First off, its being reported that Judge was offered 10-400 from SD and declined. Judge has always wanted to come back to the Yankees and he proved it. Love that guy.
So where do we go from here? We have a very solid team and will be in contention to represent the AL, but we can get better. Houston took a step back losing Verlander and nobody from the AL East made drastic improvements.
Heres what we look like right now:
C: Trevino
1B: Rizzo
2B: Torres/DJLM
SS: IKF/Volpe/Paraza
3B: Donaldson/DJLM
LF: Cabrera?/Hicks
CF: Bader
RF: Judge
DH: Stanton
Starters: Cole/Cortes/Severino/Montas/German
Biggest Need? LF. Ideally it would be someone who hits at the top of the order. Nimmo, Benintendi, trade?
2nd need- I'd argue it's getting rid of Donaldson and/or Torres. Ideally we trade Torres for a pitcher, but I'm not sure how much value he has. That will open up a spot for DJLM and the young guys.
Additionally, we can really use a closer and starter(pref top end).
I think I'd go hard for Nimmo right now. Not sure of the contract numbers he's looking for, but he fills an offensive and defensive need. Gets on base 40% of the time and can push .300 BA.
I'd like Rodon and Nimmo, but I don't know how realistic that would be. If we are limited, I'm signing Nimmo and then trying to trade Torres for a starter. If that doesn't work, I'd sign a lower end starter with upside for the back of the rotation. Maybe a Syndergaard or someone like that.
This lineup will suffice, IMO:
Nimmo
Judge
Rizzo
Stanton
DJLM
Bader
Donaldson
Volpe/Paraza
Trevino
Lefty bat that gets on base a ton, hits for a pretty good average and doesn't strike out a lot. He has played and can play LF as well as the other OF positions. I think he should be the target.
I think we'd all agree that the Sanchez, Gio trade is one we'd probably take back, let's not be so quick to repeat the error with Torres.
I can't imagine DJLM has the value needed to get us a good starter. You hope that Torres does. I'm doubtful, but hopeful.
in the starting line-up spells doom.
Nimmo would be a fantastic addition. But I would hate to pry him away from the Mets, because while I'm a Yankees first and foremost, I also happen to root for the Mets.
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But I’d rather have Torres than DJ.
I can't imagine DJLM has the value needed to get us a good starter. You hope that Torres does. I'm doubtful, but hopeful.
I guess wanting to keep Torres would be contingent on them signing someone. If they get Rodon I’d rather keep Torres and move DJ for bullpen arms. He’s not available enough.
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In comment 15938118 ajr2456 said:
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But I’d rather have Torres than DJ.
I can't imagine DJLM has the value needed to get us a good starter. You hope that Torres does. I'm doubtful, but hopeful.
I guess wanting to keep Torres would be contingent on them signing someone. If they get Rodon I’d rather keep Torres and move DJ for bullpen arms. He’s not available enough.
Im going off the assumption that the Yankees aren't getting Rodon and Nimmo. If that's the case, I'm going Nimmo and then using the trade market for a pitcher.
Nimmo is a perfect fit for this team, that's all I'm saying.
Donaldson: Struck out in 16 of his last 25 postseason ABs. At his age, 37, not clear what he's going to have for 2023.
DJL: Had a great first half of 2022 after a disappointing 2021. Then the lingering injury and will turn 35 in 2023. Will likely play a significant role this season, but not a piece you want to be placing full reliance on for too much longer.
Peraza/Volpe/Cabrera: Yankees very much want them to succeed, because they will be cheap replacement parts, but all have significant uncertainties. Cabrera's postseason was disappointing (2 for 28), and every young player has to prove himself after the league has scouted him. Volpe's Scranton stats were underwhelming. Peraza showed promise in the regular season and looks like an MLB SS in the field, but jury is still out as to what level of MLB hitter he will be. They will all be given a good look in spring training but roster/trade decisions on veteran players, such as Torres, need to be made before then.
Left field: May be resolved by an offseason move.
Donaldson: Struck out in 16 of his last 25 postseason ABs. At his age, 37, not clear what he's going to have for 2023.
DJL: Had a great first half of 2022 after a disappointing 2021. Then the lingering injury and will turn 35 in 2023. Will likely play a significant role this season, but not a piece you want to be placing full reliance on for too much longer.
Peraza/Volpe/Cabrera: Yankees very much want them to succeed, because they will be cheap replacement parts, but all have significant uncertainties. Cabrera's postseason was disappointing (2 for 28), and every young player has to prove himself after the league has scouted him. Volpe's Scranton stats were underwhelming. Peraza showed promise in the regular season and looks like an MLB SS in the field, but jury is still out as to what level of MLB hitter he will be. They will all be given a good look in spring training but roster/trade decisions on veteran players, such as Torres, need to be made before then.
Left field: May be resolved by an offseason move.
IKF proved we can make the playoffs with a decent glove and 0 at the plate at SS. Peraza is a huge upgrade. Getting rid of Torres for Murphy addresses C and allows DJ to play his best position at 2nd. Volpe can play third with Cabrera penciled in until he's called up.
Murphy has been the prize that teams haven't taken from the AAAs yet.
They need to add some hitters that hit for average and can generate runs when the long balls are not coming. Judge can't be the only player that can.
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I’d also consider trading Torres for a catcher that isn’t a net zero offensively, but not sure there’s many out there
Murphy has been the prize that teams haven't taken from the AAAs yet.
Are they looking to trade him?
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Trevino: Had an extreme hot streak for about three weeks in May-June, batting almost .500 (22 for 48) and hitting 5 home runs. Other than that one stretch, he was a hole in the lineup, batting .212 with an OBP not much better than .250, and little power. He's 30 years old and came into 2022 having appeared in 155 career MLB games, less than one full season. He's not someone you fill in the catcher spot and presume it's taken care of.
Donaldson: Struck out in 16 of his last 25 postseason ABs. At his age, 37, not clear what he's going to have for 2023.
DJL: Had a great first half of 2022 after a disappointing 2021. Then the lingering injury and will turn 35 in 2023. Will likely play a significant role this season, but not a piece you want to be placing full reliance on for too much longer.
Peraza/Volpe/Cabrera: Yankees very much want them to succeed, because they will be cheap replacement parts, but all have significant uncertainties. Cabrera's postseason was disappointing (2 for 28), and every young player has to prove himself after the league has scouted him. Volpe's Scranton stats were underwhelming. Peraza showed promise in the regular season and looks like an MLB SS in the field, but jury is still out as to what level of MLB hitter he will be. They will all be given a good look in spring training but roster/trade decisions on veteran players, such as Torres, need to be made before then.
Left field: May be resolved by an offseason move.
IKF proved we can make the playoffs with a decent glove and 0 at the plate at SS. Peraza is a huge upgrade. Getting rid of Torres for Murphy addresses C and allows DJ to play his best position at 2nd. Volpe can play third with Cabrera penciled in until he's called up.
Nobody knows how DJ is going to recover from his foot injury. From what I’ve seen whatever the injury is it’s rare and there isn’t much track record of treatment/recovery time, etc. Obviously we all hope he comes back 100% but that is not a certainty at this point
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In comment 15938195 ajr2456 said:
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I’d also consider trading Torres for a catcher that isn’t a net zero offensively, but not sure there’s many out there
Murphy has been the prize that teams haven't taken from the AAAs yet.
Are they looking to trade him?
Are they ever not looking to trade someone?
They need to add some hitters that hit for average and can generate runs when the long balls are not coming. Judge can't be the only player that can.
I thought Judge was on the Giants now, though?
IKF proved we can make the playoffs with a decent glove and 0 at the plate at SS. Peraza is a huge upgrade. Getting rid of Torres for Murphy addresses C and allows DJ to play his best position at 2nd. Volpe can play third with Cabrera penciled in until he's called up.
IKF batted twenty points over MLB league average in 2022. The year before, he was 12th in all of MLB in base hits, batting lead-off for Texas. Far from clear that Peraza can perform at that level on a full MLB try. He looked overmatched against high level pitching in his one postseason start. Obviously the Yankees didn't believe he was a huge upgrade over IKF or he would have started all of the postseason.
Volpe is also very much unproven.
Catcher trade is a thought, but what is the likelihood.
They have to move Hicks before he gets 5/10, and then we're stuck with him for the next three years.
They're on record as going for another starter.
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IKF proved we can make the playoffs with a decent glove and 0 at the plate at SS. Peraza is a huge upgrade. Getting rid of Torres for Murphy addresses C and allows DJ to play his best position at 2nd. Volpe can play third with Cabrera penciled in until he's called up.
IKF batted twenty points over MLB league average in 2022. The year before, he was 12th in all of MLB in base hits, batting lead-off for Texas. Far from clear that Peraza can perform at that level on a full MLB try. He looked overmatched against high level pitching in his one postseason start. Obviously the Yankees didn't believe he was a huge upgrade over IKF or he would have started all of the postseason.
Volpe is also very much unproven.
Catcher trade is a thought, but what is the likelihood.
Saying IKF hits for average is like saying Gallo has a decent career slugging percentage. You're purposely ignoring what he doesn't bring to the table offensively, namely every thing else: power, walks, extra base hits, etc.
It's a 22 game sample for a 21 year old in his first time in AAA.
Oh Greg. That hurts. I love DJ.
in the starting line-up spells doom.
Nimmo would be a fantastic addition. But I would hate to pry him away from the Mets, because while I'm a Yankees first and foremost, I also happen to root for the Mets.
They need to find a way to move one of those two players,
virtually impossible to move both players. Everyone knows they are going to have eat money on either to move them!
As far as the rest of the infield, here is the bit of conundrum the Yanks are in with DJLM. Okay, so he didn't have surgery on his toe(s) after the season ended, he wanted to try the less 'invasive' approach, aka, no surgery.
Now supposedly he has got another opinion on his foot recently, and they are still hoping he doesn't need surgery.
Now that they have gone to December, and no surgery yet, lets just say he has surgery in say January. Well that takes him out for the beg. of the season at the very least. That might be a reason not to move a Torres, and to a lesser degree Donaldson. Personally, since the organization made an investment in DJ when he became a free agent, I think he should have stepped up, and had surgery after the season ended. There is no guarantee he will make it thru the season without surgery...
They need to add some hitters that hit for average and can generate runs when the long balls are not coming. Judge can't be the only player that can.
I don't necessarily agree with this statement, but it's also why I want Nimmo. Also, please don't forget the shift is gone. Rizzo will be one of the biggest benefactors in MLB.
Nimmo
Judge
Rizzo
Stanton
DJLM
Bader
Donaldson
Volpe/Paraza
Trevino
This lineup should have 5 guys that can hit .270+
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Thanks, sir.
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He's 34 and has been frequently injured and mediocre the past two years. I suspect the wheels are going to come off completely soon.
Oh Greg. That hurts. I love DJ.
He's right in the sense that his body is showing signs of breaking down, and the contract will become another albatross here...They are loaded with them now.
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In comment 15938227 Greg from LI said:
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He's 34 and has been frequently injured and mediocre the past two years. I suspect the wheels are going to come off completely soon.
Oh Greg. That hurts. I love DJ.
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He's right in the sense that his body is showing signs of breaking down, and the contract will become another albatross here...They are loaded with them now.
I don't disagree. The truth of it hurts. It'd suck if DJ became Donaldson. I just like DJ.
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The lineup is poorly constructed and needs some significant changes. They have too many players that are an easy out, and too many many players that are HR hitters but can't hit above the .220 to .230 range. In the playoffs we saw they either hit the HR or nothing.
They need to add some hitters that hit for average and can generate runs when the long balls are not coming. Judge can't be the only player that can.
I don't necessarily agree with this statement, but it's also why I want Nimmo. Also, please don't forget the shift is gone. Rizzo will be one of the biggest benefactors in MLB.
Nimmo
Judge
Rizzo
Stanton
DJLM
Bader
Donaldson
Volpe/Paraza
Trevino
This lineup should have 5 guys that can hit .270+
Hopefully, but other than Judge and DJ no one else on that list has a career BA at .270 or above
The only thing I have to strongly disagree with you on is he's still very good - when healthy. He was top 5-7 in WAR last year before the toe injury destroyed his season.
Now with that said he's suffered significant injuries the last two years. I've been saying to my buddies there is no way you can pencil him in as an everyday starter unless you have a legitimate backup. I'm not opposed to trading him.
It's a 22 game sample for a 21 year old in his first time in AAA.
Of course. But Yanks are in a spot where they have to decide whether to trade away a known quantity (Torres) without having the affirmative evidence for Volpe's MLB potential that they would ideally like to have.
That's a question mark.
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It's a 22 game sample for a 21 year old in his first time in AAA.
Of course. But Yanks are in a spot where they have to decide whether to trade away a known quantity (Torres) without having the affirmative evidence for Volpe's MLB potential that they would ideally like to have.
That's a question mark.
True. Still, trading Gleyber this offseason with two years of team control left probably nets you much more than next off season.
That they supposedly were willing to move him mid-season at the past deadline tells you all you need to know about how confident they are in being able to backfill his spot.
In any case, I don't dislike Gleyber, but he shouldn't be batting higher than 7 in this lineup.
They'll want Volpe to get 200ABs in AAA, and I wouldn't be shocked if we don't see an infield shakeup until the upcoming trade deadline, when they may finally be ready to go all-kid mode.
Saying IKF hits for average is like saying Gallo has a decent career slugging percentage. You're purposely ignoring what he doesn't bring to the table offensively, namely every thing else: power, walks, extra base hits, etc.
I'm all aboard giving Peraza a long look as the starting SS, presuming he has any kind of a decent spring training.
The hard decision is on trading away Torres given the uncertainties of all the other infield pieces, both vets and prospects, and Peraza is part of that overall picture.
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He is a very good CF. Bader would play in CF over him though.
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Volpe's Scranton stats were underwhelming.
It's a 22 game sample for a 21 year old in his first time in AAA.
shyster loves to overreact to laughably small sample sizes. He’s regurgitated this nonsense about Volpe about 20 times since the season ended.
He also follows up this doozy with saying Peraza looked overmatched in his ONE postseason start a few posts later, lol.
Wrong. That take might have been accurate 3-4 years ago. A couple years ago, the Mets had him play deeper and he has been a near-elite (if not elite) defender in CF since. He would be excellent defensively in LF, which would give the Yankees quite the defensive OF. If Bader got injured, he would step into CF seemlessly
That they supposedly were willing to move him mid-season at the past deadline tells you all you need to know about how confident they are in being able to backfill his spot.
Certainly significant, but recall that, as of the trade deadline, DJL was performing at All Star level. His performance went off a cliff about ten days later, and then it was a struggling month before he went on the injured list.
Donaldson was not doing nearly as well as DJL as of the deadline, but he also wasn't the feeble spectacle he presented in the playoffs.
Those developments put much more of a premium on what the Yanks think of the infield prospects, if they're going to deal away Torres.
Granted, he would have walked but imho, Too much, too long.