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Yankeemetrics: Paxton, Gardner punish Red Sox (April 16-17)

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(NJ.com)

April 16: Paxton earns his pinstripes
For the first time in more than a quarter-century, a Red Sox-Yankees series opened with both teams’ fanbases seemingly in near-panic mode. With the Red Sox at 6-11 and the Yankees at 6-9 in the standings on Tuesday morning, this was the first time since the final weekend of the 1992 season that the two rivals matched up with both teams at least three games under .500. To put that into perspective, Derek Jeter was three months removed from being drafted and had just completed his first pro season with the Gulf Coast Yankees and Greensboro Hornets.

Behind a brilliant ace-like performance from James Paxton and a dinger-happy explosion from the lineup, the Yankees routed the Red Sox in the first game, 8-0. It was their second shutout of the season — last year the Yankees didn’t get their first shutout of the season until May 1.

The offensive star was Mike Tauchman, who had a career night with a double, homer and four RBI. Entering the game, he had zero homers and two RBI over 87 plate appearances in his first 61 big-league games. Congrats, Mr. T (ok, bad nickname), you earned our Obscure Yankeemetric of the Series: Tauchman is one of just three left-fielders to drive in at least four runs against the Red Sox in the last 20 seasons. The other guys? Hideki Matsui (July 25, 2004) and Alfonso Soriano (August 16, 2013). And, of course, we have this Fun Fact:

Paxton was the difference-maker, though, aggressively attacking the Red Sox with his electric four-seamer and sharp cutter. He tossed eight scoreless innings with just two hits allowed and 12 strikeouts. How good was his gem?

  • First pitcher in Yankees history to strike out at least a dozen batters and allow no more than two hits against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium (old or new).
  • Third Yankee pitcher in the Divisional Era (since 1969) with 12-or-more strikeouts and no runs allowed against the Red Sox, joining Mike Mussina on Sept. 2, 2001 (the Carl Everett game!) and Andy Pettitte on Sept. 16, 1997.
  • Fourth Yankee left-hander ever to allow no runs and two or fewer hits while striking out at least 12 guys in a game. The others were David Wells (vs A’s in 2001), John Candelaria (vs White and A’s in 1988) and Al Downing (vs Orioles in 1967 and White Sox in 1963).
(Newsday)

April 17: Gardy Party in Bronx
Yankees capped off their first series win at Yankee Stadium and a fun mini-sweep of their rivals with a thrilling comeback win, 5-3. The victory was made even sweeter as it pushed the Red Sox further into the American League basement. The only teams with a worse record than the Red Sox (6-13) this season are the Marlins (4-15) and Reds (5-12).

J.A. Happ put the Yankees in an early 3-0 hole, coughing up two homers in the first two innings. He settled down after that rough start, though, allowing just three hits and no runs over the next four-plus innings. For the first time this season, he gave the Yankees length and pitched into the seventh after not completing the fifth inning in any of his first three outings.

Brett Gardner — who entered Wednesday hitless in 11 at-bats with runners in scoring position this season — rescued the Yankees from a bitter loss when he drilled a fastball for a grand slam in the seventh inning, flipping a 3-1 deficit into a 5-3 advantage. The pitch was a gourmet cheese-stuffed meatball served on a silver platter to Gardy:

He’s now is this select group of Yankees that have terrorized the Red Sox with late-game-changing slammer:

His fourth career grand slam was also his 100th career home run, but it was no ordinary homer. It came on an 0-2 pitch, just the third time in his career he’s gone deep down 0-2 (also in 2011 and 2009). Only six other Yankees have mashed a grand slam in an 0-2 count (pitch data available since 1988): Russell Martin (2012), John Flaherty (2004), Enrique Wilson (2002), Glenallen Hill (2000), Bernie Williams (2000) and Tino Martinez (1999). If you could have guessed the names on that list, you deserve an honorary plaque in Monument Park.

But perhaps most impressive for Gardner is this note: he is the second player in franchise history to compile at least 100 dingers and 250 steals in their pinstriped careers. You might have heard of the other guy — Mr. Derek Jeter.

4/16 to 4/17 Series Preview: Boston Red Sox

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Always Betts on Mookie. (Getty Images) 

Which is a worse sign: Playing poorly with your same team as last year or playing poorly with a similar team that is riddled with injuries? Welcome to Yankees-Red Sox 2019.

Their Story Thus Far

After winning 108 games and the World Series a year ago, the Red Sox slump into Yankee Stadium with a 6-11 record. They have the worst run differential in the AL at -32 runs and have given up 6.24 runs per game. Their bullpen has actually been middle of the pack while their starting pitching has let them down with a 7.17 ERA, the worst in baseball. Only David Price (3.79) has an ERA under 7.98 within their regular rotation.

Meanwhile, Boston’s lineup has been disappointing. J.D. Martinez is, more ore less, duplicating his results of a year ago while Xander Bogaerts and Mitch Moreland are both off to hot starts. However, Mookie Betts hasn’t been his All-Star/MVP self (more on that below) while Jackie Bradley Jr. hasn’t hit a lick. In total, the offense that set the world on fire in 2018 in 23rd in the league with an 83 wRC+.

Player Spotlight: Mookie Betts

Through 17 games, Betts hasn’t quite hit like himself. For Boston, that’s OK; it’s only mid-April. The question, however, is whether Betts will return to his 2016/2018 MVP-esque level or will be the 2015/2017 All-Star deserving version of himself.

The 26-year-old outfielder has six extra-base hits and has a .222 average a year after winning the batting title. Part of that is simply BABIP luck: He has a .229 BABIP after a .368 mark a year ago.

Yet, there are some underlying questions. His walk rate is right in between his 2017 and ’18 marks, though it’s still impressive at 12.2 percent. His strikeouts, meanwhile, have continued to rise as a mildly alarming trend. His average exit velocity is down from 92.2 in 2018 to 90.0 mph this season.

Perhaps Betts is just a hot week from re-establishing himself. With plenty of struggling players surrounding him, Boston could use the boost. Five of his eight hits have gone for extra bases in 36 ABs against Wednesday starter J.A. Happ.

Injury Report

Andrew Benintendi (foot contusion) and Jackie Bradley Jr. (flu) were both held out of the Patriots’ Day game and are day-to-day. Brock Holt (scratched cornea) should begin a rehab assignment this week while reliever Brian Johnson is on the 10-day IL with elbow inflammation.

Potential Lineup

  1. Andrew Benintendi, LF (.293/.364/.448, 117 wRC+)
  2. Mookie Betts, RF (.222/.324/.413, 94 wRC+)
  3. Steve Pearce, 1B (.125/.176/.125, -23 wRC+)
  4. J.D. Martinez, DH (.344/.417/.563, 159 wRC+)
  5. Xander Bogaerts, SS (.304/.403/.500, 143 wRC+)
  6. Rafael Devers, 3B (.254/.343/.305, 81 wRC+)
  7. Dustin Pedroia, 2B (.105/.150/.105, -39 wRC+)
  8. Jackie Bradley Jr., CF (.149/.196/.170, -7 wRC+)
  9. Christian Vazquez, C (.195/.233/.415, 58 wRC+)

Though the Yankees are starting two lefties, I doubt Pearce starts over Moreland (151 wRC+) in both games. Bradley’s illness could open the door for Pearce or Martinez to play the outfield and Moreland to man first.

Oh my god! We’re having a fire … Sale. (Getty Images) (They can’t fire me for puns, right?)

Pitching Matchups

Tuesday (6:35 PM ET) James Paxton (vs. Red Sox) vs. Chris Sale (vs. Yankees)

Sale’s dreadful beginning to 2019 has been one of the biggest stories not just for the Red Sox, but for baseball. The lanky lefty received a $145 million extension this offseason and the Red Sox treated him carefully this spring, cutting down on his workload after he ended 2018 later than ever (the Fall Classic will do that) and with shoulder issues.

Boston lined him up to start in this series. The Sox did the same thing a year ago and it was intimidating. Now, with Sale owning a 9.00 ERA, a 7.31 FIP and an alarming drop in swinging strikes, it could be an opportunity for the Bombers.

His velocity on his four-seamer is down 3.4 mph from 2018 to just 91.3 mph in three starts. Now, his velo was down to start 2018, but not nearly this much and hitters have made him pay. He got his first swinging strike on a fastball in his third start and has a 6.5 percent K-BB rate after posting a 31.9 percent mark from 2017-18 to lead baseball by a healthy margin.

It isn’t just the velocity; His command has also been suspect. Rachael McDaniel detailed it well for Fangraphs, but he hasn’t had good location on his slider, leaving it up in the zone. Can he regain his fastball, slider and his season? The Yankees, or what’s left of them, will be a tough test.

Sale (Baseball Savant)

Wednesday (6:35 PM ET) J.A. Happ (vs. Red Sox) vs. Nathan Eovaldi (vs. Yankees)

Just like Sale, Eovaldi had the Yankees’ number a year ago and beat them in the postseason. I don’t need to remind you about ALDS Game 3, right? Good.

Well, Eovaldi has arguably been worse than Sale this season. He’s allowed six home runs in 15 innings, going just five innings in each of his three starts. He has 10 strikeouts and 10 walks, an 8.40 ERA and a 9.22 FIP.

The velocity on his four-seamer and cutter (high and low 90s, respectively) are about the same as last season with his splitter and slider down a couple of mph and curveball up half a mph. Still, batters have beat up on his signature cutter, owning a .941 slugging percentage against his second-most-used pitch.

Again, he was especially good against the Yanks last season, so the matchup favors him, but Eovaldi has had a rough 2019 thus far.

Eovaldi (Baseball Savant)

Bullpen Status

As you likely know, Alex Cora doesn’t have an established closer, instead mining for matchups without Craig Kimbrel under contract. Here’s my best guess as to how the bullpen hierarchy works:

Highest leverage: Ryan Brasier and Matt Barnes

Medium to high leverage: Brandon Workman, Heath Hembree and Tyler Thornburg, in descending order of average leverage index this season

Medium to low leverage: Colten Brewer and Erasmo Ramirez.

Long man/spot starter: Hector Velazquez

Velazquez started and went three innings in Patriots’ Day game Monday, so he’s likely unavailable for series. Brewer and Ramirez, the latter just called up, are newer names and have had mixed results for Boston thus far. (Ramirez has previously served as a starter and can provided length out of the bullpen.) Brasier and Barnes, meanwhile, have been strong, as has Brandon Workman who has yet to give up a run.

Brewer, Workman, Hembree and Thornburg each threw one inning Monday and should be available to relieve Sale on Tuesday if the need arises.

Keys to watch

Sale’s slider

Watching on TV, Sale’s velocity will be a constant topic of conversation. I’d guess it’ll still be hovering in the low 90s. But the focus, at least to me, should be on his slider command. If he can get his back-foot slider going to righties, the left-hander can still be effective at lower velocity. If he can’t locate it, the Yankees should tee off.

Calling on quality

Can the Yankees get a quality start? They’ve gotten three this season and neither Happ nor Paxton have completed six innings.

Quality starts as a stat are clunky, but the lack of QSs underline an issue for New York: They’re getting very little length out of their starters, 4.84 innings per start, to be exact. With Dellin Betances out and Chad Green struggling to perform, the team can’t afford to overload its bullpen, no matter its preseason hype. Six innings from either Paxton or Happ would be an upgrade.

Frustrated with the Yankees’ offseason? Just look at the competition

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Have the Yankees closed the gap with these two? (Tim Bradbury/Getty Images)

Are you tired of discussing the Yankees’ offseason?

Why did they sign DJ LeMahieu over Manny Machado? Are they really going to pass on Bryce Harper? The arguments have been exhausting, even with the clear merit to the discussion.

While the Yankees have passed on the generation talents, they’ve filled the obvious holes in their roster going into the offseason. They needed three starters, two relievers and a stopgap at shortstop. With James Paxton, Adam Ottavino, Troy Tulowitzki and the re-signings of CC Sabathia, J.A. Happ and Zach Britton, they’ve done just that. Add in LeMahieu as insurance for the entire infield, and the Yankees have addressed their immediate issues while going over the luxury tax.

Is that enough? We’re not going to know for a while. There’s plenty of injury and performance risk in their winter acquisitions and I’d be lying if I said that Harper or Machado wouldn’t alleviate much of those concerns.

When you look at the Yankees’ competitors, their offseason improves immensely. The Bombers don’t deserve a gold medal for doing the perceived minimum to upgrade its roster, but the other American League contenders certainly deserve demerits.

The Red Sox won last offseason with the signing of J.D. Martinez and that led directly to a World Series title in the fall. You can try and rest on your laurels after a season like that. The Red Sox have done just that.

Boston re-signed Nate Eovaldi and Steve Pearce and … I’m at a loss here. Maintaining a good roster is one step to an offseason, but the Red Sox have allowed their bullpen to atrophy, seeing Joe Kelly leave (less of a concern) and Craig Kimbrel sit on the market, leaving a giant question mark at the back-end of the bullpen. With a handful of low-risk relief signings (Brian Ellington, Jenrry Mejia, Dan Runzler, Colten Brewer and Zach Putnam), they’re bound to hit on someone, but that doesn’t replace the Kimbrel-sized hole in their bullpen.

With about $240 million in committed salary, Boston sits right near the third tier of the luxury tax and appears ready to forego further improvements to stay under. Unlike the 2018 Astros, which added Gerrit Cole to a World Series champion, they’ve taken a clear step sideways.

The 2019 Astros also look to have taken a step sideways. Their big offseason move was to add Michael Brantley, which was undeniably smart. He shores up left field, a revolving door for Houston at times, and gives them a lefty bat with plenty of contact at the top of their lineup. Combine that with some more health on their infield and the Astros’ offense should take a step forward.

However, they’ve also seen Charlie Morton leave while Dallas Keuchel and Marwin Gonzalez are likely following him out the door late in this offseason. Add in Lance McCullers’s Tommy John surgery and they’re experiencing significant turnover in their rotation. Wade Miley is … fine. But four of Houston’s five starters will be free agents after the season and the fifth starter has all of 27 2/3 MLB innings under his belt, including the postseason.

Houston’s young talent in the pipeline gives them a wild card for this upcoming season. Top pitching prospect Forrest Whitley should be ready for a call-up by midseason and could supplement the rotation. With a bullpen that may need a deadline upgrade, they have the MiLB players to pick that up via trade.

Beyond those two teams, it’s not like there’s a clear elite contender to rise up. The Indians have done nothing but hemorrhage talent from their roster, seeing multiple relievers, Brantley and Edwin Encarnacion leave with Carlos Santana and Jake Bauers as the only additions thus far.

The Athletics remain injury-riddled in the rotation with their bullpen losing their veteran reinforcements from the 2018 deadline. The Angels didn’t address their rotation or lineup holes in any significant way. The Twins … meh.

Tampa Bay represents the only other competitor to improve by bringing in Morton, though it remains to be seen if they can recreate the opener’s success in 2019. The Rays also boast a top-five farm system to tap into for MLB talent or trades if they compete yet again.

All of this is to say Yankees have had a strong offseason by comparison with other teams standing pat or letting holes open up. Did they bridge eight wins with the Red Sox and close the talent gap with the Astros? That’s up for interpretation, but they seem neck-and-neck at worst. Fangraphs projections have the Yankees at 96 wins, ahead of Houston and just one game behind Boston. Furthermore, Paxton has been the best outside acquisition of any AL contender and Ottavino likely sits in third behind Brantley.

No one signing would guarantee a division title or a World Series title. Still, the Yankees have spent much less than they can and there are perfect complements to the team’s core available in free agency. However, the Yankees aren’t the only team failing to jump at the opportunity and while that could change at the drop of a hat, the American League’s collective inactivity gives the Yankees a leg up in early February.

Tuesday Notes: Sabathia, Luxury Tax, Severino, London Series

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(Getty)

The 2018 Winter Meetings are over and, historically, this last week before the Christmas and New Years holidays is a busy hot stove week. Teams and players like to get things settled before the calendar flips to next year. There should be some signings this week. Will the Yankees make any? We’ll see. Anyway, here are some miscellaneous notes to check out.

Yankees paid Sabathia innings bonus

Remember when CC Sabathia forfeited that $500,000 bonus because he threw at Jesus Sucre in his last regular season start? Of course you do. That was the “that’s for you, bitch” incident. Turns out Sabathia didn’t forfeit the bonus at all. According to Ronald Blum, the Yankees paid Sabathia the $500,000 bonus anyway even though he fell two innings short of triggering the bonus. Pretty cool.

“We thought it was a very nice gesture by the Yankees. CC was very appreciative and is really excited to come back next year and hopefully win a championship,” said Sabathia’s agent to Blum. Considering the score (Yankees led 11-0) and the way he was pitching (five one-hit innings), it seemed very likely Sabathia would throw those last two innings he needed to trigger the bonus. I have to say, I didn’t think the Yankees would pay the bonus. Paying out a bonus the player didn’t reach doesn’t seem like a precedent they’d want to set. Glad to see they paid Sabathia. Dude’s been worth every penny.

Yankees get $23,877.11 in luxury tax money

According to Blum, the Red Sox and Nationals were the only clubs to exceed the $197 million luxury tax threshold in 2018. Boston owes $11,951,091 in luxury tax and the Nationals owe $2,386,097. Because the Red Sox exceeded the threshold by more than $40M, they were hit with the maximum possible penalties, meaning two surtaxes plus having their first round pick moved back ten spots. I doubt they mind it after winning the World Series. The $14,337,188 owed by the Red Sox and Nationals is the smallest luxury tax bill since teams owed $11,798,357 in 2003.

The Yankees finished the season with a $192.98M luxury tax payroll. Add in the Sabathia bonus and my calculations had them at $192.99M. I am pretty darn proud to be that close. Go me. Anyway, the Yankees had paid luxury tax every year since the system was put in place in 2003 before getting under this year. Their total luxury tax bill from 2003-17 was north of $340M. According to the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the first $13M of that $14,337,188 is used to pay for player benefits. Half the remainder goes to retirement accounts and the other half is distributed to the non-luxury tax paying teams. So congrats to the Yankees for getting $23,877.11 in luxury tax money this year. Hang a banner.

White Sox wanted Severino for Sale

Here’s a fun retroactive rumor. Brian Cashman recently told Ken Davidoff the White Sox wanted Luis Severino and another unnamed young core Yankee in exchange for Chris Sale during the 2016-17 offseason. I imagine that other player was either Gary Sanchez or Aaron Judge. “Thank God I didn’t do that, actually, because you’d be missing some serious components of our Major League club right now that are under control. We wouldn’t have gotten anywhere if I did anything like that with the White Sox back then,” said Cashman.

In the two years since trade talks, Sale has Severino beat in bWAR (+12.9 to +10.1) and fWAR (+14.2 to +11.5) but not by an enormous amount, and besides, who knows how each would’ve performed had the trade gone down. Their entire career paths would’ve changed in different organizations. Add in the second piece and gosh, I am a-okay with passing on Sale at that price. He’s a great pitcher. No doubt. The Yankees needed more than an ace pitcher at the time though. They needed as much young talent as possible and now they have a ton of it.

Start times for London Games announced

Olympic Stadium. (Getty)

A few days ago MLB announced the start times for the London Series games next June. The Yankees and Red Sox are playing a quick two-game set at London Stadium next year as MLB looks to grow the game globally and make money (not necessarily in that order). The Yankees will be the road team for those two games. Here are the start times:

  • Saturday, June 29th: 1:10pm ET (6pm in London) on FOX
  • Sunday, June 30th: 10:10am ET (3pm in London) on ESPN

Morning baseball on a Sunday? Pretty cool. The Yankees have back-to-back off-days prior to the London Series — it’s my understanding MLB has some promotional events scheduled for Friday, so I’m sure Yankees and Red Sox players will be involved — and one off-day following the London Series. They have a ten-game homestand, then they go to London for two games, then they come right back to New York for a road series against the Mets.

ESPN Sunday Night Baseball Games moved up

It is a baseball miracle. Last week at the Winter Meetings it was announced ESPN Sunday Night Baseball games will be moved up one hour from 8pm ET to 7pm ET next season. Thank goodness for that. Now all those Sunday night Yankees-Red Sox games might actually end before midnight on the East Coast. The Yankees play a ton of Sunday night games each year and this means we’ll all get to bed at a more reasonable hour those nights.

The change was made because players hate those 8pm ET start times too. At least one team has to travel after the late Sunday game and get into their next city super early the next morning. Now they’ll have that extra hour. ESPN has released a partial 2019 Sunday Night Baseball schedule and already there are three Yankees-Red Sox games on the schedule (June 2nd, July 28th, August 4th). I’m sure the Yankees will play several other Sunday night games as well. They are unavoidable.

Yankee Stadium food safety rates poorly

According to an ESPN investigation, Yankee Stadium ranked dead last among the 30 MLB stadiums in food safety violations from 2016-17. That is a bad thing. Forty-three Yankee Stadium food service outlets were inspected and 34 contained high-level violations, including food that was “adulterated, contaminated, cross-contaminated, or not discarded” properly. Pretty gross! The Yankees and Dan Smith, president of Yankee Stadium food service provider Legends Hospitality, fired back at the report in a statement:

“We treat food safety with the utmost care. We disagree with the ESPN report, whose methodology is unexplainable. We work closely on regular inspections with the New York City Department of Health, whose rigorous participation is welcomed. We also complete our own independent assessments with various consultants and auditors, including food safety companies. If any violation is pointed out, it is addressed and corrected immediately. As a result, in 2018, all of our food stands received an A-level grade, which is the highest level in New York City.”

I suppose I should note the violation level at Yankee Stadium (0.67 high-level violations per inspection) is far lower than the violation level in the surrounding South Bronx area (1.47) so … yay? If at all possible, don’t eat at Yankee Stadium, and I would’ve said that even before seeing this report. The food is expensive and compared to other ballparks around the league, the concessions are seriously lacking. Seriously, how do the Yankees with their new ballpark have such crummy concessions? Folks, eat before or after the game if you can.

Yankees make one selection, get raided in 2018 Rule 5 Draft

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Green. (@MiLB)

The 2018 Winter Meetings came to an unofficial close earlier today with the annual Rule 5 Draft. It is baseball’s way of ensuring players aren’t trapped in the minors indefinitely. The Yankees have a fairly deep farm system and it is no surprise then that they lost several players in this year’s Rule 5 Draft, mostly in the minor league phase.

Here are the full Rule 5 Draft results. Here are the players the Yankees lost:

  • Diamondbacks: RHP Nick Green (in MLB phase)
  • Athletics: OF Mark Payton (in minor league phase)
  • Cubs: RHP Alex Vargas (in minor league phase)
  • Phillies: RHP Gilmael Troya (in minor league phase)
  • Red Sox: RHP Anyelo Gomez (in minor league phase)
  • Royals: C Chris Rabago (in minor league phase)

As a reminder, players taken in the Major League phase of the Rule 5 Draft have to stick on their new team’s 25-man big league roster all next season, or be placed on waivers and offered back to their original team. Players taken in the minor league phase are just gone. There are no roster rules. Those teams get to keep those players.

Green, 23, came over from the Rangers in the Carlos Beltran trade and he is a personal favorite only because he has a funky cutter/sinker hybrid that helped him post to a 66.4% ground ball rate this season, highest in the minors (min. 130 innings). Green threw 132.2 innings with a 3.32 ERA (4.28 FIP) with 17.7% strikeouts and 11.1% walks this season, with most of that coming with High-A Tampa.

The D’Backs are rebuilding, the Paul Goldschmidt trade confirmed that, so I imagine Green will get a long look in Spring Training and have a chance to stick in their bullpen. Jumping from High-A to the big leagues is not easy, especially with a walk rate like that, but Green’s funky cut-sinker is a dominant ground ball pitch and he could have staying power as a reliever who pounds away with that one pitch.

Among the minor league phase losses, Payton is the most notable because he’s been in the system the longest. The 27-year-old spent most of the last three seasons in Triple-A and hit .259/.368/.401 (120 wRC+) with six homers in 62 games in 2018. A guy like Payton had little hope of cracking New York’s outfield in the near future. He has a much greater chance to reach the big leagues with the Athletics.

Going into the 2018 season I ranked Vargas as the No. 30 prospect in the farm system but clearly I overrated him. The Yankees never used him like a prospect this year. The 21-year-old bounced between the rotation and bullpen, from level to level. They sent him wherever an arm was needed, basically. Vargas threw 83 innings with a 4.01 ERA (4.07 FIP) with 14.3% strikeout and 4.6% walks this season, mostly with Low-A Charleston.

Gomez, 25, was selected and returned by the Braves as a Major League Rule 5 Draft pick last offseason. He threw only 7.1 innings with Triple-A Scranton this season before going down with a significant shoulder injury. The 21-year-old Troya showed some promise a few years ago but hasn’t taken that step forward. He’s yet to pitch above rookie ball. Rabago, 25, was a waiver claim from the Rockies late this year. He played only seven games in the organization, all with Double-A Trenton.

The Yankees did add two players in minor league phase of the Rule 5 Draft, first grabbing righty Adonis De La Cruz from the Mariners. The soon-to-be 24-year-old is a converted outfielder who threw 57.1 relief innings with a 4.71 ERA (2.80 FIP) with 30.2% strikeouts and 7.7% walks in Low Class-A. The Yankees have had some recent success with minor league Rule 5 Draft picks, most notably turning Yefry Ramirez into a tradeable asset, so maybe they can do it again with De La Cruz.

According to Emily Waldon, the Yankees acquired outfielder Tyler Hill from the Tigers after the Rule 5 Draft. Detroit took him from the Red Sox in the minor league phase. Huh. Every year one or two players selected in the Major League phase get traded right after the Rule 5 Draft. I can’t remember the last time a minor league phase guy was flipped. Anyway, the 22-year-old Hill authored a .254/.348/.312 (95 wRC+) batting line with one homer and 27 steals in 124 High-A games in 2018. Sox Prospects calls him a “a bat-first, organizational player,” so there you go. The Yankees likely sent the Tigers cash or a similar organizational player in the trade.

So, all told, the Yankees did lose an interesting prospect in Green and some upper level inventory in Payton, Gomez, and Rabago in this year’s Rule 5 Draft. Green could still be returned. The other three plus Vargas and Troya are gone for good. I can’t find a scouting report on De La Cruz but a recently converted position player with a 30.2% strikeout is interesting enough. Hill’s an organizational guy who will help fill out rosters. Nothing exciting, but the Rule 5 Draft rarely is.

Another starter off the board: Eovaldi returns to Red Sox

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(Omar Rawlings/Getty)

Another free agent starting pitching option has come off the board. According to multiple reports former Yankee Nathan Eovaldi has agreed to a new deal to return to the Red Sox. It’s said to be a four-year contract worth approximately $17M per season. We haven’t even reached the Winter Meetings yet and already Eovaldi and Patrick Corbin have signed.

The Yankees were never seriously connected to Eovaldi this offseason. A few weeks ago it was reported they were not among his early suitors, then, earlier this week, the Yankees were said to have “engaged” Eovaldi, presumably after they learned they were out on Corbin. Eovaldi was linked to the Red Sox more than any other team this offseason. The Astros were also said to be in the mix.

Personally, passing on Eovaldi was an easy decision for me. I like the guy and I’m glad he got paid after all he’s dealt with in his career. But a two-time Tommy John surgery guy who lives and dies with max effort velocity is risky as hell. More risk than I’m willing to assume at that price. Also, the “this enigmatic pitcher has figured it out!” profile is fool’s gold more often than not.

With Corbin and Eovaldi off the board, the three best free agent starters still on the market are J.A. Happ, Dallas Keuchel, and Charlie Morton. The Yankees have been connected to Happ all offseason. Keuchel and Morton, not so much. The Yankees still have an open rotation spot even after re-signing CC Sabathia and trading for James Paxton. How they plan to fill it is anyone’s guess.

Boston Red Sox win 2018 World Series

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(Presswire)

For the fourth time in the last 15 years, the Boston Red Sox are World Series champions. They clinched the title with a Game Five win over the Dodgers earlier tonight. It’s the second straight year the team that knocked the Yankees out of the postseason went on to win the World Series. If you’re interested, here are the Game Five box score, video highlights, and WPA graph. Every single run in the ALCS, NLCS, and World Series clinchers came on a home run. They win championships, folks.

The Red Sox won 108 games during the regular season and were never really challenged in October. They went 11-3 with a +35 run differential in the postseason while playing arguably the three best non-Red Sox teams in baseball in the Yankees, Astros, and Dodgers. One of the best teams ever, truly. I find it very fitting that, en route to a title, the big market team that maxed out its payroll beat the two big market teams that trimmed $50M off their payroll so they could get under the luxury tax threshold.

Steve Pearce was named World Series MVP but it should’ve been David Price, who threw seven innings of one-run ball (on short rest!) in Game Five. If Price going from capital-P Postseason Choker to should-be World Series MVP in the span of two weeks — two weeks! — doesn’t make people realize past postseason performance is descriptive rather than predictive, nothing will. Price allowed three runs in 19.2 innings in his final three postseason starts (and one relief appearance) this October.

Because the Red Sox winning the World Series the year the Yankees were expected to emerge as MLB’s dominant team isn’t bad enough, Boston did it with a bunch of ex-Yankees. Eduardo Nunez and Pearce had big hits and Nathan Eovaldi was unbelievable in October. The only other 2018 Red Sox with ties to the Yankees is non-postseason roster infielder Tony Renda. The Yankees got him in a minor trade with the Nationals, then flipped him to the Reds in the Aroldis Chapman deal.

As for the Dodgers, they have now lost back-to-back World Series and this is the second straight Fall Classic to end at Dodger Stadium. It’s the first time the World Series has ended at the same park in back-to-back years since Yankee Stadium in 1976-77. Rich Hill, who appeared in 14 games in pinstripes in 2014, is the only player on the Dodgers postseason roster with ties to the Yankees. (Former Yankees prospects John Axford and Pat Venditte spend time with Los Angeles during the regular season.)

Now that the World Series is over, the offseason can begin. The Yankees have more heavy lifting to do this winter than they’d probably like, especially on the pitching side. We’ll see what happens. All I know is I’m tired of seeing the Yankees settle for the Wild Card Game and I’m completely sick of hearing about the luxury tax. Hopefully the Yankees go back to being the Yankees this winter.