A sentence in a recent Tom Verducci mailbag set a few Yankees a-twitter this week. “Remember,” wrote Verducci, “the Yankees preferred Ross Ohlendorf over Owings in the Big Unit trade, otherwise he’d be their No. 3 starter and DH these days!”
Now while Ross Ohlendorf clearly has a bright future as a Major League reliever ahead of him — his stuff and his recent 6 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 7 K line are testaments to that — Micah Owings is a desirable starter with excellent stuff. Yankee fans would have every right to be a little dismayed if the team truly favored Ohlendorf over Owings. But the problem with Verducci’s claim is that it’s simply not true.
A few weeks earlier, Verducci’s Sports Illustrated colleague and fellow columnist Jon Heyman wrote about Micah Owings’ role in the Randy Johnson trade talk as well. His take, however, was completely different from that of Verducci’s: “The Yankees tried hard for Owings in Randy Johnson trade talks after the 2006 season, even offering to send Arizona a few million more if they’d include him. No go.”
What Heyman wrote jibes with press reports from the time of the trade in December 2006 and January 2007. At the time, New York reporters offered up differing takes. Some said that the Yankees maybe could have landed Owings if they were prepared to shell out more money for the D-Backs and accept fewer players in return. Others said that Owings was considered to be an “untouchable” in Arizona’s farm system.
While Verducci’s analysis seems off the mark, what Heyman offers seems most realistic. The Yanks wanted Owings as any team would, and the Diamondbacks opted to hold on to their prized prospect. With Ohlendorf on the team, a compensation pick from Vizcaino on the way and the Big Unit’s health issues lately, I’d say the Yankees did just fine for themselves in that trade.
For one day, Jose Veras will take Phil Hughes’ spot, Chad Jennings notes. Tomorrow, Darrell Rasner will be called up to take Phil Hughes’ spot in the rotation for now. Veras’ promotion came about because Joe Girardi had two of his relievers throw 40 or more pitches last night, making them ineligible to pitch tonight. So now the Yanks are short an arm in the pen, and Scranton is set to play a double header with five relievers, one of whom is starting game two. That’s bad roster management.
Via Chad Jennings, the Yanks having inked 26-yr old catcher Chris Stewart and assigned him to Triple-A Scranton. Stewart has a little bit of big league experience, grabbing 45 at-bats with the ChiSox and Texas over the last two years. His numbers - majors or minors - aren’t exactly impressive, but the Yanks needed another catcher in the upper levels after Frankie Cervelli’s injury.
No not that Gardner, I’m talking about RHP Mike Gardner, who the Padres plucked from the Yanks in the Rule V Draft. Gardner had an unimpressive spring for the Friars, which made it easy for them to use the 25-man roster spot elsewhere. I expect Gardner to return to Double-A Trenton to start the year, with a halfway decent chance of contributing to the big league team at some point this year.
Via PeteAbe comes word that the Yanks have placed Andrew Brackman on the 60-day DL as he rehabs from TJ, and added Billy Traber to the 40-man roster in his place. This doesn’t necessarily mean Traber will be with the big league squad come Opening Day, but his chances just went up exponentially. Let’s just hope the Billy Traber Era goes better than the Wedsel Gary Groom Jr. Era. The Organizational Depth Chart has been updated accordingly.
Alan Horne, Jeff Marquez and Chase Wright were dispatched to the Minor League camp after today’s game. Two of them could be back in the Bronx this year; Chase Wright should join Sean Henn somewhere else.
Here’s something we wanted to see happen last year, but apparently was blocked by Joe Torre. The Yanks have signed Morgan Ensberg. No word on the nature of the deal — that is, whether it’s a major or minor league deal. My guess is that it’s a minor league one (saving the Yanks a roster spot), with an opt-out if he doesn’t make the big league roster.
I would suppose that he’s being brought in as competition for Shelley at first base. He’s only played three games in his career off of third base — one at DH, one at first base, and one at shortstop. I’m not quite sure if he’d be a viable bench option. We’ll see as Spring Training progresses, though.
Update: It’s a minor league deal. Just thought of something else, too. Ensberg could be Giambi insurance. If he goes down in ST, Ensberg would have a seat on the bench. Not a bad fallback plan.
Mighty Matt DeSalvo, the Yanks’ 2005 Minor League Pitcher of the Year, signed with the Braves. This is a sad, sad day in Mike A. land. Almost as sad as when Mike Richter announced his retirement.
Andy Phillips inked a deal with the Reds. Kinda shocked it wasn’t the Dodgers.
The Yanks signed RHP Scott Strickland, LHP Heath Phillips, LHP Billy Traber, C Jason Brown and IF Nick Green to minor league deals.
Brown and Green have spent time with the organization before. Strickland is a career journeyman, last pitching in the bigs with Houston back in 2005. The Padres released him in Spring Training last year just before his $550k salary was to be guaranteed. Traber was a first round pick way back in 2000, but has bounced from club to club and got pounded with the Nats last year (39.2 IP, 50 H, 21 ER, 13 BB, 27 K). I figure he’ll at least get a look-see in Spring Training to see if he can be an effective lefty specialist.
Heath Phillips is actually a halfway decent arm, and part of me was hoping the Yanks would take a flier on him after the ChiSox choose not to tender him a contract in December. He’s a barrel chested soon-to-be 26 year old workhorse with a high-80’s sinker and a rainbow curve. He can get into trouble by leaving pitches up in the zone, but he limits the damage because he keeps his walks down. This, ladies and gentlemen, is your LOOGY sleeper.
Update: Here’s a clip of Phillips (not Andy, obviously):
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