River Avenue Blues

Gary Sanchez undergoes left shoulder surgery, expected to be ready for Opening Day

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(Mike Ehrmann/Getty)

Thursday: Sanchez had his surgery today, the Yankees announced. It was performed by team doctor Dr. Ahmad in New York and the Yankees say it went “as expected.” Get well soon, Gary.

Wednesday: Another important Yankee is having offseason surgery. Brian Cashman told reporters at the GM Meetings tonight that Gary Sanchez is having debridement surgery on his left shoulder, and he’s expected to be ready for Opening Day. The surgery comes with a three-month recovery, so it will cut significantly into Gary’s offseason routine. Sucks.

“We could continue with the conservative treatment and play it out, hope that it would get better, but we’re going to go the other route and just get ahead of it,” Cashman said (video link). “Downtime is three months. He’ll be ready to go obviously by Opening Day, I’ll say, instead of Spring Training even though (the timetable says) Spring Training. All systems should be go by Opening Day.”

Cashman said the shoulder has been bothering Sanchez since 2017, and he’s been able to play through it while receiving cortisone shots and other treatment. It’s still bothering him though — Cashman said Sanchez was in Tampa working out recently when he mentioned he still has discomfort — so they’re getting it repaired this winter.

The good news: The injury is to Sanchez’s non-throwing shoulder. The bad news: The injury is to Sanchez’s left shoulder, his front shoulder when hitting, and that’s the power shoulder. Gary had a bad season this year but the power numbers were still there. If the shoulder was hurting, it was hard to tell. The power output was very good.

Aaron Judge had surgery on his left shoulder last offseason, his front shoulder when hitting, and he showed no ill-effects this year. That said, it was a different procedure, so this isn’t an apples to apples comparison. Judge had arthroscopic surgery to remove a loose body. Sanchez is having damaged tissue removed from his shoulder.

Cashman said the Yankees are comfortable with Austin Romine behind the plate should Sanchez not be ready for Opening Day, but what’s he supposed to say? Even before Sanchez’s surgery, I expected the Yankees to look for an Erik Kratz type to stash in Triple-A with Kyle Higashioka. I guess they’ll look for someone like that with a little more urgency now.

The offseason is still young Sanchez is already the second Yankee having major surgery. Didi Gregorius will miss the start of next year with Tommy John surgery. Now Gary needs his non-throwing shoulder repaired. Gah. No more of these offseason injuries, please. Everyone stay healthy the next few months.

Hot Stove Rumors: Goldschmidt, Miller, Harrison

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Goldy. (Christian Petersen/Getty)

The GM Meetings wrapped up today and there was some hot stove action this week. The Yankees re-signed CC Sabathia and, last night, the Rays traded Mallex Smith to the Mariners for Mike Zunino. Not mad about it. Smith gave the Yankees some headaches the last two years. Anyway, here’s the latest.

Yankees not showing interest in Goldschmidt

As expected, the Diamondbacks are receiving considerable interest in first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, but not from the Yankees, reports Jon Heyman. Arizona collapsed this past season — they were one game up in the NL West on the morning of September 1st and finished nine games back — and they stand to lose Patrick Corbin and A.J. Pollock to free agency. They’ve hinted at tearing things down and rebuilding, and they have some possible fits for the Yankees.

Goldschmidt, 31, is the best first baseman in baseball and on the short list of the best players in the game overall. He hit .290/.389/.533 (145 wRC+) with 33 homers this past season and is a Gold Glove caliber defender. The D’Backs exercised his no-brainer $14.5M club option last week, so he’s a one-year rental. The Yankees might have two viable big league first basemen (Luke Voit and Greg Bird) or they might have none. I dunno. Either way, Goldschmidt would be a clear upgrade, but he wouldn’t come cheap, even with one year of control. For now, the Yankees aren’t showing interest.

Yankees have interest in Miller

The Yankees have interest in free agent lefty reliever Andrew Miller and have requested his medical information, reports Andy Martino. As I noted yesterday, lots of team request medical information from lots of players, especially early in the offseason. It doesn’t mean they are progressing toward a deal or anything. The team is just doing due diligence. Miller had shoulder trouble this year and has had knee problems the last two years. In fact, the Indians even sent him to see the Cleveland Cavaliers’ doctors because they have more experience with tall dudes and knee injuries.

This past season the 33-year-old Miller had a 4.24 ERA (3.51 FIP) with 29.2% strikeouts in 34 innings around his injuries. He was far more wild and hittable than he’d been the last few years. If you watched the postseason, you know Miller wasn’t right. He didn’t look like himself at all. For what it’s worth, Miller’s agent told Joel Sherman his client recently received a clean bill of health. That’s great, but teams are going to give him their own physical and make sure for themselves. Miller’s a great dude, but he’s entering his mid-30s and he seems to be breaking down physically. His medicals will be scrutinized.

Yankees have met with Harrison

I had a feeling this was coming. According to Heyman, the Yankees have interest in free agent utility man Josh Harrison and have already met with his representatives. I assume that happened at the GM Meetings this week. Didi Gregorius will miss the start of the season with Tommy John surgery and the Yankees need a replacement middle infielder. Harrison can play second, then, once Gregorius returns, he could shift into a utility role.

Harrison, 31, hit .250/.293/.363 (78 wRC+) this past season and is a year removed from a .272/.339/.432 (104 wRC+) batting line with a career high 16 homers. His OBP was propped up by 23 (!) hit-by-pitches. Harrison was hit 23 times in 128 games last year. He was hit 31 times in the other 714 games of his career. The Yankees have been connected to Harrison a few times in recent years but never seemed to seriously pursue him. Now that he’s available for nothing but cash, the Yankees could pounce. I hope he’s Plan C or Plan D rather than Plan A or Plan B though.

The Quiet Dominance of Chad Green [2018 Season Review]

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(Julio Aguilar/Getty)

The Yankees bullpen was the focus of several storylines in 2018; the resurgence of Dellin Betances, the injuries of Aroldis Chapman, the acquisition of Zach Britton, and Aaron Boone’s strange fascination with A.J. Cole immediately spring to mind. Chad Green’s continued brilliance sort of fell by the wayside as a result, despite the fact that he led the group with:

  • 75.2 IP
  • 1.78 BB/9
  • 6.27 K/BB
  • 2.3 bWAR

We, as fans of the Yankees, know that Green is brilliant, and have a strong sense of confidence whenever he enters the game – but he is nevertheless one of the best kept secrets in the bullpen (at least insofar as any Yankee can fly under the radar). Such is the life of a middle reliever without the flash of his teammates, I suppose.

Let’s break it down a bit further.

From Multi-Inning Weapon to One-Inning Guy

A huge part of Green’s appeal in 2017 – aside from his 1.83 ERA and 13.4 K/9, of course – was his ability to eat innings out of the bullpen. He recorded 4+ outs in 30 of his 40 appearances, and went 2+ innings 17 times. In an era with more pitching changes and increased specialization, Green’s ability to be incredibly effective for multiple innings was a boon for the Yankees. And the expectation was that he would continue to serve that role for the team in 2018.

It didn’t quite work out that way, though. Green recorded 4+ outs 20 times this year, spread across 63 appearances, and he only went 2+ innings 11 times. He was quite good once again, pitching to a 2.50 ERA in 75.2 IP, so it’s difficult to criticize his deployment by Aaron Boone – especially when injuries occurred and pieces had to be shifted around. However, it does make one wonder what was left on the table this year, given that Green prefers pitching multiple innings; and it’s much easier to find a reliever that can get you two or three outs than it is to find one that can get four or five (or, in three cases in 2017, nine-plus).

It’s difficult to parse whether Green is better in longer outings, though. The greatest issue to overcome is the simple fact that a pitcher is far more likely to be pulled if he’s not performing well – so we can’t really say for sure that Green wouldn’t have went deeper into the game if he didn’t allow 2 runs in 0.2 IP on April 5, or if he hadn’t allowed three base-runners in 0.2 IP on August 2 and again on August 26.

That being said, he does do better with more rest. Here’s 2017:

(Baseball-Reference)

And here’s 2018:

(Baseball-Reference)

Seven of Green’s 40 appearances (17.5%) in 2017 came with 0 or 1 day of rest, as compared to 31 of his 63 turns (49.2%) in 2018. That’s a massive difference in usage, and it seems possible – if not probable – that this played a role in his dip from untouchable to merely excellent this year. And it almost certainly played a role in the drop in his fastball’s effectiveness.

Let’s Talk About That Fastball

Saying that Green relies on his fastball is a hell of an understatement, so let’s take a look at it in graph form:

In 2016, Green threw just over 39% four-seamers. That number jumped all the way up to 68.6% in 2017, which makes sense given that he moved from the rotation to the bullpen full-time. And there was another sizable jump this year, with four-seamers representing 86.3% of his offerings. That meant that his sinker and cutter, which were already used sparingly, disappeared, and his slider usage was slashed by more than half.

And, as Mike outlined just a few weeks ago, his fastball wasn’t nearly as dominant this year:

2017 2018 MLB AVG
Average Velocity 96.1 mph 96.5 mph 93.2 mph
Average Spin Rate 2,484 rpm 2,444 rpm 2,257 rpm
Whiffs per Swing 37.9% 27.3% 19.7%
AVG .121 .211 .268
ISO .078 .118 .199
wOBA .168 .253 .351
xwOBA .215 .289 .354

Much like Green himself, the fastball went from untouchable to excellent. And that makes sense, given that he was pitching more often and throwing the pitch more than ever before. Whether this trend continues is the million dollar question with Green, given the general unpredictability of relievers, and the Yankees pipeline of young arms.

Let’s Not Bury the Lede

I feel the need to reiterate that Green was still incredible in 2018. His 2.50 ERA was good for a 175 ERA+, and he was among the elite relievers in all of baseball, ranking:

  • 5th in K/BB
  • 8th in BB/9
  • 13th in fWAR
  • 17th in IP
  • 19th in WPA

There was a drop-off, to be sure, but it was unrealistic to expect Green (or most any reliever for that matter) to be as good as he was in 2017 again. This version of Green would’ve been the best reliever on the majority of the teams in baseball, and he’s not even the best in pinstripes – and that’s awesome.

What’s Next?

Green is entering his final pre-arbitration season, so he’ll be dirt cheap in 2019. And he’s under team control for three years after that, which is also awesome. There’s always the possibility of a trade (and Green has a ton of value because of that team control), but with David Robertson and Zach Britton hitting free agency, it seems likely that Green will be back in pinstripes and holding down the fort in the middle innings next year. And I’m more than okay with that.

Scouting the Free Agent Market: Charlie Morton

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(Tim Warner/Getty)

The offseason is not yet two weeks old and already the Yankees have added a starting pitcher. Earlier this week they re-signed CC Sabathia to a one-year contract worth $8M. The Yankees came into the offseason needing multiple starters though, and, even after re-signing Sabathia, Brian Cashman told Brendan Kuty he is still looking to acquire “multiple” starting pitchers.

“In CC’s case, we have multiple needs in that area,” Cashman added while speaking to Bryan Hoch. “If we were ready to promote three more Severinos, then I wouldn’t be looking in acquisition mode for starting pitching. I’d be saying goodbye to people probably, moreso than not … We’re going to engage every free agent in the marketplace and assess their price tags and how they may fit for us.”

Among the many free agent starters on the market this winter is right-hander Charlie Morton, most recently of the Astros. He had some success with the Pirates back in the day, then really took his game to another level in Houston. Morton was one of the very first identifiable cases of teams prioritizing spin rate. Two offseasons ago the Astros gave him two years and $14M despite a serious hamstring injury in 2016 and a disappointing 2015, and it turned out to be a bargain.

This past season Morton, who turns 35 next week, threw 167 innings with a 3.13 ERA (3.59 FIP) and good strikeout (28.9%) and ground ball (47.4%) rates. His walk rate (9.2%) was a tad high, but not excessively so. For what it’s worth, the Yankees have requested Morton’s medical information as part of their early offseason due diligence. Lots of teams request lots of medical information. It happens a lot. Anyway, is there a fit? Let’s break it down.

Background

Morton is a semi-local guy. He was born in New Jersey and he grew up in Connecticut, and last year he told Abby Mastracco he grew up idolizing Derek Jeter and Roger Clemens. The Braves drafted him out of high school in the third round in 2002, but it wasn’t until June 2008 that he made his MLB debut. Atlanta traded Morton to the Pirates in the Nate McLouth deal in June 2009 and, after parts of seven seasons in Pittsburgh, they salary dumped him on the Phillies in December 2015. The next offseason he signed with Houston. Morton has a career 4.23 ERA (3.95 FIP) in 1,206.2 innings across parts of eleven seasons. He was a first-time All-Star this year.

Performance

We can split Morton’s career into two unequal parts: Astros and pre-Astros. Morton threw 893 innings with a 4.54 ERA (4.10 FIP) with the Braves, Pirates, and Phillies from 2008-16. With the Astros, he had a 3.36 ERA (3.53 FIP) in 313.2 innings from 2017-18. Morton always had pretty good stuff. Then Houston tweaked some things and he took off. Here are some numbers:

IP ERA FIP K% BB% GB% HR/9 RHB wOBA LHB wOBA
2014-16 303.2 4.21 3.88 18.5 8.2 56.8 0.68 .295 .340
2017 146.2 3.62 3.46 26.4 8.1 51.8 0.86 .345 .249
2018 167 3.13 3.59 28.9 9.2 47.4 0.97 .279 .308

The Astros, through adjustments to his pitch selection and pitch usage, helped Morton trade some ground balls for strikeouts, and also helped him improve against lefties. His 2017 platoon splits are the outlier. Morton’s always been better against righties than lefties, though that year it was reverse. I don’t think he’ll ever be that good against lefties again, but there’s been real improvement the last two years.

What the Astros did with Morton was basically the same thing they did with Gerrit Cole. The Pirates preach quick outs with a sinking two-seam fastball. The Astros scaled back on the sinker and had Morton (and Cole) incorporate more four-seamers, specifically elevated four-seamers to get swings and misses and help the breaking ball play up. Doing this is easier said than done, of course, but that’s why the grounders declined and the strikeouts increased. Fewer sinkers and more elevated heaters for swings and misses.

Morton’s quality-of-contact numbers have been real good the last two seasons. He’s run a hard contact rate south of 30% and an expected wOBA under .300, both of which are better than league average. So, in addition to the uptick in strikeouts, Morton hasn’t allowed much hard contact the last two years. The change in pitching style has led to considerable improvement. There’s a tangible explanation for the improvement. Can Morton continue to be this effective at age 35 and beyond? That’s a fair question. This isn’t all small sample size noise though.

Current Stuff

Morton is essentially a three-pitch pitcher. He throws his four-seamer, sinker, and curveball about 30% of the time each. Morton will also mix in a few splitters per start and his slider is more of a cutter/slider hybrid. It’s a mid-to-upper-80s pitch with bigger break than a cutter but shorter break than a slider. It’s a little weird. The splitter and cut-slider are his clear fourth and fifth pitches.

These last two seasons with Houston, Morton’s fastballs have jumped into the mid-90s and even flirted with triple-digits on occasion. Here are his average four-seamer and sinker velocities over the years:

That’s a big jump! It’s also a jump that first happened with the Phillies in 2016. Morton only made four starts with Philadelphia in April 2016 before hurting his hamstring, but, in those four starts, he threw harder than he had at pretty much any point in the previous seven years with the Pirates. He was not only able to maintain the velocity spike after the hamstring injury, his velocity jumped another notch as well. Hmmm.

“For some reason, I just went out there and tried to throw the ball hard one game. I wound up throwing it harder. I’m really excited about it. Hopefully I can maintain it going forward” said Morton to Matt Gelb in 2016. “I feel like my arm is working really well. My timing is really good. I feel like my arm is quicker. I’m maintaining my pitch speed throughout the game, which is really promising. It’s not just I go out there, throw hard, and it fades away.”

That’s kind of a weird explanation. “I just went out there and tried to throw the ball hard one game?” Really? I mean, yeah, it’s possible, but baseball players aren’t always the most forthcoming people you’ll meet. It’s possible there was something going on behind the scenes that Morton didn’t want to reveal. My guess is there were some mechanical adjustments, and also good health after years of arm trouble.

Whatever the reason, Morton’s velocity jumped these last few years, and it has undoubtedly played a role in his success. He pairs those high-velocity four-seamers and two-seamers with a hellacious high-spin curveball that snaps hard and fast. (Morton uses a spike curveball grip he learned from A.J. Burnett when they were teammates in Pittsburgh.) On April 30th of this year Morton struck out ten Yankees and allowed one run in 7.2 innings. Everyone complained the Yankees strike out too much, but look at this:

Video game stuff. Morton was throwing mid-to-upper-90s with two fastballs and that breaking ball. Three starts before that, he struck out 12 batters. Two starters after that, he struck out 14. Morton was ridiculous in the first half this year. He did fade a bit late, but he was excellent in the first half and merely pretty good in the second half. With stuff like that, it’s easy to understand why.

Also, there’s one more thing worth mentioning because it’s part of the Charlie Morton experience. This dude is beloved by his teammates. I never did write it up for CBS, but at the All-Star Game this year and during the postseason the last two years Astros players and coaches couldn’t stop praising the guy for his work ethic, the way he overcame adversity (injuries) earlier in his career, his humility, and for being a role model.

“Maybe in this stage of my career, maybe give guys that are older, or they’ve gone through failures or injuries, give them something to look at, like, ‘Maybe it’s not over just because people are saying it’s over, or I’m bad because people say I’m bad,'” Morton said to Hunter Atkins earlier this year. “What I get out of it now is that I know I’m contributing. That’s a good feeling.”

Aside from Sabathia and Hyun-Jin Ryu, there is no free agent starting pitcher this offseason that I worry less about handling New York than Morton. He’s a tough dude who’s had to work hard to get healthy and have success, and he’s thrived in big situations. Morton threw the final four innings in Game Seven of the World Series last year three days after throwing 6.1 innings in Game Four, remember.

You never know how a guy will react to a situation until you put him in that situation. Maybe Morton will come to New York and get overwhelmed by the city and the media and the small ballpark and whatever else. There was nothing in Sonny Gray’s history that suggested New York would crumble him (quite the opposite, in fact, he had a lot of success in pressure moments), yet it happened. Based on what I’ve seen, I’m not worried with Morton. He is a tough dude.

Injury History

Morton’s injury history is long, ugly, and diverse. He’s hurt everything there is to hurt at some point. Let’s go through the injury timeline:

  • 2009: Missed two weeks with an oblique strain and three weeks with a hamstring strain.
  • 2010: Missed six weeks with shoulder fatigue.
  • 2011: Missed three weeks total (two bouts) with shoulder fatigue.
  • 2012-13: Had Tommy John surgery in June 2012 and returned in June 2013.
  • 2014-15: Missed final week of 2014 and first two months of 2015 with hip labrum surgery
  • 2016: Had season-ending surgery to repair a torn hamstring in April. He got hurt on a bunt.
  • 2017: Missed six weeks with a lat strain.
  • 2018: Missed ten days with shoulder discomfort.

Yikes! Morton’s been on the disabled list every season of his big league career and there are some serious injuries in there. Tommy John surgery? Hip labrum surgery? Torn hamstring? That is serious stuff. Morton has come back from all of it, and that’s part of the reason why his teammates respect him so much. This dude has been through a lot.

Morton only spent ten days on the disabled list with the shoulder discomfort this year but the injury was more serious that that would lead you to believe. He went on the disabled list in late August and returned in early September. Morton made four appearances after that. His pitch counts: 94, 70, 24, 34. The Astros more or less shut him down in mid-September, before they even clinched the AL West. The shoulder needed rest.

Houston had little choice but to start Morton in ALCS Game Four — he started that game on 17 days rest — and he clearly did not look like himself. The velocity was okay and the breaking ball looked good, but Morton was all over the place and not sharp at all. Chris Sale had shoulder trouble in the second half and looked kinda crummy in the postseason. Morton looked the same way.

Because of all those injuries, Morton has never thrown more than 180 innings in a season and only twice has he reached 170 innings, and that was back in 2010 and 2011. His 167 innings this year were his most since 2011. Outside 2016, the torn hamstring season, Morton’s been a 140-150 inning guy the last few years. Given his age and injury history, whoever signs him kinda has to assume a stint or two on the disabled list is coming each season.

Contract Estimates

The Astros did not make Morton the $17.9M qualifying offer prior to last week’s deadline, which kinda surprised me. Is that an indication the ‘Stros are scared of his injury history? Or just a sign they believe they can re-sign him at a lower average annual value and don’t want to risk him accepting the qualifying offer and blowing up their budget? Anyway, here are some contract estimates:

I’m with the FanGraphs crowd and MLBTR on this one. I think Morton gets two years. Unless his shoulder looks like ground beef, and it very well might, I think he can pull down two years this offseason. Morton’s been really good these last two seasons, and, in recent years, we’ve seen other starters in their mid-30s get multiple years. Rich Hill got three years at age 36. Jason Vargas got two years at age 35. J.A. Happ got three years at age 33.

The free agent market was pretty weird last offseason and who knows how things will shake out this offseason. In a “normal” offseason, a two-year contract at $16M annually would seem about right for Morton given his track record. Perhaps the injuries and the general anti-free agent climate in baseball mean he will have to settle for one year like Bowden projects?

What About The Retirement Talk?

(Lindsey Wasson/Getty)

During an interview with Jake Kaplan (subs. req’d) earlier this year, Morton hinted at retirement and said he wants to spend more time with his family. “My goals in baseball have pretty much been fulfilled,” he said, referring to winning a World Series ring and making enough money that his family is set financially. Here’s what Morton told Kaplan when asked whether 2018 could be his final season:

The situation would dictate whether or not I keep playing. Am I healthy? Probably the biggest question would be my health. What am I doing? Am I rehabbing from something? Am I rehabbing from another surgery? Like, you don’t know. But kind of the way my career has been the last five to six years, where I’ve been dealing with not just injuries but surgeries and lengthy rehabs — that would be a factor. How am I pitching? How am I pitching at the end of the year? What do contract offers look like? Where are those teams that are offering the contracts? Where are they located? All of these things are going to factor into it, and then we’re going to make a decision.

Morton and his wife are both from the East Coast — he’s from Connecticut and his wife’s family lives in Delaware — and, during the interview with Kaplan, he indicated he would like to be closer to his family. That was all back in April. Last month, after the Astros were ousted in the ALCS, Morton said he wants to continue playing and he would like to remain with Houston.

“I’d love to keep playing, I’d love to be an Astro. I’d love to be part of this again. Ultimately, it’s not really up to me. It’s not solely up to me,” he said to Chandler Rome. Morton also admitted that he and his family are planning to settle down in Washington DC and are shopping for homes. So he’s willing to continue playing in Houston, away from home, but will settle down permanently on the East Coast.

Some (most, really) free agents focus on money and go wherever the largest offer takes them and that is totally cool. I’d do the same exact thing. Morton might be an exception. He seems content with his career and, if the situation is not right, he’ll happily go home and be with his family. Comfort may matter more than money. The Yankees can offer Morton a chance to win and the opportunity to be close to home. Closer to home than Houston, anyway. Is that enough to get his attention?

Does He Make Sense For The Yankees?

I’m on the fence about this one. I mean, yes, obviously Morton would be an upgrade to the rotation as presently constituted. But there are lots of free agents and trade targets out there. Is a soon-to-be 35-year-old with a scary as hell injury history the best way to fill a rotation spot? The Yankees already have one 150-something-innings guy with injury concerns in Sabathia. Is spending money on another one the way to go?

Morton has said he would like to remain with the Astros and their interest will be telling. Dallas Keuchel and Morton are free agents and Lance McCullers Jr. just had Tommy John surgery. Houston is suddenly really short on starters. If they pursue a reunion with Morton, cool. If not though, why? Are they scared about his shoulder? What do they know that everyone else doesn’t? Know what I mean? Sure seems to me there’s a clear fit for a reunion.

Also, I can’t help but wonder how sustainable Morton’s success is away from the Astros. He’s obviously been very good the last two years. Can he continue to do that with another organization? Not that long ago pitchers who left the Braves and Cardinals were notorious for falling apart with their new teams. Whatever they did with Atlanta and St. Louis wasn’t working elsewhere. Will it be like that for Houston’s pitchers away from their spin rate lab? It’s something that has to be considered.

Hot Stove Rumors: Harper, Britton, Morton, Hudson, Phelps

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(Getty)

Earlier today the Yankees officially re-signed CC Sabathia and, according to Jon Heyman, the team is still looking to import two more starting pitchers this offseason. Music to my eyes. CC is forever cool with me, but I prefer him as the No. 5 starter on the depth chart. Anyway, here’s the latest from the GM Meetings in sunny Southern California.

Boras pushing Harper at first base

Scott Boras has started his Bryce Harper campaign. During a radio interview yesterday Boras said Harper is capable of playing first base, and while he didn’t mention any teams by name, it’s not hard to connect the dots. The Yankees have a full outfield but questions as first base. “He takes ground balls there all the time in the offseason. He can help a team in many ways. Bryce has the feet, hands, and skill to certainly adapt to first base,” Boras said to Casey Stern.

“Do I think Bryce Harper could play first base? I don’t know. Obviously he’s extremely talented and athletic. As I said, we’ll assess everything in the marketplace and how it might fit us,” Brian Cashman said to Brendan Kuty. For what it’s worth, Chelsea Janes says the Nationals offered Harper a ten-year deal worth $300M recently, which was rejected. Was that a sincere first offer or a token “we tried” offer? Well, whatever. Part of me hopes this Harper stuff plays out like Mark Teixeira back in the day. The Yankees lie in the weeds them bam, surprise signing. Would be cool.

Yankees among teams “laying groundwork” with Britton

The Yankees are among the clubs “laying groundwork” for a deal with Zach Britton, reports Kuty. A signing is not imminent. Free agency is still in its infancy and although teams and players are talking, we’re still weeks away from most decisions. Britton is a Boras client and Boras tends to play it slow with his top clients. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Boras wait until Craig Kimbrel signs, then market Britton as the best available closer.

Britton, 31 next month, started slowly with the Yankees but finished very well, throwing 25 innings with a 2.88 ERA (4.08 FIP) and a 77.8% ground ball rate in pinstripes. He got better and better — and his velocity climbed higher and higher — as he got further away from the offseason Achilles injury that delayed his season debut until mid-June. If the Yankees are going to spend big on a reliever, I prefer David Robertson to Britton. He’s older, yeah, but Robertson has a cleaner injury history and I think he’s the better pitcher. Britton’s pretty good too though.

Yankees checking medicals for Hudson, Morton, Phelps

According to Joel Sherman, the Yankees have requested medical information for free agent right-handers Daniel Hudson, Charlie Morton, and David Phelps. I should note this is likely early offseason due diligence. Teams request medical information for tons of players each offseason. Hudson is a two-time Tommy John surgery guy, Phelps is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery right now, and Morton has a long injury history, including shoulder trouble late in 2018.

Hudson, 31, threw 46 innings with a 4.11 ERA (4.38 FIP) for the Dodgers this past season. Meh. Phelps blew out his elbow in Spring Training and didn’t pitch at all in 2018. From 2016-17, he had a 2.72 ERA (3.09 FIP) with a 29.8% strikeout rate as a setup man for the Marlins and Mariners. The 32-year-old Phelps is an interesting lower cost relief option. Morton, 35 next week, is the biggest name here. He threw 167 innings with a 3.13 ERA (3.59 FIP) with Houston this season, though he faded in the second half. Morton was considering retirement for a bit but recently confirmed he wants to continue playing.

Yankees re-sign CC Sabathia to one-year, $8M contract

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(Adam Hunger/Getty)

Wednesday: It is a done deal. The Yankees announced the signing earlier this afternoon, so Sabathia passed his physical and everything. Also, Sabathia released a video about the signing, during which he reiterated 2019 will be his final season. Send this man out with another ring, Yankees.

Tuesday: Welcome back, CC Sabathia. According to Joel Sherman, the Yankees and Sabathia have agreed to a one-year contract worth $8M. That’s exactly what I gave him as part of my offseason plan. Jon Heyman says the new contract includes no incentives. Sabathia worked on a one-year deal worth $10M this past season with another $2M in incentives, which he didn’t reach (for good reason).

A reunion with Sabathia always made sense and, truly, it felt like a formality. The Yankees need starters and, even at this point of his career, Sabathia is a reliable back-end starter who we all know can handle New York and fit into the clubhouse. If you listen to the R2C2 podcast, you know Sabathia didn’t want to leave. He made that pretty clear these last few weeks and months. “This is my home. I’m a Yankee,” Sabathia said during a recent episode.

For what it’s worth, Mark Feinsand says three other clubs reached out to Sabathia early in free agency, and Ken Rosenthal (subs. req’d) identifies one of those clubs as the Astros. Houston just lost Lance McCullers Jr. to Tommy John surgery and both Dallas Keuchel and Charlie Morton are free agents. They need starters. Sabathia wanted to return to the Yankees though, and he didn’t want to wait around to sign either, so the deal is done on November 6th.

This past season the 38-year-old Sabathia threw 153 innings with a 3.65 ERA (4.16 FIP), and he was again among the league’s best at limiting hard contact. He was one of only 30 pitches to throw at least 150 innings with a 120 ERA+. I think you pencil him in for 140-ish league average innings next year and consider anything more a bonus. That’s not sexy, but it ain’t cheap to acquire either. Getting 140-ish league average innings for $8M would be pretty neat.

Sabathia should hit several notable career milestones early next season. He’s four wins away from 250 and 14 strikeouts away from 3,000. Once he gets there, Sabathia will join Hall of Famers Randy Johnson and Steve Carlton as the only lefties in the 3,000 strikeout club. “I know I want to pitch next year, 2019, and it’s going to be my last,” Sabathia said during a recent R2C2 episode. After next season, the Hall of Fame conversation can begin.

It’s worth noting Sabathia will be suspended to begin next season. He was suspended five games for the “that’s for you, bitch” incident this year and is appealing. The appeal will be heard at some point this offseason. An early season off-day allows the Yankees to skip their fifth starter the first time through the rotation next year, so, even if Sabathia has to serve the full five games, it won’t be much of a problem. It’ll just cost him some money.

The new one-year contract is pending a physical and Sabathia did have his annual right knee cleanup procedure a few weeks back. The Yankees know better than any team what’s going on in his arm and knee, and, obviously, they’re comfortable enough with his health to agree to a deal. In a perfect world the Yankees will add two more pitchers and Sabathia will be the fifth starter. That’s the way to go.

The Remarkable J.A. Happ … until October [2018 Season Review]

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(Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

James Anthony Happ started in the Yankees’ Opening Day game in Toronto, albeit as the opposing starter. Like his final start of the year, it featured a home run from the new middle-of-the-order addition and a loss for the veteran lefty.

But in between, Happ provided the Yankees with exactly what they needed after the trade deadline, solidifying a constantly changing spot in the Yankees’ rotation. He did enough to earn the start in ALDS Game 1 and perhaps an extended look in pinstripes next season.

Let’s get into a strong season for Happ despite a disappointing ending.

Before the Trade

In his age-35 season, Happ continued his late-career renaissance while adding a new chip to his resume: an All-Star appearance, earning the save in extra innings. While his AS bid came as the Blue Jays’ lone representative, it was well deserved in the context of his full career as a journeyman fighting to stick in the league before latching on as a mainstay for Toronto in recent seasons.

The Jays were out of contention by midseason, so trading their spare parts became the logical next step. Happ had posted a 10-6 record with a 4.18 ERA over 114 innings for Toronto in 2018. While that ERA was merely league-average, he posted those numbers (which included a career-best strikeout rate) in the AL East, making multiple starts against both the Yankees and Red Sox. He quickly became one of the bigger starting pitching targets at the deadline, particularly with Jacob deGrom off limits in Queens.

Happ would be one of only three 2018 All-Stars dealt before the deadline, with Manny Machado and Brad Hand being the others. Happ became the first starting pitcher to earn an All-Star appearance and be traded in the same season since Drew Pomeranz in 2016.

Filling a Need

On July 26, the Yankees dealt Brandon Drury and Billy McKinney to the Jays to acquire Happ. The trade marked the second straight year that the Yankees had acquired a starter at the deadline (Sonny Gray, Jaime Garcia). This deal would turn out much better than those.

Happ stepped into the rotation spot initially vacated by Jordan Montgomery when he went down with a UCL injury. Domingo German, Jonathan Loaisiga and Luis Cessa tried and failed to grab hold of the spot, making the Yankees’ need for a starter. That trio combined for a 5.16 ERA and just south of five innings per start before the trade deadline, though the Yankees went 11-9 in those games.

Beyond Happ’s ability to pitch in the AL East, his historic success against the Red Sox made him an easy target. Before the Yankees acquired him, he had made 19 appearances against Boston and was 7-4 with a 2.65 ERA in 105 2/3 innings. He’d made two starts vs. the Sox in 2018 while with Toronto with one good (7 IP, 1 run, 10 Ks) and one bad (3.2 IP, 5 R, 0 ER, 6 K).

But Happ’s cheap cost and expiring deal added to his appeal for the Pinstripers. Drury had fallen out of a favor in the Bronx while McKinney was stuck behind a handful of outfielders. Dealing McKinney ended up being a case of bad timing as Aaron Judge and Clint Frazier were soon lost for an extended period right after the trade became official.

The Stabilizer

Happ debuted as a Yankee on July 29 with six frames of one-run ball against the Royals at Yankee Stadium. He’d soon go on the DL for the minimum 10 days with hand, mouth and foot disease (Curse you, Mets!), so he missed his first opportunity to face the Sox.

Once he came back, he was as dominant as a relatively soft-tossing lefty can be. He went 7-0 with a 2.69 ERA over 11 starts with the Yankees, who went 9-2 in those games. The bullpen blew leads in the sixth and ninth inning, respectively, in the two losses.

Happ was especially strong at Yankee Stadium, where he went 4-0 over seven starts. He struck out just under a batter per game in the Bronx, though he allowed eight home runs.

The veteran went six or more innings in eight of 11 starts. He kept his strikeout rate above career norms, though it wasn’t quite as high as his 2018 numbers in Toronto. He lowered his walk rate, but his home runs rose, allowing 10 in pinstripes.

The Yankees went 2-0 in his regular-season starts vs. Boston. He allowed only four earned runs in 12 innings and all of them came on one swing, a grand slam by World Series MVP Steve Pearce. Eight hits, five walks, 13 Ks, 1 grand slam. The last part isn’t ideal, but he got the job done.

Ultimately, Happ was exactly what the Yankees needed in the regular season. The team needed length out of their starters and some more reliability, both of which he had in spades. While Yankees certainly make playoffs without his contributions, it’s easy to argue that a different deadline acquisition to fix the rotation leads to the Yankees playing the AL Wild Card in Oakland.

(Elsa/Getty Images)

Wrong Time for a Bad Start

His lone playoff start sucked from the start. Happ is a pitcher that relies on his fastball and it was clear he couldn’t command it three batters in. After walking Steve Pearce, J.D. Martinez’s three-run homer put the Yankees on the ropes early. Happ lasted just 11 batters, unable to complete two times through the order.

Aaron Boone made a smart move to pull Happ early when it was clear the then-35-year-old didn’t have it in Game 1. The decision gave the Yankees a chance to win, even with Chad Green allowing two inherited runners to score. They just didn’t come through with the big hit needed in the later innings.

Happ likely wouldn’t have started Game 5 of the ALDS since Masahiro Tanaka would have been available on full rest. Therefore, his next playoff start would have been presumably been Game 1 in Houston if the Yankees made it that far.

What’s Next

Happ is a free agent coming off a three-year, $36-million deal. The Yankees couldn’t issue him a qualifying offer since he was traded mid-season and he likely wouldn’t have gotten one anyway.

With Yankees looking to upgrade the rotation, he may be on his way out and could be replaced by an upgrade like Patrick Corbin. Still, with CC Sabathia returning and Luis Severino and Masahiro Tanaka the only other starters under contract, the Yankees could add back Happ while bringing in another starter.

Happ turned 36 on Oct. 19, but his age isn’t a reason to give up on him. He has never been the type of guy to blow people away and his fastball velocity actually increased in 2018. It’s not hard to see him sustaining his recent gains, even while pitching at Yankee Stadium.

He’d made sense on a one- or two-year deal, even after the disastrous postseason cameo. Three years, which MLB Trade Rumors has him getting, might be a little rich, even if Rich Hill got a three-year pact going into his age-37 season. Happ would certainly be a nice middle-of-the-rotation piece for 2019.