There are eleven questions in this week’s mailbag. As always, the place to send your questions is RABmailbag (at) gmail (dot) com. Send ’em in and I’ll get to as many as I can.
Segundo asks: The Twins just sent Miguel Sano, an All Star last year to the minors. I was thinking maybe the Yankees should do the same with Gary Sanchez and have him work both on his offense and his defense down there. Maybe that will wake him up. Thoughts?
The Twins didn’t just send Sano to the minors, they send him all the way down to High Class-A. He was sent down there so he could work with the hitting instructors at the team’s Spring Training and minor league complex. Sano is hitting .230/.270/.405 (80 wRC+) with 40.5% strikeouts in 37 games around a hamstring injury this year. Sanchez has struggled this year, no doubt, but he hasn’t been Sano bad.
Anyway, even if the Yankees wanted to send Sanchez to the minors to work on things, they can’t. He’s out of minor league options. He was added to the 40-man roster during the 2013-14 offseason and used his three options in 2014, 2015, and 2016. Gary would have to clear waivers to go to the minors and there is zero chance that happens. Sanchez had a 31-game stretch in which hit .288/.394/.676 (186 wRC+) with eleven homers end late last month. It’s not like he’s been crap all year. The best way to get him going is writing his name in his lineup. He’s not snapping out of it on the bench.
Jonathan asks: Are we seeing Sabathia play his way back into HOF contention? It’s one thing to be a dominant power pitcher your career but he has to get extra kudos for reinventing himself and becoming nearly dominant again right?
I don’t know that CC Sabathia gets extra credit for reinventing himself, but the reinvention has helped him stick around and compile a bit more. Sabathia’s already had the big peak. Now it’s just about longevity and adding to the career totals. He should get to 250 wins (241 now) and 3,000 strikeouts (2,893 now) fairly soon, possibly by the end of the season, and those numbers may put him over the top. There are still lots of old school Hall of Fame voters who want to see those things. I’m not sure Sabathia is a Hall of Famer, but he does deserve serious consideration from the voting body. Everything he does from here on out can only help his case. I don’t think it can hurt him at this point.
Michael asks: Does CC get his number retired? Won a championship as ace of the staff (potentially with more rings), has generally been great outside of the ’13-’15 stretch, and has been one of the leaders of the team/a fan favorite.
I’m not sure Sabathia will have his number retired — maybe with another World Series ring or two? — but I think he’s firmly in Monument Park plaque territory at this point. If Paul O’Neill and Tino Martinez got plaques, Sabathia absolutely deserves a plaque. I suppose you could knock him for only winning one World Series while O’Neill and Tino each won four, but winning the World Series is a team accomplishment. An individual player being recognized in Monument Park shouldn’t depend on the team’s success. Sabathia is an easy Monument Park plaque guy for me. Not one doubt about it. Retiring No. 52 is a greater honor and I’m not sure he’s at that point.
Josh asks: Is it time for Yogi Berra to get an actual monument instead of the plaque? Do you think anyone else will ever get a monument? I realize they are running out of room in there, but Yogi kinda deserves it, no?
Yeah, I think Yogi deserves a monument. There are four monuments in Monument Park for players: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, and Mickey Mantle. (George Steinbrenner and Miller Huggins have monuments as well.) To me, Yogi is in that class of players. He’s an all-time great and an inner circle Hall of Famer. He deserves a monument. Gehrig’s monument was the first player monument and it was dedicated four years after his death. The Ruth, DiMaggio, and Mantle monuments were all dedicated within a year or so. Yogi passed away in September 2015. A monument is overdue. Rearrange Monument Park and get it in there already. Down the road, Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera are monument worthy Yankees to me.
Jim asks: Does Judge lead the league in strikes called and third strikes called? Sometimes he looks bewildered.
Going into last night’s game Aaron Judge ranked ninth in baseball in total called strikes (234). Cesar Hernandez (282), Mike Trout (265), and Matt Carpenter (261) were the top three. Brett Gardner was fourth (257). Judge had 30 called strike threes, tied with Yoan Moncada for second most in baseball behind Chris Taylor (32).
Taking strikes is one thing. Taking pitches out of the zone that are called strike is another. No hitter in baseball has had more pitches outside the zone called strikes than Judge this year. The list:
- Aaron Judge: 55
- Paul Goldschmidt: 53
- Justin Bour: 52
- Jose Ramirez: 46
- Alex Bregman: 45
Judge continues to get hosed on those low strikes down below the zone, those pitches that are strikes for normal sized hitters but not 6-foot-7 hitters. It seems to me he’s chirping at umpires a little more this season, though not a whole lot. Maybe he should snap at an umpire one day over a low strike. That might get their attention.
Michael asks: Hey Mike, I was wondering if you have a list of Yankees who are Rule V eligible this year?
Generally speaking, this year’s crop of new Rule 5 Draft eligible players are college players drafted in 2015, high school players drafted in 2014, and international free agents signed during the 2014-15 signing period. Here’s a not at all complete list of Yankees who will be Rule 5 Draft eligible after the season:
- Catchers: lol nope
- Infielders: Diego Castillo, Dermis Garcia, Kyle Holder, Hoy Jun Park, Brandon Wagner
- Outfielders: Estevan Florial
- Pitchers: Chance Adams, Cody Carroll, Freicer Perez, Josh Rogers, Justus Sheffield, Alex Vargas
I am not 100% certain Florial and Perez will be Rule 5 Draft eligible after the season because both signed late in the 2014-15 signing period, and that may’ve pushed their eligibility back a year. Adams, Carroll, and Sheffield are easy protection decisions and I’d bet on Holder getting added to the 40-man too. Guys like Park and Rogers are on the fence. I could see the Yankees getting out ahead of things and using them as trade chips this summer if they like them, but don’t 40-man roster like them.
David asks: Does the insurance policy on Ellsbury mean he won’t ever be released? The team would release him if he were a sunk cost, but he *might* be worth $15M/yr in insurance if they keep the roster spot open for him.
Not necessarily. The Yankees had insurance on Alex Rodriguez’s contract too, and they released him with a year and change to go anyway. I guess there comes a point where paying the insurance premium and tying up a roster spot isn’t worth getting reimbursed 75% of his salary should he land on the disabled list, which isn’t guaranteed. Ellsbury has another two years to go on his contract after this season and there’s really no place for him on the roster. Having him spend the entire season (to date) on the disabled list has been awfully convenient. Given the A-Rod precedent, we can’t rule out the Yankees releasing Ellsbury at some point. The insurance policy is not necessarily a saving grace.
Anonymous asks: One of the less mentioned trade partners is an old friend, do you think the A’s would part with one of Trevor Cahill, Sean Manaea, or Daniel Mengden?
I’m certain they’d trade Cahill, who is a one-year contract and has been on the disabled list a few times already. He’s been great when healthy, pitching to a 2.77 ERA (3.03 FIP) with very good strikeout (25.0%), walk (5.9%), and grounder (60.2%) rates in 48.2 innings. That walk rate is way out of line with the rest of his career. It’s been north of 10% the last few years. Cahill could be a lower cost depth pickup a la Jaime Garcia last season.
Mengden is one of my favorite pitchers to watch and both he and Manaea are younger guys with several years of control. Manaea’s an interesting one. How good is he really? He has a 3.49 ERA (4.42 FIP) this year. It was 4.37 ERA (4.10 FIP) last year. And yet, I feel like the asking price would be extremely high. That isn’t to say he would be a bad trade target. I’m just not sure what to make of him. Is he truly a difference-maker? Or he just a guy who stabilizes the rotation and gives you innings? He’s worth a deeper dive at some point should the A’s actually make him available.
Michael asks: What about Carlos Rodon as a SP target?
Rodon just returned from offseason shoulder surgery — he’s allowed six runs (four earned) on eight hits and five walks in ten innings in two starts — and I’m going to need to see more before endorsing him as a trade target. I just want to see whether his stuff bounced back and things like that. Rodon underwent an arthroscopic debridement procedure. They didn’t have to cut him open to repair his labrum or rotator cuff or anything like that, so that’s good.
Before the injury I thought Rodon was a real good trade target because he’s a lefty with a truly elite bat-missing slider and the ability to get grounders. The performance (and walk rate) has been up and down over the years, though the raw ability is there, so maybe he’s a change of scenery guy. For what it’s worth, Rodon’s fastball velocity in his first two starts back has been right in line with the last few years, which is encouraging. Let’s check back on him in a few weeks.
Ross asks: While I do not think the Yankees are trying to manipulate anybody’s service time clock, the amount of talent on the team could end up accidentally impacting a lot of guys. I was wondering, how many more days in the minors would Brandon Drury, Tommy Kahnle, Clint Frazier, Tyler Wade and Ronald Torreyes need to push their free agent clock back a season?
The Yankees keeping Gleyber Torres down as long as they did was so very obviously service time related. And that’s perfectly fine. Last year’s injury gave them a cover story and they smartly took advantage of the system. I don’t think the Yankees are playing the service time game with any of these other dudes. They’re all squeezed off the roster. Here are the numbers of days in the minors necessary to delay their free agency:
- Drury: 50 days (he’s been down 32 days already, so only 18 more to go)
- Frazier: 109 days (already been down 38 days)
- Kahnle: 31 days (already been down 10 days)
- Torreyes: 38 days (spent 13 days in Triple-A before being recalled)
- Wade: 97 days (already down 54 days)
Barring a sudden roster change, it sure looks like the Yankees are going to push Drury’s and Kahnle’s free agencies back one year. That’s not insignificant. Drury is a potential trade chip and that extra year of control could make a big difference in trade talks. Kahnle could still reemerge as a bullpen fixture and that extra year could come in handy down the line. Generally speaking though, I wouldn’t worry about service time with any of these guys. If they’re needed at the MLB level, call ’em up.
Josh asks: Wouldn’t you rather have Frazier instead of Hicks in the line up day to day with Gardner playing center?
My hot take for the week is swapping out Aaron Hicks for Clint Frazier would make the Yankees worse, and I’m a Frazier fan. He’s going to mash. But Hicks is hitting .243/.343/.434 (113 wRC+) with good center field defense. How well would Frazier have to hit to make up for the fairly significant defensive downgrade? A 130 wRC+ or thereabouts? There’s also the matter of playing soon-to-be 35-year-old Brett Gardner in center field on an everyday basis, which is a recipe for wearing him down. I’m a Frazier fan and I wish the Yankees had a way to get him into the lineup without an injury. Right now though, I think Hicksie’s all-around game helps the Yankees more than Clint’s bat-heavy game would.
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