NFT: Yankees Day 1 of the Offseason Thread

In comment 11894326 Boo57 said:

Quote:

If the Yankees farm system had any decent prospects, Cashman would be trading them for veteran players, like he always did in the past.

Name me the last time cashman traded a prospect for a veteran.

In comment 11894326 Boo57 said:

Quote:

If the Yankees farm system had any decent prospects, Cashman would be trading them for veteran players, like he always did in the past.

Ignorant nonsense. Most of those decisions predated Cashman's control. He has been in charge since roughly 2005-2006. In that time the sole premium prospect traded for a veteran was Ajax for Granderson. Otherwise it has been lesser prospects for veterans (Montero for Pineda was youth for youth). In fact his refusal to trade premium prospects (Hughes in particular) has been criticized more than his willingness to do so.

Or Pete O'Brien for Prado.

Yes, Cashman does trade prospects for vets- that's what they are for. However, in recent years, he has done a better job of retaining their top guys.

Let's see if he can restrain himself from trading Judge, Severino, or the other top guys this winter.

DePaula was a wildcard struggling in High A and O'Brien was a power-only guy without a defensive position. Both had potential, sure, but neither was a premium prospect.

he will likely be fired. Also was tactfully harsh in regards to Mark Teixeira and said the Yanks are likely in the market for a shortstop and a starting pitcher.
Link - ( New Window )

all made the Sally League Top 20.

If you had to put money on it, would you bet that Severino lasts the off-season?

they're pretty gunshy at this point about moving their top prospects. Sanchez's value was reasonably high last offseason and JR Murphy looked like he could take over the position in short order and we still held onto both. We have been willing to move middling prospects or guys with standout tools (Corey Black's velocity, Peter O'Brien's power) but the guys who really rated among our best prospects have stayed put over the last several years.

Bobby Milone þ@monkeyboy1129 · 5m5 minutes ago
@RusselHenderso1 He’s not spectacular, and he doesn’t necessarily have an above-average pitch, but he throws a solid-average three-pitches

Bobby Milone þ@monkeyboy1129 · 5m5 minutes ago
@RusselHenderso1 He already shows a feel for keeping hitters off-balance by pitching backwards at times. - Clarkin

Bobby Milone þ@monkeyboy1129 · 3m3 minutes ago
@RusselHenderso1 Judge- “Guy is a hitter first. Guy who should hit for power like he projects to, the fact he has the hit tool bodes well.”

That's a big plus when added to his bat. He could be a rock-solid regular down the line, possibly with an All-Star ceiling if his power develops.

j þ@hir0kikur0da · 5m5 minutes ago
@monkeyboy1129 @RusselHenderso1 The review on Clarkin is probably the hardest I've seen. Saw good reviews from BP & Mike Newman.


j þ@hir0kikur0da · 4m4 minutes ago
@monkeyboy1129 @RusselHenderso1 Both saying he'll have a plus change-up, Newman saying as high as a future 70.

make a top 20 list? How also does he strikeout a batter per inning based on avg pitches? Conclusion BA is full of shit on Clarkin.

In comment 11895239 sinctybldh said:

Quote:

make a top 20 list? How also does he strikeout a batter per inning based on avg pitches? Conclusion BA is full of shit on Clarkin.

Advanced pitchability. Think Camarena, control isn't as good but with the addition couple MPH on his FB.

buying that all his pitches are solid avg. That wasn't what the Yankees saw when they decided to draft him.

In comment 11895268 sinctybldh said:

Quote:

buying that all his pitches are solid avg. That wasn't what the Yankees saw when they decided to draft him.

Agreed, but his hallmark even at that time was pitchability, exceptional maturity for his age. Stuff is better than he gets credit for, he was still adjusting to college and advanced hitters in the SAL, but where he really shines is the mental side of things.

Danny Hultzen pitched pain-free and well in the Mariners' instructional league in Arizona

In comment 11895290 Greg from LI said:

Quote:

Danny Hultzen pitched pain-free and well in the Mariners' instructional league in Arizona

Glad to hear that. I remember seeing him pitch a couple years ago at Davenport, the kid is the goods. He just has to stay healthy.

But decided to take it easy on his shoulder instead. He will be 100% for training camp.

if he costs 7 years/100 mill do you think Yankees should sign him?

In comment 11895494 sinctybldh said:

Quote:

if he costs 7 years/100 mill do you think Yankees should sign him?

It's not my money. He apparently has a $75 mil offer already. Unless his name is Spanish for Kei Igawa I'd be happy to see him signed.

They have to find bats and there aren't many appealing FA options

Not in love with Tomas' swing but he's got a lot of power.

Lohud Yankees Blog þ@LoHudYankees · 1m1 minute ago
Hit in the face by a pitch late last month, 3B Eric Jagielo will miss Arizona Fall League. Dante Bichette Jr. will take his spot. #yankees

Chris Cotillo þ@ChrisCotillo · 5m5 minutes ago
Source: Yasmany Tomas has not yet received any offers from clubs, despite some reports that he has.

and he won't learn it while Girardi is manager. He's basically O'Brien with a position to play, and who wants all those outs?

Did you see Gordon Blakely left for Atlanta? They asked for permission to talk to him so I don't know that this was tantamount to a firing, but it's another shakeup on the prospect side of things.

includes a lot of praise for Mateo, Severino and Torrens and some positive mention of Cale Coshow and Jonathan Holder.
Link - ( New Window )

Might as well get some power with them

plate discipline or not.

attitudes toward plate disc. Did McCann not suck enough for some you this year?

As for Blakely, I think he's been phased out over the years. So it doesn't surprise me that he's gone elsewhere.

you almost take the plunge and hope that you can coach some patience into him later. Especially with this lineup, if he shows a modicum of power he is going to see a lot of balls outside the zone anyway.

But they need some contact and power, as well. McCann's problems go way beyond plate discipline, and even beyond the goddamned shift (which needs to be eradicated from the face of the earth). He just doesn't make much hard contact anymore.

I'm not head over heels for Tomas, but there aren't a lot of appealing alternatives. They painted themselves into a corner by signing Ellsbury to that ridiculous deal. Beltran's close to cooked. Judge is a couple of years away.

just scares me. Moncada seems like the better bet was we have holes at SS and 2B and he could fill one.

Jesse (Oregon): I know they represented well on this list, but were there any other Yankees after Severino, Judge, and Clarkin in consideration for the top 20?
J.J. Cooper: Scouts liked Tyler Wade as a sleeper SS prospect and some were impressed with Miguel Andujar, but wondered about his defense at 3B. Andjuar’s arm would play in right field or even maybe on the mound, so he’s interesting in a number of ways. It was a very small look but Nick Rumbelow impressed before moving up and Brady Lail is a useful sinkerballer. The less said about Gosuke Katoh, the better.

But still got on base at a pretty good clip and was young for the SAL. Not a good year, but I think it's a bit early to bury him yet.

would be dumb. He was very young for the level, his Ks are a huge problem but his defense is fine, he is fast and he has a little bit of pop (and FWIW he still OPSed .671 as a 19 year old in Low A). Part of it is him being passive rather than merely patient, the Cito Culver problem. Take too many pitches and you start getting in pitchers' counts; it works at GCL, it doesn't work with pitchers who throw strikes. He made changes to his approach, the K's didn't disappear but his BA in June and July was respectable (though it tailed off again at the end of the year).

is the goods.

too.

and wondering how statistics skewed during the steroids era may not mean the same things anymore.

I'm admittedly ignorant- I've never read Bill James or even Moneyball for that matter, but I can't shake the idea that the walk/power combo that advanced metrics seem to support may have equated to wins most within the steroid bubble.

I don't mean to devalue OBP at all, I'm not even necessarily speaking to anything topical- I'd just love to get a take on this from you guys- my best opportunity for thoughtful baseball discussion anywhere.

Andujar didn't make the top 20. He did really well over the second half of the season.

In comment 11895813 Phil in LA said:

Quote:

is the goods.

Andujar is an excellent prospect and destroyed the SAL the last two months of the season, but his OPS was only .036 higher than Katoh's, without the speed game. It's a perception issue. Don't get me wrong, I like Andujar better than Katoh and I expressed reservations about Katoh last year when everyone else was all about him, but it is interesting to see how one season can be seen as an unmitigated disaster and the other as a resounding success when in different ways they both showed promise.

In comment 11895821 sinctybldh said:

Quote:

Andujar didn't make the top 20. He did really well over the second half of the season.

I think it was an omission, but the SAL Top 20 is extremely talented. Some of these leagues the bottom half of the Top 20 consists of guys who might be even money to be big leaguers, while this one has at least twelve guys who will be Top 100 prospects in baseball next year or the year after.

the Yanks have always won with walks, homers and extra DP's on defense. Look at the OBP's of guys like Ruth, Lou, Mickey, DiMag, Keller, Coombs, etc. Walks have always been the Yankee way.

trying to get back to even over the second half of his season.

Andujar is impressing, and of the 7/2 guys Juan De Leon and Hyu-Jun Park have been noticed. On the mound Domingo Acevedo has impressed (he is already stateside), as has 17-year old Alexander Vargas. Anyelo Gomez is a deep sleeper (will be 22 on Opening Day) but he has drawn some pretty rave reviews.

I think it is a good bet that The Yankees will be getting their first round pick when they sign Robertson to a huge contract. That is just a prediction from me.

In comment 11897402 sinctybldh said:

Quote:

I think it is a good bet that The Yankees will be getting their first round pick when they sign Robertson to a huge contract. That is just a prediction from me.

Considering Detroit's pen, I woild not let him go. It proves you cannot have enough pitching in the bullpen. Starters seem to only go 7 innings if that. Without a bullpen your not going to win many games.

Of all the foolish conclusions of the Jamesian philosophy, the exaltation of the walk is #1.

Let's look at the top 10 teams in terms of walks this season in MLB: Oakland, Minnesota, Boston, Tampa, Pittsburgh, Dodgers, Nationals, Mets, Cleveland, Toronto and Miami. Only 4 of those teams made the playoffs and two of them were knocked out in their first playoff game.

If you want a correlation between runs scored and anything, it's batting average. 7 of the top 10 run scoring teams were also in the top 10 in BA. Minnesota and Washington were each in the top 10 and they were just out of the top 10 in BA at 11 and 12. Oakland was the aberration finishing in the top 10 in runs but 21st in BA. They were #1 in walks in #29 in strikeouts.

So, it is possible to improve offensive performance over the season by walking if you devote your team to it and single-mindedly acquire the players to carry out the philosophy, but the traditional route of hitting the ball is a more likely route.

The Yankees didn't score any runs because they had too many holes in terms of BA in the lineup and not because their plate discipline was bad.

Point continues to elude Homer. How many years running now?

.