Yangervis Solarte Archives - River Avenue Blues

Scouting the Free Agent Market: The Non-Tendered Players

December 3, 2018 by Domenic Lanza

With Friday’s deadline to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players firmly in the rearview mirror, a slew of viable free agents have hit the market. There are no stars, to be sure, but there’s a little bit of everything to be had amongst the forty-plus players that are now available for nothing more than cash. With that in mind, I will profile some of the players that could conceivably make sense for the Yankees, based upon their current stated and positional needs. And, given just how many names there are on this list, I decided to put them in alphabetical order instead of trying to sort by preference.

Please note that I’m providing the arbitration projection for each player in place of a salary estimate. The reason for this is that I’m operating under the assumption that many of these players were shopped in the hopes of getting something in return, but they couldn’t find any takers – so none of these guys are likely to start a bidding war, and will likely earn a bit less than they would’ve through arbitration.

Luis Avilan, LHRP

The rundown:

Age as of 4/1/19 – 29
2018 Stats – 45.1 IP, 25.9 K%, 9.1 BB%, 3.77 ERA, 3.09 FIP
Arbitration Projection – $3.1 MM
Years of Control – 1

Avilan has been a relatively consistent lefty-specialist for seven years now, holding LHH to a sub-.700 OPS in six of those years. Same-handed hitters hit just .217 against him last year, which is right in-line with his career norm of .210. He’s not flashy, and he’s a liability against righties – but he could more than adequately fill a role in any team’s bullpen. The only red flag here is his velocity, which slipped by over 1 MPH in 2018; lefty specialists aren’t always known for their stuff, but a dip of that magnitude is never a good sign.

Whether Avilan makes sense for the Yankees is kind of up in the air, as is the case with every other reliever on this list. If the team wants to strengthen its bullpen, there are certainly better options out there; but, if there’s a budget in-play, Avilan is a solid option.

Tim Beckham, IF

The Rundown:

Age as of 4/1/19 – 29
2018 Stats – .230/.287/.374, 12 HR, 1 SB, 79 wRC+ in 402 PA
Arbitration Projection – $4.3 MM
Years of Control – 2

Beckham will never overcome the bust label that has been firmly affixed for half a decade now, but he was a solid utility infielder in 2016 and 2017. He played more than passable defense at second, third, and short, and was a league-average hitter in both seasons; he showed flashes of more than that after being dealt to the Orioles at the 2017 trade deadline, as well. But, alas, 2018 was his worst big league season on offense and defense. His walk and strikeout rates trended in the right direction, but not significantly so – and that was about it.

So why is he here? Put simply, the Yankees need infield depth and Beckham has played all four positions. And he’s played them well at times, to boot. Even with the bust designation, he had three years of solid utility work and he’s still in what should be the prime of his career – so it wouldn’t be shocking if he could get back to that level. It’s not glamorous, but there’s value in a utility infielder that can swing a league-average bat.

Justin Bour, 1B/DH

The Rundown:

Age as of 4/1/19 – 30
2018 Stats – .227/.341/.404, 20 HR, 2 SB, 107 wRC+ in 501 PA
Arbitration Projection – $5.2 MM
Years of Control – 2

I wrote about Brandon Belt – who is owed over $50 MM over the next three years – a few weeks ago, and discussed how often worthwhile first base options are available. I bring that up now because Bour (119 wRC+) and Belt (122) have had almost identical production over the last three years, and Bour was just non-tendered by a team that fancies itself a contender. Bour is coming off of the worst season of his career by wRC+, but he posted a career-best 14.6% walk rate and still socked 20 dingers. You could do a great deal worst at first, and the Yankees largely have post-Teixeira.

Bour makes sense as a target if the Yankees are moving on from Greg Bird. And, given that he’s best-suited as the larger side of a platoon (he had a 123 wRC+ against RHP last year), he could work quite well with Luke Voit.

Brad Boxberger, RHRP

The Rundown:

Age as of 4/1/19 – 30
2018 Stats – 53.1 IP, 30.2 K%, 13.2 BB%, 4.39 ERA, 4.55 FIP
Arbitration Projection – $4.9 MM
Years of Control – 1

Boxberger’s overall numbers don’t look terribly enticing; quite the opposite, actually (aside from the strikeouts). However, it’s worth noting that he, like seemingly everyone on the Diamondbacks, fell apart in September as the team slid out of contention. Heading into the final month of the season, Boxberger was sitting on a 3.45 ERA in 47.0 IP, with 33.8% strikeouts and 12.1% walks (as well as a 50% groundball rate). The walks are still high, but he was otherwise a rock solid closer until that horrendous month. And his number from the first five months of the season are right in-line with his career norms.

Relievers fall off of a cliff out of nowhere all the time, to be sure – but Boxberger has enough of a track record to suggest that his September was a slump. And I could see him being a legitimate weapon for whatever team signs him. I wouldn’t mind if that was the Yankees.

Matt Bush, RHRP

The Rundown:

Age as of 4/1/19 – 33
2018 Stats – 23.0 IP, 17.6 K%, 13.0 BB%, 4.70 ERA, 5.29 FIP
Arbitration Projection – N/A
Years of Control – 4

Bush is here purely as a buy-low candidate, and probably a minor league deal guy. He was excellent in 2016 and very good in 2017, but injuries and struggles helped him fall out of favor in Texas last year.

He’s also here because, even with the injuries, his fastball sat at 96 MPH last year, and his fastball spin rate ranks among the elite at 2550 RPM over the last three years. That’s the fourth-best spin rate among the 268 pitchers to throw at least 1000 fastballs since the beginning of 2016. Hell, it’s 15th among all pitchers with at least 100 fastballs thrown in that time. Bush has had injury issues and he’s not young, but there’s a lot to work with here.

Xavier Cedeno, LHRP

The Rundown:

Age as of 4/1/19 – 32
2018 Stats – 33.1 IP, 24.3 K%, 11.4 BB%, 2.43 ERA, 2.95 FIP
Arbitration Projection – $1.5 MM
Years of Control – 1

Cedeno missed nearly all of 2017 with forearm soreness, but you wouldn’t know that from how well he performed in 2018. The walks are a bit high, but they’re balanced nicely by his strikeout rate and his ability to burn worms – he had a 54.4% groundball rate last year, which is in-line with his career rate of 50.9%. I kind of buried the lede here, though, as Cedeno’s another lefty specialist. Though, he’s more effective against lefties than Avilan, and may therefore make more sense in a highly-specialized bullpen.

Mike Fiers, RHSP

The Rundown:

Age as of 4/1/19 – 33
2018 Stats – 172.0 IP, 19.5 K%, 5.2 BB%, 3.56 ERA, 4.75 FIP
Arbitration Projection – $9.7 MM
Years of Control – 1

Fiers has carved out a respectable career as a league-average starter in nearly 900 IP. He has been incredibly inconsistent from year-to-year, though; to wit, his ERAs over the last four years are 3.69, 4.48, 5.52, and 3.56. His FIPs follow the same pattern, as do his strikeouts, walks, and home runs. In short, you never know what you’re getting with Fiers (aside from high home run rates – it’s just a matter of how high). That being said, he’s also a guy that’s made at least 28 starts in four straight seasons, and has value as a back-end starter that could give you a bit more.

He’s low on the list of pitchers that I’d like to see the Yankees look at should other options fall through, but I could see Fiers making sense; but he’s something like the tenth best starting pitcher on the market.

Wilmer Flores, IF

The Rundown:

Age as of 4/1/19 – 27
2018 Stats – .267/.319/.417, 11 HR, 0 SB, 103 wRC+ in 429 PA
Arbitration Projection – $4.7 MM
Years of Control – 1

It seems like Flores has been around forever, doesn’t it? I suppose being a three-time top-hundred prospect and making your MLB debut at 21 will do that.

Flores was a solid utility player for the Mets over the last four years, sitting a tick above league-average with the bat and providing acceptable glovework at first, second, and third. He’s a high-contact hitter, striking out in just 9.8% of his PA last year, and he has enough pop to drive pitches over the fence to all fields. He’s probably no better than average in any facet of the game, but, aside from a lack of walks (6.8% last year), he doesn’t really have a glaring weakness.

If the Yankees are looking for a temporary placeholder at second with the hopes of him moving to the bench when Didi Gregorius returns, the could do a heck of a lot worse than Flores.

Dan Jennings, LHRP

The Rundown:

Age as of 4/1/19 – 31
2018 Stats – 64.1 IP, 16.6 K%, 8.5 BB%, 3.22 ERA, 4.09 FIP
Arbitration Projection – $1.6 MM
Years of Control – 1

Hey, it’s another lefty specialist! Or, maybe not, depending on how much stock you put in recency bias. Over the course of his career, Jennings has had a minimal platoon split, holding lefties to a .296 wOBA and righties to a .317 wOBA. He’s been deployed largely as a match-up guy, but he’s face more righties than lefties owing to the fact that his managers have been comfortable leaving him in to face more than one good lefty. Last year, however, Jennings was battered by righties, allowing a .310/.399/.528 slash line. Ouch.

Guys like Jennings who rely on grounders (55.4% for his career) are scary in Yankee Stadium – but if the team’s looking for a specialist, he makes sense.

Blake Parker, RHRP

The Rundown:

Age as of 4/1/19 – 33
2018 Stats – 66.1 IP, 25.4 K%, 6.9 BB%, 3.26 ERA, 4.40 FIP
Arbitration Projection – $3.1 MM
Years of Control – 2

I was kind of surprised to see Parker non-tendered, as he was very good for the Angels over the last two years. The only black mark was a 1.63 HR/9 last season, which should be neither overlooked nor harped upon. Parker’s not the bullpen ace that he looked like for most of 2017, but he feels like the type of free agent that will get a great deal less than similar players due to the lack of name value and stigma of the non-tender.

A reunion with the Yankees could make sense, with the hopes that his home run rates normalize of course.

Jonathan Schoop, 2B

The Rundown:

Age as of 4/1/19 – 27
2018 Stats – .233/.266/.416, 21 HR, 1 SB, 80 wRC+ in 501 PA
Arbitration Projection – $10.1 MM
Years of Control – 1

Schoop reminds me a bit of Starlin Castro, in that the obvious talent is there, but always feels just out of reach. The 27-year-old has big-time power and athleticism, but he’s among the most impatient hitters in the game, with a swing percentage that’s nearly 10 percentage points above league-average. That worked well in his career-best 2017, when he posted a 122 wRC+, and found him wanting in 2018. The power’s undoubtedly there, and he’s an average defender at second – but Schoop will only go as far as his BABIP takes him.

If you look at his average season, Schoop makes sense as a stop-gap second baseman. Without much in the way of versatility, though, I don’t like the fit.

Matt Shoemaker, RHSP

The Rundown:

Age as of 4/1/19 – 32
2018 Stats – 31.0 IP, 25.4 K%, 7.7 BB%, 4.94 ERA, 3.35 FIP
Arbitration Projection – $4.3 MM
Years of Control – 2

Shoemaker missed most of 2017 and 2018 with nerve issues in his forearm that required two separate surgeries. That’s scary. And yet there’s a silver lining, as he returned to make six starts in September, with his stuff fully intact. His 4.94 ERA is ugly, but Shoemaker racked up strikeouts and limited walks, and looked entirely like the pitcher he had been prior to his forearm problems. Granted, that means he’s been a largely back-end starter, not unlike the aforementioned Mike Fiers – but, as I’ve said before, there’s value in that.

I prefer Shoemaker to Fiers, if the Yankees have the need to deep-dive into this end of the starting pitching pool. But both should be essentially considered emergency options.

Yangervis Solarte, IF

The Rundown:

Age as of 4/1/19 – 31
2018 Stats – .226/.277/.378, 17 HR, 1 SB, 77 wRC+ in 506 PA
Arbitration Projection – $5.9 MM
Years of Control – 1

Full disclosure: I’m only including Solarte because he’s been bandied about a bit on Yankees Twitter. I’m not sure if that’s because he’s a former Yankee, but he has slipped as a hitter and defender in back-to-back years, and doesn’t strike me as the type of player in-line for a big bounce-back season.

Alex Wilson, RHRP

The Rundown:

Age as of 4/1/19 – 32
2018 Stats – 61.2 IP, 17.6 K%, 6.1 BB%, 3.36 ERA, 4.28 FIP
Arbitration Projection – $2.8 MM
Years of Control – 1

Wilson has been a steady albeit unspectacular reliever for four-plus years now, plying his trade by avoiding walks and keeping the ball on the ground (49.2% grounders in 2018). He’s something of an interesting case in terms of approach, as he throws three pitches, and they’re all fastballs – a four-seamer, a sinker, and a cutter, to be more specific. Wilson mixes it up by changing his usage rate of all three from game-to-game, and it’s been enough to keep hitters off-balance so far. Whether or not that would work in a more hitter-friendly park is up in the air.

Introducing the Yankees’ All-Revenge team

May 4, 2017 by Steven Tydings Leave a Comment

Plenty of players throughout baseball, but particularly in the American League East, develop the reputation as Yankee killers. Certain guys just play especially well when opposite the pinstripes. Howie Kendrick with the Angels comes to mind. So does the mysterious contributions of Pedro Ciriaco with the Red Sox.

But there is a special breed of Yankee killer: The former Yankee turned Yankee killer. The group I call the All-Revenge team. The guys who the Yankees let go, trade or otherwise give up on and have turned into a thorn in their sides, a few meetings a year.

So I unveil the All-Revenge lineup, former Yankees who have turned their former employers into a most despised adversary. (Note: I chose to use only active players and focused on players who have performed well vs. NYY since leaving the team).

C: Russell Martin

Why does Martin make the team? Martin is perhaps the most obvious thanks to the 2015 division race. He left the Yankees after the team chose to let him walk and instead go with Chris Stewart and Francisco Cervelli as his immediate replacements. When Martin came back to the AL in 2015 and was in a race with the Yankees, he was ready to pounce.

Over the course of 16 games (13 starts) in 2015, he hit .300/.362/.660 vs. NYY, hitting five home runs with a whopping 18 RBI. Particularly stinging was a two-homer game in September followed up by a go-ahead walk in the 11th inning the next day. He followed that up with four homers, nine RBI and a much more modest .207/.319/.431 line in 2016. He also tried to fight Gary Sanchez last September and extract his pound of flesh from the Yankees. The Bombers held him in check this series, but he’s been a menace in the past.

Signature game: The two-home run game vs. the Yankees on Sept. 11, 2015 was a masterpiece for Martin. He singled home a run to knock Luis Severino out of the game, hit a solo home run off Andrew Bailey and then hit a two-run shot off Chasen Shreve that all but finished off the Yankees. Honorable mention goes to his two-homer game last Aug. 16, which included a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning off Adam Warren. I’ll take the first one because of the division race implications.

1B: Steve Pearce

Why does Pearce make the team? Pearce has played for every team in the AL East except the Red Sox and he has more home runs against the Yankees (10) than any other team except the Rays (10). Pearce has a solid .293/.397/.579 line vs. the Yankees, a tOPS+ of 152, which indicates he’s much better against the Yankees than vs. other teams.

The Yankees gave Pearce just 30 PA in 2012, and he’s had 148 PA to pay them back over the last four years, picking up 34 hits, 14 of which have gone for extra bases. Five of his 25 career HBP are from Yankees pitching. He does special damage at Yankee Stadium with seven home runs with a .338/.419/.692 mark.

Signature game: Pearce has a plentiful number of performances for this list. He had a go-ahead homer off Adam Warren in an Orioles win on Sept. 9, 2015. He almost single-handedly beat the Yankees with a three-hit game last Aug. 28 with a home run and two-run single off CC Sabathia and Warren, respectively. (Man, Warren’s getting beat down in these games). His four-hit, two-homer game Tuesday would be a surefire winner if the Jays had won.

But his most clutch anti-Yankee moment came Sept. 14, 2014, again with the Orioles. With the O’s trailing 2-1 in the ninth inning at Camden Yards on Sunday Night Baseball, Pearce lined a game-tying double off David Robertson. He’d come home to score on a walk-off double from All-Revenge team honorable mention Kelly Johnson.

2B: Robinson Cano

Why does Cano make the team? Cano leads the rest of the All-Revenge team infield, which has had less experience facing the Yankees, having done so only in the last three seasons. However, Cano did quick work to get onto this list. He’s batting .324/.377/.479 vs. his former squad and has three home runs. His batting average jumps up to .363 when you take out his 3-for-16 struggles against Masahiro Tanaka

Signature game: His highest Win Probability Added in his first two seasons with the Mariners came against the Yankees. He had two two-run homers against Michael Pineda on July 18, 2015, knocking in all four runs during the Mariners’ 4-3 win over the Yankees. Both home runs came with the game tied and one-upped his former squad.

3B: Yangervis Solarte

Why does Solarte make the team? The No. 1 reason Solarte is here? There aren’t many third basemen to work with. Thanks to Alex Rodriguez for holding down the position for so long. Solarte still made a big impact in his three games vs. the Yankees last July. Six hits in 10 at-bats with two walks, a home run and two doubles. Batting .600 with a 1.767 OPS against a team, even in one series, still has merit.

Signature game: Even though the Padres lost, 6-3, Solarte had one of his four career four-hit games last July 3, scoring two runs and hitting a solo shot. Solarte turns 30 this July, so there’s a solid chance he gets more games to get further revenge for the Yankees trading him.

SS: Eduardo Nunez

Why does Nunez make the team? Again, a lack of shortstops. But Nunez has still performed well. 15 hits in 48 at-bats vs. the Yankees. Only two extra-base hits, but one went for a home run. All of his 14 games against the Yankees were with the Twins, and now he’s playing a bevy of positions for the Giants.

Signature game: Nunez had a clutch double off the bench in 2014 but it came with the Twins already leading and Matt Daley in the game. He also had a two-hit game with a home run last June. But his top anti-Yankee moment came in a game where he went 1 for 4 with a walk in 2015. On Aug. 17, his one hit was lined off Bryan Mitchell’s face, ending the rookie’s night early and turning the game into a bullpen affair. I get wanting revenge, but that was ugly!

OF: Melky Cabrera

Why does Cabrera make the team? If Martin isn’t the captain of the All-Revenge squad, Melky would do just fine in the role. He’s batting .302/.350/.527 in 198 plate appearances against his former club. He’s actually played more seasons out of NY (8) than with the Yankees (5) at this point. In 2014 alone, he faced the Yankees 15 times, had hits in all but two games and racked up six multi-hit games.

Signature game: Cabrera’s first ever series against the Yankees came in 2011 with the Royals and he helped KC win the series in the clincher on May 12 with a two-hit night. Both his hits went for extra bases, including an RBI double (before getting picked off second) and a home run off Ivan Nova in a 11-5 Royals win.

OF: Curtis Granderson

Why does Granderson make the team? Granderson is the one player on this list with experience playing vs. the Yankees both before and after coming to the Bronx. He had four HR and 15 extra-base hits vs. the Yankees during his Tigers days (not including the ’06 playoffs). He’s 12 for 46 with four home runs and eight walks since joining the Mets.

Signature game: In his second game vs. the Yankees since moving crosstown, Granderson came through big time. He went 2 for 3 with two walks, a home run, three RBI and two runs scored. This game (May 13, 2014) was highlighted by both Vidal Nuno and Zack Wheeler exiting early and Daisuke Matsuzaka outdueling Alfredo Aceves in the battle of the bullpens. 2014 was a weird time.

P.S. If I was willing to include pre-Yankee days, this is the obvious winner.

OF: Austin Jackson

Why does Jackson make the team? Capping off the list is a player who never actually played for the Yankees. Jackson was a top prospect but was traded for the man above him on this team, never giving him a chance to don the pinstripes. In 158 plate appearances over 37 games against his ex-organization, he has a respectable .289/.361/.444 batting line with nine doubles, two triples and three home runs. Not to mention five stolen bases. In classic Jackson fashion though, he does have 48 strikeouts.

Signature game: Flash back to mid-August 2013, when Jackson was center fielder for the AL Central-winning Tigers. He led off an Aug. 10 game vs. Phil Hughes with a triple and scored, then later hit a solo dinger in the top of the fifth, helping knock Hughes out of the game. The Tigers would go on to win 9-3 after Jackson drew a walk and scored later in the game.

—

Disagree with a player making the team? Have someone else in mind? Or suggestions about current pitchers who have made good on their sweet sweet revenge against the Yankees? Let me know. The All-Revenge team can change series to series with one or two standout performances or with a trade. But for now, this is the lineup that prevails.

2014 Season Review: The Spring Training Surprise Who Stuck

October 8, 2014 by Mike 105 Comments

The 2014 season is over and it’s time to look back at the year that was. Our old What Went Right/Wrong format has gotten stale, so it’s time for a new review format. We’ll review individual players, performances, tendencies, all sorts of stuff in the coming days and weeks.

It happens every year like clockwork. Some seldom-known player shows up to Spring Training, has a strong camp, and fans clamor for him to make the team. He doesn’t, he goes to Triple-A, he performs exactly like he has every other year in his career, and fans forget about him by June. Happens to every team every year. This isn’t something unique to the Yankees. But, every once in a while, that player does stick.

* * *

The Legend of Yangervis Solarte started in early January, when the Yankees signed the then-26-year-old minor league journeyman to a minor league contract with an invitation to Spring Training. The Tigers were after him as well, but Solarte was put off by their Ian Kinsler pickup because it blocked a potential spot for him. The Yankees flexed their financial muscle and signed him to a nice deal worth $22,000 per month in the minors. That’s big bucks for a minor league deal.

Solarte came to Spring Training and was lumped into the infield competition with guys like Dean Anna, Eduardo Nunez, Zelous Wheeler, and Scott Sizemore. He was a total afterthought. No one knew who he was and his minor league track record wasn’t particularly impressive — .282/.331/.404 (~91 wRC+) in over 1,100 plate appearances at Triple-A with the Rangers from 2012-13 — so there wasn’t much of a reason to get excited. Solarte switch-hit and he could play all over the field, which is great, but a ton of guys in the minors do that.

Then, in camp, Solarte was that guy. That guy who just hit and hit and hit. He played a different position just about everyday — Solarte played five games at second, eleven at short, four at third, and five in left during Grapefruit League play — and just kept hitting. Solarte ended Spring Training with a .410/.452/.615 batting line in 47 plate appearances while facing mostly MLB caliber pitching according to Baseball-Reference’s quality of competition metric. He was the guy. The guy everyone wanted to make the team but was destined for Triple-A.

But then something weird happened: Solarte actually made the team. The Yankees decided enough was enough and it was time to move on from Nunez, who was designated for assignment before Opening Day and traded to the Twins for a Single-A arm. Solarte took Nunez’s roster spot and his uniform number, No. 26. With Brendan Ryan starting the season on the disabled list a back problem, the first five or six weeks of the regular season were essentially a continuation of the Spring Training competition between Solarte and Anna, who also made the club.

Solarte’s first career big league plate appearance was not exactly a garbage time situation — he pinch-hit for Kelly Johnson against the left-handed Kevin Chapman with two men on the base and the Yankees down 2-0 in the seventh inning of the second game of the season. Solarte banged into a 4-6-3 double play to kill the rally and later popped up to end the game in his second plate appearance. It wasn’t the most exciting MLB debut after such a stellar camp, but what can you do. It was two plate appearances and I’m sure he was nervous.

The Solarte Partay began in earnest the next day, when Joe Girardi gave Solarte is first career start (at third base) with the lefty Brett Oberholtzer on the mound. Solarte recorded his first big league hit on a ground ball single back up the middle in his first at-bat then scored his first career run on Carlos Beltran’s single later in the inning. He doubled to left field in his next at-bat and singled again in his third at-bat, which was nothing more than an infield pop-up the Astros didn’t catch because they’re the Astros:

That was also his first career run batted in. I’m sure he’ll tell his grandkids it was a screaming line drive into the gap but they won’t believe him. This is the internet age and they’ll pull up the video on their phones or whatever the hell the kids carry in the future.

Anyway, the 3-for-3 showing earned Solarte another start the next day. Two doubles in that game earned him another start the next day. Two singles in that game kept him in the lineup the next day. And on and on it went. Solarte went 11-for-22 in his first six starts and 19-for-49 (.388) in his first 14 starts. He also started an around-the-horn triple play in the middle of April, in his 16th career game:

Even if he hadn’t come out of the gate so strong, Solarte would have stayed in the starting lineup anyway because Mark Teixeira’s hamstring injury forced Johnson to play first base. Solarte took advantage of the opportunity and just kept hitting. Through April he had a .303/.404/.461 (147 wRC+) batting line and through May he had a .288/.361/.441 (126 wRC+) batting line. He hit his first career homerun off Grant Balfour in the same game as the triple play.

Of course, there were slumps along the way. Slumps that made you think the Solarte Partay was over and he was going back to being a minor league journeyman. There was the 2-for-19 (.105) in late-April, the 1-for-14 (.071) in mid-May, and the 2-for-24 (.083) in late-May. Solarte rebounded well those times, but his June slump effectively ended his time in pinstripes. He went 10-for-61 (.164) in June, including an ugly 0-for-28 skid that spanned nine team games.

Solarte’s season batting line sat at a still respectable .263/.345/.404 (112 wRC+) after the 0-for-28, though the blush was off the rose and he was trending in the wrong direction. The Yankees shipped him to Triple-A Scranton on July 3rd — the move cleared a 25-man roster spot for Wheeler — hoping he would find his strike in the minors. Solarte went 12-for-20 (.600) with three doubles in five games with the RailRiders before being recalled on July 10th, when Beltran was placed on the 7-day concussion disabled list.

After appearing in just four more games with the Yankees — he went 1-for-10 in those four games — Solarte was traded to the Padres with Single-A pitching prospect Rafael DePaula for Chase Headley on July 22nd. The Yankees got what they could out of him then cashed in their chip for a third base upgrade. Solarte finished his time in pinstripes with a .254/.337/.381 (104 wRC+) line with six homers, 30 walks, and 34 strikeouts in 289 plate appearances. He played adequate defense at mostly third base but also saw time time at second and at short.

Following the trade to San Diego, Solarte hit .267/.336/.355 (101 wRC+) with four homers, 23 walks, and 24 strikeouts in 246 plate appearances while splitting his time between second, short, third, and left field. An oblique injury hampering him late-August. Ultimately, his numbers with the Yankees and his numbers with the Padres look very similar. Headley was a big boost at third base both at the plate and in the field. I’m guessing both sides were happy with the trade.

* * *

Solarte was found money for the Yankees. They can talk all they want about how they thought he could be a useful player when they signed him, but I’m guessing that if you gave the team’s decision-makers and pro scouts a truth serum, they’d tell you they didn’t expect him to be a better than league-average hitter for nearly 300 plate appearances. They milked Solarte for all they could then used him to acquire a legitimate upgrade before his stock took a nose dive.

It’s very rare that the guy in Spring Training turns out to be The Guy like Solarte. He has some skills, most notably versatility and a good approach to go along with bat-to-ball ability from both sides of the plate, and he capitalized on every opportunity the Yankees gave him early in the season. Solarte was a huge lift when the team had question marks all around the infield and a nice trade chip when something better came along. He was right guy at the right time on more than one occasion in 2014.

Yankees acquire Chase Headley for Yangervis Solarte, Rafael DePaula

July 22, 2014 by Mike 328 Comments

Beard's gotta go, Chase. (Denis Poroy/Getty) — Beard’s gotta go, Chase. (Denis Poroy/Getty)

Finally, some help for the infield. The Yankees have acquired third baseman Chase Headley and cash from the Padres for utility man Yangervis Solarte and minor league pitching prospect Rafael DePaula, both teams announced. Jack Curry and Jon Heyman first reported the news and Chad Jennings says the Yankees hope he will be in town in time for tonight’s game. (The Padres are in Chicago.)

Headley, 30, is owed approximately $4.2M through the end of the season, and Heyman says the Yankees will receive about $1M from San Diego. Headley is due to become a free agent after the winter and because he was acquired at midseason, the team will not be able to make him a qualifying offer to recoup a draft pick in the offseason. This is a pure rental, obviously, though things could always go so well that they re-sign him.

Through 77 games and 307 plate appearances this year, the switch-hitting Headley is hitting .229/.296/.355 (88 wRC+) with seven homers and 12 doubles. He was dealing with some back issues a few weeks ago and has hit .298/.330/.405 (110 wRC+) in 21 games since receiving an epidural. As with all Padres’ position players, the hope is Headley will perform better away from spacious Petco Park. Here’s what I wrote in our recent Scouting The Market Post:

Petco Park is a notorious pitcher’s park, even after the walls were brought in last season. Headley is a career .286/.360/.444 (118 wRC+) hitter on the road (.243/.331/.371 (107 wRC+) at home), including a 154 wRC+ away from Petco Park in 2012 (97 wRC+ on the road from 2013-14). If the Yankees were to acquire Headley, he would be moving from one of the worst hitting parks in the game to one of the best. It would be damn near impossible for his numbers not to improve.

Headley’s offensive numbers might not improve, he might just stink as a hitter now, but there is no doubt he will improve New York’s dreadful infield defense. He has consistently graded out as above-average defender at third base and will be the team’s best hot corner gloveman since peak Alex Rodriguez. It would be awesome if Headley hits like he did in 2012 (145 wRC+), but being nothing more than a league-average bat with his defense would be a gigantic upgrade for the Yankees.

In exchange for Headley, the Yankees gave up a spare part in Solarte and a secondary pitching prospect. The team signed Solarte as a minor league free agent over the winter and he was awesome for the first two months of the season, but his production slipped in recent weeks and he was eventually shipped to the minors. The 27-year-old has hit .254/.337/.381 (100 wRC+) in 289 plate appearances this year. Hopefully he gets a chance to play everyday in San Diego. The Solarte Partay was a blast while it lasted.

DePaula, 23, has a 4.15 ERA (3.34 FIP) in 89 innings for High-A Tampa this season. I ranked him as the team’s 20th best prospect before the draft, mostly because of his high-end fastball velocity and promising slider. There are still questions about whether he is anything more than a reliever long-term. The Yankee signed DePaula for $500k out of Dominican Republic in 2010 but he did not make his pro debut until 2012 due to visa issues. He was suspended one year before signing for falsifying his identity.

It’s worth noting the Blue Jays were said to be pursuing Headley as well, so the Yankees essentially took him away from a division rival and direct competitor for a postseason spot. The Bombers have now added two rentals in Headley and Brandon McCarthy, and all they’ve given up is a good but not great pitching prospect and two players signed off the scrap heap. I mean, they turned Solarte and Vidal Nuno into half-seasons of Headley and McCarthy. That’s pretty awesome. DePaula, like most Single-A pitching prospects, was as tradeable as it gets. These moves might be not enough to put the Yankees over the top — they still need rotation help and a right fielder — but they were upgrades at minimal cost.

2014 Midseason Grades: The Infielders

July 15, 2014 by Mike 64 Comments

Even though it is not really the halfway point of the season, there is no better time to review the first half than the All-Star break. This week we’ll hand out some simple and straightforward grades, A through F, for the catchers, infielders, outfielders, rotation, and bullpen. These grades are totally subjective. We started yesterday with the catchers, now let’s move on to the infielders.

Mark Teixeira — Grade B (A+ for Foul Territory)

There were a lot of questions about the infield coming into the season in general, but especially Teixeira. The Yankees’ first baseman missed almost all of last season due to a tendon sheath injury in his wrist that eventually required surgery, and wrist surgery can be very problematic even after the player has been cleared to play. Remember, Teixeira started Spring Training late and has still felt soreness during the season. It has caused him to miss a game or two here and there. (His only DL stint was hamstring related.)

Despite that, Teixeira has been the team’s most consistent and productive power hitter this summer, coming into the All-Star break with a .241/.341/.464 (120 wRC+) batting line with a team-leading 17 homers. His power output (.222 ISO) is right in line with his last full healthy season (.224 ISO in 2012), which is definitely encouraging after the wrist surgery. Most importantly, he’s done most of his damage against right-handed pitchers (130 wRC+), who used to give him the most trouble. Is he Teixeira of old? No, of course not. That guy isn’t coming back. But he’s returned to his pre-surgery ways and been a much-needed force in the middle of the lineup.

Weirdly enough, the biggest issue for Teixeira this season has been his defense. He’s already committed six errors this season, his most since 2004, and while errors are not the best way to evaluate defense, most of them were plays we’re used to seeing Teixeira make. I think his scooping at first has been fine. It’s the hard-hit balls he used to turn into outs that are now eating him up. I think it’s a combination of rust from the lost 2013 season and a decline in his skills. Either way, Teixeira has definitely been a positive for the Yankees this year, especially when you consider he’s coming off major surgery.

Brian Roberts — Grade C

There was no way the Yankees were not going to have a massive drop off in production at second base this year. Robinson Cano was the best player at the position last year and has been for several years running, so by definition he is irreplaceable. Roberts was not exactly a popular choice as Cano’s replacement given his long injury history and the fact that he wasn’t all that productive even when healthy ways. The Yankees love veterans though, especially AL East proven guys.

Roberts has remained remarkably healthy so far this year — he missed a handful of games with a back issue in April, but that’s it — while being more than a total zero at the plate. His .241/.306/.376 (87 wRC+) batting line comes with the occasional homer (five), the occasional stolen bases (seven), the occasional walk (8.4%), and always a very long at-bat (4.04 pitches per plate appearance). Roberts has been fine defensively at second if not an asset. He’s a perfectly capable stopgap and No. 9 hitter who has been asked to bear more responsibility. Will Roberts hit a wall later in the year after not playing a full season since 2009? I have a hard time thinking his second half will be better than his first, honestly.

Derek Jeter — Grade C

Like Teixeira, Jeter was coming off a major injury. He missed just about all of last season with a series of leg problems, including a twice-fractured ankle. Add in the fact that he is a 39-year-old shortstop — a demographic that is not well-represented throughout history — and things were definitely stacked against the Cap’n coming into 2014.

Jeter’s season has been underwhelming statistically but I don’t it’s worst case scenario stuff. Like I said, a 39-year-old shortstop coming off a major leg injury could have been really, really ugly. Jeter is hitting .272/.324/.322 (80 wRC+) overall, so his power is non-existent, but he does rank third among qualified AL shortstops in OBP and is only five points away from leading. Is it vintage Jeter? Absolutely not. But relative to the league average shortstop (.308 OBP and 87 wRC+), he’s been passable.

Defensive is another matter. Jeter’s glovework has never been good and at this point he’s barely mobile. The old “he makes the plays on the balls he gets to” rhetoric doesn’t even apply anymore. He’s booted more grounders and made more offline throws this season than I can ever remember. Inside Edge data says he has converted only 46.2% of “likely” plays into outs, which are defined as plays that would be make 60-90% of the time on average. He hasn’t make anything tougher than an “even” play (40-60%) either. It’s been ugly.

The total package, offense plus defense, has not been good for the Yankees this year. At the same time, I’m generously giving Jeter a C instead of a D or F because he has played better than I expected coming off the ankle injury at his age. Maybe I’m just a giant homer. The Cap’n has not been good this season though, certainly not by his standards, but it could have been much worse given everything that happened last year.

Kelly Johnson — Grade D

The Yankees have put Johnson in a tough spot for most of the year — playing once or twice a week, usually at an unfamiliar position like first or third base — but, at the same time, he knew what he was walking into when he signed as a free agent over the winter. He has hit .214/.299/.380 (87 wRC+) with six homers in 211 plate appearances, including a disappointing 83 wRC+ against righties and an even more disappointing 87 wRC+ at Yankee Stadium. Five of his six long balls have come in the Bronx.

Johnson’s defense has been a problem, though again, he has mostly played out of position — he came into the season with only 18 innings at first base and 118 innings at third base. He has spent 199.2 innings at first and 255.1 innings at third this year, committing nine total errors and not looking particularly graceful either. Johnson was a shrewd signing and a wonderful fit for the roster on paper — left-handed hitter with power who can play the three non-shortstop infield positions as well as left field — but it just hasn’t worked out halfway through the season.

Yangervis Solarte — Grade B

Man those first eight or so weeks were fun, weren’t they? I like to think I’m well-versed in the minor leagues but even I had not heard of Solarte before the Yankees signed him as a minor league free agent over the winter. It goes without saying that no one expected to take over as the starting third baseman for the first eight weeks of the season, during which he hit .299/.368/.458 (128 wRC+) in 229 plate appearances. Solarte was a godsend for a beleaguered offense.

The Solarte Partay came to crashing halt after that, unfortunately. He has hit .111/.238/.130 (10 wRC+!) in 63 plate appearances since, earning him a demotion to Triple-A Scranton. Yangervis has owns a .255/.338/.382 (101 wRC+) line in 288 trips to the plate overall and holy crap, no one expected that. Even if he never hits again, those first eight weeks made the signing more than worth it. That’s even considering Solarte’s occasionally shaky defense. He was a great story and a tremendously productive player into early-June. His days as a useful MLB player may have already come to an end, but boy did Solarte contribute in a big way when given an opportunity early this season.

Brendan Ryan — Grade C

Giving Ryan two years plus a player option this past offseason definitely flies under the radar as a lolwtf offseason move. I mean, yeah, I get it. Jeter was a major question mark, but geez. Ryan spent the first five weeks of the season on the disabled list with a back injury, and he’s nothing more than a no-bat (.235/.273/.255, 43 wRC+ in 55 PA), good but no longer elite glove infielder who plays maybe once a week. It’s far from the best use of the roster spot, but the Yankees are stuck with him. It’s just a weird fit. Even weirder are all those times Ryan played first base while Jeter manned short. He’s fine as the 24th man on the roster. Just a pricey and not at all versatile (in terms of bringing different things to the table) insurance policy for Jeter in his final season.

Zelous Wheeler, Dean Anna, Scott Sizemore — incomplete

These three guys have combined for 61 total plate appearances — Anna has the most at 25 — and have hit a combined .232/.246/.438. Most of the power production comes from Wheeler, who has hit two homers in his 20 plate appearances. He is currently with the team in that revolving door 25th man spot while Sizemore is stashed in Triple-A awaiting an injury. Anna has already been designated for assignment (to make room on the roster for Zelous) and claimed off waivers from the Pirates. I wonder how many more guys will cycle through this role in the second half.

* * *

There were some serious concerns about the infield coming into the season. Teixeira and Jeter were huge question marks following their injuries and the same was true of Roberts given his history. Johnson was the sure thing on the infield at the start of camp. The defense has been hideous — Yankees’ pitchers have a .258 BABIP on ground balls, the seventh highest in baseball (league average is .244), and even more grounders would sneak through for hits if not for the club’s aggressive shifting — and that was fairly predictable.

The infield has, by and large, been more productive than I expected, mostly because Solarte was awesome for a while and Teixeira has shown no lingering issues with the wrist when it comes to raw production. Roberts is the new Lyle Overbay — the best of all the bad players and therefore giving off the appearance of being good — and Jeter’s Jeter. He’s untouchable. The Yankees have some internal options who may improve the infield, namely Triple-A Scranton second baseman Rob Refsnyder, but either way it’s clear they could use some help in the second half. Beefing up third base is an obvious upgrade area.

Yankees place Beltran on 7-day concussion DL, recall Solarte

July 10, 2014 by Mike 67 Comments

The Yankees have placed Carlos Beltran on the seven-day concussion disabled list and recalled Yangervis Solarte from Triple-A Scranton, the team announced. Beltran suffered two small facial fractures during a fluke batting practice accident yesterday — he hit a ball off the cage and it ricocheted into his face. He will be eligible to return after the All-Star break.

Solarte, 27, was sent down last week and went 12-for-20 (.600) with three doubles and a triple in five games for the RailRiders. It would be totally awesome if that got him going and he comes back to hit like he did earlier in the season. Beltran has not played since Sunday due to a minor knee/hamstring problem, and he also missed about a month due to the bone spur in his elbow earlier this year. The 37-year-old is hitting .216/.271/.401 (79 wRC+) with nine homers in 61 games this season.

Solarte expanding the zone during recent slump

June 16, 2014 by Mike 24 Comments

The Yankees just wrapped up a nine-game road trip through two time zones and return home this week with five wins in the bank. It was a good trip, not a great trip. Stealing one of those last two games from the Athletics would have been awesome, but they are the best team in baseball. What are you going to do? Considering the injury-riddled rotation and mostly sputtering offense, winning five of nine works fine for me.

The road trip was not at all good for infielder Yangervis Solarte, who had four total hits in the nine games. All four came in back-to-back games in Kansas City. Solarte went hitless in his final 19 at-bats on the trip, though his recent slump extends further back than that — over the last calendar month he’s hitting only .208/.269/.313 (60 wRC+) in 105 plate appearances. That’s just bad. That’s what you’d expect from … well, a journeyman infielder who signed a minor league contract.

Despite the slump, Solarte is still hitting .274/.347/.420 (113 wRC+) on the season, which is a reminder of just how excellent he was a few weeks ago. I don’t think anyone realistically thought he could maintain the 144 wRC+ he posted through April or even the 131 wRC+ he posted through May. That’s Josh Donaldson/Hanley Ramirez production. I’ll be more than thrilled if Solarte manages to produce at a 113 wRC+ clip from here on out.

Sort through his day-by-day graphs page on FanGraphs and you can see Solarte’s gradual return to Earth pretty clearly. The AVG, OBP, SLG, BABIP, and wOBA graphs are all moving in the wrong direction, the walk rate slightly less so. The strikeout, K/BB, and ISO graphs show little change. They’ve held steady even through this slump and that’s encouraging. The one graph that stood out to me was the batted balls. Check it out:

The green line is ground balls, the blue is fly balls, and the red is line drives. Solarte’s ground ball and fly ball rates have been moving in opposite directions, which is sorta weird because his ISO has held steady. Usually when a hitter stops hitting the ball in the air, he stops hitting for extra bases. Maybe it’s just a small sample thing. Solarte isn’t fast and won’t beat out many infield singles (he has three infield hits all season, including this one), so it makes sense that the increase in ground balls has led to decreased production overall.

One thing that has impressed me about Solarte — really more than anything — is his approach. His 11.6% strikeout rate is much better than the league average (20.3%) and his 9.6% walk rate is a touch better than average (8.0%) as well. He has swung at only 27.9% of pitches outside the strike zone, a tick below the 29.3% average. Has that changed at all during the slump? Here are Solarte’s plate discipline stats broken down into ten-game chunks because ten is a nice round number:

	O-Swing%	Z-Swing%	O-Contact%	Z-Contact%	Zone%
Games 1-10	27.1%	59.2%	78.3%	95.2%	45.5%
Games 11-20	34.4%	56.3%	74.2%	93.3%	47.1%
Games 21-30	21.8%	66.7%	73.7%	95.7%	44.2%
Games 31-40	20.9%	52.2%	66.7%	97.2%	44.5%
Games 41-50	29.3%	53.3%	82.4%	95.0%	56.4%
Games 51-62	33.7%	52.3%	83.9%	97.8%	48.9%

Solarte has gradually swung at fewer pitches in the strike zone as the season has progressed, and lately he’s offered at more pitches out of the zone as well. That’s not really a good combination. Swing at strikes and lay off balls is a pretty good rule of thumb. Furthermore, Solarte has not only swung at more pitches out of the zone these last 22 games, but he’s made more contact with those pitches as well. Unless you’re a total freak like Vlad Guerrero, it’s really tough to made hard contact with a pitch out of the zone. Usually the hitter is reaching and either grounding out weakly or popping the ball up.

As Joe wrote two weeks ago, it is very rare for a player to make his MLB debut at age 26 and stick around for a few years. At least rare among non-Cuban players. Dan Uggla and David Eckstein have both done it, and Solarte is more Eckstein than Uggla in terms of his high-contact, low-power playing style. Every little slump makes you wonder if this is the end — for what it’s worth, Solarte has hit much better at Yankee Stadium, so coming back home this week could help jump start his bat — but Solarte has rebounded each previous time. A little less hacking at pitchers’ pitches would help get him back in line this time. That might not be his only problem right now, but it is part of it.