My 25 man roster for 2018

Well folks it’s that time of year again.  The World Series has come and gone. The cold air has set in, and hunters got their orange on.  The turkey, ham and all the trimmings are on the way.  And now…  it’s Free Agent Time!!

This off season the Yankees will see a new manager take the helm.  Now let’s be greedy and break down the 25 men I would like to supply him with and how I think we could get them here if they’re not already here.  I’m not going too crazy and will try to stay realistic.  I have the luxury tax goal in mind here, however I won’t get into numbers during this post. 

We will start with the rotation.  Back after a good year is Severino.  Tanaka is still around after not using his opt. out, and with the addition of Grey, I only have two changes.  I feel both greatly improve the starting rotation and here they are…  

1. Luis Severino
2. Sonny Grey 
3. Masahiro Tanaka
4. Shohei Ohtani:  Sign him!!!  I don’t care what the rules are regarding his signing, I would go all out and do whatever it takes to bring this man to the Bronx 
5. Jordan Montgomery*** If Adams is ready, then Jordan becomes my lefty out of the pen.  He can also be used as a 6th starter, however I see Justus Sheffield banging on the door and may just fill this roll at some point anyway.  Non-the less, Jordan is on the roster. 
6. Chance Adams:  Simply call this kid up, he is ready for the big club.  He will be a solid back end starter if not more.

Now on to the bullpen… 

     Closer:  Aroldis Chapman

     Set up:  David Robertson

     7th:  Dellin Betances

The other guys in the pen would be Tommy Kahnle, Chad Green, Adam Warren, and if all goes right, Jordan Montgomery*.  There are no real changes here.  Tommy may over take Dellin, but spring training is still a few months away.  No, I’m not trading Dellin now.  We keep him, rebuild his value, and then maybe I consider a trade.  However, I do feel the pen is as dominant as one can ask, don’t change it.  

Here is the starting and defensive line-up.  This is where I’ll get a little crazy…

1. Bret Gardner LF/CF:  Like it or not, he is a Yankee and at this point I don’t see him being traded. 
2. Gray Sanchez C:  I know, I know what about Judge?
3. Aaron Judge RF:  After my big trade, Judge slides to 3.  Look who is his new-found protection.
4. Giancarlo Stanton DH/OF:  Of course you got to give to get here so I’ll send Aaron Hicks, Chase Headly, Albert Abreau, sadly Miguel Andujar, Tyler Wade and a lesser prospect to the marlins.  May have to sub out Tyler or Albert for other prospects but we can make it happen.
5. Greg Bird 1B:  Got to split up all the righties, and the Birdman has the pop to protect Stanton.
6. Clint Frazier CF/LF:  Staying lefty righty here.
7. Didi Gregorius SS:  This goes to say how deep this line up now is with Stanton.  Didi in the 7 hole?  Sign me up!
8. Gleyber Torres 2B/3B:  Like Chance Adams, the time is now, he will be ready to go for spring training.  He was tearing the Cover off the ball at every level.  The AFL MVP from last year makes his way onto this team.
9. Todd Frazier 3B:  A New Yorker in our hearts even though he’s from New Jersey.  A life-long Yankee fan who wants to be here.  He’s better then Starlin and Headly.  I say, bring back the Toddfather!!!

The bench grabs the last 4 roster spots.  Let’s Keep it easy to start, Austin Romine grabs the 1^st bench spot as the back-up catcher.  He’s good with the pitchers we have, if it isn’t broke don’t fix it!  Yes, his offense could be better, but we are taking about a back-up, let’s just stick with him.

Next up is the 23^rd spot on team.  That goes to Starlin Castro.  I keep Starlin around because he can play 2B, SS and in a pinch 3B.  He can still hit the ball, gives you the ability to have a starting caliber player on the bench and can play a few times a week without hurting the lineup.

Spot 24 goes to Ronald Torreyes.  In my opinion, Toe gives the most effort of anyone on the team and does whatever is asked of him.  He has also come through in big spots when asked too.

The final bench spot is for the 4^th OF.  Now being I traded Hicks in the Stanton deal, I’ll keep it simple and go with a competition here.  Jake Cave and Billy McKinney both have a lot of up-side and offer a spark of the bench. 

I do understand my trade for Stanton may take more than mentioned but as long as it doesn’t take away anyone else on my 25-man roster, let’s get this deal done Cashman!!! As for the not mentioned Jacoby Ellsbury, ship him to any team.  All I ask for is a bag of balls, we can even pay down some of the contract.  He must go!!

As always, thank you for reading and have a great day!  May you all be blessed.  Feel free to drop me an email and let’s chat.

Fun Time: I want to hear from you!! Please send me your 25 man roster and how you get the Yankees! I will post the winning roster and analyze it. Winner will also receive a free Yankee T-Shirt. The one Rule is the roster needs to be somewhat realistic. We won't have 25 All-Stars. 

James C Palma 

The Greedy Pinstripes 

JamesCPalma@gmail.com

Article Revisit: Donald Trump Wants to Own the Yankees

Written and reported on back on this day in 2015, oh what could have been. Enjoy.




Yes, please!


According to recent reports Donald Trump, the billionaire businessman and Republican Party Presidential hopeful, wants to own the New York Yankees. Trump grew up in New York City and made his millions in the greatest state, in my humble opinion, in the United States and would like to return there if he could land an ownership role in any sports team.


George Steinbrenner and Trump were known associates, business partners and friends and the similarities don’t stop there. Heads would roll when the team didn’t make the postseason in two consecutive years and player contracts would be eaten when they were no longer useful. Trump would own, run and manage the team like the $3.5 billion powerhouse that it is.


Trump would do is smart though, in my opinion. He wouldn’t be a tyrant, he would just do whatever was necessary to turn a profit. Trump understands the added revenue, attendance, merchandise sales and the growth to the brand that comes with the playoffs and would basically demand that the team make it there every season. He would also give Brian Cashman the power he had from 1998-2009 along with a blank check.


Trump was just asked a question and he answered it, he isn’t seriously considering making a run at buying the team and there is no speculation that the Steinbrenner family is interested in selling. This is the offseason and it’s time to dream and that’s what I did with this article, hopefully it’s taken that way by the reader. Enjoy as we dream about the return of the GREEDY Pinstripes.

Get Greedy: Sign JD Martinez

"Please, God. Make me a Yankee!"

We’re back and we are greedier than ever with the latest idea to break the bank, blow all the austerity talk out the window and blow the baseballs out of Yankee Stadium with even more consistency here in 2018. I know it is out of the realm of possibilities fiscally, but I don’t worry myself with the financials much anymore, instead I worry about getting the best 25 players that I possibly can out on the field on any given night. With that in mind it is time to get greedy once again and sign former Detroit Tigers and Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder JD Martinez. Yeah, I went there.  

Now earlier today in my free agent post where I outlined what free agents I thought the Yankees should at least have discussions with I alluded to the fact that I was happy with keeping the designated hitter position a revolving door for the Yankees outfielders to use for half-days off and here is the reason. Adding another outfielder is more of a luxury than a need at this point but New York added a $13 million DH last offseason in Matt Holliday and got little to show for it in return. Could you imagine if the Yankees were to add a bat like JD Martinez’s who could play in the outfield and DH a few days a week to keep everyone fresh, healthy and productive? The hell with the Bronx Bombers and Murderer’s Row, that would be downright unfair. 

Now I know this is a bold statement and a bold request of the Yankees to sign possibly the best positional player on the free agent market in a year where the team is going to give austerity a try but hear me out. Giving Martinez the security of a longer contract could conceivably keep the average annual value of the contract down while giving the team a leg up on the competition in terms of negotiations, because what player doesn’t want security and peace of mind?  

Martinez has possibly been the best kept secret in MLB over the past couple of seasons which is a scary thought since Martinez was a 4.1 WAR player in 2017 with Detroit and the Arizona Diamondbacks. Martinez has eclipsed 20 home runs in each of the last four seasons including hitting 45 home runs in 2017 and 38 home runs in 2015, both inside extremely pitching-friendly ballparks. You can add 10-15 home runs to that total in the Bronx assuming he is healthy and has a healthy Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Didi Gregorius etc. behind him protecting him in the lineup. Again, downright unfair. 

Martinez just turned 30-years old recently and is in the middle of his prime, so I would feel comfortable giving him a six-year deal with an option for a seventh year if that were a sticking point in the negotiations. Martinez is good in the field, great with the bat and I think he would be an incredible addition to the team. Whether Hal Steinbrenner opens up the wallet strings or not is one thing, but I think the Yankees should make the move if the money allows. Martinez could be the Paul O’Neill to the 2018 dynasty that O’Neill was to that 1996 team. Just get it done.  

Now Begins the Time to “Get Greedy”

Earlier this morning on the blog we took a look at the complete list of 161 MLB free agents for the 2018 season so now begins the process for every team, especially the New York Yankees, to “get greedy” and sign up some of these free agents. We have the list in hand so let’s take a look at it and see if any of these players will and should fit into the Yankees plans here in 2018.  

We will start high here and then taper off I guess as there are quite a few notable bullpen additions that the New York Yankees could conceivably look at this winter. Greg Holland declined his 2018 option with the Colorado Rockies, Wade Davis is a free agent with the Chicago Cubs, Brandon Kintzler was an All-Star with the Minnesota Twins before being shipped away prior to the deadline and is now hitting free agency and there are a couple notable left-handed arms as well. The two arms I would like the Yankees to take a long and hard look at, because let’s be real… none of the names I mentioned above are coming to the Bronx with the plethora of former closers and arms the Yankees pen already has, are left-handers Tony Watson and Oliver Perez. Perez would obviously be a Plan B or even a Plan C, I may trust Chasen Shreve and company more at this point than Perez although I do realize that Perez could be a useful LOOGY, but Watson has been on my radar for a long, long time. Watson is a tough left-handed arm that spent time recently with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Pittsburgh Pirates and is an arm that would fill an area of need for New York, the LOOGY position. I doubt Watson would command a terrible amount in terms of years and dollars as well which only helps the Yankees case to sign him.  

New York went into last season with a full-time DH in Matt Holliday and a part-time first baseman in Chris Carter and there is no reason to believe that the team couldn’t do that with at least one of those positions again here in 2018. Now the options on the free agent market aren’t all that appealing to be honest with names like Jay Bruce, Pedro Alvarez and Carlos Santana out there but I truly believe at least two of these options could be better than either Holiday or Carter were in 2017. Although I will admit I am leaning towards not filling the DH position and letting a rotation of outfielders fill the slot all season long if New York can sign a big-time free agent, but more on that later. 

Finally, the Yankees may look at adding a starting pitcher this winter. Obviously, it is highly unlikely that the team will do so after Masahiro Tanaka decided to not opt-out of his contract, but I would be remiss if I didn’t at least mention the fact that Jake Arrieta and Yu Darvish are free agents at the time of this writing. The Yankees have a lot of star power in Japan already with Tanaka and their presumable pursuit of Shohei Otani will only add to that, but could you imagine a rotation with both them and Darvish? It would be insanity in Japan and everyone in the country would be wearing Yankees apparel, oh and the Yankees would be good as well. Is it unlikely? Sure, the Yankees may only add Otani and that’s it, but the team should at least go through the motions and check in with both Darvish and Arrieta. That’s a general manager’s job after all, now get greedy! Bring me somebody! 

So it Seems… The Complete List of 161 MLB 2018 Free Agents

AMERICAN LEAGUE

BALTIMORE (9) — DH/1B Pedro Alvarez; 2B Ryan Flaherty; OF Craig Gentry; SS J.J. Hardy; RHP Jeremy Hellickson; RHP Ubaldo Jimenez; OF Seth Smith, LHP Wade Miley; RHP Chris Tillman.

BOSTON (8) — LHP Fernando Abad; RHP Blaine Boyer; OF Rajai Davis; RHP Doug Fister; 1B Mitch Moreland; INF Eduardo Nunez; RHP Addison Reed; OF Chris Young.

CHI. WHITE SOX (2) — RHP Mike Pelfrey; C Geovany Soto.

CLEVELAND (6) — LHP Craig Breslow; OF Jay Bruce; OF Austin Jackson; C Carlos Santana; RHP Bryan Shaw; RHP Joe Smith.

DETROIT (1) — RHP Anibal Sanchez.

HOUSTON (5) — DH Carlos Beltran; RHP Tyler Clippard; RHP Luke Gregerson; LHP Francisco Liriano; OF Cameron Maybin.

KANSAS CITY (8) — OF Melky Cabrera; RHP Trevor Cahill; OF Lorenzo Cain; SS Alcides Escobar; 1B Eric Hosmer; 3B Mike Moustakas; RHP Peter Moylan; LHP Jason Vargas.

L.A. ANGELS (11) — RHP Andrew Bailey; RHP Jesse Chavez; 3B Yunel Escobar; RHP Ricky Nolasco; RHP Bud Norris; INF Cliff Pennington; RHP Yusmeiro Petit; 2B Brandon Phillips; OF Ben Revere; RHP Fernando Salas; RHP Huston Street.

MINNESOTA (5) — RHP Matt Belisle; RHP Bartolo Colon; RHP Dillon Gee; LHP Glen Perkins; LHP Hector Santiago.

N.Y. YANKEES (5) — 3B Todd Frazier; LHP Jaime Garcia; DH Matt Holliday; RHP Michael Pineda; LHP CC Sabathia.

OAKLAND (0) — None.

SEATTLE (7) — 1B Yonder Alonso; INF Gordon Beckham; OF Jarrod Dyson; RHP Yovani Gallardo; RHP Hisashi Iwakuma; C Carlos Ruiz; 1B/3B Danny Valencia.

TAMPA BAY (9) — OF Peter Bourjos; RHP Steve Cishek; RHP Alex Cobb; 1B Lucas Duda; RHP Tommy Hunter; 1B Logan Morrison; 3B Trevor Plouffe; OF Colby Rasmus; RHP Sergio Romo.

TEXAS (4) — RHP Andrew Cashner; OF Carlos Gomez; RHP Miguel Gonzalez; RHP Jason Grilli.

TORONTO (5) — LHP Brett Anderson; 2B Darwin Barney, OF Jose Bautista; C Miguel Montero; OF Michael Saunders.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

ARIZONA (7) — Gregor Blanco, of; Jorge De La Rosa, lhp; David Hernandez, rhp; Chris Iannetta, c; J.D. Martinez of; Fernando Rodney, rhp; Adam Rosales, inf.

ATLANTA (2) — R.A. Dickey, rhp; Jason Motte, rhp.

CHICAGO (8) — Jake Arrieta, rhp; Alex Avila, c; Wade Davis, rhp; Brian Duensing, lhp; Jon Jay, of; John Lackey, rhp; Rene Rivera, c; Koji Uehara, rhp.

CINCINNATI (4) — Bronson Arroyo, rhp; Zack Cozart, ss; Scott Feldman, rhp; Drew Storen, rhp.

COLORADO (9) — OF Alexi Amarista; RHP Tyler Chatwood; OF Carlos Gonzalez; C Ryan Hanigan; RHP Greg Holland, C Jonathan Lucroy; LHP Jake McGee; RHP Pat Neshek; 1B Mark Reynolds.

L.A. DODGERS (7) — RHP Yu Darvish; OF Andre Ethier; OF Curtis Granderson; OF Franklin Gutierrez; RHP Brandon Morrow; 2B Chase Utley; LHP Tony Watson.

MIAMI (4) — Mike Aviles, inf; A.J. Ellis, c; Dustin McGowan, rhp; Ichiro Suzuki, of.

MILWAUKEE (3) — Matt Garza, rhp; Anthony Swarzak, rhp; Neil Walker, 2b.

N.Y. METS (1) — INF Jose Reyes.

PHILADELPHIA (4) — Andres Blanco, inf; Clay Buchholz, rhp; Hyun-Soo Kim, of; Daniel Nava, of.

PITTSBURGH (3) — Joaquin Benoit, rhp; John Jaso, 1b; Chris Stewart, c.

ST. LOUIS (4) — Zach Duke, lhp; Lance Lynn, rhp; Juan Nicasio, rhp; RHP Seung-Hwan Oh, rhp.

SAN DIEGO (4) — Erick Aybar, ss; Jhoulys Chacin, rhp; Jordan Lyles, rhp; Craig Stammen, rhp.

SAN FRANCISCO (4) — RHP Matt Cain (retired); C Nick Hundley; 1B/3B Jae-Gynn Hwang; OF Michael Morse.

WASHINGTON (12) — RHP Matt Albers; RHP Joe Blanton; OF Alejandro De Aza; 2B Stephen Drew; RHP Edwin Jackson,; OF/2B Howie Kendrick; RHP Brandon Kintzler; 1B Adam Lind; C Jose Lobaton; LHP Oliver Perez; OF Ryan Raburn; OF Jayson Werth.

List courtesy of the USA Today*

So it Seems… The Long Offseason Ahead

Good morning everyone. I know it’s been a minute since we last spoke but it’s the offseason, it’s a time to recharge the batteries. Life hasn’t slowed down a bit and work has gotten out of control with no end in sight and it may or may not affect the site going forward. I promise to do everything and all that I can to pop in whenever I can but you all must know that this will likely mean that daily posts, at least through the offseason, may not happen. I promise to do the best I can, and I am always looking for new writers to help carry the load and keep you guys with something to read. If you’re interested or know of anyone who is tell them to send me an email at Daniel Burch 1102 at Yahoo dot com.

Oh, and hey you. I love you. I’ve missed writing about you because you’re so damn special to me.

This Day In New York Yankees History 11/8: Yogi Berra the MVP

On this day in 1951 the Baseball Writers Association of America, BBWAA, named Yogi Berra of the New York Yankees the American League Most Valuable Player. Ned Garver of the Browns won 20 games this year on a last place team and finished second in the voting. Roy Campanella would win the award in the National League making this the first two that two catchers have both won the MVP award in the same season.

Breaking News: Roy Halladay Dead

More as the story develops but it looks like Roy Halladay has passed after his plane was found crashed this afternoon. Rest in peace to Roy and our prayers and condolences go out to his friends, family, loved ones and the baseball community. So sad to lose one of our own.

Update:

The plane registered to Halladay crashed in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico and Halladay was found dead at the scene. Halladay was 40-years old.

No details about how many others, if any, were injured or killed were released after the crashed happened shortly after noon today.

Shohei Otani Is The Greatest Luxury

Shohei Otani is a luxury. However, he's not like every other luxury I've talked about.

See, normally, when I talk about a "luxury" I'm referring to somebody that would be nice for the Yankees to have, but the cost of acquiring said "luxury" may very well be too much. Take for example Bryce Harper...

How great would it be for the Yankees' outfield in 2019 to consist of Aaron Judge, Clint Frazier, and Bryce Harper? Just imagine a lineup with those three players, along with Gleyber Torres, Didi Gregorius, Greg Bird, Gary Sanchez, and Miguel Andujar. Let's just see something....

1. Gleyber Torres
2. Aaron Judge
3. Bryce Harper
4. Gary Sanchez
5. Didi Gregorius
6. Greg Bird
7. Clint Frazier
8. Miguel Andujar
9. Aaron Hicks

When writing that lineup something popped out to me, but I'll talk about that later.

Like I was saying, as great as that lineup would be, adding Bryce Harper to it is not going to be cheap. We're talking about a guy who's next contract will be around $450 million. What makes him a "luxury" is the fact is he may not be necessary for the Yankees to win. Take Harper out of that lineup and you have this...

1. Gleyber Torres
2. Aaron Judge
3. Gary Sanchez
4. Didi Gregorius
5. Greg Bird
6. Clint Frazier
7. Miguel Andujar
8. Aaron Hicks
9. ???

That's still a very good lineup. Compared to this past season's lineup, which if you don't remember was pretty good, all I've done is replace Starlin Castro with Gleyber Torres, Brett Gardner with Clint Frazier, and Chase Headley/Todd Frazier with Miguel Andjuar. And that's without knowing who would DH, or rotate with others in that spot.

Getting back to Shohei Otani, though, let's see what a starting rotation would look like with him...

1. Luis Severino
2. Sonny Gray
3. Masahiro Tanaka
4. Shohei Otani
5. Jordan Montgomery

That's ridiculous. That rotation doesn't need a top ten offense to support it, let alone a top three offense. Even without Otani, and assuming the Yankees would simply bring back CC Sabathia, we'd have this...

1. Luis Severino
2. Sonny Gray
3. Masahiro Tanaka
4. CC Sabathia
5. Jordan Montgomery

Even without Otani, or heck... Sabathia, on board many people are saying the Yankees' rotation is championship caliber. That's why I say Shohei Otani is a "luxury", and not a "necessity". But here's what makes Shohei a totally different type of "luxury"... money.

This may be the only time in the history of baseball that a team can add such a great player, or at least a top prospect, without giving up much of anything. Even with the posting fee the Yankees will likely only have to pay in the neighborhood of $22.5 million to have Otani on their team in 2018. You're not going to get anyone like Otani in free agency for that little, nor are you going to be able to acquire a guy like Otani in a trade without giving up a nice package of players and/or prospects.

Oh... lol. While they would have to shell out about $22.5 million, since Otani's contract would be a minor-league deal that $2.5 million outside of the posting fee would simply be a bonus, like those given to players in the amateur draft. The Luxury Tax hit for the Yankees would be the league minimum.

The funny thing is that I haven't even talked about what he could do for the offense.

In short, Shohei Otani is going to be the cheapest luxury in the history of Major League Baseball. Maybe in all of sports.

Thankfully, I believe the Yankees will do everything they can to get Otani. And anyone that doesn't think they should is, without a doubt, out of their minds.

Disliking Off-Season Inactivity…

Baseball is such a rush. It starts in February when pitchers and catchers report, and then slowly builds over the course of the next eight months, reaching the adrenaline rush of the post-season, capped by the exhilarating World Series. Then, nothing. We can only wait and watch as the Yankees beat writers jump from one potential story to another without yielding much fruit. 

Things will pick up in a few weeks as we approach the Winter Meetings, but for now, we just have to sit around wondering when the Yankees will give us an indication who they might be considering for the job to lead the 2018 Yankees. 

Without much to really think about, here are some of my random thoughts...

Alex Rodriguez, Just Say No…

I can honestly say that I have no desire to see Alex Rodriguez named as Yankees manager. I do not dispute A-Rod’s baseball knowledge and I know that he’s been a positive influence on the younger players during Spring Training but neither of those attributes qualify him as a Major League manager. This is a man who was suspended an entire year for PED use after he had already been implicated with earlier use of performance-enhancing drugs. I was glad to see A-Rod’s time as an active member of the Yankees end and I have no interest in watching him don the pinstripes again (outside of brief Spring Training appearances).  As it is, I am tired of the daily “J-Rod” updates.  If Alex became the Yankees manager, those daily sightings of Jennifer Lopez and A-Rod would only worsen.  I lived through the Bronx Zoo of the 1970’s.  I am not willing to entertain the thought of The Bronx Zoo, Part II. So count me among those with no interest in seeing A-Rod become manager of the Yankees.

Jake Cave, Member of the 40-Man Roster…

It took awhile and included a detour through Cincinnati, but Jake Cave finally earned a spot on the Yankees 40-Man Roster when he was added on Monday. 

Cave was drafted by the Yankees in the 6^th Round of the 2011 MLB Draft out of Kecoughtan High School in Hampton, VA.  He was left unprotected when he became Rule 5 eligible after the 2015 season and was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds.  He started 2016 Spring Training very hot for the Reds but by the end of camp had cooled considerably.  In the end, the Reds opted to keep a 30-year old outfielder (Jordan Pacheco), who was released by the Reds in June 2016, over the then-23 year old Cave. At the time of his return to the Yankees, Reds manager Bryan Price offered the following comments:  “He was and is a terrific young player, and we all saw him as a big-leaguer. There was just some limitations on how much playing time I thought I could get him over the course of this year. My big concern was the history with Donald Lutz and Neftali Soto, guys that have come up and really not played much at a very young age and how they were able to deal with that and when they returned to the minor leagues how they performed afterwards, and I would hate to see that happen to Jake as a guy who really got limited playing time early in the season and how that would have affected his long-term development.”

Credit:  MLB.com

Cave returned to the Yankees but rather than sulk, he continued to work on his craft.  He was left unprotected again in 2016 but was not selected in that year’s Rule 5 Draft.  His performance in 2017 exceeded expectations as he finished with 20 home runs and 56 RBI’s at AA/AAA combined.  His batting line was .305/.351/.542 with .893 OPS in 103 total games.  His hard work has been acknowledged by the Yankees and he’ll get an opportunity to go to the Major League Camp with the Yankees in February for the first time. 

Cave profiles as a fourth outfielder but he is clearly a success story among Yankees prospects.  With guys like Cave and Billy McKinney chomping at the bit, the Yankees need to clear out Jacoby Ellsbury and/or Brett Gardner to make way for the younger guys. I’d hate to see Gardner go but it is Clint Frazier’s time for left field.  Aaron Hicks is a better center fielder than Ellsbury.  So, I’d prefer to see Hicks and Frazier in the starting outfield with Aaron Judge, and guys like Cave and/or McKinney backing them up. 

The Yankees also added reliever Nick Rumbelow to the 40-man roster. Rumbelow had Tommy John surgery in 2016 and missed part of the 2017 season with his recovery. After pitching briefly for the Double-A Trenton Thunder, he was lights out for the Triple A-Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. In 17 games (covering 29 innings) for the RailRiders, Rumbelow was 5-1 and had a sterling 1.12 ERA with 5 saves. He struck out 30 batters, while walking only 8.  Rumbelow, like Cave, is a success story.  He was released by the Yankees in November 2016 (free to go anywhere like Nathan Eovaldi did when he signed with the Tampa Bay Rays).  Rumbelow opted to re-sign with the Yankees on December 15, 2016 and we’re glad he did.

Credit:  Thomas A Ferrara, Newsday

The Yankees still have a number of Rule 5 decisions to make but these were a couple of easy ones.  I have no doubt the Yankees will be forced to leave quality talent unprotected for this year’s Rule 5 Draft.  GM Brian Cashman, between his managerial interviews and negotiation of a new contract, has his work cut out for him. 

Free Agency is Upon Us…

Free Agents became available to talk to other teams on Monday afternoon. Most forecasts show the Yankees to be very limited players in the FA arena as they attempt to avoid MLB’s competitive balance tax and reset future penalties for going above the payroll threshold.  Sadly, the Boston Red Sox were able to do that this year, so they’ll be more aggressive this off-season. During the press conference yesterday to announce new Red Sox manager Alex Cora, Dave Dombrowski, President of Baseball Operations, was asked if the luxury tax would be limitation. He responded, “No, I do not”. The same question was posed to Red Sox owner John Henry and he replied with, “Well, (Dombrowski) answered the question. He said he could go over.”  I would not be surprised to see the Red Sox go hard and heavy after Kansas City Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer. 

Most forecasts that I have seen only show the Yankees signing Japanese two-way star Shohei Otani and CC Sabathia. Without too many moves necessary, I’d be very happy to see the Yankees acquire Otani. There is uncertainty with the current dispute in negotiations between MLB and Nippon Professional Baseball for a new posting agreement. However, Otani took a step in the positive direction by hiring Creative Artists Agency (CAA) to represent him if he is posted and made available to MLB teams this off-season. 

Credit:  Junko Ozaki, AP

I am not overly excited about the anticipated return of Chase Headley to third base for the 2018 season. The question will be whether Gleyber Torres or Miguel Andujar will be ready. I doubt either one breaks camp as the starter but it could happen sooner rather than later.  Headley runs too hot and cold for me. I’d prefer to see greater consistency out of the position to protect the big bats in the lineup. I’d love to see the return of Todd Frazier, but the timing is not right and the Yankees are not in a position to offer a free agent multiple years at third base. For the short-term, we’ll have to deal with Headley.

Dueling Airwaves… 

It was funny yesterday that both Yankees GM Brian Cashman and former Yankees manager Joe Girardi were giving interviews at the same time. It’s tough listening to Girardi as he really sounds like a guy who wanted to be a part of the next great Yankees dynasty. I am surprised that the Washington Nationals didn’t make a run at Girardi with their World Series-caliber roster. But then again, the Nats aren’t known for spending cash on the managerial position and perhaps they were too far down the road with new manager Dave Martinez. 

At this point, it appears that Girardi will sit out a year (perhaps taking a broadcasting position) and will emerge as a viable managerial candidate in the 2018 off-season. 

The more Cashman talks about communication as a primary reason that Girardi was not re-hired and in particular his relationship with the younger players, it leads me to believe that there are reasons at play that we will never know. Maybe one day when Cashman retires and writes his memoirs. 

I don’t know about you, but I am ready for some genuine Yankees news. These quiet days leading up to the Baseball Winter Meetings next month are tough. I am getting a little tired of watching Houston Astros show up on Saturday Night Live or Carlos Correa discussing how he decided to propose to his girlfriend immediately after the World Series had ended on the Jimmy Kimmel show. Justin Verlander’s wedding pics in Italy are nice, but I want to know about our guys.  It is time to get the Yankees back in the news. 

As always, Go Yankees!