A Flurry Of Activity Before Final Rosters Set

UPDATE:  Yankees signed 29 yr old SP Ramon Ortiz to a minor league deal after he was cut yesterday from the SF Giants.

Today the Yankees have made a bunch of roster moves before officially setting their final rosters, expected to be announced at 5:00 pm ET today.

The Yankees traded 27 year old left handed starting pitcher George Kontos to the San Francisco Giants for their back up catcher, and former Scranton Wilkes-Barre catcher, Chris Stewart. This was a baffling move because we already have Francisco Cervelli set to back up Russell Martin. Cervelli has options left and Stewart does not so Cervelli was sent down to Empire State to provide depth for the injured Austin Romine down in AAA.

I understand that we basically "had" to trade Kontos because he trade value was not going to get any higher, he is out of options, was only holding a spot in AAA that could be used for someone useful to the majors soon, and was not going to make the big club. I understand , and for the record I think we stole Chris Stewart if all we had to give up was George Kontos, but I do not understand why we made the move. Im not exactly convinced that the move made us THAT much better and I also find it hard to believe that SF was the only suitor for Kontos. This is one of those deals you do not get terribly upset by but you do not understand at the same time. Maybe Cervelli's injury history was a concern and the Yankees wanted to strike while the iron was hot.

The Yankees also designated Justin Maxwell for assignment today. The Yanks hands were basically tied as he was having a great Spring Training and Maxwell was out of options. As much as I would love to have Maxwell stashed down in AAA I am excited to see if he can finally put it all together on another team. There is absolutely no chance that he comes back to the Yankees so let me be the first to say (on this site, lol) Thank You Justin Maxwell.

Bill Hall did NOT have an opt out clause on his minor league contract with the Yankees but the Yankees released him today anyway, per his request, after not making the big league club. His hopes were to make the big league club and still hopes to latch onto someone else's big league club. I am disappointed that he did not make the team because after following him on twitter I learned that he was overly excited to be a Yankee and had worked hard all spring to elongate his career, lose weight, and do everything he can to improve his defense, speed, stolen bases, and hitting attack. He is genuinely a good guy and I hope he latches on with a big league club soon.

Making an Impression

I put very little stock into Spring Training numbers, as I've probably mentioned a time or two. However, that doesn't mean I'm not impressed with some of the young guys we've seen so far.

Jose Gil
In 16 at bats Jose has put up a line of .563/.526/.750, which includes 3 doubles. Gil is a 25 year old catcher that's been with the Yankee organization since 2005. He's struggled since his debut in rookie ball, but last season he did put up a triple-slash of .253/.344/.394 to go along with 6HR in 249 at bats. He could emerge from the shadow created by fellow catching prospects Austin Romine and Gary Sanchez.

Doug Bernier
Okay, he'll be 32 years old in June, so calling him "young" is a bit of a stretch. But this is a guy that's spent 10 years in the minor leagues, while only getting 4 MLB at bats in 2008 with the Rockies. I'm surprised that's all he got in MLB, as he put up a line of .310/.396/.407 with AAA Colorado Springs the season before. But I know very little about the Rockies, so perhaps it was simply a matter of not having a spot for him. Anyway, Doug has hit .385/.429/.538 with 4 doubles this spring, and he has plenty of experience at all four infield positions.

Justin Maxwell
It's too bad that Justin Maxwell is out of options, because I'd love to keep him in the organization. He's hit .429/.508/.607 this spring, to go along with 4 stolen bases. In 48 games with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last year he hit .260/.358/.588 with 16 home runs and 11 stolen bases. Justin's had 260 MLB plate appearances, so there's no doubt that other teams are going to jump all over him if he hits waivers (looking at the projected Yankee bench, that seems to be an inevitability).

Cesar Cabral
Cesar has not played above AA ball, having spent his entire career up to this point in the Red Sox organization, but he's made a strong case for being one of 25 players that will go North. In 9.1 innings pitched Cabral has only give up 2 earned runs, while ringing up a very impressive 12 strikeouts while giving up only 1 walk. The .270 batting average against isn't great, but he looks like a Rule V pick well worth holding onto.

Clay Rapada
Rapada, like Bernier, is not exactly "young". Baltimore DFA'd Clay on February 15th, and the Yankees wasted little time in signing him to a minor-league deal 5 days later. His 10 Ks to go along with 3 BBs looks good this spring, along with the fact he's yet to give up any earned runs in 7.1 innings, but it's his .120 batting average against that really caught my eye. If he can keep his walks down he could be a nice addition to the Yankee bullpen.

David Phelps
David's walked a few more guys this spring than he has in his minor league career. In 4 seasons with the Yankees farm system his BB/9 is 2.0, while he's walked 4 batters in 11 innings this spring (a rate of 3.27 per 9IP). It's a very small sample size, so I expect that walk-rate to lower. His batting average against is only .200, so he's making a good case to get a call-up should the need for a starter arise during 2012. He's either going to be a good challenger for a rotation spot for the Yankees as soon as next season, or he's going to make another team pretty happy.

Prepare To Be Disappointed

Last night Chad Jennings at the LoHud Yankees Blog posted about Justin Maxwell, and the fantastic spring he's having. Justin's line this spring is .435/.519/.652, and he's within the top 3 Yankees in hits, doubles, runs, RBI, and stolen bases. Everybody should know that spring stats mean very little, especially when talking about a guy that has a line of .201/.319/.379 in 260 MLB plate appearances (all with the Nationals in 2007, 2009, and 2010), but Justin has made people take notice and ask "should the Yankees find a roster spot for him?"

My answer is "no". Not because I don't believe Maxwell could do something for the team, but because I like the roster the Yankees will most likely bring to the regular season. And there's just not room for Justin. Outside of the 8 position players, as well as Raul Ibanez and Andruw Jones (who will platoon as the regular DH), there are only 3 bench spots. Eduardo Nunez is almost certainly going to be the utility IF, Eric Chavez is more than likely going to be ARod's regular back-up, and Francisco Cervelli is needed to be the back-up catcher (note: Ibanez or Jones, whoever doesn't DH, will be the OF on the bench).

Even if the Yankees were to go down to 11 pitchers, there's a good chance that the final hitting spot on the roster would go to Chris Dickerson. Dickerson didn't blow anybody away with a batting line of .241/.341/.325 in AAA last season, not to mention the line of .260/.296/.360 he put up with the Yanks in 55 plate appearances last season. But while Chris spent some time in MLB last season, Justin missed 87 games with major throwing shoulder problems last year. Perhaps the missed time and rehab is what Maxwell needed to figure things out. Who knows? But when it comes to the bench I believe the Yankees will go with the safer option.

The problem with Justin Maxwell isn't a matter of wanting to keep him or not. There's no doubt I'd love to see what he could do this season if healthy. But the fact of the matter is he's out of options, and can't be sent to AAA without clearing waivers. And I'd bet everything I have (not that it's much) that some team would pick him up as a 4th OF. So the only thing the Yankees can do with him to get something is through trade. But that's not a great option either, because they aren't going to get much of anything for him. While he'll peak somebody's interest due to his great spring thus far, no team is going to give up much of anything for a guy that had big-time throwing shoulder issues last year, has done little with his 260 MLB plate appearances, and turned 28 this past November.

So as a warning to Yankees fans... don't get all up in arms when Maxwell is traded for a "nobody". The Yankees are in a no-win situation here, so getting anything for Justin will have to do.