Trade Deadline Archives - River Avenue Blues

Saturday Links: deGrom, Torres, Sheffield, Triple-A

September 22, 2018 by Mike

The Yankees and Orioles continue their three-game series later this afternoon, with the penultimate regular season game at Yankee Stadium this year. That’s a 4pm ET start. Remember when they played baseball at 1pm ET on Saturdays? Those were the days. Anyway, here are some notes to check out.

Mets needed top young players for deGrom

According to Jon Heyman, the Yankees were one of five teams the Mets focused on during Jacob deGrom trade talks at the deadline, though they weren’t doing a deal without getting top young players in return. That presumably means Gleyber Torres. The Mets also discussed deGrom with the Blue Jays, Braves, Brewers, and Padres, and Heyman indicates they wanted Vladimir Guerrero Jr. from Toronto and Fernando Tatis Jr. from San Diego. So yeah, the best of the best prospects.

deGrom has been the best pitcher in baseball this season and he’s under team control another two years, so the Mets were absolutely correct in demanding tippy top prospects. Not asking for Gleyber would’ve been negligent. I love Miguel Andujar, he’s the man, but I wouldn’t trade deGrom for a package fronted by Andujar. I’d need a better centerpiece and that’s Torres. If the Mets don’t contend next year, the asking price on deGrom could come down because he’ll have less control remaining and also because he probably won’t be this good again. That said, the Yanks-Mets blockbuster trade hurdle still exits. As I’ve been saying, I need to see these two teams make a trade of this caliber to believe it.

Sheffield could make postseason roster

File this under “it’s probably not going to happen,” but Aaron Boone did leave the door open for Justus Sheffield to make the postseason roster. “You never know how the next couple weeks unfold. I’m mindful of this time that a lot changes day to day, every couple of days, week to week, depending on need, depending on performance, depending on how guys are looking,” said Boone to Brendan Kuty earlier this week when asked about the possibility.

Sheffield, 22, made his MLB debut the other night and it wasn’t pretty, but he did throw a scoreless inning in a blowout win. There are nine regular season games remaining and I don’t see how Sheffield could do enough to make the postseason roster, even as an extra lefty. Six bullpen spots are already accounted for (Aroldis Chapman, Dellin Betances, Zach Britton, Chad Green, David Robertson, Jonathan Holder) plus I assume Lance Lynn will be in the postseason bullpen as well. There doesn’t seem to be room for Sheffield, but hey, stranger things have happened.

Sheffield among top IL prospects

In other Justus Sheffield news, Baseball America (subs. req’d) started their annual series looking at the top 20 prospects in each minor league earlier this week, and Sheffield was ranked as the seventh best prospect in the Triple-A International League this year. White Sox OF Eloy Jimenez, who the Yankees reportedly could’ve had rather than Gleyber Torres in the Aroldis Chapman trade, sits in the top spot. (Jimenez went to the ChiSox in the Jose Quintana trade.)

“Sheffield’s fastball worked 93-97 mph and he steadily improved his command of it, making it a true plus pitch,” says the write-up, which also mentions his changeup is too firm at the moment. He needs to create more velocity separation between his fastball and changeup. No other Yankees prospects make the IL top 20, which isn’t surprising. The Triple-A lists tend to be loaded with top 100 prospects and that leaves guys like Chance Adams and Erik Swanson on the outside looking in. (Mike King didn’t throw enough Triple-A innings to qualify for the list.)

Triple-A leagues to begin using MLB baseballs

Starting next season, the two Triple-A leagues (International League and Pacific Coast League) will begin using baseballs made to Major League specifications, reports J.J. Cooper. Major League and minor league baseballs are made with different seams and a different cover, and the Major League ball tends to carry farther. That’s why many young players (e.g. Gleyber Torres) come up and hit for more power in the big leagues than they had in the minors. The switch next year will approximately double what Triple-A teams pay for baseballs throughout the season.

It is kinda dumb MLB and minor league (and college) leagues use different baseballs, but it’s all about cost. Teams don’t want to spend more on baseballs than they have to, so inferior baseballs are used in the minors. At least now the Triple-A and MLB balls will be uniform. Offense will increase in Triple-A — the PCL league average was .270/.340/.423 this year and that’s only going to go up with the new ball, so that’s fun — thought at least it’ll be a little easier to put Triple-A statistics into context. I get the sense a lot of fringe MLB pitchers are in for a rude awakening in 2019.

The Yankees were active at the trade deadline and so far all their moves are having a big impact

September 20, 2018 by Mike

At some point soon, possibly before the end of the homestand, the Yankees will clinch a spot in the postseason. They’re not going to win the AL East — the Yankees need to go no worse than 10-1 the rest of the way while the Red Sox go 0-10 for that to happen — so a spot in the Wild Card Game will have to do. That’s okay. Just get in and you can win.

The Yankees have the third best record in baseball and they’re going to return to the postseason for a lot of reasons, including this year’s trade deadline pickups. The incumbents have been pretty good! But they needed help, so Brian Cashman and his staff were very active prior to both the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline and the August 31st postseason-eligibility deadline. They imported:

Two new starting pitchers (J.A. Happ and Lance Lynn).
A new first baseman (Luke Voit).
Another late-inning reliever (Zach Britton).
A new leadoff hitter and corner outfielder (Andrew McCutchen).

The Yankees also added a new utility infielder (Adeiny Hechavarria) and gobs of international bonus money at the deadline(s), though those are relatively minor additions. The other moves were much more significant. The Yankees turned over 40% of the rotation, two starting lineup spots, and added another end-game arm.

And, so far, just about all of those moves are paying big dividends. Lynn has been more serviceable than good, but, considering who he replaced (Sonny Gray), serviceable qualifies as a big upgrade. Happ has been outstanding in eight of his nine starts, including two nights ago against the Red Sox. Voit socked two more dingers last night and has nine in 29 games with the Yankees.

I don’t know whether they’d admit it, but I know Cashman and Aaron Boone and everyone else in the organization did not expect Voit to have this much impact. If they did, he wouldn’t have been sent to Triple-A Scranton (twice). Greg Bird was struggling, Voit got an opportunity, and he’s run with it. Voit went from first base platoon option to full-time first baseman. He’s given the lineup a huge lift.

Britton had a rocky start to his Yankees tenure but has really settled in lately. He’s allowed three runs (two earned) in his last 13 appearances and 14 innings while holding opponents to a .149/.180/.213 batting line. Britton has an 80.6% ground ball rate with the Yankees. That works out to 50 ground balls and 12 non-ground balls among 62 balls in play. He came in handy when Aroldis Chapman went down.

To me, McCutchen has been every bit as important as Happ and Voit and Britton. He only just got here, I know, but the Yankees had a revolving door in right field while Aaron Judge was on the disabled list, and McCutchen put an end to that. Now, with Judge back, he’s slid over to left field to replace the ineffective Brett Gardner, giving the Yankees another offensive threat. I love Gardner, he’s been a great Yankee, but it wasn’t working and a change had to made.

Last night McCutchen reached base three times in the blowout win over the Red Sox and he’s reached base 24 times in his last eleven games. The batting average is still a little low (.216), but McCutchen owns a .414 OBP as a Yankees, and that has been a game-changer atop the lineup. The leadoff spot (mostly Gardner) had a .205/.319/.298 (72 wRC+) batting line in 40 games from the All-Star break through August 31st. Can’t have that. McCutchen fixed it.

“It doesn’t have to be splashy. It just has to work,” said Cashman following the July 31st deadline. And so far, every just about every move the Yankees made has worked. Happ has steadied the rotation and forms a potentially very good postseason front three with the locked in Masahiro Tanaka and the seemingly rejuvenated Luis Severino. Britton makes the bullpen better and McCutchen and Voit have made the lineup that much deeper.

Keep in mind that, unlike some other teams, the Yankees were active at the trade deadline because they had to be. The Red Sox were in great shape and were able to add pieces like Nathan Eovaldi and Ian Kinsler to make their roster even better. The Yankees were more desperate for upgrades. Judge was hurt, Gray and Domingo German were becoming untenable, so was Bird, and Chapman’s achy knee was in the back of everyone’s mind. These were “we really need these guys to contend” moves. Not just upgrades to the fringes of the roster, you know?

Unlike last year, when they targeted players with long-term control, the Yankees focused on rentals this year. That’s probably just a coincidence given the way he market shook out, though I wonder whether getting burned by Gray (and Tommy Kahnle, to some degree) led to the Yankees looking for lower cost short-term moves. Either way, it’s worked quite well. The Yankees don’t really miss anyone they gave up — maybe they will one day, but right now? nah — and the players they received have all become important contributors. The trade deadline was a smashing success.

Saturday Links: Donaldson Trade, A-Rod, Luxury Tax Payroll

September 15, 2018 by Mike

The final homestand of the 2018 regular season continues later today with the middle game of the three-game series against the Blue Jays. That’s a 4:05pm ET start. Here are some links and notes to check out in the meantime.

Yankees among teams upset about Donaldson trade

According to Ken Rosenthal (subs. req’d), the Yankees are among the teams to reach out to MLB to voice displeasure with the Josh Donaldson trade. Specifically, they are unhappy Donaldson was deemed healthy enough to be placed on trade waivers, only to have the Indians place him right back on the disabled list right after the trade. Rosenthal says the Red Sox and Astros also weren’t happy with the deal. The teams that might face Cleveland in the postseason, basically.

Players have to be on the active roster or on a minor league rehab assignment to be placed on trade waivers. Donaldson had been out since May with a calf injury, then conveniently started a rehab assignment a few days before the August 31st postseason-eligibility deadline. He cleared waivers, was activated, then was traded and put right back on the disabled so he could play more rehab games. Fishy. That said, the Yankees (and Red Sox and Astros) would’ve done the same thing in a heartbeat. Don’t like it? Then you should’ve claimed Donaldson on trade waivers to block a deal. (Donaldson went unclaimed, so he was free to be traded anywhere.)

A-Rod hoping for Hall of Fame call

We are three years away from Alex Rodriguez’s name appearing on the Hall of Fame ballot, and, when the time comes, he hopes to get into Cooperstown. Can’t say I’m surprised. A-Rod spoke about about his Hall of Fame hopes during a recent feature with, uh, Cigar Aficionado? Cigar Aficionado. Here’s a partial transcript of the video:

“There’s rules, and you have to follow the rules. I made those mistakes, and at the end of the day I have to live by those mistakes. Whether I get in or not — and let’s be clear, I want to get in, I hope I get in, I pray I get in — if I don’t, I think I have a bigger opportunity yet again. And the platform of my mistakes, the good the bad and the ugly, has allowed me to have a loud voice to the next generation, to say when in doubt, just look at my career … The other message is, maybe I’m not a Hall of Fame player, but I get a chance to be a Hall of Fame dad, a Hall of Fame friend.”

Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens have made some gains on the Hall of Fame ballot in recent years, though they’re still well short of induction, and neither guy served a year-long performance-enhancing drug suspension like A-Rod. Rodriguez hits the ballot in 2021 and he can remain on the ballot ten years. That’s a long time — he can potentially remain on the ballot until 2031 — and lots of minds can change. Right now, I don’t think he’ll get in. Come 2031? Who knows.

Should A-Rod ever make the Hall of Fame, he’d have to go in as a Yankee, right? He played more games with the Yankees (1,509) than the Mariners and Rangers combined (1,275). Same deal with homers (351 vs. 345), though not WAR (+54.2 vs. +63.6). Also, Rodriguez won two of his three MVPs in New York and also his only World Series ring. Yeah, he’d had to go in as a Yankee. No question.

Yankees on track to stay under luxury tax threshold

According to Ronald Blum, the Yankees are indeed on track to stay under the $197M luxury tax threshold this season. I’ve been doing my best to keep tabs on the team’s luxury tax payroll situation all season, and I’m glad to have some confirmation. I had the payroll at $191.8M (without bonuses) in my last estimate. Blum’s source in the commissioner’s office has the payroll at $192.1M. I’m quite proud my estimate is within half-a-million bucks.

The Yankees will have to pay out some playing time bonuses (CC Sabathia’s innings, Neil Walker’s plate appearances, etc.), plus Chance Adams was called up two days ago, and that adds to the luxury tax payroll. Even with all that, they have plenty of room to get under the threshold. Blum says the Red Sox ($238.4M payroll) and Nationals ($203.9M) are the only teams over the luxury tax threshold this year. The Dodgers, like the Yankees, trimmed payroll this year to get under the threshold.

Saturday Links: Bumgarner, Spring Training, Best Tools, CC

September 8, 2018 by Mike

The Yankees and Mariners continue their three-game weekend series later today. Much later today. It’s a 9:10pm ET start. Literally the latest game on the schedule today. So it goes. Here are some links and notes to check out in the meantime.

Yankees were “in the hunt” for Bumgarner

According to Nick Cafardo, the Yankees were “in the hunt” for Madson Bumgarner prior to the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline, but the asking price was too high. My guess is that asking price included Gleyber Torres plus more, possibly a lot more. Bumgarner strikes me as one of the least likely to be traded players in baseball. I think it’s far more likely he signs an extension than gets traded. Never hurts to make the call though. Wouldn’t surprise me if the Yankees check in again this winter.

Bumgarner, who turned 29 last month, has a 3.07 ERA (4.08 FIP) in 105.2 innings since returning from a fluke finger injury (a comebacker broke his pinky in Spring Training). As good as Bumgarner is now and has been throughout his career, he’s starting to show some of decline. Strikeouts are down, walks and homers are up. Six straight 200+ inning seasons from age 21-26, plus all those deep postseason runs, might be catching up to him. Felix Hernandez threw a ton of innings early in his career and he started to lose it age 29. Hmmm.

2019 Spring Training schedule released

Never too early to look ahead to next season, right? Right. A few days ago MLB released the 2019 Spring Training schedule. The Yankees open Grapefruit League play against the Red Sox on Saturday, February 23rd, next year. The spring home opener will be Monday, February 25th, against the Blue Jays. The Yankees close their 32-game spring schedule with an exhibition game at Nationals Park on Monday, March 25th. Opening Day is Thursday, March 28th. Here is the team’s spring schedule.

The Yankees have not yet announced their 2019 reporting dates. The last two years the Yankees had pitchers and catchers report ten days before the Grapefruit League opener and position players six days before the opener. Based on that, pitchers and catchers will report Wednesday, February 13th, with position players reporting Sunday, February 17th. Those are just my estimates. Official reporting dates usually aren’t announced until mid-to-late November sometime, after the awards rush.

Law’s best MLB tools

I missed this last week, but Keith Law (subs. req’d) released his rankings of the top tools at the Major League level. Several Yankees rank among the various categories. A recap:

Chad Green: Fifth best fastball (behind Max Scherzer, Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander, Jacob deGrom)
Aaron Hicks: Third best throwing arm (behind Andrelton Simmons and Brett Phillips)
Aaron Judge: Second best power (behind Joey Gallo)
David Roberson: Third best curveball (behind Corey Kluber and Aaron Nola)
Giancarlo Stanton: Third best power (behind Gallo and Judge)

No real surprises here nor any notable omissions. Maybe Luis Severino’s fastball? He does have the best average velocity among starters again. Well, whatever. Last year I made a kinda sorta bold prediction and said Green would top Law’s best fastball rankings this year. Came close. He’s top five.

Sabathia nominated for Clemente Award

Earlier this week MLB announced each team’s nominee for the 2018 Roberto Clemente Award, which is given annually to the player who “best represents the game of baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.” CC Sabathia is the Yankees’ nominee this year. Here are the 30 nominees. Three Yankees have won the award: Derek Jeter (2009), Don Baylor (1985), and Ron Guidry (1984). Current Yankee Andrew McCutchen won it while with the Pirates in 2015.

Amazingly, MLB turned a prestigious award intended to honor community involvement into a popularity contest. The Roberto Clemente Award winner will be selected via fan vote. Here’s the ballot. The winner will be announced during the World Series. Among other things, Sabathia and his wife run the PitCCh In Foundation, which promotes and supports educational and athletic activities for inner city youth. During Thursday’s off-day Sabathia gave away roughly 1,700 backpacks with school supplies to kids in the Bay Area, near where he grew up. Pretty cool. Congrats to the big man. Just getting nominated for the Roberto Clemente Award is an honor.

The Yankees and the suddenly available Josh Donaldson

August 30, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

A very important deadline is approaching. Tomorrow is the last day for teams to acquire players and have them be eligible for the postseason roster. The player doesn’t have to be on the big league roster before the deadline to be postseason-eligible, but he has to be in the organization by 11:59pm ET tomorrow night. There are no loopholes around this one. It is a hard deadline.

As always, there will be a flurry of trades before the deadline tomorrow — Justin Verlander was traded minutes before the August 31st postseason-eligibility deadline last year, for example — and although they’ve been inactive on trade waivers this month, the Yankees could make a move before the deadline. An outfielder figures to be atop the shopping list. Or at least I hope it is.

In addition to Andrew McCutchen, the biggest name on the trade market leading into tomorrow’s deadline is Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson, who has not played in a big league game since May 28th due to a nagging calf injury. He started a rehab assignment earlier this week and, according to Jon Heyman, he was put on trade waivers yesterday. (Donaldson sat out last night’s rehab game with general soreness, which is something to monitor.)

Donaldson is an impending free agent and Ken Rosenthal (subs. req’d) hears “the Jays want Donaldson gone,” so I guess that means he’ll be traded at some point in the next 38 hours or so. He hasn’t played in months and hit only .234/.333/.423 (104 wRC+) before the calf injury, but I think there will be interest given his track record. Does Donaldson make sense for the Yankees? I have four questions.

1. Where does he fit? First base or DH, most likely. Even before the calf injury, Donaldson had some shoulder trouble and was having a devil of time making the throw from third base. Remember this? A healthy Donaldson would be a massive defensive upgrade over Miguel Andujar at the hot corner. Even an unhealthy Donaldson might be an upgrade. The real question is whether he can keep the calf (and shoulder) healthy at that position. He may not be able to handle the hot corner physically.

The Yankees have a gigantic hole at first base and Donaldson has limited experience at the position, but he did play a game there earlier this year, and I think he’d be willing to do it for a month heading into free agency. It would not be in his best interests to complain about a position change a month before free agency given his injuries and slip in production this year. Be a good teammate and good clubhouse dude, make the position switch, and go rake for a postseason bound team. That’s how Donaldson improves his free agent stock. Not by insisting he plays third.

Donaldson could spend his time at first base and DH with the Yankees, and hey, if he shows he can handle the hot corner physically even a few times a week, that’d be great too. The numbers are not there in 159 plate appearances this year. Donaldson is only a year removed from a .270/.385/.559 (149 wRC+) line though, and there’s a decent chance he’ll be the second most impactful hitter traded this summer behind Manny Machado. He is AL East battle tested, he won’t be scared away by late season pressure games, and he can crush great pitching.

Donaldson has been there, done that. The division, the postseason, all that. He knows it all. If he has to play first base, so be it. Get the elite talent and sort it all out later. What do I always say? These things have a way of working themselves out. Because they do have a way of working themselves out. Every contender should be trying to figure out a way to get this guy on the roster, including the Yankees.

2. What about the luxury tax? Donaldson still has about $4 million coming to him this season and that won’t fit under the $197M luxury tax threshold. The Yankees had about $3.3M in luxury tax payroll space remaining when I did my last estimate, and that number is probably closer to $2.9M now because they’ve had to make some injury call-ups this month. Donaldson’s not going to fit.

The Blue Jays will have to eat some money to facilitate a trade and it is probably in their best interest to do so no matter where they trade Donaldson. The injuries and lack of production, plus the fact you’re only getting the guy for one month plus however many postseason games, means his trade value is a fraction of what it was a few months ago. Eat money and maximize your return. The Yankees would have to get the Blue Jays to eat money to make the luxury tax plan work.

3. Will waivers be a problem? Normally a player who hasn’t played since May and still has $4M coming to him this year would clear waivers with ease. I think Donaldson is a special case though. This guy was a dominant hitter as recently as last season and there’s reason to believe he can be a dominant hitter in September with good health. He’s someone who could put a contenting team over the top, either in a wild card race or division race or in the postseason.

Because of that, I think Donaldson could very well end up getting claimed, even if the claiming team doesn’t want him. Think about it. If you’re the Yankees, don’t you have to claim Donaldson just to prevent him from going to the Red Sox? The Phillies have to claim him to prevent the Braves from getting him, right? I don’t think he’ll get to the Phillies on waivers because he has to pass through the AL before going through the NL, but that’s the idea.

The AL races are very competitive and I could see a scenario in which multiple teams claim Donaldson, either because they want him on their roster or don’t want him going to a rival. The Athletics, Indians, Yankees, and Red Sox could all make claims. The downside is potentially having the Blue Jays dump that $4M in salary on you as a claim, but I think the chances of that are small. It’s still a risk though.

The Yankees have the second best record in the AL — the second best record in baseball, at that — and that means every AL team except the Red Sox gets a crack at Donaldson before New York. If the Athletics or Astros or Indians claim him, there’s nothing the Yankees can do. Their record puts them at a disadvantage when it comes to trade waivers. I’d rather have a good record than a high waiver priority, but yeah, this is kinda out of the Yankees’ hands.

4. So what would it take? I have no idea. There is basically no comparable trade here. We’re talking about a previously elite hitter who hasn’t played in a big league game in more than three months. The Nationals traded Daniel Murphy for nothing last week but that was a straight salary dump, and the Yankees are not in position to take on Donaldson’s full salary because of the luxury tax plan. The Murphy deal doesn’t work as a benchmark.

The Blue Jays could simply keep Donaldson and make him the qualifying offer after the season, which would entitle them to draft pick compensation should he sign elsewhere as a free agent. If he accepts the qualifying offer, well, no big deal. Donaldson on a one-year contract worth $18M or so isn’t a bad gamble at all. They could always try to trade him again next summer. I reckon a lot of teams would be willing to roll the dice on Donaldson at one year and $18M-ish in 2019.

Here’s where it gets slightly complicated. If Donaldson signs a contract worth less than $50M this offseason, the Blue Jays only get a supplemental third round pick. That would be something like the 75th overall pick. (The supplemental third round was picks 75-78 this year.) Donaldson would have to sign a contract worth more than $50M for Toronto get a supplemental first rounder. Will Donaldson get a contract that size?

Not that long ago the answer would’ve been an easy yes. The guy was just so good when healthy. Now though? Now he’s batted injuries all season and hasn’t hit much when healthy, and he’ll turn 33 in December. Remember how hard it was for Mike Moustakas and Todd Frazier to sign contracts last offseason? Donaldson is better than them, but they were younger and healthier when they hit the market. I don’t see Donaldson taking a one-year pillow contract. This is probably his last chance to cash in big. His best case scenario might be something in line with the three-year, $60M contract his former Blue Jays teammate Edwin Encarnacion received two years ago, and even that might be rich.

Because of that, the Blue Jays can’t really go into trade talks and claim they need something in return that is better than the supplemental first round pick they’d receive after the season, because they might not get a supplemental first round pick after the season. Does one good prospect get it done? Chance Adams or Domingo Acevedo for one month (plus postseason) of Donaldson with the Blue Jays paying his salary? Or is that not enough?

There are a lot of factors in play here. If Donaldson doesn’t get claimed on trade waivers, there could be a bidding war. If Donaldson does get claimed, the Blue Jays have little leverage because they can only trade him to that team. If the Yankees claim Donaldson, the Blue Jays could say “give us something good otherwise we’ll waiver dump him on you and screw up your luxury tax plan.” Would they actually do it? Probably not. Hard to see Toronto unloading their franchise player for nothing but salary relief, but the threat might be enough to scare the Yankees.

* * *

I am completely on board with the Yankees acquiring Donaldson to play first base down the stretch. I know he hasn’t played in months and there will be moments of inexperience at first base, but a) the Yankees don’t exactly have a Gold Glover at first base now, and b) the upside with the bat is too great to ignore. Donaldson can be a real difference-maker. I’m not saying I’d give up the farm to get him. But giving up a dude like Adams or Acevedo would be a-okay with me (maybe even both if you’re confident in his health?). The Yankees are a World Series contender. Put together the best team possible.

There are a million reasons why this won’t happen, of course. Donaldson has to get to the Yankees on trade waivers and that’s not a given, even with his salary and his injuries. (The Indians are the team I’m really watching here. They can move Jose Ramirez to second and put Donaldson at third.) The luxury tax plan is also an obstacle. Donaldson to the Yankees is very unlikely. Impossible? No. But unlikely.

Rosenthal says the Blue Jays want to move Donaldson and I totally believe it. Seems to me whatever they can get for him now will be more valuable than the draft pick they’d receive after the season, even if it is a supplemental first rounder. The Yankees need an outfielder more than they need a first baseman (Donaldson and Curtis Granderson package deal!), but upgrades are upgrades, and Donaldson is potentially a huge one short-term, even at first base.

Yanks reportedly place Andujar, Bird, Hicks on trade waivers

August 27, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

Hicks and Andujar. (Patrick McDermott/Getty)

According to George King, the Yankees placed Miguel Andujar, Greg Bird, and Aaron Hicks on revocable trade waivers last Thursday. This is the first bit of Yankees’ trade waiver news reported this month. I’m certain several other Yankees have passed through waivers already. We just don’t know about it.

Trade waivers are necessary to complete trades following the July 31st deadline. Here’s a real quick primer on trade waivers:

All 40-man roster players must go through trade waivers to be traded after July 31st. Non-40-man players can be traded at any time. They don’t require waivers.
Players claimed on trade waivers can only be traded to the claiming team within 48 hours of the claim. Players who go unclaimed can be traded anywhere the rest of the season.
Trade waivers are revocable. If a player is claimed, his team can pull him back and keep him.

Why place Andujar, Bird, and Hicks on trade waivers? Well, why not? There’s no risk — again, if a player is claimed, his team can pull him back — and it allows the Yankees to gauge interest in their players. Also, teams flood the market with players to “hide” the guys they want to/are willing to trade. A claim limits the market. Teams want their players to clear to give them more potential trade options.

Being placed on trade waivers last Thursday means the waiver period has already expired for Andujar, Bird, and Hicks. They’ve either cleared or been claimed and pulled back at this point. The 48-hour window to work out a trade would have expired already (I think). Even if the Yankees have soured on Bird and are open to moving him, doing it in August would be tough. That’s a move that was always going to wait until the offseason.

The deadline to acquire players and have them be postseason eligible is 11:59pm ET on August 31st and that is a hard deadline with no loopholes. Four days remain to swing a deal for a postseason-eligible player. Andujar, Bird, and Hicks have already gone through the trade waiver process. Surely other Yankees have as well. Now it’s just a question of whether the Yankees swing a deal to address their outfield (and first base) need.

Friday Links: Jones, Rosenthal, Best Tools, MLB Japan All-Stars

August 24, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

Later tonight the Yankees and Orioles kick off Players’ Weekend with the first of four at Camden Yards. They’ll play one game today, two games tomorrow, then one game Sunday. Inexplicably, the series finale is an ESPN Sunday Night Baseball game. The 2018 Orioles have to be the worst team ever on Sunday Night Baseball, right? Well, anyway, here are some links and notes to check out.

Orioles called Yankees about Jones

According to Jon Heyman, the Orioles approached the Yankees about a potential Adam Jones trade at some point earlier this month. Jones has cleared trade waivers and can be dealt anywhere, but he has 10-and-5 no-trade protection, and he used it block a deal to the Phillies before the trade deadline. Heyman says there’s some belief he’d be more willing to consider a trade to an AL contender. Jones spoke about his decision to block the trade to Philadelphia during a recent R2C2 podcast.

Jones, 33, is hitting .281/.315/.431 (101 wRC+) with 13 home runs this season, which is a typical Adam Jones season. He’s an impending free agent and he recently shifted over to right field in deference to center field prospect Cedric Mullins. I’m all in Jones. Good player, great and honest dude. The money doesn’t work with regards to the luxury tax plan, but Jones would be a great fit as an Aaron Judge fill-in and spare bat down the stretch. Heyman says the Yankees passed because they expect Judge back soon. Alas.

Rosenthal holding showcase in October

Former Cardinals closer and current free agent Trevor Rosenthal will throw for teams in October, he announced on Twitter. Rosenthal is currently rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. He blew out his elbow late last year and St. Louis non-tendered him over the winter because it was his final season of team control, and there’s no sense in paying a dude several million dollars to rehab when he’ll become a free agent after the season. The Yankees did the same thing with Nathan Eovaldi in 2016.

Rosenthal, who is still only 28, struggled as he battled elbow woes in 2016 and 2017, but he was a monster from 2012-15, pitching to a 2.66 ERA (2.49 FIP) with 30.5% strikeouts as the top high-leverage reliever on a contending team. Greg Holland’s contract with the Rockies last year set the market for a former All-Star closer rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. Colorado gave Holland a one-year deal worth $7M guaranteed that including a player option and bonuses that could’ve pushed the total value to $35M across two years. It’s been a while since the Yankees rolled the dice on one of these injured guys (I think Andrew Bailey was the last?), but I’m sure they’ll check out Rosenthal’s workout.

Baseball America best tools survey

The crew at Baseball America (subs. req’d) posted their annual MLB Best Tools survey last week, in which managers, scouts, and executives chime in on who does what the best. Several Yankees make appearances on the American League survey:

Brett Gardner: Second best bunter (behind Dee Gordon)
Aaron Judge: Best power, best outfield arm
Aaron Hicks: Third best outfield arm (behind Judge and Jackie Bradley Jr.)
Luis Severino: Second best fastball (behind Chris Sale), third best slider (behind Sale and Trevor Bauer)
Aroldis Chapman: Third best fastball, third best reliever (behind Edwin Diaz and Craig Kimbrel)
Giancarlo Stanton: Second best power

No Dellin Betances among the best relievers? Betances gets no respect. His failures get magnified and his successes are just something people ignore until the next time he fails. I still love ya, Dellin.

Mattingly managing MLB team for Japan All-Star Series

Here’s a fun one. According to Kaz Nagatsuka, Don Mattingly will manage a team of MLB All-Stars during an exhibition series against NPB All-Stars in Japan in November. The five-game series will be played in three different ballparks from November 9th to November 15th. The MLB Japan All-Star Series has been played irregularly since 1986. MLB is 48-20 all-time in the series but Japan did win three of five in 2014, the last time they played.

The MLB All-Star roster won’t be finalized until “sometime in October or late September,” according to MLB vice president for Asia Pacific Jim Small. I am certain MLB wants Shohei Ohtani there. I am also certain they’d like a Yankee on the roster because the Yankees are the sport’s most recognizable team. The Yankees are going to the postseason though. It might be tough to get a firm commitment from a player on any postseason bound team in September or early October. The last Yankee to participate in the MLB Japan All-Star Series? Mike Myers in 2006. For real. Jason Giambi and Bernie Williams both participated in 2002.