Better With D-Rob Than Without...

Please do not D-ROB Peter to pay Paul…

More and more people are clamoring for David Robertson to be traded to free up salary room to make a big splash to reel in Yu Darvish or Mike Moustakas (on top of the huge acquisition to add slugger Giancarlo Stanton). For the record, I am not in favor of trading D-Rob. 

I get it. Robertson will cost $11.5 million for luxury tax purposes but the guy is such a huge part of the Yankees bullpen. I was so glad when the Yankees reacquired Robertson last summer. I haven’t felt that type of excitement since Andy Pettitte came back from three years in Houston. One of my favorite Yankees coming home. D-Rob carries the Andrew Miller attitude…whatever it takes. Both men value the team ahead of the individual and are willing to pitch whenever, wherever. I trust Robertson more than any other member of the bullpen to close on the days that Aroldis Chapman is not available.  

Dellin Betances can be the most devastating reliever in the game, but as we’ve seen, his 6’8” frame can also get out of whack, making him very hittable. The last couple of years, he has faded down the stretch. D-Rob may not always win, but he’s a strong competitor every time he takes the mound.  

I am bummed that we are in the last year of D-Rob’s contract. I am hopeful the Yankees either re-sign Robertson after the season or make a huge play to bring back Andrew Miller, who will also be a free agent after the 2018 season.  

But for the 2018 season, I cannot imagine the Yankees bullpen without David Robertson. 

To me, it makes more sense to trade Brett Gardner. But every pro-trade Robertson article I’ve read, talks about how invaluable Gardy is to the clubhouse. I understand those intangibles, but time and again, the Yankees have had to replace strong clubhouse leaders. Team leadership did not dry up when Derek Jeter walked out of the Stadium for the final time. If Gardy leaves, another guy (or guys) will step up to fill the void. From purely a player aspect, D-Rob is more valuable to the bullpen than Gardy is to the outfield given the plethora of other younger outfield options.  

The enigma on the current roster construction is Jacoby Ellsbury and his suffocating contract. The New York Post speculates that the Yankees might have to include as much as $50 million on the contract to move Ellsbury once the current market depletes itself of better outfield options. It’s not like Ellsbury suddenly became Pablo Sandoval. He is still a good player, but he doesn’t fit on the 2018 Yankees. Hopefully GM Brian Cashman will astound us all by finding a way to move Ellsbury’s contract sooner rather than later.

This situation bears watching over the next few weeks but hopefully when the team takes the field for the 2018 season, #30 is on the Yankees roster.  

Photo Credit:  MLB.com

A familiar Foe…

The Toronto Blue Jays grabbed a potential infield option for the Yankees yesterday when they acquired former Yankee Yangervis Solarte from the San Diego Padres. Solarte lost his job at third base when the Padres reacquired Chase Headley. With an ability to play both second and third, Solarte would have been a good option for the Yankees to back the Gleyber Torres/Miguel Andujar youth movement.  

Photo Credit:  Lenny Ignelzi-AP

Mayans MC, Opening Soon at a TV near you…

In a bit of non-baseball news, I have to plug an upcoming TV series. FX announced this past week that they’ve given a 10-episode series order for Mayans MC. Mayans MC, a spin-off of the highly successful Sons of Anarchy, is “set in a post-Jax Teller world, where EZ Reyes (JD Pardo), fresh out of prison, is a prospect in the Mayan MC charter on the Cali/Mexi border.  Now EZ must carve out his new outlaw identity in a town where he once was the golden boy who had the American Dream within his grasp.” The new series, which is set to premiere either this summer or late fall, is co-created by Kurt Sutter and Elgin James. The show will feature an almost all-Latino cast. Sons of Anarchy star Emilio Rivera (reprising the role of Mayans MC President Marcus Alvarez) headlines the strong cast that also features Pardo and Edward James Olmos.  

I am very excited about the potential of the new TV series, and look forward to Sutter’s latest vision. Also, hats off to Glendale Harley-Davidson of Glendale, CA. They have been instrumental in helping the cast members of the new show. I bought my own Harley at Glendale H-D a few years ago and I very proud of this dealership.  

Let’s Ride!

Steinbrenner Field, Opening Sooner…

In theory, the upcoming week should bring more baseball news to the table. The holidays are over, and training camps open in a little more than a month. I expect to see in increase in free agents signings which should loosen up the trade market. It’s been 20 years since the Yankees won 125 games enroute to the 1998 World Series championship. I am not saying that the 2018 team will be as great, but this team has the potential to be something special if Brian Cashman continues to make the right moves. It’s time to bring the championship back to the Bronx!

Go Yankees!

July 31st Trade Deadline Countdown: Third Base

Chase Headley sucks, Gleyber Torres is injured for the remainder of the 2017 season and the New York Yankees may or may not need a third baseman going forward. The good news for the Bronx Bombers is that the July 31^st trade deadline is looming and the countdown, at least here on the blog, has begun. The bad news is that the market for the position looks to be a bit top heavy (aka expensive) and underwhelming (low risk, high reward). Let’s explore what the Yankees could possibly do now that Torres will miss the remainder of the season with Tommy John surgery assuming that Headley continues to struggle at the hot corner.

The names that immediately come to mind in no particular order when thinking about potential trade targets for the Yankees are the Angels’ Yunel Escobar, the White Sox’s Todd Frazier, the Royals’ Mike Moustakas, the Giants’ Eduardo Nunez, the Pirates’ David Freese, the Marlins’ Martin Prado, the Reds’ Eugenio Suarez and the Padres’ Yangervis Solarte. A lot of these guys, coincidentally, are former Yankees.

The main thing to keep in mind is that the team does not want to block Torres in or beyond the 2018 season, yes I realize that Headley is under contract for next season but could be moved to the bench, moved to first base, traded or designated for assignment, so with that in mind the Yankees would likely not be as interested in Freese, Solarte, Suarez or Prado as much as the rest of the bunch since they are not free agents at the end of the 2017 season.

If the Yankees decide to look internally for a replacement the team could always call up Tyler Wade as well who has played in 11 minor-league games at the position. It isn’t ideal by any means but Wade would be the third baseman in theory, the team could always have Ronald Torreyes play there with Wade on the bench or have Starlin Castro play there with either Torreyes or Wade, who is a natural shortstop, man the second base position. Wade would at least give the Yankees options in the field, although he may struggle with the bat a bit.

There’s plenty of options out there both internally and via the trade market. Some options will likely cost the Yankees a lot in terms of prospects (Moustakas for example) while some could be had for minimal expenditures (Prado would be the ultimate salary dump for a struggling Marlins squad). What the Yankees will do when the dust settles remains to be seen though so I guess you’re all going to have to stay tuned. 

Wanted: Good News For A Change...

Credit:  MLB.com

A Collective Groan in the Yankees Universe...

On the tail of a six-game losing streak, how can things go from bad to worse?  Losing top prospect Gleyber Torres to Tommy John surgery certainly qualifies.  Thought to have only a hyperextended elbow, consultation with Yankees team physician Christopher Ahmad revealed that Torres has a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow.  Many were expecting the July call-up of Torres to the Major Leagues as a potential replacement for third baseman Chase Headley.  Now, Torres will undergo surgery, with eyes for Spring Training 2018.  Ouch, this one hurts. Well, him more than me but still, losing both the top pitching and the top hitting prospects to Tommy John surgery in the same year is difficult.  I suppose the news would have been much worse if Torres had injured his throwing arm (longer recuperation and rehabilitation period).  So, we should be grateful that this was not worse than it was.  Good things never happen with headfirst slides.

Like the ascension of Chance Adams to top pitching prospect status, Clint Frazier becomes the de facto top prospect in the organization pending Gleyber's successful return to good health.  As I try to comprehend this depressing news, I didn't really think that Torres was ready for the Big Leagues yet.  I had already viewed his timetable as next Spring.  With immediate projections that he'll be ready for Spring Training, nothing really changes except he'll lose valuable time learning the nuances of third base over the course of the next few months.  Manager Joe Girardi is already on record saying that if there is an infield need at second/short on the MLB roster, Tyler Wade would be the guy.  

Where do we go from here?  With first base surfacing as the greatest need, this probably enhances the chances for Chase Headley to remain as the third base starter (regardless of the consequences) unless the Yankees swing a less expensive deal for a guy like Howie Kendrick of the Philadelphia Phillies.  Without Major League ready third basemen in the Minor Leagues and greater needs at first base and left-handed relief in the bullpen, there's probably not much that can be done to upgrade third base at this point without costing an arm and leg (a few arms and legs, in fact).  Even the guy the Yankees traded to the San Diego Padres for Headley (Yangervis Solarte) would be a better option today in a side-by-side comparison. 

Credit:  Associated Press

The Yankees are competing against the Houston Astros in the pitching market and for third base, they face stiff competition from the Boston Red Sox who appear ready to flush the Pablo Sandoval disaster.  I believe this makes the possibility of Mike Moustakas calling Fenway Park "home" the more likely outcome.  This year's July Trading Deadline figures to be a very expensive one for the many teams looking to upgrade. 

The Yankees elevated 3B Miguel Andujar to AAA-Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to replace Torres.  He was 1-for-4 last night in the RailRiders' 6-1 victory over the Syracuse Chiefs.  He also scored two runs.  The heroes of the game were Dustin Fowler, who had a two-run home run, and Brady Lail, who pitched 6 2/3 innings, surrendering only the one run and four hits, for the win.  Andujar is probably the best true third baseman right now but he's not close to taking his game to the next level yet.

In case you were sleeping last night...

Despite the day off, the Yankees are back in sole possession of first place in the AL East.  The Boston Red Sox lost to the Kansas City Royals, 4-2, to fall a 1/2 game off the pace.  Having played three more games than the Yankees, the Red Sox are two games behind in the loss column.  The third place Tampa Bay Rays slid to 4 games back, thanks to their loss to the Cincinnati Reds, 7-3.   The Toronto Blue Jays and the Baltimore Orioles sit 5 games back entering play today.  The Jays beat the Texas Rangers, 7-6, while the Orioles were de-feathered by the Cleveland Indians, 12-0.  

Preview of Upcoming Angels-Yankees Series:

Here are the scheduled pitching match-ups for the series with the Los Angeles Angels which begins tonight at Yankee Stadium:

Tuesday, June 20th

Angels:  Parker Bridwell (1-0, 2.79 ERA)

Yankees:  Michael Pineda (7-3, 3.71 ERA)

Wednesday, June 21st

Angels:  Ricky Nolasco (2-8, 5.01 ERA)

Yankees:  Jordan Montgomery (4-4, 3.78 ERA)

Thursday, June 22nd

Angels:  Jesse Chavez (5-7, 4.85 ERA)

Yankees:  Luis Severino (5-2, 2.99 ERA)

Odds & Ends...

Yankees RHP Matt Marsh, 25, has been suspended for 50 games for a second violation of Baseball's Minor League Drug Policy.  Marsh, a relief pitcher, has appeared in 15 games for High-A Tampa and AA-Trenton.  He is 3-2 with 2.49 ERA, and has held batters to .190 batting average while striking out 28 in 21 2/3 innings.  He did not allow a run in 7 innings pitched for Tampa.  Marsh was signed by the Yankees as an undrafted free agent in 2014.

Credit:  Josh Lefkowitz-Getty Images

Move over, Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez.  Cody Bellinger of the Los Angeles Dodgers is now the hottest young home run hitter in baseball.  Bellinger hit two more homers last night against Zack Wheeler and the New York Mets and now has 21 in 51 games.  It is the fifth multi-homer game for Bellinger.  He is just the fourth player 21 years or younger with 20 homers by the All-Star Break (joining Eddie Matthews, Albert Pujols, and Miguel Cabrera).  Do the Dodgers miss injured first baseman Adrian Gonzalez?  I think not...

Credit:  Harry How-Getty Images

Have a great Tuesday!  It's time to put the losing streak in the rearview mirror!

Quick Hit: Yankees Need a 3B & They Are Looking Too

The New York Yankees were setting the world on fire to begin the 2017 season and part of that was due to the fact that third baseman Chase Headley was having a great season. This is why I stress the importance of sample size when talking about players because two months later, to quote myself many times, Chase Headley sucks! If the Yankees plan on competing this season, and all signs point to them wanting to compete this season, they will need a third baseman and it seems that the team is already in search of one according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.

Headley is under contract this season and next for $13 million each before hitting free agency but his production is not matching his contract at this point through the season. This is leaving the Yankees in a tough spot of whether to acquire a third baseman thus allocating Headley to the bench or to try and trade Headley and presumably eating a ton of his contract anyway in the deal. Any trade involving Headley likely won’t fetch a replacement third baseman which would leave the Yankees needing to make another move involving prospects. The good news for New York is there is seemingly a ton of third base talent available right now on the market.

Todd Frazier of the Chicago White Sox, Mike Moustakas of the Kansas City Royals, Yangervis Solarte of the San Diego Padres, Trevor Plouffe of the Oakland Athletics and even Josh Donaldson of the Toronto Blue Jays could be made available in trades this summer although the Blue Jays would be unlikely to trade Donaldson to anyone within the division, especially the Yankees.

What any of these players could fetch in return in terms of prospects is anyone’s guess but let’s be real here. The Yankees have the prospects to fetch any of these players and then some if they so choose so it will be really interesting to see how they handle the whole Chase Headley situation come next month. Or sooner…. Stay tuned. 

This Day in New York Yankees History 4/8: Yangervis "Doubles" Solarte

On this day in 2014 the New York Yankees rookie third baseman Yangervis Solarte set a major league record when he hit his sixth double of the season in the first seven games of his career. Solarte achieved the feat on this day when he hit two doubles in a 14-5 loss to the Baltimore Orioles inside Yankee Stadium. Solarte would end the day batting .429 for the season after going 12-28 to start the season.


Also on this day in 2003 on a 35 degree home opener for the New York Yankees Hideki Matsui hit his first career major league home run, a grand slam at that, against the Minnesota Twins. The rest, my friends, is history.



Finally on this day in 1975 Frank Robinson became the first black manager in MLB history and started his managerial career with a victory over the New York Yankees 5-3. The Cleveland Indians new player-manager also hit a home run in his first at bat as the designated hitter.

It Has Begun, Chase Headley Sucks

Ladies and gentleman it has begun. I thought we could go a whole season without donning a new Stephen Drew, which used to be a Sergio Mitre and used to be a Chris Stewart and used to be an Andruw Jones and used to be a whole plethora of people, but we were not that fortunate. Ladies and gentleman, Chase Headley sucks.

When the New York Yankees acquired him at the trading deadline in 2014 I have to admit that a big part of me was ecstatic. Yangervis Solarte had ridden his hot streak and wave and had been at the low point in the tide for the better part of a month at the time of the trade while Chase brought a clutch switch-hitting bat and some stellar defense with him. His defense was immediately compared to that of the great Graig Nettles and after some research I salivated over his clutch hits and huge seasons he had in an even huger ballpark in San Diego. What New York got in return though was a shell of that man with throwing problems and a bad back.

I’m not making this personal and I’m trying not to be down on the guy but something has got to give. New York gave him a huge contract over four seasons and the first year the Yankees got in return was littered with throwing errors and a total zap of any sort of power. This season, and yes I am still preaching the small sample size, he has somehow found new ways to get worse with the bat. The defense has been solid, maybe even great, but he’s making Stephen Drew look like a .300 hitter right now, hence the honor of my “Chase Headley Sucks” tweets.

I’m rooting for Headley, I truly am and I truly mean that, and I’m borderline hoping that this can be used as motivation to get better or do whatever it is you have to do to get better. I don’t want to tweet four or five times a night that he sucks, I don’t I want Headley to have the monster seasons he had inside Petco Park and I want him to lead the Yankees back to the promised land but as a fan that not only supports the Yankees from afar but a fan that buys the merchandise, purchases tickets when they are close, purchases this television subscription and that television subscription to see them etc. I feel like I have the right to at least say something.

And this is what I say. Chase Headley Sucks. Prove me wrong. I like being wrong.

New York Finally Has a Second Baseman

How convenient is it, spoiler alert it's not a coincidence, to make a blog post about the New York Yankees finally finding a potential second baseman not only for the present but for the future as well while the last second baseman the team thought that about is in town for a three game series? After just two weeks of the MLB season, and after many rants from myself a self-professed Robert Refsnyder fan boy and his biggest fan, it seems like the Yankees may have finally found their second baseman to finally replace Robinson Cano in Starlin Castro.

The Yankees tried multiple people at the position including Brian Roberts, Yangervis Solarte, Kelly Johnson, Martin Prado, Brendan Ryan, Jose Pirela, Dustin Ackley, Robert Refsnyder and Stephen Drew before finally settling on Castro after an offseason trade. The Yankees seem to be a fan of having Castro at the position and Cano himself does to as he revealed in an interview this weekend. Cano said Castro was "fun to watch" in an interview with Chad Jennings of LoHud.

Castro is still new to the second base position, I think a lot of people forget that defensively, and is still just 26-years old despite playing in his 7th MLB season in 2016. Castro already has surpassed the 1,000 hit plateau for his career and has already made three All-Star Games in his career with the Chicago Cubs. Castro may not even be into his prime yet and he currently sits here with some impressive stats and achievements already in his career.

Castro may be the second baseman of the present and he may be the second baseman of the future. He may grow out of the position and grow into the third baseman of the future and his bat seems good enough to possibly be the Alex Rodriguez type DH of the future. Either way Castro has a future and the Yankees may have finally found a second baseman after Robinson Cano left via free agency for Seattle and it's finally a beautiful thing to say out loud.

This Day in New York Yankees History 4/8: Yangervis "Doubles" Solarte

On this day in 2014 the New York Yankees rookie third baseman Yangervis Solarte set a major league record when he hit his sixth double of the season in the first seven games of his career. Solarte achieved the feat on this day when he hit two doubles in a 14-5 loss to the Baltimore Orioles inside Yankee Stadium. Solarte would end the day batting .429 for the season after going 12-28 to start the season.


Also on this day in 2003 on a 35 degree home opener for the New York Yankees Hideki Matsui hit his first career major league home run, a grand slam at that, against the Minnesota Twins. The rest, my friends, is history.



Finally on this day in 1975 Frank Robinson became the first black manager in MLB history and started his managerial career with a victory over the New York Yankees 5-3. The Cleveland Indians new player-manager also hit a home run in his first at bat as the designated hitter.

Chase Headley for James Shields?

How did we ever make it back even in the 1990’s without cell phones, the internet at the touch of our fingers and social media? Honestly I’ll never know but I know one thing for sure, I don’t want to go back. Facebook is nice, Google+ was okay for a minute but I truly cannot get enough of twitter. The absolute interaction and user interface just gets me and I love it. I love interacting with everyone who reads the blog. You float me your thoughts on my articles and you, either directly or indirectly, float ideas for articles there as well. Much like this article I am about to tackle as one of my good friends, Michael Brogna, suggested trading third baseman Chase Headley back to the San Diego Padres for right-handed starting pitcher James Shields. Would it work?

My immediate question to Mike was who would play third base and replace Headley? Currently the only Yankees player I would “trust” at the position defensively is Brendan Ryan, yuck. Sure it’s easy to just say “add Yangervis Solarte” in the deal or “take on Jedd Gyorko’s salary (who has since been traded to the St. Louis Cardinals) and play him there” or even “just trade for Trevor Plouffe” but the league doesn’t work like that. Solarte was one of San Diego’s better hitters in 2015 and it’s going to take a lot more than just Chase Headley to pry him away, again. Jedd Gyorko is not a third baseman, never has been and likely never will be. He held his own at shortstop last season but he’s not going to get better the more he ages, he’s going to get worse. He was used as a shortstop out of necessity and out of desperation, not because his bat dictated him being there. Finally, simply trading for a young and controllable guy isn’t that easy. Especially for a young team that plans on contending as soon as the 2016 season. It’s just not that easy.

Looking at the third base market I don’t see much available right now for the Yankees to acquire. The most attractive pieces are Juan Uribe, Will Middlebrooks, David Freese and Mark Reynolds. No, on a minor league deal then maybe, interesting but still probably a no and who wants 15 home runs and 200 strikeouts this season with defense that will make Headley’s look Gold Glove caliber? And while we’re on the subject who wants James Shields and that incredibly back loaded and overpaid contract? Isn’t this team trying to get away from deals like these?

Mike, I love you bro and I appreciate and respect your input and opinion on this but I just can’t back you on it. Only way I’m taking Shields is on a salary dump where the team loses nothing. This plugs a hole that wasn’t really a problem to begin with and makes a huge hole at third base and in the lineup. As it stands today I have to say no thank you. 

BREAKING: Jose Pirela Traded to San Diego for Ronald Herrera

Brian Cashman and the New York Yankees have struck their first trade of the offseason today as Jose Pirela was sent to the San Diego Padres for a minor league pitcher. That minor league pitcher is Ronald Herrera.

Pirela has been groomed as a utility guy for the Yankees, although his best and most natural position is second base, but the soon-to-be 26 year old is now headed west to San Diego to join former teammate Yangervis Solarte.

It is interesting to think about where San Diego will play Pirela and how they will use him. The most glaring hole the team has is at shortstop, a position Pirela has not played in the upper levels of the minor leagues, but the team seemingly enjoyed what they saw out of Jedd Gyorko there as recently as the 2015 season so who knows. He may become a super utility player for the Padres with the ability to play third base, second base and the outfield with ease while Herrera could potentially join a long train of potential Yankees right-handed relief pitchers they will be inviting to Spring Training camp this season.

Herrera is just 20-years old and finished the season in Double-A last season throwing 145.2 innings between High-A and Double-A. Herrera pitched to a 4.08 ERA, 6.4 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 and is known, like Luis Severino, as a polished but undersized right-handed pitcher who could struggle to hold down a long-term job in a Major League starting rotation. Herrera may be destined for the bullpen or he may defy the odds much like Severino, Johan Santana, Pedro Martinez and many others have done. Either way we will miss Pirela in pinstripes and welcome Herrera to the club with open arms. 

So Robert Refsnyder Has An Attitude Problem, Huh?

"Uh, yeah... Stephen Drew sucks."

Brian Cashman’s new name is officially ‘The Reacher” so remember where you heard it first. Cashman reaches his hands into the bargain basement bin year in and year out and pulls out players like Esmil Rogers, Chris Capuano, Andruw Jones, Brendan Ryan and Stephen Drew to name a few while ignoring the obvious talents that he has at his disposal in the minor leagues. He also reaches for excuse after excuse when it comes to not calling up players, Chris Dickerson was a great example of this in 2013 and Robert Refsnyder is a perfect example of this now. The latest reason, because they can’t bag on his defense as much as they used to be able to, is that he has an attitude problem. Really? Say it isn’t so.

Would you have an attitude problem if you hit your ass off in 2014 and got generally ignored while the team rolled out Brian Roberts, Yangervis Solarte, Dean Anna, Stephen Drew, Kelly Johnson and others at the second base position? Wouldn’t you have an attitude if the team’s offense was a wreck in 2014 and you rotted away in Scranton/Wilkes Barre because of “defensive concerns.” Wouldn’t you have an attitude problem if you shored up the hole that was keeping you from the Major Leagues, his defense, and still got ignored for the most part while the incumbent battled with the .175 Stephen Drew Line for much of the season? Wouldn’t you have an attitude if you were called up and showed confidence by the manager only to be sent back down and ignored once again by the GM? I know I would, I do have an attitude about it and I’m not even Refsnyder.

I have mentioned multiple times this season that the Yankees organization is doing more harm than good by sending Refsnyder down to rot in Triple-A. There is such thing as “over-grooming” a prospect forcing reverse development. We saw it with Austin Romine and we’re seeing it now with Refsnyder, it’s damning and potentially career ending in most cases and it’s not something you want to mess around with. New York has to call him up or they have to trade him, bottom line. Refsnyder has attitude problems, that’s why you’re not calling him up? I have an attitude problem too, maybe I should stop buying your tickets, wearing your jerseys and hats and paying my YES Network and MLB TV subscriptions. You’re hitting Refsnyder in the heart and right in the gut and maybe it’s time for the fans to start hitting you in the wallet. Let’s see the Yankees be able to afford another three year contract at an enormous salary for a GM when the people stop coming out to the ballpark or watching on television. Attitude? Attitude reflects leadership Mr. Cashman and your attitude sucks!

ICYMI: Warming Up to a Jose Peraza Trade

As much as I hate to admit it I think I may have been wrong when I absolutely went off on Brian Cashman yesterday morning in a rant. If Cashman was able to pull off a trade for Jose Peraza for simply Gary Sanchez and another prospect I think I would have to eat crow and admit that it would be a pretty good trade for the Yankees, begrudgingly. I absolutely love Robert Refsnyder and what I believe he will bring to the table in the Bronx and I have been one of the bigger Didi Gregorius supporters there has been but Peraza makes too much sense for the Yankees to not pick him up and I am prepared to tell you why.

First and foremost shortstops that can hit are at an absolute premium these days, even more so than catchers who can hit, so there aren’t many Peraza type players inside the Yankees system or sitting around in free agency. A trade for a Yankees weakness, middle infielders, from a Yankees strong point, catching depth, makes a ton of sense for New York and it really improves the farm system overall. You have to remember that Peraza was basically hand in hand with another Yankees prospect Aaron Judge on almost every Top 100 Prospects list this offseason where Sanchez was left off those lists so New York would be getting a stronger prospect for a lesser prospect or two in a deal that also potentially fills a need in the long term.

I really like Gregorius and I have a ton of faith in Jorge Mateo, Abi Avelino and the rest of the Yankees shortstop prospects but Peraza is just too good to pass up. Mateo may be great but he is so far away he may not be as well. Trading for Peraza is like trading for the best case scenario and the ceiling of Mateo without the growing pains and the three or four year waiting period. Peraza is ready now for the major leagues in my opinion and if he’s not he will truly be ready by June. And while we’re talking projections you have to admit that neither Gregorius nor Peraza are finished products at this point in their careers but projection wise Peraza has to rank just a step or two ahead of Gregorius if all goes according to plan.

Peraza is a better fit for this team as he is a right handed hitter that balances out the bottom of the order. Peraza has the speed to hit 9^th and basically give the Yankees three leadoff hitters along with Jacoby Ellsbury and Brett Gardner along with potentially 60 stolen base per season speed and base running skills. Peraza along with Refsnyder at second gives the Yankees exactly what they need as they go into basically a rebuilding phase over the next three or four seasons and that’s a strong defense up the middle and a young core of players to build around. Someone will jump on Didi in a trade if the Yankees acquire Peraza and if not then you designate Brendan Ryan and you rotate Didi in off the bench whenever you can. When you have a slew of talent you don’t turn them away you simply find ways to get them into the lineup. That’s Joe Girardi’s job, not mine. It’s also Cashman’s job to put the best team on the field as possible and honestly, as much as I hate to admit it after my little rant yesterday, that team likely includes Peraza at shortstop. 

Warming Up to a Jose Peraza Trade

As much as I hate to admit it I think I may have been wrong when I absolutely went off on Brian Cashman yesterday morning in a rant. If Cashman was able to pull off a trade for Jose Peraza for simply Gary Sanchez and another prospect I think I would have to eat crow and admit that it would be a pretty good trade for the Yankees, begrudgingly. I absolutely love Robert Refsnyder and what I believe he will bring to the table in the Bronx and I have been one of the bigger Didi Gregorius supporters there has been but Peraza makes too much sense for the Yankees to not pick him up and I am prepared to tell you why.

First and foremost shortstops that can hit are at an absolute premium these days, even more so than catchers who can hit, so there aren’t many Peraza type players inside the Yankees system or sitting around in free agency. A trade for a Yankees weakness, middle infielders, from a Yankees strong point, catching depth, makes a ton of sense for New York and it really improves the farm system overall. You have to remember that Peraza was basically hand in hand with another Yankees prospect Aaron Judge on almost every Top 100 Prospects list this offseason where Sanchez was left off those lists so New York would be getting a stronger prospect for a lesser prospect or two in a deal that also potentially fills a need in the long term.

I really like Gregorius and I have a ton of faith in Jorge Mateo, Abi Avelino and the rest of the Yankees shortstop prospects but Peraza is just too good to pass up. Mateo may be great but he is so far away he may not be as well. Trading for Peraza is like trading for the best case scenario and the ceiling of Mateo without the growing pains and the three or four year waiting period. Peraza is ready now for the major leagues in my opinion and if he’s not he will truly be ready by June. And while we’re talking projections you have to admit that neither Gregorius nor Peraza are finished products at this point in their careers but projection wise Peraza has to rank just a step or two ahead of Gregorius if all goes according to plan.

Peraza is a better fit for this team as he is a right handed hitter that balances out the bottom of the order. Peraza has the speed to hit 9^th and basically give the Yankees three leadoff hitters along with Jacoby Ellsbury and Brett Gardner along with potentially 60 stolen base per season speed and base running skills. Peraza along with Refsnyder at second gives the Yankees exactly what they need as they go into basically a rebuilding phase over the next three or four seasons and that’s a strong defense up the middle and a young core of players to build around. Someone will jump on Didi in a trade if the Yankees acquire Peraza and if not then you designate Brendan Ryan and you rotate Didi in off the bench whenever you can. When you have a slew of talent you don’t turn them away you simply find ways to get them into the lineup. That’s Joe Girardi’s job, not mine. It’s also Cashman’s job to put the best team on the field as possible and honestly, as much as I hate to admit it after my little rant yesterday, that team likely includes Peraza at shortstop. 

This Day in New York Yankees History 4/8: Yangervis "Doubles" Solarte

On this day in 2014 the New York Yankees rookie third baseman Yangervis Solarte set a major league record when he hit his sixth double of the season in the first seven games of his career. Solarte achieved the feat on this day when he hit two doubles in a 14-5 loss to the Baltimore Orioles inside Yankee Stadium. Solarte would end the day batting .429 for the season after going 12-28 to start the season.

Also on this day in 2003 on a 35 degree home opener for the New York Yankees Hideki Matsui hit his first career major league home run, a grand slam at that, against the Minnesota Twins. The rest, my friends, is history.

Finally on this day in 1975 Frank Robinson became the first black manager in MLB history and started his managerial career with a victory over the New York Yankees 5-3. The Cleveland Indians new player-manager also hit a home run in his first at bat as the designated hitter.

Syndicated Sunday: Yankees Flex Financial Muscle in Other Ways

Originally written by Kiley McDaniel over on Fangraphs:

The Yankees have found new ways to exploit their financial advantage in recent years.  For a long time, they were the team spending the most money on big league payroll by a good margin, then other teams caught up after the addition of the luxury tax along with an Hal Steinbrenner being more focused on the bottom line than his father.  The Yankees never really blew things out in the draft when they had the opportunity, but now there are essentially hard caps on draft spending and extra picks are tougher to come by with recent changes to the CBA.

The Yankees saw these two market opportunities dry up while their revenues stayed high and they pinpointed the international market as a target.  As a result of spending nearly $30 million dollars on teenagers last summer, the Yankees now cannot sign a player for over $300,000 for the next two summers.  If they get lucky with some timing, they may still be able to make this one-year international blowout even more advantageous, but their competitive advantage has mostly passed in these three markets for the time being.

An Under-The-Radar Market

With limited avenues to spend their money, where have the Yankees turned now? Minor league free agents.  Starting today, free agents can sign with any club and most fans will focus on the splashy big money major league signings.  Sometimes, a former standout major leaguer that’s past him prime will sign a minor league deal with a Spring Training invite and fans may hold out hope this player can regain past form.  Below even this radar are the often first time free agents with little to no big league service that are signed to minor league deals with Spring Training invites and little fanfare.  This is where the Yankees have been frustrating most of baseball.

Nearly every franchise has an internal policy for signing these players, with a hard cap for monthly salary over the five months of the minor league season.  These maximums are put in place to control costs and also to give executives a hard line to use in negotiations to make the process go more smoothly; there are clubs that will have dozens of negotiations happening at the same time, so hard-and-fast rules help filter out players that aren’t a fit.  This maximum ranges from $12,000 to $20,000 per month depending on the team.

The second tier of minor league free agents usually wait to see where the first tier signed and for how much money to then figure their market value and the best place to sign to maximize playing time and chance at a big league look.  Some teams will make exceptions and sign a player above their maximum for certain situations, like an experienced 3rd catcher to play in Triple-A with a good chance for a call-up if a rookie catcher falters in the big leagues, but this is the exception rather than the rule; it’s seen as a one-time big league expense.

Enter the Evil Empire

Minor league free agency was a pretty straightforward process until the past few years, when the Yankees starting spending way more money on these players than any other team was comfortable spending.  I was told last offseason that 3B Yangervis Solarte was a target for multiple teams in the minor league free agent market.  Both executives, analysts and scouts from different types of organizations had pinpointed Solarte as being one of the top tier minor league free agents at this point last year.  There wasn’t a huge bidding war for him alone, but multiple teams were calling his agent with offers on the first day of free agency.  This also happened with a couple dozen other players deemed to be top tier free agents.

Logic follows that in this sort of situation, Solarte would sign with one of the teams that spends up to $20,000 per month ($100,000 for the a full season in the minors).  The Yankees ended up signing him last offseason for $120,000 ($24,000 per month) with a split contract (meaning he’d make more than the MLB minimum if he is in the big leagues: $515,000 in this case instead of the $500,000 minimum), a Spring Training invite, provisions to leave for an Asian professional club during the year if he chooses and a guaranteed $66,000 salary ($13,200 per month) for the season even if he’s cut during Spring Training and he plays the whole season for another organization (or stays at home).

Rival clubs tell me that with other minor league free agents, the Yankees will routinely go up to $30,000 or $35,000 per month, include bonuses in addition to that salary, guarantee salaries (minor league salaries are not normally guaranteed like big league salaries) and offer bigger MLB salaries in split contracts.  For the 2014 season, the Yankees gave righty reliever Jim Miller a split contract worth $210,000 in the minors ($42,000 per month) and $525,000 in the majors with a Spring Training invite. He pitched 2.2 innings for the big league team and 57.1 in Triple-A last season.

For the 2013 season, the Yankees paid C Bobby Wilson $180,000 ($36,000 per month) with half of it guaranteed, along with a $675,000 big league split (which he never got called up to collect) and a Spring Training invite.  Wilson was the backup catcher in Triple-A Scranton that year and only collected 253 plate appearances.  A source tells me that at least one other club promised him a starting role in Triple-A with a good shot at some big league time for about half as much money; this sort of decision is a common one for minor league free agents, but the salary gap usually isn’t as big unless the Yankees get involved.

In addition, these high salaries set the player’s market higher in subsequent seasons. That 2013 deal with the Yankees was his Wilson’s first free agent deal and in 2014, he got a split $130,000/$600,000 deal with the Diamondbacks, a Spring Training invite and picked up 4 plate appearances in the big leagues in September.  For reference, in the six years of control before minor league free agency, monthly salaries max out at about $2,500 per month at the upper minors and closer to $1,500 at lower levels; each club has it’s own policy/scale for salaries by level for these players, though all the scales are similar.  If you’re a player that signed for little to no bonus as a amateur, being a middle to top tier minor league free agent is actually a chance to cash in and earn market value for the first time.

Why Just The Yankees?

An executive with a medium market club told me last year that his team had a target list of about a dozen minor league free agents to target on day one of minor league free agency and the Yankees signed about half of those players to salaries that his team couldn’t come close to matching.  Why don’t other teams spend what amounts to a trivial amount of money to get the minor league free agents that their scouts and analysts are telling them to target? I still haven’t gotten a satisfactory answer after asking a half dozen front office people.  As mentioned above, part of it is cost control and having limits in place to make the negotiation process go smoother and more quickly with dozens of players in play for each team at any given time.  The rest of it, as I’m told, are various versions of “this is the way things are done.”

One exec said if his team spent an extra $1 million to get all of their targets and none of those players ended up contributing to the big league team, it would open him up to scrutiny for taking money from another department, trying something different and wasting $1 million.  On average, most teams will get a couple useful big leaguers if they sign their dozen top targets, but risk aversion decision making, akin to how NFL coaches treat fourth down decisions, seems to be holding back even the most forward-thinking clubs in this area.

Limits, Risks & Rewards

Executives caution that there is a theoretical limit to how much a team can pay a minor league free agent, with speculation that both MLB and the Players’ Association would tell a club that wanted to pay a minor leaguer a $300,000 salary that he should just be given a major league deal to avoid creating a big/small market disconnect in Triple-A.  The Yankees haven’t gone that high yet, but they also don’t have much sustained competition in this market, so you’d have to think at some point this may become an issue if another team joins them.

Stockpiling deep upper minors rosters is the reason the Rule 5 Draft was created, but there is a way to work around these rules.  These big minor league deals are often signed after the early Rule 5 Draft in December; both Wilson and Solarte signed their contracts in January.  If the player is signed before the Rule 5 Draft, he could be taken by a team that doesn’t mind paying his big league salary, as happened in 2004 with Chris Gomez.  In Miller’s case, his minor league split was so high, the Yankees could feel safe that he wouldn’t be selected; Miller signed in November.

A Yankees source told me they could break even financially with a $500 million payroll expenditure (including luxury tax), so this minor league free agent expenditure is still a trivial amount of money for them, though it would be less trivial for a small market club.  Credit is still due to the Yankees for being open-minded enough to do the rational thing and spend their considerable resources in whatever way is available.  Not every team does this, normally for bureaucratic reasons; you’d be surprised how difficult it is to move a seven figure sum from one department to another even within baseball operations.

It’s peculiar to me that, for a small amount in the scope of player acquisition budgets, a club could almost surely get an additional big league contributor and very few clubs seem inclined to shift their strategy to do it.  In the case of the Yankees 2014 minor league free agent class, Solarte was good for the Yankees, then was half of what acquired Chase Headley for the 2014 stretch run, who himself created almost three wins in less than half a season with the Bombers.  The profit from just the one-year Solarte signing/trade transaction is about $10 million, or roughly enough to pay for this minor league free agent strategy for another ten seasons.

Syndicated Saturday: Yankees Flex Financial Muscle in Other Ways

Originally written by Kiley McDaniel over on Fangraphs:

The Yankees have found new ways to exploit their financial advantage in recent years.  For a long time, they were the team spending the most money on big league payroll by a good margin, then other teams caught up after the addition of the luxury tax along with an Hal Steinbrenner being more focused on the bottom line than his father.  The Yankees never really blew things out in the draft when they had the opportunity, but now there are essentially hard caps on draft spending and extra picks are tougher to come by with recent changes to the CBA.

The Yankees saw these two market opportunities dry up while their revenues stayed high and they pinpointed the international market as a target.  As a result of spending nearly $30 million dollars on teenagers last summer, the Yankees now cannot sign a player for over $300,000 for the next two summers.  If they get lucky with some timing, they may still be able to make this one-year international blowout even more advantageous, but their competitive advantage has mostly passed in these three markets for the time being.

An Under-The-Radar Market

With limited avenues to spend their money, where have the Yankees turned now? Minor league free agents.  Starting today, free agents can sign with any club and most fans will focus on the splashy big money major league signings.  Sometimes, a former standout major leaguer that’s past him prime will sign a minor league deal with a Spring Training invite and fans may hold out hope this player can regain past form.  Below even this radar are the often first time free agents with little to no big league service that are signed to minor league deals with Spring Training invites and little fanfare.  This is where the Yankees have been frustrating most of baseball.

Nearly every franchise has an internal policy for signing these players, with a hard cap for monthly salary over the five months of the minor league season.  These maximums are put in place to control costs and also to give executives a hard line to use in negotiations to make the process go more smoothly; there are clubs that will have dozens of negotiations happening at the same time, so hard-and-fast rules help filter out players that aren’t a fit.  This maximum ranges from $12,000 to $20,000 per month depending on the team.

The second tier of minor league free agents usually wait to see where the first tier signed and for how much money to then figure their market value and the best place to sign to maximize playing time and chance at a big league look.  Some teams will make exceptions and sign a player above their maximum for certain situations, like an experienced 3rd catcher to play in Triple-A with a good chance for a call-up if a rookie catcher falters in the big leagues, but this is the exception rather than the rule; it’s seen as a one-time big league expense.

Enter the Evil Empire

Minor league free agency was a pretty straightforward process until the past few years, when the Yankees starting spending way more money on these players than any other team was comfortable spending.  I was told last offseason that 3B Yangervis Solarte was a target for multiple teams in the minor league free agent market.  Both executives, analysts and scouts from different types of organizations had pinpointed Solarte as being one of the top tier minor league free agents at this point last year.  There wasn’t a huge bidding war for him alone, but multiple teams were calling his agent with offers on the first day of free agency.  This also happened with a couple dozen other players deemed to be top tier free agents.

Logic follows that in this sort of situation, Solarte would sign with one of the teams that spends up to $20,000 per month ($100,000 for the a full season in the minors).  The Yankees ended up signing him last offseason for $120,000 ($24,000 per month) with a split contract (meaning he’d make more than the MLB minimum if he is in the big leagues: $515,000 in this case instead of the $500,000 minimum), a Spring Training invite, provisions to leave for an Asian professional club during the year if he chooses and a guaranteed $66,000 salary ($13,200 per month) for the season even if he’s cut during Spring Training and he plays the whole season for another organization (or stays at home).

Rival clubs tell me that with other minor league free agents, the Yankees will routinely go up to $30,000 or $35,000 per month, include bonuses in addition to that salary, guarantee salaries (minor league salaries are not normally guaranteed like big league salaries) and offer bigger MLB salaries in split contracts.  For the 2014 season, the Yankees gave righty reliever Jim Miller a split contract worth $210,000 in the minors ($42,000 per month) and $525,000 in the majors with a Spring Training invite. He pitched 2.2 innings for the big league team and 57.1 in Triple-A last season.

For the 2013 season, the Yankees paid C Bobby Wilson $180,000 ($36,000 per month) with half of it guaranteed, along with a $675,000 big league split (which he never got called up to collect) and a Spring Training invite.  Wilson was the backup catcher in Triple-A Scranton that year and only collected 253 plate appearances.  A source tells me that at least one other club promised him a starting role in Triple-A with a good shot at some big league time for about half as much money; this sort of decision is a common one for minor league free agents, but the salary gap usually isn’t as big unless the Yankees get involved.

In addition, these high salaries set the player’s market higher in subsequent seasons. That 2013 deal with the Yankees was his Wilson’s first free agent deal and in 2014, he got a split $130,000/$600,000 deal with the Diamondbacks, a Spring Training invite and picked up 4 plate appearances in the big leagues in September.  For reference, in the six years of control before minor league free agency, monthly salaries max out at about $2,500 per month at the upper minors and closer to $1,500 at lower levels; each club has it’s own policy/scale for salaries by level for these players, though all the scales are similar.  If you’re a player that signed for little to no bonus as a amateur, being a middle to top tier minor league free agent is actually a chance to cash in and earn market value for the first time.

Why Just The Yankees?

An executive with a medium market club told me last year that his team had a target list of about a dozen minor league free agents to target on day one of minor league free agency and the Yankees signed about half of those players to salaries that his team couldn’t come close to matching.  Why don’t other teams spend what amounts to a trivial amount of money to get the minor league free agents that their scouts and analysts are telling them to target? I still haven’t gotten a satisfactory answer after asking a half dozen front office people.  As mentioned above, part of it is cost control and having limits in place to make the negotiation process go smoother and more quickly with dozens of players in play for each team at any given time.  The rest of it, as I’m told, are various versions of “this is the way things are done.”

One exec said if his team spent an extra $1 million to get all of their targets and none of those players ended up contributing to the big league team, it would open him up to scrutiny for taking money from another department, trying something different and wasting $1 million.  On average, most teams will get a couple useful big leaguers if they sign their dozen top targets, but risk aversion decision making, akin to how NFL coaches treat fourth down decisions, seems to be holding back even the most forward-thinking clubs in this area.

Limits, Risks & Rewards

Executives caution that there is a theoretical limit to how much a team can pay a minor league free agent, with speculation that both MLB and the Players’ Association would tell a club that wanted to pay a minor leaguer a $300,000 salary that he should just be given a major league deal to avoid creating a big/small market disconnect in Triple-A.  The Yankees haven’t gone that high yet, but they also don’t have much sustained competition in this market, so you’d have to think at some point this may become an issue if another team joins them.

Stockpiling deep upper minors rosters is the reason the Rule 5 Draft was created, but there is a way to work around these rules.  These big minor league deals are often signed after the early Rule 5 Draft in December; both Wilson and Solarte signed their contracts in January.  If the player is signed before the Rule 5 Draft, he could be taken by a team that doesn’t mind paying his big league salary, as happened in 2004 with Chris Gomez.  In Miller’s case, his minor league split was so high, the Yankees could feel safe that he wouldn’t be selected; Miller signed in November.

A Yankees source told me they could break even financially with a $500 million payroll expenditure (including luxury tax), so this minor league free agent expenditure is still a trivial amount of money for them, though it would be less trivial for a small market club.  Credit is still due to the Yankees for being open-minded enough to do the rational thing and spend their considerable resources in whatever way is available.  Not every team does this, normally for bureaucratic reasons; you’d be surprised how difficult it is to move a seven figure sum from one department to another even within baseball operations.

It’s peculiar to me that, for a small amount in the scope of player acquisition budgets, a club could almost surely get an additional big league contributor and very few clubs seem inclined to shift their strategy to do it.  In the case of the Yankees 2014 minor league free agent class, Solarte was good for the Yankees, then was half of what acquired Chase Headley for the 2014 stretch run, who himself created almost three wins in less than half a season with the Bombers.  The profit from just the one-year Solarte signing/trade transaction is about $10 million, or roughly enough to pay for this minor league free agent strategy for another ten seasons.