Checking in w/ the Traded Yankees Prospects in 2017

The New York Yankees made quite a few traded this past July 31^st trading deadline that included some highly touted prospects inside their farm system. Let’s check back in with those prospects one last time and maybe gauge how these trades are going to work out for both teams going forward. Obviously it is way too early to tell on these trades involving prospects but this look can give us all hopefully a detailed first impression of the deals.

The Yankees acquire David Robertson, Tommy Kahnle and Todd Frazier.

The White Sox acquire Blake Rutherford, Ian Clarkin, Tito Polo and Tyler Clippard.

In the weeks leading up to the deal there were many scouts that had their doubts about Rutherford’s ability to hit for hard contact and power. Many wondered if the Yankees would be patient with Rutherford or trade him while his value was still high and we all obviously got the answer to that question with this deal. Rutherford has hit .228/.302/.272 with a 72 wRC+ since the trade as of the time of this writing and has still yet to hit for power or hard contact. He’s still young and was technically drafted out of High School, although he was a 19-year old player drafted out of High School, so the sky is still the limit on this kid but it seems as though the Yankees may have gotten the better end of that deal as of right now. Three years from now we could be talking about the worst trade in the Brian Cashman era. You can’t predict baseball.

Clarkin made two whole starts for his new team before a strained oblique landed the lefty in a familiar place, on the disabled list. Clarkin pitched a whole eight innings for the White Sox and pitched to a 6.04 FIP in an extremely small sample size. Different name, same story for Polo who has only managed 79 plate appearances for the White Sox before landing on the disabled list. Polo will represent the White Sox in the Arizona Fall League though because when he was healthy he did produce a .278/.342/.389 and 113 wRC+ batting line.

Finally the curious case of Tyler Clippard. Clippard was terrible in the Bronx, he rebuilt some of his stock with the White Sox and was ultimately flipped to the Houston Astros in a second trade this season. Since joining Houston, again at the time of this writing, Clippard has been back to his old ways posting a 7.71 ERA and 4.85 FIP with Houston but he may ultimately get a World Series ring out of it regardless so I doubt he’s too bothered by it. Clippard looks a lot like the pitcher we saw in New York and a lot less like the guy who had a 1.80 ERA with the Chicago White Sox.

The New York Yankees acquire Jaime Garcia and cash considerations.

The Minnesota Twins acquire Zack Littell and Dietrich Enns.

The Yankees basically got Garcia for free in terms of dollars and cents but not in terms of prospects as the team had to part with a pair of minor league pitchers in the deal. Neither pitcher really fit in with the Yankees long term plans to be completely honest although Enns could have been a bullpen piece for the team going forward. Enns did make his MLB debut this season pitching 2.1 innings allowing two runs on five hits. Shortly after the rough outing in which he labored heavily through his two-plus innings Enns was placed on the disabled list with a should injury. Enns is currently pitching in minor league rehab games and could be a September call up for Minnesota.

Littell has pitched well for the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts pitching to a 2.81 ERA and 3.51 FIP in seven starts. Littell does not fit the mold that the Yankees have seemingly fallen in love with since he is a soft-tossing left-hander but Littell has pitched well in every stop he has made throughout his minor league career so this one may be a hard loss to look back on in three-to-four years.

The New York Yankees acquire Sonny Gray.

The Oakland Athletics acquire Jorge Mateo, Dustin Fowler and James Kaprielian.

The big one, the trade that made the Yankees the Yankees again. The trade that sent three big prospects to the Athletics for right-handed pitcher Sonny Gray. Mateo was obviously the centerpiece of the deal and has hit .283/.328/.480 with two home runs for the Midland Rockhounds. Mateo is striking out at nearly a 23% clip but has played nice defense and has been a nice pickup for Oakland overall.

Both Fowler, knee, and Kaprielian, Tommy John surgery, have suffered season-ending injuries and will not play for Oakland this season. The A’s had their eyes on the future though when they made this deal while New York had their eyes on the present, 2018 and 2019. This deal could be one of those deals that ultimately work out equally as well for both teams given time. 

Meet a Prospect Special Edition: Jaime Garcia

Over the weekend and before the July 31^st trading deadline the New York Yankees went a long way into solidifying their starting rotation for the second half push and the postseason by acquiring left-handed starter Jaime Garcia from the Minnesota Twins. With a veteran lefty with postseason experience now on the roster, thus giving the Yankees options with the recently demoted Caleb Smith and pitchers like Luis Severino and Jordan Montgomery who may face inning workload concerns, now may be the best time to get to know Garcia, so let’s do it. This is Meet a Prospect: The Jaime Garcia Special Edition.

Jaime Omar Garcia was born on July 8, 1986 in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico as the second of three children to a father of the same name, Jaime Garcia Sr. Garcia was raised between the border of Reynosa, Mexico and McCallen, Texas and attended Sharyland High School in Mission, Texas where the lefty caught the attention of the Baltimore Orioles who drafted him in the 30^th round of the 2004 MLB First Year Players Draft. The Orioles chose not to sign Garcia back in 2004 which left Garcia available to be drafted again in 2005. This time the St. Louis Cardinals came calling in the 22^nd round of the 2005 Draft thanks to scout Joe Almaraz. Almaraz was a scout with the Orioles in 2004 and a scout that wanted to sign Garcia before the team opted not to due to a poorly translated test. Almaraz moved on to the Cardinals organization in 2005 and he finally got his man.

Garcia toiled around in the Cardinals minor league system before getting the call up on July 11, 2008 where he made his MLB debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Garcia pitched two innings of relief giving up just one hit, walking one and striking out two. That was the best moment Garcia would have in 2008 though as the left-hander underwent Tommy John surgery after the 2008 season. Garcia missed most of the 2009 season after the surgery before coming back in the minor leagues in mid-September of 2009.

Garcia was deemed healthy for the 2010 season and made the team as the Cardinals fifth starter out of spring training camp. Garcia made the most of the opportunity pitching his way to third in the NL Rookie of the Year Voting after posting a 13-8 record with an ERA of 2.70 in his first full season with St. Louis. Garcia continued to anchor the Cardinals starting rotation all the way to the World Series when the Cardinals and the Texas Rangers faced off head-to-head in 2011. Garcia started Game 2 of that World Series becoming only the second ever Mexican-born pitcher to start a World Series game and the first since Fernando Valenzuela did so back in 1981. The Cardinals ended up beating the Rangers in seven games to claim the franchise’s 11^th World Series title overall and Garcia’s first as a professional baseball player.

Garcia rode that high of winning a World Series into the 2012 season but after just 20 starts the left-hander was shut down due to shoulder discomfort. Without Garcia the Cardinals still reached the NLCS losing to the eventual World Series Champions in the San Francisco Giants. Garcia returned for the 2013 season but after posting a 5-2 record and a 3.58 ERA the lefty underwent shoulder surgery that once again ended his season on May 17. Garcia worked his way back with hopes of pitching again in 2014 but before he could make it back to the Major Leagues he developed shoulder bursitis which kept him on the shelf until May 18, 2014. Garcia pitched for the Cardinals until July 5 of that season before needing another left-shoulder surgery to correct his thoracic outlet syndrome. For the second consecutive season Garcia was limited to under 10 starts for St. Louis.

Garcia, the ever-resilient one, returned to the mound in May of 2015 for the Cardinals but by July was back on the disabled list again, this time for a groin injury that he sustained while running the bases against the Miami Marlins. Garcia returned just in time to throw a combined no-hitter on July 23 while on a rehab assignment with the Peoria Chiefs before also allowing Ichiro’s 4,191^st professional hit tying him with Ty Cobb. Garcia pitched well down the stretch though pitching nine quality starts in his last 10 starts and proving his health which allowed the Cardinals to exercise his team option for the 2016 season worth $11.5 million.

Garcia pitched his seventh and final season with the Cardinals in 2016 before the Atlanta Braves acquired him in a trade with the Cardinals for Chris Ellis, John Gant and Luke Dykstra. Garcia made 18 starts for the Braves posting a 4-7 record and a 4.30 ERA in 113 innings before the Braves traded the lefty to the Minnesota Twins along with Anthony Recker for prospect Huascar Ynoa. Garcia made one whole start for the Twins giving up three runs in 6.2 innings pitched against the Oakland Athletics before once again being shipped out in a trade, this time to the New York Yankees along with cash considerations for prospects Zack Littell and Dietrich Enns. Minnesota will be paying all of Garcia’s $12 million salary for the remainder of the 2017 season aside from a pro-rated league minimum that the Yankees are on the hook for. Garcia will be a free agent at season’s end.

Garcia is here to not only fill innings for the Yankees but to take some pressure and innings off the young arms of Jordan Montgomery and Luis Severino. Garcia was a relatively minor acquisition in terms of prospects and the deal not only got the Yankees a proven and postseason tested arm but it also cleared a 40 man roster spot for the club. Welcome to the club Jaime and more importantly, welcome to the family!

Yankees & Mets Have Discussed Lucas Duda Deal

It doesn’t happen often but it could happen in 2017. What am I talking about? The New York Yankees and the New York Mets hooking up for a deal before the July 31^st trading deadline. This season it may happen as the Mets and the Yankees have been reportedly at least discussing a deal that would send first baseman Lucas Duda across town from Queens to the Bronx.

Since 1962, the Mets first season in Major League Baseball there have only been 16 transactions between the two clubs so what will need to happen for the 17^th transaction to happen? The Mets will need to be reasonable in their asking price for the lefty-swinging Duda. Mets GM Sandy Alderson will have to understand that he is not going to get a Clint Frazier, a Chance Adams or a Gleyber Torres for a rental like Duda although a package involving one of Albert Abreu, Drew Finley or Zack Littell could be a good starting point for both clubs.

Sure, the Mets are likely moving him with the intention of rebuilding but Duda is not the type of player you trade to jumpstart a rebuild. That type of player is Yoenis Cespedes when healthy and effective. The Mets need to keep this in mind when sitting down at the negotiating table with Cashman.

At this point this is nothing more than a rumor and with that nothing more than speculation has occurred. Stay tuned as this develops, if it even develops. 

Meet a Prospect: Zack Littell

The New York Yankees finalized their 40 man roster over the weekend designating players like Nick Rumbelow and Nathan Eovaldi for assignment, releasing players like Dustin Ackley and trading players like James Pazos to the Seattle Mariners for new prospects for us to meet like right-handed starter Zack Littell. Let’s meet him. This is Meet a Prospect: The Zack Littell Edition.

Littell is a 21-year old right-handed starting pitcher the Seattle Mariners drafted in the 11^th round back in the 2013 MLB First Year Players Draft. Littell was drafted out of High School back in 2013 and has progressed to A-Ball as recently as the 2016 season.

Baseball America listed Littell as the owner of the best curveball in the Mariners system at the time of the trade while MLB Pipeline had him ranked as the 14^th best prospect in the Seattle farm system. MLB.com had Littell as the Mariners Prospect of the Year after taking a big step in two Class-A Ball affiliates this season.

Littell owns a low-90’s MPH fastball and as previously stated he has a great curveball to go with it. Littell is also developing a changeup that he hopes to keep batters off-balance with. Not a bad pickup at all for a left-handed reliever with little MLB experience and a marginal stat line in a small sample size, huh?

Littell posted a combined 13-6 record with a 2.66 ERA in 28 games, 27 of them starts, in two stops in Class-A Ball in 2016 striking out 156 batters in 165.2 innings. Just another arm that could potentially reach the Major Leagues in a season or three for New York. These are never bad to have, especially for a pitcher like James Pazos who posted pitched well in stretches in 2015 and 2016 but could easily be replaced in the “Circle of Trust.”

Littell will begin his Yankees career down in Low-A Ball with the Tampa Yankees. Welcome to the family.