next to some of the hate spewed out towards the Yankees and Brian Cashman. But unlike some fans, who continue to be pessimistic about the teams chances to win in 2015 and beyond, I'm actually liking the way things are going.

The fact of the matter is the Yankees are getting younger, and they appear to be looking to the future.

Currently, the Yankees have young players like the aforementioned Didi Gregorius (25 years old, and under team control through 2018), Masahiro Tanaka (26, signed through at least 2017), Michael Pineda (25, under team control through 2017), Ivan Nova (27, under team control through 2016), Dellin Betances (26, under team control through 2019), Rob Refsnyder (23, under team control through at least 2021), Jose Pirela (25, under team control through at least 2021). And then there are other minor leaguers who could make an impact in MLB fairly soon, like Manny Banuelos, Jacob Lindgren, Luis Severino, Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Ian Clarkin, and Greg Bird.

I'm absolutely not saying that the team shouldn't look at some of the bigger names in free agency, either now or in the future. But by building a solid base of younger, cost-controlled, players the team can afford to give a big contract to a stud player without suffering due to it should an injury occur. So sprinkle in a guy like Max Scherzer this season, who could turn a good rotation into a great one. Or possibly sign Justin Upton a year from now, once he becomes a free agent.

What the Yankees should never do again is sign aging stars to big contracts like we saw in the mid-2000s. The Yankees signed 39 year old Kevin Brown in 2004, and paid him over $31 million for two years and barely over 200 innings of work. Then there was Randy Johnson, who got nearly $32 million for his age 41 and 42 seasons, and was an average pitcher despite winning 34 games. And who could forget the Yankees giving 44 year old Roger Clemens $17.4 million in 2007, and seeing average output along with the worst strikeout rate of his career?

The bottom line is that this isn't George Steinbrenner's Yankees, and while I certainly miss The Boss, I'm perfectly okay with that. No longer should we see knee-jerk reactions to poor play, or reactionary signings to what teams like the Red Sox do. Perhaps Cashman and the team will sometimes over-think things, and therefore miss out on players that would otherwise be good for them, but that's better than throwing out huge money to guys that just happen to be at the top of some experts top free agent rankings.

The Yankees' Offseason So Far

So far this offseason is like riding a roller coaster.

First there was the signing of Chris Young to be the team's fourth outfielder. I wasn't worked up one way or another by this signing, as it's just a bench player. However, I'd rather see that spot given to a youngster, since Young is hardly somebody that's going to be a difference maker. Speaking of which, I'm not fooled by his time with the team last season, as that type of output is way above what he's done in his nine year MLB career.

That signing was followed up by the signing of left-handed pitcher Jose De Paula. If I didn't care a whole lot about the signing of Chris Young, this acquisition certainly wasn't going to get me hot and bothered. My initial thought was that De Paula was going to be a 2nd lefty in the bullpen until Jacob Lindgren is brought up.

Finally came some fairly big news, as the Yankees traded Shane Greene to the Arizona Diamondbacks for shortstop Didi Gregorius. I was really happy with this move. Sure, it stunk seeing Shane Greene shipped off, but the deal made a ton of sense for a team in dire need of a shortstop to replace the retired Derek Jeter. Don't get me wrong, I don't believe Didi will be a star. However, the Yankees made a nice move to get younger and gear up for the future, rather than just shell out big money for somebody like Hanley Ramirez, or settle on a so-so veteran like Stephen Drew.

My smile got a little wider when I learned that we had signed Andrew Miller, a 29-year-old lefty reliever. Here we have a guy that's struck out 13.6 batters per 9 innings over the past three years, and should be an incredible compliment to Dellin Betances, a right-hander that stuck out 13.5 guys per 9 innings last season. Of course, I assumed the Yankees would bring back David Robertson to be their closer, and complete a vicious three-headed monster in the bullpen.

I understand that the Yankees have been able to build a strong bullpen year in and year out, so there's really no need to spend a lot of money on relievers. But why spend $36 million on Andrew Miller only to let David Robertson, a better reliever, sign elsewhere for just a couple million more dollars per season (Miller and Robertson both signed four year deals)? If they had only planned on signing one of them from the start, why not spend a few more dollars to get the better of the two? If Andrew were two years younger than David I could make sense of it, but Miller isn't even two months younger than Robertson.

Not surprisingly, my reaction was tame next to some of the hate spewed out towards the Yankees and Brian Cashman. But unlike some fans, who continue to be pessimistic about the teams chances to win in 2015 and beyond, I'm actually liking the way things are going.

The fact of the matter is the Yankees are getting younger, and they appear to be looking to the future.

Currently, the Yankees have young players like the aforementioned Didi Gregorius (25 years old, and under team control through 2018), Masahiro Tanaka (26, signed through at least 2017), Michael Pineda (25, under team control through 2017), Ivan Nova (27, under team control through 2016), Dellin Betances (26, under team control through 2019), Rob Refsnyder (23, under team control through at least 2021), Jose Pirela (25, under team control through at least 2021). And then there are other minor leaguers who could make an impact in MLB fairly soon, like Manny Banuelos, Jacob Lindgren, Luis Severino, Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Ian Clarkin, and Greg Bird.

I'm absolutely not saying that the team shouldn't look at some of the bigger names in free agency, either now or in the future. But by building a solid base of younger, cost-controlled, players the team can afford to give a big contract to a stud player without suffering due to it should an injury occur. So sprinkle in a guy like Max Scherzer this season, who could turn a good rotation into a great one. Or possibly sign Justin Upton a year from now, once he becomes a free agent.

What the Yankees should never do again is sign aging stars to big contracts like we saw in the mid-2000s. The Yankees signed 39 year old Kevin Brown in 2004, and paid him over $31 million for two years and barely over 200 innings of work. Then there was Randy Johnson, who got nearly $32 million for his age 41 and 42 seasons, and was an average pitcher despite winning 34 games. And who could forget the Yankees giving 44 year old Roger Clemens $17.4 million in 2007, and seeing average output along with the worst strikeout rate of his career?

The bottom line is that this isn't George Steinbrenner's Yankees, and while I certainly miss The Boss, I'm perfectly okay with that. No longer should we see knee-jerk reactions to poor play, or reactionary signings to what teams like the Red Sox do. Perhaps Cashman and the team will sometimes over-think things, and therefore miss out on players that would otherwise be good for them, but that's better than throwing out huge money to guys that just happen to be at the top of some experts top free agent rankings.

David Huff May Be On His Way Out of New York

While the fans of the Yankees are scrambling around trying to find all the information they can about lefties Jose De Paula and Justin Wilson one lefty in the Yankees organization is packing his bags waiting on a phone call. That man is David Huff. Huff was a non-tender candidate when the season ended after posting a sub 2.00 ERA in the Yankees bullpen last season after finding a cutter. With the additions of Wilson, De Paula, and Jacob Lindgren and Tyler Webb knocking on the door I think Huff may be on his way out of New York.

Of course both De Paula and Wilson have minor league options remaining and plenty of team control while Huff heads into his final year of arbitration so the team could always stash these guys in Triple-A at the beginning of the season but I find that unlikely. New York has this uncanny ability to spend an amazing amount of free agent dollars early only to skimp and save towards the end of free agency. Huff is expected to make right at $1 million in arbitration this season and the Yankees may look to fill that $1 million with two players and let Huff go.

This is all speculation and it's way too early to tell but remember where you heard it first, Huff's days as a Yankee are numbered, again.

New York is Stock Piling Fire Balling LHP in the Bullpen

The New York Yankees made two acquisitions on Wednesday that left many scratching their heads a bit. The team signed minor league free agent Jose De Paula out of the San Francisco Giants organization. De Paula is a left handed throwing power pitcher that has been a starting pitcher his whole career but could be destined to the bullpen before long. De Paula has one minor league option remaining and could start his Yankees career serving as depth in Triple-A with the Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.

Before the ink was dry on that signing New York traded backup catcher Francisco Cervelli to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Justin (not Josh, although I called him Josh about 19 times of Twitter) Wilson. Wilson is another power left handed arm that can hit 95 with two different fastballs and can touch the low 90’s with is cutter. Wilson is pre-arbitration in 2014 before hitting his arbitration years in 2015 and could also serve as minor league depth for the Yankees in Triple-A to start the season.

Adding Wilson and De Paula to the already growing group of left handed power throwing pitchers in Manny Banuelos, Jacob Lindgren, James Pazos, and Tyler Webb leaves the Yankees and manager Joe Girardi with a ton of left handed power bullpen arms to call upon this season and next.

If you look at the 2014 World Series between the Kansas City Royals and the San Francisco Giants and specifically examine their bullpens you see a pair of pens stockpiled with young flame throwing arms that can come in, touch 100 MPH, and strike a guy or three out when necessary. This looks to be the model the Yankees are following as well going forward which could mean good things in 2015 for a starting rotation that will be littered with question marks and concerns all season long. 

Yankees sign LHP Jose De Paula

When I first read this I thought the team was getting Rafael De Paula back from the San Diego Padres after acquiring Chase Headley. Boy was I disappointed when I realized it was Jose De Paula and not Rafael that the New York Yankees signed today.

De Paula was signed to a major league contract today as he enters his age 26 season. De Paula has no big league experience and has spent his minor league career in the San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants organization. De Paula has been a left handed starter in his career and shows no signs of needing to be moved to the bullpen anytime soon.

This is not uncommon for the Yankees to make these kind of signings early, think David Herndon the last season or two, and cut them later if they aren't working out. This is not a look at the future it is merely getting a legit shot at a player before everyone else does.