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DotF: Wade, Payton, and Zehner go deep in Scranton’s win

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A few notes to get us started:

  • Jim Callis put together a list of top prospects who could help contenders down the stretch and LHP Justus Sheffield is No. 1. “With three quality pitches and no difficulties dealing with Triple-A at age 22, Sheffield might be able to fill (their pitching) voids,” says the write-up.
  • Josh Norris posted video of RHP Luis Gil’s most recent start. The Yankees got Gil from the Twins in the Jake Cave trade and he has a 2.10 ERA (3.31 FIP) with 35.9% strikeouts in 34.1 rookie ball innings this year. I ranked him as the team’s No. 25 prospect recently.
  • RHP Andrew Schwaab has been released, the team announced. The 25-year-old had a 3.37 ERA (3.09 FIP) in 179 relief innings since signing as an undrafted free agent in 2015. Schwaab was regularly brought up from minor league camp for Spring Training road trips the last few years.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (6-3 win over Durham)

  • LF Tyler Wade: 1-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 K — fourth homer of the season, third in Triple-A
  • SS Abi Avelino: 0-4, 1 K — in a 3-for-22 (.136) rut
  • 1B Ryan McBroom: 0-4, 3 K
  • DH Mike Ford: 2-4, 1 R, 2 2B — 13-for-34 (.382) with seven doubles in his last eight games
  • 2B Ronald Torreyes: 0-4, 1 K
  • CF Mark Payton: 2-4, 2 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K — four homers in his last 17 games … he hit six homers in 94 games all of last season
  • 3B Gio Urshela: 2-4, 1 R, 2 2B, 1 RBI — 7-for-19 (.368) during his five-game hitting streak
  • RF Zack Zehner: 1-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 3 K, 1 E (fielding)
  • RHP Mike King: 6.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 1 HR, 7/6 GB/FB — 70 of 100 pitches were strikes … back-to-back excellent starts to begin his Triple-A career
  • RHP Joe Harvey: 2.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 HR, 1/1 GB/FB — 23 of 33 pitches were strikes (70%) … haven’t mentioned him much this year, if at all, but he has a 1.57 ERA with 50/16 K/BB in 46 Triple-A innings … the 26-year-old was the team’s 19th round pick in 2014 and he’s been a key late-inning guy for the RailRiders all summer

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Saturday Links: Chapman, Beltran, Best Tools, A-Rod

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(Greg Fiume/Getty)
(Greg Fiume/Getty)

The Yankees and Indians will continue their three-game series later this afternoon, assuming the weather cooperates. Here are some stray links to help you pass the time until first pitch.

Chapman, Beltran open to re-signing with Yankees

After being traded last week, impending free agents Aroldis Chapman and Carlos Beltran told reporters they would be open to re-signing with the Yankees after the season. “I would love to come back again,” said Chapman to Mark Feinsand while Beltran simply told Jared Diamond he would “gladly” return to the Yankees if the opportunity presents itself.

As good as he has been this year, I don’t love the idea of bringing Beltran back next season, even on a cheap-ish one-year deal to DH. There are lots of young position players in Triple-A Scranton waiting for an opportunity. Chapman’s a different story because he’s still right smack in the prime of his career, and there’s always room for another high-end reliever in the bullpen.

I feel like it’s inevitable the Yankees will sign a top reliever this offseason, and I’d prefer Kenley Jansen or Mark Melancon to Chapman. I just have no interest in rooting for the guy following the domestic violence stuff. You’re welcome to feel differently. Anyway, it’s no surprise Chapman and Beltran are open to coming back. Why would any impending free agent rule out the Yankees?

Baseball America’s best tools survey

One of my favorite features each season is Baseball America’s best tools survey. They poll managers and coaches about the players in their leagues, then put all the results together. Here are the Yankees at each level. The links go to each article and they’re not behind the paywall.

  • American League: Dellin Betances (best curveball, third best reliever), Mark Teixeira (third best defensive first baseman), Didi Gregorius (third best infield arm), Aaron Hicks (second best outfield arm)
  • Triple-A: Aaron Judge (best power), Luis Severino (best fastball), Gary Sanchez (best defensive catcher)
  • Double-A: Clint Frazier (best hitter), Jordan Montgomery (best breaking ball), Daniel Camarena (best control)
  • High-A: Jorge Mateo (best speed, best infield arm), Justus Sheffield (best pitcher), Gleyber Torres (best defensive shortstop, best infield arm)
  • Low-A: Andrew Schwaab (best reliever), Kyle Holder (best defensive shortstop)

Chapman (best fastball) and Andrew Miller (best slider, second best reliever) both made appearances in the survey as well. Sanchez being voted as the best defensive catcher in the International League is pretty darn interesting. I’m not sure if that’s because he’s made a lot of improvement, or because it’s just a weak year for IL catchers. I choose to believe the former. Go Gary!

No plans to release A-Rod

To the surprise of no one, Brian Cashman said the Yankees have no plans to release Alex Rodriguez during a recent radio interview (via George King). If the Yankees had any plans to release A-Rod, I think they would have done so already. Here’s what Cashman said:

“It’s not an easy circumstance, but there are no plans right now to do anything but give some reps to other people and see where it takes us, and if matchups or injuries hit, you might see him back out there,’’ Cashman told ESPN Radio. “First and foremost, you just have to admit it’s not easy to go ahead and eat — meaning release — that kind of money. It’s not something you come to a quick decision on … There’s a very large financial commitment through next year on a player of Alex’s caliber that was productive as [recently] as last year. Now, he’s being put in a position where sporadic play to try to get it going makes it more difficult. It’s fair to ask why and it’s fair to understand why it’s not a quick, rash decision, especially with September around the corner.”

Rosters expand in three weeks and five days, and I expect the Yankees to just ride this out with Rodriguez until then. They could release him in the offseason, but right now my guess is they hang on to him through the winter, then evaluate him in Spring Training. If he hits, they can give him a shot. If he stinks, they’ll cut him loose. And if he gets hurt, they’ll collect insurance on his contract.

2015 Draft Signings: Robertson, Marks, Zehner, Bisacca

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Marks. (Tennessee)
Marks. (Tennessee Athletics)

The draft signing deadline is Friday, July 17th this summer, and as far as we know the Yankees are not close to a deal with UCLA RHP James Kaprielian (1st round). He’s a Scott Boras client though, and top Boras clients tend to not sign until right before the deadline. The Yankees did sign second rounder LHP Jeff Degano earlier this week. Here are some later round draft signings.

  • California HS OF Terrance Robertson (12th) has signed based on his Twitter feed. No word on his bonus. As a reminder, anything given to player drafted after the tenth round over $100,000 counts against the draft pool. No reason to think the raw and speedy Robertson got more though.
  • Tennessee RHP Bret Marks (15th), Cal Poly OF Zach Zehner (18th), and Oral Roberts C Austin Afenir (25th), also signed. I know that because all three have played for one of the Yankees’ minor league affiliates in recent days.
  • Sam Houston State RHP Alex Bisacca (35th) has also signed according to his Instagram feed. Like Robertson and everyone else in this post, there’s no word on the bonuses for Marks, Zehner, Afenir, or Bisacca.
  • According to Baseball America, the Yankees have signed Nebraska RHP Josh Roeder (21st), Cal State LA RHP Icezak Flemming (26th), George RHP David Sosebee (28th), Delaware RHP Chad Martin (30th), and Oklahoma City RHP Dustin Cook (36th).
  • The Yankees have signed Franklin Pierce C Matt Walsh as an undrafted free agent, the school announced. He hit .366/.438/.505 with 14 doubles and four homers as a senior this spring.
  • The Yankees have also signed Arizona RHP Cody Hamlin and Missouri RHP Andrew Schwaab as undrafted free agents, reports Matt Eddy. Hamlin had a 3.94 ERA with a 61/13 K/BB in 102.2 innings this spring while Schwaab had a 6.06 ERA with a 6/4 K/BB in 16.1 innings.

Make sure you check out our 2015 Draft Pool Tracker to keep taps on the team’s bonus pool situation. Unless one or some of those guys above signed an overslot deal — no reason to think that, but it’s always possible — the Yankees have $643,900 in draft pool savings to spend. My guess is some of that will go to Kaprielian. By my unofficial count, the Yankees have now signed 30 of their 41 draft picks.