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Let’s Remember Some Guys from the RAB Era

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Dramatic photo for Dustin Moseley. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

There are five days remaining in the RAB era. We’ve been at this — I’ve been at this — more than 12 years now and it’s time to move on to something else. RAB started as a passion project and the passion is not there anymore. It’s become a burden. It sucks, and I am bummed about it, but it is time.

Since RAB launched in February 2007, the Yankees have played over 2,000 meaningful games, and 319 different players have worn pinstripes. The leader in plate appearances during the RAB era? Brett Gardner. He has roughly 600 more plate appearances than second place Derek Jeter. CC Sabathia of course leads in innings. He’s thrown nearly twice as many innings as second place Andy Pettitte.

We’ve been fortunate enough to watch some all-time great players these last 12 years. Jeter, Sabathia, Pettitte, Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, Mark Teixeira, Aaron Judge, on and on it goes. We’ve also seen an army of bit players and up-and-down guys. Most don’t contribute much. Everyone once in a while one of those guys does something memorable though.

Since we’re closing up shop soon, I figured it would be fun to go back through the years and Remember Some Guys. I scrolled through 12 seasons worth of rosters, picked out some names that stood out for one reason or another, and now we’ll pay homage to the random players who suited up for the Yankees. Come with me, won’t you?

Anthony Claggett

Y’all remember the first series at the new Yankee Stadium? The Yankees lost two of three to the Indians and got clobbered in the series finale. The final score: 22-4. Only the fourth time in franchise history the Yankees allowed 20+ runs. It is still the only time the Yankees have allowed more than 15 runs in a regular season game at the new Yankee Stadium. I remember that series for the collective shock at how small the ballpark played. Pretty funny thinking about it now.

Claggett came over in the Gary Sheffield trade with the Tigers and he made his MLB debut in that 22-4 loss. It did not go well:

Zoinks. Claggett made only two more appearances in his big league career (one with the Yankees and one with the Pirates) and he finished with eleven runs allowed in 3.2 innings. The highest ERAs in baseball history (min. 3 IP):

  1. Lewis: 60.00 ERA (20 earned runs in three innings)
  2. Dave Davidson: 30.00 ERA (ten earned runs in three innings)
  3. Steve Dixon: 28.80 ERA (16 earned runs in five innings)
  4. Jim Brady: 28.42 ERA (20 earned runs in 6.1 innings)
  5. Anthony Claggett: 27.00 ERA (eleven earned runs in 3.2 innings)

It is literally just Lewis. He’s some guy who pitched for the 1890 Buffalo Bisons. Not the best company for Claggett.

Colin Curtis

I think you might remember the first and only home run of Curtis’ career. In July 2010, he replaced Brett Gardner after Gardner was ejected for arguing balls and strikes in the middle of an at-bat. Curtis inherited an 0-2 count and whacked a home run. Check it out:

Curtis only played 17 more games in his big league career and went 4-for-32 (.125) in those 17 games. Pinch-hit home run as a Yankee in 2010, out of baseball by 2013. Rough. As far as random Yankees homers go, Curtis is right near the top during the RAB era.

Matt DeSalvo

Longtime RAB and DotF readers will remember Mighty Matt DeSalvo. The Yankees signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2003 and he worked his way into their top prospect mix during the farm system’s lean years from 2003-05. From 2003-06, DeSalvo pitched to a 3.63 ERA in 439.1 minor league innings and that was during the peak of the box score scouting era. The numbers were good and therefore he was a good prospect.

DeSalvo was the guy everyone wanted the Yankees to call up, and they eventually called him up in 2007, and in his first start he held the Mariners to one run in seven innings. Next time out: Two runs in 6.2 innings against those same Mariners. Things went downhill after that (17 runs in 14 innings) but hell yeah Mighty Matt. Those 27.2 innings in 2007 represent his only stint with the Yankees (he also threw two innings with the Braves in 2008).

Before hanging up his spikes in 2016, DeSalvo pitched everywhere from the Bronx to Atlanta to China to various Caribbean countries to independent leagues. Twelve seasons in professional baseball with some big league time is a hell of a career for an undrafted free agent.

Freddy Guzman

That is World Series Champion Freddy Guzman to you. Guzman was on the postseason roster for the entire 2009 World Series run as the designated pinch-runner. He pinch-ran twice during the ALCS, neither stole a base nor scored a run, and that was it. No appearances in the ALDS or World Series. Hey, it’s good work if you can get it. Guzman last played in Mexico in 2017.

Darnell McDonald

Man did McDonald get hosed. The Yankees claimed him off waivers from the Red Sox in July 2012 specifically so they could use his righty bat against Boston’s lefty starters in an upcoming series at Fenway Park. He went 0-for-4 in the three-game series before being dropped from the roster. McDonald had to cut his dreads, which his daughter loved and he’d been growing for more than two years, to get four at-bats with the Yankees. The hair policy is just ridiculous.

Juan Miranda

It was a big deal when the Yankees signed Miranda. They gave him a four-year deal worth $2M in December 2006, though he wound up spending the next few years as an up-and-down depth guy. Miranda never hit much in the big leagues, but I do remember him hitting this moonshot:

Miranda also drew a walk-off walk against the Red Sox in 2009. He hasn’t played in the big leagues since 2011 but he was active as recently as 2017 in the Mexican League.

Dustin Moseley

I remember Moseley for two things. One, the photo at the top of the post. Very cool and dramatic photo for … Dustin Moseley. And two, Game One of the 2010 ALCS. The Rangers scored five runs in four innings against CC Sabathia, then Moseley struck out four in two scoreless innings out of the bullpen, giving the offense enough time to claw back and take the lead. He earned the win for that.

Moseley threw 65.1 swingman innings with a 4.96 ERA for the Yankees in 2010. He spent a few years in the big leagues with the Angels and Padres in addition to the Yankees, so he wasn’t some random player who only made like four MLB appearances. I assume Moseley is pro-DH. He wrecked his shoulder taking a swing while with San Diego and basically never recovered.

Rico Noel

Run run Rico. Noel was the designated pinch-runner in September 2015 and he actually had an impact. He pinch-ran 12 times, stole five bases, and scored five runs. That’s a lot of action for the late-season pinch-runner. Their impact is often very overstated. Noel was on the AL Wild Card Game roster that year as well, though he was not used.

As the story goes, Noel talked the Yankees into signing him to serve as the designated September pinch-runner after getting released by the Padres. Joe Girardi made sure to give Noel some at-bats in the final regular season series too. He went 1-for-5 with an infield single. September 2015 was Noel’s first and so far only big league stint. He spent the last two seasons in independent leagues. He may not have gotten a ring out of it, but Rico had more of an impact on the field than Guzman.

Chris Parmelee

I spent a good 15 minutes looking and I can’t find it, but somewhere on the internet is a video of skinny and baby-faced Dellin Betances facing Parmelee in a high school showcase event prior to the 2006 draft. I remember coming across it a few times back in the day. Can’t find it now though. Alas.

Anyway, at one point in 2016 the Yankees used four different starting first basemen in a 12-game span, and roster moves were involved each time. Mark Teixeira to Rob Refsnyder to Chris Parmelee to Ike Davis. Teixeira got hurt, Refsnyder wasn’t very good, then Parmelee got hurt. Parmelee went 4-for-8 with a double and two homers in his brief time in pinstripes. Remember this game?

The next day — literally the very next day — Parmelee blew out his hamstring stretching for a throw at first base. Even though they didn’t make the postseason, the 2016 season was a very important one for the Yankees given their trade deadline moves and late-season call-ups. First base was a total mess that season though. Teixeira was hurt and unproductive much of the year, and Parmelee was one of several short-term fill-ins.

Scott Patterson

Patterson was the bullpen version of DeSalvo. An undrafted free agent (technically an independent league signing) who put up shiny numbers and was supposed to be the next bullpen savior. From 2006-07, Patterson threw 116 minor league innings with a 1.44 ERA and 136 strikeouts. The Yankees called him up 2008, he made his MLB debut as an almost 29-year-old, and he allowed one run in 1.1 innings at the Metrodome in Minnesota.

And that was it. Patterson was lost on waivers to the Padres soon thereafter. He appeared in four games with San Diego before settling in as a Triple-A journeyman. Patterson was last active in 2016, when he split the season between the Italian Baseball League and an independent league. Patterson and Colter Bean were the poster boys for the “he has great numbers call him up the bullpen needs him!” era.

Gregorio Petit

Petit was the infield version of Mike Tauchman of 2015. The Yankees got him in a minor trade right at the end of Spring Training and he made the Opening Day roster because Brendan Ryan was dealing with a calf injury. Petit went 7-for-42 (.167) with the Yankees and drove in five runs, including three on this swing:

Petit, Luis Cruz, Brent Lillibridge, Cody Ransom, Dean Anna, Cole Figueroa … we’ve seen plenty of random short-term utility infielders over the years. At least Petit is still playing. He spent some time in the big leagues with the Twins last year.

Brett Tomko

No Tomkos! Tomko is definitely the most accomplished player in our Remember Some Guys post. Dude spent 14 seasons in the big leagues, including a few weeks with the Yankees in 2009. He allowed 12 runs in 20.2 relief innings that season. I could be remembering incorrectly, but it felt like Tomko was always being mentioned as a possible spot starter while the Yankees cycled through Sergio Mitre and Chad Gaudin types. I remember him most for his post-meltdown painting sessions.

MLBTR: Yankees have talked to Brett Tomko about comeback

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Via MLBTR: The Yankees are one of several teams to talk to Brett Tomko as he attempts a comeback. The right-hander has battled arm problems in recent years, but he’s healthy now and was able to spend time pitching in winter ball. He is planning to work out for teams in the coming weeks.

Tomko, 40, last pitched in the big leagues back in 2011, when he chucked 17.2 ineffective innings with the Rangers. You probably remember his brief cameo with the 2009 Yankees. Tomko says he is open to going to Triple-A and mentoring young pitchers, and it sounds like he’s already thinking about a post-playing career in coaching. The Yankees have signed a ton of pitchers to minor league deals in recent weeks. If they add him to the pile, great. If not, oh well. No reason to get worked up over it either way.

The Mitre/Tomko debate

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In discussing baseball games, we often talk about the fallacy of the predetermined outcome. In a nutshell, the logic is as follows: If something bad happens — a caught stealing — followed by something good — say, a home run — then the Yankees are out a run because, had the caught stealing not happened, the home run would have been a two-run shot. Life and baseball simply do not work that way, and the outcome — the home run — probably doesn’t happen under differing circumstances.

Right now, the Yankees, in their search for a fifth ninth starter, are suffering through a debate over the predetermined outcome. Exhibit A is Brett Tomko in Oakland. On July 22, in order to make room for Sergio Mitre, the Yankees designated Tomko for assignment. He cleared waivers and was released on July 29.

At the time, Tomko had been awful for the Yanks. Pitching in long relief, he threw 15 games for 20.2 innings. He sported a 5.23 ERA and had allowed 26 base runners and 5 home run while striking out just 11. No one — not the Yankees, not their fans — was sad to see him go.

Since joining the A’s in mid-August and pitching as a starter, Tomko has been revelation. He topped off a stellar month on Monday night by tossing a complete game shut out against the Wild Card pretender Texas Rangers. In six starts, he is 4-1 with a 2.95 ERA. He has allowed 31 hits in 36.2 innings and has walked just six. He’s struck out 22 with his K/9 IP at 5.4, up a tick from the 4.8 mark he sported in the Bronx. Why, asked Peter Abraham, can’t the Yankees get players like that?

On the other hand, the Yankees are currently supporting the decline and fall of Sergio Mitre. After last night’s outing, Sergio Mitre’s numbers are horrendous. He is 3-3 with a 7.63 ERA and a 1.761 WHIP. He has thrown 46 innings and has allowed 81 base runners. This isn’t just bad; it’s Kei Igawa bad.

There is the possibility that Mitre hasn’t been as bad as those numbers indicate. As Jamal argued last night, Mitre has a 4.63 ERA in the five starts he has made against non-Toronto teams and a 10.59 mark against the Blue Jays. His FIP against non-Toronto teams stands at 3.55. Overall — and this is a key number — his FIP stands at 5.83.

With these numbers before us, it would seem that the Yanks jettisoned someone who is better than Sergio Mitre in favor of Sergio Mitre. They made a mistake. That’s only half the story because Tomko’s numbers are masking some trends. Brett Tomko’s BABIP while in Oakland is .226; Sergio Mitre’s in New York is .347. Tomko’s Oakland FIP is 5.05. He is currently enjoying an ERA two runs lower than how he is pitching.

The Yankees discarded Tomko because he is a 36-year-old journeyman with a below-average record and a 92 ERA+. That he is having a string of decent starts in Oakland shouldn’t convince us that the Yanks made a mistake. Sure, Oakland is catching lightning in a bottle. Sure, Sergio Mitre has been really bad. But it’s illogical to assume that Tomko would have pitched this far above his career norm in New York.

In a few days, the Yankees will clinch a playoff spot. A few days after that, the team will wrap up the division. Neither Sergio Mitre nor Brett Tomko will come close to the playoffs, and that is that.

Yanks acquire Jason Hirsh

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T-Kep has the news. Hirsh, a 27-yr old RHP, was acquired from Colorado for a PTBNL and will report to Triple-A Scranton. Once the Astros top prospect, Hirsh was dealt to Colorado in the Jason Jennings trade a few years back. His numbers playing at altitude the last few years aren’t pretty, the move was made to add a little depth in the upper levels.

Update (6:10pm): Oh, and Brett Tomko was released.

Catching up with the exes: Tomko, Pavano, Small

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To while away the afternoon now that the Yanks and Orioles have wrapped up their series, let’s check in on some ex-Yankees in the news these days. We start with the disgruntleds:

Brett Tomko
To make room for Sergio Mitre yesterday, the Yankees designated Brett Tomko for assignment. They have ten days to trade him or they can release him or ship him down to the minors. Tomko is not a happy camper about his tenure on the Yankees. “I don’t think I got a fair shot,” he said to reporters as he packed up his locker. “I pitched great in spring training and didn’t make the team. I pitched great in the minors, got called up and didn’t get much of a chance. I understand other guys are pitching great. But it could have been different. I can’t see the point in coming back.”

This is a clear example of the Yankees’ expectations not lining up with Tomko’s. At 36, Brett Tomko is a journeyman with a career ERA+ of 92. He isn’t the future of anything, and he’s not getting better. During his time on the Yanks, he allowed runs in seven of his 15 appearances and just wasn’t a trustworthy or impressive reliever.

“It’s hard when you throw once every 10 days. Your stuff can’t be the same,” he added later. “I never felt like I got a chance to show them anything. I wasn’t pitching much. As much as I want to be here and be with a winning team, I want to pitch. It would be great if they traded me in the next 10 days to help me out. But if not, I’m sure something will come up. Plenty of teams need pitching.”

Tomko won’t accept a Minor League assignment once the ten days are up, and the Yanks probably won’t find a team that needs a mediocre, ineffective and touchy pitcher. So much for him.

Carl Pavano
Try as we might, we just can’t ignore Carl Pavano. Today’s Pavano story though is something of an oddity. In what can only be described as an attempt by a reporter to create the news, Ken Rosenthal asked a Yankee official if the team would be interested in reacquiring Carl Pavano from the Indians.

The reply? A resounding no. “We’ve seen that movie,” Rosenthal’s source said. “Our players would go crazy if we did that.”

Pavano, for what it’s worth, isn’t having a terrible season. He’s 8-7 with a 5.13 ERA, but he’s managed to make 18 starts — one more than his single-season high with the Yanks. He also hasn’t been walking many batters. Yet, the Yankees hate him. The players hate him. The Front Office hates him. The fans hate him. He won’t — and shouldn’t — be back.

Aaron Small
Aaron Small was an odd addition to the Old Timer’s Day roster this year. While he went 10-0 for the Yanks in 2005, he was out of baseball a few months later after going 0-3 with an 8.46 ERA in 2006. Now, we learn that Small made his way to Yankee Stadium just six weeks after a bad bout of encephalitis. Small was in a medically-induced coma for eight days as doctors combated the virus that led to a life-threatening swelling of the former pitcher’s brain.

Small recovered from this ordeal and is slowly rebuilding his strength. This scary story makes his appearance at the stadium this past weekend all the more meaningful.

Brett Tomko, we hardly knew ye

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As the Yankees prepare to hand the ball over to Sergio Mitre tonight, the team needs to clear a space on both the 25-man and 40-man rosters. Mercifully, they have opted to designate Brett Tomko for assignment rather than sticking Mark Melancon or David Robertson back on the Scranton shuttle. The Yankees now have ten days to trade the right-hander or else they will release him. Tomko, 36, was 1-2 with a 5.23 ERA in 15 games out of the pen. His tenure on the Yanks won’t be remembered at all.

First Half Review: Relief Pitchers

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At 51-37, with the third best record in baseball, leading the Wild Card and just three games back in the AL East, the Yankees had a fine first half. Yet it was a tumultuous three months, wrought with streaks and injuries and strange trends, causing mass panic at times among Yankees fans. Over the extended All-Star Break, we’ll go over each position to see what went right, what went wrong, and how things look for the second half. First up we looked at the starting pitching, now it’s time to take a look at the relievers.

The expectations

The 2008 bullpen was one of the best in the business – ranking second in baseball in both FIP (3.82) and K/9 (8.66) – and the relief corps was expected to approximate that performance in 2009. The cast of characters was essentially unchanged, save a contract extension to southpaw Damaso Marte. Brian Bruney was set to join him as the primary bridge to Mariano Rivera, while rookie Phil Coke was primed to assume a key role. The rest of the pen was going to be filled out by a series of interchangeable parts, including Edwar Ramirez, Jose Veras, Jon Albaladejo, and David Robertson.

The results

The results so far have been a mixed bag. The bullpen was dreadful in April, better in May, and flat out dominant in June. They currently rank second in the majors with a 1.26 WHIP (just one baserunner every 100 IP out of the league lead), yet their ERA (4.19) is just 22nd best in the game. The relievers have thrown the fourth-most innings in the American League, a number that has to come down to avoid a second half burnout. That burden falls on the starting rotation, however.

The bullpen’s revival is the result of the the massive turnover in personnel from April to June. Let’s touch on the major pieces.

Mariano Rivera

Coming off a fairly major shoulder surgery, Mariano has been as fantastic as ever in 2009. Of course he did experience a rough go of it early after giving up some homers, but since May 21st he’s posted a 1.86 ERA and a 0.67 WHIP. Mo’s 14.33 K/BB is far and away the best in the game (next best is Scott Downs’ 8.06 mark) and the best of his Hall of Fame career. It took a little longer than usual, but Mo’s in midseason form and is as good as ever. He’s the least of the team’s concerns right now.

Brian Bruney & Damaso Marte

Bruney came out of the gate pitching like a man on a mission, out to prove all the B-Jobbers wrong about the lack of a solid 8th inning option. He struck out 12 and allowed just three hits over his first nine appearances, but went down with an elbow injury in late April. After being out for four weeks, Bruney lied about being healthy and came back too soon, ultimately landing himself back on the disabled list for another four weeks. He’s been nothing short of terrible since returning, allowing opponents to tattoo him for a .930 OPS. Right now, he’s a part of the problem and not the solution.

Marte’s season is just 5.1 ugly innings long, as a shoulder injury has shelved him since late April. When he was on the mound he was terrible, but how much of that is because of the injury we’ll never know. Currently rehabbing in Tampa, there’s still no timetable for his return.

Phil Coke & Phil Hughes

After a dynamite showing last September, Coke looked like he was poised to become the shutdown lefty reliever the Yanks have lacked for years. Coke’s overall numbers are rock solid, as are his splits against lefties, but his season has been a bit of a roller coaster ride. He was very good in April, pretty terrible in May, but fantastic since June rolled around. The only member of the bullpen to stick on the 25-man active roster all season besides Mariano Rivera, it’s no stretch to call Coke the Yanks’ second most reliable reliever of 2009.

The other half of Michael Kay’s stupid little Philthys Club, Hughes moved into the bullpen after Chien-Ming Wang appeared ready to become an effective starter once again, and has done nothing but dominate. His numbers out of the bullpen (18.1 IP, 0.65 WHIP, .379 OPS against) are better than Joba Chamberlain’s first 18.1 innings of relief in 2007 (0.82 WHIP, .467 OPS against), more evidence that if you put a good starter in the bullpen he’d be a damn good reliever. There’s not much to say here, Phil Hughes the Reliever has been tremendous.

Al Aceves & David Robertson

The dramatic turnaround of the bullpen coincides with Aceves’ recall from the minor leagues. His 40 innings of stellar relief work have been just what the doctor ordered, as he’s pitched in every role and succeeded in every situation. Robertson has had his moments, mostly in low leverage spots, but he’s been an effective super-high strikeout arm that can go multiple innings if need be. He’s been pretty much everything you could want your fifth best reliever to be.

Jon Albaladejo, Edwar Ramirez, Brett Tomko & Jose Veras

Edwar and Veras were two stalwarts in last year’s pen, providing rock-solid middle relief all summer. This year was a different story, as the two combined to allow 28 runs and 70 baserunners in 43 IP. Edwar soon found himself back in Triple-A while Veras found himself with the Indians after being designated for assignment. Albaladejo has been up and down while Tomko was mostly down, but both guys have mostly acted as the last man out of the pen. Neither has been great nor horrible, they’re just kind of there.

The Up and Down Crew

Anthony Claggett was terrible in his one outing and doesn’t figure to be back up anytime soon. Stephen Jackson didn’t even manage to get into the game in his eight days on the big league roster before ending up in Pittsburgh. Mark Melancon has been meh in his limited showings. Zach Kroenke, Romulo Sanchez, Amaury Sanit and others are stashed away in the minors awaiting their turn.

Expectations for the second half

With the success the bullpen has experienced over the last month or so, it’s tough not to be optimistic about the second half. However, a key piece in Hughes or Aceves (or both if it comes to it) could be lost if their services are needed in the rotation. Don’t be surprised if the team seeks out another relief arm at this year’s trade deadline. Regardless, the Yankees will need the bullpen to do the job consistently in the second half if they plan on making the postseason.