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Eddy: Yankees sign David Hale and Jorge Saez to minor league contract

January 28, 2019 by Mike

According to Matt Eddy, the Yankees have re-signed right-hander David Hale and catcher Jorge Saez to minor league contracts. Hale has big league time and Saez has been in camp as a non-roster invitee the last few years. I imagine both received an invitation to Spring Training as part of their new contracts.

Hale, 31, had three separate stints as an emergency long-man with the Yankees last season. He even went from the Yankees to the Twins on waivers, then back to the Yankees on waivers. Four different times Hale was designed for assignment (Twins once, Yankees thrice) and he kept re-signing on new minor league deals. He allowed three runs in 10.2 innings with the Yankees.

After the Yankees cut Hale loose the third time, he joined the Hanwha Eagles in Korea and had a 4.34 ERA in 12 starts and 66.1 innings. He pitched to a 4.20 ERA (3.94 FIP) in 55.2 innings with Triple-A Scranton last season and owns a 4.49 ERA (4.49 FIP) in 192.1 career big league innings. Hale had some prospect shine with the Braves back in the day but never managed to stick.

Saez, 28, originally joined the Yankees as a minor league Rule 5 Draft pick from the Blue Jays in December 2016. He hit .237/.324/.362 (94 wRC+) with five homers in 173 plate appearances as a part-timer with Double-A Trenton last year. Saez became a minor league free agent following last season and I have to think he’ll return to Trenton with Kyle Higashioka and Ryan Lavarnway ticked for Triple-A.

In my non-roster invitees preview I noted the Yankees could still sign another depth righty and another depth catcher, and here we are. Go me. Hale and Saez join Lavarnway, infielder Gio Urshela, lefty Rex Brothers, lefty Danny Coulombe, outfielder Billy Burns, outfielder Matt Lipka, righty Drew Hutchison, and righty Danny Farquhar as minor league signings this winter.

Update: Yankees sign Adam Ottavino to three-year deal

January 24, 2019 by Mike

January 24th: The Yankees announced the Ottavino signing this afternoon, so it is official. No other move is required because the Sonny Gray trade cleared a 40-man roster spot earlier this week. The press release says Ottavino will indeed wear No. 0. Pretty cool. He’ll be the first player in franchise history to wear No. 0, the last unretired single digit.

January 17th: Two weeks after re-signing Zach Britton, the Yankees have their second reliever addition. According to multiple reports the Yankees have agreed to a three-year contract worth $27M with free agent righty Adam Ottavino. That is exactly what the Rockies, Ottavino’s former team, gave Jake McGee and Bryan Shaw last year. The Yankees have not yet confirmed the deal.

“When he called me two nights ago and told me, he had the sound of happiness in his voice I haven’t heard in a very long time. He could not possibly be happier,” said Ottavino’s father to Zach Braziller. “I’m happy whenever anybody gets what they want, and he really got what he wanted. Playing for the Yankees was worth an awful lot to him. At the end, playing for the Yankees was very important to him.”

These days top notch relievers are fetching more than $10M annually — seven relievers will make eight figures this coming season, not including the still unsigned Craig Kimbrel — and it seems the Yankees may’ve traded the third guaranteed year for a lower average annual salary. Andrew Miller and David Robertson, who are roughly the same age as Ottavino, received two-year guarantees this winter.

Ottavino, 33, is a native New Yorker who was born in Manhattan and grew up in Brooklyn, which is pretty cool. Between he and Dellin Betances, the Yankees have two true homegrown players in their bullpen. Neat. Ottavino threw 77.2 innings with a 2.43 ERA (2.74 FIP) and 36.3% strikeouts last season. He’s really good and there are several reasons the Yankees were smart to sign him.

With Ottavino on board, the Yankees have accounted for six of their eight bullpen spots. The six spots:

Closer: Aroldis Chapman
Setup: Dellin Betances, Zach Britton
Middle: Chad Green, Jonathan Holder, Adam Ottavino

That is pretty stellar, at least on paper. Relievers are notoriously fickle, so we’ll have to see how things play out on the field. Right now, the Yankees have quite a collection of bullpen talent. Figure the out-of-options Tommy Kahnle gets one of the final two bullpen spots, with the last one going to a traditional swingman/spot starter or being used as a revolving door spot.

Of course, Ottavino is not without risk. He is one year removed from a 5.06 ERA (5.16 FIP) with 16.1% walks in 53.1 innings. Even last season he had an 11.7% walk rate. Also, Ottavino has Tommy John surgery in the not-too-distant past (May 2015) and you have to go all the way back to 2013 for the last time he was as good as he was last year. The Yankees are betting 2018 Ottavino is the real Ottavino.

My quick math puts the 2019 luxury tax payroll at $228.5M, assuming Luis Severino wins his arbitration hearing. (It’ll be $227.65M if he loses.) That is over the $226M second luxury tax tier and subjects the Yankees to a 32% surtax. Trading Sonny Gray and his $7.5M salary will get the Yankees back under the $226M threshold and I’d bet the farm on that happening. Trade Gray and find a cheaper swingman.

Given their current payroll situation, signing Bryce Harper or Manny Machado would undoubtedly push the Yankees over the $246M third luxury tax threshold, which kicks in another surtax and pushes their 2020 first round draft pick back ten spots. I mean, they’ve done this much, right? Might as well keep going. I won’t hold my breath. Either way, adding Ottavino to the bullpen is a big addition. Nicely done.

Reports: Yankees sign Danny Farquhar to minor league deal

January 21, 2019 by Mike

According to Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman, the Yankees have signed journeyman right-hander Danny Farquhar to a minor league contract. This will be Farquhar’s second stint in the organization. The Yankees claimed him off waivers from the Athletics in June 2012, then traded him to the Mariners in the Ichiro Suzuki deal a month later.

No matter what he does on the field this season, this is a wonderful story because Farquhar is coming back from a life-threatening brain hemorrhage. While with the White Sox last April he collapsed in the dugout following a relief appearance and had to be rushed to the hospital. The hemorrhage was caused by a ruptured brain aneurysm.

Farquhar spent about three weeks in the hospital and, according to Heyman and Sherman, he’s made a full recovery and is ready to pitch. He was healthy enough to throw out a ceremonial first pitch alongside his teammates, coaches, doctors, and family last June. Check it out:

In parts of seven big league seasons with four different teams the soon-to-be 32-year-old Farquhar has a 3.93 ERA (3.60 FIP) with a 26.9% strikeout rate in 272.1 innings. He had his best season with the Mariners in 2014, when he threw 71 innings with a 2.66 ERA (2.86 FIP). Last season Farquhar allowed five runs in eight innings before the brain hemorrhage.

Now that he’s healthy and given the fact he has a lot of big league time, it’s safe to assume Farquhar received an invitation to big league Spring Training as part of his minor league deal. It probably includes an opt-out if he’s not on the 25-man active roster by a certain date as well. After missing almost all of last season, I have to think Farquhar is ticketed for Triple-A Scranton to begin the season.

Farquhar joins catcher Ryan Lavarnway, infielder Gio Urshela, lefty Rex Brothers, lefty Danny Coulombe, outfielder Billy Burns, righty Drew Hutchison and outfielder Matt Lipka as minor league contract depth pickups this winter.

So long, Sonny: Yankees trade Gray to Reds in three-team deal with Mariners

January 21, 2019 by Mike

It took a little longer than I think everyone expected, but the Yankees have finally traded Sonny Gray. Earlier today the Yankees sent Gray to the Reds in what is essentially a three-team trade with the Mariners. The deals have been announced, so it is official. Here’s the breakdown:

Reds get: Sonny Gray and lefty pitching prospect Reiver Sanmartin
Mariners get: Second base prospect Shed Long
Yankees get: Center field prospect Josh Stowers and a Competitive Balance Round A draft pick

Officially, the Yankees traded Gray and Sanmartin for Long and the draft pick, then flipped Long to the Mariners for Stowers. Based on the timestamps on the press releases, Long was officially a Yankee for nine minutes. The Yankees clear a 40-man roster spot with this deal, which means they won’t have to make an additional move when they announce the Adam Ottavino signing.

The Reds were reportedly unwilling to make the trade without signing Gray to a contract extension. The two sides have agreed to a three-year extension covering 2020-22. It is reportedly worth $30.5M. There is also a fourth year club option worth $12M, plus performance bonuses. Add in the one-year contract he already signed for 2019, and Gray’s new deal can max out at $50M across five years. Not bad.

Following the postseason Brian Cashman made it clear he was ready to trade Gray. His market took a little longer to develop than I expected, and the Yankees claimed they wanted to hold on to him following CC Sabathia’s heart procedure, but I never really bought it. It was a matter of “when” they’d trade Gray, not “if.” Cashman and the Yankees made it very clear they were ready to move on.

“We are going to move him if we get the right deal because I don’t think it is going to work out in the Bronx. I don’t feel like we can go through the same exercise and expect different results,” Cashman said to Joel Sherman in November. “Until someone walks through your door and lives (life as a Yankee), it is hard to know. You try to vet every aspect. You plan and work at it and sometimes it pays off and sometimes it doesn’t.”

“Ultimately, you want to play somewhere where you’re wanted,” said Gray to Mike Organ recently. “… I don’t think it’s a secret to anyone, it’s kind of been an up-and-down experience for me. I’ve loved my time there. I love the guys. It was obviously a difficult season this past year, starting and then going to the bullpen, not pitching as much. But, I mean, I won eleven games last year.”

Gray, 29, came to the Yankees in a deadline deal with the Athletics in 2017. Things started out fine, but he struggled with his control late that season, then things really fell apart last year. All told Gray pitched to a 4.51 ERA (4.40 FIP) in 195.2 innings in pinstripes. That includes a 6.55 ERA (4.97 FIP) in 88 innings at Yankee Stadium and a 2.84 ERA (3.05 FIP) in 107.2 innings on the road. Sonny didn’t mix well with the Bronx for whatever reason.

The 22-year-old Sanmartin came over from the Rangers in a minor trade last offseason and he pitched to a 2.81 ERA (2.71 FIP) with 21.3% strikeouts and 1.5% walks in 67.1 innings at four levels last year. I answered a mailbag question about him recently. Sanmartin’s a stats over scouting report prospect who will probably wind up in the bullpen. The Yankees are loaded with lower level arms and Sanmartin is an easy prospect to trade away.

Stowers, 21, was Seattle’s second round pick in last year’s draft. They gave him a $1.1M bonus as the 54th overall selection and he hit .260/.380/.410 (126 wRC+) with five homers and 20 steals in 58 short season league games after turning pro. Baseball America (subs. req’d) and MLB.com both ranked Stowers as the tenth best prospect in the Mariners’ system before the trade. Here’s a snippet of Baseball America’s scouting report:

The biggest question in projecting Stowers’ future is whether he can stay in center field, because he needs to improve his reads and jumps … his plus speed is enough for the position if he makes the rest of the necessary improvements. Otherwise, a below-average arm would limit him to left field. Stowers’ bat will likely carry him. He has a plus hit tool, and his sharp batting eye is expected to help him at higher levels when pitchers are around the zone more. With average power, Stowers projects to be able to hit 15-20 home runs per year.

Baseball America (subs. req’d) and MLB.com both ranked Long as the seventh best prospect in the Reds’ system before the trade. Based on the little I know about Long and Stowers, my preference would’ve been to hang on to Long, mostly because I prefer infielders to outfielders and upper level players to lower level players whenever possible. Stowers is just getting his career started and is a few years away. Long might play in MLB this coming season. Shrug.

The draft pick is a pretty big deal. Competitive Balance Round picks are the only draft picks that can be traded — this is the first time the Yankees have ever traded for a pick — and, right now, the draft pick is 36th overall. It could move a little in either direction as the remaining qualified free agents sign, though it’ll be in the mid-30s. The Yankees get the draft pick and the bonus pool money associated with the pick. Last year the 36th overall selection had a $1.97M slot value. An extra pick and all that extra bonus pool money equals more talent for the farm system this summer.

According to my quick math the Yankees’ luxury tax payroll is down to $221M this coming season, which is below the $226M second luxury tax tier. Realistically, there’s no way they can get under the $206M threshold at this point. Staying under the $226M threshold and avoiding the surtax is definitely doable and it wouldn’t surprise me if that’s the goal. A Manny Machado or Bryce Harper signing has felt unlikely for weeks and this trade doesn’t change that.

Aside from a surprise Machado or Harper signing, the only thing the Yankees really have left to do this winter is replace Gray with another swingman/spot starter type. I’d bet on that pitcher making much less than the $7.5M the Yankees were slated to pay Sonny this season. I’ve mentioned Francisco Liriano a few times as a personal favorite for that swingman role. Looking over the list of free agents, others like Jason Hammel and Drew Pomeranz could be swingman candidates. We’ll see.

Hot Stove Rumors: Machado, Gray, Kahnle, Holder, Roman

January 18, 2019 by Mike

Hurry up and sign, Manny. I’m running out of photo options. (Getty)

Every time I say I think the Yankees are done with big offseason moves, they sign someone else. It was Adam Ottavino yesterday, DJ LeMahieu last week, and Zach Britton the week before that. I’ll have some thoughts on the Ottavino deal early next week. Until then, here are the latest hot stove rumblings.

Yankees have made Machado an offer?

Manuel Machado, Manny’s father, told Hector Gomez his son has received offers from several teams, including the Yankees. “Manny has received offers from different teams. Yankees, Dodgers, Phillies. Now there’s a lot of interest from the White Sox,” said Manuel. Not that long ago it was reported the Yankees hadn’t made Machado a “concrete” offer, which is not a big deal. If there’s an offer in front of him now though, it indicates the Yankees are getting serious.

I’m passing this nugget along because it’s out there, so you might as well read it on my site, but I caution you to be extremely careful not to read too much into these comments. Machado’s father has an obvious incentive to pump up Manny’s market — it’s good for business when the Yankees and Dodgers are involved in the bidding — and get his son the best deal possible. The Dodgers haven’t been connected to Machado at all this winter. Now they’ve made an offer? Not sure about that. You’re welcome to believe what you want. This doesn’t strike me as all that reliable.

Yankees getting closer to trading Gray

According to Jack Curry and Jon Heyman, the Yankees are getting closer to trading Sonny Gray and it could happen soon. They’re talking to several teams with the Giants newly into the mix. That makes sense. Their new president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi and new pitching coach Curt Young know Sonny from their days with the Athletics. San Francisco seems perfectly positioned to buy low on Gray, then sign him long-term if he bounces back.

I have the Yankees’ luxury tax payroll at roughly $228.5M following the Ottavino deal. Cot’s has them at $220.2M. My number includes a larger estimate for benefits and also something for in-season injury/September call-ups. Anyway, point is the Yankees are dangerously close to the $226M second luxury tier, if not over it already. Now that the Ottavino deal is in place, trading Gray and finding a cheaper swingman to get the payroll in order feels inevitable. For 40-man roster purposes, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Sonny moved before the Ottavino deal is made official.

Kahnle, Holder drawing interest

2018 Kahnle in picture form. (Hannah Foslien/Getty)

According to Heyman, the Yankees are getting calls about righty relievers Tommy Kahnle and Jonathan Holder. I’m not surprised teams are looking to buy low on Kahnle. Seeing whether he can bounce back this year is worthwhile, but no way would I make him off-limits in trade talks. He’s owed $1.3875M this year and shedding that money could be a priority. Holder had a very nice 2018 and is both dirt cheap and under team control another five years. Of course teams are asking about him.

With Britton re-signed and Ottavino agreeing to a deal, the Yankees are in better position to consider trading away a reliever. It’s a position of depth. Trading Holder or especially Kahnle when you have Britton, Ottavino, Aroldis Chapman, Dellin Betances, and Chad Green is an easy pill to swallow. The Yankees love their big velocity bat-missers and Holder is decidedly not that. Could they cash him in as a trade chip when his value is as high as it’s ever been and maybe as high as it’ll ever get? Hmmm.

Yankees trade Locastro to D’Backs

Earlier this week the Yankees traded utility man Tim Locastro to the Diamondbacks for lefty pitching prospect Ronald Roman and cash, the team announced. Locastro had been designated for assignment last week to clear a 40-man roster spot for LeMahieu. The Yankees got him from the Dodgers for 2015 third round pick Drew Finley earlier this offseason. Locastro, like Hanser Alberto, didn’t make it to Spring Training after being acquired earlier in the winter and spending a few weeks on the 40-man roster. I’m going to start calling this The Dan Otero Club.

Anyway, Roman is a just turned 17-year-old kid the D’Backs signed as an international free agent last July. He has not yet made his professional debut. He’ll do that this year. Roman was a small bonus signing and I can’t find any information on the kid. Sorry. Roman is almost certainly a player the Yankees wanted to sign last July but didn’t because either the D’Backs beat them to him (maybe) or because they ran out of bonus pool money (probably). Either way, he’s in the organization now. In a roundabout way the Yankees turned Finley, a busted prospect, into a young lottery ticket arm.

Update: Yankees sign DJ LeMahieu to two-year deal, designate Tim Locastro for assignment

January 14, 2019 by Mike

January 14th: It is a done deal. The Yankees announced LeMahieu’s two-year contract this afternoon. Tim Locastro was designated for assignment to clear a 40-man roster spot, the team says. Locastro came over from the Dodgers in a minor trade earlier this offseason. Decent chance he clears waivers and remains in the organization as a non-40-man roster player.

January 11th: The Yankees have a new veteran infielder and it is not Manny Machado. According to multiple reports, the Yankees have agreed to a two-year contract with DJ LeMahieu. It’ll pay him $24M and the Yankees are expected to use him at first base, second base, and third base. The Neil Walker role, basically.

LeMahieu, 30, is a natural second baseman and an excellent one at that. He is a legitimate Gold Glove caliber defender and lordy did the Yanks need to improve their infield defense. This accomplishes that to some degree. LeMahieu has a little experience at first (13 innings) and third (245 innings) bases, so they won’t be completely new to him, which I guess is good.

As with every Rockies player, the question is how much will he hit outside the Coors Field? There is evidence of a Coors Field hangover because coming down from altitude requires an adjustment, so you can’t really take a dude’s road numbers and declare that the real him. That is overly simplistic. Here are the numbers, for what they’re worth:

LeMahieu at Coors Field: .329/.386/.447 (96 wRC+)
LeMahieu everywhere else: .267/.314/.367 (84 wRC+)

Jeff Sullivan wrote a post a few weeks ago looking at LeMahieu. Long story short, he’s posted sneaky great exit velocities while managing an elite contact rate. LeMahieu rarely strikes out and he absolutely wears out right field as a right-handed hitter, so much so that teams sometimes use no left fielder and two right fielders against him. If nothing else, he brings a very different offensive look to the lineup.

The Yankees now have LeMahieu, Troy Tulowitzki, Gleyber Torres, and Miguel Andujar for the non-first base infield positions. Tulowitzki figures to get regular days off given his injury history, so LeMahieu will get playing time that way. I also have to think he’ll be Andujar’s late-inning defensive replacement at third base. LeMahieu’s going to get 450+ plate appearances next season. You watch.

Based on my quick math, the LeMahieu signing pushes the luxury tax payroll to roughly $222M, so the Yankees are now well above the $206M threshold. Even if the Yankees trade Sonny Gray and his entire projected $9.1M salary, they’ll still be over the threshold. Imagine going over the threshold to sign LeMahieu but not Machado? Oy vey. Maybe they have another signing (Adam Ottavino?) coming.

At this point there doesn’t seem to be much remaining on the offseason to-do list. Another reliever would be nice. Otherwise the Yankees are more or less set going into Spring Training. Will they splurge for Machado or Harper? The LeMahieu signing all but confirms a no for Machado. I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for Harper either.

Yanks sign Hutchison, lose Cole and Alberto on waivers among flurry of roster moves

January 11, 2019 by Mike

Friday was a very busy day for the Yankees. In addition to all the arbitration filing deadline activity, they also agreed to a two-year contract with DJ LeMahieu, and announced several smaller transactions as well. Here is a recap of the day’s moves:

Officially announced three-year deal with LHP Zach Britton.
RHP A.J. Cole claimed off waivers by the Indians.
IF Hanser Alberto claimed off waivers by the Orioles.
Signed RHP Drew Hutchison to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training.
Signed OF Matt Lipka to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training.

The Yankees haven’t announced the LeMahieu signing yet. That is still pending a physical and it’ll be a few days. The Britton deal is technically a three-year contract, but, functionally, it is a two-year deal with a two-year club option and a one-year player option. Two years vs. three years doesn’t change anything with regards to the luxury tax. Britton still counts as $13M against the luxury tax payroll annually.

Cole, 27, was designated for assignment last week to clear 40-man roster space for Troy Tulowitzki. I thought the Yankees might be able to trade him for cash or a player to be named later, but no luck. They lost him on waivers to the Indians for nothing. Oh well. Cole had a 4.26 ERA (4.92 FIP) with 29.2% strikeouts in 38 innings for New York last season. He came over in a cash trade with the Nationals and had a few good weeks before falling apart.

Alberto was designated for assignment to clear a 40-man roster spot for Britton, then was claimed by the Orioles a few hours later. I thought it was kinda weird the Yankees would unload infield depth given Troy Tulowitzki’s general fragility, then a few hours later the LeMahieu news broke, and it all made sense. The Yankees claimed Alberto from the Rangers a few weeks ago. He’s a great defender but not much of a hitter. Now he’s an Oriole.

Hutchison, 28, started Opening Day for the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium only four years ago, but injuries and ineffectiveness have dogged him since. He had a 6.75 ERA (6.42 FIP) in 42.2 innings with the Rangers and Phillies last season, and a 2.14 ERA (3.29 FIP) in 42 Triple-A innings. For what it’s worth (nothing), I signed Hutchison to be Triple-A Scranton’s veteran innings guy as part of my 2018-19 Offseason Plan. Now the Yankees have done the same.

The 26-year-old Lipka is a former high draft pick (35th overall in 2010) who stalled out with the Braves. He spent last season in Double-A with the Giants and hit .240/.329/.352 (91 wRC+) with four homers and 21 steals. Lipka has a little Triple-A time and I imagine he’ll spend the coming season as the roving Double-A and Triple-A depth outfielder. He’s not a prospect anymore. Just a roster filler signing.

Hutchison and Lipka join catcher Ryan Lavarnway, infielder Gio Urshela, lefty Rex Brothers, lefty Danny Coulombe, and outfielder Billy Burns as minor league contract depth pickups this winter. You never know with these things, but that might be it for the non-roster signings. If nothing else, the Yankees have addressed all Triple-A Scranton’s roster needs.