There are 13 questions in this week’s mailbag. As always, send your mailbag questions to RABmailbag (at) gmail (dot) com and I’ll answer as many as I can each week.

Carlos asks: If Felix Hernandez and/or Clayton Kershaw became available at trade deadline, how much will they cost, and would you pull the trigger for either? (Or both!)

The Diamondbacks are going down in flames, so the Dodgers are back in the NL West race. That should end any Kershaw speculation, which was crazy to begin with. As for Felix, he’s just bad now. It pains me to say it, but he is. His last three years:

• 2016: 3.82 ERA (4.62 FIP) in 153.1 innings
• 2017: 4.36 ERA (5.02 FIP) in 86.2 innings
• 2018: 5.58 ERA (5.08 FIP) in 61.1 innings and counting

He’s 32, he’s got a ton of innings on his arm, and he’s owed the remainder of his $26.875M salary this year and $28.585M next year. Even if the Mariners eat money and turn this into a straight salary dump — and I highly doubt they’d salary dump the face of the franchise — I don’t think you can reasonably expect Felix to pitch at even a league average rate the rest of the season.

I do think Hernandez is smart enough and crafty enough to reinvent himself a la CC Sabathia. I am not interested in acquiring him and going through the on-the-job training though. The time to get Felix was like eight years ago. Now he’s on the decline and well past his prime. It sucks. He was so good back in the day. Hopefully he can reinvent himself and have a good second phase of his career. Right now, I don’t see him moving the needle for the Yankees at all.

David asks: Hi, I am wondering about the inherited runners allowed stat. That was one of the first advanced pitching stat that I recall seeing. However, I was looking around to see how the 2018 Yankees relievers were doing in it but I couldn’t find it on Baseball Reference or on FanGraphs. How are the Yankees relievers doing in that stat and is there another way to measure a reliever’s success?

This year 32% of inherited runners across MLB have come around to score. The league average usually sits in that 31% to 35% range each year. The Yankees have allowed 40% of inherited runners to score, the fifth worst rate in the league. Only the White Sox (49%), Rockies (43%), Royals (41%), and Rays (41%) have been worse. The best team at stranding inheriting runners? The Padres at 18%.

On an individual level, both Jonathan Holder (3-for-6) and David Robertson (5-for-10) have allowed half the runners they’ve inherited to score. Chad Green is at 38% (6-for-16) and Chasen Shreve is at 29% (2-for-7). The injured Adam Warren (1-for-1) and Tommy Kahnle (2-for-3) haven’t been able to strand runners. Neither Dellin Betances nor Aroldis Chapman has inherited a runner this year. Both have only been used to start innings. Neither has entered the game in the middle of an inning.

Here’s the interesting thing: The Yankees have the third fewest inherited runners in baseball this season. Their relievers have inherited only 47 runners. Only the Marlins (46) and Astros (45) have inherited fewer. The Cardinals have inherited 98! This is all Aaron Boone. He’s shown he prefers to have his relievers start the inning clean, which has led to a few earlier than expected hooks for the starter. Under Joe Girardi the last few years, the Yankees were right around middle of the pack in terms of the number of runners inherited.

The Yankees have by far the highest bullpen strikeout rate in baseball — they’re at 33.6% and the Brewers are second at 29.0% — and I suspect that, as the season progresses, the inherited runner strand rate will improve. Allowing 40% of inherited runners to score is a big number though. The Yankees have been bad at it so far this year. Will it last? I don’t think so. I do think it’s interesting they’ve had so few inherited runners in general though.

Lewis asks: It has been mentioned frequently that Ronald Torreyes is the Yankees 3rd catcher. Has he ever caught in a major league game? Do he ever hold bullpen sessions to maintain some basic skill level? If the unthinkable happens and Sanchez and Romine go down, I’d be concerned about Torreyes handling triple digit heat from Betances or Chapman, or diving sinkers from Sonny Gray. Seems like a disaster waiting to happen.

Emergency third catchers are always a disaster waiting to happen. They very rarely come into the play, fortunately. Torreyes has never caught a professional game, either in MLB or the minors, but the Yankees did have him catch some bullpen sessions in Spring Training. He did it last year too. I don’t know whether he still catches the occasional bullpen during the season to stay sharp, so to speak. Losing both catchers to injury is a disaster situation and, thankfully, it doesn’t happen often. If you have to plug in the emergency guy, so be it.

Louis asks: With so many 2018 prospects currently playing in the Bronx right now guys like Torres, Andujar, German, Frazier and Austin no longer have rookie or maybe “prospect status”. Are there any other guys besides Florial, Abreu, Sheffield that you can see possibly becoming top 100 list worthy this year, at least on mid-season reports?

Two immediately jump to mind: Luis Medina and Jonathan Loaisiga. Medina becoming a top 100 prospect is one of my bold predictions. His stuff is off the charts and he just needs to improve his location. As for Loaisiga, he continues to show three quality pitches and impressive control. He’s having success at Double-A now and guys performing well at that level with his stuff and control are usually top 100 prospects. That said, he is already 23 and he has an ugly injury history. That could keep him off the various top 100 lists. There’s an outside chance Clarke Schmidt can become a top 100 guy this year with a strong return from Tommy John surgery. That would be an aggressive ranking in my opinion.

Vincent asks: Let’s talk about Gleyber. Does his underlying performance indicators match up with his slash line? Can we continue to expect him to be this awesome?

Gleyber Torres is hitting .323/.385/.613 (167 wRC+) through 27 big league games, which is ridiculous. I don’t think even his biggest fans expected him to be this good this soon. If you’re into xwOBA and all that, he has a .423 expected wOBA and a .413 actual wOBA, so everything looks good there. Going into yesterday’s games there were 264 players with at least 100 plate appearances this season. Among those 264, Torres has the ….

• 90th highest hard contact rate (38.9%)
• 106th lowest soft contact rate (16.7%)
• 32nd lowest ground ball rate (32.4%)

… so he’s making better than average contact and getting the ball in the air. Do that and good things happen. Now, that said, I don’t believe Torres will run a 29.6% HR/FB rate all season because that is very hard to do. Only four players managed a HR/FB rate that high last year: Aaron Judge (35.6%), Giancarlo Stanton (34.3%), Domingo Santana (30.9%), and Joey Gallo (30.1%). Yeah. Very different hitters than Torres. In Yankee Stadium, I think Gleyber can settle in around 15% HR/FB (MLB average is 12.4%) and sock 25+ dingers in a full season.

There are two things I would like to see Torres improve as he gains experience. One, he pulls the ball a ton. His 50.0% pull rate is 23rd highest among the 264 players with 100+ plate appearances and 15th highest among right-handed hitters. And two, his chase rate. It’s at 37.2% right now, which is 42nd highest among those 264 players. Once Gleyber settles in and really gets his feet under him, I expect him to starting showing more discipline and using the entire field. Bottom line, aside from the HR/FB rate, there’s nothing in the underlying performance that screams fluke here. Torres is this damn good.

Kevin asks: With Cano’s suspension and Torres’ early play what do you think it would take for Torres to make the all star team as the backup to Altuve at 2B? It certainly seems with a strong next six weeks, he could pass the likes of Robertson, Merrifield, and Wendle but maybe they make the team as only reps from their teams. Moncada, Dozier and Schoop have the name or pedigree but I don’t know enough about their seasons.

Yeah, guys like Jed Lowrie (Athletics), Yoan Moncada (White Sox), Daniel Robertson (Rays), and Whit Merrifield (Royals) may end up being their team’s only All-Star, which would clog up the middle infield. On merit though, Torres could very well belong. He’s already third among AL second basemen in WAR and first in wRC+. Even if he slips a bit, it’s not crazy to think he could be one of the three most productive second basemen in the league come All-Star Game roster time.

One thing to keep in mind here is the fan voting. Could Torres get huge support like Judge last year and make the All-Star Game that way? It would be cool. Beating out Jose Altuve in the fan voting will be really, really difficult though. Most non-Astros fans will probably vote for Altuve. Assuming Altuve wins the fan voting, it’ll leave at most two spots for additional second baseman, and those spots could very well go to Lowrie and Moncada as token All-Stars. Cody Bellinger made the All-Star Game after a late-April debut last season. It can be done. It’s just a question of whether roster spots are needed to represent other teams.

James asks: If the Dodgers are out of it at the deadline, though that is a big if, what would it take to trade for Alex Wood? Secondly, would he be worth trading for?

Like I said earlier, the Dodgers won’t be out of it at the trade deadline. They’ve already climbed back into the race — well, the D’Backs have crashed back to the pack more than anything — and I don’t see them throwing in the towel. Wood has always made me nervous. He’s good for a disabled list stint or two each season and he has a long history of arm injuries. Also, his velocity has been doing this …

… which is another red flag. Wood has a 3.32 ERA (2.70 FIP) so far this season, and last year he had a 2.72 ERA (3.32 FIP), but the Dodgers gave him extra rest every single time out in the second half to keep him effective. He’s good. He’s also a high maintenance player with a scary injury history. The Dodgers aren’t going to trade him anyway. But, if they put him on the market, I’d look elsewhere before spending prospects on a pitcher as risky as Wood.

Dan asks: Instead of optioning Austin or trading Walker, why not option Torreyes, have Torres be the back up shortstop and Walker be the back up at 2nd and 3rd?

I don’t get the calls to demote Torreyes. Dude is a great utility guy. He can sit for a week then come off the bench, put five balls in the play, and handle himself defensively wherever. I don’t want Torreyes to be a starter — he has no power, never walks, and doesn’t steal bases, and that doesn’t play in an everyday role — but as the utility infielder, he is fantastic. The only thing Tyler Austin does is hit lefties — he does it very well — so Torreyes is a more practical option for a bench role. In a perfect world, the Yankees would dump the eighth reliever and go with an Austin Romine/Torreyes/Walker/Austin bench when Greg Bird returns. Since that won’t happen, Austin is the odd man out.

Brendan asks: Huge fan. I was wondering where you would rank the Yankees Triple-A lineup if they were a team in the major leagues. Thanks, I’ll hang up and read.

The RailRiders have had some ridiculous lineups the last few days thanks to rehab assignments and general depth. Here is the lineup they used Tuesday night with each player’s 2018 ZiPS projection:

1. SS Tyler Wade: .236/.306/.360
2. LF Clint Frazier: .243/.309/.454
3. 3B Brandon Drury: .250/.299/.405
4. DH Greg Bird: .240/.333/.480
5. 1B Adam Lind: .278/.340/.456
6. RF Billy McKinney: .239/.300/.399
7. C Kyle Higashioka: .241/.287/.435
8. CF Shane Robinson: .233/.285/.304
9. 2B Rey Navarro: .228/.282/.332 (Steamer projection because ZiPS is unavailable)

Plug that lineup and those numbers into the Baseball Musings Lineup Analysis tool and you get an average of 4.18 runs per game. That would’ve ranked 18th in MLB going into yesterday’s games. Among the teams averaging less than 4.18 runs per game this season are the first place Brewers (4.08), the Coors Field housed Rockies (3.92), the contending Diamondbacks (3.67), and the Mets (4.04). Quite a lineup they have down there in Scranton.

Josh asks: In thinking about Cano’s suspension I got to wondering what happens for luxury tax purposes for a suspended player. If, for example, the Yankees crushed up some steroids and mixed them into Ellsbury’s Wheaties (no, Yankees, don’t do this) would they free up a significant amount of cap space?

Yep, the salary the player forfeits during the suspension is subtracted from the team’s luxury tax payroll. Alex Rodriguez’s suspension in 2014 took the Yankees off the hook for his $27.5M luxury tax hit. (Well, actually less than that, because only the salary for game days is subtracted out. The team is still charged for off-days.) The Mariners are about $30M below the luxury tax threshold and they were never projected to go over, so Robinson Cano’s suspension doesn’t help them at all. If Jacoby Ellsbury were to get suspended, it would help the Yankees a ton, as screwed up as that sounds. They’d save significant luxury tax payroll space and they wouldn’t lose a player off their roster.

Bob asks: Any reason to believe Phil Hughes could get back in form and help the Yankees for the minor league minimum? I haven’t followed his career too closely the last few years, but his innings pitched are low, so I assume some injuries have been a factor the last few years.

Probably not. Hughes had two Thoracic Outlet Syndrome surgeries in recent years and having just one of those is pretty bad. He’s had two. He’s also going to be 32 next month and is reaching the point where you’d expect some age-related decline to kick in. Hughes has a 5.11 ERA (5.04 FIP) and a 14.4% strikeout rate in 280 innings since 2015. Yuck. If he’s willing to go to Triple-A, great. Stick him in the bullpen full-time and see what happens when he works one-inning stints. I’m not optimistic he can bounce back and contribute in a meaningful way at the big league level. Sucks.

Jaremy asks: At this point, can Tyler Austin fetch anything as a trade piece? Who has built more trade value between Tyler Austin and Austin Romine?

I don’t think either guy has much trade value. Austin has been pretty great in his platoon role, but, at the end of the day, right-handed platoon first basemen aren’t in high demand. Mark Reynolds hit .267/.332/.487 (104 wRC+) with 30 homers last season and could only get a minor league contract in April, after the season started. C.J. Cron was traded for a low level utility infielder prospect. Is Austin really worth more? I don’t think so. To me, Austin is far more valuable to the Yankees as a platoon bat and depth option than anything he could realistically fetch in a trade. Maybe he could be the third piece in a larger trade? That seems like the best case trade scenario.

Tom asks: Been many reports that Theo & the Cubs knew exactly what they were giving up with Gleyber & projected this kind of stardom. Isn’t this retroactive fudging to cut Theo some slack? I seem to remember him breaking out post-trade?

Both can be true. The Cubs knew they were trading a very good prospect, and Torres did raise his stock after the trade. Here are his Baseball America top 100 rankings over the years:

• 2015: Not ranked preseason (28th at midseason)
• 2016: 41st preseason (27th at midseason, one week before the trade)
• 2017: 5th preseason (3rd at midseason)
• 2018: 6th preseason

At the time of the trade Torres was a consensus top 30 prospect in the baseball after going into the season as a top 40-ish prospect. Then, after the season, he was a top ten prospect. Torres just kept getting better and better, and his stock was at its peak after he became the youngest MVP and batting champion in Arizona Fall League history in 2016.

The Cubs knew exactly what they were giving up in Torres. But, as Theo Epstein said after the trade, “if not now, when?” The Cubs were very good with a legitimate chance to win their first World Series in a century, but they needed bullpen help. Are you really going to let a prospect stand in the way of getting one of the best relievers on the planet in that case? No way. This is going to go down as the mother of all win-win trades.

Got a dozen questions in this week’s edition of the RAB mailbag. Send your questions to RABmailbag (at) gmail (dot) com and I’ll answer as many as I can stomach each week.

Dan asks: Can you foresee any scenario in which the Mets would deal deGrom to the Yankees, if the Mets are out of it this summer and the Yankees blow them away with a great offer?

The Mets started the season 11-1 and they’re now in fourth place in the NL East at 20-19 with a -19 run differential. They’re 3-10 in May and have been outscored 69-39. Womp womp. As always, I would bet the farm against a major Yankees-Mets trade. Even if the Mets were open to dealing Jacob deGrom, there would be enough interest that they’d be able to get a significant return without suffering the PR hit that comes with trading him to the Yankees.

deGrom turns 30 next month, and while the last few weeks have been rough — he hyper-extended his pitching elbow taking a swing (love the NL!) then was removed from a start after a 45-pitch first inning as a precaution — he has been as good as ever this season (1.83 ERA and 2.22 FIP) and he’s under team control through 2020. He’s also performed in New York and in the postseason …

… so if you care about such things, deGrom has already aced those tests. Truly, he would be the ideal pitching trade target for the Yankees. Power pitcher, track record of ace-caliber performance, and under control another few years. Hard to think of a more ideal trade target, isn’t it?

The whole Yankees-Mets thing is a very real obstacle, however. Teams do care about bad PR, and trading deGrom would come with enough bad PR as it is. Trading him to the Yankees too? Oy vey. It would have to be a deal the Mets couldn’t refuse, in which case I’m thinking Gleyber Torres as the center piece, not Clint Frazier and some pitching prospects. (The Mets don’t need outfielders anyway.) If the Mets do put deGrom on the market, the Yankees absolutely should pursue him. It just seems like too many other teams (Cubs, Dodgers, etc.) would be involved for the Mets to make a crosstown trade.

Brian asks: Looking ahead, are you at all concerned about the future roster construction re CF? Like you, I am optimistic about Hicksy, but there is a chance he tops out as a very good 4th outfielder. If that is the case, what is our plan moving forward for CF with Frazier/Stanton/Judge all corner outfielders? Are there any trade or FA targets that you can think of?

Concerned isn’t the right word, though the long-term future of center field is up in the air. Brett Gardner turns 35 in August and isn’t a realistic solution out there going forward. Even if Aaron Hicks snaps out of his current slump, he’ll be a free agent after next season anyway. Estevan Florial is too far away to plan around, and while Frazier and Aaron Judge could be fill-in options in center, I’m not sure I want either guy playing out there on an everyday basis.

Center field is a young man’s position. The only full-time center fielders age 30+ in baseball this season are Charlie Blackmon, Lorenzo Cain, Austin Jackson, Adam Jones, Leonys Martin, Tommy Pham, and A.J. Pollock. Pham, Martin, Pollock, and Gordon all turned 30 within the last six months too. The Yankees could, say, sign Pollock as a free agent after this season to play center field, but how long does he stay in center? The Yankees gave Johnny Damon a four-year deal to play center and he was in left full-time by the end of year two.

With the caveat that Florial could really break out and climb the ladder in a hurry, my guess is the next long-term center fielder is someone the Yankees will acquire in a trade. The Padres (Manuel Margot?) and Cardinals (Harrison Bader?) jump to mind as teams with MLB ready center field depth. This is a topic worth revisiting in a few months, but yes, center field is something the Yankees will have figure out sooner rather than later.

Greg asks: Just out of curiosity how long would Drury have to stay in AAA to delay his free agency for a year?

Fifty days in the minors pushes Brandon Drury’s free agency back from the 2021-22 offseason to the 2022-23 offseason. I wouldn’t worry about manipulating his service time at all. With an elite prospect like Torres, yes, absolutely take advantage of the system and get that extra year of control. (The Yankees did get that extra year with Gleyber.) For a dude like Drury, if he can help you win right now, get him on the roster and let him help you. I wouldn’t worry about four or five years down the line with him or most non-elite players.

Jeffrey asks: What’s the record for the most multiple home run games by players on a single team for 1 season? (Stanton has 3 already, Sanchez has 2, Judge has 2, Didi, and Austin so far, right?) What’s the record for the most players on a team to have multiple home run games in a season?

The Yankees already have nine (!) multi-homer games this season: Three by Giancarlo Stanton, two each by Gary Sanchez and Didi Gregorius, and one each by Tyler Austin and Hicks. Judge doesn’t have one yet. The White Sox and Orioles both have eight multi-homer games this year. The Nationals have six and are the only other team with more than five.

The single-season record for multi-homer games is 24 by the 1961 Yankees and 1966 Braves. Three teams have had 23 multi-homer games in a season (1996 Mariners, 1999 Rockies, 2010 Blue Jays). As best I can tell, the record for most individual players with a multi-homer game in a season is ten, done several times, most recently by the 2005 Braves. Could the 2018 Yankees break both records? Yeah, I think they could. Eleven different players with multi-homer games will be tougher to do than 25 multi-homer games, me thinks.

Michael asks: The Yankees have had to come from behind quite frequently and they’ve won these games often. But if this “win from behind” scenario continues over a full season, does it have a negative effect on the offense?

I don’t know if it has a negative effect on the offense. It could be mentally draining to have to come back day after day, though it’s not like the guys stop trying to score runs whenever they take the lead anyway. It goes without saying that having to come from behind game after game is not a sustainable strategy. Eventually the comebacks will start falling short. The Yankees have been able to get away with it these last few weeks, but at some point they have to start taking leads and playing from ahead, and I think they will. They’re too good not to.

James asks: The Yankees gave up essentially 18-20 years of team control of Fowler, Mateo, and Kaprielian for 3 postseasons of Sonny Gray. Barring a significant injury, Fowler & Mateo will be MLB players and Kaprielian was our best pitching prospect. If just 1 of those three is an average player, the A’s did well in that trade. Did Cashman finally make a bad trade?

Brian Cashman has made plenty of bad trades over the years. Run a team as long as he has and there will be screw ups along the way. They’re inevitable. As for the Sonny Gray trade, it is way too early to tell. He’s under control through the end of next year and the guys the A’s received have done basically nothing at the MLB level. Dustin Fowler was only called up a week ago, Jorge Mateo is currently hitting .206/.243/.331 (43 wRC+) in Triple-A, and James Kaprielian was recently shut down with a sore shoulder. If there’s one thing the Michael Pineda-Jesus Montero trade taught us, it’s that it takes years to evaluate a trade in which young players with multiple years of control are involved. The Gray trade might turn into a big fat L for the Yankees. It is way too early to say.

Paul asks: Periodically, in your analysis you come across a #thingtowatch. E.G. Holder’s pitch selection. Do you keep track of these? Can you give an update on all of your things to watch please?

Turns out I’ve used the #thingtowatch tag ten times total, all since the start of last season. Jonathan Holder’s pitch selection is most recent and he hasn’t pitched since the post, so we’re still waiting to see what happens. Here are brief updates on the previous nine #thingstowatch, listed chronologically:

• February 28th, 2017: Gardner started a Grapefruit League game in center while Hicks started in left. That did not continue.
• April 4th, 2017: Chasen Shreve’s velocity was up in his first 2017 appearance. It stayed up for much of the season before returning to normal.
• April 18th, 2017: Austin Romine was wearing out the opposite field. This has continued and is only getting more extreme.
• May 18th, 2017: Gregorius used an angry red face for Chase Headley’s emoji in a post-victory tweet. An unsolved mystery.
• October 13th, 2017: Would the Yankees attack the weak-throwing Brian McCann in the ALCS? Nope. They attempted one steal in the series and Judge was thrown out on a weird play.
• October 14th, 2017: How would Luis Severino’s fastball play against a great fastball hitting Astros team? Not good, apparently. Severino allowed four runs on five hits and six walks in 8.2 innings in the ALCS.
• April 6th, 2018: Severino didn’t throw his changeup much in his first two starts. He’s thrown it much more since.
• April 24th, 2018: Dellin Betances’ fastball spin rate was down. It is trending up, so that’s good, but it’s still down relative to where it was two years ago.
• April 30th, 2018: Gray threw more fastballs in his start against the Astros. He has continued throwing more fastballs in the two starts since.

And there you have it. I’m surprised how many things I labeled a #thingtowatch turned into legitimate trends, like Romine going the other way and Shreve’s velocity ticking up for half-a-season.

Joe asks: The other week you answered a fun hypothetical about different hitters and their relative value. What if we tried a similar exercise but with pitchers. 1. Pitcher that gives up exactly 1 run in each inning they pitch. 2. Pitcher that can only last one batter but always strikes that batter out. 3. Pitcher that never strikes out a batter but always yields batted ball contact of <90mph. Same idea, how would you rank these in order of value and would these pitchers make the cut on a team’s roster.

Pitcher 1 would be quite valuable. Yeah, he’d have a 9.00 ERA, but if you have a three-run lead after the seventh inning, put that pitcher in and the game’s over. Up five after the fifth? Put him in and the game’s over. Just make sure you stretch that dude out so he could throw four or five innings and you could use him to close out plenty of games.

Even though he’s limited to one batter, I think Pitcher 2 would be more valuable than Pitcher 3 because he could get you out of any jam. Bases loaded, two outs in a one-run game? Pitcher 2 comes in and that’s that. He’d be a great high-leverage weapon for one batter at a time. Getting weak contact is a wonderful thing, but no strikeouts means Pitcher 3 won’t be able to strand many runners on third with less than two outs. I’d rank them in that order: 1, 2, 3. And I think all three would have big league jobs.

Mads asks: During the 5th inning of the Yanks – Nats game, would it then have been completely insane for the Nats to use their closer? The forecast wasn’t great, and had they held a lead at that point, they would have gotten the win.

This one of those things that sounds great in theory but probably wouldn’t work so well in practice. Remember, the Yankees batted in the sixth inning the other night. The game was suspended after the top of the sixth. Had the Nationals used Sean Doolittle to preserve the one-run in the fifth, the Yankees still would’ve had a chance to tie the game in the sixth, presumably against a lesser reliever. (And if not for the long top of the fifth, the Yankees might’ve batted in the seventh too.) Yeah, this sounds like a good idea. It’s just really tough to predict the weather, even only a few minutes in advance.

Peter asks: How does the MLB deal with roster changes that normally occur with teams for suspended games? For example, if Greg Bird is on the MLB roster on June 18th when the remainder of the Nationals game is played and Tyler Austin (who started on the game) is in the minors, how is this handled? Will the Yankees play with only 24 players for the remainder of the game, as if Austin was substituted? Do we all just pretend Bird is Austin? Thanks for the insight, I love the blog.

Whoever’s on the 25-man roster the day the suspended game resumes is eligible to play. So, if Austin is in the Triple-A when the Yankees and Nationals resume the suspended game, the Yankees can sub any available player into Austin’s spot. That would presumably be Greg Bird, though who knows what the roster will look like in a few weeks. The only thing you can’t do is put a player back into the game who has already been removed. Masahiro Tanaka and Gio Gonzalez started the game and were removed for pinch-hitters, so they can’t re-enter the game. Between injuries and trades and whatnot, rosters can change quite in a bit in only a few weeks. Letting teams use whoever is on their roster the day the suspended game resumes is the only practical way to go about this.

Michael asks: Concerned about all this time off considering how well they were playing?

Not at all. This is basically an All-Star break, and even then the Yankees did play a few innings the other night. I can’t find where I read this, but after the double postponement the other night Aaron Boone told reporters the Yankees had guys throwing bullpens and hitting in the cage to stay sharp. Not worried about these four days throwing a wrench into things at all. The bullpen needed the breather and I’m sure some position positions were glad to get a few days to rest their legs too.

John asks: As we remember the 20^th anniversary of David Wells’ perfect game this week, wondering what is the rarest thing you have seen in person at a baseball game? What you would most want to see? For me, I have seen a player hit a home run in their first at bat, and seen two grand slams in the same half inning, but would love to see a no hitter.

Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of Wells’ perfect game, which makes me feel old. I was at Alex Rodriguez’s 500th home run game, which was pretty cool. I have seen a triple play in person too, specifically this one at Tropicana Field in 2011. I’d really love to attend a perfect game and a four-homer game one of these days. A no-hitter would be cool too. I’ve been to a few near no-hitters — I went to the May 2007 game when Chien-Ming Wang took a perfect game into the eighth against the Mariners — and I’m pretty sure I’ve never been to a three-homer game. (I feel like I would’ve remembered it if I did.) Those are my two bucket list items. A perfect game and a four-home game.

There are ten questions in the mailbag this week. Send all your questions to RABmailbag (at) gmail (dot) com and each week I’ll pick some I can actually answer.

Jerome asks: Should we take any stock in the Yankees remaining schedule? Especially at this point in the season? There’s a ton of baseball left but is it an advantage that the Yanks have beaten good teams during this streak and might have a softer remaining schedule compared to the teams they’ll be fighting with for playoff position? Is there a good resource to track remaining schedules across the league?

Do these wins against good teams in April and May mean the Yankees will beat whichever good team they face in a potential postseason matchup? Of course not. October is very far away. The Yankees winning three of four in Houston was pretty awesome. Does it mean they’ll go into Houston in the postseason and win three of four again? Nope. Regular season head-to-head performance rarely means something in October. (Unless it’s the Twins.)

Now, that said, the Yankees just aced what was probably their toughest part of their schedule. They went 17-2 — 17-2! — against the six best non-Yankees teams in the American League, basically. What’s a reasonable expectation for that stretch? Going 11-7 would’ve been cool. They went 17-2. That’s nuts. They banked those wins against the tough part of the schedule and they built confidence. Here’s the other thing:

• Combined opponent’s winning percentage of games played: .550
• Combined opponent’s winning percentage of games remaining: .480

That 70-point difference between opponents played and opponents remaining is tied with the Cubs for the largest in baseball. The Yankees have lots of games remaining with rebuilding teams, and you know what? Rebuilding teams are the teams you want to play later in the season, after they’ve been picked apart at the trade deadline and the players on the roster have had their souls crushed by the constant losing, and just want to get the season over with.

Three things are true. One, those wins against the Indians and Astros and Red Sox in May will mean nothing come October. Two, the Yankees have a much easier schedule going forward than what they’ve already played. And three, any team can beat any other team on any given night in this game. Having an easy schedule doesn’t guarantee future success. I sure as heck would rather play bad teams than good teams though.

James asks: What’s the likelihood of Cashman trading Luis Medina for a SP this summer? He has a win now team, so he’s probably going to aim for a frontline starter for the playoffs. I imagine Medina has to be high on other teams’ radar. Where does Medina rank on the untouchables list? Behind Torres, Sheffield & Florial?

Teams have started targeting ultra-talented teenaged prospects as headliners in trades in recent years. Most notably, the Padres landed then 17-year-old Fernando Tatis Jr. in the James Shields trade a few years ago, and Tatis has since blossomed into one of the top prospects in baseball. The Yankees acquired teenagers Juan Then (Nick Rumbelow trade) and Luis Gil (Jake Cave trade) in recent trades, and while they aren’t as highly regarded as Tatis, the idea is the same. Get the kid young before he breaks out and becomes a top prospect.

Medina, who turned 19 last week, has some of the best raw stuff in the minors, and he could be a top 100 prospect within a year. Because he’s so young and so much can wrong before he reaches the big leagues, I imagine Brian Cashman is very willing to part with Medina in a trade to net big league help. Would he trade him for a dude like Shields? I don’t think so. But I could see him as part of a deal for a guy like Michael Fulmer or Chris Archer, for sure. I don’t think you can make any pitcher that young untouchable. Look at Julio Urias. All the talent in the world, but catastrophic injuries happen. As with any other trade, you weigh the risk against the potential reward.

Brian asks: Where do the young international signees in the GCL live? Do the Yankees leave 16 year olds to find housing and live on their own?

The Yankees were considering building a dormitory at the Tampa complex a few years ago but I don’t think it ever happened. Teams do provide lodging for the rookie ball kids though. They set them up at a hotel or wherever. I know the Staten Island Yankees have (or had once upon a time) an arrangement with Wagner College, and players lived in the dorms during the summer. The Pulaski Yankees stay at the same local hotel year after year. In full season ball though, the players are on their own. (For a promoted or demoted player, the team has to provide lodging at the new level for up to three nights, I believe.) You’ll hear stories about five or six players sharing one house and things like that in full season ball. Gleyber Torres signed for $1.7M back in the day, so he stayed at a hotel in Scranton before being called up this year. Most minor leaguers can’t afford that.

Craig asks: Assuming (1) Ellsbury comes off the DL at some point and (2) Gardy, Hicks, Judge and Stanton are all healthy then, won’t the Yankees simply DFA Ellsbury? I just can’t see putting him on the roster over anyone else (Drury, Walker, Andujar, whomever) – the money is a sunk cost now.

This is not something worth worrying about right now. Jacoby Ellsbury is still a long ways away from returning to the Yankees, and by time he’s ready to be activated, who knows what the team’s needs will be. Remember when they were starting Jace Peterson and Shane Robinson in the outfield two weeks into the season? Hopefully it doesn’t come to that again, but you never know. The Yankees might need Ellsbury by time he’s ready to return.

Hypothetically though, if everyone is healthy and Ellsbury is ready to return, I’d bet on the Yankees squeezing him onto the roster rather than eating all that money and designating him for assignment. Figure Tyler Austin and Miguel Andujar go down when Greg Bird and Brandon Drury return, then once Ellsbury returns, you dump the eighth reliever. It doesn’t have to happen in that order, but those are the three roster spots most likely to change. Andujar’s, Austin’s, and the eighth reliever’s.

Teams are more willing to eat bad contracts to cut ties with players these days — the Yankees just did it with Alex Rodriguez two years ago — though Ellsbury still has two full years and $47M remaining on his contract after this season. That’s an awful lot. The Red Sox did release Pablo Sandoval with $50M remaining on his deal though, so it has been done before. I’d bet against Ellsbury being dumped this year, though I’m wrong all the time, so don’t listen to me.

Michael asks: Hey Mike, I’ve noticed the Yankees thus far are doing a lot better in 1 run games in 2018 compared to 2017. But I’m wondering if I’m the only one who feels this is a very misleading stat, particularly late in the game when say a closer who enters in a 3-0 game that ends in 3-2. Your team just won a 1 run game but that is in large part to the closer not doing a great job.

It is a misleading stat. The Yankees were trailing by one-run in the eighth inning Wednesday night, then they rallied against Craig Kimbrel and won by three runs. It doesn’t count as a one-run game but it was basically a one-run game. Here are the team’s one-run records in recent years:

• 2018: 7-3 (.700)
• 2017: 18-26 (.409)
• 2016: 24-12 (.667)

Would anyone trust the 2016 Yankees to win a one-run game over the 2017 Yankees? Of course not. There’s a lot of noise in one-run games — one play or one call can change everything — and they aren’t a great predictor of future success. Those wins count, they’re in the bank. They are not the indicator of mental toughness and grittiness broadcasters would lead you to believe. They’re coin flip games.

Austin asks: With the percentage of offspeed pitches thrown increasing every year, is the classic starter strategy of establishing the fastball the first time through the order dead?

For sure. Lots of pitchers these days come out throwing everything right in the very first inning. Starters aren’t in the game long these days, either due to pitch limits or the third time through the order penalty, so there’s not much sense in holding something back for the later innings. Break it all out, gets as many outs as possible, and let the bullpen handle the rest. That’s the mentality for most. There’s no reason to save something for the third time through the lineup because I’m probably not going to face the lineup a third time anyway.

Bill asks: They mentioned on the broadcast that Andujar that he uses Castro’s bats. Is that the best player to compare him too as well? Hit tool is obviously extremely high but will never take the step to the next level unless he develops more patience?

It is a good comparison offensively. Andujar has more power now than Starlin Castro did at the same age, but they have similar swing happy/contact heavy approaches. The thing with Starlin is that he has 5,000 plate appearances in the show and he hasn’t adjusted his approach at all. His chase rate is 34.7% this year and it’s 33.5% for his career. It’s sat in the 32% to 35% range pretty much his entire career. Castro still has the same approach he had as rookie. The hope is Andujar will improve his approach with experience — that’s always the hope with young hitters — but it’s no guarantee he will.

Mark asks: Instead of a starter, if the Indians drop out of contention what would it take to get Andrew Miller at the trade deadline? Any chance of signing Miller and Robertson for 2019, or do you think their age and cost makes it prohibitive? That might be the greatest bullpen of all time.

Gosh, the AL Central is so bad. Going into yesterday’s games the Indians were atop the division at 18-18 with a +8 run differential. The other four teams were all at least three games under .500. I think it’s only a matter of time until the Indians snap out of their early season funk and start to run away with the division. They’re still the best and most talented team in the AL Central in my opinion.

Now, if they do fall out of the race, I do think the Indians would be willing to trade Miller. They have a very pragmatic front office and they know they could fetch more in a trade than the draft pick they’d get after the season. It’s tough to come up with a trade benchmark here because relievers like Miller don’t get traded often. The Miller and Aroldis Chapman trades two years ago were special cases. Clint Frazier and Justus Sheffield for rental Miller? Might be worth it! I wouldn’t do it though.

As for signing Miller and re-signing David Robertson after the season, it could happen, though I would be surprised if the Yankees were cool with carrying three $12M+ relievers on the roster, two of whom will be in their mid-30s. I think it’d be one or the other, Miller or Robertson. Or maybe the Yankees pass on both and sign someone like Adam Ottavino in an effort to find the next Andrew Miller (the hot new reliever everyone wants) rather than old Andrew Miller.

Matt asks: If the two wild card teams are tied with the same record and the end of the season, would they play a 1 game playoff to determine who has home field advantage for their most important game of the year? And if so what stadium would the game be played at? Or would home field go automatically to the team with the better head-to-head or divisional record?

MLB only plays tiebreaker games to determine division titles (they’d play a tiebreaker game even when the loser is assured a wildcard spot) and wildcard spots in which one team goes to the postseason and the other team goes home. Home field advantage in any round is determined via the following:

1. Head-to-head winning percentage during the regular season.
2. Higher winning percentage in intradivision games.
3. Higher winning percentage in intraleague games.
4. Higher winning percentage in the last half of intraleague games.
5. Higher winning percentage in the last half plus one intraleague game, provided that such additional game was not between the two tied clubs. Continue to go back one intraleague game at a time until the tie has been broken.

We’re going to get a crazy three-team or four-team tiebreaker situation one of these years. Or at least I hope we do. I am all for maximum chaos.

Andrew asks: Mike, given the 20th anniversary of the 1998 team and how well the Yankees have played of late, here’s a fun one: how many of the current Yankee starters (both everyday players and starting pitchers) would you play over their 1998 positional counterparts?

That’s a fun question. The 2018 Yankees are ridiculously awesome and I love them. Any comparisons to the 1998 Yankees are way way way too premature. The 1998 Yankees were the best team I’ve ever seen. We can still compare them position by position though, can’t we? Let’s do that. Here are the playing time leaders at each position and my picks:

• Catcher: Gary Sanchez over Jorge Posada
• First Base: Tino Martinez over Neil Walker
• Second Base: Gleyber Torres over Chuck Knoblauch
• Shortstop: Derek Jeter over Didi Gregorius
• Third Base: Scott Brosius over Miguel Andujar
• Left Field: Brett Gardner over Chad Curtis
• Center Field: Bernie Williams over Aaron Hicks
• Right Field: Aaron Judge over Paul O’Neill
• Designated Hitter: Giancarlo Stanton over Darryl Strawberry

Tough calls at catcher and right field. Catcher’s a toss up, really. Posada hit .268/.350/.475 in 1998 and that seems totally doable for Sanchez. He could hit for even more power than that, really, plus he’s a better thrower and framer than Jorge was. O’Neill was great in 1998 (.317/.372/.510) but Judge is on another level. I think Gleyber can beat Knoblauch’s .265/.361/.405 line this season. So, after all that, I have five 2018 Yankees (Sanchez, Torres, Gardner, Judge, Stanton) and four 1998 Yankees (Martinez, Jeter, Brosius, Bernie) on the position player side.

As for the rotation, let’s rank the five starters in order of innings pitched. Here’s the 1998 vs. 2018 comparison:

• No. 1: Luis Severino over Andy Pettitte
• No. 2: David Cone over Masahiro Tanaka
• No. 3: David Wells over CC Sabathia
• No. 4: Sonny Gray over Hideki Irabu
• No. 5: Orlando Hernandez over Jordan Montgomery

I’d sign up for Severino having Pettitte’s career in a heartbeat, but Andy had a 4.24 ERA (4.28 FIP) in 1998, and I absolutely believe Severino can beat that this year. He might beat it by two runs! Everything else is pretty straightforward, I think. As for the closer, give me Mariano Rivera over Chapman, no questions asked, even with Chapman being so good this year. Mo over all.

There are ten questions in this week’s mailbag. One question for every Yankees win in the last eleven games. Things are pretty great right now. Anyway, send your questions to RABmailbag (at) gmail (dot) com and I’ll get to as many as I can each week.

Steve asks: With the caveat that the Dodgers are 1000 percent never trading Kershaw and will likely extend him, if their season continues to go downhill and they ever actually did make him available … what would a reasonable trade look like for Kershaw in July? And with that high a price (assuming a LOT), would you pull the trigger to potentially empty the farm for just ONE playoff run for the best pitcher in baseball?

This is definitely a hypothetical. Even if the Dodgers collapse, I can’t see them trading Clayton Kershaw. He is the face of the franchise and, frankly, he should be a Dodger for life. It’s not like they won’t be able to re-sign him when he opts out after the season, and it’s not like they can’t paper over the bad contract with more money down the line, once Kershaw really declines. The baseball fan in me wants to see Kershaw in Dodger blue for life.

Hypothetically though, we’re talking about a balance of power pitcher. Kershaw can change a division outlook all by himself. Even only a half season of him. Yeah, he might be declining — Ben Lindbergh wrote about Kershaw’s decline the other day — but Kershaw in decline is still a top ten pitcher. His postseason troubles mean nothing to me. Justin Verlander once had the “can’t handle the postseason!” label. Look how that turned out. Kershaw for one postseason run is awfully appealing to me.

Plenty of rental aces have been traded in recent years. David Price from the Tigers to the Blue Jays (three prospects, including two MLB ready pitchers). Johnny Cueto to the Royals (three prospects, including an MLB ready pitcher). Yu Darvish (three prospects, including an MLB ready hitter). None of those dudes are Kershaw, but it does give us a template: Three good prospects, at least one of whom is MLB ready. Justus Sheffield, Estevan Florial, Chance Adams? I’d do that in a heartbeat, which of course means it’s way off.

The Dodgers would (and should) push for Gleyber Torres. The Yankees would (and should) say no, and try to find another way. I could see a bidding war pushing the price higher — would the desperate as hell Nationals put Victor Robles on the table? — but like I said, this is all hypothetical. Andrew Friedman isn’t running the Rays anymore. He doesn’t have to trade his ace to keep his team viable in Los Angeles, no matter how much they lose.

Anonymous asks: The Yanks just left town to travel to Anaheim. I have often wondered just how this is accomplished. What are the details of this trip? How does the body of players, coaches, equipment, writers and broadcasters move from point A in the Bronx to point B in Southern California? What buses, planes and hotels are utilized? Do players rent their own vehicles, do they all use buses. Are rooms shared? How do they get their meals, etc.

Reporters travel on their own. I’m not sure about broadcasters. I think they still travel with the team. As for the players, they bus from the ballpark to the airport after the game, fly the team charter to whatever city, then bus over to the team hotel. The team runs buses from the hotel to the ballpark and back — there’s an early bus and a late bus before games — otherwise the players are on their own for transportation if they want to go out to dinner or whatever. Players get per diem on the road ($75 per day) and the home team has to provide a postgame spread. Hotel rooms are most definitely not shared. Been a while since that was the case. The Collective Bargaining Agreement includes standards for hotel quality and whatnot. MLB travel is a well-oiled machine. Two years ago Ryan Hatch interviewed Yankees’ traveling secretary Ben Tuliebitz about all this.

Mike asks (short version): What is the difference between their Short Season affiliate (Staten Island) and their Rookie League affiliates (GCL Yankees, Pulaski)? Are they considered the same development level and just in different leagues? Is one considered more advanced than another?

Staten Island is in the NY-Penn League and is a higher level. The caliber of competition is better than you’ll find in rookie ball, which is lowest level of affiliated baseball. Rookie ball is for kids fresh out of high school or the international market, basically. The NY-Penn League is, technically, an advanced short season league. They only play 60-something games each year, but the players are a little older (often college age) and more mature. Rookie ball is kinda like a high school All-Star Game. Advanced short season is more like a college All-Star Game. It’s one step up.

Brad asks (short version): What should the Yankees do with No. 21?

Just retire it at this point. Paul O’Neill has a plaque in Monument Park and, aside from LaTroy Hawkins, the Yankees have not issued No. 21 since O’Neill retired in 2001. Just retire it. Keeping it in limbo this long is just weird. I suppose the Yankees could give it to a talented young player — would anyone complain if they gave No. 21 to Gleyber Torres like they did when they gave No. 21 to Hawkins? — but it’s not worth the headache. It’s just a number. O’Neill’s been retired almost 20 years now. Make a decision. Either retire it or reissue it. I say retire it. I can’t believe this is still a thing.

Paul asks: Not that I want to move him, I think he can be a solid regular, but any chance the Dodgers would be interested in Tyler Wade at SS and what would we target in a trade?

The Dodgers have started Chris Taylor and Enrique Hernandez at shortstop since Corey Seager went down with Tommy John surgery. Taylor is a natural shortstop who had been playing center field in deference to Seager, and honestly, I think going with Taylor at shortstop and prospect Alex Verdugo in the outfield is a better option than pretty much any non-Manny Machado shortstop they could acquire in a trade. Taylor + Verdugo > Wade + Taylor.

Would the Dodgers be interested in Wade? Yeah, maybe. They need shortstop depth and Wade is versatile with a history of minor league performance — the Dodgers value minor league performance, that’s how they dug up Taylor in the first place — so he seems up their alley. Trading Wade for the pitcher version of Wade (Brock Stewart?) would be worthwhile for the Yankees. I don’t think the Dodgers are in a rush to trade for a shortstop yet though. I don’t see a trade fit between the two teams otherwise. Neither Neil Walker nor Brandon Drury would help cover for Seager.

John asks: With April and November weather a concern, and reluctance to adopt a 154 game schedule, why not add 4-5 doubleheaders to the schedule and shorten the length of the season by days? Day/night DHs would ensure no loss of gate revenue.

The Rays and Athletics had a scheduled single admission doubleheader at Tropicana Field last year because the Rays wanted to try it out. The players hated it — “It’s the dumbest thing I ever heard of in my life,” said then-Rays first baseman Logan Morrison to Pat Borzi — but ownership wanted to try it. The Rays had a throwback 1970s day, they relaxed their reentry policy so fans could leave the park and return, things like that.

I like the idea. Play one doubleheader a month and you can start the season a week later and avoid some of that nasty April weather. Schedule it so that every doubleheader is followed by an off-day the next day. Teams are worried about losing revenue though — two games in one day might not sell as well as two games in two days — and the players hate doubleheaders. It’s a good idea and a seemingly viable solution. Unfortunately no one really seems to be on board.

Tamir asks: Hypothetically, would any of these players make a major league roster: 1) A player who never gets on base but will always take 20 pitches to get out. 2) a player who hits 1 home run in every game but otherwise does not get on base. 3) a player who walks in half of their plate appearances but doesn’t get on base otherwise. How would you rank these three hypothetical players in value?

The player who is guaranteed to hit one homer per game and do nothing else would be a $50M a year player. Maybe more. With that player, you’re effectively starting every game with at least a 1-0 lead. If you’re the Yankees, you bat that dude directly behind Aaron Judge and 40-something percent of his homers are multi-run shots. That player would be insanely valuable.

The player who walks half the time and does nothing else would also be very valuable. Even with no power or baserunning or defense, a dude with a .500 OBP can really help an offense. The guy who never reaches base but has 20-pitch at-bats? Meh. Long at-bats are nice, but with bullpens such a huge part of the game nowadays, working the starter isn’t as valuable as he once was. Player 2, the homer run dude, would absolutely be on a roster. There’d be a massive bidding war for him. Player 3 would be on a roster as well. Player 1? I don’t think so. I’d rank them 2-3-1 in that order.

Brian asks: Anecdotally, it seems to me that the Yankees are swinging more frequently at 3-0 counts this year. Am I correct? Do you think this is being driven by the analytics department? Personally, I like it! What are your thoughts on this, Mike?

I wrote about this over the winter. The Yankees swung 3-0 much more often last season than they had from 2014-16, and they’re swinging 3-0 even more this year. The 3-0 swing rates:

• 2018: 16.0% (MLB average: 9.1%)
• 2017: 9.3% (MLB average: 9.4%)
• 2016: 5.6% (MLB average: 8.7%)
• 2015: 6.2% (MLB average: 6.9%)
• 2014: 6.9% (MLB average: 8.3%)

That is all swings, not just balls in play. That includes swings and misses, foul balls, the works. The intent is the important thing, not the outcome. Yes, the Yankees are swinging more frequently in 3-0 counts so far this season. But! This is a super small sample size. That 16.0% swing rate in 3-0 counts represents 12 swings in 75 plate appearances with a 3-0 count. I imagine that 16.0% number will come down as the season progresses.

I am all for turning it loose in 3-0 counts. Not every single time, obviously. It depends on the game situation. You don’t want the leadoff man in the ninth inning swinging 3-0 when you’re down a run. But taking a pitch every single time just because it’s 3-0? That’s not for me. If the pitcher is going to give you a get-me-over fastball, be ready for it and hammer it.

Michael asks: Aroldis Chapman. Where did all this movement come from??

This is the movement Michael — and a few others, I should note — is asking about:

That was an especially nasty pitch, but, generally speaking, Chapman isn’t doing anything differently this season aside from throwing a few more sliders. The movement on his pitches is right in line with previous years. Here’s his fastball horizontal movement on a game-by-game basis since 2016:

As the mix/max bars show, the horizontal movement on Chapman’s fastball can vary greatly within an appearance. As much as ten inches in some instances. We’re just used to watching him on the offset Yankee Stadium center field camera. YES had more of a true dead center camera during the Astros series and we got a much better look at the movement on everyone’s pitches. It’s dead center camera is great, isn’t it?

Chapman’s stuff was especially nasty in his first appearance of the Astros series. It was a good day. That wasn’t completely out of the ordinary for him though. We just don’t get to see him with a dead center camera often, so all that movement looked a) insane (and it is), and b) new . It’s not new though. It was regular old Chapman.

J.J. asks: I asked you this a few years ago, but curious for a 2018 version: Which team has the best pitcher/batter combo? Yankees (Severino/Judge)? Dodgers (Kershaw/Seager, pre-Tommy John)? Red Sox (Sale/Betts)?

There are some signs Kershaw is declining and Chris Sale hasn’t been as outrageously dominant this year as he was early last year. It works both ways though. Aaron Judge isn’t hitting home runs at the same pace as last year either. I’d rank the top five hitter/pitch combinations like so:

1. Nationals: Bryce Harper and Max Scherzer
2. Astros: Carlos Correa and Justin Verlander
3. Yankees: Aaron Judge and Luis Severino
4. Red Sox: Chris Sale and Mookie Betts
5. Dodgers: Clayton Kershaw and healthy Corey Seager

Jose Ramirez and Corey Kluber are in the conversation, ditto Kris Bryant and Jon Lester. I feel like I’m missing an obvious pairing, but those are the guys that jumped to mind. Homer-ish? Maybe! I will admit to being a little worried about Kershaw given his age and career workload, and at this point, I think Severino is just better than Sale. I’d certainly take Severino over Sale the next five years.

Ten questions in the mailbag this week. The mailbag email address is RABmailbag (at) gmail (dot) com. We gets tons of questions each week and I answer as many as I can. If yours wasn’t answered, don’t take it personally. Keep trying.

Michael asks: Early, I know, but Tyson Ross has looked as good as has since 2015. Injuries are the obvious red flag, but could there be a fit here? Could possibly be nice alternative to getting big prospect cost guy or perhaps a second SP if team is in need of two come July. Thanks!

Ross got roughed up last time out, which I’m willing to overlook it because he was pitching in Coors Field. Before that game, the just-turned 31-year-old slider specialist had a 2.81 ERA (3.27 FIP) in 25.2 innings with 23.5% strikeouts, 6.9% walks, and 50.7% ground balls. Ross took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the first place Diamondbacks two starts ago.

When he was at his best from 2013-15, Ross was a high strikeout/high ground ball pitcher, and he’s shown similar traits early this year. He hurt his shoulder in 2016 and later needed surgery to treat Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, which is very serious. Ross was terrible with the Rangers last year (7.71 ERA and 6.18 FIP in 49 innings), though that isn’t surprising given the injuries.

At this point, I think Ross is someone worth keeping an eye on more than an obvious trade target. Let’s see how he’s doing in June and July. If he’s still getting strikeouts and grounders, and is showing he can be effective as he gets further away from the injuries, then yeah, he could be a trade target. He’s cheap (one year, $1.75M) and it shouldn’t require a big prospect haul to get him. I’m intrigued. I want to see more before committing though.

Alex asks: At the plate, is Andujar currently similar to a rookie Cano? Does he project to improve similarly to Cano moving forward?

That’s a lot to put on the kid. Robinson Cano is (probably) going to the Hall of Fame. I wouldn’t project anyone, even a stud like Ronald Acuna or Gleyber Torres, to have Cano’s career. It’s not really fair to them. That said, there are some similarities between Cano as a prospect and Miguel Andujar now. They both made lots of contact and had power, and there were questions about their left side of the infield defense. (Cano started his career as a shortstop.)

There are three key differences between Cano and Andujar. One, Andujar is a right-handed hitter and Cano is a left-handed hitter, and being at the platoon advantage more often is not nothing. Two, Robbie’s bat-to-ball skills even back then were truly excellent. Andujar’s contact ability to really good. Cano was on another level though. And three, Cano’s swing is picture perfect. Controlled, low effort, direct to the ball. Andujar has a much more aggressive hack. It works for him, but I’d always bet on a Cano swing over an Andujar swing. I like Andujar and think he’ll be really good. Squint your eyes and there are some similarities to Cano. I wouldn’t expect him to develop the same way though.

Jonathan asks: When a player makes a spot start at a much higher level like Alex Vargas did for Trenton, what is the rationale behind that? Couldn’t that mess up his development?

Nah, not one start. The 20-year-old Vargas, who I ranked as the 30th best prospect in the system, made a spot start for Double-A Trenton last week in place of the injured Domingo Acevedo (blister). Vargas was in Extended Spring Training, he came up for the spot start (4.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K), then went back to Extended Spring Training the next day. I expect him to join the Low-A Charleston rotation fairly soon. Probably before the end of May.

These decisions are based on two things. One, who’s available to start that day? That’s kinda important. They play games in Extended Spring Training — they travel and everything — and pitchers are on a schedule. Vargas lined up to pitch the day Trenton needed a starter. And two, who can handle it? Which pitcher could go up to Double-A, potentially lose a game, and not have his confidence destroyed? The Yankees deemed Vargas capable of such an assignment. One start is no biggie. Sending him there full-time could be a problem. He’s not ready for an extended look there at this point in his development.

Mike asks: So, what’s the deal with A-Rod and Monument Park?

I think Alex Rodriguez will get a spot in Monument Park … eventually. Might not be anytime soon though. Remember, the Yankees didn’t give Paul O’Neill a plaque until 2014. He retired in 2001. The off-the-field stuff is a legitimate obstacle for A-Rod. He sued the team during his suspension appeal in 2014! That’s why I think it’ll take some time for things to blow over. A-Rod does still work for the Yankees as a special advisor, so the bridge hasn’t been completely burned. He won two MVPs, spent 12 years in pinstripes, won a World Series, and was a major factor in that World Series run. A-Rod is clearly Monument Park worthy for me. I think it’ll be a while before he actually gets a plaque (or No. 13 is retired!) though. The Yankees don’t seem to be in a rush to recognize Alex in any way.

Dennis asks: What would it take to acquire Baltimore’s Competitive Balance draft pick? Nestor Cortes enough? Have any of these picks been traded before?

Competitive Balance Lottery Picks, the extra draft picks given to small market teams, are the only draft picks eligible to be traded. The O’s have the second pick in Competitive Balance Round A, which is the 37th overall selection. Usually those picks are included as the second or third piece in a larger trade. They’ve been traded straight up twice:

• 2015: Braves trade 75th overall pick to Diamondbacks for outfield prospect Victor Reyes (ranked 22nd best prospect in the system by Baseball America).
• 2014: Marlins trade 39th overall pick to Pirates for middle reliever Bryan Morris.

Dennis sent his question in before Cortes was returned to the Yankees as a Rule 5 Draft pick. Based on the Morris trade, could the Yankees get that 37th pick from the O’s for Jonathan Holder? Maybe they’ll take back Cortes. The draft pick is nice. The additional bonus pool money is the real prize. That allows you to spend more freely, and be in better position to sign elite talent that falls.

I should note the Orioles have a history of trading their competitive balance picks. They traded it in 2014 (Bud Norris trade), 2015 (attached to Ryan Webb to unload contract), and 2016 (attached to Brian Matusz to unload contract). I guess the O’s don’t like spending to add amateur talent. Maybe the Yankees and O’s could get together for a big mid-range prospects for competitive balance pick and international bonus money deal this summer.

Mike asks: If Gleyber Torres is still on the roster come the double header on June 4th, is he eligible to play in those games being that he wasn’t on roster at the time that game would’ve actually taken place?

Yep, absolutely eligible to play. It doesn’t matter who was on the roster the day the game was postponed. Anyone can play in the makeup game. If the game had been rescheduled for September, all the call-ups would’ve been eligible to play too. It’d be pretty much impossible to force teams to play the makeup game with the roster they had the day of the postponement. Trades and injuries happen.

Matt asks: With the OF depth remaining pretty thin due to injuries and Wade having been optioned out, do you see him getting time in the OF at AAA, or will it strictly be SS/2B/3B? With Torres up, Andujar hot, Drury on the verge of starting a rehab assignment, and Torreyes pretty firmly entrenched as the utility infielder, Wade’s best path forward may be as a supersub.

Yes, definitely. Tyler Wade can play the infield. We know that much. Giving him more time in the outfield to increase his versatility only makes sense. It helps the Yankees and it helps Wade, who doesn’t have a clear path to playing time with the Yankees at all. Getting more comfortable in the outfield and becoming a versatile supersub may be his only chance to stick with the Yankees long-term. I think he’ll see time in the outfield with Triple-A Scranton for sure, possibly once Thairo Estrada joins the team and they have another infielder available. The RailRiders’ roster is kinda thin at the moment.

Alessandro asks: Watching the Yankees position player core play this week has got me thinking. Can you see a scenario where the Yankees pass on both Bryce and Machado and focus on the FA pitching (Corbin and others)?

Oh yes, absolutely. I’m not convinced the Yankees will spend huge in free agency this coming offseason, and if they don’t, pitching should be the priority over another bat. Don’t get me wrong, Manny Machado and Bryce Harper are incredible and I’d take them on my team any day of the week. But if Hal Steinbrenner sticks to his “you don’t need a $200M payroll to win the World Series” credo, then pitching should be upgraded before the offense. Let’s worry about this after the season. The Yankees could very well end up acquiring a cheap impact pitcher at the deadline, making rotation help less of a priority come wintertime.

Marc asks (short version): Does Jonathan Loaisiga qualify for a fourth option?

Loaisiga was added to the 40-man roster over the winter and this season is his first minor league option year. He has two more remaining, presumably for 2019 and 2020. Some players do qualify for a fourth option year, however. If a player burns his three options years within the first five years of his career, he gets a fourth option. That would’ve applied to Joba Chamberlain had he gone up and down back down back in the day.

There’s also an injury component. Here’s the fourth option injury criteria from an old Keith Law article that appears to have been scrubbed from the internet:

“A player who has missed one or more seasons to injury – meaning an entire season, or enough time to accrue fewer than 90 days on an active roster – may get a fourth option if, exclusive of those injury-shortened years, he has fewer than five full seasons in pro ball.

Seasons spent entirely in short-season leagues (the New-York Penn, Northwest, Pioneer, Appalachian, Gulf Coast, and Arizona Rookie Leagues, as well as the Dominican and Venezuelan Summer Leagues) don’t count as seasons for the purposes of a fourth option.”

None of that applies to Loaisiga. He’s had plenty of injuries, but he hasn’t been on the 40-man roster for any of them. Losing most of 2016 and part of 2017 to Tommy John surgery doesn’t count towards a fourth option because he wasn’t on the 40-man. Otherwise every minor leaguer who blows out his elbow gets a fourth option, and that’s not the case.

Now, if Loaisiga were to get hurt again and miss the rest of this season, he would qualify for the fourth option. He’s on the 40-man, he’s in a full season league, and he would spend fewer than 90 days on the active roster. That triggers the fourth option. There are some other weird fourth option rules, so I suppose Loaisiga could qualify that way. His past injuries won’t net the fourth option though. He wasn’t on the 40-man for any of them.

Michael asks: This might sound like a weird thing to say, but shouldn’t the Yankees move Gardner down in the lineup? His on-base skills are good, but his best-case net production is maybe a 115 wRC+, and shouldn’t we want more of those at-bats to go to players like Stanton, Judge, Sanchez, Didi, Hicks – someone who will hit better in the aggregate?

It’s something to consider, for sure. Gardner’s hitting .230/.358/.299 (92 wRC+) in the early going, and I suspect that in a few weeks, he’ll be back in that familiar .260/.350/.400 range. He is 34 though, and you never really know when the decline is coming. Aaron Hicks, the obvious leadoff hitter alternative, is hitting .256/.400/.436 (135 wRC+) and it’s not at all crazy to think he’ll out-hit — or at least out-OBP — Gardner the rest of the way. Gardner is a real pain in the butt at the plate. He works the count and fouls off a lot of pitches, but you know what? So does Hicks! I don’t think a lineup change is anywhere close to imminent. Things are going pretty well right now. But if we get into the summer months and it’s becoming increasingly clear Hicks is the better leadoff option, yeah, a change could be in order.

Got a dozen questions in this week’s mailbag. It’s nice to have actual baseball to mailbag about again rather than offseason hypotheticals. Anyway, RABmailbag (at) gmail (dot) com is where you can send your questions each week. I’ll get to as many as I can.

Brian asks: Assuming the Giants continue to struggle, I would love the Yankees to go after Bumgarner. The Giants are also void of young talent so it may be a match. What do you think it would take prospect wise? I know “your trade sucks,” but is Clint, Sheffield and Chance Adams anywhere in the ballpark? Thanks Mike!

In the past I would’ve said forget it, there’s no chance the Giants will trade their franchise pitcher, but the Tigers did trade Justin Verlander last year, so who knows? If the Giants do continue to sink in the standings and decide to make Madison Bumgarner available to kick start a rebuild, man he’s someone you go all out to acquire. He’s great, he’s shown he can carry a team in the postseason, and you’d get him next year as well ($12M option).

Keep in mind that Bumgarner’s injuries this year and last were flukes. He fell off a dirt bike and hurt his shoulder last year. This year he was hit in the hand by a comebacker. Stupid stuff. Bumgarner is still only 28 and he threw 200+ innings every year 2011-16 before the dirt bike and the hand. And like I said, he’s great and he’s proven he can be the ace of a championship caliber team. I’d want the Yankees to go hard after Bumgarner. No questions asked.

I’d trade Clint Frazier, Justus Sheffield, and Chance Adams for Bumgarner in a cocaine heartbeat, which means it’s safe to assume the Giants wouldn’t do it. I don’t think they’d be wrong to ask for Gleyber Torres. Maybe there’s a Bumgarner plus Joe Panik deal to be made? That would make trading Torres easier to swallow. Going into a short postseason series with Bumgarner and Luis Severino atop the rotation would be pretty rad.

Asher asks: At what point is Giancarlo’s new closed stance going to be “blamed?”

Not for a while. We have to cycle through all the low hanging fruit first. He can’t handle New York, he doesn’t like the cold, he’s adjusting to a new team and a new situation, blah blah blah. Ultimately, it boils down to this: Giancarlo Stanton is a streaky hitter and Yankees fans have no history with him, so we’ve never seen him go through this and come out the other side okay. If Aaron Judge were to go cold for a few weeks, it’d suck, but we went through it last year and we know Judge can snap out of it. There’s no such history with Stanton. Everyone’s looking for explanation and it may simply be that he’s a streak hitter in a bad streak.

Sean asks: Tyler Wade is the 2018 Rob Refsnyder. Change my mind.

Wade is a much better defender, much better runner, more versatile, and as a left-handed batter, he’ll be at the platoon advantage more often. Last season Wade hit .310/.382/.460 (136 wRC+) as a 22-year-old at Triple-A. When Refsnyder was 22, he hit .293/.413/.413 (144 wRC+) split between Low-A and High-A. Wade has stunk so far this season. No doubt about it. And he might stink forever. It’s possible. His glove and legs give separate him from Refsnyder though. When Refsnyder doesn’t hit, he’s useless. When Wade doesn’t hit, he can still contribute with his defense and baserunning.

Rich asks: I know there are injury concerns and of course the fact that the Mets & Yankees don’t usually make trades. With that said, does Zack Wheeler make any sense for the Yankees to target given that he doesn’t seem to have a clear path to a rotation spot?

Jason Vargas is out with a hand injury at the moment, clearing a rotation spot for Wheeler, who’s made one great start (7 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K vs. Marlins) and one so-so start (6 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K vs. Nationals). Last season he struggled in 17 starts, throwing 86.1 innings with a 5.21 ERA (5.03 FIP). Wheeler made some mechanical tweaks in Spring Training and his stuff looks pretty good so far.

The concern with Wheeler, who turns 28 next month, is injuries. He missed the entire 2015 and 2016 seasons with Tommy John surgery and subsequent setbacks, and last season he missed time with biceps tendinitis and a stress reaction in his arm. In an effort to stay healthy, Wheeler injected hormones into his stomach over the winter. Egads.

I’d absolutely take Wheeler as a sixth starter over Domingo German and the presently injured Luis Cessa. He’d be a nice insurance policy with upside, but also lots of risk. (That’s how the Mets see him.) The Yankees and Mets aren’t going to make a major trade, so this is all hypothetical. The Mets need a catcher and the Yankees don’t really have one to give — Austin Romine or Kyle Higashioka won’t be nearly enough for Wheeler — and I doubt the Mets will take prospects for a viable big league starter when they’re in contention. Not sure there’s a trade fit for the two teams.

John asks: People are noticing slumps from Wade, Andujar and Stanton not to mention the bullpen. But the one that most confuses me is Neil Walker. No one seems to be talking about it. He’s been so consistent over the past 5 years and its not like hes a huge guy with complex hitting mechanics. What is wrong and why is no one talking about Neil Walker? He is the one who is supposed to add length to the lineup. If he hits his standard 105-110 wRC, the lineup would look very different.

It’s been 17 games. I know that’s not the answer everyone wants to hear, but it’s been 17 games. Walker is hitting .179/.264/.214 (25 wRC+) right now and he was hitting .200/.284/.292 (58 wRC+) through his first 17 games last season. Heck, he hit .195/.273/.310 (55 wRC+) last April. I’ve seen people comparing Walker to Stephen Drew, but come on. Drew was coming off a .162/.237/.299 (45 wRC+) line in 2014 when the Yankees signed him for 2015. Walker hit .265/.362/.439 (114 wRC+) last year. The track record is very good. Give Walker some time and he’ll figure it out. If he doesn’t, then the Yankees will take action.

Bill asks: Is it my imagination or do the Red Sox pitchers hit Yankee batters way more than Yankees hit the Red Sox? It seems like the Sox have a long history of head hunters while the Yankees are usually more reserved.

Red Sox pitchers have hit Yankees batters more than Yankees pitchers have hit Red Sox batters over the last several years. The hit batsmen numbers quick:

• Since 2000: Red Sox 183, Yankees 139
• Since 2005: Red Sox 122, Yankees 104
• Since 2010: Red Sox 75, Yankees 60

The Yankees are 174-158 against the Red Sox since 2000, 126-118 since 2005, and 77-75 since 2010, so lagging in the hit batsmen department means a whole bunch of nothing. Beanball wars aren’t my thing. They hurt the team more than like four seconds of blood lust satisfaction feels good.

George asks: I’ve read several articles lately stating that Kershaw was a sure first ballot HOFer, even if he never throws another pitch. When 300 wins used to be the “automatic” entry into the Hall, and CK hasn’t even PITCHED in 300 games yet, do you agree?

Clayton Kershaw is short on longevity for sure. Hall of Famers tend to have high peaks and pitch for a long time. Sandy Koufax is a notable exception, but generally speaking, you need to have a great peak and pitch a long time to make the Hall of Fame. Kershaw absolutely has a Hall of Fame peak. He’s done the hard part, the “be the best pitcher in baseball for some number of years” part. I think if he retired today, Kershaw would get voted in, though maybe not on the first ballot. The peak is simply too great to ignore. (He has a 2.00 ERA in his last 197 starts!) If Kershaw hangs around a few more years and gets to 200 wins (he’s 145-66 at the moment), he’s a lock. At some point the Hall of Fame criteria will have to change. Getting to 300 wins isn’t all that doable anymore.

Brian asks: Andujar for Mike Soroka from the Braves. Braves could use a young talented 3B, Yankees a young talented 2/3 starter. Soroka has little wear/tear and is touching 97 now (Western Canadian hockey player), and excellent command and control. Both are 55/60 FV and both teams trading from surplus. Maybe a few low A balancing items to firm it up.

The framework definitely makes sense. The Braves have more pitching than they know what to do with, and flipping some arms for bats is going to happen at some point. Third base is wide open in Atlanta — I mean, they just signed Jose Bautista to play third, good grief — and Miguel Andujar would be able to step right into the lineup as well as be a long-term fit.

Soroka, who MLB.com ranks as the 31st best prospect in baseball, had a 2.75 ERA (3.19 FIP) in 153.2 Double-A innings last season, and he’s started well in Triple-A this year. He might not be MLB ready, but he’s close. Here’s a piece of MLB.com’s scouting report:

Soroka’s pitchability combined with his stuff gives him exciting potential. He throws his fastball in the 92-95 mph range, sitting 93-94 mph, and he does so with heavy sink that produces ground-ball outs. His breaking ball has really improved to complement the sinker and he changes the shape and depth to it, with it coming as an upper-80s slider at times and a mid-80s power curve at others. He has feel for a changeup as well, and he can throw any of his pitches for strikes at any point in the count.

Soroka is ready to knock on the big league door while spending nearly all of the 2018 season at age 20. His size, mound presence, feel for the strike zone and stuff might give him the highest floor of any pitching prospect in the system, with a long career as a No. 3 type innings-eater awaiting.

I’m a big Andujar fan, you know that if you’ve been reading RAB long enough, and I see him as a potential +3 WAR or +4 WAR player. Soroka projects as a +3 WAR or +4 WAR pitcher. Of course, pitchers carry more risk than position players, so that’s something that would have to be considered.

The Yankees have some third base depth in Brandon Drury and Gleyber Torres while the Braves are loaded with arms. Each team would be trading from a position of depth to address a weakness. And maybe it’s not Andujar for Soroka. Maybe it’s Andujar for Max Fried, or Andujar for Luiz Gohara, or Andujar for Ian Anderson. It could work though. There’s a natural fit.

Asher asks: What impact, if any, do you think the new coaching staff has on the fact that their defense has been quite bad here in the early going?

Eh, hard to say this early. Sloppy defense doesn’t reflect well on the coaching staff. Never does. I don’t think we can start assigning blame at this point of the season though. Brett Gardner airmailed a cutoff man last week and Didi Gregorius threw away a fairly routine 6-3 ground out earlier this week, and those two are as reliable defensively as anyone. Is that on the coaching staff? Or just random baseball stuff? The Yankees are holding fielding practice this afternoon because the defense has been so sloppy, so the coaching staff is trying to get things straightened out.

Paul asks: With Andujar heating up, do you think Gleyber will be spending more time at 2B? How do you think he’ll be used if and when he gets called up?

I don’t really get why Torres is spending so much time at third base lately — he’s started his last seven games at the hot corner now — but the Yankees have their reasons. They’re probably comfortable with Torres at second base and want him ready to step in at third should Andujar get hurt before Drury returns. I have to think he’ll get some more time at second base fairly soon, and whenever he does come up, second base seems like the obvious place to play him. Andujar is starting to come around at the plate and Drury is taking batting practice, so he can’t be that far away. I’m very confident that, with enough prep time, Torres will be able to play any of the non-first base infield positions. He’s a good athlete and a smart player. It’s just a matter of finding what works best for the roster, not necessarily what works best for Gleyber, because everything is going to work for him.

Michael asks: On Monday night during the late inning defensive replacements, Boone opted to have Torreyes shift to short and Wade play second. Is that the stronger defensive alignment?

I don’t think so. Wade is really good defensively. That isn’t to say Ronald Torreyes is bad. It’s just that Wade is better and he should play the more difficult position. This isn’t like Brendan Ryan playing first while Derek Jeter plays shortstop (that happened!), but it doesn’t seem like the optimal defensive alignment. In one individual game, it might not matter at all. Over the full 162-game season, I wouldn’t advise Torreyes at short and Wade at second.

Vincent asks: Hypothetical: if Tyler Austin were sent down to the minors before he served his suspension, how do the rules address it?

He’d have to serve it whenever he comes back to the big leagues. There’s no real way to game the system and avoid the suspension, or minimize the impact. At some point Austin will have to serve the suspension, forfeit however many days salary, and the Yankees will have to play shorthanded.

Got a dozen questions in this week’s mailbag. Send any questions or comments to RABmailbag (at) gmail (dot) com and I’ll get to as many as I can each week.

Brent asks (short version): The Phillies just signed Kingery. Which leads to my question. Do you think they would make Cesar Hernandez available? I feel like he is a perfect fit (besides that we have Gleyber). He is a high average high on base guy that I think would be great in the front of the lineup?

I am a Cesar Hernandez fan. He’s a pain in the butt and I mean that in a good way. Hernandez grinds out at-bats, makes lots of contact, and a good runner. Plus he’s a switch-hitter and a good defensive second baseman. He was hitting .300/.440/.500 (162 wRC+) going into last night’s game, and while that’s not going last, the 27-year-old Hernandez hit .294/.372/.406 (109 wRC+) in nearly 1,200 plate appearances from 2016-17. That’ll play.

Here’s our offseason Scouting The Market post on Hernandez. I’ll never be opposed to bringing in a quality middle infielder, even with the Yankees having several promising young infielders either at the MLB level or knocking on the door. Get talent, sort it out later. Hernandez won’t be a free agent until after 2020 and the Phillies locked up Scott Kingery, a natural second baseman, before Opening Day. I’m sure Hernandez is available.

Maybe the Jean Segura trade — the trade that sent him from the Brewers to the Diamondbacks with three years of control — is a trade package benchmark? The Brewers got a depth starter (Chase Anderson) and a good lower level prospect (Isan Diaz) out of that, though they also took back a couple million bucks worth of Aaron Hill. Chance Adams and Albert Abreu? I dunno. Hernandez won’t come free just because the Phillies have Kingery. They’ll want quality in return.

Eric asks: Before the shoulder injury last year Judge hit .329/.448/.691. This year he’s hitting .348/.474/.587. Is this how non-injured Aaron Judge hits? That makes him one of, if not the best hitter in baseball, right?

Man, it would be amazing if this is healthy Aaron Judge’s true talent level. It seems impossible that someone could truly be this good, but hey, why not? Frank Thomas, another massive human, hit .334/.455/.631 (177 wRC+) from 1993-97, his age 25-29 seasons. It’s been done before. Why can’t Judge do it now? He’s incredibly disciplined, he hits to all fields, and he’s shown throughout his career he can make adjustments. Maybe Judge really is this good when he’s healthy. I know this much: The normal rules of baseball do not apply to Judge. We have to stop projecting him and comparing him to everyone else, because he’s not like anyone else.

Paul asks: How much input does MLB have on start times? MLBPA? Opposing team?

It’s a big collaborative effort with many outside factors. The Collective Bargaining Agreement has rules about getaway days and whatnot, and of course the television networks have a say too. ESPN gets to pick their Sunday Night Game. It’s basically impossible to make everyone happy. Someone will always be upset with the start time, either the teams or the fans. It’s a giant puzzle that has to be solved each year and the schedule makers do their best.

Michael asks: While Ellsbury is on the disabled list do the Yankees collect insurance money because he is not playing? If that’s the case maybe that’s why they keep him. At least they could recover some of his salary that way.

I don’t know whether the Yankees have insurance on Jacoby Ellsbury’s contract. From what I understand teams approach insurance policies on a case-by-case basis. Sometimes the insurance premiums are more expensive than the contract itself, so they don’t bother. In Alex Rodriguez’s case, the Yankees had insurance on his deal, so all the time he spent on the disabled list didn’t cost the Yankees as much out of pocket. There are three years remaining on Ellsbury’s contract and they’re not going to cut him loose with that much time to go. Even without insurance, they’ll see whether they can salvage something first. Something is better than nothing. If the Yankees have insurance on the contract, good for them. It doesn’t change anything as far as the luxury tax payroll goes.

Marc asks (short version): Can we start a petition, or maybe you have a connection, but can we please get rid of the strike zone box during Yankee telecasts? It is really not an improvement, and is way more of a distraction, than anything. And, as a side, how about the center-field camera angle as close to dead center as possible, so I can actually see the *real* movement of a pitch.

Nothing we can do about the strike zone box. It is what it is. All the FOX networks have it nowadays, and FOX owns a majority stake of the YES Network, so now YES has it too. I don’t like it but it’s not going away. Such is life. As for the dead center field camera, I would absolutely love it. The Cardinals have the best home camera angle, in my opinion:

That’s the movement you just don’t see with the offset center field camera. Yankee Stadium doesn’t seem set up well for such an angle, unfortunately. The camera is on the top of the Mohegan Sun Sports Bar at the moment, and if they slide it any more to center field, the pitcher will block the plate. The camera angle is just too low. I’m not sure there’s a realistic way to raise it up without obstructing views and whatnot. Alas.

Adderlyn asks: Now that Aaron Hicks started his rehab assignment, it got me thinking… what happens if a player on a rehab assignment has the same uniform number as a minor league player? Does the minor leaguer have to change their number during the rehab assignment? Sit out the games? Or do they both wear it?

Usually the minor leaguer changes his uniform number during the rehab assignment. Sometimes the big leaguer will wear whatever’s available. Others are very superstitious about their numbers, so the minor leaguer has to wear a different number for the time being.

David asks: How about having Stanton during the off-season and spring training play first base? Let him and Bird split DH and 1B (or even gave bird as the primary DH). It will hopefully help the outfield logjam (yeah, I know we all thought there would be one this year) and hopefully help Bird healthy by having him play the field much less.

Yeah, I think having Giancarlo Stanton learn first base is a worthwhile endeavor at this point. Not on the fly during the season, but during the offseason and Spring Training. The long-term outfield picture is a little up in the air — what happens with left field after this season? — but if the plan going forward is splitting time between the corner outfield spots and DH, why not add first base to the mix as well? Forget about Greg Bird in this equation. Getting Stanton familiar with first base would be a smart move because it would give the Yankees a little more roster flexibility, and that’s a good thing even if you have Joey Votto at first base.

Justin asks: With the Rays in rebuild mode yet again and having been last in attendance since 2012, is there any good reason not to talk about relocating the franchise?

The Rays are looking for a new ballpark site somewhere in Tampa, which is understandable. Before they commit to anything, MLB has to honestly evaluate whether baseball can succeed in Florida. They’re stuck with the Marlins because that ballpark is only a few years old. Do they want to build another new stadium only to have it half empty every night, even when the team is competitive? You’d think baseball would thrive in Florida. The Rays and Marlins have now given us 45 individuals seasons worth of data suggesting it might not work though. Relocation has to be a serious consideration for the Rays. Put teams where fans are interested.

Seth asks: What is that thing Gary keeps looking at on his arm when hes behind the plate? What’s on that exactly? For reference I see him doing it right now. 5th inning of Wednesdays game.

Good catch! I didn’t notice it while watching the game, but here’s Gary Sanchez checking out something on his wristband Wednesday night:

Back in Spring Training it was reported the Yankees were considering having their catchers wear wristbands to help combat sign stealing. (I’m not sure how, exactly.) Apparently the wristband includes pitch sequences and things like that so they can change signs on the fly without a mound visit. I guess the Yankees went from considering it to doing it at some point. They’re not the only team whose catchers wearing wristbands. I know that much. The Dodgers and Indians were doing it last year. Now the Yankees are on board.

Asher asks: Brandon Drury is saying that he has dealt with the migraine issue for a number of years, yet the Yankees say that this instance was the first that they have heard of said issue? In that case, would the Yankees have a potential grievance against the Diamondbacks, assuming they knew about the issue?

Drury himself said he didn’t tell the Diamondbacks about the migraines, so the Yankees are pretty much out of luck. For the Yankees to have any sort of standing for a grievance, the D’Backs would’ve had to know about the migraines (or any injury) and hide it from the Yankees, meaning omit it from his medical file and not just conveniently neglect to mention it during the phone call. The Padres got in trouble over the Drew Pomeranz trade a few years ago because they intentionally hid information about treatment he was receiving on his elbow. San Diego didn’t include it in his medical file and deceived the Red Sox. I’d be shocked if the D’Backs did something unethical like that. Athletes hide things all the time and Drury said he did exactly that. Not hard to believe.

John asks: Yankees are giving up what seems like a ton of grand slams recently. Wondering what the record is for most grand slams given up by a team in a single season?

They have given up a ton of grand slams, haven’t they? Four of them already (Justin Smoak, Pedro Alvarez, Mookie Betts, J.D. Martinez). They gave up five all last season. The franchise record is nine grand slams given up by the 2000 Yankees. Here are the most grand slams ever allowed in a season:

1. 1996 Tigers: 14
2. 2000 Expos: 12
3. 2006 Orioles: 12
4. 2010 Mets: 12
5. Several tied with 11

Only 18 teams in history have allowed double-digit grand slams in a season. That surprises me! I would’ve guessed double or even triple that number because of expansion years and the so-called Steroid Era. The 2018 Yankees are on pace to give up 50 grand slams. Something tells me they’ll fall well short of that total (I think!).

Dana asks: Hypothetical question: Judge ends up winning the triple crown with, say, .349 BA, 50+ home runs, and 130+ RBIs, however Ohtani goes 21 and 4 with 20+ home runs. All other things being equal, who wins MVP?

Shohei Ohtani probably, even if the Angels don’t make the postseason. The narrative would transcend the team’s performance. The voters got the “the Triple Crown winner has to win MVP!” stuff out of their system with Miguel Cabrera a few years ago, and, frankly, a dude having that sort of two-way impact would deserve to win MVP in my book. I would be curious to see whether voters dock Ohtani for playing time, because based on his current schedule, he’s going to finish with about 150 innings and 200 at-bats. On their own, neither total is anywhere close to MVP worthy. Combine them though, and maybe it works.