Yankees Minor League Shuffling Has Begun

The World Series ended about 48 hours ago and the Yankees are already shuffling their minor league systems and rosters around. That's not uncommon for the minor league decisions to be made relatively early and more are to come as the winter gets colder and the days get shorter.

Kyle Roller has been released.

Eddy Rodriguez has re-signed to presumably backup Gary Sanchez in Triple-A in 2016.

Gregorio Petit and Kyle Davies have elected free agency.

Mat Latos the 2016 Version of Kyle Davies?

When the Miami Marlins decided to go "all-in" in the winter before the 2015 season the team made various deals including signing Giancarlo Stanton and Christian Yelich to extensions and acquiring the likes of Dee Gordon, Dan Haren, Mat Latos and others in various deals. While the Stanton and Yelich extensions look good on paper and the middle infield including Gordon looks to be set for a long time the team has not received the best returns from Haren or Latos. Haren has pitched much better than Latos, and essentially for free mind you as the Dodgers sent Haren's $10 million in salary along with the right-hander in the deal, which led Jeffrey Loria's club to trade Latos to the Los Angeles Dodgers before the trading deadline. Latos did not pitch much better in the pennant race and has recently been designated for assignment and ultimately released by Los Angeles, could he be a minor league option for teams, especially the New York Yankees who love these sorts of deals, for the 2016 season?

The New York Yankees sign a veteran to a minor league deal virtually every offseason with relief pitcher Jared Burton and starting pitcher Kyle Davies the most recent examples of this strategy. Burton was not long for the team but Davies led the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre RailRiders to the postseason as their "ace" after Luis Severino's promotion. Does Latos fit the mold and would the Yankees even want him?

The second question is much easier to answer than the first, of course the Yankees would want him if we're talking about a minor league deal. There is no such thing as a bad minor league deal, Hal Steinbrenner probably spends more on booze in a month than a MiLB free agent makes in a full season, and if Latos is willing to accept one then the Yankees, or any team, should pounce. At 27-years old I think Latos is far from done, even with a combined 4.95 ERA this season between the Marlins and the Dodgers. Latos is one season removed from an injury riddles 2014 season and two seasons from removed from his second consecutive 14-win season. 

It is not uncommon to see certain injuries carrying over the next season despite being fully healed, see Mark Teixeira's wrist injury from 2013, and it's not common for Latos to see his BABip above the .300 mark like it is in 2015. Latos strikes out enough batters to survives and contains the walks enough to be competitive while keeping the ball in the ballpark while keeping the ball on the ground enough to win ball games. If he wants to throw those strikes and ground ball outs in Scranton with an opt-out clause to come to the majors then sign me up, if not I think some team is going to get a ton of value on a relatively small MLB contract with Latos in 2016. Just a hunch. Plus I like his tattoos. 

The Five Men Fighting For Mark Teixeira's 40 Man Roster Spot

The New York Yankees entered this weekend with 39 healthy players from their 40 man roster currently in the Major Leagues battling for the American League East Division race and/or the first American League Wild Card. That one player who is on the 40 man roster but not with the team is Mark Teixeira who will miss the remainder of the 2015 season with a fracture in his shin/leg leaving the Yankees with a potential decision to make. The Yankees, who are not against calling up a player late into September due to an injury, could replicate what they did last year with Jose Pirela and call up a 40th player for the stretch run. Who could that player be?

The Yankees watched as Slade Heathcott hit a game-winning home run the other night against the Tampa Bay Rays and based off the celebration in the dugout, on Twitter and on Facebook a ton of people couldn't have been happier for Slade. One of those players was his former teammate Ben Gamel. Gamel won the Minor League Player of the Year Award in 2015 and is Rule 5 Draft eligible after the season meaning New York will have to add him to the 40 man roster anyway to protect him. Why not just take care of the paperwork now and maybe let him steal a base or get an at bat in garbage time this season?

The same Rule 5 Draft protection is needed for Johnny Barbato who was brought over from the San Diego Padres in the Shawn Kelley trade. Barbato avoided the initial Tommy John surgery diagnosis that he came with when the deal was made and pitched to a 0.36 ERA in Triple-A this season. His Double-A numbers were less than impressive mind you, a 4.04 ERA in 42.2 innings, but he could provide another right-handed option for the Yankees bullpen that the team absolutely needs right now. 

The final notable player from the group that needs Rule 5 protection after the 2015 season is first baseman Kyle Roller who has been overshadowed by the emergence of Greg Bird from the Yankees farm system. Roller is a left-handed bat and a true first baseman that the Yankees currently do not have. Roller's bat leaves much to be desired this season after hitting .300 between Double-A and Triple-A in 2014 but his advanced age and defensive questions will likely leave him on the outside looking in unless New York loses confidence in their current first base backup options.

The Yankees bullpen is suddenly thin after moving Adam Warren back into the starting rotation and Ivan Nova into a mop up duty role initially. New York signed RHP Kyle Davies to a minor league deal this season and he was possibly one of the best pitchers not named Severino that took the mound for Scranton/Wilkes Barre inside PNC Field. Davies, 32-years old, pitched to a 11-8 record with a 3.60 ERA in 27 starts in 2015 and even made a playoff start for the RailRiders before his season ended. 

Keeping with the bullpen addition theme New York could also call on Mark Montgomery after the "Next David Robertson" had a bit of a bounce back season in 2015 with the Trenton Thunder. Montgomery was considered to be at least in the discussion to replace both Mariano Rivera and David Robertson as the Yankees closer before injuries and inconsistencies derailed his career. Montgomery pitched to a 2.93 ERA this season in Double-A before bettering that with a 1.17 ERA in Triple-A. Is Montgomery back? Would the Yankees be willing to test if he is in the Major Leagues?

Pinder In, De La Cruz to Trenton, Davies to Scranton

The revolving door that has become the bullpen for the New York Yankees continues to spin as the team made another round of transactions before tonight's finale in Baltimore. New York has outrighted Kyle Davies off the roster where he will presumably go back to Scranton to pitch for the RailRiders. Joel De La Cruz was called up and did not get into a game before being optioned back to Trenton before the game tonight. 

Major League Baseball has an odd rule that states you cannot call up a player on your 40 man roster for the first 10 days of the new season unless an injury occurs. 10 days is officially up and New York called up Branden Pinder for a fresh arm in the bullpen tonight. Pinder last pitched on Monday so he is presumably available out of the pen tonight. 

Welcome to the show Branden and officially welcome to the family. 

Yankees Select Joel De La Cruz, Designate Kyle Davies

And the revolving door of scrub relief pitchers for the New York Yankees continues as the team made another roster move for a fresh arm in the bullpen. On Friday the team bought the contract of Matt Tracy only to designate him for assignment the next night in favor of Kyle Davies. Davies lasted a day as well and has now been designated for assignment in favor of Joel De La Cruz who will be with the team tonight in Baltimore.

De La Cruz is a right handed starting pitcher that was on the Double-A Trenton Thunder roster before the call up.

Kyle Davies Up, Matt Tracy DFA

Chasen Shreve took it on the chin for the Yankees Friday night and Matt Tracy was called up to give the Yankees a fresh arm on Saturday. Well apparently the Yankees need another fresh arm and have designated Tracy for assignment to make room on the roster for Kyle Davies. Davies will be active for tonight's finale in the Bronx against the Boston Red Sox. 

Davies is a veteran on a minor league deal so it will be interesting to see what kind of leash he has on the team. If he were a rookie I would say a little to none on the leash but since he is a veteran you never know. 

Sunday Spring Training Roster Moves

The New York Yankees have announced a series of roster moves that bring the team that much closer to their 25 man roster for Opening Day.

UPDATE: The Yankees have reassigned Ramon Flores, Nick Rumbelow, Jacob Lindgren, Francisco Arcia, Cole Figueroa, Kyle Higashioka, Jonathan Galvez and Slade Heathcott to minor league camps.

• The Yankees released Scott Baker but hope to re-sign him to a new minor league deal a la Jared Burton to avoid paying the $100,000 retention bonus. 

• Bryan Mitchell has been re-assigned to Triple-A Scranton where he will start his season.

• Kyle Davies has be re-assigned to minor league camp as well. 

• Brian Cashman hinted that Chase Whitley and Jacob Lindgren may make the Opening Day roster in the bullpen but more cuts are expected after the game this afternoon. 

Recap: Nationals 7, Yankees 6

Bryan Mitchell labored through 3 1/3 innings and Chris Young connected on a pair of big home runs Monday as the Yankees fell to the Nationals, 7-6, in a back-and-forth contest in Viera.

Mitchell's Rough Day: Mitchell surrendered just two earned over his 10-out performance, but still otherwise struggled in his second start of the spring. He gave up four hits and three walks while striking out two -- escaping a few jams early thanks to a groundball double-play from Nationals pitcher Doug Fister and a caught stealing of Bryce Harper.

September Young Returns: With the Yankees trailing 4-3 in the top of the fifth, Young crushed a solo shot off Fister -- a no-doubter to left the Nationals' outfield could only watch. He then hit a two-run bomb off former Blue Jays closer Casey Janssen in the sixth -- another liner to left Young was able to keep fair.

Early Offense: Following a Rob Refsnyder double in the third, the Yankees began to put the barrel to the ball against Fister -- plating three to open the scoring on a sharp groundout from Brett Gardner and a two-run blast from Brian McCann. McCann's four-bagger, his second in the last week, came on a high fly ball to right that just kept carrying -- eventually clearing the wall after a long run back by Harper.

Things Fall Apart: The Yankees maintained that 3-0 advantage until the bottom of the fourth, when Mitchell was removed with two on and one out. The Nationals rallied for four with hits off Yanks relievers Chasen Shreve and Jose Ramirez in the frame, with a rare single by Fister accounting for their first two runs.

Things Fall Apart Again: The Yankees were up 6-4 later on when Kyle Davies took the mound for Washington's half of the seventh, quickly walking Ian Desmond and allowing a single to Harper to put runners on the corners. A subsequent missed catch error on a pickoff attempt by Francisco Arcia also hurt the Yankees notably, and from there two doubles by Ryan Zimmerman and Jose Lobaton were all the Nationals needed to grab the lead.

Next Up: The Yankees will look to get back to their winning ways Tuesday night when they host the Tigers in a 7:05 p.m. matchup in Tampa -- a game in which Esmil Rogers is expected to start for the Pinstripes. It will likely be Rogers' last outing before he find outs whether he will be in the Yankees' rotation this year -- manager Joe Girardi having said Monday he would prefer to make a decision by the end of the week.

Meet a Prospect: Kyle Davies

The New York Yankees continued to stockpile pitching right before Spring Training this week when the team signed RHP Kyle Davies to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training. It’s Prospects Month here on the blog and while Davies has enjoyed success with both the Atlanta Braves and the Kansas City Royals I still wouldn’t consider him an established player. With that said I feel comfortable still calling him a prospect and introducing him to you all today. This is Meet a Prospect, Kyle Davies Edition.

Hiram Kyle Davies was born on September 9, 1983 in Stockbridge, GA (about an hour and 45 minutes away from me) and graduated from Stockbridge High School. Davies did enough in High School as a pitcher and was drafted and signed right out of high school by the Atlanta Braves. Davies turned down scholarships from Georgia Tech and others before the Braves made him a professional baseball player. With injuries to both John Thomson and Mike Hampton the Braves called up Davies along with other “Baby Braves” (a term coined in 2005 when a slew of prospects were called up at once) and Davies made an immediate impact not allowing a single run in his first three starts. Davies let that momentum take him into a starting job out of Spring Training in 2006 before a torn groin muscle forced him to miss 10 weeks of the season. Davies was never the same in a Braves uniform after that posting consecutive ugly seasons as a starter that forced him to be traded to the Kansas City Royals on July 31, 2007 for Octavio Dotel.

Davies tenure as a Royals player started right where his Braves tenure left off allowing five earned runs in three innings in his Royals debut. Davies can also be remembered as the pitcher that gave up Alex Rodriguez’s 500^th home run of his career before a right shoulder impingement injury ended his Kansas City career prematurely and led to him being released on August 10, 2011. Davies signed a pair of minor league deals with the Toronto Blue Jays and the Minnesota Twins but continued to battle shoulder injuries before his minor league deal with the Cleveland Indians in 2014.

Davies 2014 season was uneventful but healthy and will look to bring that same health to New York for the 2015 season. While a long shot to make the team it never hurts to have that depth and insurance in Triple-A and Davies can be just that for the Yankees. Welcome aboard Kyle and the best of luck to you in your tenure here. 

Yankees Sign Kyle Davies To Minor League Deal

Yankees signed RHP Kyle Davies to minor league deal. Former KCR hasn't pitched in majors since 2011, gave up ARod's 500th HR in 2007
— Sweeny Murti (@YankeesWFAN) February 9, 2015

The New York Yankees have signed RHP Kyle Davies to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training. Obviously Davies is a long shot to make the roster and will instead serve as Triple-A depth most likely. You may remember Davies from his times in Atlanta and Kansas City before numerous arm and shoulder injuries completely derailed his career in 2011.

We're rooting for you Kyle!