Billy McKinney Archives - River Avenue Blues

The Other Other Guys [2018 Season Review]

November 30, 2018 by Domenic Lanza

Twenty-three different position players came to the plate at least once for the Yankees this year, and we here at River Avenue Blues endeavor to give you a little something about each and every one of them in this series of reviews. These are the guys that opened the season in the organization and, for a variety of reasons, ended up playing relatively minor roles.

Brandon Drury

The Yankees have acquired quite a bit of talent from the Diamondbacks over the last five years; so much so that a deal between the two teams feels like an automatic win for the good guys. They’ve made five deals in that span, with the Yankees acquiring Brandon McCarthy, Martin Prado, Didi Gregorius, Tyler Clippard, and Drury, and giving up Vidal Nuno, Peter O’Brien, Shane Greene, Vicente Campos, Taylor Widener, and Nick Solak (the last two in the deal for Drury). That’s 17.3 WAR in, and 3.4 WAR out, for those of you scoring at home.

But I digress.

Drury was acquired by the Yankees in February as a part of a three-team trade with the Rays and Diamondbacks. The aforementioned Solak went to Tampa, and Widener went to the desert; and both spent the entirety of 2018 at Double-A in their respective organizations. It’s worth noting that both performed well in Double-A, to be sure, but neither is a standout prospect.

For his part, Drury opened the season as the Yankees third baseman, starting seven of the team’s first eight games and pinch-hitting in the other. He hit a more than serviceable .217/.333/.391 (101 wRC+) in that span, and it seemed as though the team had found a perfectly adequate infielder. And when he was placed on the disabled list with migraines on April 7, he was expected back in relatively short order.

It didn’t work out that way, of course. Miguel Andujar took over at the hot corner in Drury’s absence, and hit the ground running. And when Drury’s stint on the disabled list was over on May 14, he was optioned to Triple-A Scranton, where he would spend the next six-plus weeks tearing the cover off of the ball. It was clear that he didn’t belong there, but it was also clear that they didn’t have room for him on the big club.

Drury was called back up on June 29, and bounced around the infield for ten days before being sent back down. He only hit .136/.174/.182 in that stretch, so it was difficult to fault the Yankees. He came back up on July 20, and was essentially done as a Yankee on July 24, when he exited the game after being hit in the hand with a pitch. Drury was dealt to the Blue Jays (along with Billy McKinney) for J.A. Happ a couple of days later.

All told, Drury hit .176/.263/.275 (49 wRC+) in 57 PA in pinstripes. Injuries and superior options at second and third base hindered his chances of finding a role with the team before he really had a chance, and his bags were packed at the deadline. He followed that up by hitting .154/.241/.231 (33 wRC+) with the Blue Jays, albeit in just 29 PA as his season ended early due to a fracture in his left hand.

Clint Frazier

The 2017-18 off-season could not have been much fun for Frazier, who spent his time seeing his name in trade rumors, recovering from an oblique injury, and getting a much-publicized haircut. And seeing the Yankees add Giancarlo Stanton to an already crowded outfield picture was probably a bit disconcerting, as well. I don’t want to editorialize too much, but I can’t help but feel that he was relieved to start playing baseball again when February rolled around.

Unfortunately, Spring Training wasn’t any better, as Frazier suffered a concussion after crashing into the outfield wall, and missed the first several weeks of the season as a result. He was activated from the disabled list on May 1 and optioned to Triple-A, where he hit .362/.423/.702 in 52 PA before being called-up for a double-header on May 19. He started one game, going 1-for-2 with two walks, and was sent back down to Triple-A.

Frazier spent the next two months bouncing between Triple-A and the show; he obliterated the minor leagues, posting a .311/.389/.574 slash line in 216 PA, and was adequate in 41 big league PA, posting a 113 wRC+. Unfortunately, the lingering post-concussion effects never really let up, and his season was over in August. And given how mightily the Yankees struggled to fill the void left by Aaron Judge’s injury, Frazier missed a big opportunity, to boot.

Frazier’s status is one of the low-key but still important storylines of this off-season. He’s still only 24 with oodles of talent, but he hasn’t been able to stay healthy over the last two years, and concussions are tricky at best. Moreover, the Yankees still have a crowded outfield, even if Brett Gardner hadn’t re-signed. Frazier is ostensibly healthy and resting now, but this may well be another winter of trade rumors.

Kyle Higashioka

Higashioka entered the 2018 season as the team’s third-string catcher, and the expectation that he wouldn’t have much of anything to do in the majors this year barring some calamity. There was a calamity, of sorts, in Gary Sanchez’s injury-riddled and disappointing season, which resulted in Higashioka spending about three months on the Yankees roster. Unfortunately for him, that meant a lot of sitting on the bench if deference to Austin Romine.

The 28-year-old backstop spent most of the first three months of the season in Triple-A, where he struggled mightily. He slashed just .196/.272/.337 through 52 games, which was a far cry from his strong performances there in 2016 (131 wRC+) and 2017 (113 wRC+). There was no clear path to playing time for Higashioka for most of this time, and he certainly wasn’t forcing the issue.

When Sanchez hit the disabled list with a groin injury on June 25, Higashioka was called-up. He served in a timeshare with Romine, starting nine of the team’s nineteen games in this stretch, and he slashed an intriguing .167/.242/.500 in 33 PA. Higashioka had the first three hits of his major-league career during this stint … all of which were home runs.

Higashioka was sent back down when Sanchez returned from the DL, and was recalled when Sanchez aggravated the groin injury a few days later. He’d go on to spend the rest of the season with the team, picking up eleven more starts along the way. Higashioka finished the season hitting .167/.241/.319 (51 wRC+) in 79 PA.

There were some reasons to be excited about Higashioka after his dominance of Triple-A in 2016, but that ship has likely sailed at this point. He’ll be 29 in April, and the team clearly prefers Romine off of the bench. That doesn’t mean that he can’t be a useful bench piece – it just might not be for the Yankees.

Billy McKinney

McKinney was acquired alongside Gleyber Torres way back in 2016, and was poised for a real opportunity with the Yankees when Frazier, Aaron Hicks, and Jacoby Ellsbury went down with injuries. He earned his first big league start (and hit) on March 30 … and was placed on the DL with a left shoulder strain after crashing into the wall on March 31.

By the time McKinney was activated on May 24, the Yankees outfield rotation was set, and he headed to Triple-A. He flashed some power there, slashing .226/.299/.495 (120 wRC+) with 13 HR in 234 PA, but his tenure with the team ended before he could claw his way back to the majors when he was sent to Toronto in the Happ trade.

McKinney spent his first month with his new organization in the minors, but he was called-up on August 18 (against the Yankees), and spent the rest of the year starting for the Blue Jays. He hit .252/.320/.470 (114 wRC+) in 128 PA down the stretch, and should have one of the corner outfield spots locked-up for 2019.

Jace Peterson

Not-so-great baserunning, Jace. (Jim McIsaac/Getty)

Peterson spent a whopping 112 days in the Yankees organization, a tenure that included one game in Triple-A and three at the highest level. That was long enough to have a play for the team’s highlight reels, though, in the form of this excellent catch against the Orioles:

Peterson was claimed off of waivers by those same Orioles on April 24, and his Yankees career was over. He did hit .300 with the team, though (in 11 PA), so he has something to tell his grandchildren one day.

The 28-year-old utility player did find a good home in Baltimore, though, playing all over the field and appearing in 93 games. He hit just .195/.308/.325, but he stole 13 bases in 15 attempts … so, there’s that.

Shane Robinson

The aforementioned injuries to Clint Frazier, Ellsbury, and Judge as well as the trade of McKinney paved the way for Robinson to make 17 starts for the Yankees this year. That in and of itself is a fine argument both for how necessary depth is, and how quickly it can disappear. And it haunts me to this day.

Robinson was signed by the Yankees way back in February to serve as Triple-A depth. When he was signed, he was something like ninth or tenth on the organization’s outfield depth chart, and for good reason. The now-34-year-old was a Quadruple-A player, having spent the previous eight years as an up-and-down guy for the Cardinals, Twins, and Angels, racking up a .226/.294/.297 line in 795 PA along the way. He’s the sort of player every organization needs, but doesn’t really want to see at the highest level.

He was called-up in early April for a two-game cup of coffee, going 1-for-3 with two walks in two games before being sent back down. He spent the rest of April through late-July in Triple-A (and missing all of June), posting a .628 OPS in 192 PA. But Judge’s injury and McKinney’s trade mere days beforehand forced the Yankees hand, and Robinson was recalled on July 28.

Robinson played in 23 of the team’s Judge-less games, starting sixteen. He hit .130/.167/.217 in that time, which thankfully (mercifully?) came to an end when Andrew McCutchen was acquired on August 31. Robinson spent the rest of the season in purgatory, and became a free agent on October 10.

Game 122: Leave it to Lynn

August 17, 2018 by Steven Tydings Leave a Comment

That Rays series was a bummer, right? Yuck. Two opportunities to win the series with one clunker and another lifeless heartbreaker. Luckily, the Yankees’ schedule moves down the AL East standings to the Blue Jays, who got into New York late last night. They had their series finale in Kansas City delayed by rain and then had to fly all the way to NYC. Good chance to catch a tired team.

The Yankees will face Marcus Stroman, who the Bombers roughed up in April. Read more about that in Domenic’s series preview. Good stuff as always from Dom! Meanwhile, Lance Lynn toes the rubber aiming for his fourth straight good outing as a Yankee. He closed his forgettable April with a loss to the Jays, but he’s looked like a different pitcher over the last month. A strong 0.54 ERA since the trade deadline.

Here are the lineups for tonight’s contest:

New York Yankees
1. Brett Gardner, LF
2. Giancarlo Stanton, DH
3. Aaron Hicks, CF
4. Didi Gregorius, SS
5. Miguel Andujar, 3B
6. Gleyber Torres, 2B
7. Greg Bird, 1B
8. Neil Walker, RF
9. Austin Romine, C

RHP Lance Lynn

Toronto Blue Jays
1. Curtis Granderson, RF
2. Devon Travis, 2B
3. Justin Smoak, 1B
4. Kendrys Morales, DH
5. Russell Martin, C
6. Kevin Pillar, CF
7. Randal Grichuk, LF
8. Aledmys Diaz, 3B
9. Richard Urena, C

RHP Marcus Stroman

There’s a chance of thunderstorms right around first pitch, though it’s only about 50-50. An opportunity for a small delay, but they’ll should be able to get this game in, interruption or no. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM EST and the broadcast will be on WPIX, not YES, though you can catch pregame and postgame on YES.

Jays Roster Moves: The Blue Jays called up Billy McKinney this afternoon to replace Luke Maile, who is on paternity leave. That gives McKinney the opportunity to play his first game at Yankee Stadium after making his only appearance as a Yankee at Rogers Centre.

Update: 10 p.m. Game is in a rain delay with the Yankees leading, 7-5, in the bottom of the seventh. Rain is coming in steady, so it may be a while until they continue or call it.

Update: 11:10 p.m. Game is called and it’s a Yankee win! Won’t have the recap up for a while, so here’s a one-sentence recap: Bullpen and offense made up for early Lynn struggles while Stanton and Walker both went deep. Huzzah.

Yankees acquire J.A. Happ for Brandon Drury, Billy McKinney

July 26, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

The Yankees have been trying to add a starter since the offseason and they finally landed one. This afternoon the Yankees announced they have acquired veteran southpaw J.A Happ from the Blue Jays for infielder Brandon Drury and outfield prospect Billy McKinney. The trade has been announced and is official. Done deal.

For all intents and purposes, Happ will step into the rotation to replace Jordan Montgomery, who was lost to Tommy John surgery earlier this season. Domingo German and Luis Cessa had been starting in Montgomery’s place the last few weeks, and while there were some promising moments, it largely did not go well. The Yankees needed another starter and they got a pretty good facsimile of Montgomery in Happ.

Here is our Scouting The Market post on Happ. He currently owns a 4.18 ERA (3.84 FIP) with strikeout (27.4%) and ground ball (44.6%) rates that will play in Yankee Stadium. Happ has struggled recently — he’s allowed 26 runs in his last five starts and 31.1 innings — so the Yankees are clearly banking on his track record. He had a 3.33 ERA (3.87 FIP) with Toronto from 2016-17 and a 3.56 ERA (3.56 FIP) in 2018 as recently as June 24th.

In Drury and McKinney, the Yankees traded two players with no obvious long-term fit. Drury came over from the Diamondbacks in February, the Yankees talked him up all Spring Training, he was the Opening Day third baseman, then he landed on the disabled list with migraines and blurry vision, and Miguel Andujar took over third base. Andujar’s emergence has made Drury expendable.

During his limited big league time this season Drury hit .176/.263/.275 (50 wRC+) with one home run in 18 games while playing first, second, and third bases. He also hit .294/.403/.447 (144 wRC+) with five home runs in 55 games with Triple-A Scranton. The Yankees had Drury on their big league roster as a utility guy at various points the last few weeks, but he didn’t play much.

Going forward, the Yankees had no place to play Drury barring an injury, and that means no way to rebuild his trade value. The disabled list stint and lack of MLB playing time hurt his value, no doubt. Clearly the Yankees like him. They wouldn’t have made the trade for him otherwise. But his three primary positions are third base (Andujar), second base (Gleyber Torres), and first base (Greg Bird), and the Yankees have young players there.

As for McKinney, he was no higher than seventh on the outfield depth chart when everyone is healthy and no higher than fifth on the current outfield depth chart with Jacoby Ellsbury (oblique, hip, foot, back) and Clint Frazier (post-concussion migraines) on the disabled list. McKinney went from the A’s to the Cubs in the Jeff Samardzija trade, the Cubs to the Yankees in the Aroldis Chapman trade, and now to the Blue Jays in the Happ trade.

McKinney, who made his big league debut with the Yankees in Toronto earlier this season, hit .230/.294/.502 (120 wRC+) with 13 home runs in 54 Triple-A after returning from a shoulder injury suffered when the crashed into the Rogers Centre wall in April. He’s one of those ‘tweener guys the Yankees didn’t have room for, much like Ben Gamel and Jake Cave, who were traded away recently. I had McKinney 22nd on my most recent top 30 prospects list.

I’d mentioned in recent days the trade that sent Scott Kazmir from the Athletics to the Astros three years ago seemed like a decent benchmark for Happ, and it fits. Houston sent two mid-range prospects (Daniel Mengden and Jacob Nottingham) to the A’s for Kazmir. The Yankees sent two mid-range prospects (Taylor Widener and Nick Solak) to the D’Backs for Drury, then flipped Drury for Happ. Consider McKinney inflation.

Happ is an impending free agent on a three-year contract worth $36M. His full luxury tax hit is $12M but his actual 2018 salary is $13M. He will count roughly $4M against the luxury tax payroll, less Drury’s and McKinney’s luxury tax hits. The net hit is something like $3.7M. The Yankees have plenty of luxury tax payroll wiggle room anyway. There’s still some payroll space remaining for another trade even if the Yankees don’t shed salary.

With Happ and Zach Britton, the Yankees have upgraded both their rotation and bullpen — the bullpen didn’t really need upgrading, but hey, Zach Britton! — with five days to go before the non-waiver trade deadline. They might be done, though I suspect they’ll look for a catcher given Gary Sanchez’s injury and monitor the pitching market in case a high-end starter like Jacob deGrom becomes available.

2018 Midseason Review: The Depth Players

July 19, 2018 by Steven Tydings Leave a Comment

Austin and Drury: Scranton Bash Brothers (Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)

A team is only as good as its weakest link, so the saying goes. The Yankees have had a series of bench players, mop-up relievers and forgettable characters so far this year. Why not grade them?

Ronald Torreyes

The skinny: Torreyes got the chance to start plenty of games at second base until Gleyber Torres was called up and Toe did nothing but rake in that interim. It was mostly singles, but he finished April with a .390/.405/.488 line. He has been sent down and called up twice with the Yankees not having room on their infield for even semi-regular time. Gotta love Toe.

Best game/highlight: He’s had a trio of three-hit games this season, but one of his one-hit games stands out. On Apr. 19, he knocked in a run early before walking and scoring the go-ahead run in a 4-3 win vs. Toronto.

Midseason Grade: A

Brandon Drury

The skinny: The Yankees acquired Drury with the idea he’d be their starting third baseman, but vision problems and the emergence of Miguel Andujar have kept him away from the big league club. He has just eight hits as a Yankee thus far, though he excelled in Scranton. Hopefully, he’ll receive a larger chance now that his vision is better and he can make an impact in the second half.

Best game/highlight: In the second game of the year, he drove in two runs while going 2-for-3 with a walk. His double in the second inning came mere inches away from going out of the park.

Midseason Grade: C/Incomplete

Tyler Wade

The skinny: Wade’s first stint with the Yanks in 2018 was seriously disappointing. Though he provided the Yankees with stable defense at second, he simply didn’t hit. He had a real chance to win playing time at second base to start the year and blew it. His second opportunity in replacing Gleyber has been much better with six hits in his last 13 ABs with some good defense as well. He’s going to play a role down the stretch, even if it’s just as a pinch runner.

Best game/highlight: Last week, Wade came a triple short of the cycle, knocking his first career home run to right field at Camden Yards. It’s surprising a player that fast doesn’t have a triple in his career yet.

Midseason Grade: D

Clint Frazier

The skinny: Frazier is a victim of the Yankees having one of the best outfield rotations in baseball. He’d be starting in a corner for most other teams. When he’s been with the big league club, he’s shown strong patience and sports a .390 OBP. He was robbed of a game-winning home run by the monstrosity that is Tropicana Field. He’ll get an opportunity soon if he’s not traded for a top-line starting pitcher.

Best game/highlight: His first game of the year came on May 19 in Kansas City and he lined a double, drew two walks and scored a run. Always nice to see him show off both a strong approach and his Legendary Bat Speed.

Midseason Grade: B+

Tyler Austin

The skinny: Austin was the fill-in first baseman for Greg Bird for the first month and a half and was perfectly adequate. He hit eight home runs and put up a .471 slugging percentage. However, he didn’t get on base often enough and was prone to prolonged slumps. The 26-year-old remains a solid contingency plan waiting in Triple-A, though you’d rather see Bird out there for sure.

Best game/highlight: He has two two-homer games this year and the second one was an impressive day in Kansas City. He drilled a pair of two-run shots to knock starter Eric Skoglund out of the game and begin a blowout win.

Midseason Grade: B-

Billy McKinney

The skinny: Two games. Four at-bats. One hit. One injury. That’s a basic summary of McKinney’s big-league career thus far. He was called up for Game No. 2 after Aaron Hicks went down with an injury and was sidelined himself in his second start by banging into the left field wall at Rogers Centre. Not ideal. He’s been good once again in Scranton.

Best game/highlight: Obviously, it’s his one full game where he recorded his first career hit. March 30 in Toronto, a win to boot.

Midseason Grade: Incomplete

Luis Cessa

The skinny: Anyone else forget Luis Cessa was in a mop-up role in mid-April? He apparently threw four innings that month before suffering an oblique strain. He came back up in June, threw two innings of relief and then had a forgettable spot start in Philly. He then started in Baltimore during last Monday’s doubleheader with further detail below.

Best game/highlight: July 9 in Baltimore wasn’t a pretty day for the Yankees, but Cessa helped them salvage a win against the last-place O’s with six shutout innings. He put on six baserunners but pitched well and had two double plays turned behind him. Not bad!

Midseason Grade: B

David Hale

The skinny: Hale was up and down as a mop up reliever, taking almost exclusively the lowest leverage innings and saving the rest of the bullpen, all before receiving an unceremonious DFA. He threw exclusively multi-inning outings and also had one game with the Twins. While his last outing was impressive, he won’t be making another with the Yankees this season as he has signed with the Hanwha Eagles of the KBO.

Best game/highlight: He saved the best for last in relief of Sonny Gray. He threw 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball against the Blue Jays in a 6-2 loss. While he gave the team a chance to win, it was more important that he simply absorbed innings.

Midseason Grade: A

Gio Gallegos

The skinny: Like Hale, Gallegos has come up to take on mop up innings. In four multi-inning outings, he hasn’t come in with a leverage index higher than .30. It’ll be tough for him to earn any sort of permanent role with the Yankees this season, so it’s the up-and-down role the rest of the way. He’s one of three Yankees with a save as he threw three innings to close Cessa’s win in the doubleheader.

Best game/highlight: In Cessa’s other start vs. the Phillies, Gallegos came in out of the bullpen and dazzled hitters with his stuff. Three innings, two hits, no runs and six strikeouts. Six! It was his best outing as a Yankee. Two of the Ks were the opposing pitcher, but he also punched out Cesar Hernandez and Rhys Hoskins.

Midseason Grade: B

Jace Peterson

The skinny: McKinney, Hicks and Jacoby Ellsbury all were on the disabled list in early April, thus giving Peterson a shot. He got a chance to play three games (two starts) in the outfield, going 3-for-10 with a walk over 10 days. He joined Baltimore afterwards and, funny enough, has played as many games against the Yankees as he has for the Bombers.

Best game/highlight: He manned left field in his first Yankee start on Apr. 7 and saved the game with a nice catch to rob Pedro Alvarez of two go-ahead RBI in a game the Yankees would go on to win.

Midseason Grade: B+

Shane Robinson

The skinny: With the Yankees still short on outfielders and facing lefties in Boston, Robinson got the call-up in place of Peterson. He went 1-for-3 with two walks and a stolen base in his two games in pinstripes.

Best game/highlight: He pinch ran for Tyler Austin and stole second base on Apr. 11 in Boston. I guess that counts as a highlight?

Midseason Grade: Incomplete

Taking stock of the Yankees’ trade chips prior to the deadline

June 20, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

We are less than six weeks away from the 2018 non-waiver trade deadline and already the trade winds are beginning to blow. The Rays sent Denard Span and Alex Colome to the Mariners a few weeks ago, and the Royals have since gotten in on the act by trading Jon Jay to the Diamondbacks and Kelvin Herrera to the Nationals. The sellers are starting to sell.

The Yankees, clearly, will be buyers prior to the trade deadline. Starting pitching is an obvious need. Adding a reliever could be worthwhile too. It is entirely possible other needs will pop up over the next few weeks as well. The Yankees have luxury tax payroll space and a deep cache of prospects, which allows them to buy basically whatever they want at the deadline. They can get anyone.

“Clearly starting pitching was always a concern. It’s definitely one of the areas we’re going to be looking at,” said Hal Steinbrenner to Scott Orgera at the quarterly owners’ meetings last week. “Purposely left a decent amount of money for just this. If we decide to go get a pitcher and if a pitcher’s available, I think we definitely have the flexibility that would allow me to do just that.”

While no player is ever truly untouchable, the Yankees do have some untouchables. Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, and Luis Severino are as untouchable as it gets and Gleyber Torres has joined that group as well. “Come on now. I’ve got to walk around this city,” joke Brian Cashman to Erik Boland the other day when asked whether trading Torres is a possibility. Even with those guys off the table, the Yankees have plenty of trade chips. Let’s take stock.

The Andujar Question

Might as well start here. The Yankees reportedly made Miguel Andujar off-limits in trade talks over the winter and we’ve seen why so far this season. Even with a tiny little recent slump, Andujar is still hitting .290/.317/.519 (125 wRC+) with an 18.1% strikeout rate. A .229 ISO and an 18.1% strikeout rate is one hell of a combination for a rookie. We’ve also seen Andujar hit all types of pitching already.

That said, should Andujar be off-limits? You could argue his trade value is higher right now than ever before because he’s had some big league success and is still so young with so much team control. Andujar’s probably never going to walk much and his defense, which is serviceable, might never be better than, well, serviceable. I’m not saying the Yankees should give Andujar away. I love the kid. I’m just saying he’s not as untouchable as Torres.

The Top Chips

Brandon Drury’s presence is the reason Andujar should not be untouchable. The Yankees have an MLB ready third baseman — their Opening Day third baseman, in fact — stashed in Triple-A. Drury is only 25 himself and, with another two weeks or so in the minors, his free agency will be pushed back one year. He’s hitting .360/.470/.529 (187 wRC+) with the RailRiders, and while that’s great, I’d expect a dude with two-plus years as an everyday big leaguer to wreck Triple-A pitching. That’s what Drury is doing.

Ostensibly, Drury does not have as much trade value as Andujar because he’s a little older and doesn’t come with as much team control. He is very clearly a trade chip though. The Yankees can’t keep him in Triple-A much longer. I mean, they could, but at some point there are diminishing returns. I’m not sure Drury is learning much or developing new skills right now. We are fast approaching the point where the Yankees either have to trade him or call him up before he starts to stagnate.

Among the guys we know the Yankees are willing to deal, Clint Frazier is the best trade chip. He’s 23, he’s been destroying Triple-A, he’s had some MLB success, and he’s not far removed from being a top prospect. The Yankees have a full outfield. As much as I would love the Yankees to get Frazier into the lineup on an everyday basis next year, they would be crazy to make him untouchable at the deadline. They reportedly offered him to the Pirates in a potential Gerrit Cole deal and he’s playing center field in Triple-A in what amounts to showcase. He’s available.

Justus Sheffield is, by no small margin, the top pitching prospect in the farm system. He was said to be on the team’s list of untouchables over the winter, though pitchers break and have such a high attrition rate — Sheffield has some command issues himself — that it would be silly to make him off-limits. If the Yankees have a chance to add a quality young pitcher like, say, Blake Snell, of course you trade Sheffield. We’re all hoping Sheffield one day turns into Snell! So trade him for the real Snell. The Yankees won’t deal Sheffield for a rental. But a young guy with years of team control? All bets are off.

The Second Tier

A few months ago Estevan Florial would’ve been among the top chips. Right now he’s coming back from wrist surgery — a fairly common wrist surgery, but still wrist surgery — and his swing-and-miss issues still exist. Because of that, I think he’s more of a second tier trade chip right. I don’t think Florial can headline a package for an impact pitcher at the moment. I also don’t think the Yankees will move him while his stock is down, unless it’s a deal they can’t refuse.

Many of the second tier guys are MLB ready or near MLB ready depth pieces. Tyler Wade. Billy McKinney. Chance Adams. None of them can headline a package for an impact player right now, but a deal for a lesser player? Or as the second or third piece in a larger trade? For sure. Wade is a legitimate shortstop and middle infielder with speed and those guys are hard to find. McKinney has a sweet swing and some power. I’m sure some teams still buy Adams as a starter. Good depth players who the Yankees can’t fit on the roster. Of course they’re available.

Among their tippy top prospects, I get the sense the Yankees are more willing to deal Albert Abreu than anyone. He’s had some injuries — this year’s appendectomy is nothing, but last year he had elbow and lat problems — and while the stuff is excellent, the command is far from it. Between the injuries, the lack of command, and the distance to the big leagues (he’s in High-A), Abreu strikes me as a top 100 caliber prospect the Yankees would be very open to moving. He has a long way to go to be the pitcher he has the potential to be and the Yankees are in win-now mode.

The Impending Rule 5 Draft Guys

When you have a great farm system, you’re going to lose players in the Rule 5 Draft. There aren’t enough roster spots to go around and the system is designed to give blocked players an opportunity. The Yankees lost eight total players in the last two Rule 5 Drafts (four each year), six more than any other team. Seven of those eight players came back — Luis Torres is the only exception — but still. You don’t want to risk losing players for nothing.

As a result, the Yankees have been active trading fringe 40-man roster players in recent years. That way they get something in return rather than potentially nothing. Zack Littell went to the Twins in the Jaime Garcia trade, and Ian Clarkin and Tito Polo went to the White Sox in the big Todd Frazier trade. They were traded weeks before they had to be added to the 40-man roster for Rule 5 Draft protection purposes. Here are this offseason’s notable Rule 5 Draft eligibles:

Catchers: None
Infielders: Diego Castillo, Dermis Garcia, Kyle Holder, Hoy Jun Park
Outfielders: Florial (I think)
Pitchers: Abreu, Adams, Sheffield, Cody Carroll, Juan De Paula, Freicer Perez (I think), Josh Rogers, Dillon Tate

Two names immediately jump out as potential “trade them before you have to add them to the 40-man roster” candidates: Rogers and Tate. Rogers is the left-handed Littell to me. Great minor league performance to date, good pitchability, not blow-you-away stuff. I don’t think it’s crazy to worry his lack of grounders (39.9% in Triple-A) and lack of swings and misses (9.0%) won’t translate well to Yankee Stadium, even as a lefty.

As for Tate, he was the fourth overall pick in the draft three years ago and he’s been very good this season, throwing 66.2 innings with a 3.11 ERA (3.38 FIP) at Double-A. You’d like to see more strikeouts (22.9%) from a dude with his stuff, but the walk (5.9%) and ground ball (50.8%) numbers are good. I wonder if this is a situation where his trade value exceeds his real life value. There’s a decent chance Tate is a reliever long-term. A good one, but still a reliever. Another club might view him as a no-doubt starter and fall in love with the whole “former No. 4 pick” thing.

Regardless of what the Yankees do with Rogers and Tate — right now I’d bet on Tate being added to the 40-man roster and Rogers not, assuming they aren’t traded — there is going to be some roster shuffling in the coming weeks. A few of these Rule 5 Draft eligibles could be moved prior to the trade deadline or soon after the season. Aside from Sheffield, there’s no stud here that will net you an impact big league player. These guys are for depth moves or to fill out a larger package.

The Lower Level Guys

Moreso than ever before, teams are taking very low level minor leaguers in trades. And I don’t mean low level as in not highly regarded. I mean the low levels of the minors. One of the prospects in the Kelvin Herrera trade was a 17-year-old in rookie ball. The second piece in last year’s Justin Wilson/Alex Avila trade was an 18-year-old in Single-A. The Yankees traded 20-year-old Blake Rutherford last year.

Teams are trying to acquire these talented young players before they break out into top prospects — the Yankees themselves have done this with the Nick Rumbelow trade (18-year-old Juan Then) and the Jake Cave trade (20-year-old Luis Gil) — and the Yankees have some of these players to offer, I think. Then is one. So is Saul Torres, Alex Vargas, Roansy Contreras, and Pablo Olivares. Guys like that are involved in trades more than ever before.

Could Luis Medina, Everson Pereira, or Ezequiel Duran be trade chips? They’re all teenagers and they’re all on the cusp of becoming excellent prospects, but of course they’re trade chips. The Yankees are a bona fide World Series contender. They’d be nuts to let a teenager in rookie stand in the way of a win-now trade. I’m not saying they should give those guys away! But they have value and they’re in demand, and they’re so far away from the big leaguers that they can’t be untouchable.

* * *

Trading players off your big league roster is not usually something a contending team does, but it is definitely possible. Neil Walker could go in a deal to offset salary a la Tyler Clippard last year, for example. I’d be surprised if the Yankees traded a reliever. I’d be even more surprised if they traded Sonny Gray, even in a deal for another starter. To me, the master plan is add a starter and get Gray on track, not replace Gray.

Domingo German and Jonathan Loaisiga are on the big league roster right now — they’re not just on the roster, they’re making starts every fifth day — and they’re trade chips for sure. German has shown promising swing-and-miss ability and everyone loves Johnny Lasagna, but they both have scary injury histories, and if they can help the Yankees get a potential difference-maker, of course they’ll trade ’em.

All of that is the long way of saying the Yankees have trade chips in all shapes and sizes. Once upon a time they were dealing from a pool of, like, three desirable prospects. Now they have pitchers, position players, MLB ready guys, far away guys, you name it. The Yankees can meet pretty much any asking price. That doesn’t mean they will. If the Yankees lose a bidding war this year, it’ll be because they don’t want to give up the pieces, not because they don’t have the pieces.

DotF: Bird continues rehab assignment in Scranton’s win

May 24, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

Got a couple notes to get us started:

The Yankees optioned LHP Ryan Bollinger to Double-A Trenton following last night’s game, the team announced. That presumably paves the way for RHP Tommy Kahnle to return tomorrow. Marc Carig wrote a great story on Bollinger’s career and travels.
OF Billy McKinney has been activated off the disabled list and optioned to Triple-A Scranton, the Yankees announced. He’d been out with a shoulder injury since crashing into the wall during the opening series in Toronto. McKinney went 7-for-37 (.189) in eleven rehab games.
The Yankees have signed C Wilkin Castillo out of an independent league, the team announced. He’s been assigned to Triple-A Scranton. Castillo spent time in the system last year and is a utility guy who can play the four corner positions as well as catch.
I forgot to link this the other day, but here’s video of RHP Clarke Schmidt throwing a simulated game earlier this week. Schmidt faced hitters for the first time as part of his Tommy John surgery rehab Tuesday. He’s expected to join a short season league team in a few weeks.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (3-1 win over Pawtucket)

SS Tyler Wade: 2-5, 1 R, 1 2B — 5-for-20 (.250) during his little four-game hitting streak
CF Clint Frazier: 0-3, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 SB — 9.9 BB% and 31.0 K% this year after 11.6 BB% and 21.6 K% at this level last year … to be fair, he’s only played 16 games here this season, and most of them were essentially rehab games after the concussion
1B Greg Bird: 1-5, 1 RBI, 3 K — played the day game after a night game, so he must be getting real close to a return … the Yankees would’ve given him the day off otherwise … 6-for-22 (.273) in his last six rehab games
3B Brandon Drury: 1-4, 2 K
DH Adam Lind: 0-4, 2 K
LHP Josh Rogers: 6.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 7/2 GB/FB — 61 of 99 pitches were strikes (62%) … 2.80 ERA and 51/14 K/BB in 54.2 innings so far this year

[Read more…]

Game 38: Gray vs. A’s

May 11, 2018 by Mike Leave a Comment

Even with last night’s loss, the Yankees totally aced what was, on paper, their toughest stretch of the season. They went 18-3 in consecutive games against the Blue Jays, Twins, Angels, Astros, Indians, and Red Sox. Basically the six best non-Yankees teams in the American League. Going 12-9 or 13-8 during that stretch would’ve been cool. The Yankees went 18-3. Pretty great.

Of course, going 18-3 against those six teams does not mean the Yankees can rest on their laurels. The Athletics are in town for a three-game series this weekend and while they’ve lost three straight games and seven of their last eleven games, they are perfectly capable of making like miserable for the Yankees. The schedule does get easier now. The games won’t win themselves though.

Tonight, Sonny Gray gets to face his former team for the first time, and the same applies to Dustin Fowler. Those two were traded for each other last year. Fowler successfully rehabbed his knee injury, spent a few weeks in Triple-A to start the season, and was called up earlier this week. I hope he does well against every team except the Yankees. Hard not to root for Fowler after what he went through. Here are the starting lineups.

New York Yankees
1. LF Brett Gardner
2. RF Aaron Judge
3. SS Didi Gregorius
4. DH Giancarlo Stanton
5. CF Aaron Hicks
6. 1B Neil Walker
7. 3B Miguel Andujar
8. C Austin Romine
9. 2B Gleyber Torres

RHP Sonny Gray

Oakland Athletics
1. SS Marcus Semien
2. LF Matt Joyce
3. 2B Jed Lowrie
4. DH Khris Davis
5. 1B Matt Olson
6. 3B Matt Chapman
7. C Jonathan Lucroy
8. RF Mark Canha
9. CF Dustin Fowler

RHP Kendall Graveman

It is cool and cloudy in New York today, and there is rain in the forecast later tonight. Much later tonight, so it won’t be a problem for the game. Tomorrow’s game though? That’s another matter. Anyway, tonight’s game will begin at 7:05pm ET, and you can watch on YES locally and MLB Network nationally. Enjoy the game.

Injury Updates: Tommy Kahnle (shoulder, biceps) could rejoin the Yankees at the end of the upcoming road trip, according to Aaron Boone. That puts him about two weeks away … Brandon Drury (migraines) is progressing but is not yet where he needs to be. His 20-day rehab window ends Tuesday, so the Yankees will have to make a decision about activating him or pulling him off rehab pretty soon here … Greg Bird (ankle) and Billy McKinney (shoulder) will have their rehab assignments moved up to Double-A Trenton next week.