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Yankeemetrics: The buy-or-sell rollercoaster [July 22-24]

July 25, 2016 by Katie Sharp Leave a Comment

Giant victory
Facing yet another first-place team on this make-or-break homestand, the Yankees pulled off a stunning victory over the Giants on Friday night. The Yankees entered this series with a 3-7 record in Interleague play this season, the worst in the American League and second-worst in the majors ahead of only the Reds (4-11).

Masahiro Tanaka outdueled Madison Bumgarner in a battle of aces, firing six shutout innings against the Giants. Tanaka has dominated NL competition during his major-league career, compiling a 1.88 ERA with 59 strikeouts and just six walks in nine Interleague starts. That’s the third-best Interleague ERA among active pitchers with at least seven starts, and the best for any Yankee pitcher that has ever made more than one start during Interleague play.

Tanaka has put together an ace-like resume this year, but one narrative clouding his season performance has been his sub-par numbers on normal rest.

He entered this game with a 5.33 ERA in eight starts on four days rest, a bloated figure compared to his 3.15 season ERA. The 2.18 difference in ERA between his 5.33 normal rest ERA and 3.15 overall ERA ranked fourth-highest among the 143 pitchers with at least five starts on four days rest this season.

Aroldis Chapman’s flame-throwing feats are becoming more and more ridiculous every day. On Friday night, 15 of his 17 pitches were fastballs, and each of the heaters was clocked at 100 mph or faster, with a whopping seven pitches topping out at 104 mph.

That’s now 11 pitches of at least 104 mph in his last two appearances combined (he had four on July 18), an unprecedented total considering that only three pitches of 104 or more mph had ever been recorded in the nine seasons of Statcast data (since 2008) before this week.

Chapman averaged a ridiculous 103.2 mph on his fastball against the Giants, the highest average fastball velocity in a game by any pitcher since 2008, per Statcast.

Bronx bummer
Less than 24 hours after celebrating one of their most uplifting wins of the season, the Yankees crashed back down to Earth with one of their most frustrating and crushing losses, falling 2-1 in 12 innings to the Giants on Saturday.

Not only did they lose after playing a dozen innings in the brutal heat, but they also failed numerous times in the clutch (went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position) and wasted a gem from their fifth starter (seven innings and one run allowed by Ivan Nova).

And to pile on the depressing facts, they whiffed on a chance to reach three games over .500 for the first time this season, and — because the Blue Jays lost earlier in the day — could have pulled to within three games in the loss column of the second wild card spot if they had somehow won the game.

Instead, the Yankees’ momentum was halted and they suffered yet another disheartening defeat in a season filled with far too many of them already.

It was just the third time the Yankees have lost an Interleague game at home that lasted at least 12 innings. The others were a 6-2 loss on April 18, 2013 to the Diamondbacks and a 2-1 loss on June 12, 2001 against the Expos (both games went 12 innings, too).

This isn’t the first time Nova has been stellar against the Giants; he threw a six-hit shutout in San Francisco on Sept. 12, 2013 in his only other appearance against them. He now owns a shiny 0.56 career ERA against the Giants, the lowest mark among active pitchers that have made more than one start versus the franchise (LOL, small sample sizes).

Yankees Last (home)Stand
The Yankees seemingly staved off an imminent fire sale for yet another day by capping off this make-or-break homestand with a solid series win against the first-place Giants.

They climbed back up to two games above .500, tying their high-water mark of the season. It marked the 33rd time the Yankees finished a game with a record within two games of the magical .500 mark, the second-longest streak of that kind in franchise history, per the Elias Sports Bureau. The only longer one was a 42-game streak in 2008.

Carlos Beltran opened the scoring in the first inning with his 413th career home run, passing Alfonso Soriano for sole possession of 52nd place on the all-time list. Up next is Darrell Evans with 414.

Mark Teixeira added a solo shot of his own in the next frame, his 200th homer in pinstripes. He is just the fourth Yankee switch-hitter to reach that milestone, and also the fourth first baseman in franchise history with at least 200 homers. His fellow Yankee switch-hitters in the 200-homer club are Jorge Posada, Bernie Williams and Mickey Mantle; the other first baseman are Jason Giambi, Don Mattingly and Lou Gehrig.

Nathan Eovaldi’s erratic season has mirrored the Yankees’ inconsistency, so it was little surprise that he delivered a standout performance (two runs allowed in 6 2/3 innings) on the same day the Yankees actually looked like a contender. What is surprising is that one of his best outings came against the Giants, a team that he’s historically struggled against.

Eovaldi entered the game with a 13.30 ERA in five starts versus San Francisco, the second-highest ERA by any active MLB pitcher against a single opponent (min. five starts). The highest mark is by Dana Eveland, who boasts a 16.11 ERA in 10 games (five starts) against the Red Sox.

Update: Yanks moving closer to trading Aroldis Chapman

July 24, 2016 by Mike Leave a Comment

Sunday, 7:52pm: The Yankees and Cubs are working on a deal that would send Chapman to Chicago for top prospect Gleyber Torres plus a second piece (!), report Jon Heyman and Buster Olney. Apparently the Cubbies want Chapman to agree to an extension before consummating a trade. Sounds like the deal could be completed as soon as tomorrow.

Sunday, 1:58pm: Jack Curry, who will inevitably break the Chapman trade news, says nothing is imminent and the Yankees are still mulling offers. For what it’s worth, John Harper says Hal Steinbrenner gave the okay to deal Chapman before the Giants series. Here’s the latest:

The Cubs are “strong” in the mix for Chapman, says Ken Rosenthal. The Giants, Dodgers, Nationals, and Indians are all involved too. That sounds like a last minute leak from the Yankees to get someone to raise their offer. He’s currently on the DL with a minor shoulder injury and is due back soon.
The Yankees have interest in Nats righty Joe Ross, reports Jon Heyman. One source told him there is “no chance” they’ll trade Ross for a rental though. Here’s my offseason Scouting the Market post on Ross.
Keith Law hears the Yankees would get righty Erick Fedde, righty Koda Glover, and a third piece if the deal with the Nationals goes through. That is a lot. Here is MLB.com’s Nationals top 30 prospects list so you can familiarize yourself with those guys.
The Yankees “love” Cubs shortstop prospect Gleyber Torres, according to Buster Olney. I wrote about Torres in our Scouting the Market: Cubs post a few days ago.

Sunday, 12:41am ET: Rosenthal says a trade is not necessarily imminent. The Yankees are preparing to wrap-up the process though. I guess that means they’re sorting through final offers and things like that.

Saturday, 10:38pm ET: The Yankees are telling teams they are close to trading Aroldis Chapman and will hold on to Andrew Miller, reports Ken Rosenthal. There’s no word on where Chapman may be heading or when a deal may be completed. For what it’s worth, the Nationals have been connected to him most frequently.

Following Saturday’s loss, the Yankees are now 49-48 on the season and 7.5 games back in the AL East. They’re 4.5 games back of a wildcard spot with four teams ahead of them. FanGraphs puts their postseason odds at 8.3% as of this writing, which should have the team firmly in sell mode. I’m not sure what else ownership needs to see.

Now, that said, trading Chapman would make sense even if the Yankees were in the race. They were able to get him at a very discounted rate due to his pending domestic violence suspension, and now that the suspension has been served, they can market him as a full price rental elite reliever. That’s pretty darn valuable and should fetch a lot.

In addition to the Nationals, the Rangers, Cubs, and Giants have all been connected to Chapman to some degree. Washington tried to acquire Aroldis in the offseason following his domestic dispute incident, but the Yankees beat them to the punch. Nationals manager Dusty Baker had Chapman with the Reds and has reportedly been pushing to acquire him.

As for keeping Miller, it’s certainly a sound strategy considering his general awesomeness and the two years left on his affordable contract. It’s been reported that the Yankees will have to be blown away to move him. That could still happen before the deadline, it’s not like there’s a shortage of teams in on Miller. We’ll see. The trade deadline is one week from Monday.

Trade Deadline Notes: Nats, Sabathia, Blue Jays, Pineda

July 23, 2016 by Mike Leave a Comment

The trade deadline is now only nine days away, and according to FanGraphs, the Yankees have a 9.6% chance to make the postseason. That’s not very good. Buster Olney (video link) said yesterday Aroldis Chapman could be dealt as soon as this weekend, though I’m not sure I buy that. “The Yankees are playing it smart and will likely take it to the end to get the most,” said an official with another team to George King. Here are the latest trade rumblings.

Nats make top prospects off-limits

Despite their interest in Chapman, Barry Svrluga reports the Nationals will not trade top prospects Lucas Giolito, Trea Turner, Victor Robles, or Reynaldo Lopez for the hard-throwing lefty. Every team says they’re unwilling to trade their top prospects this time of year, so I wouldn’t make too much of this. It’s just posturing.

If the Nationals are serious about getting Chapman (or Andrew Miller), they’ll have to put one of those guys on the table. Lopez seems most likely, mostly because he’s the lowest rated prospect of the bunch. He’s not bad — Baseball America had him 48th in their midseason top 100 — the other guys are just really, really good. Based on what Miller fetched two years ago, I think Lopez would be a fair return for Chapman.

Blue Jays scouted Sabathia

The Blue Jays had a scout watching CC Sabathia’s most recent start, reports Jon Heyman. George King says the Astros, Mets, Marlins, and Cubs also had scouts on hand Thursday. It’s worth noting Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro was in the Indians’ front office all those years Sabathia was in Cleveland, including most as GM. There’s a bit of a connection there.

We heard Sabathia has been drawing some interest the other day, though I have a hard time believing it’s serious interest. I’m guessing it’s more “if you eat a ton of money we’ll take him off your hands” interest. Also, an intradivision trade with the Blue Jays probably isn’t happening, even though you could argue trading Sabathia to an AL East rival would be good for the Yankees.

Giants, Astros, Cubs among teams to scout Pineda

The Giants, Astros, Cubs, and “a ton” of others were on hand to see Michael Pineda’s most recent start, report Jon Morosi and Chris Cotillo. Pineda had his first scoreless start of the season Wednesday, and he had maybe his nastiest slider of the season too. As Katie pointed out in Yankeemetrics, Pineda generated 18 swings and misses with his slider that game, the most by any pitcher in baseball in 2016.

The Yankees are at the point where they have to figure out what they want to do with Pineda and Nathan Eovaldi. Do they want to keep them long-term? If so, they should start thinking about extensions. If they don’t want them long-term, then they should trade them soon to get as much back as possible. I understand waiting and hoping they rebuild value in the second half, but I think it’s more likely they’ll lose value going forward between the injury risk and being closer to free agency.

7/22 to 7/24 Series Preview: San Francisco Giants

July 22, 2016 by Mike Leave a Comment

Bochy has an excellent manager's gait. (Bart Young/Getty) — Bochy has an excellent manager’s gait. (Bart Young/Getty)

The homestand concludes this weekend with a three-game series against the 2016 World Series champion Giants. Don’t even bother watching the rest of the season. It is an even year and the Giants got it locked down. Anyway, this is only the third time ever the Giants are coming to the Bronx as part of interleague play. They were here for three games back in 2002, when Barry Bonds did this …

… and they were here for three games back in 2013. Alex Rodriguez hit his record 24th career grand slam that series. The Yankees won two of three both times the Giants have played in Yankee Stadium during the interleague play era. This is the only time these two teams will meet this year. There’s no series in San Francisco later in the season.

What Have They Done Lately?

The Giants have not won a game in the second half. Five games, five losses. They were swept in three games by the Padres last weekend and they lost both games up in Boston earlier this week. San Francisco still has the second best record in all of baseball at 57-38. Only the Cubs (57-37) have been better. The Giants have a +58 run differential, a four-game lead in the NL West, and a 6.5-game lead on a postseason spot in general.

Offense & Defense

Everyone seems to push the idea that the Giants are an old school organization that wins with pitching and defense, but that’s not really the case. They’re one of the most analytically inclined teams in the game, and they’re averaging 4.64 runs per game with a team 104 wRC+. It’s a really strong offense, especially considering OF Hunter Pence (hamstring), 2B Joe Panik (concussion), and 3B Matt Duffy (Achilles) have all been out for several weeks.

Panik (101 wRC+) has been on a minor league rehab assignment and may be activated off the DL prior to tonight’s game. Manager Bruce Bochy usually bats Panik second behind CF Denard Span (92 wRC+). 1B Brandon Belt (142 wRC+), C Buster Posey (126 wRC+), and SS Brandon Crawford (112 wRC+) typically make up the 3-4-5 hitters. OF Jarrett Parker (124 wRC+) and OF Mac Williamson (117 wRC+) have been platooning in right with Pence out. LF Angel Pagan (109 wRC+) is the other regular.

The Giants have been played 3B Conor Gillaspie (88 wRC+) and ex-Yankee IF Ramiro Pena (143 wRC+) at third base during Duffy’s absence. IF Grant Green (103 wRC+) is the utility man and chances are either he or Pena are going to get dropped from the roster whenever Panik returns. Pena’s out-played Green — he also has nearly twice as many plate appearances — so he might stick. C Trevor Brown (101 wRC+) is the backup catcher and OF Gregor Blanco (88 wRC+) is the heavily used fourth outfielder. For what it’s worth, Posey has been the DH four times in San Francisco’s six AL park games to date. Parker was the DH the other two times.

Defensively, the Giants are very strong, especially up the middle with Crawford, Panik, and Span. Belt is solid at first and so is Pena when he’s in the lineup. Gillaspie and the Williamson/Parker platoon won’t kill them. Pagan’s no longer the defender he once was, but he’s still good enough. Posey has, incredibly, thrown out more basestealers (18) than he has allowed successful steals (16). Brown’s throw-out rate (23%) is well-below-average (29%).

Pitching Matchups

Friday (7:05pm ET): RHP Masahiro Tanaka (vs. SF) vs. LHP Madison Bumgarner (vs. NYY)
The Yankees are catching zero breaks this weekend. Three games against the Giants and they’re going to see their top three starters. Bumgarner, who is still somehow only 26, has a 2.12 ERA (3.02 FIP) in 20 starts and 135.2 innings. He’s got great strikeout (28.8%) and walk (6.1%) numbers, but only average-ish grounder (40.9%) and homer (0.93 HR/9) rates. Bumgarner is really good at getting pop-ups and weak fly balls, and while his platoon split is fairly big, it’s not like righties hit him hard. He dominates lefties and only kinda sorta dominates righties. Bumgarner uses a lower arm slot to sling low-90s four-seamers and upper-80s cutters. His moneymaker is a big upper-70s curveball he can throw to both sides of the plate. He’ll also throw a few mid-80s changeups per start, but generally speaking, he’s a four-seamer/cutter/curveball pitcher. Bumgarner is an ace in every possible way. What a stud.

Also, it’s worth noting Bumgarner will not hit for himself tonight. Earlier this year the Giants made some history by passing on the DH and letting Bumgarner hit for himself during a game in Oakland. They were the first team in 40 years to decline the DH. Bochy told Hank Schulman earlier this week he plans to use a left-handed hitter at DH with Tanaka on the mound, not the righty hitting Bumgarner. That’s unfortunate for the Yanks. For all the talk about his bat, Bumgarner is hitting .154/.237/.308 (51 wRC+) this year and .179/.224/.301 (46 wRC+) in his career. Guess it doesn’t take much to get NL fans excited.

Saturday (4:05pm ET): RHP Ivan Nova (vs. SF) vs. RHP Jeff Samardzija (vs. NYY)
Baseball is good work if you can get it. Last year Samardzija led the AL in hits, earned runs, and home runs allowed, and he still landed a five-year deal worth $90M over the winter. It’s good to throw hard, I guess. Samardzija, 31, has a 4.05 ERA (4.20 FIP) in 19 starts and 122.1 innings this year, and it’s worth noting he started very well but has crashed hard of late. Check it out:

	IP	ERA	FIP	K%	BB%	GB%	HR/9
First 10 starts	71	2.54	2.99	22.3%	5.8%	46.7%	0.63
Last 9 starts	51.1	6.14	5.87	14.3%	6.7%	47.4%	2.10
Total	122.1	4.05	4.20	18.7%	6.2%	47.1%	1.25

I’m sure the Giants are looking forward to facing a weak opponent this weekend so Samardzija can get back on track. (I kid! Or do I?) Samardzija’s been really, really bad of late. Really bad. Lefties are hitting him a lot harder than righties too. Samardzija still sits in the mid-90s with his four-seamer and sinker, and a tick lower than that with his cutter. An upper-80s slider is his main secondary pitch, and he uses a mid-80 splitter as his changeup. Samardzija has been really bad for several weeks now, yet for some reason I don’t find that comforting.

Sunday (1:05pm ET): RHP Nathan Eovaldi (vs. SF) vs. RHP Johnny Cueto (vs. NYY)
Remember when no team wanted to sign Cueto because they were worried about … things? I guess his subpar performance with the Royals last year, and the fact he missed a little time with an elbow issue in the first half. Well anyway, the 30-year-old Cueto now has a 2.64 ERA (2.89 FIP) in 19 starts and 136.1 innings this year. He started the All-Star Game last week and this will be his first start since. Cueto has excellent peripherals (22.1 K%, 5.0 BB%, 51.3 GB%, 0.53 HR/9) and a bit of a platoon split, though he’s overall very good against both righties and lefties. Generally speaking Cueto will work in the low-to-mid-90s with his fastball and mid-80s with his little cutter/slider thing. He also has a nasty mid-80s changeup. As you probably know, Cueto varies his delivery — he has four different deliveries, in fact — not just throughout the game, but within an at-bat, which makes things very uncomfortable for hitters. Between the fastball/changeup combo and various deliveries, Cueto is a master at disrupting the hitter’s timing.

Bullpen Status

The Giants carry eight relievers largely because their bullpen has been below-average (4.00 ERA and 4.01 FIP) and Bochy needs as many options as possible. That’s why they’ve been in the mix for Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman prior to the trade deadline. Here is Bochy’s bullpen:

Closer: RHP Santiago Casilla (3.38 ERA/3.41 FIP)
Setup: RHP Sergio Romo (1.35/3.75), LHP Javier Lopez (4.60/5.89), RHP Hunter Strickland (3.12/3.52)
Middle: RHP George Kontos (2.86/3.85), RHP Derek Law (2.65/2.00), LHP Josh Osich (4.13/5.90)
Long: RHP Albert Suarez (4.19/4.38)

Casilla has not been nearly as automatic as he has been in the past. He’s only 21-for-26 in save chances with several very big meltdowns, yet Bochy has stuck with him in the ninth inning. Bochy matches up with Romo and Lopez — Lopez is a classic left-on-left guy with a funky arm slot, mid-80s fastball, sweepy breaking ball, the whole nine — and will also use Strickland in setup spots as well. Strickland is the hard-throwing bat-misser.

The Giants had an off-day yesterday, so their bullpen is relatively fresh. Suarez threw three innings and 66 pitches Wednesday night, in one of those old school back and forth Fenway Park slugfests, so he’s probably not going to be available tonight. Maybe not tomorrow either. Our Bullpen Workload page will keep you up-to-date on the Yankees’ reliever availability.

Trade Deadline Notes: Lopez, Nats, Giants, Rangers, Gallo

July 20, 2016 by Mike Leave a Comment

The Yankees have won six of their last nine games, and during that time they’ve gained exactly zero games in wildcard race. Not one. They’re still five games back, though now there’s only three teams ahead of them instead of six. Yay? Here’s the latest batch of trade deadline rumors.

Yankees scouted Lopez, others Tuesday

Vice president of baseball operations Tim Naehring was at Nationals Park last night to scout rookie right-hander Reynaldo Lopez and other players, reports George King. Lopez got knocked around in his MLB debut, allowing six runs on ten hits and a walk in 4.2 innings, but he did strike out nine. Baseball America ranked him 48th in their midseason top 100 update, and Lopez has long been speculated as a possible center piece for an Aroldis Chapman or Andrew Miller trade.

The only other notable young players to play in last night’s Nationals-Dodgers game were Joc Pederson and Trea Turner. I’d be surprised if the Dodgers traded Pederson. Turner though? He could definitely be a trade chip with Washington so committed to Danny Espinosa at short (and prospect Wilmer Difo on the way). Turner went 1-for-4 with a two-run triple and a strikeout last night. Here’s video of the triple. For what it’s worth, Lopez strikes me as way more available than Turner.

Giants lingering in Chapman, Miller race

The Giants continue to linger in the Chapman/Miller market according to Jerry Crasnick, though they might be outbid by other clubs with more young talent to offer. San Francisco is focusing on other relievers for the time being, including Jeremy Jeffress and Will Smith of the Brewers, and Jeanmar Gomez and David Hernandez of the Phillies.

As I said a few weeks ago, it’s hard to find a match between the Yankees and Giants because the Giants don’t have a great farm system. Most of their top prospects are either having down years or are far away from MLB. And even if San Francisco was willing to trade off their big league roster, who could they offer? Joe Panik or Matt Duffy? That ain’t happening. The Giants want to add to their MLB team, not subtract from it.

Yankees “intrigued” by Gallo, Rangers scouting Yanks

The Rangers have been scouting the Yankees for several weeks now, according to Evan Grant and George King. They’ve specifically been looking at Miller, Chapman, Dellin Betances, Ivan Nova, Nathan Eovaldi, and even CC Sabathia. Texas had trusted scout Russ Ardolina at Yankee Stadium on Monday to see Nova. The big three relievers pitched that game too. The Rangers need all sorts of pitching help and the Yankees have a bunch to offer.

King says the Yankees are “intrigued” by dinger mashing prospect Joey Gallo, and Grant says that while Gallo isn’t untouchable, it’s going to take a lot to get him. Texas turned down Gallo for Drew Pomeranz, for example. There are concerns about Gallo’s ability to make consistent contact against MLB caliber arms, but he has true 80 power on the 20-80 scouting scale, the kind that will produce 40 bombs in any park even if he hits .230. He’s also a good defender at third base, so while he’s a flawed player, Gallo has a chance to a middle of the order force long-term.

Trade Deadline Notes: Beltran, Royals, Nationals, Rangers

July 18, 2016 by Mike Leave a Comment

Thanks to last night’s win over the BoSox, the Yankees improved their postseason odds to … 5.2%. That’s not so good. Ownership still has not whether to buy or sell at the trade deadline according to Buster Olney, which is no surprise. I’m guessing they won’t make that decision until the very last moment. I just hope none of their top trade chips get hurt between now and then. Anyway, here are some miscellaneous trade notes.

Yankees, Royals talked Beltran

According to George King, the Yankees and Royals discussed a trade involving Carlos Beltran earlier this season. Apparently reliever Luke Hochevar’s name came up. The Royals are short on offense at the moment and they have a huge hole in right field, so while Beltran doesn’t fit their mold as a premium defender, he’d sure as heck improve their lineup. Remember, Kansas City tried to sign Beltran as a free agent two offseason ago.

Hochevar being part of trade talks is interesting if not a little weird. He’s a solid middle reliever (3.86 ERA and 3.83 FIP) and an impending free agent, but trading rental Beltran for a rental reliever makes no sense for the Yankees. I think Hochevar would have been part of the deal as a way to offset money on Kansas City’s end. (He’s making $6M total this year.) Beltran for Hochevar and a prospect or two seems like the final outcome there. There’s no word on whether talks were serious or are ongoing.

Yankees scouting Nationals, Triple-A affiliate

The Yankees spent the weekend scouting the Nationals’ Triple-A affiliate and will cover the big league team this week, reports Barry Svrluga. It’s hard not notice Washington will be calling up pitching prospect Reynaldo Lopez from Triple-A to make his MLB debut tomorrow night. Pitching prospects Austin Voth and A.J. Cole are currently with Triple-A Syracuse as well.

Lopez, who Baseball America ranked as the 48th best prospect in baseball in their midseason top 100, has long been speculated as a possible trade target for New York. That said, he didn’t pitch in Triple-A this weekend, so Yankees’ scouts in Syracuse didn’t see him. He threw an inning in the Futures Game in San Diego on Sunday. Voth and Cole pitched Friday and Saturday in Triple-A, respectively, for what’s it worth. The Nationals have interest in Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman, so it’s no surprise the Yankees are scouting their system. They’re scouting everyone’s system.

Rangers want Yankees to take on money in potential Miller trade

According to Jeff Wilson, the Rangers would like the Yankees to eat some money in a potential Miller trade. Miller is owed whatever is left of his $9M salary this season plus another $9M in both 2017 and 2018. That’s certainly very reasonable given his on-field production, but who knows what Texas’ financials look like. A $9M a year reliever may not be feasible to them.

Of course, given their financial might, the Yankees should be willing to eat money to facilitate any trade as long as it means a greater package of players coming back. It seems silly to pay someone as good as Miller to play elsewhere, but you know what? If it’s the difference between getting a very good prospect and an elite prospect, why not? The Yankees have the money. That’s a good way to leverage their financial firepower.

Cubs, others continue to scout Yankees

Yet another high-ranking Cubs official was at Yankee Stadium this weekend, presumably to scout their bullpen pieces, reports George King. They’ve now had three different scouts and pro scouting director Jared Porter watch New York’s end-game relievers in recent weeks. That ain’t routine coverage. The Cubs are getting multiple eyes on these guys because they want as much information as possible before getting serious about a trade.

King says the Braves, Rangers, Marlins, Cardinals, Nationals, Royals, and Giants have also been scouting the Yankees recently. I’m not quite sure what the Braves were doing there. Maybe they were checking guys out in the case the Yankees decide to buy or something? The other five clubs all make sense though. They’re all contending and they all have some kind of clear need New York may be able to address via trade. The deadline is exactly two weeks away.

Trade Deadline Notes: Giants, Teixeira, Beltran, Miller

July 13, 2016 by Mike Leave a Comment

The trade deadline is now two weeks and five days away, and the Yankees should be leaning towards selling at this point. Should is the key word there. This team doesn’t always do things it should do. Anyway, here are some trade deadline notes.

Yankees don’t see Giants as trade match

According to Hank Schulman, the Yankees don’t see the Giants as a good match for a potential Andrew Miller or Aroldis Chapman trade. San Francisco definitely needs bullpen help, but their farm system is thin and they’re contending, so it’s unlikely they’ll deal off their big league roster. I wrote a little more about that a few weeks ago. Of course, this could all be posturing. The Yankees may be trying to put some pressure on the Giants to up their offer.

Teixeira not ready to discuss no-trade clause

When asked about possibly waiving his no-trade rights at the deadline, Mark Teixeira danced around the question, writes Ken Davidoff. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” he said. Teixeira has full no-trade protection through five-and-ten rights at this point, so his contract is irrelevant. I know he’s stunk this year and it sounds silly to talk about him as a trade candidate, but Mike Morse had a 63 wRC+ and was traded twice at the deadline last year. If some team has a need at first base and is looking for some pop, getting Teixeira on the cheap could be mighty appealing. I don’t think he’s going anywhere — nor do I think he’d agree to a trade — but he’s not untradeable. Pretty much no one is.

Beltran open to trade to NL team

Unlike Teixeira, Carlos Beltran does not have a full no-trade clause. He has limited no-trade protection, and he told Davidoff the 15-team no-trade list includes “a little bit of both” leagues without disclosing the teams. Beltran did say he’s open to going to the NL though, even though he won’t be able to DH. “Why not? DH is great, but I played all my life in the outfield, so there’s nothing wrong with it. I just want to play baseball, man,” he said. There, figure to be a lot of outfielders on the trade market at the deadline (Melvin Upton, Josh Reddick, Carlos Gonzalez, Jay Bruce, etc.), but none come close to matching Beltran’s combination of 2016 production and pedigree.

Yankees told Miller he’ll be traded if they get blown away

From the “this applies to everyone” department: the Yankees have informed Miller they will trade him at the deadline if someone blows them away with an offer, reports Chelsea James. Like I said, that applies to every player ever. I guess it’s notable the Yankees were compelled to tell Miller that’s the case, but that might not be uncommon. Non-news, really. Miller is awesome and signed affordably for another two years. Keeping him is definitely a viable strategy even with the Yankees in need of more young talent. Miller is not “just a reliever.” Kirby Yates is just a reliever. Miller’s a high impact player.