River Avenue Blues

River Ave. Blues » Danny Farquhar

The Scranton shuttle and other relief depth [2019 Season Preview]

by

(Presswire)

It’s pretty easy to predict how the Yankees are going to staff their bullpen this season. There are six players guaranteed a roster spot, barring injury. The team is planning to carry a 13 man pitching staff this year, meaning that there are two open spots assuming a five man starting rotation. Tommy Kahnle probably snags one of the two jobs considering he’s out of options. The last opening probably will be interchangeable throughout the season, though having a long reliever could be the outcome.

There are no shortage of relievers who could ride the Scranton shuttle this season, rotating as the 13th pitcher as needed. Some of them are already on the 40-man, while others are non-roster invitees. It would be easy to write off any of the foregoing players as significant contributors, but let’s not forget that what Jonathan Holder did last year. He went from being the main back-and-forth guy to a major league bullpen staple.

40-man shuttlers

Stephen Tarpley

There usually isn’t too much to say about a September call-up who’s a reliever. Yet, Tarpley has become a pretty fascinating pitcher to follow. The Yankees probably envision him as Zack Britton-lite, and there’s good reason why. Prior to Britton joining the Yankees, Tarpley spent some time shadowing him prior to the 2017 season. Who knows if that story would have been uncovered had Britton not been traded to New York.

Tarpley saw his groundball rate jump dramatically in 2017, almost certainly due to Britton’s influence. Combine that with the high strikeout rates in the high minors and you have an interesting relief prospect. Tarpley was pretty good in his 10 inning cameo last September and even made the playoff roster. He’ll probably get the bulk of the major league time that anyone else on the Scranton shuttle gets this summer.

Ben Heller

Tommy John surgery cost Heller all of 2018 and will curtail part of his 2019 as well. After going under the knife last April, he’s six weeks away rehab game action. That doesn’t mean he’s close to the big leagues, though. In all likelihood, he’s probably not an option until mid-season.

The Yankees acquired Heller as part of the Andrew Miller trade a few years ago. He’s already seen small parts of two major league seasons with the Yankees, totaling 18 innings. Best known for his mid-to-high 90s fastball, it’ll be interesting to see how his velocity returns this summer. Even though he’s already had a good deal of success in Triple-A, he’s probably going to spend a lot of time there this year.

Joe Harvey

Harvey was a somewhat surprising 40-man roster addition a few months ago. One of the reasons I profiled him in February was because I didn’t know anything about him. He’s still a bit of a mystery, though the Yankees clearly like him enough to save him a seat on the 40-man.

A little bit has been made about the spin rate on his fastball. It’s very good, and spin rate has become all the rage in baseball these days. Just look at what the Astros have done with their pitchers. Anyway, Harvey doesn’t appear to have much else other than a good fastball. Yet, if he puts up numbers like he did in the minors last year (sub 2 ERA), he’ll get his shot this summer.

Non-roster possibilities with big league experience

Danny Farquhar

As Mike wrote last month, it’s pretty easy to pull for Farquhar to carve out a role with the big club. It’s a distinct possibility that he could return to the majors after his near-death experience in the White Sox dugout last summer. As a non-roster invitee who’s already been sent to minor league camp, he’s still on the outside looking in. It’s not hard to see why the Yankees like him: he strikes out plenty of hitters and has had good seasons with Seattle and Tampa Bay. Plus, the Yankees have had him in the organization before, back in 2012. There’s still a lot for Farquhar to overcome, but if he resembles something of his old self he could be in pinstripes this year.

Rex Brothers

Brothers is representative of the adage that lefties never run out of opportunities. The southpaw was pretty impressive for the Rockies early in his career with his high velocity fastball. Eventually, Colorado cut bait when his control evaded him. After not making the Cubs in 2016, he sat out the entire season. Beginning in 2017, he worked his way back to the big leagues with Atlanta. His walk problems never went away though, and he walked more than a batter per inning in the minors last year. Still, his velocity from the left side is tantalizing. He averaged over 96 MPH on his heater in limited time with Atlanta last season. He can’t be totally ignored as an option for the Yankees since he is in camp, but it would probably take a ton of injuries or an unlikely resurgence.

Daniel Coulombe

Stylistically, Coulombe is the opposite of Brothers. Instead of a high-octane fastball, Coulombe is a lefty who relies on his slider and curveball two-thirds of the time. He’s been in the majors every year since 2014, split between the Dodgers and A’s, with middling results. It’s hard to see him as much more than emergency depth even though he’s hung around the highest level for a while now. Maybe another team will want to give him a big league chance before the month is over, but if not, he’ll hang around in Scranton most of the year. Maybe he could be plucked for September call-ups if the Yankees want a matchup lefty.

Prospects invited to big league spring training

Trevor Stephan

Even though Stephan has been a starter in the minors, it sounds like 2017’s 3rd-rounder could be best deployed out of the bullpen. He works exclusively out of the stretch, doesn’t really have a third pitch just yet, and has a little bit of an odd delivery. Stephan’s a pretty big guy, standing at six-foot-four, but his fastball extension is even more impressive. He’s got a seven foot reach which certainly makes his fastball tougher to hit. He’ll be in the minors to start the year, but he should be knocking on the door by year end.

Brady Lail

25-year-olds aren’t always prospects, but Lail became mildly interesting after moving to the bullpen last summer. From getting drafted in 2012 through his climb to Triple-A, the righty was a starter. Last year, he became a full-time reliever and started picking up more strikeouts. He wasn’t a one-and-done type of guy though; he pitched multiple innings quite a bit out of the pen. His ERA was too high, sitting over 5, but as a multi-inning option he could become an alternative to someone like Luis Cessa this season. Lail’s already been assigned to minor league camp, but he could be around later this year.

Raynel Espinal and Phillip Diehl

I’m grouping these two together because Domenic called them out as guys who could help the Yankees this year. Espinal, 27, has been in the organization since 2013 and finally made Triple-A last year. He’s yet another hard-thrower with impressive strikeout rates. Diehl, 24, is a lefty without much of a platoon split thus far in his minor league career. He’s had a great spring (6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 10 K) and Aaron Boone has mentioned him by name when asked who’s impressed in camp. Both are probably heading to Scranton to start the year, but either could become part of the shuttle in a few months.

Cale Coshow

At six-foot-five and 270 pounds, Coshow has a presence on the mound. He flip-flopped between starting and relieving from 2013 through 2016 until becoming a reliever full-time in 2017. You’ve heard this story before: he started to miss a lot more bats in the bullpen. He’s likely low on the promotion pecking order, but the fact that he was in big league camp means the Yankees like him to some degree.

March 12th: Spring Training Notes: Hicks, Sabathia, Paxton, Gregorius, Heller, Ellsbury, Roster Cuts

by

The Yankees rallied in the eighth inning to beat the Orioles tonight. Miguel Andujar had three hits and made a nice defensive play going to his right. Brett Gardner, Aaron Judge, and Kyle Higashioka all hit home runs. Giancarlo Stanton, Luke Voit, Gary Sanchez, Greg Bird, and Troy Tulowitzki all had base hits as well. Trey Amburgey’s bases loaded walk and Clint Frazier’s sacrifice fly contributed to the three-run eighth inning rally.

Jonathan Loaisiga got the start and gosh, it did not go well. He really labored in the second inning and finished the night having allowed six runs (five earned) in two innings. It would behoove him to pitch well in his final two Grapefruit League appearances. Jonathan Holder allowed a solo homer in an otherwise uneventful night for the big league relievers. Zack Britton threw two innings. Holder, Chad Green, and Aroldis Chapman threw one each. Here are the box score and video highlights, and here are the day’s notes from Spring Training:

  • Aaron Hicks (back) received a cortisone shot yesterday. He admitted he still had limited mobility when he took swings Sunday. Aaron Boone said Hicks could return to game action this coming weekend. “Something like this lingering, we had to do something about it,” Hicks said, adding he can always go to minor league camp to get a bunch of at-bats before Opening Day, if necessary. [Bryan Hoch, James Wagner]
  • CC Sabathia faced hitters for the first time this spring in a short live batting practice session. Only three hitters. Here’s some video. Also, James Paxton threw a simulated game. He was away from the team this past weekend following a death in his family. [Kristie Ackert, Pete Caldera]
  • Didi Gregorius (Tommy John surgery) has progressed to take dry swings with a regular bat. He was swinging a fungo bat last week. Gregorius will begin hitting off a tee in a week or two. Until then, dry swings only. [Bryan Hoch]
  • Ben Heller (Tommy John surgery) is ten bullpen sessions into his throwing program and is about six weeks away from pitching in rehab games. He’s throwing fastballs and changeups only now. He’ll introduce sliders into his throwing program next week. [DJ Eberle]
  • Jacoby Ellsbury (hip) is expected to join the Yankees on Sunday. He’s still in rehab mode and only recently started running on flat ground. Ellsbury is still a ways away from baseball activity, let alone playing in games. [Brendan Kuty]
  • More roster cuts: Chance Adams, Trey Amburgey, Cale Coshow, Kellin Deglan, Thairo Estrada, Danny Farquhar, Mike Ford, and Joe Harvey have all been sent to minor league camp, the Yankees announced. I count 50 players in big league camp now.

If you’re interested and will be up early, tonight’s game will be replayed on MLB Network at 6am ET tomorrow. The Yankees have another night game tomorrow night. That’s a home game against the Phillies. Masahiro Tanaka is starting and the game will not be televised.

Danny Farquhar has a chance to win an Opening Day bullpen spot and he’s worth rooting for

by

(Presswire)

The Yankees were arguably the most active team in baseball this offseason and, for a little while there in January, they made a free agent signing a week. Troy Tulowitzki one week, Zack Britton the next week, DJ LeMahieu the week after that, then Adam Ottavino the week after that. Then they capped it all off by trading Sonny Gray.

Those few weeks were quite busy, and buried in all that activity was a minor league signing that represented so much more. The Yankees inked journeyman righty Danny Farquhar to a minor league contract on January 21st, eleven months after he collapsed in the dugout while with the White Sox. He suffered a life-threatening brain hemorrhage after an aneurysm ruptured.

Farquhar spent three weeks in the hospital after collapsing in the dugout and he’s said he felt he could’ve returned to the mound last September, but decided not to push it. He took it slow during the offseason and eventually the Yankees scooped him up as a depth piece, and they had a protective liner custom made to fit under his cap.

“To think ten months ago I would be here, you don’t know. I am extraordinarily thankful,” said Farquhar last week, during a press conference following his first Spring Training bullpen session. “… It’s my drive, my passion. Baseball is something I’ve been doing since I was five years old. I want to keep playing until someone won’t put a uniform on me.”

Watch the video of his press conference and scroll through his Instagram feed and you see someone who is so very clearly overjoyed to be playing baseball again. Farquhar’s still a young man, he turned only 32 this past weekend, and he has a wife and three young children. He nearly lost his life last year and now he’s back at the park, doing what he loves. It is impossible not to root for this guy.

Does Farquhar have a chance to crack this bullpen? Yes, he does. I wouldn’t call it likely but he does because there are two open bullpen spots. Farquhar says he’s trying not thinking about that — “I’m happy to be in a uniform and playing. I try not to look at the big picture too much because then you get overwhelmed and caught up in stuff,” he said — but gosh, it has to be in the back of his mind, no? It’s only natural.

Obviously Farquhar’s performance in camp will be the biggest factor in determining whether he gets a bullpen spot. The arm strength is looking good but we have to see how he fares against hitters — “Hitters will always let you know what your stuff is. I’m curious to have that feedback,” he said — because, at the end of the day, this is a guy who hasn’t pitched competitively since April. There’s bound to be some rust.

There are a few things beyond spring performance that Farquhar has going for him. First of all, he has a history with the organization. The Yankees liked Farquhar enough that they claimed him off waivers in June 2012 — Farquhar said he and Dellin Betances were roommates with Double-A Trenton — and while they traded him for Ichiro Suzuki a month later, that was business. The MLB roster takes priority over a Double-A bullpen prospect.

Secondly, Farquhar is a strikeout pitcher and the Yankees love strikeouts. He’s thrown at least 30 innings in five different MLB seasons and in three of those five he posted a 27.0% strikeout rate or better. (His career strikeout rate is 26.9%.) Relatedly, Farquhar is an analytics guy. He told James Fegan (subs. req’d) the Rays got him into numbers during his time with Tampa and he’s kinda run with it.

“The fastball has a thing called carry,” Farquhar said. “My fastball has an average of 10 or 11 inches of carry — and this is what the Rays told me — the average big league fastball is nine inches of carry, so it’s a couple inches above that. Then you have the kill zone which is the one that gets murdered most of the time by the hitters, and that’s eight inches of carry. That’s the one where you don’t want to be no matter what the pitch is. That’s not to say that every pitch with that carry level is going to be hit over the fence, but a majority of them get hit for extra-base hits. And then you have the changeup, I think mine sits between three and four, so it comes out the same but there’s separation in the pitch.”

Not coincidentally, Farquhar is a spin rate guy and the Yankees love pitchers who can spin the ball. Over the last two years his low-to-mid-90s four-seamer averaged 2,372 rpm, better than the 2,263 rpm league average. Add in his reputation for being a good clubhouse guy — “He’s already brought something to us just from the energy he brings to the park every day,” said Aaron Boone to Dan Martin — and Farquhar has some things going for him.

Of course, we are talking about a pitcher who was just okay (4.20 ERA and 4.07 FIP) in his most recent full MLB season, and a guy returning from a serious medical condition. The bullpen sessions look good but those are only bullpen sessions. Once Grapefruit League games begin this weekend, it could become clear quickly that Farquhar is rusty and will need Triple-A time before he’s ready to contribute to a big league roster.

“No fear or trepidation yet,” Farquhar said to Mark Didtler. “I haven’t had any hurdles to jump, but I’m sure those hurdles will come. Honestly, it’s just been working out and throwing more than anything. Haven’t had to face a batter. Haven’t given up a home run yet. So, I think there’s a lot more steps that I still have to go through.”

Don’t mistake this for a charity minor league signing. Farquhar’s been a full-time big leaguer since 2013 and he’s pitched in high-leverage situations, most notably saving 16 games for the 2013 Mariners and setting up for the 2016-17 Rays. The strikeouts, spin rates, and analytic slant are all things the Yankees value. This is the second time they’ve acquired him, remember. He’s been on their radar for a while.

The Yankees signed Farquhar because they believe he could help them win games at some point. If not right away in one of those final two bullpen spots, then later in the season, once he gets his bearings in Triple-A. No matter what happens on the field, Farquhar is a feel-good story and someone worth rooting for. This is the best kind of comeback story.

Eight storylines to follow as the Yankees begin Spring Training

by

(Presswire)

Pitchers and catchers reported to Tampa yesterday and it didn’t take long for the Yankees to suffer their first injury of the spring. Pitching prospect Mike King will miss at least three weeks with an elbow issue. Baseball always has a way of keeping you humble. Excited Spring Training has started? Well you won’t be seeing this pitching prospect this spring, sorry. So it goes.

Position players report Monday and the Yankees open their Grapefruit League season next Saturday. These next ten days are a grind. Baseball is happening and not happening at the same time. We waited all winter for Spring Training to begin and now we have to wait a little longer for actual baseball games, and even then the games are meaningless. It’s baseball though, and baseball is better than no baseball.

Now that Spring Training has opened, this is a good time to break down some key Yankees storylines for the coming weeks. Players to watch, trends to track, that sorta thing. Here are eight storylines to watch this spring, listed in no particular order.

Seriously, what about Harper and Machado?

Look, I’m as sick of writing about them as you are of hearing about them, but as long as Bryce Harper and Manny Machado remain unsigned, we have to talk about them. The stunningly stupid prevailing logic says MLB teams all have smart front offices now and they’ve realized paying top dollar for aging past prime players elite prime-aged talent is a bad idea. Did you know ten teams have a sub-$100M payroll? In 2019? Crazy.

Anyway, the Yankees only half-heartedly pursued Machado over the winter and they weren’t connected to Harper at all. “I’m surprised you’re still asking,” said Brian Cashman when asked about possibly signing Harper during the Winter Meetings. The thing is, the longer those two sit in free agency, the greater the chances the Yankees swoop in to sign one of ’em. The temptation has to be there, and, at this point, I have to think a discount is possible.

It feels like everyone I talk to wants Machado and Harper to sign just to get it over with already. We’re sick of hearing about them and, frankly, it’s embarrassing for baseball that these two are unemployed as camp opens. It looks bad. Hopefully the Yankees can sign either Machado or Harper. That would be preferable but weeks ago I accepted they’re probably going elsewhere. Until they sign though, their situation has to be monitored.

Tulowitzki’s comeback attempt

The Good: Troy Tulowitzki has fully recovered from last year’s dual heel surgeries and is as healthy as he’s been at any point in the last couple years, plus he is basically free, so the Yankees could easily cut him loose should he not get the job done. The Bad: The Yankees seem very committed to Tulowitzki as their starting shortstop and I’m not sure they would cut him loose even if his production warrants it.

“The plan right now is to get Troy ready to play shortstop. That’s where he’ll focus,” Aaron Boone said yesterday. “As the weeks — as the months — unfold we’ll adjust if we need to. We’re planning on him playing shortstop and focusing solely there.”

“We were all in. He really looked athletic (during his workout), it looked like he had that bounce back in his step. We feel there is a lot of potential upside here,” said Cashman last month. I totally get rolling the dice on Tulowitzki. It’s a low-risk contract and, as a former star caliber player, there’s always a chance he has a late-career dead cat bounce season. Think Eric Chavez in 2012. He’s worth a look with Didi Gregorius out.

Tulowitzki has not played since July 2017 and you kinda have to expect some rust after that. He has been working out all winter — Tulowitzki has been in Tampa working out at the minor league complex for a few days now even though position players aren’t due to report until Monday — but there’s no substitute for game action. Those first few live pitches and ground balls might speed up on him a little bit, you know?

Spring Training performance is not very predictive and that will be especially true in Tulowitzki’s case. Certainly it would be great to see him knock the snot out of the ball and vacuum up everything at shortstop for a few weeks. Even then, we won’t know how long it’ll last because he’s had so many injury problems throughout his career. For all intents and purposes, we’re going into camp with no idea what to expect from Tulowitzki. We’ll learn as we go.

Andujar’s defense

“Entirely at third,” Boone came out and said yesterday when asked where Miguel Andujar will play going forward. “That said, there may be a day or two that we pick to have him on a back field just getting some first base in — which we may do with a (Austin) Romine or a Gary (Sanchez) — pick a day just to keep some versatile options when you get into a little bit of a bind. His game work will be, I’ll say pretty much entirely at third base.”

Last season Andujar was the worst defensive third baseman in baseball (according to DRS) and the Yankees sent him into the offseason with a plan to improve what he does before the pitch is thrown. They want him to get in better position to react and make plays, basically. Andujar’s hands and throwing arm are pretty good! There are times he stumbles over his own feet though, and he rushes his throws because he double-clutches so often.

I have no illusions of Andujar becoming an above-average defender. He is a tireless worker and I don’t doubt that he’ll try to improve. It’s just that going from that bad to that good is unlikely. Has anyone else done it? Gone from being one of the worst defenders in baseball, statistically, to being legitimately above-average? I can’t think of anyone. My hopes are modest. Andujar becomes an average defender who makes routine plays look routine. That’s all I’m asking.

I think two things will happen this spring: One, any Andujar misplay will be magnified, and two, he’ll look better than expected at third base because we’ve kinda lost perspective about him as a defender after spending all winter talking about how bad he defensively. Pre-pitch setup is not something we’ll be able to evaluate in Spring Training. At least not on television. Clearly though, Andujar’s defense is something to monitor throughout camp.

“I feel like he’s in a really good place defensively,” Boone added. “There’s some things that we’ve had him work on defensively that I think have really taken hold with him. And I think he’s had a great winter of work — I think all of you that have been around and have seen the work ethic, that’s reared its head in the winter — I feel that he’s another guy that comes into Spring Training in a really good place.”

Sabathia’s farewell

(Presswire)

On Saturday, CC Sabathia will make official what we’ve known for a long time now: 2019 will be his final season. Sabathia will hold a press conference (with his family in attendance) to formally announce his retirement, and mostly take questions because no one has had a chance to ask him about it. Man I hope he doesn’t cry during the press conference. Not sure I could handle seeing the big guy in tears.

Once the press conference is over with, it’ll be time to get down to business. Sabathia had his usual offseason knee cleanup procedure and also heart surgery in December, and Boone said yesterday the Yankees will take it slow with Sabathia early in camp. So much so that his first bullpen session could be a few weeks away, which would seem to put his Opening Day roster status in question.

Sabathia is fine, physically. It’s just that the heart procedure interrupted his offseason work and put him behind schedule, and he’s still catching up. The Yankees take it very easy on Sabathia in Spring Training anyway — he usually pitches in simulated games rather than Grapefruit League games — so it’ll be tough to know exactly how far behind schedule he is. He’s a difficult guy to track usually because we rarely see him in games.

If Sabathia has to start the season on the injured list, so be it. Won’t be the only time the Yankees have to use one of their depth starters this year. The larger point is this is it for Sabathia, and maybe Brett Gardner as well, the final two links to the 2009 World Series team. It’s one thing when the veterans assume reduced roles. It’s another when they’re gone and the changing of the guard is complete.

How is the rehab group doing?

The list of rehabbing Yankees is sneaky long. Sabathia did not suffer a baseball injury but he will be playing catch up in Spring Training. Tulowitzki has technically completed his heel surgery rehab but is something of an unknown, physically. Clint Frazier is in a similar spot following his concussion and post-concussion migraines. Here are some of the other rehabbing Yankees and their statuses:

  • Jacoby Ellsbury (hip surgery): He won’t report with position players Monday and will instead stay home in Arizona for a few more weeks. Weird, man.
  • Didi Gregorius (Tommy John surgery): Started a throwing program last week and is a few weeks away from swinging a bat two-handed. The Yankees refuse to give a firm timetable for his return.
  • Ben Heller (Tommy John surgery): No update, probably because he’s not a big name player.
  • Jordan Montgomery (Tommy John surgery): Expected to throw off a mound next month and rejoin the Yankees sometime after the All-Star break.
  • Gary Sanchez (shoulder surgery): He is hitting and catching, and will be held back early in Grapefruit League play. Sanchez will be ready for Opening Day.

We won’t see Gregorius or Montgomery participate in Grapefruit League games at all this spring given where they are in their rehab. The same is probably true with Ellsbury, and Heller as well. We’ll see Sanchez on the field and be able to track his progress ourselves. The other guys? No luck. The Yankees will give us updates when they’re deemed necessary and we’ll continue to guesstimate Sir Didi’s return date and Ellsbury’s future.

“I hate giving a timeline because we’ll let the thing play out,” said Boone when asked about Gregorius yesterday. “I think our original was anywhere from 2-4 months maybe into the season. He certainly seems at least on that pace. He’s in really good shape and progressing the way he should be so we’re optimistic that he’s going to play hopefully a significant amount of the season for us.”

LeMahieu’s transition to utility infielder

It has been nearly five years since DJ LeMahieu played a position other than second base. He played one inning at first base in an emergency situation on June 28th, 2014, and he didn’t even have to make a play. A reliever struck out the side in that inning. LeMahieu has played second base exclusively since that date and that includes Spring Training. The Rockies never worked him out anywhere else.

The Yankees are planning to use LeMahieu as a super utility guy — Boone said yesterday the plan is to give Tulowitzki regular rest in April in an effort to keep him healthy, which equals playing time for LeMahieu — and gosh, that always makes me nervous, moving a full-time player into a part-time role. It sounds great, bringing in a regular for a bench role, but it can be a difficult adjustment.

I have no idea how LeMahieu will handle it offensively. Not only is he leaving Coors Field, but he’s also going not going to get as many at-bats as usual. Defensively, I think he’ll be fine. He’s a legitimate Gold Glove guy at second base. His range, his hands, his arm, and his instincts are all good, so it’s not like the Yankees are asking a guy short on defensive tools to move around. I see four ways for LeMahieu to get playing time:

  • Start at second base on days Tulowitzki sits (with Gleyber Torres at short).
  • Start at first base when Luke Voit sits (or Greg Bird sits, I guess).
  • Replace Andujar in the late innings pretty much every game.
  • Play third whenever Sabathia (and J.A. Happ?) starts to handle all the pulled grounders by righties.

LeMahieu has the tools to play pretty much anywhere on the infield. He just hasn’t played anywhere other than second base in a few years now, so he’s going to spend a lot time working out at first and third bases this spring. Probably more than he does at second. My guess is LeMahieu winds up playing more than expected this season, maybe as many as 500 plate appearances, but this spring will be about adjusted to life as a glorified utility guy.

The few position battles

“Hopefully, if things play out from a health standpoint in Spring Training, there will be very few decisions that we have to make,” said Boone yesterday, and he’s right. At the moment the Yankees are poised to have very few position battles in Spring Training. Two bullpen spots and a bench spot. That’s pretty much it. This is the projected 25-man Opening Day roster right now:

Catcher Infielders Outfielders Rotation Bullpen
Gary Sanchez 1B Luke Voit LF Brett Gardner Luis Severino CL Aroldis Chapman
2B Gleyber Torres CF Aaron Hicks James Paxton SU Dellin Betances
SS Troy Tulowitzki RF Aaron Judge Masahiro Tanaka SU Zach Britton
INJURED LIST 3B Miguel Andujar OF Giancarlo Stanton J.A. Happ SU Adam Ottavino
Didi Gregorius CC Sabathia MR Chad Green
Ben Heller BENCH MR Jonathan Holder
Jordan Montgomery C Austin Romine ??? ???
Jacoby Ellsbury IF DJ LeMahieu ???

The rotation order and the batting order will be whatever they end up being. Those are 22 of their 25 Opening Day roster names though. There is one open bench spot and two open bullpen spots. Should Sabathia have to begin the season on the injured list, then there will be a competition for the fifth starter’s spot as well. For all intents and purposes, the Yankees only have to figure out the 23rd, 24th, and 25th men on their roster.

With Ellsbury out of the picture, the final bench spot comes down to Greg Bird, Clint Frazier, and Tyler Wade. There’s a small army of relievers up for those bullpen roles. Chance Adams, Luis Cessa, Domingo German, Joe Harvey, Tommy Kahnle, Jonathan Loaisiga, Stephen Tarpley, so on and so forth. Cessa and Kahnle are out of minor league options and that might give them a leg up on the competition — Boone hinted that Cessa is headed for a bullpen role yesterday — but it doesn’t guarantee anything.

Spring Training competitions are kinda weird. First and foremost, spring performance is not very predictive, and yet teams base roster decisions on spring performance all the time. We see it every year. Bird could hit .350/.450/.750 during Grapefruit League play and it wouldn’t tell us a thing about him going forward, but it would probably land him on the Opening Day roster. Hard to ignore numbers like that, you know?

And secondly, Spring Training competitions don’t end on Opening Day. Whoever wins the final bullpen spot better pitch well during the regular season, otherwise the Yanks will swap them out with someone else. Winning a spring position battle is the easy part. Keeping the job is where it gets difficult. The Yankees have a few roster decisions to make in camp. Thankfully nothing major. And it’s entirely possible those roster decisions could be upended a few weeks into the regular season. Such is life.

Farquhar’s comeback attempt

Last, but certainly not least, the Yankees have a feel-good story in camp in Danny Farquhar. I honestly don’t think he has much of a chance to crack the Opening Day roster, but he’s healthy, and that’s all that matters. Farquhar suffered a life-threatening brain hemorrhage last April when a brain aneurysm ruptured. He collapsed in the dugout while with the White Sox and had to be rushed to the hospital, where he remained for three weeks.

Farquhar’s recovery is complete and he will be a fully participant in Spring Training — his first spring bullpen session is scheduled for tomorrow — which is wonderful news. Maybe he won’t make the roster and instead go to Triple-A, or opt out of his contract and sign with a team willing to put him on their Opening Day roster. Either way, I’m glad Farquhar recovered and able to resume his career, and I think it’s pretty cool he’ll do it with the Yankees.

Florial, King headline 2019 Spring Training non-roster invitees

by

(Presswire)

In the surest sign Spring Training is fast approaching, the Yankees announced their list of non-roster invitees earlier today. The farm system has thinned out — most of the prospect star power is in the lower minors — and, as a result, the non-roster list is largely devoid of big name youngsters. Lot of journeyman and minor league depth guys. So it goes.

As a reminder, all players on the 40-man roster will be in big league camp automatically. That includes notable prospects like Albert Abreu and Domingo Acevedo. Here are the 21 non-roster invitees:

PITCHERS (10)
LHP Rex Brothers
LHP Nestor Cortes
RHP Cale Coshow
LHP Danny Coulombe
RHP Raynel Espinal
RHP Danny Farquhar
RHP David Hale
RHP Drew Hutchison
RHP Mike King
RHP Brady Lail

CATCHERS (4)
Francisco Diaz
Kellin Deglan
Ryan Lavarnway
Jorge Saez

INFIELDERS (3)
1B Mike Ford
SS Kyle Holder
3B Gio Urshela

OUTFIELDERS (4)
Trey Amburgey
Billy Burns
Estevan Florial
Matt Lipka

The Farquhar, Hale, Lavarnway, Saez, and Urshela minor league contracts are now official. The Brothers, Coulombe, Hutchison, Burns, and Lipka deals had been previously announced. Also, Lail and Deglan are back on minor league contracts. Both became minor league free agents after last season and have rejoined the team.

Florial and King are the two headliners among the non-roster invitees. Florial is the top prospect in the organization (at least in my opinion) and King was last year’s breakout pitcher, climbing three levels to reach Triple-A and put himself on the cusp of a big league call-up. I don’t think King has much of a chance to make the Opening Day roster but he could put himself in position to be the first starter called up when a need arises.

Last week I predicted 22 non-roster invitees. I didn’t have Deglan, Hale, or Saez on my list because they were not in the organization at the time, and I had Coshow and Ford on the outside looking in. Righties Nick Nelson and Clarke Schmidt are the two notable prospects who I thought would get a non-roster invite but didn’t. Schmidt is understandable because he’s just back from Tommy John surgery. Nelson? Dunno. Guess the Yankees don’t think the big stuff/poor command righty is ready for big league camp.

The Yankees currently have two bullpen spots and one bench spot up for grabs. I think Tommy Kahnle and Luis Cessa are the front-runners for the two bullpen spots. Not sure about the bench spot. Could be Greg Bird, Clint Frazier, Tyler Wade, one of the non-roster guys, or a player yet to be acquired.

Reports: Yankees sign Danny Farquhar to minor league deal

by

(Dylan Buell/Getty)

According to Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman, the Yankees have signed journeyman right-hander Danny Farquhar to a minor league contract. This will be Farquhar’s second stint in the organization. The Yankees claimed him off waivers from the Athletics in June 2012, then traded him to the Mariners in the Ichiro Suzuki deal a month later.

No matter what he does on the field this season, this is a wonderful story because Farquhar is coming back from a life-threatening brain hemorrhage. While with the White Sox last April he collapsed in the dugout following a relief appearance and had to be rushed to the hospital. The hemorrhage was caused by a ruptured brain aneurysm.

Farquhar spent about three weeks in the hospital and, according to Heyman and Sherman, he’s made a full recovery and is ready to pitch. He was healthy enough to throw out a ceremonial first pitch alongside his teammates, coaches, doctors, and family last June. Check it out:

In parts of seven big league seasons with four different teams the soon-to-be 32-year-old Farquhar has a 3.93 ERA (3.60 FIP) with a 26.9% strikeout rate in 272.1 innings. He had his best season with the Mariners in 2014, when he threw 71 innings with a 2.66 ERA (2.86 FIP). Last season Farquhar allowed five runs in eight innings before the brain hemorrhage.

Now that he’s healthy and given the fact he has a lot of big league time, it’s safe to assume Farquhar received an invitation to big league Spring Training as part of his minor league deal. It probably includes an opt-out if he’s not on the 25-man active roster by a certain date as well. After missing almost all of last season, I have to think Farquhar is ticketed for Triple-A Scranton to begin the season.

Farquhar joins catcher Ryan Lavarnway, infielder Gio Urshela, lefty Rex Brothers, lefty Danny Coulombe, outfielder Billy Burns, righty Drew Hutchison and outfielder Matt Lipka as minor league contract depth pickups this winter.

The Morning After: Ichiro!

by 122 Comments

“Dammit Ichiro, I thought I told you to trim those sideburns!” (Otto Greule Jr/Getty)

The Yankees were dealt a pretty big blow when Brett Gardner went down with likely season-ending elbow surgery last week, an injury he initially suffered back in April. They’ve done well without him but the offense has been devoid of speed and the outfield defense suffered in a big way. A replacement outfielder was definitely on the trade deadline shopping list but it wasn’t a necessity.

After fiddling around with Raul Ibanez, Andruw Jones, Jayson Nix, Dewayne Wise, and even Eduardo Nunez earlier in the year, the Yankees addressed the outfield situation yesterday by acquiring Ichiro Suzuki from the Mariners for D.J. Mitchell and Danny Farquhar. Seattle will pay all but $2.25M of his $17M salary. Ichiro will become a free agent after the season, so it’s a straight rental. As has become the tradition following notable news items, here are some scattered thoughts on the trade…

  • Machinations: Apparently Ichiro requested a trade a few weeks ago and the ball got rolling when Mariners president Chuck Armstrong called Randy Levine, which sent shivers down my spine. The trade was perfectly fine, very reasonable, but anytime those above the baseball operations department get involved, I get nervous.
  • Expectations: I don’t expect very much from Ichiro the rest of the way — maybe he gets the batting average up to .300 (and his OBP up to .330) by being platooned properly and he winds up stealing a bunch of bases. Yankee Stadium won’t help him much because he’s a ground ball hitter, not a guy who lifts the ball in the air to the pull side. Perhaps joining a contender bring his bat back to life and maybe his career-low .279 BABIP corrects. Either way his primary value will come on defense, on the bases, and by putting the ball in play. The Yankees have lacked that.
  • Left or Right: Given his throwing arm, it would make sense to put Ichiro in right and shift Nick Swisher to left. Then again, there is more ground to cover in left field in Yankee Stadium. Ichiro hasn’t played left in more than a decade, so that will take an adjustment. I’m not exactly sure which corner would be best for him, but I feel like there is no wrong answer.
  • Durability: One of Ichiro’s underrated skills — and it is a skill — is his durability. He missed a little more than two weeks with an ulcer in 2009 but otherwise has never been on the DL since coming over from Japan. He’s played in 159 games and led the league in at-bats in eight of the last nine seasons. This is a guy who is used to playing the outfield everyday and is more suited to do so than Ibanez, Jones, or anyone on the roster not named Curtis Granderson or Swisher.
  • Marquee Value: Like Derek Jeter, Ichiro is the rare player with legitimate marquee value. He’s going to help sell merchandise, put butts in the seats, and drive up YES Network ratings. That value is generally overstated — he’s not going to pay for himself or anything — but it is real and should not be neglected. He’s going to bring a definite buzz to the team, some of which we saw last night.
  • The Return: With all due respect to Farquhar, Mitchell was the real loss for the Yankees. I always considered him a swingman/long reliever type and the Yankees seemed to feel the same way, but there is value in that as long as he’s cheap. David Phelps pushed Mitchell down the totem pole a bit and the presence of Adam Warren in Triple-A and Brett Marshall in Double-A made him expendable. I would have rather given up Warren — hence my post-draft prospect rankings — but it’s not a huge difference.
  • Pitching Depth: Mitchell was the next-in-line whenever the Yankees needed an arm from Triple-A, so I suppose that duty now falls on the shoulders of Warren.  He was obviously terrible in his big league debut, but one appearance doesn’t define a career. Behind him you have Cory Wade as a call-up option and that’s really it as far as 40-man roster candidates go. The Yankees work the waiver wire and scrap heap as well as anyone, so I bet they pluck an arm of two off waivers for depth in the coming weeks.
  • Roster Spots: The Yankees currently have ten (!) players on the 60-day DL and will need to clear room for these guys at some point. Yesterday’s moves cleared two spots — Mitchell’s and Wise’s — but one went to Ichiro. They have one open spot at the moment and with any luck, it will go to Joba Chamberlain when he’s activated in a week or two. Moving Mitchell helped clear up a logjam of sorts, albeit very slightly.
  • Miscellany: The Yankees replaced the 34-year-old Wise with the 38-year-old Ichiro, let’s stop acting like the roster got lifetimes older … I hope Ichiro goes on to have a monster David Justice-esque second half but the Yankees don’t trick themselves into thinking he’s worth a spot on next year’s team as a stopgap outfielder … how about Farquhar? Dude went from waiver claim and being designated for assignment twice this season to being traded for a future Hall of Famer … I’m still in awe that Brian Cashman and the Yankees in general are able to make all these significant moves completely under-the-radar, there are no leaks whatsoever. This came out of the blue.

The Yankees plugged a relatively small hole with a move that was notable only because it involved a historic player. Ichiro is obviously well past his prime and any thoughts of a revival are wishcasting at its finest. He can still be useful on defense and on the bases, but the Yankees will wisely bat him near the bottom of the lineup. Ichiro’s a fun and entertaining player, and sure hope the Yankees can help get him that World Series ring he surely covets.