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King: Yankees have put Rob Refsnyder on the trade block

March 6, 2017 by Mike Leave a Comment

According to George King, the Yankees have let other teams know they’re willing to list to trade offers for Rob Refsnyder. I suppose that applies to every player. It’s unclear whether any other clubs have interest, or if offers have been made. The Athletics have had interest in Refsnyder in the past. They wanted him (and Adam Warren) for Ben Zobrist at the 2015 trade deadline.

Refsnyder, 26 later this month, is on the outside looking in at the Opening Day roster right now, even after Tyler Austin’s fluke foot injury. Greg Bird has had a very strong Grapefruit League season to date, giving him the leg up on the first base job. That means Chris Carter figures to join the backup catcher (Austin Romine), backup infielder (Ronald Torreyes), and backup outfielder (Aaron Hicks) on the bench.

An injury could always clear a roster spot, as could Aaron Judge striking out in 60% of his at-bats the rest of the month, but otherwise there’s no clear path to playing time for Refsnyder. He’s a depth player for the Yankees, one they don’t trust defensively at second or third bases. They’ve made that clear with their reluctance to use him at those positions. Right field and first base are his primary positions, for all intents and purposes.

Refsnyder managed to get into 58 games last season, hitting .250/.328/.309 (72 wRC+) overall and .274/.370/.355 (94 wRC+) against lefties. The lack of power is hard to ignore. He hit zero MLB homers last season even though balls were flying out of the park all around the league, and only once in five pro seasons has he hit double digit homers (14 in the minors in 2014). Refsnyder will grind out at-bats, but that’s about it.

What could the Yankees get for Refsnyder? Not a whole lot, probably. Players like this — non-top prospects with questions about both his bat and glove — usually don’t bring a big return. Remember Jose Pirela? Getting Ronald Herrera for him turned out to be a coup. The Rays got a middling pitching prospect (Buddy Borden) for Sean Rodriguez two years ago. The most optimistic projection system (ZiPS) pegs Refsnyder as a +1 WAR player in 2017 and that’s just not very valuable.

The fact Refsnyder is cheap (still in his pre-arbitration years), optionable (he has one option left), and somewhat versatile makes me think an NL team could take a look at him as a bench player. That would be best for Refsnyder at this point. It’s hard to see where he fits with the Yankees long-term. At the same time, keeping him and stashing him in Triple-A for depth in 2017 wouldn’t be a bad idea either, at least while Austin is out.

Fan Confidence Poll: March 6th, 2017

March 6, 2017 by Mike Leave a Comment

Spring Record: 9-2 (71 RS, 36 RA)
Spring Opponents This Week: Mon. @ PIT (MLBN, MLB.tv), Tues. vs. TB (YES, MLB.tv), Weds. vs. Canada (no TV), Thurs. @ ATL (no TV), Fri. @ PHI (MLBN, MLB.tv), Sat. vs. DET (YES, MLB.tv), Sun. vs. ATL (no TV)

Open Thread: March 5th Camp Notes

March 5, 2017 by Mike Leave a Comment

Another day, another win for the Yankees. They’re 9-2 this spring. Matt Holliday had a pair of doubles while Gleyber Torres (triple), Clint Frazier (single), and Gary Sanchez (single) were among those with a single base hit. Sanchez also threw out two more runners trying to steal. Aside from that, this wasn’t the prettiest game on either side of the ball. Both teams had a few errors of the hilarious variety.

Masahiro Tanaka started and looked very much like a veteran going through the motions in his three scoreless innings. He struck out four. The splitter was on. Tommy Layne, Aroldis Chapman, and Tyler Clippard all threw an inning. Rotation candidate Luis Cessa finished the game off and allowed an unearned run in two innings. Here are the box score and video highlights, and here’s the rest of the day’s news from Tampa:

James Kaprielian threw another simulated game today, so it seems he’s healthy. The Yankees say they’re going to take it very slow with Kaprielian following last year’s elbow injury and he might not pitch in an actual Grapefruit League game. [Brendan Kuty]
Ji-Man Choi took a pitch to the face in today’s game and was walking around afterward with an ice pack on his cheek. I guess that means it wasn’t something more serious. Also, Tyler Wade fouled a ball off his foot but remained in the game. [Mike Mazzeo]
The Yankees will be on the road to play the Pirates tomorrow and I think Bryan Mitchell is the scheduled starter. He lines up to pitch tomorrow, anyway. That game will be on MLB Network and MLB.tv, but not YES.
And finally, Kevin Kernan has a neat story on Brett Gardner, who is mentoring Aaron Judge in camp. Judge, meanwhile, has been mentoring some younger players over in minor league camp. Pretty cool.

Here is the open thread for the rest of the weekend. This afternoon’s game will be replayed on both YES (7pm ET) and MLB Network (11pm ET). The Knicks, Islanders, and Devils are all playing, plus there’s some college hoops on the schedule as well. You know how these things work by now, so have at it.

Spring Training Game Thread: Tanaka’s Second Start

March 5, 2017 by Mike Leave a Comment

The Spring Training of our dreams continues this afternoon with a home game against the Pirates. The pitchers all look pretty good, the young position players are hitting the snot out of the ball, and the Yankees are winning. They lead all teams in wins, runs (by 12), homers (by four), and extra-base hits (by eight) this spring. Wins and runs in February and March don’t mean anything, but it sure has been a blast to watch.

Staff ace Masahiro Tanaka is making his first televised start and second overall start of the spring today. By all accounts he looked very good first time out. Today we’ll be able to lay our eyes on him. Also, Gleyber Torres is playing second base today. He spent a tiny little bit of time there last season as the Yankees look to increase their top prospect’s versatility. Here’s the lineup the Pirates send over from Bradenton, and here are the players the Yankees will use:

LF Brett Gardner
CF Jacoby Ellsbury
DH Matt Holliday
1B Chris Carter
RF Aaron Judge
C Austin Romine
3B Ronald Torreyes
SS Ruben Tejada
2B Gleyber Torres
RHP Masahiro Tanaka

Available Pitchers: LHP Aroldis Chapman, LHP Tommy Layne, RHP Tyler Clippard, RHP Luis Cessa, RHP Yefrey Ramirez, and RHP Chance Adams are all listed as scheduled to pitch today. Assuming Tanaka goes three innings, I guess that means everyone else is throwing one inning each, including Cessa and Adams. We’ll see. RHP J.R. Graham, LHP Joe Mantiply, LHP Caleb Frare, and LHP Evan Rutckyj are also available today. Frare is up from minor league camp for the day.

Available Position Players: C Gary Sanchez, 1B Ji-Man Choi, 2B Jorge Mateo, SS Tyler Wade, 3B Pete Kozma, LF Donovan Solano, CF Dustin Fowler, RF Clint Frazier, and DH Aaron Hicks will be the second string off the bench. C Jorge Saez, C Kyle Higashioka, C Francisco Diaz, UTIL Wilkin Castillo, 3B Miguel Andujar, and OF Billy McKinney are also available, if necessary.

It is pretty cloudy in Tampa today, though there’s no rain in the forecast, and that’s most important. This afternoon’s game will begin a little after 1pm ET. You can watch live on YES and MLB.tv. There’s also the FOX Sports Go app. Enjoy the game.

Approaching Aaron Judge

March 5, 2017 by Matt Imbrogno Leave a Comment

Here’s a hot take to help break the recent blustery cold in my neck of the woods: 2017 is going to be a big year for Aaron Judge. After his intermittently successful cup of coffee at the end of 2016, he’s poised to take over the starting right field job and hopefully lock it down for years to come. Of course, that future doesn’t depend wholly on this year. It’d be nice, though, if he laid any doubts to rest. Part of cementing his place in right field will be making adjustments to the league, as it will be for every young player, both in and out of the Bronx.

The biggest wrinkle–in terms of results–in Judge’s game is the fact that he strikes out a lot. He balances it with walks and homers, thankfully, so it makes you able to live with the whiffs. It would be disingenuous, though, to act like the high strikeout totals he racked up in MLB last year were not at last a little concerning. In 95 trips to the plate in 2016, Judge struck out 42 times, a percentage of 44.5. If we include his minor league numbers (98 Ks in 410 PA), the percentage drops down considerably to just over 27%, but that’s still rather high. To cut down on that number, Judge will have to adjust how pitchers have approached him in two situations: the first pitch and with two strikes.

On the first pitch last year, a the thing that stands out is his various whiff/swing rates on different pitch types. On the first pitch fastballs, he missed on 20% of his swings. That number is small, though, compared to how he fared on first pitches that were anything but a fastball. Of the non-fastballs, he saw 10 changeups, 16 sliders, and 13 curveballs. When he swung at those pitches, he didn’t make much contact. He whiffed at 100% of his first-pitch swings on changeups and curves, and 60% at the sliders. To his credit, Judge did a good job spitting on a fair amount of changeups and curveballs, as many of those went for balls on the first pitch. Some of that, though, could be due to location; those are pitches intentionally designed to dart out of the zone, and Judge’s whiff/swing rates show us he’s falling for that trick fairly often.

With two strikes, the whiff/swing numbers increase slightly. They stay the same on the slider, but drop to 50% and about 64% on the changeup and curve respectively. Those numbers are better than I thought, as the trick of memory made it seem like Judge whiffed all the time with two strikes. It’s encouraging to see the two strike numbers be better than the first pitch numbers, though, as it does show he’s capable of recognizing the non-fastball coming in the non-fastball counts.

To adjust to this issue, Judge will need to better recognize non-fastballs, both on the first pitch and with two strikes. Doing so will allow him to hold back from swinging and getting himself into bad counts, which will set up the strikeout. He’s shown a good batting eye everywhere he’s been and his power means pitchers will be naturally cautious around him. Exploiting that by forcing them to come into the zone with fastballs early in the count will help make him successful in 2017 and beyond.

Open Thread: March 4th Camp Notes

March 4, 2017 by Mike Leave a Comment

The Yankees got back into the win column this afternoon, improving their Grapefruit League record to 8-2. Both Gary Sanchez and Aaron Hicks went deep while Greg Bird reached base three times (single, two walks). Billy McKinney laced a double as well. The third piece in last year’s Aroldis Chapman trade is 5-for-8 (.625) with two doubles and two dingers this spring. Pretty cool.

Michael Pineda, in his first start of the spring, struck out five in two scoreless innings. Dellin Betances walked one and allowed a hit in his inning of work. That was his final appearance before leaving for the World Baseball Classic. Chad Green allowed a run on three hits and a walk in 1.2 innings in his second Grapefruit League outing. That won’t help him win a rotation spot. Here’s the box score. The game wasn’t televised, so there are no video highlights. Here’s everything else that went on in Tampa:

Sanchez threw a runner out trying to steal second with Betances on the mound today, which is kinda significant. Runners went 21-for-21 stealing bases against Dellin last year, remember. He worked on his pickoff move over the winter and threw over to first base twice before the caught stealing. “It’s something that helps. It keeps them honest and I let Gary do the rest,” said Betances. [Bil ly W itz]
Bryan Hoch has the pitching assignments and hitting/fielding groups for everyone who didn’t play in today’s game. Domingo German, Jon Niese, and CC Sabathia all threw bullpen sessions. I’m pretty sure those three and James Kaprielian are the only healthy pitchers in camp who have yet to pitch in a Grapefruit League game.
Gleyber Torres will play second base at some point in the coming days but he will not play third this spring, Joe Girardi said. He hasn’t worked out there at all as far as I know. I get the feeling it’s only a matter of time until Gleyber spends time at the hot corner though. Maybe in Instructional League this fall? [George King]
Masahiro Tanaka will make his second start of the spring tomorrow afternoon. That’s a home game against the Pirates and there will be a YES Network broadcast. Hooray for that. Tanaka’s first spring start was not televised.

Here is the open thread for the rest of the day. MLB Network is showing games on tape delay throughout the afternoon and evening, plus the (hockey) Rangers, Devils, and Nets are all playing. There’s also a bunch of college basketball. Talk about those games or anything else here, as long as it’s not politics or religion.

Saturday Links: Gardner, Rule Changes, Farm System Rankings

March 4, 2017 by Mike Leave a Comment

The Yankees continue the Grapefruit League season this afternoon on the road against the Tigers. Michael Pineda is making his first start of the spring. Unfortunately, the game will not be televised anywhere. Not on YES, not on FOX Sports Detroit, not on MLB Network, not online, nowhere. Sucks. Instead of a game, I offer you some links for the weekend.

Yankees had chances to salary dump Gardner

According to Jon Heyman, the Yankees had trade offers for Brett Gardner this past offseason that involved no money changing hands. They could have sent Gardner and the $25M left on his contract elsewhere. Of course, chances are these offers were essentially salary dumps, meaning the Yankees wouldn’t have received much of anything in return. Gardner isn’t a star or anything, but giving him away as a salary dump would be kinda silly.

My guess is the Yankees will eventually trade Gardner, the longest tenured player on the big league roster and the longest tenured player in the organization, at some point in the next 12 months. And maybe that trade will be a pure salary dump. Who knows. Maybe the Yankees will eat some money to get actual prospects in return, a la Brian McCann. Gardner’s contract isn’t onerous and he’s the team’s best on-base player. I can’t blame the Yankees for not giving him away in a salary dump.

MLB implements new rule changes

Earlier this week MLB and the MLBPA announced a series of rule changes for the 2017 season. None of the changes figure to have a dramatic impact on the game. They didn’t raise the bottom of the strike zone or anything like that. Here’s the full press release and here are the highlights:

Intentional walks are now automatic. The manager gives a signal from the dugout and the batter is sent right to first base.
Managers have 30 seconds to ask for a replay review. Also, the review crew in New York has a “conditional two-minute guideline” to made their replay decision.
Carter Capps’ delivery is now illegal. Pitchers may not take a “second step towards home plate with either foot.”

The automatic intentional walk rule is whatever. I don’t like it but it’s not the end of the world either. The two-minute guideline for replay reviews does sound pretty great even though it’s not a hard limit, just a guideline. Some of those reviews take a long time. Waiting out a replay is easily my least favorite part of baseball these days.

As for Capps, both he and Padres manager Andy Green told A.J. Cassavell they believe his delivery is still legal, but we’ll see. Read the press release. The rule change reads as if it was written specifically for Capps (and Jordan Walden). All of these rule changes take effect right away, so they’re in place for the 2017 season.

(Future trivia answer: The last Yankee to receive a traditional four-pitch intentional walk was Mark Teixeira. Drew Smyly intentionally walked him in the sixth inning on September 20th of last season. The last player to get one is Addison Russell. He was intentionally walked in the tenth inning of Game Seven of the World Series.)

Torres. (Presswire) — Gleyber. (Presswire)

Yankees rank second in BA’s and BP’s farm system rankings

Both Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus (subs. req’d) released their annual organizational rankings within the last few days. The Yankees ranked second behind the Braves on both lists. The same was true was on Keith Law’s farm system rankings. The BP list groups teams into tiers, and the Yankees and Braves were alone at the top. Here’s a snippet of the write-up:

I generally don’t care all that much if the seventeenth best prospect in your system has a chance to be a decent middle reliever or a useful bench piece. That’s true of the vast majority of systems in any given year. Now when you have thirty of those guys? It felt like half the Trenton pitching staff might pitch in the majors at some point … We didn’t rank Dustin Fowler on our Yankees (top ten, showing their depth) … These are two of the best systems I can remember in my six years of covering prospects.

The BA write-up (subs. req’d) mentioned OF Estevan Florial as the system’s high-upside sleeper and RHP Dillon Tate as the breakout prospect. Tate was the fourth overall pick in the 2015 draft, remember. The Yankees got him for rental Carlos Beltran and he’s not even one of the ten best prospects in the organization. Pretty cool.

Yankees had $4M to sign Carter

I thought this was interesting. According to Jared Diamond, Hal Steinbrenner okayed one last $4M signing late in the offseason, after it became clear there were bargains to be had. The Yankees didn’t even need the full $4M to sign Chris Carter. He took $3.5M guaranteed. Prior to signing Carter the Yankees had been connected mostly to lefty relievers like Travis Wood and Jerry Blevins. The 40-homer dude made more sense.

I know saving $500,000 with Carter doesn’t sound like much, and it’s really not in the grand scheme of things, but what if it was enough to finish off the Jon Niese signing? He’ll make $1.25M at the big league level. Steinbrenner gave the thumbs up for $4M and they wound up with Carter and Niese for $4.75M total, possibly less because Niese might not make the Opening Day roster, and his $1.25M salary will be pro-rated. Anyway, I’m just kinda interested in how this worked out. The Yankees were done for the offseason until the free agent market collapsed.