Meet a Prospect: Ryan McBroom

The New York Yankees broke my heart and traded Robert Refsnyder to the Toronto Blue Jays after designating the utility infielder for assignment earlier in the week. In return the Blue Jays sent the Yankees a bit more first base depth when they sent over first baseman Ryan McBroom. McBroom was immediately assigned to Double-A Trenton with the Trenton Thunder to start his Yankees tenure and career so let’s meet him. This is Meet a Prospect: The Ryan McBroom Edition. 

The Toronto Blue Jays drafted McBroom in the 15^th round of the 2014 MLB First year Players Draft as a college senior out of the University of West Virginia. McBroom was added to the Northwest League where he completely dominated younger competition to the tune of 11 home runs and 23 doubles in just 70 games. McBroom followed that up proving that this wasn’t a fluke in 2015 winning the Midwest League Most Valuable Player Award hitting .315/.387/.482 with a league-best 39 doubles and 12 home runs while striking out just 96 times in 538 at-bats. McBroom is a big, power-hitting first baseman that has hit well at every stop throughout his minor league career. 

McBroom is listed at 6’3” and 230 lbs. so when I say he is a “big, power-hitting” first baseman I mean big and power-hitting in the most literal of ways. McBroom is somewhat limited defensively in terms of range and will be a first baseman or DH if he ever reaches the Major Leagues. McBroom is a right-handed hitter that throws with his left hand making him ideal at first base so all the talk and speculation of potentially moving him to a corner outfield spot while in the Blue Jays organization may be all for naught. At the time of the trade McBroom was slashing just .243/.321/.402 but did have 19 doubles and 12 home runs to his credit which earned him another All-Star Game appearance down in Double-A. 

McBroom has a long swing which may explain why his batting average drops as he climbs the organization’s ladder and faces tougher and more advanced talent but McBroom also finds a way to get that swing through the zone smoothly and effectively. In other words he may never hit .300 but if he makes contact with the ball it is going a long, long way. McBroom has a big leg kick that provides much of his power at the plate and has shown an ability to get around on the ball quickly with a good pitch recognition despite the length in his swing. 

McBroom is already 25-years old so don’t expect the future at first base for the Yankees with this trade but what it does do is give the Yankees some much needed depth at the position down on the farm. For a player that was rarely used and designated for assignment I guess you can’t complain too much about that. Welcome to the family Ryan!

Girardi Will Unleash the Kraken Second This Season & Other Notes

Ladies and gentleman tonight the New York Yankees play their final exhibition game of the 2017 spring training and Grapefruit League season and on Sunday the team faces off with the Tampa Bay Rays on Opening Day. In a nutshell the regular season is here and the hard decisions facing the roster just have to be made and some of those decisions have already been made and announced by manager Joe Girardi. Here are a few of those as we try and get caught up here on the blog this morning. Oh and ladies and gentleman, it’s almost time to unleash the kraken for a 162-game schedule. Anyone else get chill bumps or was it just me?

Girardi discussed the lineup for the season on Tuesday in an interview and revealed that he was leaning towards having Brett Gardner lead off followed in order by Gary Sanchez, Greg Bird, Matt Holliday and Jacoby Ellsbury. You know what Joe? You had me until you said Jacoby Ellsbury. Ellsbury is not a fifth hitter in a lineup, he’s more like an eighth or ninth hitter at this point assuming he isn’t going to be leading off. Fifth? Really Joe? I see a whole lot of “Jacoby Ellsbury Sucks” and “Fire Joe Girardi” tweets in my future and on my twitter timeline. (Follow along all season long by following @GreedyStripes so this shameless plug will be worth it, please)

Also Joe announced that Ronald Torreyes will be the Yankees starting shortstop while Didi Gregorius misses the first month of the season or so with a right shoulder strain. I guess it just made too much sense to have the better hitter in Robert Refsnyder play second base while Starlin Castro slid over to shortstop. Whatever, what do I know?

The final major announcement was that Adam Warren will work out of the team’s bullpen, as expected, and is no longer in the mix for the team’s starting rotation spots they have open. That leaves just Chad Green, Bryan Mitchell, Luis Severino and my pick Jordan Montgomery fighting for just two spots.

And now we’re all caught up. I think. I hope. Have a great Friday everyone. TGIF.

The Tampa Bay Rays & Rob Refsnyder

The New York Yankees floated around the idea of trading infielder and utility player Robert Refsnyder this offseason but then Didi Gregorius got hurt leaving many to speculate that those trade talks would all but take a back seat for now. Well apparently that speculation and about $15 will get you a beer at Yankee Stadium because reportedly the organization is still looking to trade Refsnyder and they may have found an interested party in the Tampa Bay Rays.

According to the Tampa Bay Times reporter Marc Tompkin the Tampa Bay Rays are looking to add a cheap, young and controllable right-handed bat and the team has their eye on Refsnyder as that possible bat going forward. The Yankees still may want to move Refsnyder as he may or may not even have a spot on the team right now. With Gregorius out the Yankees could easily find at-bats and playing time for him but they could also give that playing time to one of Pete Kozma, Ronald Torreyes, Tyler Wade, Ji-Man Choi, Donovan Solano or others not named Gleyber Torres. To move Refsnyder still makes sense on paper and it would also create a 40 man roster spot for someone like Jordan Montgomery if he ends up winning the 4^th or 5^th starting rotation spots this spring.

In the report Tompkin states that the Rays are looking for not only a right-handed bat but specifically a shortstop or an outfielder. While Refsnyder has not played shortstop in his minor league or major league career he does have some experience in both right field and left field and he also brings that versatility that Tampa just absolutely loves on defense. Refsnyder’s line-drive hitting and professional approach at the plate would fit in well with any team but would especially fit in with a team like Tampa Bay who needs any and all protection around Evan Longoria if they want to compete whatsoever this season.

It is worth mentioning I think that both the Rays and the Yankees are said to be interested in the Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Nick Ahmed so maybe a three-team trade could be worked out? Who knows… I guess you will just have to stay tuned to find out. 

Predictions on the Rotation, Right Field, Shortstop & Bench Spring Competitions

Ladies and gentleman, good morning first and foremost, we are now just six days away from Opening Day including today which means the spring training competitions will soon be coming to an end. Who will man right field and who will be on the bench to start the season? Who will fill in for the injured DIdi Gregorius and who will fill out the remainder of the Yankees bench? Who wins the 4^th and 5^th spots in the rotation and who ends up in the bullpen or the minor leagues? Well unfortunately I don’t know but I have an idea and a set of predictions that I will bring to you this morning for better or worse. We all know, if you’ve been reading for a while anyway, how my predictions usually go though so keep that in mind while reading. Thanks.

The biggest elephant in the room I think is the Yankees starting rotation so let’s start there. Now what I think the Yankees should do and what the Yankees will do are likely two different things unfortunately. What I think the Yankees will do is they will have Luis Severino act as the team’s 4^th starter while Bryan Mitchell heads down to the bullpen until the Yankees need a 5^th starter around the mid-April timeframe. What I think the Yankees should do though is reward Jordan Montgomery for an amazing spring and a great 2016 season and give the job to him. He has been working as a reliever all spring anyway so the transition to the bullpen to start the season would be a relatively easy one and it would also limit his innings a bit which could help in August and September of this season. The thing is though the Yankees don’t tend to burn minor league options until they have to or unless they have to and as long as a combination of Mitchell, Severino, Chas Green and Luis Cessa are healthy they just don’t have to yet, and they won’t. Even if it is for the betterment of the team.

The future is now but the future also involves the New York Yankees at least fighting it out in the AL Wild Card race this fall, at least that’s the plan anyway, so those who say Aaron Judge has the right field job on lockdown may be in for a surprise here in a few days. Honestly I personally think Judge will be in right field to start the season on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays but this competition is going to go down to the wire for no other reason other than Joe Girardi’s seemingly infatuation with having Hicks in his every day lineup. Hicks is a switch-hitter and he does bring more experience and leadership to the role, a role that Judge seemingly struggled with in his first taste of MLB pitching, but the future is now in the Bronx and Judge is the future in right field, not Hicks. Hicks had a full campaign last season to showcase his abilities and skills and he didn’t by any stretch of the imagination. Judge had a few weeks before going down with an oblique injury and should be given a much longer leash than that in my opinion, and he will I think starting on Opening Day, April 2^nd.

The final and one of the biggest decisions the Yankees have to make before they break camp this spring is which one of their many options will be manning the recently vacated shortstop position in the Bronx while Didi Gregorius heals from his right shoulder strain. New York has basically already said that Gleyber Torres and Tyler Wade will not win the job, and they shouldn’t based on New York’s 40 man roster crunch and the need for minor league options and such, but who should “win” the job is Robert Refsnyder. What the Yankees can do is have Starlin Castro take the bulk of the responsibility at shortstop with Ronald Torreyes also filling in while either Torreyes or Refsnyder take turns at second base in some sort of revolving door. Obviously some days Torreyes could simply play shortstop while Castro plays second base while the next day Castro plays shortstop and Refsnyder plays second base and so on and so forth. The Yankees have some versatility though with these three and they should use it to their advantage as much as possible.

The idea of having Pete Kozma on the roster only to be designated for assignment in a month has also been floated around but I’m not sure how much I like the idea. It seems like making a move or three (adding him to the 40 man roster only to DFA him in a month and hope he passes through waivers) but it seems like the ultimate Yankees move so I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens. Whatever screws over the development of Refsnyder and gets him back in Triple-A I guess. That’s the way it seems anyway but I digress.

So there are my predictions, what are yours? Leave them below in the comments section. Thanks again!

Exploring the Trade Market for Rob Refsnyder

The New York Yankees have reportedly made one of their own available in trades if the right offer were to present itself. That player is Robert Refsnyder and as much as the fan in me doesn’t want to write this I want to explore the possible trade market and landing spots if and when Refsnyder actually is traded this spring. You know, so I can pre-order one of his jerseys in that team’s colors.

Refsnyder on paper knows a lot of positions including corner outfield, second base, third base and has even dabbled at the first base position but the problem for the now 26-year old is that he is seemingly blocked at every one of those positions going forward which explains why the Yankees organization would rather trade him now rather than have him toil in the minor league system. With that position skill set you would have to think a ton of teams could use him off their bench including the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants.

The Dodgers need backups for first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and second baseman Justin Turner while the Giants need a left fielder in the worst way right now. Refsnyder could start every day in San Francisco and get the consistent at-bats necessary to become that near .300 hitter again that he was in the minor leagues as an everyday player. In either deal the Yankees would want pitching back in the deal for Refsnyder and may have to include another player, more on that later, to facilitate a deal. Travis Wood may be an option from Los Angeles and someone like Ty Blach from San Francisco may be intriguing to the Yankees.

Everyone bone in my body tells me that Refsnyder will be traded before Opening Day though so stay tuned to see if it will be to one of these two teams I mentioned above. 

Is It Time for Me to Eat Crow on Tyler Wade?

If you guys and girls have been reading me long enough you know that I am not all that high on Yankees infield prospect Tyler Wade. To be completely honest I have never been that high on Wade as I feel like, at the time anyway, he was just another run-of-the-mill defensive-minded shortstop with little in the way of power and hitting in general. In terms of the future and blue chip prospects I still feel this way about Wade but the New York Yankees organization may have found a way to make him useful again, even in my skeptical eyes, and that may be the reason that the team is now so suddenly willing to part with Robert Refsnyder. The Yankees ultimate plan may have been to make Wade the super utility player that Refsnyder simply failed to be defensively.  

So is it time for me to eat crow on Wade and my thoughts of him as a top Yankees prospect? I mean, maybe, but that doesn’t mean I am going to. I’m stubborn like that and I still don’t see the “need” for a guy who can’t hit but can defend at multiple positions. The Yankees have that in Refsnyder already and they also have Ronald Torreyes on the roster making three types of “no-bat but plus-defense” players redundant in my opinion hence the Refsnyder trade rumors. To be completely honest though I am not sure I am ready to eat crow on Wade just yet, not because the Yankees think highly of him. I would eat crow when I think highly of him, and I still don’t. 

At the time of this writing the Yankees had played in 18 spring training games as a part of their Grapefruit League schedule and Wade has been in 13 of them collecting a .429/.478/.524 triple slash. That’s great, don’t get me wrong, but when a veteran on a minor league deal does this the media is the first to temper expectations and remind us that spring training stats don’t matter and yada, yada, yada. Why isn’t that the case with Wade? Because those same media outlets and journalist want you to click their articles that tease the Refsnyder trade rumors and the idea of the “next big thing” prospect in New York, that’s why. Wade isn’t even ready for the Major League level after spending the entire 2016 season at Double-A with the Trenton Thunder so I don’t get the direct correlation between him and Refsnyder, yet, but hey… what do I know? I’m just a guy with a blog that’s watched baseball since I was two-years old and who has watched religiously since 1994. 

I get the idea and mindset behind Wade, I truly do. He is a skilled shortstop who has played third base and all three of the outfield positions but the fact remains that I could probably get out from behind my computer and hit the ball better than Wade does over the course of a 162-game season. That’s not me bragging that’s just me exaggerating heavily to show my point that Wade just isn’t projected to be and hasn’t been a huge hitter at the minor league or major league level. Period. Refsnyder has struggled since his first season in the majors but he was at least a near .300 hitter in the minor leagues before coming up to the show. Wade cannot say that and likely never will. 

This isn’t the National League people, the Yankees need offense. Even late in games and even off the bench. That’s not Wade. That’s not Refsnyder right now either to be fair but at least Refsnyder projects to show some offensive prowess in his career and has at least shown an ability to handle MLB caliber pitching. Wade hasn’t and until he does I will not admit defeat on Refsnyder nor will I admit I was wrong on Wade, because I wasn’t. 

Report: Yankees Looking to Trade Rob Refsnyder and the Sky is Officially Falling in the Burch Household

The sky is falling! The sky is falling! No really though guys, the sky is falling. While I may be exaggerating just a tad I feel like it is in my little world that I call the Burch Household. Why? Well George A. King of the New York Post reported over the weekend that the New York Yankees have told teams that they are listening to offers for utility man, and my absolute favorite prospect in all the land, Robert Refsnyder. While this doesn’t mean a transaction is imminent by any means it means the Yankees are at least entertaining the idea of moving him and that, in a nutshell, breaks my heart.

I can’t help it. I’m a fan. I’ve been a fan of Refsnyder since the Yankees took the outfielder out of the University of Arizona back in 2012 and I am a fan today. I was a fan when Refsnyder was transferred to second base and I was a fan when Stephen Drew (Sucks) was clogging up the second base position while Refsnyder was hitting .300 in Triple-A. I was a fan during Refsnyder’s first 16 games of his Major League career when he slashed .302/.348/.512 with five extra-base hits, five RBI and two stolen bases and I was a fan when he started at second base in the team’s Wild Card playoff game against the Houston Astros and Dallas Keuchel.

If I am being 100% honest, while I will admittedly be crushed, I would be happy if Refsnyder were to be traded only because it means he could potentially get the playing time that he not only needs but also deserves in my obviously bias and yet humble opinion. Refsnyder should have been called up at least a year earlier than he was and was slated to be the team’s starting second baseman until the Starlin Castro acquisition from the Chicago Cubs. Refsnyder has been looked over and passed over ever since he was drafted and it seems unlikely he will ever get a true shot here in the Bronx so no one would or should begrudge him for going elsewhere to get that shot. This sport isn’t the NBA, you have to play your entire life just to get a 15-minute cup of coffee in the show and if that cup of Joe isn’t in the Bronx I’ll just be glad that he got it at all, regardless of where it is.

What the Yankees could be getting back for Refsnyder is anyone’s guess, not a game changer or a huge name in my opinion although there is always that Jose Quintana rumor still hanging around Yankee Land, but at this point anything is better than nothing. At least in Refsnyder’s case. Good luck to the soon-to-be 26-year old no matter what happens and where he ends up. Just know I am going to terribly upset if that isn’t with the Yankees in some capacity for the 2017 season. 

Rob Refsnyder the Third Baseman?

Hey guys, remember like just last year when I said that the New York Yankees should try Robert Refsnyder out at third base? Well this was originally stated before the Yankees acquired Starlin Castro and before Chase Headley had yet another down season at third base in 2016. So here I am once again putting the most obvious of situations down on paper because apparently the New York Yankees organization cannot see it themselves. So here it is, as slow as I can type it, one last time for you. The Yankees need a third baseman of the future and a third baseman for the now and that third baseman should be Robert Refsnyder.


Some will say that the Yankees aren’t high on Refsnyder or that they don’t trust his defense but those same people are ignoring the fact that the team called him up not once, but twice during the 2015 season while keeping him in the show for much of the 2016 season. The second call-up also resulted in him starting at second base in the AL Wild Card Playoff Round against the Houston Astros, an eventual 3-0 loss to Dallas Keuchel. The bat looked like it could stick, albeit in a short sample size, as he batted .355 in September and .302 overall in both call-ups while his defense looked to be adequate. Refsnyder got to the balls he was supposed to and he made the plays he was supposed to, anyone who doesn’t think that’s sufficient at 25-years old and with just two years of experience at second base professionally should just turn in their Derek Jeter jersey’s now.



The possibility of Refsnyder learning and playing the third base position is still up in the air. Brian Cashman seems adamant that the team will keep him at second base only while Refsnyder is said to be open to the idea. Then again Refsnyder is “up for anything” as long as it means he is sticking with the MLB squad. We already know that Starlin will be playing some third base this spring but keep your eyes out for Refsnyder, if he starts playing third base some then you know the plan is in motion. The plan I originally set forward and the plan Joel Sherman will once again get all the credit for. And that’s okay.

Donovan Solano is Back, Now What?

The New York Yankees outrighted infielder Donovan Solano off their 40-man roster following the 2016 regular season but the team has now brought the former Miami Marlins product back to the organization with a new minor league deal. The Solano signing, along with the minor league deal for Ruben Tejada, should give the Yankees plenty of minor league depth and insurance for their middle infielders but much like yesterday I am left feeling “now what?” when it comes to the rest of the middle infielders in the organization, specifically Rob Refsnyder and Ronald Torreyes.

Solano is still somehow just 28-years old so he has his youth on his side and his prime in front of him after leading the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre RailRiders to a Triple-A Championship in 2016 batting .319/.349/.436 in 546 at-bats. New York is obviously high on him, it was Solano who was called up last season during the stretch run to replace an injured Starlin Castro at second base, and will give him a shot to fight for a job once again this spring down in Tampa.

Solano will join Torreyes, Refsnyder and Tejada this spring as the four men competing for no more than two roster spots this spring. Unless of course a trade comes up and Refsnyder or Torreyes, or conceivably although less likely Solano or Tejada as well, come up in trade discussions. I guess you’ll have to stay tuned to find out.

Does the Ruben Tejada Signing Make Rob Refsnyder & Ronald Torreyes Expendable?

The New York Yankees signed former New York Mets middle infielder Ruben Tejada to a minor league deal with a presumed invitation to the Yankees spring training camp down in Tampa this coming spring. We’ll meet the man the Yankees signed here in a few hours on the blog but before we get to that I want to share my initial response, impression and the major question that came along with the signing. I also want to explore whether such a signing by the Bronx Bombers now makes both Robert Refsnyder and Ronald Torreyes not only trade bait but expendable as well.

I’ll start slow with my initial response. My initial response to the signing was not a real major one. It’s a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training. The Yankees will likely have many veterans and reclamation projects that they sign to similar deals this winter and spring so the fact that it’s Tejada is not a huge deal to me. I think it’s being made into a bigger deal than it is by most because he used to play for the Mets, and truth be told a little of it also has to do with the fact that news is slow right now around the Christmas holidays. This was merely a blip on the radar for me until I started thinking whether this was a precursor to something to come, something much bigger.

Let’s be honest, and this is coming from the biggest Rob Refsnyder fan besides his own mother, both Refsnyder and Torreyes are easily expendable. While I believe with constant and consistent at bats Refsnyder could become a line-drive hitter and an overall good hitter in the Major Leagues manager Joe Girardi has proven time and time again that this is not simply going to happen. With that said Refsnyder and Torreyes lend little to the team in terms of offense, their value is on defense at this point unfortunately and their versatility and ability to play multiple positions. Something that Tejada could also lend the Yankees in the middle infield.

Now we know the Yankees and their seemingly infatuation with having veteran players on the team, even in the midst of a rebuild on the fly, so it worries me that Tejada may get that 25^th spot and a young guy who still has some trade value like Refsnyder may be out the door in a deal for a starting pitcher. Of course Refsnyder alone, or Torreyes either for that matter, cannot fetch a pitcher on their own but when thrown into a package with someone else (Brett Gardner) you may have the makings of a deal on your hands. And that worries me if I am being honest. 

What About Steve Pearce?

So the New York Yankees just acquired Zack Greinke, I’m calling it so go ahead and just play along with me, so now the team is going to have to get creative and get a bit frugal to fill out the roster. The team needs versatility, and they need it cheap which brings me to the idea of adding Steve Pearce to the fold for the 2017 season.

Steve Pearce knows the American League East and knows the pitching after spending time with the Baltimore Orioles and he knows how to simply mash the baseball. Pearce would add some right-handed pop to the middle of the Yankees lineup while also adding a ton of versatility in the field. Pearce can handle third base, hello Chase Headley backup and potential replacement if he were traded this offseason, first base, hello Greg Bird insurance card, second base, because every offseason Starlin Castro’s name will come up in trade rumors, and has even dabbled in some outfield from time to time throughout his career. Aaron Judge, I’m looking at you here bud.

The Yankees have already made it clear that Chase Headley and/or Brett Gardner could be traded this winter and if the Yankees need a talented infielder to replace the former then Pearce may be their man. Headley is solid defensively but he adds very little unfortunately in the offensive categories, especially in the power department, and could be easily upgraded on with Pearce in my opinion. Would Pearce be the number one choice if I were the Yankees GM? No, surely not. Todd Frazier of the Chicago White Sox would be or even Ian Kinsler would fit the mold but those players are going to cost more than I am probably comfortable giving up if I’m being honest while Pearce could be had for relatively cheap in terms of years and dollars.

One must remember that throwing money at the problem just doesn’t work anymore in this day and age. You have to plan for not only one injury but a slew of injuries and you have to do it all six months in advanced. It’s hard, maybe one of the hardest jobs in the game, but having players like Pearce who are cheap and versatile surely makes that job a whole lot easier. Pearce may even open up the potential for a Robert Refsnyder or Ronald Torreyes trade. Hey, you never know. Stay tuned.

Remembering Yankees of the Past: Marcus Thames

Marcus Markley Thames, born March 6, 1977, played with four different teams including the New York Yankees three separate times during his playing career from 2002 to 2011 and has since spent his time in the minor leagues with the club as a coach. During the 2013 season Thames was the hitting coach for the High-A Tampa Yankees and was promoted to the Trenton Thunder in the same position for the 2014 season drawing rave reviews from one of the Yankees top prospects Robert Refsnyder. Now, in a bit of irony, we remember a Yankee of the past (as a player, not as a coach) and we remember Marcus Thames during his playing days.


Thames was originally drafted by the New York Yankees in the 30th round of the 1996 MLB Draft but did not make a true impact in the minor leagues until 2001. Thames was with the Double-A Norwich Navigators that season and he batted .321 with 31 home runs and 97 RBI where he was named to Baseball America’s minor league All-Star team and where he put himself on the map for the Yankees. New York was so impressed with Thames that they called him up before a June 10 game in 2002 and Thames responded immediately. Thames, facing the Arizona Diamondbacks big left-hander Randy Johnson, hit the first home run of his career on his first at bat becoming just the 80th player in MLB history to do so. Thames earned his first curtain call from the Bronx faithful, what a moment if you were fortunate enough to see it live.


Thames’ tenure with the Yankees ended on June 6, 2003 when he was traded to the Texas Rangers for Ruben Sierra. Thames went on to hit a home run in his first at bat with the Rangers as well but was back in the New York groove in 2010 when he signed a minor league deal with the club. Thames made the Opening Day roster and was set to be a platoon partner with Brett Gardner in left field before his defense forced him to accept a bench role. Thames was delegated to the bench behind Gardner, Curtis Granderson, Nick Swisher and Austin Kearns who was traded for before the trade deadline and ended up playing in just 82 games that season. In half of a season Kearns hit .288 with 12 home runs, mainly against left-handed pitching.





Thames elected free agency in November of 2010 but was right back with the team on July 22, 2011 after New York signed him to another minor league deal. Thames never played a game for the Yankees at any level that season and would retire from the game a member of the New York Yankees before pursuing his career in coaching with the ball club. Thames has continuously defied the odds and has defied the odds once again with his promotion to assistant hitting coach with the club. Congratulations to him and his family. You have to think that Thames is on the short list for hitting coach after Cockrell’s contract expires, no?

If the 2017 Season Began Today…..

While the MLB playoffs are in full swing the New York Yankees are home for what should be a very, very long winter. The team came out of the gates sluggish and began 2016 on a 9-17 stretch that ultimately doomed them later on in the season. Next year the team will look to come out strong with their new faces and young players with their eyes on the ultimate prize, the postseason. A lot can and likely will happen for this club between now and Opening Day 2017 but as it stands right now here are your 2017 New York Yankees. The only constant is change so expect that.

The Infield:

Gary Sanchez – C

Greg Bird – 1B

Starlin Castro – 2B

Didi Gregorius – SS

Chase Headley – 3B

Brian McCann – DH

The Outfield:

Brett Gardner – LF

Jacoby Ellsbury – CF

Aaron Judge – RF

The Bench:

Aaron Hicks – OF

Ronald Torreyes / Rob Refsnyder  – INF/OF

Austin Romine – C

Tyler Austin – 1B/OF

The Starters:

Masahiro Tanaka

CC Sabathia

Michael Pineda

Luis Cessa

Bryan Mitchell / Luis Severino / Chad Green

The Bullpen:

Dellin Betances

Tyler Clippard

Adam Warren

Tommy Layne

Jonathan Holder

Nick Goody / Richard Bleier / Other I'm blatantly forgetting

Whoever isn’t the 5^th starter

Thoughts? Obvious holes? Areas that need improvement? And….. go in the comments section!

ICYMI: Yankees Youth Movement Only Needs One More Thing….

Get your pitchforks out Yankees family, we’re about to have a bonfire and a pig roast because the New York Yankees and their newfound youth movement need just one more thing. A new manager. I know, I know, I’ve been one of the bigger Joe Girardi supporters during his tenure here in New York and while the binder, now turned iPad, has frustrated the hell out of me his bullpen management has been and remains to be one of the better bullpen management in Major League Baseball. The Yankees have the kids up now and nothing to play for yet players like Ronald Torreyes, Tyler Austin and others remain on the bench in big games. Why? Because Girardi needs to go, that’s why.


Before you bring up his Manager of the Year Award with like 17 players who couldn’t even legally buy beer yet in Miami let me stop you. First of all that was a long time ago and secondly that’s all he had at his disposal. Girardi does great with managing and managing young kids but he only does so when his hand is forced and the New York Yankees will never force his hand in my opinion. They will always have that veteran option either down in Triple-A or on the MLB roster “just in case.” The problem here is Girardi uses his “just in case” options far more than he should and it’s really, really annoying and frustrating to watch as a fan who is devoted to this rebuild.


I mean look at it this way. Brian Cashman traded away Carlos Beltran and that is the ONLY reason we saw Aaron Judge. Aaron Hicks got injured and that is the ONLY reason we saw Mason Williams. Ben Gamel was great for us yet the sample size is too small to really jump up and down about because he was hardly ever used leading to him being traded to the Seattle Mariners. He wasn’t even good enough in the Yankees eyes to use as a stolen base guy off the bench despite having comparable numbers to the guy they traded for, Eric Young Jr. of the Milwaukee Brewers, and gave his roster spot to in less at bats and opportunities. But Young is a veteran.


You know what the biggest problem is? Talent bails out Girardi more times than not and Wednesday night was the perfect example of that. On Tuesday night Tyler Austin has a three-hit game including a game winning home run so what does Girardi do in his infinite wisdom? Sits him the next day in lieu of Mark Teixeira. Sure, Teixeira hit the game winning walk-off grand slam in the game which stopped all the questions from the media after the game but what if he didn’t? What if that’s never an issue if Austin starts the game and the Yankees offense actually scores before the 9th inning?


Joe Girardi is just frustrating me right now and I just don’t think he is the right fit for this team anymore. Does that mean he’s a bad manager? No, hell no in fact, but I also don’t think he is going to be able to get out of his own way with the veterans still on this club. He may not be the manager for the youth movement, at least in my opinion.


Oh, and FREE REFSNYDER! You almost made it a prospects post without hearing about him.

Yankees Youth Movement Only Needs One More Thing….

Get your pitchforks out Yankees family, we’re about to have a bonfire and a pig roast because the New York Yankees and their newfound youth movement need just one more thing. A new manager. I know, I know, I’ve been one of the bigger Joe Girardi supporters during his tenure here in New York and while the binder, now turned iPad, has frustrated the hell out of me his bullpen management has been and remains to be one of the better bullpen management in Major League Baseball. The Yankees have the kids up now and nothing to play for yet players like Ronald Torreyes, Tyler Austin and others remain on the bench in big games. Why? Because Girardi needs to go, that’s why. 

Before you bring up his Manager of the Year Award with like 17 players who couldn’t even legally buy beer yet in Miami let me stop you. First of all that was a long time ago and secondly that’s all he had at his disposal. Girardi does great with managing and managing young kids but he only does so when his hand is forced and the New York Yankees will never force his hand in my opinion. They will always have that veteran option either down in Triple-A or on the MLB roster “just in case.” The problem here is Girardi uses his “just in case” options far more than he should and it’s really, really annoying and frustrating to watch as a fan who is devoted to this rebuild. 

I mean look at it this way. Brian Cashman traded away Carlos Beltran and that is the ONLY reason we saw Aaron Judge. Aaron Hicks got injured and that is the ONLY reason we saw Mason Williams. Ben Gamel was great for us yet the sample size is too small to really jump up and down about because he was hardly ever used leading to him being traded to the Seattle Mariners. He wasn’t even good enough in the Yankees eyes to use as a stolen base guy off the bench despite having comparable numbers to the guy they traded for, Eric Young Jr. of the Milwaukee Brewers, and gave his roster spot to in less at bats and opportunities. But Young is a veteran. 

You know what the biggest problem is? Talent bails out Girardi more times than not and Wednesday night was the perfect example of that. On Tuesday night Tyler Austin has a three-hit game including a game winning home run so what does Girardi do in his infinite wisdom? Sits him the next day in lieu of Mark Teixeira. Sure, Teixeira hit the game winning walk-off grand slam in the game which stopped all the questions from the media after the game but what if he didn’t? What if that’s never an issue if Austin starts the game and the Yankees offense actually scores before the 9^th inning? 

Joe Girardi is just frustrating me right now and I just don’t think he is the right fit for this team anymore. Does that mean he’s a bad manager? No, hell no in fact, but I also don’t think he is going to be able to get out of his own way with the veterans still on this club. He may not be the manager for the youth movement, at least in my opinion.

Oh, and FREE REFSNYDER! You almost made it a prospects post without hearing about him. 

Checking Back on My Bold Predictions for 2016

Bold predictions are generally harder to predict than about anything in Major League Baseball, especially almost nine months in advance, but I took a shot nonetheless back in January and here are my results for better or worse.

--Robinson Cano who? That's going to be something I feel like I'm going to be saying a lot this season. "Robinson Cano who" will be this season's "Stephen Drew sucks." Why? Starlin Castro and his .280 batting average and his 22 home runs in the second hole of the Yankees batting order.

I was actually pretty good with this prediction. The batting average was slightly high and so was the prediction that he would hit second all season long but I think I did pretty well on this one.

--Speaking of second base I can see Chase Headley missing some time this season, he played in almost all 162 games last season, and will have at least one trip to the disabled list. That will allow Robert Refsnyder to force the issue from the bench, he'll still spend less than a month on the MLB roster though.

Refsnyder had to force the issue once again from the bench and only got a chance due to injury, that was correct, but Headley has surprisingly held up well thus far this season. He has missed days banged up and has recently been out after his back locked up on him but other than that he has been great down at third base. I guess I can’t complain about that.

--Speaking of spending time on the MLB roster Refsnyder will spend about as much time on the roster as Greg Bird thanks to Mark Teixeira getting into 140+ games and having a hell of a contract season. 30 more home runs at least for Teixeira and he will finally drive in those 100 RBI.

Refsnyder spent more time on the MLB roster than Greg Bird did unfortunately but this prediction was made prior to the shoulder injury. Oh and Mark Teixeira playing in 140 games, LOL. Those stat predictions, LOL. When I say BOLD I mean BOLD!

--Alex Rodriguez will not be able to replicate his huge 2015 campaign, although he will stay healthy once again and hit over 20 home runs once again. The decline will be obvious but he will be kept out of the lineup more often with Gary Sanchez on the roster.

Hey now, I got this one right. A Rod did decline and he was kept off the roster due to Baby Bombers like Gary Sanchez. He just didn’t reach 20 home runs. I’ll still take this one as a win though.

--Quite possibly the biggest bold prediction will be one that has to do with the Yankees starting rotation. The health specifically of the starting rotation. None of Masahiro Tanaka, Nathan Eovaldi, Michael Pineda or Luis Severino will head to the disabled list this season. Yeah, I said BOLD predictions.

Eovaldi had two surgeries including Tommy John surgery and Severino went on the shelf earlier in the season. Two out of four ain’t bad.

--The final prediction is quite bold given the state of the division. The Yankees will make the playoffs once again as a Wild Card team.

To be continued…..

ICYMI: The Post That Damned the Yankees 2016 Season

This was written after a Yankees seven game winning streak. New York was riding high on the emotions of many victories and I had the team written into the postseason this year. Ever since then the team has struggled and I feel personally responsible. If so, I'm sorry.

The American League should be shaking in their boots right now because the New York Yankees are the train and the rest of the league are standing on the tracks right now. Now before I start this post I want to preface this with the fact that I do not believe the Yankees will win the World Series and sweep through everyone like they did in years like 1998 for example but what I will say is that New York may be the most dangerous team right now, the hottest team right now and the team who is best built for a one-game playoff game. Here’s why I think that.


The Yankees may have had a blessing in disguise when they decided to sell off pieces at the August 1st trade deadline because the youth has taken over in the Bronx. There are a few reasons why youth is important at this stage in the game for New York. First and foremost you would have to think that most veteran teams are starting to feel the wear and tear of a 162-game schedule and are starting to slow down or at the very least are starting to need a day off here or there. Do you think Gary Sanchez, Tyler Austin, Rob Refsnyder, Aaron Judge and crew need or necessarily want days off at this point? I don’t. You think Luis Severino is okay with pitching once a week? I don’t


Secondly I don’t believe the Yankees youth knows that they are supposed to be nervous and such right now. Many of the Yankees minor league affiliates have either played for or won a minor league championship in recent years and this playoff push is nothing new to this young core. They are used to winning, they were brought up to win and dammit when they need a win, they get a win. This team is too ignorant, and if you know the definition of the word you know I mean no malcontent when I say that, to be scared, nervous or worried about winning and losing. They are simply going out there and playing the game like it’s supposed to be played and they are doing damn good at it too.


The offense is back, Masahiro Tanaka hasn’t pitched this well since coming over from Japan, the bullpen is once again being pieced together and the team just simply refuses to lose. Joe Girardi has finally woken up and decided he wants to play the youth and the maybe the most exciting part of all this is that more reinforcements could be on the way. Triple-A’s Governors Cup will be handed out soon, the Double-A playoffs will soon be over and more talent could be on the way to the Bronx. You never know.


This may be one of the most dangerous teams heading into the postseason in 2016 assuming they make it, I truly believe that in my heart of hearts. The American League better do everything they can to keep this team out of October baseball because if they don’t they may end up fearing this team before it’s all said and done. Excitement has returned to the Bronx and it’s a hell of a feeling.

Why the AL Should Fear the New York Yankees

The American League should be shaking in their boots right now because the New York Yankees are the train and the rest of the league are standing on the tracks right now. Now before I start this post I want to preface this with the fact that I do not believe the Yankees will win the World Series and sweep through everyone like they did in years like 1998 for example but what I will say is that New York may be the most dangerous team right now, the hottest team right now and the team who is best built for a one-game playoff game. Here’s why I think that.

The Yankees may have had a blessing in disguise when they decided to sell off pieces at the August 1^st trade deadline because the youth has taken over in the Bronx. There are a few reasons why youth is important at this stage in the game for New York. First and foremost you would have to think that most veteran teams are starting to feel the wear and tear of a 162-game schedule and are starting to slow down or at the very least are starting to need a day off here or there. Do you think Gary Sanchez, Tyler Austin, Rob Refsnyder, Aaron Judge and crew need or necessarily want days off at this point? I don’t. You think Luis Severino is okay with pitching once a week? I don’t

Secondly I don’t believe the Yankees youth knows that they are supposed to be nervous and such right now. Many of the Yankees minor league affiliates have either played for or won a minor league championship in recent years and this playoff push is nothing new to this young core. They are used to winning, they were brought up to win and dammit when they need a win, they get a win. This team is too ignorant, and if you know the definition of the word you know I mean no malcontent when I say that, to be scared, nervous or worried about winning and losing. They are simply going out there and playing the game like it’s supposed to be played and they are doing damn good at it too.

The offense is back, Masahiro Tanaka hasn’t pitched this well since coming over from Japan, the bullpen is once again being pieced together and the team just simply refuses to lose. Joe Girardi has finally woken up and decided he wants to play the youth and the maybe the most exciting part of all this is that more reinforcements could be on the way. Triple-A’s Governors Cup will be handed out soon, the Double-A playoffs will soon be over and more talent could be on the way to the Bronx. You never know.

This may be one of the most dangerous teams heading into the postseason in 2016 assuming they make it, I truly believe that in my heart of hearts. The American League better do everything they can to keep this team out of October baseball because if they don’t they may end up fearing this team before it’s all said and done. Excitement has returned to the Bronx and it’s a hell of a feeling. 

Predicting the 2016 Yankees September Call Ups

The New York Yankees youth movement is in full swing with Aaron Judge taking over the right field duties, Tyler Austin getting the bulk of the work at first base and Gary Sanchez catching behind the plate and frankly it’s a sight for sore eyes. The Yankees have needed such a youth movement for many years now and I am glad the team has finally committed to doing it and for this season I am more excited than ever for the calendar to turn to September so we can get some September call ups and reinforcements from the minor leagues. Who will those reinforcements be? One can only guess and speculate at this point and that is exactly what I’ll try to do for you on this Friday morning.

Let’s start with the easy ones, the players currently on the 40 man roster that have already had their minor league option used for the 2016 season.

INF/OF Robert Refsnyder

OF Ben Gamel

RHP Ben Heller

LHP Chasen Shreve/ RHP Kirby Yates (whichever is down in Triple-A at the time)

LHP James Pazos

RHP Luis Cessa (if he’s sent back down between then and now)

RHP Johnny Barbato

LHP Richard Bleier

RHP Nick Goody

OF Mason Williams

RHP Bryan Mitchell

The 40 man roster the crunch is real. The roster does have one free spot though and has some flexibility if the Yankees were to 60-Day DL Jacob Lindgren, Nathan Eovaldi or Nick Goody while designating Richard Bleier, Anthony Swarzak, Blake Parker, J.R Graham or Tommy Layne to name a few for assignment. The Yankees could get creative and bring up a few others but that’s purely speculatuion at this point. The future finally looks bright in New York and we can get a true glimpse of that come this September. Two more weeks!

Did I omit someone? Am I crazy for including another? Leave it below in the comments section or tweet us your thoughts and responses @GreedyStripes. 

ICYMI: The Greatest Game I Have Ever Been To...

Also by Patrick Hennessy seen HERE: 

Last night, August 1st 2016 I was lucky enough to be able to attend the first game of this years Subway series at Citi Field. Let me just start it off with this, it was one of the greatest games I have ever been to live.

The Yankees entered this game by finishing of their selling spree by trading Chapman to the Cubs, Miller to the Indians, Beltran to the Rangers, and Nova to the Pirates. While the Mets entered this game going in a totally opposite direction by buying at the deadline and trading for RBI leader Jay Bruce and former Met Jon Niese. The Yankees entered this game at a .500 record while the Mets entered with a record of 54-50 which isn't much better then the Yanks but it keeps them in the NL playoff hunt.

Now let's get to the game, I have never been to a Yankee-Met game before so it was a very new experience to me despite all of the previous games I have been to including last years AL Wild Card game. It was also my first time at Citi Field and let me say it is a really nice stadium, ton of options for food, and the bullpen gate is something really cool that all fans who go there should check out. I also like how as I entered the stadium they had a separate express lane for people who didn't have bags that needed to be checked which made my process going into the stadium go much quicker. I still don't believe it is better then Yankee Stadium but it was definitley up there.

I sat in the 500 level where I thought that it would be tough to see the field but it was actually a great view for being that high up. As the game started I saw Brett Gardner come up to bat... Next thing I know is that he hit a deep fly ball to center field and Ruggiano had a tough time playing it so Gardner is speeding around the bases and gets thrown out at the plate going for the inside the park HR. It was devastating because I had Mets fans sitting all around me and they were all going nuts while I was just sitting there with my hat down very dissapointment.

The game was then very quiet until the bottom of the 2nd when Mets 3B Wilmer Flores launched a solo home run off of C.C. Sabathia and the only thing that I thought in my head was "This is when Sabathia is going to collapse" and oh boy was I right. Then in the top of the 3rd Refsnyder was on first base and Sabathia dropped one of the worst bunts I have ever seen right back to the pitcher and it winds up becoming a double play.

Then in the top of the 5th the Yankees got things going again, with two outs Gardner doubled to right field with Refsnyder on 2nd which gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead. Then the next batter Jacoby Ellsbury singled to center which allowed Gardner to score therefore making the score 3-1 Yankees. I was very confident in this lead until I remembered that Sabathia was pitching....Which made me not surprised that in the bottom of the 5th Conforto doubled to deep right field and scored Nimmo making the score 3-2 which involved a Yankees lead that would not last very long.

The very next inning in the bottom of the 6th Sabathia gives up 2 singles and then allows Matt Reynolds launch a 3-run homer off of him to give the Mets a 5-3 lead, at this point I am just dissapointment in the Yankees thinking that they have no shot to come back because this is how the entire season has gone.

Little did I know that they were going to spark a rally in the 8th inning. The inning started with a Gardner walk and then a strikeout from Ellsbury and then another Strikeout from Tex (which should not be a suprise to anybody) Then McCann comes up and singles to right which allows Gardner to move to third. This is where things get interesting... Girardi puts in Torreyes for McCann and he quickly takes 2nd after a ball in the dirt from Addison Reed. And now Didi comes up, our best hitter all season might be able to have his shining moment as a Yankee. After practically a 10 pitch at bat that had me biting my fingernails and the crowd going nuts, Didi bloops it into left field scoring both Gardner and Torreyes. I WAS GOING CRAZY!!!!

Now this is the moment that I wished we still had Miller and Chapman to pitch in this game but we don't so then we have to put in Adam Warren to pitch the bottom of 8th and 9th.

This is when we can move to the top of the 10th inning when it all goes down. It starts with an Ellsbury walk, a Tex single, and then a bunt by Gamel which was perfectly placed so that everybody was able to be safe which led them to bases loaded nobody out for Didi! He struck out swinging.... Then I started losing all faith thinking that they would not score but then Castro hit a deep fly ball to right center and I thought it was gone but Granderson was able to catch it and the Yankees were able to score that one run that inning and I was hoping that it was going to be enough to hold down the Mets.

Betances comes in to close the game and put it to rest... First batter was James Loney and he doubles to deep right field and at this point I was just praying that Betances would not blow this game. Next batter was Reynolds and he bunted back to Betances which brought Loney to third with only one out. Betances then hits De Aza with a pitch which brings up Rivera and all he does is ground out to Betances. This leaves 2nd and 3rd two outs with Granderson up... Everyone at the stadium is on the edge of their seats waiting to see what is going to happen... After a long at bat Betances throws Grandy a nasty curveball and THE YANKEES WIN!!! Part of the crowd was going crazy and the other part looked like they were going to cry.

Bottom line, out of the countless number of games I have been to in my life including playoff games, this was DEFINITLEY the most exciting and most fun I have ever had at a baseball game!

Follow Me On Twitter- @Yankeesfan0504