River Avenue Blues

Game 20: Getting back to .500

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(Presswire)

Even though the 2019 Yankees have been mostly frustrating, they have won three of their last four games and four of their last six games, and that ain’t bad. Could be better, obviously, but it could be worse too. The Yankees will try to continue their little roll this afternoon and get back to .500.

“When we get our guys back, I think we’ll start rolling,” CC Sabathia told Dan Martin following last night’s win. “It’s the attitude you take as you go through adversity. When you get back to full strength, you’re that much better.”

Like Homer Bailey two days ago and Jake Junis last night, the Yankees are facing a pitcher they should get to today. Bailey shut them down. Junis definitely did not. Heath Fillmyer? Let’s hope we’re not talking about the Yankees looking lifeless six innings into this one. Here are today’s lineups:

New York Yankees
1. 2B DJ LeMahieu
2. RF Aaron Judge
3. 1B Luke Voit
4. SS Gleyber Torres
5. LF Clint Frazier
6. DH Mike Ford
7. 3B Gio Urshela
8. C Austin Romine
9. CF Mike Tauchman

RHP Masahiro Tanaka

Kansas City Royals
1. 2B Whit Merrifield
2. SS Adalberto Mondesi
3. LF Alex Gordon
4. 3B Hunter Dozier
5. 1B Ryan O’Hearn
6. RF Jorge Soler
7. DH Lucas Duda
8. C Cam Gallagher
9. CF Billy Hamilton

RHP Heath Fillmyer

It is a dreary and rainy day in New York. The rain stopped earlier this morning and it’s not coming back, so they should have no trouble playing today. It just won’t be the most picturesque afternoon. Today’s game will begin at 1:05pm ET and you can watch on the YES Network locally and MLB Network nationally. Enjoy the game.

Injury Update: Gary Sanchez (calf) will play a minor league rehab game Monday, and if all goes well, he’ll rejoin the Yankees in Anaheim on Wednesday. Triple-A Scranton will be in Rochester and Double-A Trenton will be in New Hampshire, so Gary’s going to get stuck traveling somewhere for that rehab game Monday … Brett Gardner is fine. Just a veteran getting a day game after a night game off … I looked it up and in case you’re wondering, Torres is the only Yankee to play every inning of every game this year. (Judge got a few innings off at the end of the blowout win in Baltimore.)

Brett Gardner Has Been A Great Yankee. Don’t Overlook Him.

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Brett Gardner hit the 100th home run of his career on Wednesday night, in dramatic fashion: a 7th inning, go-ahead grand slam against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees had struggled all night to get anything going against former Yankee Nathan Eovaldi but pounced on the Sox’ shaky bullpen, and it was fitting that the Yankees’ longest-tenured player was the one to deliver the decisive blow. His career is on the downswing, and if 2019 is not his final year, 2020 almost surely will be. Before then, Yankee fans should take the time to appreciate a player who has had a fine career as a New York Yankee, consistently providing consistent and overlooked value to what was often one of the league’s best teams during his tenure here.

A 100 home-run career feels slightly underwhelming in the post-steroid era: after all, a generation of fans watched sluggers like Barry Bonds almost hit that many in a single season. But that view is short-sighted. Consider that 19,472 players have played baseball at the MLB level and that, as friend of RAB James Smyth noted on Twitter, only 895 have hit 100 home runs. That means that Brett Gardner is the newest member of a club to which only 5% of all MLB players in history belong.

That is quite the accomplishment for a player who, at age 17, was not even sure he would make the roster at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. In fact, he originally didn’t: he was cut after trying out for the team as an unrecruited walk-on. But he showed up for practice anyway and was never asked to leave again, eventually drafted in the third round of the 2005 draft by the Yankees after hitting .447 as a college senior. He has never left the Yankees organization, either.

He made his Yankee debut in 2008, and is the only player left on the current Yankees to have donned the pinstripes at the original House that Ruth Built. Since then, he has hit .260/.344/.391 (102 wRC+) in 1377 games for the Bombers, compiling 37.5 bWAR. He is renowned for his patience at the plate, always taking pitches and ranking toward the top of the league in pitches per plate appearance. He was an All-Star in 2015 and a World Series winner in 2009.

On top of league average offense—which was often more than that in his prime, as he posted a 127 wRC+ season in 2012 and several others above 110—he was a fantastic defender in the outfield. Four times in his career, Brett saved more than 10 runs in the outfielder and twice exceeded 20, with 25 and 23 DRS in 2010 and 2011, respectively. He saved 17 runs in 2017, and, even last year, he saved 8 runs. He has been an above-average defender (often well-above-average) for a decade. He won a Gold Glove in 2016.

That defensive prowess, in which he manned the spacious left field at Yankee Stadium, was made possible by Gardner’s trademark speed—speed that hasn’t left him. As Mike noted in Gardner’s 2019 season preview, Gardner remains as speedy as ever. To the numbers, using sprint speed from Statcast:

  • 2016: 28.7 feet per second (69th in MLB)
  • 2017: 28.8 feet per second (71st in MLB)
  • 2018: 29.2 feet per second (37th in MLB)
  • 2019: 28.8 feet per second (27th in MLB)

That has made him a prolific baserunner, logging above-average baserunning figures according to both Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference last year. In other words, even as his offensive skills have depreciated, he has remained an efficient, above-average baserunner with above-average defense and one of the league’s speediest players.

Those skills, odd as it may seem, are why Gardner was able to join the exclusive 100 home run club last week: he was always offering value to the Yankees. Consider that he has been worth less than 3 bWAR exactly once (discounting 2012 when he logged only 16 games) after he became a full-time player in 2010, That was last year, and it was 2.8, meaning that Gardner has been a consistent 3-win player for a decade. Even though that’s not superstar material, it is a very valuable MLB player—and a rare one, at that.

Gardner has played with inner-circle Hall of Famers and with big-name superstars with divisive personalities that command talk radio attention and tabloid headlines. Through it all, he has provided steady clubhouse leadership and been an unofficial captain of sorts of the new Yankees, alongside CC Sabathia and Aaron Judge.

Brett Gardner’s career has been easy to overlook, but that doesn’t mean you should overlook it. After all, either after this year or next, he will no longer be a Yankee—and when that time comes, I suspect you’ll find yourself missing the speedy, efficient outfielder who has so woven himself into the fabric of the New York Yankees that you barely even notice he is there, doing what he has always done.

Yankees 6, Royals 2: Gardner and Tauchman help get Sabathia closer to a milestone win

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The heavy rain held off long enough to play a full nine innings Friday night and the Yankees picked up with a 6-2 win over the Royals. Why can’t they all be like this? The Yankees are, once again, back to within a game of .500 at 9-10.

(Mike Stobe/Getty)

Score Early
The Royals took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning (more on that in a bit) and it didn’t take the Yankees long to answer. In the bottom of the third No. 9 hitter Tyler Wade found a hole with a one-out ground ball, setting No. 1 hitter Brett Gardner up for a two-run home run. Jake Junis gave him a 90 mph fastball over the plate in a 2-0 count, and not even late-career Gardner’s going to miss that. The ball sailed into the home bullpen for a 2-1 lead.

Two innings later Mike Tauchman hit his second home run in four days, this one a solo homer out to right field. Tauchman does enough to remain interesting, and with Greg Bird sidelined and Giancarlo Stanton probably still a week away (at least), there will be some at-bats available for the foreseeable future. Tauchman’s received a bunch of them this week and he’s taking advantage. His second homer of the season (and career) gave the Yankees a 3-1 lead.

One Bad Inning
The second start of CC Sabathia’s final season did not go as well as the first, though, to be fair, it’s hard to be better than one baserunner in five scoreless innings while being held to a strict pitch count. Sabathia inched closer to 250 career wins (now 247) and 3,000 career strikeouts (now 2,994) with five workmanlike innings Friday night. He had a real chance at six scoreless innings if not for some (wait for it) defensive blunders.

While the third inning could’ve been better, it also could’ve been much worse. Two walks, two errors, and a runner thrown out at the plate. All in one inning. The Royals only scored one run in that inning, but so much happened that I’m inclined the annotate the play-by-play anyway. Let’s get to it.

(1) It was obvious the light-hitting Terrance Gore — this dude is a career .239/.333/.273 (78 wRC+) hitter in over 2,200 minor league plate appearances — would bunt as soon as Sabathia walked Martin Maldonado on five pitches to begin the inning. Gore got the bunt down along the first base line and it was a beauty. No one was getting Gore. Sabathia beat Luke Voit to the ball, and his throw to first base was both late and wide. The ball went into foul territory and the runners moved up. Rather than runners on first and second with no outs, the unforced error gave the Royals runners on second and third with no outs. Sabathia should’ve held on to the ball. Alas.

(2) My thought process on Whit Merrifield’s routine fly ball to right field: “Phew, Aaron Judge will hold Maldonado at third with this arm.” “Wait, Clint Frazier’s in right tonight, oh no!” “Holy cow look at that throw, yes!” A strong throw by Frazier and an unbelievable tag by Kyle Higashioka cut Maldonado down at the plate. Here’s the video:

We haven’t seen it much, but Frazier has a great arm — Baseball America (subs. req’d) called it an “above-average throwing arm” the last time Clint was prospect-eligible — and he got the ball to the home plate on the fly. Higashioka was able to make the catch and spin around quickly enough to apply the tag. That ain’t easy, folks. The Yankees turned the fly ball into a double play and, inexplicably, Gore did not advance to third. He stayed at second base.

(3) This was the end of the inning right here. Billy Hamilton hit a little ground ball to first base and Voit flubbed it. Looked like he rushed the play because Hamilton’s so fast. Instead of picking up the ball and stepping on first base to end the inning, Voit let the ball go in and out of his glove, and Hamilton was safe. That was the third out. Even with Hamilton’s speed, it was a fairly routine play. Because Gore did not advance to third on Merrifield’s fly ball, he was unable to score on the Voit error. The Yankees caught a break …

(4) … and then Adalberto Mondesi poked a single to right field to score Gore anyway. The Voit error extended the inning and the Royals took advantage. Seems like the Yankees have paid for every single mistake this season. Can’t get away with anything. Sabathia eventually got Alex Gordon to hit a little tapper back in front of the plate to end the inning and leave the bases loaded. Without the play at the plate and the left-on-left matchup with Gordon, that inning could’ve been so much worse. The Voit error kept the inning alive for Kansas City, led to run, and forced Sabathia to throw eleven more pitches than necessary.

The final line: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 5 K on 86 pitches, which Aaron Boone said was Sabathia’s limit before the game. He got away with walks to Gore and Hamilton in the fifth inning — Gore walk, Merrifield double play, Hamilton walk is quite the sequence — and was generally sharp aside from that messy third inning. Ten innings and no earned runs through two starts. I am ready for Sabathia’s 2008 Mike Mussina farewell season.

Score Late
Because Sabathia had to throw those extra pitches in the third inning, and because Jonathan Holder and Chad Green are struggling (and both pitched last night), the Yankees were short on options for the sixth inning. Boone went to Luis Cessa and, back-to-back doubles later, the 3-1 lead became a 3-2 lead. Cessa was able to strand the tying run at third with one out, so that’s good, but clearly insurance runs were necessary.

The insurance runs came right away. A Judge double, a Voit walk, and a Gleyber Torres infield single loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth. Gore hit the right field wall very hard on Judge’s double, and Gleyber’s single was a grounder into no man’s land in front of second base. He beat the first baseman and pitcher to the bag. DJ LeMahieu got a run home with what will go into the history books as a sac fly. In reality, it was a hard hit liner Hamilton caught on the dive:

After a few weeks of finding grass with every little looper and getting every ground ball through the hole, LeMahieu is stuck in BABIP regression hell right now. He hit a rocket at the first baseman Thursday night and had that potential hit taken away by Hamilton on Friday night. With a lesser center fielder, that’s a bases-clearing gap shot. Instead, LeMahieu went 0-for-3 in the game and is now 2-for-23 (.087) in his last six games. So it goes.

LeMahieu brought a run in with the sac fly, then Junis brought another run in with a wild pitch. Spiked something in the dirt and Voit was able to scamper home for a 5-2 lead. A double by Higashioka and a bunt by Wade added another run in the seventh inning. Wade got the bunt down and beat it out for a single, but Hunter Dozier’s throw sailed into foul territory, allowing Higashioka to score. (Wade was thrown out at second).

The Yankees used home runs to take the lead early and some small ball to add to their lead late. They scored their final three runs on a great catch sacrifice fly, a wild pitch, and a throwing error by the third baseman. This one had a little something for everyone, offensively. Nice to see the other team screw things up once in a while. (The Yankees had three errors on the night, but I digress.)

(Mike Stobe/Getty)

Leftovers
Once Cessa got the Yankees through the sixth, Boone went to Adam Ottavino against the top of the lineup in the seventh, and Zack Britton was lined up for the eighth before the Yankees added another run. Tommy Kahnle instead got the eighth and Britton the ninth. One run and six strikeouts in four innings for the bullpen. That was exactly what the Yankees needed on this particular night.

Homer and a walk for Gardner, double and a walk for Judge, single and two walks for Voit. His MLB leading on-base streak is up to 30 games. Wade had two hits as the ninth place hitter. Everyone in the starting lineup reached base at least once except LeMahieu, who at least had a productive out with a sacrifice fly. Six hits, five walks, and only three strikeouts for the Yankees.

And finally, history was made in this game. Ottavino vs. Gore in the seventh inning gave us the first No. 0 vs. No. 0 matchup in baseball history. “I really don’t know what to say about it, honestly. Two guys with a stupid number,” Ottavino told Coley Harvey after the game. Yup.

Box Score, WPA Graph & Standings
MLB.com has the box score and video highlights, ESPN has the updated standings, and we have a Bullpen Workload page. Here’s the win probability graph:


Source: FanGraphs

Up Next
The Yankees and Royals are halfway through this four-game series. Masahiro Tanaka and (checks notes) Heath Fillmyer are the scheduled starters for Saturday’s game. That is a 1:05pm ET start. The rain is supposed to clear out by then.

DotF: Gio’s final start rained out; Ruta, Garcia have big games

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Some good injury news: OF Estevan Florial had his cast removed Wednesday and is 7-10 days away from resuming baseball activities, Aaron Boone told Brendan Kuty. Florial broke his right wrist crashing into the wall in Spring Training. If all goes well (I know, I know), it sounds like he could return to game action in mid-to-late May. Fingers crossed.

The Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders were rained out. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader on June 3rd. LHP Gio Gonzalez, who will reportedly use his opt-out clause tomorrow, was scheduled to start tonight. Guess he won’t get to make one last Triple-A after all.

Double-A Trenton Thunder (13-10 win over Portland)

  • 2B Hoy Jun Park: 1-6, 1 R, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 1 K
  • SS Kyle Holder: 1-4, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 K
  • LF Ben Ruta: 4-6, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI — now hitting .420/.500/.600 through 13 games … he played 36 games here last season, which ain’t a ton, so I think it’ll be a few weeks before the Yankees move him up to Scranton … he turns 25 in June and was a 30th round pick, but at some point the bat forces a promotion and forces the team to see what he can do at the highest level
  • 1B Brandon Wagner: 2-5, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 E (fielding)
  • CF Rashad Crawford: 1-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K
  • C Jorge Saez: 3-3, 2 R, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 2 BB, 1 E (catcher interference) — had been 3-for-16 (.188) on the season prior to this game
  • RHP Garrett Whitlock: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 2 WP, 9/2 GB/FB — 57 of 87 pitches were strikes (66%) … 16/3 K/BB in 18 innings

[Read more…]

Game 19: Get a lead before the rain

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(Elsa/Getty)

The Yankees crashed back to reality last night. They followed that thrilling two-game series sweep against the Red Sox with a clunker of a series opener against the Royals. The Yankees are now 3-7 in ten home games against the Orioles, Tigers, White Sox, and Royals. That is impressively terrible.

“It’s our job to win every day, no matter what other teams are doing to win,” Brett Gardner told Ken Davidoff following last night’s loss. “If we do what we’re supposed to do, it doesn’t matter who we’re playing, or where we’re at. Obviously some guys are going to be out longer than others, but we’ve got depth to weather a storm like that. We’ll be good.”

The Yankees have talk a lot about weathering the storm and being close to going on a roll this season, but we’ve yet to see it. When you have to keep reminding folks you’re close to doing something, you’re not close to doing it. Get a win, please. Here are tonight’s lineups:

New York Yankees
1. CF Brett Gardner
2. DH Aaron Judge
3. 1B Luke Voit
4. SS Gleyber Torres
5. 3B DJ LeMahieu
6. RF Clint Frazier
7. LF Mike Tauchman
8. C Kyle Higashioka
9. 2B Tyler Wade

LHP CC Sabathia

Kansas City Royals
1. 1B Whit Merrifield
2. CF Billy Hamilton
3. SS Adalberto Mondesi
4. 3B Hunter Dozier
5. LF Alex Gordon
6. DH Jorge Soler
7. 2B Chris Owings
8. C Martin Maldonado
9. RF Terrance Gore

RHP Jake Junis

It has been warm and sticky today in New York, and it is supposed to rain tonight. The internet tells me the rain is due to arrive around 9pm ET, and once it starts, it won’t stop until tomorrow morning. So make sure you have a lead after the top of the fifth tonight, fellas. Tonight’s game will begin at 7:05pm ET and WPIX will have the broadcast. Enjoy the game.

Injury Updates: Gary Sanchez (calf) hit, ran, played catch, and caught J.A. Happ’s bullpen session this afternoon. Once the doctors give him the thumb’s up, Sanchez will play a minor league rehab game or two, then join the Yankees during next week’s West Coast trip … Miguel Andujar (shoulder) threw to the bases today and everything went well. “I was really encouraged. At this point we kinda still remain optimistic,” Aaron Boone told Sweeny Murti … Aaron Hicks (back) hit in the batting cage today. He’s going to Tampa to continue his rehab following Sunday’s series finale with the Royals. Andujar and Troy Tulowitzki (calf) are going to Tampa as well.

Update: Yankees sign Logan Morrison to minor league deal

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(Presswire)

4:16pm ET: The Yankees have officially announced the Morrison signing. What does Sanchez think about it? “That was two years ago. … We welcome him here,” he told James Wagner. So there you go.

12:30pm ET: According to Chris Cotillo, the Yankees have signed veteran first baseman Logan Morrison to a minor league contract. He’ll head to Extended Spring Training to get at-bats before joining Triple-A Scranton. Joel Sherman says Morrison gets a $1M base salary at the MLB level and a July 1st opt-out.

Morrison, 31, struggled with the Twins last year, hitting .186/.276/.368 (74 wRC+) with 15 home runs in 95 games before having season-ending hip surgery. Two years ago he authored a .246/.353/.516 (130 wRC+) line with 38 homers for the Rays. I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for that guy to come back.

You may recall Morrison ripped MLB for inviting Gary Sanchez to the Home Run Derby two years ago, saying he should’ve been there instead. A refresher, via Bryan Hoch:

“Gary shouldn’t be there,” Morrison said. “Gary’s a great player, but he shouldn’t be in the Home Run Derby. I remember when I had 14 home runs. That was a month and a half ago.”

On the day of Morrison’s comments, he had 24 home runs and Sanchez had 13. Gary has out-homered Morrison 44 to 29 since that day while playing roughly the same amount of games (169 to 164) and being a catcher. “(Yankee fans) didn’t like the Gary Sanchez thing with the Home Run Derby but you can’t fix stupid, you know?” Morrison later said to Zach Miller.

A N Y W A Y, the Morrison signing is an obvious move to replenish depth following Greg Bird’s latest injury. The only first base option in Triple-A is Ryan McBroom, who the RailRiders need to use in the outfield occasionally. The Yankees needed a Triple-A first baseman and they signed a Triple-A first baseman who maybe could sock some dingers with a healthy hip. We’ll see.

Revisiting the MLBTR Archives: April 2014

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Solarte. (Presswire)

At long last, the offseason and Spring Training are over. That applies both to the present day Yankees and the Yankees of yesteryear. Our MLB Trade Rumors archive series moves (concludes, really) into April 2014. The Yankees lost to Scott Feldman and the Astros — Houston went 51-111 the prior season — on Opening Day that year. Most notably, Dellin Betances pitched that day and made the first of what would eventually be 70 dominant appearances that season.

The Yankees had a very busy 2013-14 offseason. Robinson Cano left as a free agent and the Yankees responded to their forgettable 2013 season with several big free agent signings (Carlos Beltran, Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann, Masahiro Tanaka) and several smaller free agent signings (Kelly Johnson, Brian Roberts, Matt Thornton). Anyway, April is usually not a great month for rumors and transactions, but let’s go through the archives anyway.

April 1st, 2014: Yankees Designate Eduardo Nunez For Assignment

The Yankees have designated shortstop Eduardo Nunez for assignment, tweets Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News. A 40-man roster spot was needed for fellow infielder Yangervis Solarte, who beat out Nunez for the club’s utility infield role.

The end of the Nunie era. Nunez spent the 2011-13 seasons as a most of the time player, hitting .266/.313/.380 (87 wRC+) with -35 DRS. It was time to move on. Nunez made the most of his fresh start with the Twins and the Yankees certainly made the right move going with Solarte, a minor league contract guy who blew everyone away in Spring Training and helped keep the Yankees relevant in April and May. Solarte took Nunez’s roster spot, his utility infielder job, and his uniform number (No. 26). Replaced him in every way possible.

April 5th, 2014: AL Notes: Teixeira, Lester, Kipnis

Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira has been placed on the 15-day DL with a hamstring injury, the club announced today. Needless to say, that is not the start to the year that he or the team had hoped for as the 33-year-old works back from wrist surgery. The injury has revealed some roster issues in New York, which will move Kelly Johnson from third to first for the time being and call up catcher Austin Romine to take the open active roster spot. While the team was surely uninterested in carrying three backstops, the move was dictated by 40-man constraints.

Oh geez, I forgot about Teixeira’s hamstring injury. He missed most of 2013 with his wrist injury, remember. Now he had a hamstring problem. He missed 13 games with the injury and Teixeira’s injury is what gave Solarte his first real big league opportunity. Teixeira got hurt, Johnson moved over from third base to first base, and Solarte took over at the hot corner. He went 15-for-47 (.319) with four doubles and a homer while Teixeira was out, and the Yankees couldn’t take him out of the lineup.

April 6th, 2014: AL Notes: Davis, Kottaras, Omogrosso

Brian Omogrosso‘s agency, MCA, says (via Twitter) that the pitcher is drawing interest from the Yankees, Rangers and Blue Jays after pitching at a showcase Friday in Arizona. The White Sox recently released Omogrosso. He appeared in 37 1/3 innings for them in the past two seasons, posting a 5.54 ERA with 8.2 K/9 and 4.3 BB/9.

Brian Omogrosso, eh? He put 67 guys on base and allowed 24 runs in 37.1 innings as an up-and-down arm with the White Sox from 2012-13. No team signed him in April 2014. He wound up with the independent Bridgeport Bluefish that year, allowed nine runs in six innings, and that was that. Omogrosso’s been out of baseball since. Crazy has fast this game can be taken away from a player. General rule of thumb: When a player’s agency tweets out the teams that are interested in signing him, take it with a grain of salt. A big one.

April 7th, 2014: Twins Acquire Eduardo Nunez

The Twins have acquired infielder Eduardo Nunez from the Yankees in exchange for left-hander Miguel Sulbaran, tweets Twins director of baseball communications Dustin Morse. Nunez has been assigned to Triple-A Rochester.

The Yankees took the loss on this one. Baseball America never ranked Sulbaran among his team’s top 30 prospects and he threw 186 minor league innings with a 3.87 ERA (3.55 FIP) while with the Yankees. He was released after missing 2016 with injury and serving a 25-game drug suspension in 2017. Been out of baseball since. Nunez hasn’t been great by any means since then (+4.5 WAR from 2014-18), but he’s certainly been more useful than Sulbaran. Shrug.

April 11th, 2014: AL East Notes: Moore, Trout, Cashman, Jays

The Yankees have been fined by Major League Baseball for tampering due to comments made by team president Randy Levine in regards to Mike Trout, The Los Angeles Times’ Bill Shaikin reports.  The amount of the fine isn’t known.  Levine cited Trout last December when discussing why the Yankees didn’t match the Mariners’ 10-year contract offer for Robinson Cano, saying “If it was Mike Trout, I’d offer him a 10-year contract, but for people over 30, I don’t believe it makes sense.”  The Angels took exception to Levine’s comments and asked the Commissioner’s office to investigate the matter.

If only there were some 20-somethings the Yankees could’ve given a ten-year contract this offseason!

April 14th, 2014: Quick Hits: Puig, Yankees, Lester, Tigers, Blackouts

The Yankees come in at a surprising second in the early-season defensive shift count, writes ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (Insider subscription required). As Olney notes, that kind of decision requires organizational commitment on every level, and two offseason infield acquisitions — Kelly Johnson and Brian Roberts — played an important part in the first discussions involving players.

The 2014 season is when we first started to see the team’s analytical efforts trickle down to the field. Infield shifts had been around for years, they were hardly new in baseball, but they were new to the Yankees. They shifted quite a bit in 2014 and weren’t especially good at it. I think part of it was personnel. The shift was still relatively new to veterans like Johnson and Roberts. The Yankees are much more well positioned now and it helps that guys like Gleyber Torres, Miguel Andujar, and others were able to learn the shift in the minors. Back in 2014, the Yankees just kinda threw it out there and hoped it work. There’s a much better plan in place now.

April 18th, 2014: Yankees Designate Cesar Cabral For Assignment

The Yankees designated reliever Cesar Cabral for assignment after tonight’s game, reports Marly Rivera of ESPN Deportes (via Twitter). Cabral, 25, had a rough outing, giving up three earned runs and failing to record an out before he was ejected for hitting his third batter of the inning.

I remember that Cabral outing. It was ugly. He entered the eighth inning at Tropicana Field with the Yankees down 8-5 and went single, single, hit batter, hit batter, single, hit batter. The hit-by-pitches didn’t look intentional — Cabral also threw a wild pitch that inning and only nine of his 23 pitches were strikeouts — but come on, the umpire can’t leave a guy in when he’s hit three of six batters.

Cabral spent the rest of the season in Triple-A, hooked on with the Orioles the next year and did return to the big leagues briefly (one inning in 2015). The independent Sugar Land Skeeters recently drafted him out of a showcase event, so Cabral’s still active. The Yankees liked him so much that they took him in the 2011 (!) Rule 5 Draft and waited all that time for him to overcome elbow problems.

April 20th, 2014: Yankees Designate Matt Daley For Assignment

The Yankees have designated right-hander Matt Daley, according to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News (on Twitter). In related moves, New York activated Mark Teixeira, recalled right-handers Preston Claiborne and Bryan Mitchell, placed right-hander Ivan Nova on the 15-day disabled list with a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, and sent infielder Scott Sizemore to Triple-A.

Good gravy what a series of transactions. There’s a lot going on there. First, Daley, who currently works in the Yankees’ front office, will forever be remembered as the guy who was summoned from the bullpen to replace Mariano Rivera after Rivera’s memorable farewell in 2013. He spent the rest of the 2014 season in Triple-A before hooking on with the Yankees as a scout.

Claiborne got off to a real nice start with the Yankees in 2013 before crashing late and continuing to crash in 2014. He managed to make it back to the big leagues with the Rangers in 2017. This call-up was Mitchell’s first big league call-up, though he didn’t get a chance to pitch before being sent down, kinda like Domingo Acevedo last year. Mitchell eventually made his MLB debut in August 2014.

Sizemore went 5-for-16 (.313) in limited time with the Yankees and I was Mad Online they didn’t give him a longer look while Teixeira was out. He’s been out of baseball since 2016. Oh, and this is when Nova blew out his elbow and needed Tommy John surgery. Nova’s injury led to Chase Whitley getting called up. Whitley and Jacob deGrom made their MLB debuts as opposing starters in a game the Yankees won 1-0. It was the game Betances did this:

Lordy. That was right when it was starting to become clear Betances was legit. I miss Dellin. Can’t wait for him to come back.

April 25th, 2014: Yankees Sign Bruce Billings To Major League Deal

The Yankees have signed right-hander Bruce Billings to a Major League contract and selected him to their 25-man roster.  The club announced the signing prior to yesterday’s game against Boston.  Billings is represented by John Boggs & Associates.

Okay, this MLBTR post is a bit misleading, because the Yankees had signed Billings to a minor league deal over the winter and he started the season with Triple-A Scranton. When a non-40-man roster guy gets called up, he technically signs a new Major League contract as part of the process. The Yankees didn’t sign Billings as a free agent in April 2014. They just called him up. Anyway, Billings made one appearance with the Yankees, allowing four runs in four mop-up innings against the Angels. It was his last MLB game and he’s been out of baseball since 2015. The 2014 Yankees really gave the 2013 Yankees a run for their money with the random journeyman call-ups.

April 26th, 2014: AL East Notes: Campos, Masterson, Stroman

Yankees minor-league pitcher Jose Campos had Tommy John surgery on Friday, CBS Sports’ Danny Knobler tweets. Campos, of course, arrived from the Mariners prior to the 2012 season with Michael Pineda for Jesus Montero and Hector Noesi, a trade that seems to have been cursed for everyone involved.

From 2012-15, Campos threw 167 innings in the farm system due to various injuries. As soon as he showed some semblance of good health in 2016, the Yankees cashed him in as a trade chip. He went to the Diamondbacks for Tyler Clippard. No one won the Pineda-Montero trade. The Yankees just lost it less. Campos at least got a taste of the big leagues with Arizona later in that 2016 season, allowing three runs in 5.2 innings. He allowed 14 runs in 22.1 innings with the independent Sugar Land Skeeters last season. Still only 26 too.

April 26th, 2014: Minor Moves: Freddy Garcia, Nik Turley

The Yankees have announced that they’ve released pitcher Nik Turley. Turley, 24, posted a 3.88 ERA with 8.9 K/9 and 4.7 BB/9 in 139 innings for Double-A Trenton in 2013. He experienced arm tightness in spring training and has not pitched this season, but if healthy, one would think that a left-hander with his strikeout rate and ability to start could get a look from another organization.

Turley went from 50th round draft pick to the big leagues. The Yankees released him after some injuries, then he bounced from the Giants to the Red Sox to the Twins. Turley allowed 22 runs in 17.2 innings with Minnesota in 2017, but he didn’t pitch at all last season due to an elbow injury and a performance-enhancing drug suspension. Even though the results stink, seeing a kid drafted that late reach the big leagues is always pretty cool.

April 28th, 2014: Yankees Sign Chris Leroux To Minor League Deal

The Yankees signed Chris Leroux to a Major League contract and added the right-hander to their 25-man roster, the club announced over the weekend.  Leroux joined the Yankees on a minor league deal signed in January.  Leroux is represented by the Octagon Agency.

Same deal as Billings. Leroux was with Triple-A Scranton and was called up. He made two appearances with the Yankees and managed to allow five runs in two innings. Leroux’s been out of baseball since 2016. Billings and Leroux were called up in April, but folks, there were still plenty Jim Millers and Josh Outmans and Jeff Franci to come during this 2014 season.

April 28th, 2014: Quick Hits: Tigers, Nevin, Murphy, Polanco

John Ryan Murphy has drawn the attention of several opposing scouts and the young catcher could become a sought-after trade chip for the Yankees, John Harper of the New York Daily News reports.  “Some team might see him as a guy who could start for them,’’ one scout told Harper. “He’s solid with the bat and behind the plate.’’

Murphy didn’t play much with the 2014 Yankees — Brian McCann and Francisco Cervelli were the primary catching tandem that year — but he was a really good prospect. A borderline top 100 guy. Murphy gave the Yankees a quality season as the backup catcher in 2015 (.277/.327/.406 and 100 wRC+) before they turned him into Aaron Hicks. Even with Hicks dealing with his back injury, that trade has been a huge win for the Yankees. Murphy is with the D’Backs right now and they made him throw 54 pitches (!) in a two-inning mopup appearance two weeks ago. Seven runs in two innings. Man. How is letting a position player (or a pitcher, for that matter) throw that many pitches in two innings safe?

April 29th, 2014: Injury Notes: Profar, Figueroa, Pineda, Nova

Speaking of injured pitchers, Yankees hurler Michael Pineda will have an MRI after leaving a simulated game with a sore lat muscle, Newsday’s David Lennon tweets. Pineda’s suspension for pine tar is due to end Monday, but the Yankees might be without him longer than that.

You all remember the pin tar incident, right? Of course you do. Pineda was busted for having pine tar on his neck at Fenway Park, and was given a ten-game suspension. Everyone remembers that. How many people remember Pineda got hurt while suspended though? He was throwing in Tampa during his suspension when he injured his lat. The pine tar game was April 23rd. Pineda did not rejoin the Yankees until August 13th.

April 30th, 2014: AL Notes: Abreu, Carbonell, Astros, Baker

The Yankees are interested in Cuban outfielder Daniel Carbonell, according to media outlet Diario de Cuba (hat tip to Mike Axisa of River Ave Blues).  The Yankees scouted Carbonell during a February workout.  The switch-hitting 23-year-old is a free agent and can be signed for any price as long as he signs before July 2.

For some reason I had it in my head that the Yankees signed Carbonell. I must’ve been confusing him with someone else. The Giants signed Carbonell to a four-year, $3.5M contract and he spent the entire four-year contract in the minors. Didn’t play much above Single-A ball. Carbonell hit .178/.229/.267 in the Mexican League last season, which sources confirm is not good. I somehow wrote three (and now four) RAB posts about this guy. Maybe I should’ve started a monthly RAB Archives feature where I looked back at all the stupid things I wrote five years ago. That would’ve been a hoot.