- A trade! Late last week the Yankees sent RHP Jordan Foley to the Rockies for RHP Jefry Valdez, the team announced. “(Valdez is) a really loose, wiry 6-foot-1 with a good arm action. He has been 92-94 with an above-average curveball in my looks. I like him as a late-blooming relief candidate,” wrote Eric Longenhagen. Seems like the Yankees traded Foley for a two-years-younger version of Foley. Works for me. Foley is Rule 5 Draft eligible this offseason and Colorado didn’t even bother to add him to their 40-man roster before the protection deadline.
- The MLB.com crew listed one notable Rule 5 Draft eligible player for all 30 teams. 1B/3B Dermis Garcia got the nod for the Yankees. “(He) has massive raw power. The downside is that he doesn’t have much hittability or athleticism, so New York has begun to explore using him on the mound, where he has shown a mid-90s fastball,” says the write-up. It’s real hard for me to see Dermis sticking in MLB all next season. Hiding him a three-man bench all year won’t be easy.
- The Yankees have re-signed minor league free agent RHP Dallas Martinez, reports Matt Eddy. The 24-year-old has been intermittently injured and a deep sleeper the last few years. He’s thrown three innings above rookie ball for the Yankees, but last year they loaned him to the Mexican League, where he had a 3.66 ERA (4.73 FIP) in 91 innings. Not bad considering his experience and the fact the Mexican League is close to Triple-A in terms of competition level.
Arizona Fall League (stats are final)
- IF Thairo Estrada: 19 G, 19-for-80 (.238), 9 R, 2 2B, 7 RBI, 4 BB, 15 K, 1 CS, 1 HBP (.238/.282/.263)
- OF Estevan Florial: 21 G, 13-for-73 (.178), 10 R, 2 2B, 2 3B, 8 RBI, 12 BB, 29 K, 2 SB, 1 CS (.178/.294/.260)
- 1B Steven Sensley: 21 G, 15-for-76 (.197), 4 R, 3 2B, 1 3B, 9 RBI, 4 BB, 26 K, 1 CS, 2 HBP (.197/.256/.263)
- RHP Jordan Foley: 7 G, 7 GS, 19.2 IP, 20 H, 20 R, 20 ER, 19 BB, 20 K, 2 HR, 1 HB, 2 WP (9.15 ERA and 1.98 WHIP) — he was traded after the AzFL season ended
- RHP Hobie Harris: 9 G, 15 IP, 14 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 7 BB, 16 K, 1 HR, 2 WP (4.20 ERA and 1.40 WHIP)
- RHP Matt Wivinis: 11 G, 12 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 6 BB, 14 K, 1 HB, 1 WP (1.50 ERA and 1.00 WHIP)
- RHP Kyle Zurak: 9 G, 9.1 IP, 16 H, 15 R, 12 ER, 10 BB, 3 K, 3 HR, 3 WP (11.57 ERA and 2.79 WHIP)
Dominican Summer League
- IF Hanser Alberto: 33 G, 47-for-130 (.362), 14 R, 8 2B, 1 HR, 15 RBI, 10 BB, 12 K, 2 SB, 1 CS, 1 HBP (.361/.411/.446) — the Ronald Torreyes trade gives Alberto a better shot of being the Opening Day utility infielder
- IF Gio Urshela: 22 G, 19-for-82 (.232), 8 R, 8 2B, 1 HR, 9 RBI, 2 BB, 11 K (.232/.250/.366)
- RHP Albert Abreu: 5 G, 5 GS, 18 IP, 13 H, 7 R, 3 ER, 8 BB, 10 K, 1 HB, 2 WP (1.50 ERA and 1.17 WHIP) — I wonder how many more starts he’s scheduled to make down here … it’s probably not too many more
- LHP Nestor Cortes: 8 G, 8 GS, 42 IP, 26 H, 9 R, 8 ER, 10 BB, 45 K, 3 HR, 2 WP (1.71 ERA and 0.86 WHIP) — he’s up to 175.2 total innings this year … his previous career high was 126.2 innings last year
- RHP Carlos Espinal: 6 G, 8 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 2 K, 1 WP (3.38 ERA and 1.63 WHIP)
- RHP Raynel Espinal: 9 G, 12.1 IP, 10 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 9 K, 1 HB, 1 WP (2.19 ERA and 1.05 WHIP) — he’s a candidate to get selected (and returned) in the Rule 5 Draft
- RHP Joe Harvey: 4 G, 3.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K (0.00 ERA and 0.55 WHIP) — he was added to the 40-man roster last week and he hasn’t pitched since, which probably isn’t a coincidence
- RHP Adonis Rosa: 9 G, 15.2 IP, 10 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 7 BB, 12 K (1.72 ERA and 1.09 WHIP)
- LHP Anderson Severino: 1 G, 0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HB
Mexican Pacific League
- 1B Ryan McBroom: 28 G, 24-for-106 (.226), 8 R, 5 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 16 RBI, 10 BB, 28 K, 3 SB, 1 HBP (.226/.294/.321) — rough winter ball after hitting .302/.348/.458 (125 wRC+) with 15 homers in 121 games split between Double-A and Triple-A during the regular season
Venezuelan Winter League
- IF Angel Aguilar: 26 G, 22-for-73 (.301), 10 R, 5 2B, 3 HR, 14 RBI, 5 BB, 14 K, 4 SB, 1 CS (.301/.338/.493) — 23-year-old is having himself a nice little winter ball season
- C Francisco Diaz: 30 G, 26-for-89 (.292), 7 R, 1 2B, 4 RBI, 16 BB, 12 K, 2 HBP (.292/.407/.303) — funky stat line
- IF Wilkerman Garcia: 13 G, 11-for-39 (.282), 9 R, 2 2B, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 1 BB, 7 K, 1 CS (.282/.300/.410)
- C Jerry Seitz: 4 G, 1-for-9, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 5 K (.111/.182/.111)
- RHP Daniel Alvarez: 8 G, 11.1 IP, 11 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 12 K, 2 HR, 1 WP (3.18 ERA and 1.32 WHIP)
- RHP Alex Mejias: 1 G, 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K (0.00 ERA and 2.00 WHIP) — 22-year-old signed during the 2015-16 international signing period and hasn’t made it out of rookie ball yet
- RHP Anderson Munoz: 12 G, 15.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 7 BB, 15 K, 1 WP (1.72 ERA and 0.96 WHIP) — 20-year-old pitched (poorly) in the Gulf Coast League this past season, but he’s having a nice winter
The Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League (Puerto Rico) season is underway but there are no Yankees playing in the league right now, and there probably won’t be any at all when it’s all said and done.