What About Lourdes Gourriel Jr.?

Major League Baseball has finally declared Lourdes Gourriel Jr., younger brother of now Houston Astros player Yulieski Gourriel, a MLB free agent. Yulieski just recently signed a five-year deal worth $47.5 million and Lourdes is expected to sign for either longer, more money or both due to his age. Currently Lourdes is 22-years old meaning due to his age and lack of professional baseball in his career he is subject to the international free agent signing restrictions. If Lourdes waits until October, which all reports say he will do, when he turns 23-years old he would be a true free agent and could be signed with restrictions. Is that where the Yankees come in?

Here is what I wrote about both Yulieski and Lourdes back when they defected. I wanted both now and I would take Lourdes now. He will have to go to the minor leagues for a year or three to fine-tune his talents and won't be an immediate impact but the Yankees don't need an immediate impact. The youth movement has begun and the youth movement takes time. This signing makes a lot of sense. Will it happen? Leave it below in the comments section.

Weekly Prospects Check In: Jordan Montgomery

Yesterday we talked this young man up as the next in line to come up from the Yankees farm system and enter the Yankees starting rotation not only this season but next season and beyond as well. We talked about what kind of pitches Montgomery throws, when Montgomery was drafted and what I thought the future held for the University of South Carolina product but you know what they say. A picture is worth a thousand words so that means a stat line is probably worth at least double that, right?

I need to step up my game though. This post was only 139 words. Anyway, here is what Montgomery has been up to lately in the statistical department and I included his 2015 stats as well just to get everyone caught up and on the same page. Enjoy:

Year	Age	Lev	W	L	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9
2015	22	A+-A	10	8	2.95	25	24	1	1	0	134.1	118	51	44	5	36	132	1.146	7.9	0.3	2.4	8.8
2015	22	A	4	3	2.68	9	9	0	0	0	43.2	36	15	13	1	12	55	1.099	7.4	0.2	2.5	11.3
2015	22	A+	6	5	3.08	16	15	1	1	0	90.2	82	36	31	4	24	77	1.169	8.1	0.4	2.4	7.6
2016	23	AA-AAA	11	5	2.31	22	22	0	1	1	120.2	110	37	31	5	42	115	1.260	8.2	0.4	3.1	8.6
2016	23	AA	9	4	2.55	19	19	0	1	1	102.1	94	35	29	5	36	97	1.270	8.3	0.4	3.2	8.5
2016	23	AAA	2	1	0.98	3	3	0	0	0	18.1	16	2	2	0	6	18	1.200	7.9	0.0	2.9	8.8

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

This Day In New York Yankees History 8/21: Another Boston Massacre

On this day in 2006 the Yankees held the second Boston Massacre when sweeping a five game series in Fenway Park burying the Red Sox that season. After the five game sweep, the first since 1943, the Sox found themselves 6.5 games behind in the AL East and four games behind in the wild card race.


Also On this day in 1931 Babe Ruth becomes the first player in Major League history to hit 600 career home runs.

Game Thread: New York Yankees @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 8/20

Here we go ladies and gentleman with the middle game of the three-game set between the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the sunny and beautiful state of California. In the middle game of this three game set we will be entertained by the Yankees Luis Cessa who makes the first start of his MLB career tonight while the Angels counter with Ricky Nolasco. The game will be played at 9:35 pm ET inside Angels Stadium of Anaheim and can be seen on WPIX Channel 11, MLB Network and MLB TV.

The Yankees have one more date with Mike Trout and his Angels teammates before saying hello to Robbie Cano, don’t ya know, and the Seattle Mariners to start next week inside Safeco Field. It will be a little bit before the Yankees return home to the Bronx and return to Yankee Stadium which gives you plenty of time to click the Yankees Tickets link at the top of the blog to secure your seats in the Bronx.

Ricky Nolasco and the kid, Luis Cessa. Let’s do it. Go Yankees! Follow along on Twitter (@GreedyStripes) or on Facebook by liking our page during the game and all season long.

While We Wait: Digging through the TGP Archive for the Week

While we wait on the Yankees and Angels game to start here in about 2.5 hours let’s get caught up on some reading from our great writers here at The Greedy Pinstripes. While we wait I’ll leave you with this link dump that I came up with while digging through the TGP Archive for the week. Enjoy. 

Are the Yankees "worth" the money? Offensively speaking. 

The Yankees are shelling out a lot to their pitching too, have they been "worth" it?

Brian McCann cleared waivers.... now what for the former starting Yankees catcher?

An early prediction post and look for the 2017 Opening Day roster.

JUDGEment Day has come to the Bronx!

Hal Steinbrenner listens to the Yankees fans on Twitter? No way.... right?

Finally... an interview with ThatSportsGamer. 

Weekly Prospects Check In: Dillon Tate

The Yankees have so many good prospects right now and it is so much fun doing these weekly prospects check in posts. I used to do them just to have content on the site and to check in with the top Yankees prospects so I could rant and rave about how this guy should be up in the Majors and that guy should be benched, designated for assignment or both in that order but the youth movement has finally arrived and I couldn’t be happier. Dillon Tate, formerly the Texas Rangers top pitching prospect, is one of said prospects that make me excited every single day and every single week to do these posts. Let’s check in with him now.

Dillon Tate ladies and gentleman: 

Year	Age	Tm	Aff	W	L	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9
2016	22	2 Teams	TEX-NYY	3	3	4.82	19	16	71.0	84	42	38	5	30	59	1.606	10.6	0.6	3.8	7.5
2016	22	Hickory	TEX	3	3	5.12	17	16	65.0	78	39	37	5	27	55	1.615	10.8	0.7	3.7	7.6
2016	22	Charleston	NYY	0	0	1.50	2	0	6.0	6	3	1	0	3	4	1.500	9.0	0.0	4.5	6.0

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Don’t Look Now but Jordan Montgomery is Coming

I have said it many times in my blog posts here at The Greedy Pinstripes and I am about to eat some crow for it too. I have been hard on the Yankees and their farm system for their seemingly lack of good quality starting pitching but while doing research for another blog post, a post that I ultimately scrapped and decided to write this instead, I found a few diamonds in the rough that many blogs and websites are not talking about. Chance Adams is one, Bryan Mitchell who is progressing through a rehab assignment is another and the final piece is the man we will showcase and talk about today, Jordan Montgomery.

Montgomery was a 2014 Draft pick by the Yankees in the fourth round and at the time it was widely thought that Montgomery was drafted to a bullpen piece for the Yankees going forward despite impressive numbers as a starter at the University of South Carolina. Montgomery, another one of those big-framed and hard-throwing pitchers the Yankees love, now stands just one step away from the Bronx after a mid-season promotion to Scranton/Wilkes Barre, a promotion and a run through the Yankees farm system that no one is seemingly talking about right now.

Montgomery credits a spike in velocity for his recent success. When Montgomery was drafted he was throwing in the 88-92 MPH range with movement and sink, with plus command as well, but these days Montgomery is seen throwing in more of the 91-94 MPH range with the same dip, sink and command. Montgomery has also improved on his changeup, his curveball and his cut fastball while improving his strikeouts per nine innings to almost 12 batters per nine in 2015.

James Kaprielian is probably the Yankees top pitching prospect, Domingo Acevedo is probably the Yankees pitching prospect with the highest ceiling and Justus Sheffield may be the Yankees pitching prospect that is showing the most promise right now but if you need a starting pitching prospect that can come up and not only come up now but come up and compete while keeping his team in games and giving his team the best shot to win, well you better watch out for Jordan Montgomery because he may be the man for the job. 

Game Preview: New York Yankees @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 8/20

Another late night out in Los Angeles tonight for both the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim as these two teams continue with their three game set. The first set had the Yankees throwing their ace Masahiro Tanaka to the mound and tonight they send out another exciting arm in Luis Cessa. I’m excited to see what the kid can do when he is given more than a one or two week audition in the show. Sent to the mound opposing Cessa will be newly acquired right-handed starting pitcher for the Angels Ricky Nolasco.

Cessa makes his first MLB start tonight for the Yankees after spending time in the Triple-A rotation and the big league bullpen in 2016. Cessa’s ERA in the Major Leagues has not been impressive, it’s 5.30 this season, but again this has come in one or two week intervals and usually his appearances came as needed because of a short bullpen. Cessa can and will be better and he will look to prove that to everyone tonight in Anaheim.

Nolasco has not recorded a victory since being traded from the Minnesota Twins to the Angels, a streak that has spanned three starts, although his first win could come against the Yankees. Nolasco pitched them tough last time he saw them in June allowing just two runs to the Bronx Bombers.

The game will be played at 9:35 pm ET inside Angels Stadium of Anaheim and can be seen live on WPIX Channel 11, MLB Network and of course MLB TV. The future is now so why not throw guys like Chad Green and Luis Cessa out there, right? I mean I know Brian Cashman’s options are limited at this point, especially with the struggles of Luis Severino that have been well documented here and everywhere else on the web, but I’m glad to see him sticking to his guns rather than pulling off a dumpster dive move for a veteran. You know. Kind of like the Angels did in a losing season for Ricky Nolasco. Too soon? Here, apply this directly to the burn. Go Yankees!

MoonBigPapi.Com – No This is NOT a Joke

Photo credit goes to It Is High.... Blog

This has got to be the absolute greatest thing I have ever seen in my entire life. MoonBigPapi.com is a movement to honor the Red Sox legend the only way he should be honored inside Yankee Stadium, by showing him our asses before the door hits him in his. I’m actually being a little tongue in cheek right now because I do have a lot of respect for him and what he has done for the game, hissy fits, failed steroid tests, drama with Alex Rodriguez and hugs with former Commissioner Bud Selig aside, but would this not be fitting? Just a little?

Think of it this way. If say five or even ten fans moon Big Papi in his final game and in his final at bat they are likely going to jail after being escorted out of the stadium but what are they going to do to 40,000 of us? Is there enough room in the local jails for 40,000 inmates and detainees that mooned the Yankees most-hated rival inside of Yankee Stadium? I wouldn’t think so. They can’t arrest us all! Moon Big Papi!!!

To join the movement or to check out the website head to MoonBigPapi.com but remember, this is NSFW (not safe for work). Unless your job is okay with bare bottoms on your computer screen, then go right ahead.

Comment down below. Are you down?

Weekly Prospects Check In: Jorge Mateo

The Yankees #3 prospect is seemingly enjoying being back on the field and enjoying the competition he has playing beside fellow shortstop Gleyber Torres down in Tampa. Mateo’s stats have improved and we haven’t had any more blips on the radar as far as attitude and following the team rules are concerned so that’s a victory in itself if you ask me. It’s not what you do that defines you but how you bounce back from it and Mateo is seemingly bouncing back with maturity while doing and saying all of the right things.

Here is what Mateo did this week and what he has done this season with the Tampa Yankees. I know the organization wants to prove a point that they are in charge at this point but come on guys, promote the kid already.

Year	Age	Tm	G	PA	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2016	21	Tampa	102	456	59	111	16	9	8	47	31	30	98	.266	.316	.405	.721

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table