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Saturday Links: Sabathia, YES Network, Rule Changes

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(Presswire)

The Yankees will continue their Grapefruit League season on the road against the Orioles tonight. That is a 6pm ET start and the game will be televised. Luis Cessa will start and make his case for an Opening Day rotation spot. Until then, here’s some news to check out.

Sabathia joins ESPN

CC Sabathia’s post-playing career is starting now. Earlier this week ESPN announced Sabathia is joining the network in a variety of roles. Sabathia told Bryan Hoch he’ll make 15 in-studio appearances on various shows (SportsCenter, First Take, etc.) this year — only on days he’s not pitching, of course — as well as several call-in appearances. Most appearances will cover non-baseball sports.

“As I begin to look toward the future, I’m excited to have this opportunity with ESPN. With that said, my singular focus is on winning another World Series Championship for Yankees fans and the city of New York,” Sabathia said in a statement. Based on his podcast, Sabathia seems very well suited for a media gig like this. He knows his sports and I couldn’t imagine him sitting in a broadcast booth calling or analyzing a game. This seems like a better fit.

Yankees reach deal to buy back YES Network

After weeks of rumors, the Yankees have reached a deal to purchase the 80% of the YES Network they do not own from 21st Century Fox, report Josh Kosman and Richard Morgan. It’ll cost them $3.47 billion and the deal has 120 days to close. Amazon and the Sinclair Broadcast Group are among the investors. With the deal, Amazon will be in position to control streaming rights for Yankees (and Nets) games.

The YES Network was valued at $3.9 billion when the Yankees sold an 80% stake to 21st Century Fox in 2012. Disney has a deal in place to buy 21st Century Fox and must sell off various regional sports networks to get approval. I’m not sure what this means for streaming Yankees games in the short-term. Kevin Draper and Edmund Lee indicate Yankees games could be included in Amazon Prime memberships. The sale isn’t final yet, and as more information comes in, I’ll be sure to pass it along.

MLB, MLBPA nearing rule change agreement

According to Ron Blum and Jeff Passan, MLB and the MLBPA are expected to ratify a series of rule changes at some point before Opening Day. Among them is a change to All-Star Game voting. The new system will be a two-step process. The first vote will pick three finalists at each position. The second will be a one-day race to pick a starter from the three finalists. Sounds fun. Here are details on the other forthcoming rule changes:

  • 26-man rosters with a 13-pitcher maximum (begins in 2020).
  • 28-man rosters with a 14-pitcher maximum in September (begins in 2020).
  • Injured list and optional assignment minimum increase to 15 days (begins in 2020).
  • Extra innings in the All-Star Game begin with a runner on second base (begins in 2019).
  • No pitch clock until at least 2022.

I am totally cool with expanding rosters to 26 players. I don’t like limiting the number of roster spots that can be used for pitchers and I am strongly against limiting September call-ups. Many players are going to miss out on a big league opportunity (and a month’s worth of big league salary) because of that. What would Stephen Tarpley’s outlook be right now had he not gotten an opportunity to come up last September? Making it more difficult to reward minor leaguers for a good season, audition young players for next season, and rest fatigued regulars seems like a bad idea.

MLB announces Atlantic League experiments

Last week MLB and the independent Atlantic League announced a partnership in which MLB will use the Atlantic League to test various rule and equipment changes. In exchange, MLB will install Trackman (i.e. Statcast) at all eight Atlantic League parks and take over as official statistician, and increase their scouting coverage of the league. Yesterday MLB announced the changes they’ll test this year. The list:

  • Trackman will assist umpires with calling balls and strikes.
  • No mound visits except for pitching changes or injury situations.
  • Three-batter minimum for pitchers unless they complete an inning (or get injured).
  • Increase size of first, second, and third bases from 15 inches square to 18 inches square.
  • Require two infielders on each side of second base when a pitch is released.
  • Reduce time between innings from two minutes, five seconds to one minute, 45 seconds.
  • Move the pitching mound back two feet to 62 feet, 6 inches from home plate.

“Players sign in the Atlantic League for the Major League Baseball showcase opportunity it offers. We are excited to see that showcase grow exponentially, while working with MLB on initiatives critical to the future of the game,” said Atlantic League president Rich White in a statement. Making the bases larger will help avoid collisions and hands and ankles getting stepped on, so that’s a plus. I don’t like the three-batter minimum for pitchers or eliminating shifts, but whatever. I’m fighting a losing battle.

Moving the mound back is a seismic change and, weirdly, it will only happen during the second half of the Atlantic League season. They’re going to move the mound back midseason! I assume MLB is looking for ways to increase balls in play and reduce strikeouts. Is this the best way to do it? I have no idea. That’s why they’re giving it a test run. The big concern here is health. The extra two feet and theoretical increase in contact isn’t worth it if pitchers are getting hurt.

Friday Links: Gregorius, Rivera, Potential Rule Changes, Leiter

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Didi. (Elsa/Getty)

Pitchers and catchers report in less than three weeks and the first Grapefruit League game is four weeks from tomorrow. One month until glorious, glorious baseball. Here are some miscellaneous links and notes to check out in the meantime.

Gregorius begins baseball activities

Didi Gregorius has started limited baseball activities as he rehabs from Tommy John surgery. He is taking one-handed swings and fielding grounders without throwing. It’s not much, I know, but he has to start somewhere. Gregorius is progressing well enough that he’s getting his swing in order and having batted balls hit at him. That’s not nothing. Soon he’ll get his rebuilt elbow involved.

Sir Didi had his Tommy John surgery on October 17th. Position players typically have a shorter recovery time than pitchers and everyone involved says Gregorius will play this season. We just don’t know when, exactly. Brian Cashman has indicated the Yankees will let Gregorius complete his rehab before bringing him back. They’re not going to cut corners and let him DH a la Shohei Ohtani. Troy Tulowitzki and DJ LeMahieu give the Yankees some insurance here, but the sooner Didi returns, the better.

Rivera to take on expanded role with Yankees?

During a recent radio interview, new Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera revealed he will be “teaching pitching” with the Yankees in some capacity. “I’m going to start working with the New York Yankees and teaching pitching. So many guys throw hard but don’t have command. We need to teach these boys to pitch. Pitchers are getting away from pitching and are focused on throwing hard,” Rivera said.

For what it’s worth, the Yankees have not formally announced a role for Rivera, and Andy Martino says the two sides have not yet discussed an expanded role in the organization. Mariano serves as a guest instructor in Spring Training each year and that’s pretty much it, as far as we know. I’m certain the Yankees will happily bring Rivera aboard in an expanded role, and it sounds like Rivera is ready to do it. Right now, there is no formal arrangement in place. I’m guessing there will be one soon.

MLB looking to change disabled list, option time

According to Ron Blum, MLB has proposed changes to the disabled list and optional assignments that would make it more difficult for teams to manipulate their roster. Specifically, the league wants to go back to a 15-day DL, and they want players to spend at least 15 days in the minors before they are eligible to be recalled. Right now they have to wait ten days (unless there’s an injury). The MLBPA has not yet agreed to the proposal and it’s unclear if they will.

Disabled list trips have increased more than 30% since the league switched from a 15-day DL to a 10-day DL. Some of that is due to legitimate injuries and some of it is due to teams manipulating their roster. Specifically, clubs will put a starter on the 10-day DL to essentially skip a start for extra rest without playing shorthanded. Also, having to wait 15 days to recall a player rather than ten will throw a wrench into bullpen shuttles and the opener strategy to some degree, since many multi-inning relievers are send down immediately after being used. Adding the extra five days to the disabled list and optional assignments could have a big impact.

Leiter leaving YES Network

Al Leiter will not return to the YES Network broadcast booth this season, reports Andrew Marchand. He’s leaving to spend more time with his family. “I’m grateful for my 12 years. It was a family. I know it sounds like BS, but it is true. It is hard to leave. It is more about being able to see (my son and three daughters) doing their things,” Leiter said. Marchand says YES will not hire a new analyst to replace Leiter. They’ll give his games to others already on staff.

Leiter’s son Jack is a high school senior and a top 2019 draft prospect. MLB.com currently ranks him as the 20th best prospect in the draft class and says he has a “solid four-pitch mix and knows what to do with all of his offerings.” I imagine Al wants to be around for what will be a very important year for Jack. Marchand says the decision was a surprise — Leiter was scheduled to increase his YES workload this year — but it’s understandable. I enjoy Leiter in the booth. I’ll miss him.

Tuesday Links: MLB-Cuba Deal, Streaming Rights, Prospects

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Aroldis Chapman, Orlando Hernandez, and Cuban catcher Jorge Saez. (@YankeesPR)

The holidays have arrived and hot stove news has come to a crawl, so here are some miscellaneous — but not insignificant — links and bits of news to check out.

MLB announces agreement to bring Cuban players to MLB

Last week MLB and the MLBPA announced an agreement with the Cuban Baseball Federation that “will provide Cuban baseball players with a safe and legal path to sign with a Major League Club.” Here’s the press release. Many players, including Yasiel Puig and Jose Abreu, defected from Cuba by being smuggled off the island by criminals, and were later threatened and shaken down for money. This new agreement helps prevent that.

“Establishing a safe, legal process for entry to our system is the most important step we can take to ending the exploitation and endangerment of Cuban players who pursue careers in Major League Baseball,” said MLBPA chief Tony Clark in a statement. “The safety and well-being of these young men remains our primary concern.”

Under the MLB-CBF agreement, players who are at least 25 years old and have played six years in Cuba must be made available to MLB teams. CBF clubs can also choose to make younger players available. When a player signs with an MLB team, the MLB team must pay his former club in Cuba a release fee that follows the same formula as Japanese players (explained here). This is, truly, great and historic news for baseball. There is now a safe and proper channel for bringing Cuban talent to MLB.

MLB may transfer in-market streaming rights to teams

This is potentially huge. According to Josh Kosman, MLB “favors a plan” in which in-market streaming rights would be transferred from the league to individual teams. The Yankees and several other teams have been pushing hard for this for years. This means that, if you live in the Yankees’ home market, you would no longer have to be a cable subscriber to watch the YES Network. You could cut the cord and subscribe to the team’s streaming service instead.

The catch here is that when MLB transfers in-market streaming rights to teams — “when” is more appropriate than “if” here because this does feel inevitable, if not now then down the road — the teams will probably turn around and sell those streaming rights to the highest bidder (Amazon, Google, Netflix, etc.). Amazon is reportedly making a big push to secure regional sports streaming rights and I’m sure they’d love to get their hands on the Yankees. So, rather than buy an in-market streaming subscription straight from the Yankees or MLB, you’d have to sign up for Amazon’s video service. We’ll see. None of this has happened yet but things are heading in this direction.

Three Yankees make top GCL prospects list

I missed this a few weeks ago. Baseball America (subs. req’d) wrapped up their annual look at the top 20 prospects in each minor league with the rookie Gulf Coast League. Three Yankees made the list: OF Antonio Cabello (No. 7), OF Anthony Garcia (No. 12), and RHP Yoendrys Gomez (No. 14). Baseball America posted Cabello’s full scouting report on Twitter, so check that out. He ranked one spot ahead of Orioles RHP Grayson Rodriguez, the 11th overall pick in the 2018 draft, on the GCL list.

The 6-foot-5 and 204 lb. (and 18-year-old) Garcia led the GCL with ten homers in 53 games this year. He also struck out 40.6% of his plate appearances. The Baseball America scouting report gives him 70 power on the 20-80 scouting scale and, in the chat (subs. req’d), Ben Badler compared him to Domingo Santana. That’d be a nice outcome for a $500,000 international signee. Here’s part of the scouting report on Gomez:

Gomez ran his fastball up to 96 mph this season in the GCL, parking in the low-to-mid-90s. He throws with downhill angle and locates his fastball well to both sides of the plate for his age. Gomez had 10 strikeouts per nine innings in the GCL thanks in part to a tight, sharp curveball in the mid-to-upper 70s with good depth that flashes above-average to freeze hitters or gets them to chase. He showed feel for a mid-80s changeup that he’s willing to throw to both lefties and righties.

The Yankees signed the 18-year-old Gomez for a mere $50,000 two years ago and now he’s showing three pitches with good velocity and a potential swing-and-miss curveball. The Yankees seem to turn two or three of these small bonus kids into legitimate prospects each year. Domingo Acevedo ($7,500), Freicer Perez ($10,000) and Jonathan Loaisiga (not sure he even got a bonus) all fit in this group.

2019 Draft top prospects list released

With the college and high school seasons only a few weeks away, MLB.com released their first top 50 draft prospects list for 2019. Oregon State C Adley Rutschman is the consensus No. 1 player in the draft class and he’s probably the most locked in No. 1 pick this far out from the draft since Gerrit Cole in 2011. That doesn’t mean Rutschman is a lock to go first overall to the Orioles. It just means he’s the most clear cut No. 1 guy in quite some time.

The Yankees hold the 30th overall selection next year and they’ll keep that pick even if they sign a qualified free agent like Bryce Harper. Baseball America (subs. req’d) put together a super early 2019 mock draft recently and they have Rutschman going to the O’s with the top pick. Here’s who they have for the Yankees and that 30th overall selection:

3B Brett Baty (Lake Travis HS, Austin)
Why It Makes Sense: Baty will get talked about for both his prodigious strength in the lefthanded batter’s box and also the that he will be 19 and a half years old on draft day. This might not bother the Yankees as much as other teams, as New York just took high school catcher Anthony Seigler in the first round last year, who was also old for his class.

One, “Brett Baty” is an outstanding baseball name. And two, a 19-and-a-half-year-old high schooler in the first round? I can’t imagine that’s happened often. And geez, Seigler didn’t turn 19 until after the draft last year. He wasn’t that old for his class. Anyway, at this point in the draft season (i.e. it hasn’t started yet), any mock draft is almost certainly speculation more than hard “this team is on that guy” reporting. Lots can and will change between now and the draft.

As long as Damon Oppenheimer is the Yankees scouting director, the best place to start with potential draft targets is Southern California. He has an affinity for prospects who play where he grew up. One name to watch: California HS 1B/LHP Spencer Jones. Go check out the (free) MLB.com scouting report and tell me that kid doesn’t scream “future Yankees prospect.”

Dingers, Bad Weather, and that Terrible New Score Bug [2018 Season Review]

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Too many homers? Not enough, I say. (Getty)

After seven weeks and 38 posts, our 2018 Season Review series finally comes to an end today. It was a good run. Time to put 2018 in the rear-view mirror and look ahead to 2019 and beyond. If you missed any of the season review posts, or simply want to check them out again, there’s a link in the sidebar.

Anyway, there are still a few stray miscellaneous 2018 items I want to cover as part of the season review series, so we’re going to lump them together in this smorgasbord post. Here’s the last little bit of “what you need to know” from this past season.

Dingers. So many dingers.

If you’re a fan of home runs — I sure am! — this was the season for you. The Yankees set a new Major League record with 267 home runs this season, three more than the 1997 Mariners. They did that even though Aaron Judge missed seven weeks, Gary Sanchez missed two months (and was pretty bad when healthy), and Giancarlo Stanton had a down year. With a healthy Judge and a typical Stanton season, the Yankees might’ve hit 300 homers in 2018. Golly.

The raw home run total is impressive. How the Yankees did it is downright staggering. Prior to 2018 only five teams in baseball history hit at least 250 homers in a season, and all five had at least one 40-homer guy plus another 30-homer guy. The list:

  • 1997 Mariners (264): Ken Griffey Jr. (56), Jay Buhner (40), Paul Sorrento (31)
  • 2005 Rangers (260): Mark Teixeira (43), Alfonso Soriano (36)
  • 1996 Orioles (257): Brady Anderson (50), Rafael Palmeiro (39)
  • 2010 Blue Jays (257): Jose Bautista (54), Vernon Wells (31)
  • 2016 Orioles (253): Mark Trumbo (47), Chris Davis (38), Manny Machado (37)

The Yankees had neither a 40-homer guy nor multiple 30-homer guys. Stanton led the team with 38 homers. Judge, Miguel Andujar, Aaron Hicks, and Didi Gregorius all tied for second with 27 apiece. The Yankees did have 12 different players hit at least ten homers this year though. That’s a record. Also, 24 times a Yankee hit multiple home runs in a game in 2018. That ties the record.

Perhaps most amazingly, the Yankees received at least 25 homers from eight of the nine positions — they received at least 30 homers from six positions — and at least 20 homers from all nine lineup spots. Check it out:

Homers by Position
Catcher: 30
First Base: 34
Second Base: 25
Shortstop: 33
Third Base: 26
Left Field: 19
Center Field: 30
Right Field: 38
Designated Hitter: 31
(Plus one as a pinch-hitter)

Homers by Lineup Spot
1. 27
2. 39
3. 27
4. 44
5. 35
6. 26
7. 23
8. 26
9. 20

Twenty homers from each lineup spot is insane. Absolutely insane. That’s the attack the Yankees had this season. They didn’t have that one guy who had a monster season. They had a lot of guys who had really good seasons. I mean, 20 homers from each lineup spot? Twenty-five homers from each position? A dozen different players with double-digit homers? This was the Year of the Dinger and it was glorious.

Bad Weather & Bad Travel

The Yankees had a rough weather year this season, starting with a home opener snowout. Second time in three years the home opener had to be postponed. And with the home opener scheduled for March 28th next year, it might be three postponements in four years. Anyway, the Yankees had nine games postponed this year plus another game suspended. The list:

  • April 2nd vs. Rays: Made up the next day (home opener).
  • April 14th at Tigers: Made up during a June 4th doubleheader.
  • April 15th at Tigers: Made up during a June 4th doubleheader.
  • May 15th at Nationals: Suspended after five innings and completed June 18th.
  • May 16th at Nationals: Made up during the June 18th one-and-a-half-header.
  • May 31st at Orioles: Made up during a July 9th doubleheader.
  • June 3rd at Orioles: Made up during an August 25th doubleheader.
  • July 22nd vs. Mets: Made up on August 13th.
  • July 27th vs. Royals: Made up during a doubleheader the next day.
  • September 18th vs. Red Sox: Game “postponed” from 1pm ET to 7pm ET.

The September 18th game was officially “postponed” rather than “delayed” because a postponement allowed fans to exchange their tickets for the Yom Kippur game. Anyway, that is nine postponements (eight if you don’t count September 18th) plus one suspended game. This season the Yankees played four doubleheaders and one one-and-a-half-header to complete the suspended game, and they gave up four off-days to makeup dates. The Yankees went 5-5 in the nine makeup games plus the suspended game, by the way.

Furthermore, the Yankees had to threaten to boycott ESPN to make their travel less hectic. ESPN flexed the July 8th game between the Yankees and Blue Jays into their 8pm ET Sunday Night Baseball slot. So the Yankees would’ve had to play in Toronto on Sunday night, then play a doubleheader in Baltimore on Monday. The doubleheader was scheduled long before ESPN flexed the game too. They knew about the doubleheader and tried to get the Yankees to play Sunday Night Baseball anyway. The Yankees said move the game or we’ll ignore your reporters and refuse to cut promos, and that took care of that. The fact they had to do that to get the game moved was ridiculous.

The Yankees had some travel problems in addition to all the postponements this season too. After that May 16th rainout, the Yankees spent the night at Dulles International Airport due to the bad weather and a mechanical issue with the plane. They didn’t leave for Kansas City until the following morning. On May 23rd the Yankees left Dallas after a game with the Rangers but had to return to the airport shortly after takeoff due to mechanical problems. They didn’t takeoff for home until six hours later. And finally, on June 3rd, the Yankees were stuck on the tarmac for a while because of a radar issue. Sheesh.

Back In The Attendance Lead

It takes some time for team performance to result in noticeable attendance and ratings changes. Those changes usually don’t show up until the next season, in fact. People aren’t out there saying “hey, the Yankees went 20-10 this month, let’s go buy a bunch of tickets” or anything like that. I mean, that does happen a little bit, but it takes some time to see a meaningful change in attendance and ratings.

In 2016 the Yankees went 84-78 and missed the postseason. They sold at the trade deadline, in fact. In 2017 the Yankees went 91-71 and fielded a young up-and-coming team that went to Game Seven of the ALCS. In 2018 the Yankees went 100-62 and lost the ALDS in four games. A very good but ultimately disappointing season relative to expectations. Now, the attendance numbers:

  • 2016: 3,063,405 (37,820 per game)
  • 2017: 3,154,938 (38,950 per game)
  • 2018: 3,482,855 (42,998 per game)

Last season’s winning and general excitement helped the Yankees increase attendance roughly 10% and draw more than 4,000 more fans per game in 2018 than 2017. It was their best attendance season since 2012 (3,542,406 total and 43,733 per game). The Yankees led the AL in attendance this year — they led the league in attendance every year from 2003-15 before slipping behind the Blue Jays in 2016-17 — and were second in MLB behind the Dodgers (3,875,500 total and 47,043 per game).

As for primetime ratings, Maury Brown passed along Nielsen numbers, which show the Yankees were again the most watched team in baseball. By a mile too. Ratings for Yankees games were 57% higher than Red Sox games, the second most watched team. YES Network ratings were the highest since 2012. Primetime Yankees games on YES outdrew the eleven highest rated primetime entertainment shows combined in the New York market. Attendance and ratings went up this year. Big time. (Wouldn’t it be cool if some of that extra revenue was put into the roster?)

The New Score Bug

The worst part of the 2018 season was not watching the Red Sox win the World Series, or Judge getting hurt, or Sanchez forgetting how to hit, or Luis Severino going all Sonny Gray in the second half. No, the worst part of the 2018 season was the YES Network changing their score bug in the middle of the season (I may be exaggerating). This is the old score bug:

Nice and concise. Tells me all the essentials in one easy to read box. The score, the baserunners, the inning (top or bottom!), the count, the outs, and the pitcher’s pitch count all clear and easy to see. The pitch velocity showed up in the pitch count box after each pitch and was easy to read. It was beautiful in a way only baseball score bugs can be beautiful. Then this monstrosity showed up on August 30th:

What in the world is that? I kept looking at the outs box to see the pitcher’s pitch count. I’m a simple man. I have a 36-inch television and a cramped New York apartment. My couch isn’t that far from the television, but I constantly had to squint and strain my eyes to see the pitcher’s pitch count in that little box under the score bug. Oh, and that line with the pitch count? That’s where the pitch velocity shows up, so you have to strain your eyes to see that too.

And what’s up with the batting average? I don’t need to see that. You showed it to me before the at-bat! I don’t need the constant reminder. To be fair, the batting average is replaced by the player’s game performance in subsequent at-bats. It’ll say he’s 1-for-1 or 0-for-4 or whatever, which is nice, but there’s no additional information (homer? walk? etc.), and it’s still clutter. There’s too much to look at there.

I’m not normally someone who complains about change. I am embrace change. New and interesting things happen all the time and I want to know all about them. This new score bug though? No. No no no. I applaud the folks at the YES Network for trying to improve the viewer’s experience. There’s just too much going on here and important information like the pitch count and velocity — stuff I look at after literally every pitch — is too difficult to read. The old score bug was fantastic. Simple, easy to read, didn’t take up much real estate. I miss it.

Saturday Links: Rotation, Prospects, YES Network, Sabathia

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(Presswire)

Not counting the two Wild Card Games, there will be at least one winner-take-all game this postseason. The Brewers and Dodgers will play Game Seven of the NLCS later tonight. The loser goes home and the winner moves on to (probably) lose to the Red Sox in the World Series. Anyway, here are some links to check out on this Saturday.

Cashman says rotation will be a “focus point”

To the surprise of no one, Brian Cashman said during a recent radio interview that the starting rotation will be a “focus point” this offseason. “We’re excited about adding to our rotation, it’s going to be a focus point for us. There’s going to be a lot of competition regardless of the available players out there, but we need to continue to reinforce the rotation,” said Cashman on Mike Francesa’s show.

The Yankees begin their annual pro scouting meetings Monday — “We’re still in the infancy stage. We’ll be in a much better place to make recommendations to ownership (after the meetings),” Cashman said — at which point they’ll discuss everything. Strengths, weaknesses, targets, the budget, etc. With Sonny Gray likely a goner, Luis Severino and Masahiro Tanaka are the only returning starters at the moment. Some heavy lifting will have to be done with the rotation this winter.

Yankees shut out in top FSL, Sally League prospect lists

Baseball America’s annual series looking at the top 20 prospects in each minor league has continued this month, and the Yankees were shut out in both the High-A Florida State League (subs. req’d) and Low-A South Athletic League (subs. req’d) lists. Huh. Here’s what Josh Norris (subs. req’d) said about OF Estevan Florial in the FSL chat:

Florial qualified for the league, but it was pretty much a lost year for him. He obviously missed a bit of time with the hamate injury, and he didn’t have a whole lot of time otherwise to show he’d improved significantly in the necessary areas, namely strike-zone discipline. The Yankees are still confident in him based on what they see on their internal metrics, and evaluators said he made some subtle strides defensively, but it was too deep a league to put him on the 20 with the disjointed season he had.

Florial hit .255/.354/.361 (110 wRC+) with 25.7% strikeouts and 13.0% walks in 75 High-A games around the wrist surgery this year. He was, by far, the best prospect on the High-A Tampa roster once RHP Freicer Perez got hurt. As for the Sally League, J.J. Cooper (subs. req’d) took no Yankees questions in the chat, and Low-A Charleston’s best prospect this year was 3B Dermis Garcia. RHP Deivi Garcia didn’t throw enough innings to qualify for the top 20 list at any level this season, so he’s getting lost in the rankings this year. Seems to happen with someone every year.

Yankees will buy back the YES Network

According to Barry Bloom, the Yankees intend to buy back controlling interest in the YES Network. The Yankees sold 80% of the YES Network to 21st Century FOX in separate transactions from 2014-16. The network was valued at $3.8 billion at the time and surely that number has only gone up. Bloom reports the Yankees will get no discount. They have to pay fair market value to regain controlling interest.

The sale of FOX properties to Disney for $71.3 billion will be completed next year, and, as part of the deal, FOX must divest itself of the various regional sports networks included in the transaction. The YES Network is one of them. I assume this means we’ll no longer be able to stream the YES Network on the FOX Sports Go app. That’d be a bummer. Hopefully there will be a replacement in-market streaming option for the Yankees. Aside from that, I don’t think the sale will change much for consumers.

Sabathia nominated for Marvin Miller Man of the Year

Earlier this month the MLB Players Association announced each teams’ nominee for the 2018 Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award. The award is giving annually to the player “whose on-field performance and contributions to his community inspire others to higher levels of achievement.” CC Sabathia has been selected as the Yankees’ nominee. Here are all 30 nominees.

The Marvin Miller Man of the Year award is selected through a player vote and three finalists will be announced in the coming weeks. Mariano Rivera is the only Yankee to win the award. He won it in 2013. Anthony Rizzo won it last year. Sabathia does a ton in the community — he is also the team’s nominee for the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award — and deserves the Marvin Miller Man of the Year award as much as anyone in baseball. Hopefully the big man pulls down an award in recognition of all that he does in the community.

Saturday Links: Singleton, Players’ Weekend, Pride Events

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Singleton circa 1983. (Owen C. Shaw/Getty)

Weather permitting, the Yankees and Rangers will continue their four-game series this afternoon at Yankee Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for a little after 1pm ET. Here are some links to help you pass the time until the game begins.

Singleton returning in 2019

Ken Singleton is reportedly postponing his retirement. According to Randy Miller, Singleton will return to the YES Network next year on a reduced schedule. He’ll work about 24 games rather than his usual 55, with a heavy dose of games in Baltimore and Tampa, where he has homes. Singleton will also do one other road trip plus some games at Yankee Stadium. Nothing is official yet, but Kenny pretty much confirmed he’s returning on this week’s R2C2 podcast.

Earlier this year Singleton announced 2018 would be his final season as a broadcaster. It wasn’t speculation. He announced it. Apparently the head honchos at the YES Network put on the full court press and convinced him to come back. Singleton said he wants to spend more time with his family and grandchildren, and the reduced schedule will allow that. Next season will be his 50th (!) in big league baseball. He played 15 years and has spent the last 35 as a broadcaster. Hell of a baseball life. I am very glad Singleton is returning. He’s my favorite broadcaster.

Players’ Weekend returns for 2018

Prepare yourself for another weekend of outrage from baseball purists. Earlier this week MLB announced the second annual Players’ Weekend will take place from Friday, August 24th, through Sunday, August 26th. The Yankees will be in Baltimore that weekend and they have a doubleheader that Saturday, so they’ll get to rock their Players’ Weekend uniforms for four games instead of three. You can see all the jerseys here. Here’s the Yankees’:

Same as last season. The Yankees didn’t change the jerseys at all. Boring! Last year they were at home for Players’ Weekend and those jersey tops looked weird with white pinstriped pants. I reckon they’ll look much better with the road gray pants this year. As for the uniform nicknames, you can see all of them right here. They really should’ve gone with each player’s Didi Gregorius emoji. Brad Boxberger will have emojis on his jersey. Yankees should’ve done it. Alas.

Yankees planning events to commemorate Stonewall Riots

The Yankees are planning “significant events” both inside and outside Yankee Stadium next season to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, report Andy Martino and George King. No details have been announced yet, though the events will be something that provide more meaningful engagement and interaction with the community than a simple LGBTQ Pride Night at the ballpark.

The Stonewall Riots were a watershed moment for gay rights in New York. The Yankees were the last team in baseball to announce plans for an event celebrating gay rights — the Mets have held an annual Pride Night since 2016, for example — which is disappointing, especially since they play in the largest and most diverse city in the world. Better late than never.

Sunday Links: Fulmer, Mets, International Deals, YES Network

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Fulmer. (Duane Burleson/Getty)

The Yankees and Red Sox will wrap up their three-game weekend series later tonight on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball. First pitch is scheduled for 8pm ET and I reckon the game will end around midnight. That’s usually how these games go, right? Anyway, here are some notes to check out in the meantime.

Yankees scouting Fulmer

According to George King, the Yankees had scout Jay Darnell on hand to watch Michael Fulmer’s most recent start. Darnell is one of Brian Cashman’s most trusted scouts. For what it’s worth, a rival executive told Jon Heyman he thinks the Tigers will keep Fulmer for the time being. “They are treating him like a No. 2 starter,” said that rival executive. If nothing else, the Yankees are doing their due diligence prior to the trade deadline. They’ll scouts lots of guys in the coming weeks.

Fulmer, 25, started Thursday and allowed four runs on nine hits and no walks in eight innings against the Athletics. He struck out five. For the season he owns a 4.20 ERA (4.03 FIP) with 20.4% strikeouts and 46.3% grounders in 94.1 innings. Fulmer is under team control through 2022 but he has been a little worse with each passing season. I was a big Fulmer guy in the past. I love the stuff. But I wonder if he’s a Michael Pineda type who is more hittable than the stuff would lead you to believe.

Cashman has talked to the Mets

With their season spiraling out of control, Mets assistant GM John Ricco said he will indeed consider trade offers for Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard. Ricco is essentially the club’s acting GM after Sandy Alderson stepped away to receive treatment for cancer. “We’ll have to consider (trading them). For me, everything has to be on the table. But you have to look long and hard before you move a game-changing, top-of-the-rotation pitcher,” said Ricco to Tim Healey.

Cashman confirmed to King and Ken Davidoff that he has spoken to the Mets, and while he didn’t name names, I think it’s safe to assume deGrom and/or Syndergaard were the focus of his attention. From King and Davidoff:

“I’ve been engaged with all clubs, including the Mets. It’s the job,” Cashman said at Keens Steakhouse in Manhattan, where he helped promote a new venture called New York Sports Tours. “And if you can ever match up, you make ownership recommendations on both ends and see if it takes you anywhere.

Either deGrom or Syndergaard would be a tremendous get for the Yankees, both short and long-term. Syndergaard has more team control remaining and the higher upside, I think, but I prefer deGrom. His injury history isn’t as scary — Syndergaard is out with a finger issue right now and has thrown only 95 innings since the start of last season due to lat and finger trouble — and I think he’s just flat out better. deGrom’s been ridiculous this year.

Of course, the chances of a significant Yankees-Mets trade are remote, even if it makes sense for both teams. The Yankees can match (and beat) pretty much any prospect offer, and if they make the best offer, why wouldn’t the Mets take it? Who knows. I guess the thought of potentially seeing deGrom or Syndergaard leading the Yankees to postseason glory is enough to make the Wilpons squeamish. I like that Cashman is talking about this openly. Puts pressure on the Mets. Everyone knows the Yankees have plenty of good prospects to offer, and if they trade deGrom and Syndergaard for a bunch of lesser prospects, lots of Mets fans will not be happy.

MLB bans teams from signing players out of Mexican League

Leggo my Gallegos. (Hunter Martin/Getty)

According to Jeff Passan, MLB has banned teams from signing players out of the Mexican League, citing “fraud” and “corruption” with the league’s transactions. Mexican League teams control a player’s rights indefinitely and they sell those rights to MLB teams. Generally speaking, the player only gets 25% of his signing bonus with the rest going to his Mexican League. MLB wants a system similar to their posting arrangements with Japan and Korea, where most of the money goes to the player.

Mexico does not produce as much talent as the Dominican Republic or Venezuela, though dozens of Mexican born players have played in the big leagues. Luis Cessa and Gio Gallegos both originally signed out of Mexico. Ten years ago the Yankees landed Manny Banuelos, Alfredo Aceves, and two others in a package deal with a Mexican League team worth $450,000. The process for signing players out of Mexico is incredibly unfair to the player and I’m glad MLB is trying to do something about it.

Yankees may buy back the YES Network

The Yankees are considering buying back controlling interest in the YES Network, reports Andrew Marchand. At the moment the team owns 20% of the network and 21st Century FOX owns the rest. A few years ago the Yankees sold a 49% stake in the YES Network at a valuation of $3.8 billion, and the deal allowed 21st Century FOX to purchase up to 80% of the network, which they’ve since done.

Marchand says the YES Network is part of a collection of assets 21st Century FOX is looking to unload. The Yankees could line up investors, buy back the network, and chances are nothing would change on our end (except streaming on the FOX Sports Go app, probably). If another entity buys YES — Marchand says Comcast and Disney are in on the action — there could be changes to the network as the new owner incorporates their branding and whatnot. Either way, the Yankees will still make gobs of money through the YES Network.