Rich Hill the 2016 Version of Chris Capuano, Only Better

Back during the summer of 2014 the New York Yankees let left-handed reliever Matt Thornton go to the Washington Nationals in a straight waiver claim with the promise that the Yankees young talent would begin to funnel into the bullpen out of the minor leagues. One Josh Outman and one Rich Hill signing later and the Yankees had their replacements, neither of which were Yankees prospects mind you, although both were ultimately designated for assignment before the 2015 season. Outman has not had any significant time back in the Major Leagues since then but Hill reinvented himself as a starting pitcher with the Boston Red Sox and enjoyed a rejuvenated second half with the ball club. Hill is set to hit free agency this season, wouldn’t he be the perfect candidate to be in 2016 what Chris Capuano was supposed to be in 2015?

Hill will be 36-years old when the 2016 season begins, the same age as Capuano, but the similarities don’t stop there. Both reinvented and rejuvenated their careers with other teams before catching the Yankees eyes and both can easily bounce back and forth between the bullpen and the starting rotation. Both are left-handed and would serve as more than suitable long relief roles with the club. The biggest glaring difference is that if a Yankees starter goes down and Hill pitches like he did for the Red Sox this season he could make an immediate impact for the Yankees in the rotation. Capuano, on the other hand, merely gave the Yankees some innings and tried his best to keep the team in those games before burning out the bullpen. Hill could quietly be a difference maker for the team in 2016.

With the Yankees roster seemingly set and the majority of the money allocated towards 2016 already spent New York is going to have to get creative, get depth and get lucky if they want to compete for a World Series championship next season. It will be players like Hill, the bench roles that can play multiple positions and bring versatility and the minor league deals and the one-year deals that catch lightning in a bottle that is going to separate New York from the other teams in the American League East Division. Does that start with Hill? If it doesn’t then it probably should. 

Quick Hit: Outman Elects Free Agency

The Yankees minor league pitcher Josh Outman has elected free agency rather than accepting an outright to Triple-A Scranton. Outman was designated for assignment to make room on the roster in the final two weeks for Masahiro Tanaka when he returned from rehabbing his partially torn ulnar collateral ligament. The Yankees could always bring the southpaw back on a minor league deal but that seems unlikely with Tyler Webb, Jacob Lindgren, and others on the brink of the major leagues.

Yankees Claim Eury Perez from Washington

The New York Yankees have claimed center fielder Eury Perez from the Washington Nationals today. In a corresponding roster move lefty specialist Josh Outman was designated for assignment after pitching quite well for the Yankees. Perez is a right handed bat that can play all over the outfield and seems to be more of a speed first type guy than a power threat. I am thinking Perez relates more to Antoan Richardson than he does Carlos Beltran in his prime. Either way I don't have any issues with the move.

The Yankees Bullpen Is Done

The bullpen of the New York Yankees is done, it has hit a wall, it has hit an innings limit, and it is done. The only saving grace this season has been the bullpen and the strong starting pitching but the bullpen has been overused, abused, and should not be relied on any more this season. It’s probably a good thing that the Yankees aren’t making the postseason this year because we may have two or three more Tom Gordon and Scott Proctor’s on our hands.

Dellin Betances has been affected the least as he has thrown 23 IP since August and has seen his ERA fall from 1.52 to 1.35. Get Dellin past the magical 130 strikeout mark so he can pass Rivera and use sparingly. Dellin has been the exception and not the rule and that probably has a lot to do with the fact that he is 26 years old. 

David Robertson may have been the one affected the most although he has been effective in save situations. Robertson has had 40 save situations this season and has saved 36 of them, which is not a number to bow your head down too in shame, but lately he has been shaky at best. Robertson has thrown 17.2 IP since August and that includes a streak of not pitching in over a week in a save situation at the end of August and early September. Robertson has seen his era rise from 2.81 to 2.93.

Adam Warren has nothing left in the tank and has fallen out of the “circle of trust” with Joe Girardi in recent months. Warren has thrown 18.1 IP since August 1 and has seen his ERA rise from 3.19 to 3.30. Warren is reminding me a lot of our new version of Joba Chamberlain when he fell from grace in 2013.

Shawn Kelley, Rich Hill, Josh Outman, and others have been used sparingly, obviously some more than others specifically in Kelley’s case, and have pitched well lately all things considered. With David Phelps back in the fold and in the bullpen I expect Girardi to ride his formerly inflamed elbow all the way to October when the bullpen finally gets a well-deserved and much needed rest this winter. 

Bullpen Escapes Multiple Jams to Help Yankees Sneak Past Orioles

Shane Greene threw 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball and Brian McCann hit his nineteenth home run of the season today as the Yankees bounced back nicely from yesterday's doubleheader sweep to beat the Orioles, 3-2, in game three at Camden Yards. 

In this one's top of the first, strangely, the inconsistent Yanks' offense went down on just five pitches, a frustrating inconvenience that appeared to make them in for a long day.

Instead, though, a few timely hits in the top of the second off Miguel Gonzalez (6 IP, 3 ER) eventually led them to victory, with the aforementioned homer by McCann starting, but not ending, the scoring.

Because after McCann went deep, surprisingly, Mark Teixeira worked a walk and the red-hot Chris Young doubled him to third, setting up a clutch RBI Single by Antoan Richardson and an intelligent double-steal that plated Young.

No, from that point on the Yanks' bats didn't continue to threaten, but due to the solid performance of the recently-lousy Greene in which nine O's struck out and a trio of escape acts by Josh Outman, Shawn Kelley, and David Robertson in the last three frames New York found a way to retain their lead, a fortunate happening that brought them to within 4 1/2 of the second wild card spot.

Quick Hit: The August NO Trade Deadline

The August revocable waivers trade deadline has come and passed and according to the Yankees MLB Transactions page not much went on whatsoever. This has definitely been the August NO trade deadline while we all watched the Baltimore Orioles beef up their lineup and improve their infield depth. The Yankees are going with what they have as they continue to push towards a postseason spot. Anyone who is acquired today or for the rest of the season will not be eligible for the postseason so maybe Brian Cashman isn't done, but it is likely that he is.

On 8/5 the Washington Nationals claimed and acquired Matt Thornton in a straight waiver claim and took on his contract for the 2014 and 2015 season. The Yankees in return purchased the contract of Rich Hill and placed the lefty in the bullpen.

The Yankees signed minor league relief pitcher Wilking Rodriguez on 8/18 but released him on 8/30. Rodriguez was designated for assignment by the Kansas City Royals before coming over to New York and will now look to latch on with another major league team.

Finally, the Yankees made yet another marginal upgrade on 8/28 when the team acquired LHP Josh Outman for a player to be named later or cash considerations. Outman ended the Rich Hill era in New York.

Before the deadline passed the Yankees added a 27 year old relief pitcher out of the Miami Marlins organization named Chaz Roe. The new Shawn Kelley, I'm coining the term now.

That's it, that's all Brian Cashman and company could muster this month as the team needed obvious upgrades all over the field. The Yankees lost a LOOGY, added a LOOGY, and released that LOOGY when they acquired another LOOGY. Oh and Chaz Roe. Brilliant.

Meet a Prospect: Josh Outman

Josh Outman was acquired from the Cleveland Indians this week for a player to be named later or cash considerations so first and foremost welcome to the family. Outman is another in the long line of marginal upgrades for Brian Cashman this season but the acquisition did spell the end of the Rich Hill era so it cannot be all bad. You’re not officially a Yankee until you get one of these posts made about you so with further ado let’s meet a prospect, the Josh Outman edition.

Josh S. Outman was born on September 14, 1984 and spent his college years at Forest Park Community College in St. Louis. Outman would transfer to Central Missouri State to play for their baseball team, the Mules. While with the Mules Outman posted a 10-2 record and helped the team finish third in the NCAA Division II World Series. Outman finished his career in 2005 with the Mules when he was drafted along with four other teammates in the MLB Draft. The Philadelphia Phillies took outman in 2005 and quickly named him their 12st best prospect in the organization as soon as 2007.

On July 17, 2008 Outman was traded with prospects Adrian Cardenas and Matthew Spencer to the Oakland Athletics for starting pitcher Joe Blanton. Outman was called up to the Major Leagues in that same season for the first time on September 2nd and pitched two scoreless innings against the Kansas City Royals. Outman quickly earned the nickname “Out-Man” in 2009 because of his ability to get major league hitters out but the Out Man would only last 12 games in 2009 before falling to Tommy John surgery on June 30.  Outman would miss the entire 2010 season while recovering from the ligament replacement surgery.

Outman returned to the mound in 2011 to pitch 58.1 innings, nine starts, with a 3.70 ERA and 3-5 record finally proving he was healthy. The now healthy Outman was traded to the Colorado Rockies after the 2011 season along with pitcher Guillermo Moscoso for outfielder Seth Smith. Outman spent 2012 and 2013 seasons with the Rockies only to be traded once again to the Cleveland Indians for the 2014 season for outfielder Drew Stubbs. Outman avoided arbitration with the Indians when he signed a one year deal worth $1.25 million and was quickly designated for assignment by Cleveland on June 18. Outman fell out of grace with Terry Francona and was traded to the New York Yankees for a player to be named later or cash considerations.

Outman has baseball in his blood and his brother, Zachary, was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 28^th round of the 2009 MLB First Year Players Draft. Now Outman is a member of the New York Yankees and will serve as the left handed specialists in Joe Girardi’s bullpen. Good luck Josh, make us proud. 

Please Don’t Piss On Me & Tell Me It’s Raining

Anyone ever heard the old saying “don’t piss on me and tell me it’s raining?” If you haven’t what it basically means in a nutshell is don’t tell me one thing and then do another. For example, what the New York Yankees did when they allowed Matt Thornton to be claimed by the Washington Nationals for just his contract while the team was in the middle of a pennant race. Brian Cashman and company smoothed the transaction over by dropping a few prospects and up and comers names at the fans to get us all excited, and it worked, and has failed to mention another word about it.

Some fans were introduced to the names of Tyler Webb, James Pazos, Matt Tracy, Pat Venditte, Francisco Rondon, and Jacob Lindgren to name a few for the first time when the transaction happened and some were excited to think about the prospects they had been following for so long may finally get a chance in the major leagues. A few days later the Yankees announced the contract purchase of former Boston Red Sox lefty Rich Hill and a subsequent call up. Hill has either given up runs or rotted in the Yankees bullpen and no other mention of the Yankees young left handed pitchers has come out of the mouths of anyone in the Yankees camp.

Are you going to call up Webb, Lindgren, etc. or are you going to continue to marginally upgrade with veterans, see Josh Outman, and continue to Band-Aid the situation? I can take it either way as long as you’re shooting me straight and not BS’ing me. Which is it Cash? Is it raining, Jacob Lindgren, or is it more piss?

Stay tuned…

Yankees Officially Activate Outman; Designate Hill For Assignment

One day after acquiring him from the Indians for a player to be named later, the Yankees have unsurprisingly activated LHP Josh Outman onto their 25-man roster, The LoHud Yankees Blog's Chad Jennings reports.

In responses to the adding, as expected, the Yanks designated fellow lefty Rich Hill for assignment. Hill, a 34-year-old veteran who began the year at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, threw 2 1/3 shutout innings with the team this month, a line that greatly helped New York after they dealt Matt Thornton. 

Still, since Outman, a man with probably the best last name in baseball, also looked pretty good during his time with the Tribe it seems obvious that he's the better option at this point, as the specialist put together a solid 3.28 ERA before yesterday's trade.

Yankees Acquire Josh Outman For PTBNL

I guess that's what I get for going to bed a little early last night, I missed all the fun. The New York Yankees acquired Josh Outman from the Cleveland Indians for a player to be named later. 

More details to follow.