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Saturday Links: Search for Pitching, Martinez, Giese, Daley

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Boone, Cashman, and Tim Naehring. (Presswire)

The Yankees continue their Grapefruit League season this afternoon with a road game against the Pirates, but, sadly, it will not be televised. Tomorrow’s game will be televised, however, so that’s cool. Anyway, here are some links to check out on the first weekend with baseball in 2018.

Yankees still looking for pitching

Not surprisingly, Brian Cashman confirmed earlier this week that the Yankees remain in the market for pitching. They addressed their infield with the Brandon Drury trade — they did that without spending any finite luxury tax plan dollars — so the only item left on the offseason shopping list is pitching depth. Here’s what Cashman said, via Bryan Hoch:

“We are trying to attack places that are potential weaknesses or are weaknesses,” Cashman said. “I think our pitching side is pretty strong and obviously we want it to stay healthy, but we will evaluate the pitching available regardless. It’s been our stated goal to add a starter. There’s a reason we haven’t done it and it isn’t because we don’t have an interest.”

The Yankees still have $22M to spend under the luxury tax threshold, which is a nice chunk of change even when you remove the $10M they’re said to be setting aside for midseason additions. I feel like, with each passing day, it is more and more likely the Yankees will jump in to sign either Alex Cobb or Lance Lynn. It would cost two draft picks and $1M in international bonus money to sign either guy, but at some point it’ll make sense to jump in. Each day we’re inching closer to that point.

Martinez cleared to sign

Cuban outfielder Julio Pablo Martinez has been cleared to sign with MLB teams effective March 6th, reports Ben Badler. Martinez defected in November and Badler says the Yankees are among the favorites to sign him. The Rangers and Marlins are also in the mix. Here’s a quick little scouting report from Badler:

While Martinez’s first assignment will depend on several factors, his talent level is commensurate with a player in high Class A or Double-A. At around 5-foot-10, 180 pounds, Martinez has a good combination of power and speed from the left side. He batted .333/.469/.498 in 264 plate appearances during his final season in Cuba, with 52 walks, 30 strikeouts and 24 stolen bases in 29 attempts.

The Yankees have spent most of their $3.5M in leftover Shohei Ohtani money — most of that went to Raimfer Salinas and Antonio Cabello — and Badler says it’s possible the 21-year-old Martinez will wait until the 2018-19 international signing period begins on July 2nd to sign. The Rangers, for what it’s worth, traded for some international bonus money earlier this week, and Jesse Sanchez calls them the favorites to sign Martinez. Sounds like they’re going to make a run at him during the current signing period, while the Yankees (and Marlins) are cash-strapped.

Promotions for Giese, Daley

The Yankees have promoted assistant pro scouting director Dan Giese to pro scouting director, reports Brendan Kuty. Kevin Reese, the former pro scouting director, was promoted to senior director of player development back in November. He now oversees the farm system. Also, Matt Daley was promoted to assistant pro scouting director to replace Giese. Both Giese and Daley pitched briefly for the Yankees before joining the team as scouts. They’ve both gradually worked their way up the ladder.

A few weeks ago the Yankees hired former Marlins executive Marc DelPiano for a pro scouting role, and I thought maybe he’d replace Reese, but nope. It’s Giese. The Yankees tend to promote from within for front office jobs and that is exactly what happened here. I’m guessing DelPiano is fairly high up in the pro scouting chain of command given his resume though. The pro scouting department, which didn’t even exist until 2005, is tasked with keeping tabs on players in MLB and the minors. The department helped dig up Didi Gregorius and Chad Green, among many others.

Saturday Links: Pitch Clock, Martinez, Betances, Sanchez

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Pitch clock comin’. (Presswire)

Only four more Saturdays without baseball. Pretty cool. The Grapefruit League is about a month away. Anyway, here’s some news and notes on this baseball-less Saturday.

MLBPA paving the way for pitch clock

According to Ken Rosenthal, the MLBPA has formally rejected commissioner Rob Manfred’s latest pace-of-play proposal. That paves the way for MLB to implement rule changes unilaterally, which is expected to happen. By rule, MLB can only implement last year’s proposal, which includes a 20-second pitch clock at all times and a limit of one mound visit per inning by the manager, a coach, or another player. A second visit necessitates a pitching change.

The new proposal that was rejected included an 18-second pitch clock with the bases empty and no pitch clock with runners on. MLB and the MLBPA will meet again next week to continue talking, but at this point, Rosenthal says the players are upset and have drawn a line in the sand. They’re expected to reject any proposal. Rosenthal also says players and agents are frustrated with MLBPA chief Tony Clark given how many concessions the union has made recently. That was bound to happen, I guess.

I’ve said this before, but I am all for a pitch clock and a limit on mound visits. There is a 20-second pitch clock in the minors and it doesn’t hurt the product at all. It’s barely noticeable. As for mound visits, well those are getting to be out of control. It seems like every pitch in the late innings of a postseason game requires a pitcher-catcher conference. These measures are not the solution for all of baseball’s problems, but they’ll help reduce the downtime within a game, and that is a-okay with me.

Yankees held private workout for Martinez

Last Saturday the Yankees held a private workout in Tampa for Cuban outfielder Julio Pablo Martinez, reports Ben Badler. The Yankees were first connected to Martinez, who Badler says “has talent on par with a first-round pick,” a few weeks ago. The Marlins and Rangers are also interested in signing him. (The Marlins brought him in for a private workout last week.) Here is 7+ minutes of batting practice:

Martinez, 21, is still going through the process of establishing residency and getting unblocked by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, so he is not yet eligible to sign. Interestingly enough, Badler says the Yankees have “limited bonus pool space available for 2017-18,” indicating most of the $3.5M in leftover Shohei Ohtani money is gone. Raimfer Salinas and Antonio Cabello must’ve received nice bonuses. Because of the bonus pool situation, Badler says Martinez may wait until July 2nd to sign with the Yankees so he can tap into their 2018-19 bonus pool.

Quick Notes: Betances, Sanchez

I’ve got two quick offseason player notes to pass along, so I might as well dump them here. Some random winter news:

  • Dellin Betances told George King he is working on his mechanics and fastball command this winter, because duh. “Last year I went back and forth between mechanics. I just got to focus on one delivery and repeat that. Obviously, for me, being taller it’s harder for me to repeat. I have to trust what I do in the offseason and take it into the season,” he said.
  • Gary Sanchez worked with strength and conditioning director Matt Krause this winter and has dropped weight, reports King. A few weeks ago Brian Cashman mentioned the Yankees believe Sanchez bulked up too much last offseason, so he’s working to correct that, which might help him do a better job blocking pitches. We’ll see.

Also, Baseball America posted a Yankees prospect podcast last week, so check that out. Thirty-three minutes of prospecty goodness. The podcast is free for all. No subscription necessary.

Mayo: Yankees are “looking closely” at Julio Pablo Martinez and Yunior Severino

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According to Jonathan Mayo, the Yankees are “looking closely” at Cuban outfielder Julio Pablo Martinez and Dominican infielder Yunior Severino. This is obviously in response to suddenly having $3.5M in international bonus money to spend after getting rejected by Shohei Ohtani.

Martinez, who Mayo says has a showcase scheduled for Friday, left Cuba earlier this month and is said to have been one of the top young players on the island. The 21-year-old hit .297/.345/.449 with seven homers and 20 steals in 57 games this past season. Here is a piece of Ben Badler’s scouting report:

At around 5-foot-10, 180 pounds, Martinez is a lefty with a promising combination of power and speed … Based on his present ability, he’s probably ready to go to a high Class A or Double-A team.

For what it’s worth, Eric Longenhagen said Martinez “profiles as a fringe regular who hits in the bottom of the lineup and plays a solid center field” back when he saw him in 2016. Martinez still must establish residency and be unblocked by the Office of Foreign Assets Control before he can sign, but Badler says that should happen at some point before the 2017-18 international signing period ends June 15th.

Severino, 18, is one of the 13 former Braves prospects who became a free agent after the team was punished by MLB for their international impropriety. He hit .270/.345/.420 (121 wRC+) with three homers in 58 rookie ball games this summer, during his pro debut. Here’s what Longenhagen had to say about Severino recently:

Signed for $1.9 million out of the Dominican Republic, Severino is a switch-hitting middle infielder with surprising power for his size. Scouts think his long-term defensive home is second base and are skeptical about his long-term ability to make contact. He takes big, violent swings.

Per MLB’s terms, Severino gets to keep his $1.9M bonus, and can receive a new bonus when he signs with a new team. Every penny over $200,000 will count against the hard cap, though teams can choose to apply it to next year’s hard cap space, if they choose. Severino and the other Braves prospects are free to sign starting tomorrow.

It’s unclear whether the Yankees are interested in Kevin Maitan, the big name prospect no longer with the Braves, though I imagine they’ll check in. That $3.5M is a nice chunk of change. Now that Ohtani is off the table, expect the Yankees to invest that money in other international players, like Martinez and Severino and Maitan and others. They won’t let it go unused.