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NFT: Yankees Post Mortem - Where does it lead?

section125 : 10/7/2015 8:08 am
There a slew of sharp Yankees fans here with great insight into the minors who I hope will fill in some blanks.

Right now it hurts, but we were kidding ourselves if we thought they would win last night with that anemic offense that played through September.

Beyond the obvious that Drew and Ryan must not be in pinstripes next April, where do they go? I think Headley must be replaced. His bat died and he became a liability at third - every throw was an adventure. Beltran must go. He's simple incompetent in RF and his bat is not good enough to overcome that hole. It comes down to DHing vs Arod. Beltran may be the better choice because he switch hits, but they really need McCann to do some DHing next year, so they cannot afford to carry two part time DHs.

Pitching?
Tanaka, Pineda, Eovaldi and Severino are a lock. Nova is an enigma. Warren, they need to make up their minds SP or RP.
I'd cut loose CC.
Maybe get Mitchell going, he showed some decent talent.

If Nova was more consistent, I think they would be in very good shape with what they have already on the roster at SP.

Miller, Betances, Wilson are a lock. Did Shreve burn out or did the league figure him out? I think it was burnout.
Good Arms in AAA Lindgren, Pazos, Goody, Rumbelow, Pinder and even Bailey.
I think the pen will be a strength with what is already on the roster.
Miller and Betances just need to have the load reduced by about 10%. Miller with the sore arm midseason looked sharp up til the end and Betances fought through it despite too much use.

Catching is in excellent shape. Murphy is much better than I thought and I have no clue about Sanchez.

So have at it. What FA are there young enough to be around 5 to 8 years? Do they need to package Gardner to get a power bat in the corner outfield (hope not as I'm a big Gardner fan)?
What 3rd baseman are around, starting quality, to replace Headley? I don't see any at SWB or Trenton.

IMHO, the problem is offense, not pitching or defense.
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More than he used to  
arniefez : 10/7/2015 5:28 pm : link
but not total control. Although one of the best parts of this season was that Randy Levine wasn't seen or heard from much if at all.
RE: BrianLeonard23  
BrianLeonard23 : 10/7/2015 5:56 pm : link
In comment 12532781 arniefez said:
Quote:
How is Ellsbury going to "gone"? He has a no trade contract with 110 million to be paid over the next 5 years. Who would trade for that contract? Even if someone would he could void the trade. Ellsbury won't be "gone" for 5 more years. As far as the too many home runs idiocy. NO ONE HAS EVER SAID THE YANKEES HIT TOO MANY HOME RUNS. What anyone who understands baseball has correctly said is home runs are the only way they score and home runs come in streaks. It's a bad way to build a baseball team and a big part of the reason they haven't won a playoff game in about 3 years.


Chill brah.

Where did I say anything about releasing him? Players with bad deals get traded a heck of a lot more often than you seem to think. Prince Fielder? Vernon Wells? A-Rod?

And the "too many home runs" meme. People have been saying that for years, on this forum and others as well as all over talk radio. Both Kay and Francesca have talked about it ad nauseum going back to about 2010 or so.

Everyone needs to chill about bunting and all this other dead ball ERA stuff. The game isn't played that way any more and hasn't been in a long time. Front offices and analytics don't support giving outs away. Welcome to the 21st century. I'd recommend the book Moneyball. It came out 12 years ago but it may help you. Just an example of at least how far you can trace back the fact I'm telling you that nobody plays that kind of game any more. Do you watch any games besides the Yankees? No one does it. That isn't how the game is played in 2015. Sorry Honus Wagner and The Cobb ain't coming back.
Sherman thinks the yanks will move Mateo to 2nd  
bxgiants4 : 10/7/2015 6:01 pm : link
For the 2017 mlb season. Refsnyder may be expendable
Hal, Cash and Joe don't seem to be on the same page  
Ron from Ninerland : 10/7/2015 6:03 pm : link
I heard an interesting story around the trading deadline. The order not to touch any of the top prospects came directly from Hal Steinbrenner. If true its the exact opposite of what his father would have done. George would have said get a big name or else.

I wonder if there's some kind of power struggle going on. This is the second time Cashman has said there's no place for Bird. Maybe he's just trying to convince Hal to let him deal Bird. Refsynder is another case. Its clear that Girardi doesn't like him. Hal does and maybe Cashman does. Maybe the order to play Ref came from the top. When Ref did play he finally produced.

There are some other things: The Sabathia announcement coming on the eve of the playoffs. Last year Cashman publicly critisized Girardi after the Pineda pine tar incident. Someone should have known Pineda was not legal. Shouldn't somebody have known Sabathia had a problem ? It doesn't make a difference now but it would have been a lot better if Sabathia has gone through rehab earlier in the year and be ready for the playoffs.

One more thing: The totally inexplicable move of bringing in Capuano into the last regular season game. Maybe I'm reading to much into it but about a decade ago George publicly criticised Joe Torre for something. The next day in another inexplicable move he batted Todd Ziele cleanup. That was the equivelent in that time of batting Stephan Drew cleanup. He was telling George "fuck you" . I remember thinking at the time that Torre might be gone in 24 hours.
Lots of age and aging on the roster  
raever : 10/7/2015 6:04 pm : link
We're going to have to buy our way back into title contention...as usual.
Chase Headley's contract just pisses me off  
Dave in PA : 10/7/2015 6:17 pm : link
No other team was offering this hack a 4 year deal last year and the Yankees swoop in with their go to 4/$52 offer to secure one of the shittiest third baseman in all of baseball. Brilliant
Pathetic...  
Goin Deep : 10/7/2015 10:50 pm : link
Too Bad..So SAD!
Cashman likes Bird...  
Dunedin81 : 10/7/2015 10:56 pm : link
Cashman was the one who said he was the best hitter on the farm when he was asked about Judge. What he's telling you is that he doesn't want a premium prospect to be a backup. I think Refsnyder was on Joe, and I think the problems were roughly similar. Cashman doesn't want to sit a premium prospect on the bench at the MLB level, because a backup 2B has little trade value. The same is probably true of Gary Sanchez, though he probably isn't ready either.
...  
Dunedin81 : 10/8/2015 9:15 am : link
Spring Training 2016 þ@Draft2Dynasty 1h1 hour ago Fort Lauderdale, FL
The David Price deal that I brought up last night was Acevedo, Mateo and Judge for Price...word is Cashman said no
that game was just brutal  
Osi Osi Osi OyOyOy : 10/8/2015 9:43 am : link
to be at live. We were all feeling pessimistic but 0 runs and 3 hits in the Stadium in a game 7 atmosphere? Pathetic.

87 wins and WC-play in Loss in 2015

That's more than we expected at the start of the year, but we looked like a 92-95 win contender in the middle of the year.

We knew that we were going to deal with a down period. These past 3 seasons have been just that.

85 wins in '13
84 wins in '14
87 wins in '15

We've somehow avoided a 75 or less win year, and I think Girardi deserves more credit than he's getting for not letting this team completely tank a season (although we certainly tanked the end of this year).

I unfortunately see another 75-85 win mediocre-good but not good enough season in 2016. But I think once we get out of some of these awful contracts the team will look more legitimate by 2018 and maybe 2017 if things go right. Cashman must handle these next 2 off-seasons wisely, no $130M+ contracts to 30+ year olds and injury prone guys.

Just deal with it for another year or two, hopefully a couple of the young guys develop during this time and then in Year 3 we can build a contender.

Ellsbury... ugh. More than any other player, he's the guy that needs to step up. What a joke of a season from him.
RE: ...  
Greg from LI : 10/8/2015 9:46 am : link
In comment 12533889 Dunedin81 said:
Quote:
Spring Training 2016 þ@Draft2Dynasty 1h1 hour ago Fort Lauderdale, FL
The David Price deal that I brought up last night was Acevedo, Mateo and Judge for Price...word is Cashman said no


I think declining was the right call. What difference would Price have made if they couldn't hit worth a damn?

I'm all for throwing money at him this winter though.
RE: RE: ...  
Osi Osi Osi OyOyOy : 10/8/2015 9:47 am : link
In comment 12533944 Greg from LI said:
Quote:
In comment 12533889 Dunedin81 said:


Quote:


Spring Training 2016 þ@Draft2Dynasty 1h1 hour ago Fort Lauderdale, FL
The David Price deal that I brought up last night was Acevedo, Mateo and Judge for Price...word is Cashman said no



I think declining was the right call. What difference would Price have made if they couldn't hit worth a damn?

I'm all for throwing money at him this winter though.


Very good pitcher but he's going to be 30 and cost a shit-ton. Pass.
unless you're the Cardinals and you sneeze out great young pitchers  
Greg from LI : 10/8/2015 9:56 am : link
with regularity, you're going to need to sign someone eventually. I think you'll get enough quality seasons from Price to outweigh the back-end decline.
Osi  
arniefez : 10/8/2015 10:00 am : link
Your plan should be the plan. But with declining ratings and ticket sales I doubt it will be and if the Steinkids authorize another spending spree it will decline the ratings and ticket sales even more. There's no quick fix. They have to shut the checkbook and live with the next two years. When can they buy up all of the kids in Latin America again?
It would be similar to when they first signed CC  
illmatic : 10/8/2015 10:01 am : link
He's a little older than CC was then but he also probably has slightly less wear on the tires at 30 than CC did. Regardless, if you win a world series with him at any point, it's worth it. Just like it was with CC.
This is baseball  
illmatic : 10/8/2015 10:04 am : link
It's exactly the sport where you CAN do a quick fix with just a couple moves if you're already close. Just look at the Blue Jays and Mets this year. I mean, come on. I don't get when people say "don't sign someone like Price, they aren't close anyway." Are you kidding me? He's the type of guy who can help to put you over the top. You add him, find a way to upgrade the lineup and pray Tanaka stays healthy and that's an instant world series contender.

I know that's too much money to throw around but there is definitely such a thing as a quick fix in baseball.
he also keeps himself in great shape, unlike CC  
Greg from LI : 10/8/2015 10:05 am : link
In addition, he hasn't has as heavy a workload as CC did when he hit free agency - 300 fewer innings.
Price has always  
Osi Osi Osi OyOyOy : 10/8/2015 10:06 am : link
reminded me so much of CC. Big power lefties with good control and great sliders.

CC gave us 4 very good season after we signed him from the ages of 28-32.

That's the Max amount of very good seasons I can see Price giving us. He's 30. Does it really make sense for this team to go all-in for 3-4 years of Price when we're probably going to be a pretender next year regardless of his presence?

I just don't want to repeat the same mistakes.
RE: ...  
HomerJones45 : 10/8/2015 10:06 am : link
In comment 12533889 Dunedin81 said:
Quote:
Spring Training 2016 þ@Draft2Dynasty 1h1 hour ago Fort Lauderdale, FL
The David Price deal that I brought up last night was Acevedo, Mateo and Judge for Price...word is Cashman said no
was that the initial ask or was that Detroit's final position after negotiating?
RE: he also keeps himself in great shape, unlike CC  
Osi Osi Osi OyOyOy : 10/8/2015 10:07 am : link
In comment 12533984 Greg from LI said:
Quote:
In addition, he hasn't has as heavy a workload as CC did when he hit free agency - 300 fewer innings.


True, Price is clearly in better shape which should help him. But they've always struck me as similar.
RE: RE: ...  
Tesla : 10/8/2015 10:07 am : link
In comment 12533944 Greg from LI said:
Quote:
In comment 12533889 Dunedin81 said:


Quote:


Spring Training 2016 þ@Draft2Dynasty 1h1 hour ago Fort Lauderdale, FL

I think declining was the right call. What difference would Price have made if they couldn't hit worth a damn?

I'm all for throwing money at him this winter though.


Totally agree. It's doubtful Price alone would be been enough to win us the division....and let's say he pitches the WC game.....goes 7 IP, gives up 1 run and we lose 2-0.

Now we've given up Judge, Mateo and Acevdo for what?

Agreed that I'd love to sign him this winter....there's very little room for change in our lineup but there is always room to add another starting pitcher

And the Yanks can certainly fucking afford it.
Osi  
Greg from LI : 10/8/2015 10:17 am : link
I just don't feel very solid about their rotation. Love Severino but he's just a baby - who knows how effective he'll be over his first full season. Tanaka's got the elbow problem hanging over his head. Eovaldi had a mostly encouraging season, but is far from proven. Pineda can't stay healthy and stunk for most of the second half. Nova looks cooked. They're going to have to find some pitching from somewhere.

What this team needs to figure out is whether or not they really want to be fiscally responsible or not. I know people get tired of me harping on Ellsbury, but nothing about that deal made any sense whatsoever. Either spend big or don't spend big. There are ways to make either approach work, but trying to rein in spending while also blowing a ton of money on an injury-prone slap hitting OF when you already have your own slap-hitting OF who makes much less money? What was the point?
I think it goes beyond 'the Yanks can afford it'  
jcn56 : 10/8/2015 10:20 am : link
I think this is where we start to hit the 'Yanks can't afford not to' phase.
IOW, splitting the difference between a real rebuild and a spending  
Greg from LI : 10/8/2015 10:26 am : link
spree is kind of the worst of both worlds. Pick one or the other.
I've been saying it for a while now  
illmatic : 10/8/2015 10:28 am : link
and I'll say it all offseason. If they don't spend this offseason, they're pretty much punting next season because they won't win shit with what they currently have. We'll see how badly they want to put a winning product out there. Or should I say we'll see whether or not they want to have a 40% full stadium for the entire year.

I also don't really understand the whole "wait until 2017/2018 when the bad contracts are gone and then they can sign new guys and fix it" idea. What if there aren't many good players available that year? It might be like this offseason where there aren't that many star players available. And if there are, maybe other teams go apeshit with the contracts like Seattle did with Cano. It's not a guarantee they can rebuild whenever they feel like spending again. You make moves when you're able to and when it can help your team. And we know they're always able to. It's just a matter of how much they're trying to save right now. But they're the Yankees. I don't really want to hear about how tight money is from them. It's hard to feel sorry for them with all the money they rake in.
I think the Yanks will ask Tex if he would accept a trade  
djm : 10/8/2015 10:33 am : link
if he does, which is a big if, the Yanks could probably find a taker. Tex can still play and with only one year left on his deal....thing is would Tex accept a trade. He's probably very comfy here.

I think the Yanks will make a big trade this off-season but it won't involve many of the kids if any at all. Maybe Ref...
who would they trade him to, though?  
Greg from LI : 10/8/2015 10:48 am : link
Trading for a 36 year old 1B is the kind of thing a contender does, but none of the contending teams really has a hole at 1B. And how much of a return can you expect with a guy like that who has one year left on his contract?

I don't know, maybe the Orioles if they can't sign Chris Davis or the Pirates if they want an upgrade on Pedro Alvarez - assuming the Pirates are willing to take on a salary like that, which they probably aren't.
RE: RE: ...  
Dunedin81 : 10/8/2015 10:49 am : link
In comment 12533986 HomerJones45 said:
Quote:
In comment 12533889 Dunedin81 said:


Quote:


Spring Training 2016 þ@Draft2Dynasty 1h1 hour ago Fort Lauderdale, FL
The David Price deal that I brought up last night was Acevedo, Mateo and Judge for Price...word is Cashman said no

was that the initial ask or was that Detroit's final position after negotiating?


IDK, if I had it on better authority I would have linked it.
RE: who would they trade him to, though?  
Dunedin81 : 10/8/2015 10:53 am : link
In comment 12534079 Greg from LI said:
Quote:
Trading for a 36 year old 1B is the kind of thing a contender does, but none of the contending teams really has a hole at 1B. And how much of a return can you expect with a guy like that who has one year left on his contract?

I don't know, maybe the Orioles if they can't sign Chris Davis or the Pirates if they want an upgrade on Pedro Alvarez - assuming the Pirates are willing to take on a salary like that, which they probably aren't.


The Nats had a hole and made sense but it looks like that'll be Zimm's permanent position.
RE: who would they trade him to, though?  
jcn56 : 10/8/2015 10:54 am : link
In comment 12534079 Greg from LI said:
Quote:
Trading for a 36 year old 1B is the kind of thing a contender does, but none of the contending teams really has a hole at 1B. And how much of a return can you expect with a guy like that who has one year left on his contract?

I don't know, maybe the Orioles if they can't sign Chris Davis or the Pirates if they want an upgrade on Pedro Alvarez - assuming the Pirates are willing to take on a salary like that, which they probably aren't.


The only 'return' will be not having Tex on the books anymore.

I'm with you re: the halfway approach. Either blow it up or wait it out, don't try to go halfway. The Ellsbury contract was remarkably stupid, and they now are in the unenviable position where they have some youth they need to develop and some older guys who are just going to waste away. IMO, they have to bite the bullet, eat a lot of salary, and get rid of some of those guys, whether they like it or not.
Ellsbury is tradable...  
Dunedin81 : 10/8/2015 11:07 am : link
you're just going to have to eat a ton of $ and/or take back a bad contract. Without the contract he still has value, they'd probably get a decent return for him by eating the money, but I'm not sure the Yankees are willing to eat $60+ mil. He definitely seems to have some sort of conflict with Girardi though.
I was surprised to hear Francesa  
arniefez : 10/8/2015 11:53 am : link
that Ellsbury was a Cashman move and that he "loves" Ellsbury's game. I usually don't take what he says seriously but he's pretty close with Cashman. I would guess if Cashman wanted it out that he didn't want Ellsbury it would be out. Francesa also said and he was correct, that the Yankees don't pay players to leave. They did with AJ but I don't remember any others.
Washington is the spot for Teix  
arniefez : 10/8/2015 11:54 am : link
He's from there, they'll have a new manager, they could benefit from some veteran professionalism and they don't have a good 1B.
I got my Zimmerman's confused  
arniefez : 10/8/2015 11:58 am : link
the Nats do have a high priced 1B that they owe 62 million through 2019 with a no trade contract.
Teixiera  
DanMetroMan : 10/8/2015 12:01 pm : link
isn't a fit in Washington. Zimmerman isn't going anywhere. Baltimore makes some sense since odds are Davis gets a MONSTER teal to go somewhere else. Houston has already been rumored for him.
I'm not sure the Yankees  
arniefez : 10/8/2015 12:08 pm : link
and Orioles can stand to do business with each other. But the Orioles did trade with the Red Sox last year.
if Davis leaves, then Baltimore would make a lot of sense in a vacuum  
Greg from LI : 10/8/2015 12:11 pm : link
It's just hard to picture those two franchises making a major trade. When was the last time they made a deal?
The  
DanMetroMan : 10/8/2015 12:18 pm : link
Yankees are reportedly hot for Byung-Ho Park so you would think they would have some plan with Teixiera if Bird is the 1b. Seattle routinely makes poor moves (though they have a new GM). Don't see the Pirates making such a move. Lot of money and they have Bell on the way. Marlins routinely make strange moves so maybe them? Alonso sucks so maybe the Padres? Adams likely is the Cardinals 1b next year but couldn't you just see Teixiera on that team? lol
RE: Teixiera  
Dunedin81 : 10/8/2015 12:20 pm : link
In comment 12534247 DanMetroMan said:
Quote:
isn't a fit in Washington. Zimmerman isn't going anywhere. Baltimore makes some sense since odds are Davis gets a MONSTER teal to go somewhere else. Houston has already been rumored for him.


That would make perfect sense, he is basically Chris Carter on steroids.
Davis  
DanMetroMan : 10/8/2015 12:22 pm : link
Grew up 3 hours outside of Houston, Astros reportedly inquired before the deadline and Singleton has been an utter turd. I really think there is a good chance Davis lands there.
I just don't see a lot of flexibility with this roster  
Matt M. : 10/8/2015 12:26 pm : link
without trading a few of the kids. Personally, I want 2B to be Refsnyder's to lose, now that he got his feet wet. And, of course, I want Drew and Ryan nowhere near this team, even in the Spring. The most obvious places to upgrade (3B, OF) have absolutely no flexibility. Likewise, Bird at 1B would be nice, but Teixeira is not likely to go anywhere for a variety of reasons.
a trip down memory lane  
Greg from LI : 10/8/2015 12:31 pm : link
Solarte, 2015: .270/.320/.428, 14 homers, roughly league average defense, 2.2 WAR. 27 years old, makes $516K

Headley: .259/.324/.369, 11 homers, trainwreck defense, 23 errors, 1.1 WAR. 31 years old, makes $13 mill.

Guh.....I've never liked Headley much, but I didn't think Solarte would keep playing well so I was fairly ambivalent about the deal. Looks awful in retrospect.
Solarte  
DanMetroMan : 10/8/2015 12:38 pm : link
sort of reminds me of the Mets and Melvin Mora where it was an older guy you thought was sort of a fluke and then suddenly he's pretty solid (Mora more than solid for a few seasons).
I'm sure there's been a more recent one  
arniefez : 10/8/2015 1:37 pm : link
but the Yankees and Orioles trading always brings me back to 1976. I don't think we'll see too many trades like that again.

Quote:
Hank Peters, in his first year as Baltimore's general manager, was in Chicago with the team, which was on a long losing streak.

''Gabe came to Chicago and we discussed a lot of different combinations, a lot of different players,'' Peters said. ''Guidry was in the deal and out of the deal. Grich was mentioned, Nettles was discussed. We took a future approach; they took the immediate approach, and it paid off for them.''

Guidry was removed from the the package, Peters explained, because the Yankees already had agreed to give the Orioles three left-handed pitchers. ''It wasn't that they were that high on Guidry,'' Peters said. ''He was left-handed and they didn't want to give up any more left-handed pitching.''

When Peters and Paul were done with their shuffling and mixing and trading on the evening of June 15, the Orioles received McGregor, Martinez and Rudy May, all left-handed pitchers; Dempsey, the Yankees' backup catcher to Thurman Munson, and Dave Pagan, a right-handed pitcher. The Yankees got Holtzman and Doyle Alexander, two disgruntled starting pitchers; Elrod Hendricks, an aging catcher; Grant Jackson, a journeyman relief pitcher, and Jim Freeman, a minor league pitcher.

Interesting article from Sherman in the Post  
arniefez : 10/8/2015 1:44 pm : link
pretty good explanation of how stuck the Yankees are with what they've got.

Quote:
Hal Steinbrenner has been rather transparent in not intending to add another mega-contract until he has some big deals run out after 2016 (Carlos Beltran, Mark Teixeira) and 2017 (Brett Gardner, Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia). The Yankees’ top 10 salaries from 2015 all return next year at a luxury tax price of roughly $190.3 million. The seven players they are likely to go to arbitration with would cost $22.7 million, based on projections done by MLB Trade Rumors.

At $213 million, the Yankees already are well over the $189 million luxury tax threshold before completing the roster and paying the roughly $12 million that each team is charged for benefits. That leaves their tax at 50 percent, which means paying Price $30 million a year (at least what he will get) would be $45 million annually for the Yankees.


Quote:
This would mean beginning the year with Rob Refsnyder (a Steinbrenner favorite) in the minors. No problem. He played the outfield in college and should be used there and second base to be summoned when an injury hits. It also means beginning the year with Greg Bird in the minors. That is tough, but for a team lacking maneuverability, they cannot have a backup DH/first baseman as long as the Yankees seem dead set against using him at third or the outfield. Again, organizational depth is a good thing. Slade Heathcott and Mason Williams are Ellsbury/Gardner insurance.


I hope is GMing his wrong but it's probably not far off from what they'll try and do.
How to fix the Yankees, with trades and free agents - ( New Window )
I think what is lost on the media and a lot of fans  
rich in DC : 10/8/2015 3:44 pm : link
is that the Yanks minor league system is ready to produce and is the primary reason why the Yanks aren't likely to make big trades or sign big name FA this winter.

For example, Carlos Beltran's deal expires after next season (2016). His replacement will likely be Aaron Judge. However, as Judge demonstrated in his time at AAA, his development is not complete. He still needs to work on off-speed pitches and locating "his" pitch to hit and not the pitch the pitcher wants him to swing at. However, he will likely be ready later in 2016.

One of Refsynder or Pirela will be ready and able to take over 2B. Sure, people throw out Ackley's name, but I think they use his elsewhere- to be discussed below. Drew is going to be gone, and I hope Ryan goes too.

Didi will be the SS for the next couple years and really is part of the solution.

Headley was HORRIBLE at 3B- but is signed for the next 3 years. The Yanks have little choice but to play him in 2016 and hope that his defense recovers and that the second half of 2014 was the real player and not a major contract drive. If, and that is an almost impossible if, Headley were to be traded, a small possibility might be Ackley here- the M's talked about it a while back, but then went with Seager, which was the right choice.

Bird will go to the minors to start 2016 unless they trade Tex. Tex has a no-trade, but might be able to be convinced to go closer to "home" (he was born and raised near Annapolis, MD)- but that is really not very likely. What IS likely however, is that Tex will spend part of the year injured, which will give more time to Bird.

I think the biggest change possibility is LF. Gardner is a complementary player- meaning he's a nice starter in CF or LF on a team with established stars- but he is not a star. However, given the number of big money clubs who expect to be competitive in 2016 who have OF issues (the Cubs, Dodgers, Giants, Nats just as a few) could make him a nice trade piece this winter if the return was a couple of good prospects (not likely to be top 50 prospects, but one top 100 plus a good upside guy might be reasonable). Why talk about trading him? Because THIS could be where Ackley ends up, perhaps in a platoon with a righty bat. Add in that with the Yanks having Williams, Heathcott and maybe Gamel as ML ready OF- and all similar to Gardner and Ellsbury, someone has to go. May as well sell while he still has value.

Ellsbury's contract is just not tradeable, unless the Cubs fall a game short of the WS or the Dodgers don't make the WS and the blame falls on the lack of a leadoff CF type and the GM feels heat on their job- but since those are unlikely scenarios, I think the Yanks fans need to get used to seeing Ellsbury for 4 more years.

At C, McCann had a good first half, bad second half. However, Murphy showed signs he could be a good C in his won right. Immediately behind him is Gary Sanchez who could be an offensive force himself.in AAA. McCann isn't going anywhere in 2016- but when Beltran and Tex's deals expire- and if the Yanks can trade ARod after 2016, he could move to DH while the Yanks move Sanchez behind the plate.

Coming up fast as some good middle INF guys- Mateo is probably 2 years away- and could be a SS or 2B, depending what they need when he gets there.

In the SP category, the Yanks had some guys who really moved through the system in 2015 and could either be good trade pieces or options in later 2016- Rookie Davis is a big guy with power, Hebert is a lefty who is more finesse- but gets the job done, Chase Whitley will return from TJ sometime in mid-late 2016, Brady Lail moved from low-A in early 2014 to AAA by the end of 2015. He struggled in AAA, but could be a replacement to Nova in the back of the rotation in 2016 if he can make the adjustments.

There IS talent coming. Personally, I think the Yanks intended to have 2015 be a year where they played out the string much like 2014. The result was surprising. I doubt they repeat in 2016- I suspect a year closer to 2014 than 2015. Still, that will make the changeover to Bird and Judge, as well as some of the younger P more palatable to fans- in Yankee-land, change is good when you lose.
I'd trade Gardner to make room for Judge/Heathcott and maybe  
BigGame : 10/8/2015 4:36 pm : link
even Williams. And I'd put a lot of banana peels next to Tex's locker. Birds needs to be up. Headley.....let's hope for a bounce back and then trade him next year to make room for Jagielo. I can live with the Ack/Ref platoon at 2B. Murphy could probably get us back something valuable, he's redundant with McCann eventually giving way to Sanchez.

I am willing to wait for the contracts to come off the books before making bigger moves for the team to contend.
Rich  
Dunedin81 : 10/8/2015 4:43 pm : link
Nice post. I'll try to give it the attention it deserves a little later tonight.
how can you possibly trade anyone to make room for Heathcott?  
Greg from LI : 10/8/2015 4:46 pm : link
He has never, ever stayed healthy for any length of time. And Williams needs to put up more than one good partial season before I'm buying in again.
It's nice that the Yankees  
arniefez : 10/8/2015 4:57 pm : link
have some minor league options. However it's pretty unrealistic to think that most of the names people know from the minors are going to pan out as starters on a good team.
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