Off Topic · Yankees Talk thread (page 507)

I don't think they wanna rush Severino or Ian Clarkin (you figure Severino's at least a year away; Clarkin hasn't even pitched yet this year--he's prob. 2+ years away), so you figure the big rotation tweaks we can make from within might be calling up Bryan Mitchell at some point, followed by Capuano (doesn't excite me at all, although he was decent for us last year and they are paying him $5mm) and hopefully getting Nova back at some point after the all-star break (would be great but I'm not holding my breath--I think he's gonna need more time than that). I think with a tweak here and there, the offense can sustain and the bullpen is a big plus, esp. the 2 backend guys...The rotation is clearly the biggest concern. CC's just an average to below-average pitcher now, Eovaldi's still evolving (hard to believe he gets hit as hard as he does, esp. now pitching in a different league where no one has seen him. He threw a ton of splits/changeups during spring training to good effect. Where's that pitch now?? He's gotta throw those more imo). There's clearly a need for another capable starter. I just don't see the big move for Cole Hasmels -- he could help but I dunno--he's over 30, already given up 8 HRs (how does this guy translate over to the better-hitting AL?), and his salary is an absolute albatross -- he's set to make something like $22.5mm a season through 2019 or 2020). Plus he'd cost a ton in terms of prospects -- you know Philly would ask for the moon. If we're gonna empty the cupboard for a starter, I want a bonafide ace, not a 2 or a 3 masquerading as one.

They're good enough to win this division and get back in the playoffs. I'm convinced of that--I hope they are. I hope they see the need to be spenders, esp. on a rotation arm if our own internal options to enhance go nowhere. I'd love to see them stay clear of the big splash move for a Cole Hamels -- I'd rather see them look into making an opportunistic trade for a good young arm, someone like a Danny Salazar. I've wanted Salazar since last year. Cleveland lost their starting catcher, Yan Gomes, a couple of weeks ago to a knee injury and their backup catcher, Roberto Perez, is barely cutting it hitting .173. Salazar didn't even make the Indians out of spring training -- that was the time to pounce. Ever since being called up a few weeks ago he's been very good, including an 11 K performance yesterday (4-1, 3.27 ERA, league hitting only .200 against him, 48 Ks in 33 IP). We had a window to try to get this guy -- it's gonna be hard now. Still, I'd call up Cleveland and feel them out on this--they'd probably want to hold onto Salazar now esp. with Kluber not pitching well, but I'd give them a call to see if they'd have an interest in a package built around Gary Sanchez/Austin Romine and see where that lead. Probably nowhere but you never know... I'd much rather go after a young, salary-controlled youngster like a Danny Salazar over Cole Hamels.

Well that was better from CC, esp the first 6 innings. It amazes me that a guy with good enough control to have almost a 4:1 K:BB ratio the last 2 years gives up this many home runs.

CC's 'stuff' has greatly diminished. And on top of the diminished stuff, the man can barely get off the mound to cover 1B, to field a bunt, etc...It's sad knowing that going into any particular game CC's scheduled to start we're not holding an advantage anymore. We're at a disadvantage in those games now in fact. The man's extremely hittable now...Just hoping for the best -- hoping he doesn't give up too many runs and keeps us in the game and then hoping for length. It's tough not expecting to win the games CC starts now. Last night was about the best we can hope for. He went 7 and spared Joe from using the big guns in the bullpen (our offense really deserves most of the credit here), we scored some runs (the offense really needs to produce BIG when this guy pitches) and he kept us in the game (really only had the one poor inning). He deserves credit for last night's effort but we're at a point now where you hold your breath every time he takes the mound...Thank God Tanaka looks OK and ready to rejoin the team soon..

Just glanced at CC's contract -- we have 2 more years after this season with CC at $25mm apiece. That just kills any flexibility we'll have over the next couple of years. He's got the worst contract on the team, probably one of the worst in baseball. At least A-Rod and Tex are producing...I really wish that in the future, when they choose to sign another player to a big-money deal, they decide to frontload the contract. It makes much more sense to pay a player the bulk of the money when he's at his best, not when his skills have eroded. You'd also want a chance to move a guy toward the end of a big deal if the need arose or to transition him into a lesser role without thinking about the money he's set to make, that you need to get some kind of return on the monster investment.

Hopefully CC turns things slightly around now and becomes mediocre. With Tanaka, Capuano and Nova coming back, this could be a nice rotation in front of one killer Bull pen.

Does an outfield of Gardy, Elsbury and Chris Young make anyone as giddy as I am? Three guys with centerfielder speed playing the outfield. No one's got Beltran's gun of an arm, but that is one nice defensive outfield.

Losing 3 out of 4 to the Rays really stings. I was counting on getting outta there with a split. And now Chase Whitley's out with an elbow injury. No official word yet but I have a feeling he's gonna need TJ surgery..

Looks like there will be an opportunity for Bryan Mitchell now. Mitchell was bad in his last minor league start -- on 5/11/15 he only lasted 0.1 of an inning, 6 earned runs... Much better stuff than Whitley however. Better stuff than Shane Greene too--I think Mitchell's part of the reason they felt comfortable giving up Greene to get Gregorius. Can't understand though how a kid that throws 95+ with a great hook has been that mediocre in the minors so far. Hopefully he can come in and perform better in the majors a-la Greene (Greene was only mediocre in the minors up until his call-up last year as well). Mitchell made one start in Baltimore along with a couple of relief appearances last year and looked pretty good. He's gonna get a shot coming up (unless they elect to go with Capuano instead--I think he's close to being ready. Capuano and Stephen Drew were both given 1 yr/$5mm contracts--if those guys are physically able, they're both gonna play and get a long leash, a longer leash than others. Personally, I really don't care for either guy. I wish we could've saved that $10mm and used it on a better SS option like Jung-Ho Kang or Jed Lowrie and kept Greene. Oh well.). Let's see what happens.

Finestrg wrote:Losing 3 out of 4 to the Rays really stings. I was counting on getting outta there with a split. And now Chase Whitley's out with an elbow injury. No official word yet but I have a feeling he's gonna need TJ surgery..

Looks like there will be an opportunity for Bryan Mitchell now. Mitchell was bad in his last minor league start -- on 5/11/15 he only lasted 0.1 of an inning, 6 earned runs... Much better stuff than Whitley however. Better stuff than Shane Greene too--I think Mitchell's part of the reason they felt comfortable giving up Greene to get Gregorius. Can't understand though how a kid that throws 95+ with a great hook has been that mediocre in the minors so far. Hopefully he can come in and perform better in the majors a-la Greene (Greene was only mediocre in the minors up until his call-up last year as well). Mitchell made one start in Baltimore along with a couple of relief appearances last year and looked pretty good. He's gonna get a shot coming up (unless they elect to go with Capuano instead--I think he's close to being ready. Capuano and Stephen Drew were both given 1 yr/$5mm contracts--if those guys are physically able, they're both gonna play and get a long leash, a longer leash than others. Personally, I really don't care for either guy. I wish we could've saved that $10mm and used it on a better SS option like Jung-Ho Kang or Jed Lowrie and kept Greene. Oh well.). Let's see what happens.

Yeah, that was really disappointing. I still think this is a good team but they need to be major buyers by the deadline if they want to contend.

Bonn1997 wrote:

Finestrg wrote:Losing 3 out of 4 to the Rays really stings. I was counting on getting outta there with a split. And now Chase Whitley's out with an elbow injury. No official word yet but I have a feeling he's gonna need TJ surgery..

Looks like there will be an opportunity for Bryan Mitchell now. Mitchell was bad in his last minor league start -- on 5/11/15 he only lasted 0.1 of an inning, 6 earned runs... Much better stuff than Whitley however. Better stuff than Shane Greene too--I think Mitchell's part of the reason they felt comfortable giving up Greene to get Gregorius. Can't understand though how a kid that throws 95+ with a great hook has been that mediocre in the minors so far. Hopefully he can come in and perform better in the majors a-la Greene (Greene was only mediocre in the minors up until his call-up last year as well). Mitchell made one start in Baltimore along with a couple of relief appearances last year and looked pretty good. He's gonna get a shot coming up (unless they elect to go with Capuano instead--I think he's close to being ready. Capuano and Stephen Drew were both given 1 yr/$5mm contracts--if those guys are physically able, they're both gonna play and get a long leash, a longer leash than others. Personally, I really don't care for either guy. I wish we could've saved that $10mm and used it on a better SS option like Jung-Ho Kang or Jed Lowrie and kept Greene. Oh well.). Let's see what happens.

Yeah, that was really disappointing. I still think this is a good team but they need to be major buyers by the deadline if they want to contend.

I may have spoken too soon!

Bonn1997 wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

Finestrg wrote:Losing 3 out of 4 to the Rays really stings. I was counting on getting outta there with a split. And now Chase Whitley's out with an elbow injury. No official word yet but I have a feeling he's gonna need TJ surgery..

Looks like there will be an opportunity for Bryan Mitchell now. Mitchell was bad in his last minor league start -- on 5/11/15 he only lasted 0.1 of an inning, 6 earned runs... Much better stuff than Whitley however. Better stuff than Shane Greene too--I think Mitchell's part of the reason they felt comfortable giving up Greene to get Gregorius. Can't understand though how a kid that throws 95+ with a great hook has been that mediocre in the minors so far. Hopefully he can come in and perform better in the majors a-la Greene (Greene was only mediocre in the minors up until his call-up last year as well). Mitchell made one start in Baltimore along with a couple of relief appearances last year and looked pretty good. He's gonna get a shot coming up (unless they elect to go with Capuano instead--I think he's close to being ready. Capuano and Stephen Drew were both given 1 yr/$5mm contracts--if those guys are physically able, they're both gonna play and get a long leash, a longer leash than others. Personally, I really don't care for either guy. I wish we could've saved that $10mm and used it on a better SS option like Jung-Ho Kang or Jed Lowrie and kept Greene. Oh well.). Let's see what happens.

Yeah, that was really disappointing. I still think this is a good team but they need to be major buyers by the deadline if they want to contend.

I may have spoken too soon!

And now, maybe not?

Well we've limped back into first place! I think this is an above .500 team but needs major work to contend. George would do whatever it takes in season to make that happen. I hope these Steinbrenners will too. I think they have a good enough foundation to contend (esp with Pineda and Tanaka in a best of 7 series) but will need to make major in season improvements.

Some things to be positive about:

(1) Just a little over .500 but in 1st place and 1st place means playoffs. That's all that matters--that we get in the playoffs, not that we win 120 games.

(2) Ellsbury will be back, hopefully by the end of June if not before.

(3) Tanaka's back today. Huge shot in the arm. Ivan Nova's about to start his rebab assignment and might be back in about a month too. Tanaka, Pineda, Nova, CC, Warren (who's been good btw, esp. at home). Provided there's no more setbacks for Tanaka and Nova comes back close to where he was before, that's good enough to win with. Huge getting Tanaka and Nova back... It's like making a trade for 2 starters w/o giving up a thing!

(4) Drew came through last night finally but he's been AWFUL. Listening to the Michael Kay show yesterday--they had Cashman on and he flat out said 2B is a problem and hinted that we may see Refsnyder sooner than later. Ref's had a rough 10 days or so but on 5/22 he was at .300. Hitting .276 now, not terrible considering he got off to such a rough start. Was reading an article where he said he's not worrying about making mistakes at 2B anymore--that he's gonna go out and "play 2B like he plays it." F it--good for him. That's how ya gotta approach it...He's got 11 errors but a lot of those were made early on. He's also had quite a few great plays over there. It'll come. Offensively he's ready. I think we could be looking at Gregg Jeffries worst case, hopefully Ian Kinsler eventually, all the way up to Dustin Pedroia if everything breaks right. Kay made a good point, saying you can't just "bring up the kids" while competing for a pennant--you need stability, I get that, but if Drew's only gonna hit .160, that's a problem. Kay said yesterday that he has the worst average in the entire league, maybe in baseball, out of anyone with enough ABs to qualify for the batting title.. Ref can offer way more than that--just needs to get to a point where he's at least serviceable at 2B. I think he's close--most of his problems seem to be throwing. He's a good athlete with range at 2B. Made a diving play to snag a line drive up the middle several games back that was UNBELIEBVABLE!! Surprised Pirela hasn't stepped up and performed better..

(5) Didi's starting to hit a little bit now. He's a good SS -- rangy with a dynamite arm. If he can start contributing with that bat, that'd be huge. I actually like his swing. He's got potential at the plate, just might take a little bit. Starting to see some progress now. Eventually Didi and Refsnyder could really transform the bottom of the order into a real strength. He shouldn't be feeling any pressure. There's been no mention of Jeter at all and nobody's expecting a thing from him after such a poor start. Only way to go now is up!

(6) Wow, David Carpenter has been TERRIBLE, huh? Dude can't get anybody out. I can't figure it at all -- his stuff looks good enough. Chris Martin was just activated--they're easing him back at AAA right now. When he comes back, he'll be an upgrade over Carpenter for sure. Martin was lights out early on, then faltered a little before going down with the elbow tendonitis. I like Martin a lot. Great pickup. Meanwhile, Shreve's been very good.

(7) Some nice depth to fill in if need be -- this dude Flores looks good in the OF (esp. defensively), Heathcott looked good before going down and I still like Bryan Mitchell a lot. Mitchell could be a better option as a long man for us over Rogers and Capuano (feel like every time Rogers pitches, all he does is pour gas on the fire). Assimilating Warren back into a bullpen role (where he was good last year) and letting Mitchell start is another option (probably not, Warren's been good as a starter this year, esp. at home, but it's an option to consider). God forbid we have anymore setbacks with the rotation, I'd like to see Mitchell get a shot over Capuano. Cappy had his chance and didn't do anything with it. Let Mitchell take a crack at it next. He just threw 8 innings of shutout ball his last outing. Was reading somewhere that he could be another Shane Greene--a guy that was mediocre for some reason throughout the minors but eventually found it at the higher levels. I agree with that. Better stuff than Greene too. His overall numbers at Scranton are decent: 3-4, 3.20 ERA in 10 starts, .225 BA against, 0 HRs in 50 IP.

You hearing/reading anything about Aaron Judge? Other than using him as fodder in really bad trades for a an old bat?

jrodmc wrote:You hearing/reading anything about Aaron Judge? Other than using him as fodder in really bad trades for a an old bat?

Judge is hitting .295 at AA Trenton, 13 2Bs, 8 HRs, 31 RBI. Dude's a keeper. For once, I wanna see us plan on using these handful of top prospects when they're ready. We've spent time developing these guys, let's see them in the show eventually. Especially the more advanced prospects who are close: Judge, Refsnyder, Bird, Eric Jagielo, Severino, Clarkin...We're an aging team -- I wanna see us transition over to these young studs when the time comes...Last thing I wanna see is most of them dealt to Philly for Cole Hamels or for a vet bat who's at the end of the line--I agree.

Man was Tanaka AWESOME today or what? WOW...To throw it like he did today, his first game back...Unreal... He had everything working -- good curve/slider mix, the 2-seamer had life and crazy movement (looked like a friggin' screwball on TV ), and his velocity was way up (hit 95 quite a few times--9th K came on a 96 MPH 4-seamer, the last pitch he threw). It was the best the man's looked all year, maybe since becoming a Yankee. Beyond impressive and encouraging. That's the good news...

On the questionable front: the Manny Banuelos trade is officially a STINKER. Said it at the time -- how the F do you deal a young, front-end lefty starter for 2 relievers you didn't even need?!? Now one of those relievers, David Carpenter, has been DFA. Very surprised about that btw. Flash was saying it on the telecast -- we could've just optioned Jacob Lindgren back to AAA to make room for Tanaka and not lost anyone but chose to designate Carpenter for assignment. I know he's been awful but to just cut the guy loose like that? I mean Martin's not even ready yet. Betances is the only important righty in the pen right now I believe (Rogers is trash). Shows what the Yankees thought of him and his ability to turn it around...Shreve's been decent but come on, dude's a middle reliever/long man. Banuelos at AAA this year for ATL btw: 4-0 in 10 starts, 2.39 ERA, 52.2 IP, .226 BA against. Win some, lose some--we definitely lost out on that deal. Supposedly we have 10 days to trade Carpenter -- hopefully we can get something for him. Deal should've never been made. We had plenty of young, promising relievers from both sides -- Branden Pinder(R), Danny Burawa(R), Lindgren(L), Tyler Webb(L) -- we didn't need Carpenter or Shreve. The only way you deal Banuelos to ATL is if you get Justin Upton back in the deal, or maybe a Craig Kimbrel, not for what we got. How bad did they want Banuelos? I mean we just gave him away..SMH man..

Glad they won but it was a brutal ninth inning tonight.

Nice run recently but a bad loss today. This 2nd game against the Nats was winnable. Agree with Jack Curry on the post game -- OK, Miller wasn't available today but with the off-day Monday and an off-day tomorrow, why the heck wasn't Betances in their late locking this one down?? Yesterday was the day Dellin should've had off -- did he really need to make an appearance in a 6-1 game?? Also, didn't affect the outcome because we never got back to his spot in the lineup but when Tex leads off with the single late, I don't like pinch running for him there. I don't care that he's on the slow side -- you don't know how long an extra inning game can go--I don't like him taking our most potent bat out of the lineup like that. Just play it traditional -- bunt him over and take 2 cracks to try and score him on a base hit. He's got enough wheels to score on a base hit to the OF. Make them throw you out--it takes a perfect throw to throw out even a slow runner...Replay clearly showed Didi was safe at 2nd btw -- I guess it wasn't 'clear and convincing' enough to get overturned. Certainly looked clear to me once it was replayed in slow-mo..

Miller going down is a huge loss, even if it's just for 15 days or so. No idea what they do to reshuffle in the pen. Betances will now close but who gets the 8th inning? Justin Wilson? Does Warren go back to a short-man role in the pen and do they look to replace him in the rotation with Bryan Mitchell (3 real good outings in a row in the minors -- I'm dying to see this kid -- tops out at 97 with a great 12 to 6 hook)? Do they call up righties Danny Burawa/Branden Pinder or lefty Tyler Webb? Not sure what they think they have with Jacob Lindgren btw -- I definitely don't see a lights out reliever. Doesn't throw overly hard and that slider's not as good as advertised imho. Not the break or depth to it that I expected to see. The way they were talking about this kid and how he was fast-tracked to the majors -- I was expecting Dave Righetti. Decent-looking lefty middle reliever, that's about all I see. We'll see--still early, maybe I'm rushing to judgment on him a little. He did have some good success in the minors before his callup... Some disconcerting news about the Miller injury -- as of right now the official word is a 'strained flexor muscle' of the left forearm but I dunno man -- some poster commented on Yankees.com (the Miller injury article) that he actually may have a torn UCL. Can't confirm that anywhere else on the Net so it might be BS but if that's true...WOW. That'll mean TJ surgery and he'll be gone for the year. Fingers and toes crossed it's only the forearm. Stay tuned. Also saw that both Girardi and Miller himself said tests revealed no major damage (including scans of the elbow which ruled out the possibility of TJ) which is why I think it's BS but we'll see..

Looks like we had a productive draft -- was just reading up on this UCLA pitcher we got with the 16th pick, right hand starting pitcher James Kaprielian. My brother-in-law was talking him up yesterday. Looks like a good selection -- 6'4" 200, 89-92 with the fastball topping out at 95 with a real good curveball. A lot of success pitching in the competitive Pac-10 and also for Team USA. Being compared to Ian Kennedy stuff-wise and projects as a possible #3 starter or better. Not terrible. Sounds like a good safe pick...We better hope this lefty Brady Aiken who the Indians took one pick after us at 17 doesn't turn out to be all world. This was the kid outta HS the Astros took #1 overall in 2014 but then never signed after it was revealed he had elbow inflammation, plus they weren't on the same page with the signing bonus. Not signing wound up costing this kid $5-6mm... He enrolled at the IGM Academy in Florida shortly thereafter but was removed early on in his first outing with elbow discomfort and he eventually needed TJ surgery. Slipped to 17 in the draft this year. Still man, if you look at this kid's stuff, it's electric. David Price-like. I hope we did our due diligence before passing on him.

I'm surprised they still haven't made any major moves all season. The team is reasonably good but not contenders.

Off topic, but Mariano Rivera's son is now suiting up for the Auburn Doubledays (Nationals affiliate).

Born and raised in Auburn, figured I'd head to the ball park and catch his first start after moving from the bullpen. Turns out pop was in the stands. Probably not a big deal for guys in the city, but for someone from CNY who's never made it out to a live Yankee game, I was a bit star struck during the game.

The sad news is that Mariano River III is not his father - got smacked around pretty good and only lasted 3 innings. Still, hoping III can make some adjustments, and hoping senior shows up for another game or two.

Wow, what an awesome game to be at. And great pictures btw!!

On vacation but I've been monitoring what's been going on--glad to see Ellsbury and Miller back and the team in 1st place.

What ever happened to Chris Martin in the bullpen? Did he have a setback or something? I thought he had made it back a couple of weeks ago but he hasn't made any appearances recently (unless I missed it). This guy performed well early on in the season. Now that Miller's back, the bullpen's back to being deep and stable. Shreve/Wilson (both have been real good lately with defined roles) followed by Betances and Miller should be lights out. I think Martin could only enhance that even further. Just curious what the deal is with him.

And don't forget to vote for Gardy for the final AL all-star spot. Very easy -- just go to Yankees.com and click the red-colored Gardner link, register and vote as many times as you can. Let's see if we can squeeze Gardy in there. Last I read he was trailing 3 other players..

I had heard they moved Warren to the bullpen to make room for Nova. He apparently wasn't all that thrilled. Maybe Chris Martin got bumped in the move?

Gardy better make the team. Although, I think I'd rather him pass on it and stay healthy. It would be just like us to have Ellsbury back and have Gardy go down with a hammy or something...

Gardy's in!! Wasn't even part of the final vote -- I read he was an injury replacement selected by the manager. Good for him, man. Well deserved.

Finestrg wrote:Gardy's in!! Wasn't even part of the final vote -- I read he was an injury replacement selected by the manager. Good for him, man. Well deserved.

Yeah, and he gets the news during the game where he's hitting and scoring like he's the face of the franchise! Ellsbury who?
Seriously, the dude is so freaking fast...