Quick Hit: Free Agent Starting Pitching Clearance Carts

The New York Yankees are a franchise that tends to contradict themselves, especially when it comes to the whole hot stove and free agency market. One minute Bubba Crosby is the Yankees starting center fielder and the next Johnny Damon is shaving that ridiculous long hair and beard and flashing peace signs in a Yankees uniform. One minute the Yankees are looking to add a starting pitcher to their rotation for some stability and innings and the next the rotation is full and so full in fact that the Yankees are looking and willing to trade away Ivan Nova one year away from free agency. Who knows what is going on inside Brian Cashman’s head right now and what’s going on in Hal Steinbrenner’s wallet pocket right now but if they need me to lay out a few bargain basement signings for them I will, and I will right now in fact.

Cliff Lee would pitch again in 2016, and has been cleared again to pitch in 2016, for the perfect fit. The Yankees have the innings to give him and they have the need for a veteran left-handed starting pitcher on a short one-year deal worth chump change as far as MLB starters are concerned and that’s all Lee is likely to command. Lee undoubtedly wants to win and with a healthy and effective Lee the Yankees can do just that. Lee is Plan A.

New York has three “Plan B’s” in Tim Lincecum and Doug Fister and they all fit the same mold. They can start or they can relieve. Both of them remind me of what the team traded away this winter and have yet to replace, Adam Warren. Any of these men could be a safety net for the rotation and none of them will require salaries that would come anywhere near that of Jordan Zimmermann, David Price or Zack Greinke.

With every Plan A and Plan B comes a Plan Z and the Yankees have two of them. Mat Latos and Aaron Harang. Both struggled mightily in 2015 in the National League and both are likely to command minor league deals only in 2016, if anything. If the Yankees feel like they need more Triple-A insurance, sure sign them. If not, no thank you.

Yasiel Sierra Makes So Much Sense for the Yankees

The New York Yankees have made it very clear that they want to add a starting pitcher to the team this winter if at all possible and they don't want another aging veteran with a ton of question marks. This team, no matter what method or terminology they use, is rebuilding and re-tooling at the same time and they want a young pitcher, preferably a pitcher with less than three years of Major League service time. What about a pitcher with zero years of MLB service time and what about a seasoned rookie that doesn't need to be groomed? What about Yasiel Sierra?

I know what you're thinking, he's Cuban so the Yankees probably won't be signing him. That may be true but for a long time after Hideki Irabu the Yankees didn't sign a Japanese-born pitcher until Kei Igawa. Then for a long time after Igawa the Yankees shied away from that market until Masahiro Tanaka became available. New York is overdue to sign a Cuban-born star and they may be more willing to now more than ever after acquiring one from the Cincinnati Reds in Aroldis Chapman. With every pitcher though there are pro's along with con's.


Sierra is just 24-years old and is a year removed from being privy to the international bonus pool rules that MLB has enacted. The Yankees cannot sign anyone for over $300K in the international market but since Sierra is 24 he is a true free agent after MLB cleared him and declared him as so. Sierra is no different than say a Wei-Yin Chen except for the fact that his price tag will likely be substantially less and he will not be attached to any draft pick compensation.


Baseball American ranked their Top 20 players still in Cuba last April, so they may be a bit outdated at this point, and Sierra was ranked 13th overall. Sierra is said to have plus stuff and pitched both as a starter and a relief pitcher in Cuba. Sierra moved to the bullpen full-time in late 2014 and struggled a bit posting a 6.10 ERA with 55 strikeouts and 31 walks in 70 relief innings.

Sierra is projectable despite what his stats say and he has a fluid motion and delivery. He seems very teachable to me and he has been facing international competition his entire career. There is a video that Ben Badler of Baseball American posted and most of it is him facing off against collegiate talent representing Team USA. As you can see in the video, SEEN HERE, he is dominating these hitters and making them look silly with a four-seam fastball, a two-seam fastball, a splitter that he has since scrapped and a changeup. Sierra moves his arm slot around a lot but a lot of Cuban pitchers do that to keep opposing batters off-balance, something I did not know until I did my research on Sierra.


Sierra would make a lot of sense for the Yankees rotation and organization going forward. It would bring in the Cuban market and some of the market that is pissed off at Aroldis Chapman and bring them back to the Bronx. He's got a rubber arm and has shown a lot of durability during his time in Cuba and can bring some of that to the Bronx with him. Whether Cashman will sign him or not remains to be seen, well more or less it will depend on whether Hal Steinbrenner will allow it financially, but he checks a lot of boxes for the Yankees this offseason.

Most Popular Article of the Week: Yankees Interested in Cuban RHP Yasiel Sierra

The New York Yankees face strict and serious spending restrictions in the next two international signing periods after spending in excess of $30 million during the 2014-2015 IFA signing period. With the restrictions New York will not be allowed to spend more than $300K on any international free agent that subject to international spending rules. Much like almost every rule in Major League Baseball and in life there is always a way around the rules and in this specific situation New York can take advantage of players who have had at least four seasons in the Serie Nacional or equivalent league because they are not subject to these IFA rules and are considered true free agents. Enter Yasiel Sierra.

Sierra is 24 years old and is a right-handed pitcher who recentl defected from Cuba and the Serie Nacional. Sierra is known to hit 97 MPH on the radar gun and has reportedly added a nice slider and changeup to go along with the heat. Not much is know about Sierra at this time but he has done enough to garner the attention of the New York Yankees. The Yankees, who have not signed a Cuban born prospect off the international free agent market in what feels like forever, held a private workout for Sierra in the Dominican Republic last week and seem interested in signing him.

No word on if he will sign, if he's close or anything like but stay tuned because when it breaks we'll have it here on the blog. Until then check out his stats from the Serie Nacional.

Year	Age	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9
2010	19	0	0	12.00	4	0	0	3.0	5	4	4	1	4	0	3.000	15.0	3.0	12.0	0.0
2011	20	1	1	5.33	25	3	3	52.1	58	34	31	5	26	30	1.605	10.0	0.9	4.5	5.2
2012	21	4	2	2.20	41	4	8	81.2	69	22	20	1	41	57	1.347	7.6	0.1	4.5	6.3
2012	21	4	2	2.20	41	4	8	81.2	69	22	20	1	41	57	1.347	7.6	0.1	4.5	6.3
2012	21	2	2	1.80	21	2	7	45.0	39	10	9	0	17	32	1.244	7.8	0.0	3.4	6.4
2012	21	2	0	2.70	20	2	1	36.2	30	12	11	1	24	25	1.473	7.4	0.2	5.9	6.1
2013	22	6	6	3.92	25	18	3	101.0	79	47	44	3	64	79	1.416	7.0	0.3	5.7	7.0

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

VIDEO: Watch Yasiel Sierra's Highlight Video

Last week we brought to you the fact that the New York Yankees were interested in right-handed pitcher Yasiel Sierra. Sierra is the latest Cuban born player to defect from his native country in search of a contract with a Major League team and is probably the best pitcher in the pool right now. When we brought you this post we noted that not much was known about Sierra and that we would bring you more when more was available. Well, more is available on Sierra.

Ben Badler of Baseball America released a highlight video of the best Cuban pitching prospect to emerge during this year's international signing period and we bring you that video today. Just as a reminder Sierra would not count against a team's international signing period cap meaning the restrictions placed on the Yankees for blowing past their cap last signing period would not stop the team from acquiring his services. Sierra is a true free agent at this point.

Be sure to click the link SEEN HERE to read what Badler has to say about Sierra and watch the video while giving him the click and the view that he deserves for this free write up. Enjoy.

Yankees Interested in Cuban RHP Yasiel Sierra

The New York Yankees face strict and serious spending restrictions in the next two international signing periods after spending in excess of $30 million during the 2014-2015 IFA signing period. With the restrictions New York will not be allowed to spend more than $300K on any international free agent that subject to international spending rules. Much like almost every rule in Major League Baseball and in life there is always a way around the rules and in this specific situation New York can take advantage of players who have had at least four seasons in the Serie Nacional or equivalent league because they are not subject to these IFA rules and are considered true free agents. Enter Yasiel Sierra.

Sierra is 24 years old and is a right-handed pitcher who recentl defected from Cuba and the Serie Nacional. Sierra is known to hit 97 MPH on the radar gun and has reportedly added a nice slider and changeup to go along with the heat. Not much is know about Sierra at this time but he has done enough to garner the attention of the New York Yankees. The Yankees, who have not signed a Cuban born prospect off the international free agent market in what feels like forever, held a private workout for Sierra in the Dominican Republic last week and seem interested in signing him.

No word on if he will sign, if he's close or anything like but stay tuned because when it breaks we'll have it here on the blog. Until then check out his stats from the Serie Nacional.

Year	Age	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9
2010	19	0	0	12.00	4	0	0	3.0	5	4	4	1	4	0	3.000	15.0	3.0	12.0	0.0
2011	20	1	1	5.33	25	3	3	52.1	58	34	31	5	26	30	1.605	10.0	0.9	4.5	5.2
2012	21	4	2	2.20	41	4	8	81.2	69	22	20	1	41	57	1.347	7.6	0.1	4.5	6.3
2012	21	4	2	2.20	41	4	8	81.2	69	22	20	1	41	57	1.347	7.6	0.1	4.5	6.3
2012	21	2	2	1.80	21	2	7	45.0	39	10	9	0	17	32	1.244	7.8	0.0	3.4	6.4
2012	21	2	0	2.70	20	2	1	36.2	30	12	11	1	24	25	1.473	7.4	0.2	5.9	6.1
2013	22	6	6	3.92	25	18	3	101.0	79	47	44	3	64	79	1.416	7.0	0.3	5.7	7.0

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table