Trade Deadline Archives - River Avenue Blues

Sounds like Patrick Corbin wants to be a Yankee, but he won’t help them in 2018

April 24, 2018 by Mike Axisa Leave a Comment

Over the winter the Yankees looked high and low for pitching help, and since they came up empty, the pitching search will continue in the weeks leading up to the trade deadline. The search for pitching never ends, really. The pitching has been great the last few days and the rotation still has a 4.30 ERA (3.96 FIP). There’s room for improvement for sure.

Among the pitchers the Yankees reportedly pursued this offseason was Diamondbacks lefty Patrick Corbin, an impending free agent who owns a 1.89 ERA (1.99 FIP) with a 39.3% strikeout rate in five starts and 33.1 innings so far this year. He’s been awesome. The D’Backs gave Corbin the Opening Day nod over Zack Greinke and he’s pitched like an ace.

The 28-year-old Corbin is a native New Yorker from up near Syracuse, and during a recent chat with Bob Nightengale, he sure made it sound like he’d welcome a chance to pitch for the Yankees. From Nightengale:

“It would definitely be great to play there,” Corbin says. “I grew up a Yankee fan. My whole family are Yankee fans. My mom, my dad, my grandpa, everybody. Really, every generation of my family has been Yankee fans.

…

“I know the Yankees have had some interest in the past, and there were a lot of rumors this winter that got my family excited,” Corbin says. “It would have been cool. You just want to go where you’re wanted, and every team will have an opportunity.

Corbin added the obligatory “I want to play for a contender” and “I’m just focusing on this season” comments as well. The D’Backs have not yet approached him about a contract extension according to Nightengale, though I’m sure that’ll happen at some point this summer. Point is, a very good pitcher said some things that could indicate he wants to play for the Yankees, and that’s worth discussing. Let’s talk this out.

1. Corbin’s breakout started last year. It actually started back in 2013, when he was an All-Star and threw 208.1 innings with a 3.41 ERA (3.43 FIP). His elbow gave out the following Spring Training and he needed Tommy John surgery, and it took him some time to get back up to speed. Last season Corbin was mediocre in the first half (4.71 ERA and 4.25 FIP) and much better in the second half (3.27 ERA and 3.87 FIP). That second half success has carried over to this season.

Corbin told Nightengale he has been tinkering with his trademark slider — “I don’t think I’ve seen a slider like that since Steve Carlton. I mean, it just disappears,” said Giants assistant hitting coach Rick Schu to Nightengale — mostly by varying the shape and velocity. He’s also throwing it much more often. Look at this:

I doubt Corbin is a true talent sub-2.00 ERA/sub-2.00 FIP pitcher like he has been this year. But he’s been a successful big league pitcher, and it’s not crazy to think a 28-year-old who has learned some new tricks with his slider may’ve taken his game to the next level. Lefties who can get strikeouts (21.7% from 2016-18) and grounders (52.1% from 2016-18) fit well in Yankee Stadium.

2. It’s cool he’s a Yankees fan. But who cares? This is one of the most overplayed talking points. Unless Corbin is willing to take a discount to come to the Yankees — who’s the last player to take a discount to sign with his childhood team? — the fact he grew up a Yankees fan is meaningless. Gerrit Cole grew up a Yankees fan too, they threw gobs of money at him, and he still didn’t sign with them out of the draft.

If Corbin signs with the Yankees as a free agent after the season, it’ll be because they make a strong competitive offer, and because Corbin believes they’re the best fit for him and his family. That’s it. He’s not going to make an eight-figure (nine-figure?) life decision based on his childhood rooting interests. As far as I’m concerned, Corbin growing up a Yankees fan means nothing. The Yankees can’t proceed as if it gives them some sort of free agent advantage.

3. A midseason trade is extremely unlikely. Why? Because the D’Backs are good and Corbin is their best pitcher. Arizona sits in first place in the NL West at 15-6 and they went to the postseason last year, remember. They were on a 101-win pace even before the J.D. Martinez trade. Maybe outlasting the Dodgers all season won’t happen. But the D’Backs are very good and there is every reason to believe they will be in the postseason race all season.

It would take a collapse — or an offer they can’t refuse — for the D’Backs to consider trading Corbin at the deadline. In fact, in the wake of the Taijuan Walker injury, Arizona is more more likely to add pitching at midseason than subtract it. Corbin’s been great and he would be a very welcome addition to the Yankees. It just doesn’t seem all that realistic that he’ll be made available at the trade deadline. The D’Backs are trying to win too. This is a conversation we’ll have to revisit in the offseason, assuming Corbin becomes a free agent and doesn’t sign an extension.

Morosi: Cole Hamels has Yankees on no-trade list

April 20, 2018 by Mike Axisa Leave a Comment

According to Jon Morosi, the Yankees are among the teams included in Cole Hamels’ no-trade list. He can block trades to 21 teams and the Yankees are one of the 21. The Rangers are 7-13 so far and they’re not expected to contend — FanGraphs has their postseason odds at 1.6% — meaning it is very likely Hamels, an impending free agent, will be available prior to the trade deadline.

So far this season the 34-year-old Hamels has a 4.76 ERA (5.22 FIP) in five starts and 28.1 innings, and he leads MLB in hits (30) and homers (7) allowed. It’s also only five starts. Last year Hamels had a 4.20 ERA (4.62 FIP) with a career worst 17.1% strikeout rate in 148 innings around an oblique injury. His strikeout rate has rebounded to 27.0% so far this year.

As you would expect given his age and workload — Hamels averaged 203 innings per season from 2007-16 and is closing in on 2,500 career innings — Hamels has started to lose velocity the last few years. It was down a tick last season and is down another tick this season.

Obviously the season is still young and Hamels figures to add velocity during the summer months like pretty much every pitcher, but a workhorse losing velocity in his mid-30s is not uncommon. The good news is Hamels is still getting a ton of swings and misses on his trademark changeup. The changeup is his moneymaker. As long as that pitch is working, Hamels has a chance.

Hamels is making $23.5M this season and, if the Yankees were to acquire him on the July 31st trade deadline, they’d be charged with an $8M luxury tax hit. They have enough room under the $197M luxury tax threshold to make that work. The problem is there’s a $6M buyout on his $20M option for next year, and that buyout counts against the luxury tax. Suddenly that $8M becomes $14M. Hmmm.

Of course, the Yankees could always get the Rangers to eat some salary to make things work under the luxury tax threshold, which would presumably require giving up more players. Hamels is clearly in decline and my guess is the Yankees want a younger pitcher, a more long-term addition. Depending on the team’s needs come later this season, Hamels could still make some sense as a secondary rotation pickup. Think Jaime Garcia to Sonny Gray.

Including the Yankees in his no-trade list doesn’t necessarily mean Hamels doesn’t want to pitch for the Yankees. Players often include big market teams in their no-trade lists because they’re the clubs that are a) most likely to acquire him, and b) best able to compensate him for waiving the no-trade clause. Maybe some team is willing to pick up his $20M option in exchange for waiving the no-trade clause. Who knows? Hamels might be able to leverage the no-trade clause into something. That’s the point.

Chances are the Yankees will be looking to add a pitcher at the trade deadline and Hamels is likely to be available, so these two are going to be connected at some point. The no-trade list isn’t a dealbreaker, necessarily. It’s just an obstacle to be cleared. I don’t think it’ll take a big prospect package to get Hamels given his salary and performance, and hey, maybe he won’t be worth acquiring at all come July. It just feels like we’re heading for a lot of Yankees-Hamels rumors in the coming weeks.

Justin Verlander and the trade the Yankees reportedly wanted to make, but couldn’t

April 5, 2018 by Mike Axisa Leave a Comment

The Yankees spent weeks looking for rotation help last summer and, even after adding Sonny Gray, they spent much of the offseason looking for yet another starter. Not just a depth arm either. They were after guys like Gerrit Cole and Yu Darvish and Michael Fulmer. Difference makers. Not spare arms to stash in the minors.

Prior to last year’s trade deadline the Yankees were very loosely connected to Justin Verlander — in fact, the only rumor said there was “no indication” they were after the then Tigers ace — who of course went to the Astros and helped beat the Yankees in the ALCS. Earlier this week Buster Olney (subs. req’d) said the Yankees did indeed want Verlander, but his contract was an obstacle:

Because Hal Steinbrenner’s Yankees opened this season ranked just seventh among teams in payroll, they are well-positioned to make significant midseason deals, if needed. Last year, the Yankees wanted Justin Verlander but had to let him pass by on waivers because they didn’t have the payroll flexibility to spend. This year, they will likely be among the most aggressive teams, particularly in the August waiver period, with a chance to make an already good club even better.

Needless to say, adding Verlander at the trade deadline would’ve changed everything. And not necessarily for the better! Maybe the Yankees get Verlander and lose the Wild Card Game. Who knows? Verlander would’ve been with a different team in a different city in a different division with different coaches. His entire career path would’ve changed. Adding him doesn’t mean the Yankees automatically beat the Astros in the ALCS.

Anyway, I think the larger point here is that the whole “they didn’t have the payroll flexibility to spend” thing likely refers to future payroll, not last year’s payroll. The Yankees were probably more worried about Verlander preventing them from getting under the $197M luxury tax threshold this year than they were absorbing a few more dollars in 2017. I have two things to say about this.

1. I’m not sure the Yankees would’ve claimed Verlander anyway. The Astros didn’t even claim him. Teams do not make $64M decisions lightly. Anthony Fenech says Verlander cleared trade waivers on August 4th, four weeks before he was actually traded. No team claimed him because almost every high salary player clears trade waivers. Clubs don’t want to run the risk of having the contract dumped on them without a chance for prolonged negotiations.

Why not claim Verlander to block him from going to the Astros (or Red Sox or Dodgers or whoever)? Well, because he had $64M left on his contract at that time and that is a giant sum of money. Again, the Astros didn’t even claim Verlander! Over the years Olney has been a “why don’t teams claim more players to block them from going to rivals?” guy when the answer is, very clearly, transactions involving this much money are not simple. They have long-term ramifications.

Even if the Yankees weren’t worried about the luxury tax plan, they probably still wouldn’t have claimed Verlander. I know this because literally every team in baseball, including the team that eventually acquired him, did not claim him. Hammering out a trade of this magnitude with a contract of that size takes time, and a waiver claim only affords you 48 hours to talk. No team is willing to risk $64M for a 48-hour negotiating period. I don’t think the Yankees place a claim even if they weren’t worried about the luxury tax plan.

2. What would adding Verlander have meant for 2018? Let’s say, for the sake of argument, the Yankees did get Verlander at the same terms as the Astros. That means the Tigers are still eating $8M of his $28M salary both this year and next. His five-year, $140M extension carries a $28M luxury tax hit. Subtract out what the Tigers are paying him and Verlander would count as $20M against the luxury tax payroll this year and next. Got it? Good.

So what does that do for the Yankees? I’ll tell you what it does: Giancarlo Stanton isn’t in pinstripes. Never say never, but it’s hard to see how they squeeze Stanton into the payroll with Verlander on board. Maybe they find a way to free up more money (trade David Robertson?) or get the Marlins to eat a bigger piece of Stanton’s contract (in exchange for better contract, presumably). It just seems so unlikely. The Yankees tried like crazy to create more payroll space over the winter and nothing materialized.

There’s an argument to be made for Verlander over Stanton. Maybe, with Verlander on the roster, the Yankees make a push for the more affordable Christian Yelich instead of Stanton. Or maybe they decide to use the open lineup spot for Clint Frazier or Miguel Andujar (or Gleyber Torres). My guess is they would’ve signed a cheap DH late in the offseason, like Lucas Duda or Logan Morrison. But, who knows. I just have a hard time seeing a scenario in which the Yankees get Verlander at the deadline and Stanton in the offseason given the luxury tax plan.

Verlander or Stanton?

Had Verlander not helped beat the Yankees in the ALCS, I don’t think there would be much (or any) revisionist history about last year’s trade deadline. I wasn’t all in on Verlander last summer mostly because of the contract, because it would’ve preventing the Yankees from doing stuff this winter, such as getting Stanton. The younger and more affordable Gray struck me as the better move. And hey, maybe I’m wrong. I’m wrong all the time.

What’s done is done. The Yankees don’t have Verlander, they do have Gray and Stanton, and they are in position to get pretty much anything they want at the trade deadline. They have prospects and they have payroll flexibility. Hopefully they won’t have many needs, and can simply look to improve on whatever they already have. That’s the ideal trade deadline scenario.

When the time comes, the Yankees are in great position to trade for an impact player

April 4, 2018 by Mike Axisa Leave a Comment

Boone, Cashman, and Naehring. (Presswire)

The 2018 regular season is six days old and so far we’ve learned … well, pretty much nothing. Didi Gregorius is still pretty cool and maybe the bullpen isn’t invincible after all. That’s about it. Six days and five games doesn’t mean a whole lot. The Yankees are incredibly talented and I’d bet on them winning lots of games this year.

As talented as they are, the Yankees are far from flawless, and of course needs could pop-up during the season. Someone could get hurt, someone could underperform, or the Yankees could just decide to find something better than what they already have. Good teams never stop trying to improve. These days there are too many bad teams willing to sit back and tank rather than try to improve, but I digress.

At some point down the line the Yankees (and fans) will be able to identify a part of the team that needs help. Pitching is always a safe bet because of the inherent injury risk. Maybe they’ll wind up needing another first baseman should Greg Bird have more trouble staying on the field. Whatever it is, the Yankees are in great position to add impact pieces prior to the trade deadline for two reasons.

They have a great farm system and plenty of prospects to trade.
They have a good amount of luxury tax payroll space remaining.

Ranking prospects and farm systems is highly subjective, but according to the various scouting publications, the Yankees have a top tier system. And even if they continue to make prospects like Gleyber Torres, Justus Sheffield, Estevan Florial, and Miguel Andujar untouchable, there are still enough pieces to make deals. Clint Frazier, Chance Adams, Freicer Perez, so on and so forth.

(I suppose the Yankees could remove the untouchable label from Andujar should Brandon Drury establish himself as a keeper at third base. The Yankees reportedly took Andujar off the table in Gerrit Cole trade talks — Joel Sherman says they tried to get the Pirates to take a package headlined by Frazier and Nick Solak — though that was before the Drury trade. The equation has changed now. Andujar may be — and should be, I believe — more available.)

As for the payroll situation, the Yankees have about $13.5M in space under the $197M luxury tax threshold, though the recent Ben Heller injury and Trayce Thompson claim it more like $13M. Either way, that’s quite a bit of payroll flexibility. The Yankees have lots of cheap (i.e. league minimum-ish) short-term call-up options and luxury tax hits for in-season additions are pro-rated. Acquire a $10M player at a midway point and the luxury tax hit is only $5M, for example.

Furthermore, the Yankees could always have their trade partner eat money to make the payroll situation work better. They’d have to give up more prospects to make that happen — the other team won’t eat salary out of the kindness of their hearts, you know — but, when you have a farm system this deep, that’s easier to do. The Yankees are loaded with risky lower level arms. Trading one or two to make the big league payroll work better isn’t a bad idea.

Between their prospect cache and apparently payroll flexibility, the Yankees are in really good shape to do something meaningful prior to the trade deadline. What could that something meaningful be? That’s what everyone wants to know and I don’t have a good answer for you. Tough to predict which players will be made available in trades. Everyone was waiting for the Royals to sell at the deadline last year and it didn’t happen.

The big names on the pitching front remain Chris Archer and Cole Hamels, the latter of whom is an impending free agent on what figures to be a non-contending Rangers team. I’m a Michael Fulmer guy and I’d love to see that get revisited come June or July. My #teamtowatch: The Cardinals. If they flounder and appear destined to miss the postseason for the third straight year, do they do something drastic like make Carlos Martinez available?

I’d be lying to you if I said I hadn’t thought a little about potential first base trade targets in the wake of Bird’s latest injury. The Yankees so obviously love Bird and want him to be their long-term everyday first baseman. Right now though, the injuries are a real problem. I could see rental bat like Lucas Duda potentially being of interest should Bird’s ankle continue to be a problem. The Yankees have to be prepared for the possibility.

This is all my long way of saying that when the time comes to get help at midseason — and the time always comes — the Yankees are in really good shape. We sat through plenty of trade deadlines over the years in which the Yankees couldn’t get an impact player because they didn’t have the prospects to make the best offer. That is no longer the case. The luxury plan is something of an obstacle, but right now, the Yankees appear to have enough wiggle room to get any help they may want or need.

Morosi: Yanks want to set aside $10M for midseason additions

January 25, 2018 by Mike Axisa Leave a Comment

According to Jon Morosi, the Yankees want to set aside $10M for midseason call-ups and additions. The team is $22M under the $197M luxury tax threshold right now, but they have to earmark some of that $22M for in-season additions. Now we know how much they’re setting aside. Before it was a mystery.

Luxury tax hits are pro-rated when you add a player during the season, so while saving $10M might not seem like much, it is pretty significant. Acquire a player with a $15M luxury tax hit at the halfway mark of the season and you’re only absorbing a $7.5M luxury tax hit, for example. It doesn’t work quite that neatly in real life, but you catch my drift.

The Yankees have a deep farm system with lots of young players on the cusp of the big leagues. That’ll help keep the costs of their in-season additions down. Being able to call-up a league minimum player to fill-in for a few weeks is better than getting a cast-off from outside the organization who might be making real money. That $10M could go pretty far.

Buying at the trade deadline [2017 Season Review]

December 13, 2017 by Steven Tydings Leave a Comment

Without the 2017 deadline, there's no thumbs down! (Getty Images) — Without the 2017 deadline, there’s no thumbs down! (Getty Images)

In 2016, the Yankees sold at the trade deadline, signaling time for a rebuild. A year later? The tables had turned with the Yankees as buyers looking to bolster a club already in playoff contention.

Through two big deals and a few smaller ones, Brian Cashman was able to give the Bombers an extra boost they needed for the stretch run, October and beyond.

July 19
Yankees receive: Todd Frazier, David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle
White Sox receive: Blake Rutherford, Tyler Clippard, Ian Clarkin and Tito Polo

In one move, the Yankees solved multiple problems. Need another corner infielder in case Greg Bird doesn’t come back? There’s Frazier. Need to bolster the bullpen that’s gotten slightly overused? Robertson and Kahnle. It was a perfect move.

It did cost the Yankees, but not irreparably. They had to deal Rutherford just a year after drafting him in the first round. While he has plenty of potential, he’s yet to show any power. Clarkin and Polo likely wouldn’t have been protected in the Rule 5 draft, so they were expendable (Clarkin was added to the White Sox’ 40-man, Polo was not after getting hurt in the Arizona Fall League).

And somehow Tyler Clippard got himself traded to the Astros and won a World Series ring. Go figure.

We’ve already written about Frazier, D-Rob and Kahnle‘s respective impact in our season review series, but each has potential impact beyond this season. Robertson is under contract for 2018 while Kahnle won’t be a free agent until 2021. That’s a lot of value, even if the Yankees don’t re-sign the ToddFather.

As far as 2017, they each filled their roles to a tee. Frazier fixed the Yankees’ last hole in the lineup and brought energy to the club (Thumbs Down!). Robertson and Kahnle were studs down the stretch and in the postseason.

July 30
Yankees receive: Jaime Garcia
Twins receive: Dietrich Enns and Zack Littell

Garcia represented a fill-in for the Yankees’ rotation, an extra arm to allow Jordan Montgomery to throw fewer innings in the second half. As a rental, there was no expectation of him sticking around and it’s not like the Yankees expected him to start in the postseason.

He ultimately gave the Yanks 37 1/3 kinda-sorta average innings over eight forgettable starts before throwing 2 2/3 innings in ALDS Game 1. Remember that outing? He wasn’t bad, walking two and striking out three while absorbing eight outs.

Enns made two appearances for the Twins, allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits over four innings. He was probably getting DFA’d or outrighted in the offseason, so he was highly expendable.

Littell less so. The 22-year-old righty acquired for James Pazos had a remarkable year between High-A and Double-A in 2017. Between the Yankees’ and Twins’ organizations, he threw 157 innings, struck out 142 and had a 2.12 ERA while going 19-1.

He is a new member of the Twins’ 40-man roster. He may not have made the Yankees’ roster this offseason, but he could be someone the Yanks regret dealing.

July 31
Yankees receive: Sonny Gray and International Bonus Pool Money
Athletics receive: Dustin Fowler, James Kaprielian and Jorge Mateo

This deal made all the sense in the world. Getting 2.5 years of Gray for three prospects, two of whom were injured and one likely blocked.

Who knows if Kaprielian can stay healthy at this point? He has the stuff to pitch in the majors if he ever does stay on the mound, but that’s seeming less and less likely. Fowler had a pretty bad knee injury and the Yankees had Clint Frazier, not to mention Gardner, Judge, Hicks and Ellsbury in the majors (and now Giancarlo!).

Mateo seemed to have broken out after reaching Double A Trenton, but he was blocked by plenty of outfielders, just like Fowler.

So the Yankees dealt from a position of strength and added Gray, who had two playoff starts after a solid end to the season. He had some homer issues, but he’s still a good middle-of-the-rotation starter for the Yankees and much more affordable than similar arms on the current free-agent market. Even with the strong potential of all three players given up, it’s a deal the Yankees should make every time.

The other trades

– While the Yankees picked up bonus money in the Gray deal, they also dealt two possible Rule 5 picks for extra money in July. They dealt RHPs Matt Wotherspoon and Yefry Ramirez to the Orioles for a lot of Baltimore’s pool as the O’s don’t really wade into the international market.

Considering the fact that Shohei Ohtani is now a Los Angeles Angel, these moves didn’t quite work out. The Yankees can still use some of the pool on other prospects, including the few remaining ex-Braves, but they couldn’t reel in the big fish of the international market and are left holding a little too much bonus money. Oh well.

– In exchange for Rob Refsnyder, the Yanks acquired Double A first baseman Ryan McBroom in mid-July. Refsnyder had been DFA’d and McBroom was a non-prospect. He did fill a hole as depth after the team had run through multiple first basemen in the majors. McBroom had previously hit some homers against the Trenton Thunder, so it was good to get him out of the opposing dugout.

– Along the same lines as the McBroom deal, the Yankees dealt LHP Tyler Webb for Garrett Cooper. Cooper filled in for Chris Carter/Greg Bird for a month or so before going down with injuries. Webb gave up a grand slam on literally his first pitch with the Brewers. Seriously!

– Lastly, at the waiver deadline, the Yankees acquired Erik Kratz from the Cleveland Indians to be their depth catcher. He had two hits in two at-bats, produced 0.1 WAR and mostly rode the bench before being outrighted off the roster this offseason.

2018 Outlook

For next year, the Yankees still have Gray, Kahnle and Robertson as well as, to a lesser extent, McBroom and the bonus pool money. McBroom is hitting over .400 in Mexico right now!

But at the 2017 deadline, Cashman acquired a starter and two late-inning relievers for 2018. He has plenty of prospects left if he wants to add further at next season’s deadline.

As for the prospects traded away, it’ll be nice to see what Fowler can do in the majors this year. The rest of the prospects dealt are either further away from the show or are unlikely to even reach the majors in 2018. Regardless, monitoring their development from afar will be a pleasant side gig for Yankees fans.

Yankees trade Garrett Cooper and Caleb Smith to Marlins

November 20, 2017 by Mike Axisa Leave a Comment

The Yankees have made another trade as they continue their 40-man roster purge. Tonight they traded Garrett Cooper and Caleb Smith to the Marlins for pitching prospect Mike King and an undisclosed sum of 2017-18 international bonus money, the team announced. This trade plus the Nick Rumbelow trade and Ronald Herrera trade give the Yankees six open 40-man roster spots before they have to protect players from the Rule 5 Draft.

King, 22, was selected by Miami in the 11th round of the 2016 draft out of Boston College. He threw 149 innings this season, all at Low Class-A, where he had a 3.14 ERA (3.97 FIP) with 17.8% strikeouts and 3.5% walks. MLB.com did not rank King among the top 30 prospects in the Marlins system, which is arguably the worst in baseball. Here is a snippet of Baseball America’s pre-2016 draft scouting report (subs. req’):

The 6-foot-3 righthander doesn’t have overwhelming stuff, but he commands an upper 80s fastball with sink, touching 92 mph. King mixes in a short-breaking slider that is difficult to square up but not an above-average offering. He pitches to contact but is a plus competitor and has above-average command.

The Yankees have had a lot of success getting their pitching prospects to add velocity in recent years. If King adds a few ticks to his heater, he could be really interesting given his slider, command, and competitiveness. Also, a move to the bullpen could be in the cards. King could move real quick as a reliever.

The international bonus money is the more notable addition here because it means more money for Shohei Ohtani, should he come over. It had been reported the Yankees already maxed out their bonus pool — teams are allowed to trade for an addition 75% of their original pool ($4.75M for the Yankees) — but apparently not. Maybe they’re maxed out now? Hmmm.

Both Cooper and Smith were up-and-down depth players for the Yankees this summer. Cooper, 27 next month, hit .326/.333/.488 (113 wRC+) in 13 games as a fill-in first baseman. That includes a four-hit game against the Blue Jays. The Yankees acquired Cooper from the Brewers for Tyler Webb at midseason. He didn’t receive a September call-up, which was a pretty good indication his 40-man roster spot would be jeopardy.

Smith, 26, spent most of the season in Triple-A. He had a 7.71 ERA (5.62 FIP) in 18.2 big league inning spread across two starts and seven relief appearances. The Marlins hired farm system head Gary Denbo away from the Yankees a few weeks ago, and he is no doubt very familiar with Smith. I wonder if he’ll get a chance to crack their rotation next year. Either way, both Smith and Cooper figure to get better opportunities with the Marlins than they would’ve with the Yankees, so good luck to them.

Update: Buster Olney says the Yankees received $250,000 in international bonus money from the Marlins, and are now maxed out. It was reported earlier this month they had $3.5M in available international bonus money to offer Ohtani, so now it’s $3.75M.