A couple of tidbits from recent reportings:
1. Joe G. hinted today that Judge may be sent down to AAA to get more at bats. I personally hope that doesn’t happen. Judge has had an excellent spring, cut down on his strike outs, and has nothing left to prove at AAA. He has basically done everything the team has asked of him.
2. A few of talking heads have been speculating that with the log jam in the outfield, the team will package Frazier and Mateo to get Quintana from the ChiSox. I’m not a fan of this trade. True there is a log jam in the outfield (and the team needs more SP), but that is because the team can’t dump Ellsbury and Gardner; both of which were outplayed by Frazier this spring. Frazier may become something special, I would rather the team move Gardner and let Hicks play LF until Frazier is ready.
I have been adamant on two things. Judge should be in RE every day because he actually has a ceiling get and he's already improved his game. Hicks is not going to get any better. For all the marvel at his arm, it is often overlooked that he is not much more than an average defensive OF.
The other is Montgomery should be the 5th starter. Whether that guy is named now or in a month, there is no evidence to name anyone else. Of all the candidates for the 4th and 5th spots, he's the only one who earned a spot with his pitching. If anything Severino, who I happen to like, keeps proving he is destined for the pen.
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The problem with that is their trade value tanks at that point once a slow start to the career takes off some of that top prospect shine. Give you an example - Paul Konerko. When he was 21 years old, Konerko was BA's #2 prospect in all of baseball. He absolutely destroyed minor league pitching, hitting .304/.399/.545 with 30 homers between AA and AAA. He struggled mightily over two season with the Dodgers, hitting only .212 with 4 homers. The Dodgers ended up trading him (and Dennis Reyes) for....Jeff Shaw. That's it. A good reliever is all Konerko fetched after falling flat on his face.
I agree, but the other alternative is to keep trading prospects before they even get a shot. That's how the Yankee dynasty crumbled in the 80s and again after 2000. You want Hicks to play everyday? Then you trade Gardner for whatever you can get and play Hicks and Judge. Ideally they trade Ells bury and eat a shit load of the contract. But that doesn't seem likely. Someone would take him if the Yankees ate $10-$15M of his annual salary.
The alternative is to give them prolonged looks. Whether we think him deserving or not, that's what they're doing with Aaron Hicks. Ordinarily you can do that in onesies and twosies if you've got a deep lineup, but it had been more difficult for the Yanks to swallow when they were a high-80's win team every year and the difference between being a .500 team and being a WC team could come down to whether a particular player was hitting or not. Right now they seem willing to do that with a number of spots in the lineup. Hopefully Judge will get that shot beginning early this year.
I would rather have Severino in AAA working out the kinks. The other choices don't excite me.
I agree, but I'm not a pitching coach with years of experience. The professionals in the pro-coaching world seem to understand how to bring up young pitchers without ruining their arm. I suspect it is based on decades of real life experience and watching phenoms flame out early because their bodies weren't ready for the grueling nature of the majors. I expect to see both Kap and Montgomery being brought in slowly, but not thrown in with a "sink or swim" attitude. They have the gift and it's up to the coaches to get them ready for prime time. And they will, but we must exercise patience and trust the coaches that they know what they are doing. The young pitchers have the physical tools, but there's a lot of mental tools that need more honing. As they say, "there's a difference between throwing and pitching". Pitching is about taking advantage of individual batters' weaknesses and letting the ball get hit for an out rather than trying to strike out every batter that steps into the box
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That is an ugly cat for sure. Is Bird driving in England or is the video flipped with a mirror or something?
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Roster Move: Prior to today's game, the Yankees optioned INF/OF Rob Refsnyder to @swbrailriders.
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Looks very much like Severino is the fourth starter. Mitchell to pitch in relief in Atlanta tomorrow. #Yankees
look what happened to Mr. Bigglesworth
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Looks very much like Severino is the fourth starter. Mitchell to pitch in relief in Atlanta tomorrow. #Yankees
Finally- the Yanks giving a struggling young player a chance to develop! Sure, he can be a light out reliever- maybe even a closer- but he is infinitely more valuable if he is a SP.
Yes, he still struggles with his off-speed stuff- and yes, his command is not very good. However, these are things that can be developed with effort, time and chances. Working with Pedro this winter was a good step on the first- the burden is on the Yanks to give him the next two.
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Looks very much like Severino is the fourth starter. Mitchell to pitch in relief in Atlanta tomorrow. #Yankees
Good luck with that. Hopefully he comes close to 2015. I just hope he doesn't implode like last year (or get pounded).
at the risk of repating myself, the bigest roster problem the Yankees have is Elssbury and that f'ing ridiculous contract. You move that tumor out and then you have no problem keeping Judge and Hicks.
THere is always the possibility that Ellsbury gets hurt thoough. He e only missed 14 last year, so he's due for an extended stint if he follows his usual every other year pattern of missing significant time.
at the risk of repating myself, the bigest roster problem the Yankees have is Elssbury and that f'ing ridiculous contract. You move that tumor out and then you have no problem keeping Judge and Hicks.
THere is always the possibility that Ellsbury gets hurt thoough. He e only missed 14 last year, so he's due for an extended stint if he follows his usual every other year pattern of missing significant time.
The trouble with Ellsbury usually isn't games missed, but how he's regularly banged up but still playing at far less than 100%
Every season, he usually has a 4-6 week stretch where he's healthy and gets hot and shows signs of being a good .300 hitter with speed on the bases...but then some nagging injury comes up and he fades back to mediocrity
Why can't the ducking Fodgers bail us out of that deal like they did for the Red Sox
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I agree with you Paul, except as to Wade. There is a downside related to the 40-man roster, which is a real issue for the Yanks right now. Didi's only out a month, I am OK with Torreyes handling it until he's back.
Ditto this.
I have been adamant on two things. Judge should be in RE every day because he actually has a ceiling get and he's already improved his game. Hicks is not going to get any better. For all the marvel at his arm, it is often overlooked that he is not much more than an average defensive OF.
The other is Montgomery should be the 5th starter. Whether that guy is named now or in a month, there is no evidence to name anyone else. Of all the candidates for the 4th and 5th spots, he's the only one who earned a spot with his pitching. If anything Severino, who I happen to like, keeps proving he is destined for the pen.
There is no rush- or even need- to name a 5th SP now- or even for most of April.
Remember that Cashman has been firm in stating that the Yanks do not even need a 5th SP until April 16- about 2 weeks into the season.
The best course of action would be to put both Mitchell and Warren in pen for now. Both can be and have demonstrated success in the long-man role- which is a necessary one in April until the SP get fully stretched out. Having TWO long man is a luxury few teams have- and would prevent Girardi from burning out his pen with overuse- just put let one of these two guys take 2-3 innings at a time- and split them over 4-5 days a week- and your bullpen is saved in April.
Send Green, Montgomery and all other SP with options back to AAA to let them work. Why have them sit in the pen and lose valuable reps for two weeks or more?
Come April 16- the Yanks can pick and choose who they want to start- Who has is pitching the best to that point? What is on their 5th day in the rotation? Who is on the 40 and who isn't?
In fact, the Yanks could simply use several of the SP in AAA as their 5th SP in April until they decide who is the best fit.
My feeling is that when May rolls around, Montgomery would probably be in the best position to take the 5th SP spot- but sometimes young players don't react well to demotions when they do well enough to take a ML spot. This might be a good test of his mental toughness.
at the risk of repating myself, the bigest roster problem the Yankees have is Elssbury and that f'ing ridiculous contract. You move that tumor out and then you have no problem keeping Judge and Hicks.
THere is always the possibility that Ellsbury gets hurt thoough. He e only missed 14 last year, so he's due for an extended stint if he follows his usual every other year pattern of missing significant time.
I think 99.9% of Yankees fans agree on Ellsbury. But even with him here, there is room for Hicks and Judge. They need 4 OFs and Cashman said he'd prefer 4 guys getting 450 BA as opposed to 3 guys with 600 so there is something left in the tank in September and October.
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where yo have to stop babying these guys and see what they can do.
at the risk of repating myself, the bigest roster problem the Yankees have is Elssbury and that f'ing ridiculous contract. You move that tumor out and then you have no problem keeping Judge and Hicks.
THere is always the possibility that Ellsbury gets hurt thoough. He e only missed 14 last year, so he's due for an extended stint if he follows his usual every other year pattern of missing significant time.
The trouble with Ellsbury usually isn't games missed, but how he's regularly banged up but still playing at far less than 100%
Every season, he usually has a 4-6 week stretch where he's healthy and gets hot and shows signs of being a good .300 hitter with speed on the bases...but then some nagging injury comes up and he fades back to mediocrity
Why can't the ducking Fodgers bail us out of that deal like they did for the Red Sox
The bigger problem with Ellsbury is that even if the Yanks ate a bunch of that contract, he simply is not tradeable until the off-season. No team (except maybe the Dodgers) can add an unanticipated $10-20M+ to their payroll at this point in the year. Many teams set their budget in October, and when they go to Spring Training, they have more or less used that budget- with a little room for tinkering if a cheap player comes along.
In fact, even at the deadline- unless the Yanks take on all of Ellsbury's remaining contract this season- it would still be difficult for most clubs to take on about $8M at that point in the season.
I suspect that the Yanks plan is to trade Gardner at the trade deadline in July to open up one spot- and then if 2 OF force their way to NY in 2017, the Yanks will trade Ellsbury in the winter. Yes- the Yanks will likely have to eat about $10M annually on that remaining deal- but the idea is to let the young guys with upside play.
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In comment 13411603 Victor in CT said:
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where yo have to stop babying these guys and see what they can do.
at the risk of repating myself, the bigest roster problem the Yankees have is Elssbury and that f'ing ridiculous contract. You move that tumor out and then you have no problem keeping Judge and Hicks.
THere is always the possibility that Ellsbury gets hurt thoough. He e only missed 14 last year, so he's due for an extended stint if he follows his usual every other year pattern of missing significant time.
The trouble with Ellsbury usually isn't games missed, but how he's regularly banged up but still playing at far less than 100%
Every season, he usually has a 4-6 week stretch where he's healthy and gets hot and shows signs of being a good .300 hitter with speed on the bases...but then some nagging injury comes up and he fades back to mediocrity
Why can't the ducking Fodgers bail us out of that deal like they did for the Red Sox
The bigger problem with Ellsbury is that even if the Yanks ate a bunch of that contract, he simply is not tradeable until the off-season. No team (except maybe the Dodgers) can add an unanticipated $10-20M+ to their payroll at this point in the year. Many teams set their budget in October, and when they go to Spring Training, they have more or less used that budget- with a little room for tinkering if a cheap player comes along.
In fact, even at the deadline- unless the Yanks take on all of Ellsbury's remaining contract this season- it would still be difficult for most clubs to take on about $8M at that point in the season.
I suspect that the Yanks plan is to trade Gardner at the trade deadline in July to open up one spot- and then if 2 OF force their way to NY in 2017, the Yanks will trade Ellsbury in the winter. Yes- the Yanks will likely have to eat about $10M annually on that remaining deal- but the idea is to let the young guys with upside play.
And with CC and ARod's $$ coming off the books after this season, eating $10 million for 3 more years of the Ellsbury deal is more palatable.
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where yo have to stop babying these guys and see what they can do.
at the risk of repating myself, the bigest roster problem the Yankees have is Elssbury and that f'ing ridiculous contract. You move that tumor out and then you have no problem keeping Judge and Hicks.
THere is always the possibility that Ellsbury gets hurt thoough. He e only missed 14 last year, so he's due for an extended stint if he follows his usual every other year pattern of missing significant time.
I think 99.9% of Yankees fans agree on Ellsbury. But even with him here, there is room for Hicks and Judge. They need 4 OFs and Cashman said he'd prefer 4 guys getting 450 BA as opposed to 3 guys with 600 so there is something left in the tank in September and October.
maybe with Refsnyder sent down already. Or trade Gardner.
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Girardi on Judge: "he's our right fielder"
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Girardi on Judge: "he's our right fielder"
A win for the good guys.
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Luis Severino is the Yankees fourth starter. Holder, Mitchell, Shreve in bullpen. Aaron Judge is Opening Day right fielder.
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Luis Severino is the Yankees fourth starter. Holder, Mitchell, Shreve in bullpen. Aaron Judge is Opening Day right fielder.
Good for Holder. Mitchell is the #5 then. Shreve survives another cut until he poops the bed later this year and is replaced by one of the young guys.
because Girardi threw it out there out the Francesa show on Tuesday. I guess he had to be told from above that Judge is the guy. Hal made it pretty clear over the winter that he wanted Judge in RF.
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Luis Severino is the Yankees fourth starter. Holder, Mitchell, Shreve in bullpen. Aaron Judge is Opening Day right fielder.
Good for Holder. Mitchell is the #5 then. Shreve survives another cut until he poops the bed later this year and is replaced by one of the young guys.
Shreve's big advantage is that he's a southpaw. We haven't developed a ton of quality lefty relief candidates. Maybe someone like Enns, maybe Caleb Smith (just returned by the Cubbies after the Rule 5), will emerge, but for now we have an abundance of RHRP prospects and a dearth of LHRP prospects.
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Chad Green will go to Double-A so he can start 4/6 and 4/11. Jordan Montgomery will start the same days at Triple-A.
We haven't developed a ton of quality lefty relief candidates. Maybe someone like Enns, maybe Caleb Smith (just returned by the Cubbies after the Rule 5), will emerge, but for now we have an abundance of RHRP prospects and a dearth of LHRP prospects.
I was disappointed in Enn's pitching this Spring. I had much higher expectations. I don't think he fits in a hard relief role as he doesn't blow people away. He seems like a fit for a long relief when a starter just doesn't have his mojo in the first couple of innings. Not sure where his future lies beyond a stud AAA pitcher who gets batters to hit into outs.