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

January 25, 2019 by Mike

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.

Mariano Rivera becomes first unanimous Hall of Famer

January 22, 2019 by Mike

The National Baseball Hall of Fame has four new members. Earlier tonight the Hall of Fame and the Baseball Writers Association of America announced Mariano Rivera, Mike Mussina, Edgar Martinez, and the late Roy Halladay have been voted into the Hall of Fame. They’ll be joined by Harold Baines and Lee Smith during induction weekend. Baines and Smith were voted in by the Today’s Game committee.

“Mariano was a fierce competitor and a humble champion, which has made him such a beloved baseball legend,” said Hal Steinbrenner in a statement. “Success and stardom never changed Mariano, and his respect for the game, the Pinstripes and for his teammates and opponents alike makes this day such a celebration of his legacy. There will be many more great and talented relief pitchers, but there will never be another like him. This is another incredible achievement for Mariano, and a day like today brings me great pride knowing he wore the Pinstripes for each and every game of his remarkable career.”

Here’s the video of Rivera and his family getting the phone call with the news:

Rivera appeared on all 425 ballots and is the first unanimous selection to the Hall of Fame. I can’t believe it. Never thought it would happen. It is stunning. Rivera is also the first player originally signed or drafted by the Yankees to be voted into the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA since Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford were voted in back in 1974. (Phil Rizzuto and Joe Gordon were Veterans Committee selections.) Here are the seven highest voting percentages in history:

Mariano Rivera: 100.00%
Ken Griffey Jr.: 99.32%
Tom Seaver: 98.84%
Nolan Ryan: 98.79%
Cal Ripken Jr.: 98.53%
Ty Cobb: 98.23%
George Brett: 98.19%

No other player received at least 98% of the vote. Not Hank Aaron (97.83%), Babe Ruth (95.13%), Willie Mays (94.68%), or Ted Williams (93.38%). Rivera is of course deserving of a perfect voting percentage. He is the greatest reliever in baseball history and it’s not all that close. Especially not once you include his postseason numbers. Consider the all-time postseason win probability added leaderboard:

Mariano Rivera: +11.7
Curt Schilling: +4.1
John Smoltz: +3.6
Andy Pettitte: +3.5
Jon Lester & David Ortiz: +3.2 (tie)

“It’s humbling to think of the incredible journey that Mariano has had over the course of his life — his unassuming beginnings in a Panamanian fishing village to pitching for the Yankees under the brightest lights with the world watching,” Brian Cashman said in a statement. “I speak for every Yankees fan when I say how fortunate we were to have had him on our side for so long. Clearly his World Series rings and longtime statistical dominance testify to his standing among the greats to ever play our sport. But no matter how big a star he became, he never failed to carry himself with unerring professionalism and class. Mo was always someone who I could point to and say, ‘That’s what a Yankee should be like.’”

Rivera retired with a 2.21 ERA — his 205 ERA+ is far and away the best in history among pitchers with at least 1,000 innings pitched (Clayton Kershaw is second with a 159 ERA+) — and a record 652 saves in 1,283.2 regular season innings. He also posted a 0.70 ERA and 42 saves in 141 postseason innings, and 31 times in those 42 saves he recorded at least four outs. Bonkers. A deserving Hall of Famer through and through.

As for Mussina, he became a star with the Orioles and had more wins (147 to 123), starts (288 to 248), and innings (2,009.2 to 1,553) with Baltimore than he did with the Yankees. He was still a great Yankee, however, pitching to a 3.88 ERA (114 ERA+) in eight seasons in pinstripes. Mussina never won a Cy Young or a World Series, but he is one of the ten best pitchers since the mound was lowered 50 years ago, and now he’ll assume his rightful place in Cooperstown.

“I’m so happy to see Moose recognized for his incredible career. Accomplishing what he did while spending all 18 of his seasons in the ultra-competitive AL East is remarkable,” Cashman added. “Unlike the big arms that dominate today’s pitching landscape, Mike was a quintessential craftsman who played up to his strengths and hunted for the weaknesses in his opposition — before that level of preparation was a commonplace thing to do. More importantly though, he was a gamer, plain and simple. He wanted the ball, and did everything within his power to get himself ready to contribute. I don’t get too invested in players’ individual milestones, but I was thrilled that he won 20 games in his final season. He deserved that validation then just like he deserves the validation he’s going to get this summer in Cooperstown.”

I guess it’s fitting Martinez and Halladay are going into the Hall of Fame the same year as Rivera. Edgar is pretty much the only hitter who solved Mariano. Hit .579/.652/1.053 in 23 plate appearances against him. Good gravy. Halladay had a seven or eight-year stretch as the best pitcher in baseball and, as Tom Verducci wrote in 2013, Rivera helped Halladay refine his cutter. Verducci says the Yankees fined Rivera in kangaroo court for that. I was not sad when Halladay got traded to the National League. Not at all.

Andy Pettitte received 9.9% of the vote and will remain on the ballot another year. I don’t think Pettitte is a Hall of Famer but I also didn’t think he’d receive such a low voting percentage. Five percent is needed to remain on the ballot another year and Pettitte cut it close this year. Bernie Williams and Jorge Posada dropped off the Hall of Fame ballot in their first year of eligibility in recent years. Pettitte gets another chance.

Former Yankee Roger Clemens (59.5%) continued to gain Hall of Fame support in his seventh year on the ballot but again fell short of the 75% threshold needed for induction. So did Barry Bonds (59.1%) in his seventh year on the ballot. Fred McGriff, who the Yankees drafted then traded as a prospect, received 39.8% of the vote in his final year of Hall of Fame eligibility. The BBWAA did not vote him in, but don’t worry, one of the new eras committees surely will. The full Hall of Fame voting results are available on the BBWAA’s site.

Next year Derek Jeter will join the Hall of Fame ballot and, like Rivera, he is lock for first ballot induction. Will he be unanimous? Maybe! Former Yankees Bobby Abreu, Eric Chavez, Kyle Farnsworth, Jason Giambi, Raul Ibanez, Lyle Overbay, Brian Roberts, and Alfonso Soriano are also due to join the ballot next year. Abreu will get some stathead support. I can’t imagine any of those guys coming close to induction though.

Tuesday Notes: Frazier, Potential Rule Changes, Start Times

January 22, 2019 by Mike

Later today the 2019 National Baseball Hall of Fame class will be announced. MLB Network will carry the announcement live at 6pm ET. Spoiler: Mariano Rivera is getting in. Will Mike Mussina? We’ll find out soon enough. Here is the public Hall of Fame ballot tracker and here are some notes to check out.

Frazier cleared for Spring Training

As mentioned by Matt over the weekend, Clint Frazier has been cleared for Spring Training following last year’s battle with a concussion and post-concussion migraines, he announced on Twitter. Pretty great news. A few weeks ago Brian Cashman said Frazier was expected to be cleared for on-field work before camp opened and that is exactly what happened. Clint has been hitting off a tee and playing catch for a few weeks now. Now he can take everything a step forward.

Frazier, 24, hit .311/.389/.574 (170 wRC+) with ten homers in 48 Triple-A games last season. He went 9-for-34 (.265) with three doubles in four separate MLB stints. My guess is the Yankees will have him start the season back in Triple-A to get regular at-bats for at least a few weeks. There is an open bench spot though, and it wouldn’t take much for Frazier to claim it. If he does, Clint could find himself starting in left field before long. I think the Yankees hope it happens by midseason.

MLB, MLBPA meet over potential rule changes

Last week MLB and the MLBPA met to discuss potential rule changes for the upcoming season, report Ken Rosenthal (subs. req’d) and Tom Verducci. The league is again focusing on pace-of-play matters. Among the items the two sides discussed:

A pitch clock (18 seconds with the bases empty, 20 seconds with men on base)
Reducing the number of available mound visits from six to five
Limiting defensive shifts
An extra-inning tiebreaker rule for Spring Training and the All-Star Game

I can’t imagine being against a runner at second base to begin extra innings in Spring Training and the All-Star Game. Those games are meaningless. Heck, they usually call spring games a tie after nine innings anyway. Just don’t do it in regular season games. Also, I am against limiting defensive shifts. Let teams be creative. Besides, Travis Sawchik found that hitters are starting to adjust to the shift. Give them time to figure it out.

As for the pitch clock, I am all for it. There is too much standing around between pitches. Fix that. At this point many MLB pitchers have used a pitch clock in Double-A and Triple-A, so it wouldn’t require that big of an adjustment. MLB proposed a pitch clock last year, so, even if the MLBPA rejects it again this year, commissioner Rob Manfred can implement it unilaterally. It’s unclear if he’ll do that though. Pace of play is not baseball’s biggest issue. Hardly. It can be improved though, so improve it.

Yankees announce 2019 start times

Earlier this month the Yankees announced individual game start times for the 2019 regular season. You can see them all on the official site. Normally I wouldn’t pass this along, but it’s worth mentioning this year because the Yankees will have more 6:35pm ET starts for midweek home games in 2019. They experimented with the early start times last April and May and apparently they worked well, so we’ll see more of them going forward. A breakdown:

43 home games on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday
18 regular 7:05pm ET starts
16 early 6:35pm ET starts
Five 1pm ET getaway day starts and one 4pm ET getaway day start
Three special occasion 1pm ET starts (Opening Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day)

Those 16 early starts are all in April, May, and September. When the kids are in school, basically. Personally, I love the 6:35pm ET starts. It means less sitting around waiting for the game to start, and getting RAB work (recap, etc.) done earlier. I know I’m in the minority though. Getting to Yankee Stadium after work for a 7pm ET game is tough, especially with the security lines. Instead of missing the first inning, you might miss the first three innings with the early start times. Bummer.

Seahawks QB Russell Wilson will join the Yankees in Spring Training again

January 16, 2019 by Mike

One year later, the Yankees still employ the best quarterback in New York. Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson will again join the Yankees in Spring Training this year, his agent told Jon Morosi. The Yankees haven’t announced a schedule or confirmed anything yet. That’ll happen soon enough.

Last spring the Yankees acquired Wilson’s baseball rights from the Rangers so they could bring him to camp and have him spend time with their young players. Even though he plays a different sport, Wilson is an elite athlete with knowledge to share, and he’s long been regarded as a high-character guy. He has a lot to offer.

Wilson played some baseball in college at North Carolina State. The Rockies drafted him in the fourth round in 2010 and he played two years in their farm system, hitting .229/.366/.342 (105 wRC+) with five homers in 93 Single-A games from 2010-11. He gave up baseball after the Seahawks drafted him in the third round in 2012.

The Rockies retained Wilson’s baseball rights after he started his football career. The Rangers selected him in the minor league phase of the 2013 Rule 5 Draft and brought him to camp one year as a motivational speaker. The Yankees got him for future considerations last spring and here we are.

Wilson, a second baseman back in the day, spent five days with the Yankees last spring, during which he worked out with the team and hung out in the dugout during games. After clearing it with the Seahawks, the Yankees gave Wilson an at-bat in a Grapefruit League game. Remember this?

I imagine Wilson and the Yankees have the same thing in mind this year. Come to camp, hang out with the guys, work out a bit, and maybe get an at-bat. Nothing more, nothing less. It’s a fun way to break up the monotony of spring, and, if the young players learn something from Wilson, even better.

(If you’re wondering about the roster mechanics, Wilson spent last year on the minor league restricted list. He didn’t take up a roster spot or anything like that.)

2019 Salary Arbitration Filing Day Updates

January 11, 2019 by Mike

Today is an important date on the offseason calendar. Today is the deadline for teams and their arbitration-eligible players to file salary figures with the league. The player files what he believes he should be paid in 2019. The team files what they believe the player should be paid in 2019. Pretty straightforward, right? There is a lot of money on the line today around the league.

Most arbitration-eligible players will agree to 2019 contracts today. Only a handful will actually file salary figures. The two sides can still work out a contract of any size even after filing salary figures, but most teams employ a “file and trial” approach, meaning once they file numbers, they cut off contract talks and go to an arbitration hearing. That’s designed to put pressure on the player to sign.

If the two sides do go to a hearing, they will each defend their filing number and state their case to the three-person panel. It can get ugly. Jeff Passan says the Red Sox played a Kris Bryant highlight video during their hearing with Mookie Betts last year to show the panel Betts is not as good as Bryant, and didn’t deserve a similar salary. Ouch. (It didn’t work. Betts won.) The panel will ultimately pick either the salary the player filed or the salary the team filed. Nothing in between.

The Yankees have a massive arbitration class this season. Not only do they have nine arbitration-eligible players, those nine players combine for over $50M in projected salary in 2019. Last year’s nine-player arbitration class ran only $29.2525M in actual salary. This year’s arbitration class could come close to doubling that. Arbitration-eligible players could chew up more than a quarter of the $206M luxury tax threshold.

Unless something unexpected happens, like a long-term extension, we’re going to keep track of all the day’s Yankees-related arbitration news right here in this one post. The Didi Gregorius situation is the important one to watch. Here are this year’s arbitration-eligible Yankees and their projected salaries, via MLBTR:

	Service Time (years.days)	MLBTR Projection	Actual 2019 Salary
Didi Gregorius	5.159	$12.4M	$11.75M
Dellin Betances	5.078	$6.4M	$7.25M
Sonny Gray	5.061	$9.1M	$7.5M
Austin Romine	5.045	$2M	$1.8M
Aaron Hicks	5.041	$6.2M	$6M
James Paxton	4.151	$9M	$8.575M
Tommy Kahnle	3.131	$1.5M	$1.3875
Greg Bird	3.053	$1.5M	$1.2M
Luis Severino	2.170	$5.1M	Filed
Total		$53.2M	$45.4625M

As a reminder, players with 0-3 years of service time are pre-arbitration-eligible and teams can pay them pretty much whatever they want. Players with 3-6 years of service time are arbitration-eligible. (Severino is a Super Two and will be arbitration four times instead of the usual three. Here’s a Super Two primer.) Players with more than six years of service time are eligible for free agency.

The Yankees have been to one arbitration hearing in the last ten years (Betances in 2017), and, for the most part, they get their players signed before the filing deadline. They have had a few negotiations continue beyond the filing deadline, most notably Aroldis Chapman in 2016. Generally speaking though, the Yankees get their guys signed before the salary filing deadline. They’ll be busy today given their sizeable arbitration class.

It’s worth noting one-year contracts for arbitration-eligible players are not guaranteed. These players can be released in Spring Training and owed only 30 days or 45 days termination pay, depending on the exact date of the release. Chances are none of them will get released in camp. It doesn’t happen often. Kahnle seems most at risk of a Spring Training release should he show up to Tampa with his velocity still missing.

Anyway, the salary figure filing deadline is 1pm ET but news is going to trickle in through the day. The Yankees tend to announce everything all at once at the end of the business day, so official confirmation is still a few hours away. Here’s the latest contract news for arbitration-eligible Yankees. Check back throughout the day for updates.

12:00pm ET: According to Bob Nightengale, the Yankees and Bird have agreed to a one-year deal worth $1.2M. Bird has played in only 130 of 486 possible games the last three seasons, though he was accruing service time while on the Major League disabled list, so he’s arbitration-eligible.

12:00pm ET: Romine and the Yankees have agreed to a $1.8M salary for 2019, reports Nightengale. Thus far both signings come in a tick below the MLBTR projection. Probably just a coincidence, but, given the state of free agency, I can’t help but wonder if teams are putting the squeeze are arbitration-eligible players too.

12:57pm ET: Hicks gets a $6M salary for the coming season, according to Nightengale. Another below projection number. Hmmm. The big question now: Will the Yankees and Hicks discuss a long-term extension at some point, or is this it until he becomes a free agent after the season?

4:12pm ET: Jeff Passan reports the Yankees and Luis Severino did not agree to a contract before the 1pm ET deadline. They’re expected to go to an arbitration hearing. No word on their salary filing figures yet. Those will come out eventually.

5:25pm ET: The Yankees and Betances agreed to a one-year deal at $7.25M, reports Sweeny Murti. That is well-above the MLBTR projection. Good for Dellin. Of course, the Yanks beat him in arbitration a few years ago, so his salary is lower than what it could’ve been.

5:52pm ET: The Yankees have agreed to one-year contracts with all their arbitration-eligible players except Severino, the team announced. We’re still waiting on Severino’s filing numbers as well as salary numbers for Gregorius, Paxton, Gray, and Kahnle.

9:55pm ET: Ron Blum says Gregorius received $11.75M, Paxton received $8.575M, and Gray received $7.5M. So much for the Yankees getting Gregorius at a discount while he rehabs from Tommy John surgery. Also, Severino filed for $5.25M while the Yankees countered with $4.4M. Arbitration hearings will take place in February. Still no word on Kahnle’s salary.

Saturday, 10:12am ET: Blum’s story has been updated to include Kahnle’s salary. He gets $1,387,500. Seven of the eight arbitration-eligible Yankees who signed yesterday signed below their MLBTR projection, with Betances the lone exception. Those eight players combine for $45.4625M in salary, so, even if Severino wins his hearing, this year’s class comes in at roughly $2.5M below the projection.

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

December 25, 2018 by Mike

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.”

Tuesday Notes: Sabathia, Luxury Tax, Severino, London Series

December 18, 2018 by Mike

The 2018 Winter Meetings are over and, historically, this last week before the Christmas and New Years holidays is a busy hot stove week. Teams and players like to get things settled before the calendar flips to next year. There should be some signings this week. Will the Yankees make any? We’ll see. Anyway, here are some miscellaneous notes to check out.

Yankees paid Sabathia innings bonus

Remember when CC Sabathia forfeited that $500,000 bonus because he threw at Jesus Sucre in his last regular season start? Of course you do. That was the “that’s for you, bitch” incident. Turns out Sabathia didn’t forfeit the bonus at all. According to Ronald Blum, the Yankees paid Sabathia the $500,000 bonus anyway even though he fell two innings short of triggering the bonus. Pretty cool.

“We thought it was a very nice gesture by the Yankees. CC was very appreciative and is really excited to come back next year and hopefully win a championship,” said Sabathia’s agent to Blum. Considering the score (Yankees led 11-0) and the way he was pitching (five one-hit innings), it seemed very likely Sabathia would throw those last two innings he needed to trigger the bonus. I have to say, I didn’t think the Yankees would pay the bonus. Paying out a bonus the player didn’t reach doesn’t seem like a precedent they’d want to set. Glad to see they paid Sabathia. Dude’s been worth every penny.

Yankees get $23,877.11 in luxury tax money

According to Blum, the Red Sox and Nationals were the only clubs to exceed the $197 million luxury tax threshold in 2018. Boston owes $11,951,091 in luxury tax and the Nationals owe $2,386,097. Because the Red Sox exceeded the threshold by more than $40M, they were hit with the maximum possible penalties, meaning two surtaxes plus having their first round pick moved back ten spots. I doubt they mind it after winning the World Series. The $14,337,188 owed by the Red Sox and Nationals is the smallest luxury tax bill since teams owed $11,798,357 in 2003.

The Yankees finished the season with a $192.98M luxury tax payroll. Add in the Sabathia bonus and my calculations had them at $192.99M. I am pretty darn proud to be that close. Go me. Anyway, the Yankees had paid luxury tax every year since the system was put in place in 2003 before getting under this year. Their total luxury tax bill from 2003-17 was north of $340M. According to the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the first $13M of that $14,337,188 is used to pay for player benefits. Half the remainder goes to retirement accounts and the other half is distributed to the non-luxury tax paying teams. So congrats to the Yankees for getting $23,877.11 in luxury tax money this year. Hang a banner.

White Sox wanted Severino for Sale

Here’s a fun retroactive rumor. Brian Cashman recently told Ken Davidoff the White Sox wanted Luis Severino and another unnamed young core Yankee in exchange for Chris Sale during the 2016-17 offseason. I imagine that other player was either Gary Sanchez or Aaron Judge. “Thank God I didn’t do that, actually, because you’d be missing some serious components of our Major League club right now that are under control. We wouldn’t have gotten anywhere if I did anything like that with the White Sox back then,” said Cashman.

In the two years since trade talks, Sale has Severino beat in bWAR (+12.9 to +10.1) and fWAR (+14.2 to +11.5) but not by an enormous amount, and besides, who knows how each would’ve performed had the trade gone down. Their entire career paths would’ve changed in different organizations. Add in the second piece and gosh, I am a-okay with passing on Sale at that price. He’s a great pitcher. No doubt. The Yankees needed more than an ace pitcher at the time though. They needed as much young talent as possible and now they have a ton of it.

Start times for London Games announced

A few days ago MLB announced the start times for the London Series games next June. The Yankees and Red Sox are playing a quick two-game set at London Stadium next year as MLB looks to grow the game globally and make money (not necessarily in that order). The Yankees will be the road team for those two games. Here are the start times:

Saturday, June 29th: 1:10pm ET (6pm in London) on FOX
Sunday, June 30th: 10:10am ET (3pm in London) on ESPN

Morning baseball on a Sunday? Pretty cool. The Yankees have back-to-back off-days prior to the London Series — it’s my understanding MLB has some promotional events scheduled for Friday, so I’m sure Yankees and Red Sox players will be involved — and one off-day following the London Series. They have a ten-game homestand, then they go to London for two games, then they come right back to New York for a road series against the Mets.

ESPN Sunday Night Baseball Games moved up

It is a baseball miracle. Last week at the Winter Meetings it was announced ESPN Sunday Night Baseball games will be moved up one hour from 8pm ET to 7pm ET next season. Thank goodness for that. Now all those Sunday night Yankees-Red Sox games might actually end before midnight on the East Coast. The Yankees play a ton of Sunday night games each year and this means we’ll all get to bed at a more reasonable hour those nights.

The change was made because players hate those 8pm ET start times too. At least one team has to travel after the late Sunday game and get into their next city super early the next morning. Now they’ll have that extra hour. ESPN has released a partial 2019 Sunday Night Baseball schedule and already there are three Yankees-Red Sox games on the schedule (June 2nd, July 28th, August 4th). I’m sure the Yankees will play several other Sunday night games as well. They are unavoidable.

Yankee Stadium food safety rates poorly

According to an ESPN investigation, Yankee Stadium ranked dead last among the 30 MLB stadiums in food safety violations from 2016-17. That is a bad thing. Forty-three Yankee Stadium food service outlets were inspected and 34 contained high-level violations, including food that was “adulterated, contaminated, cross-contaminated, or not discarded” properly. Pretty gross! The Yankees and Dan Smith, president of Yankee Stadium food service provider Legends Hospitality, fired back at the report in a statement:

“We treat food safety with the utmost care. We disagree with the ESPN report, whose methodology is unexplainable. We work closely on regular inspections with the New York City Department of Health, whose rigorous participation is welcomed. We also complete our own independent assessments with various consultants and auditors, including food safety companies. If any violation is pointed out, it is addressed and corrected immediately. As a result, in 2018, all of our food stands received an A-level grade, which is the highest level in New York City.”

I suppose I should note the violation level at Yankee Stadium (0.67 high-level violations per inspection) is far lower than the violation level in the surrounding South Bronx area (1.47) so … yay? If at all possible, don’t eat at Yankee Stadium, and I would’ve said that even before seeing this report. The food is expensive and compared to other ballparks around the league, the concessions are seriously lacking. Seriously, how do the Yankees with their new ballpark have such crummy concessions? Folks, eat before or after the game if you can.