Yankees Spring Training News & Notes

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The homeruns are nice but we don't expect him to be a big power threat so I'd really love to see him flash some glove and on the bases. Obviously super stoked that he's already hitting well.
 

jon abbey

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NY signs Adam Lind to a minor league deal with an out at the end of spring training if he doesn't make the roster and doesn't want to go to AAA. He is not good against LHP but has always killed RHP, .852 career OPS and .898 last year. Bird health insurance, I guess...
 

jon abbey

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So maybe Lind bumps Austin back to AAA even though Bird is LHH, Austin is RHH, and Lind is another LHH, because that way NY can keep the depth and they are thin behind Bird at 1B otherwise. Current position player list to break camp, as I see it:

Gardner
Judge
Stanton
Sanchez
Bird
Hicks
Didi
Andujar 3B
Drury 2B

Wade
Lind
Romine
Ellsbury

Austin and Torreyes to AAA, along with Clint Frazier and Gleyber (temporarily).
 

jon abbey

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Not sure who Lind would be pinch-hitting for, but this is interesting, alltime ranks (not just current players):

Highest Career Slug Pct as PH (min. 150 PA):

Adam Lind .568
Glenallen Hill .561
Matt Adams .555
 

jon abbey

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Romine has been hitting but NY's dropoff behind Sanchez is still their biggest potential Achilles' heel currently. The Dodgers already didn't have the most certain bullpen ahead of Jansen and today they lost Tom Koehler for a while. Any of their top four catchers would be an upgrade for NY’s depth behind Sanchez, but Grandal in the last year of his deal seems like the one they'd most want to move. NY has too many relievers and should probably move a couple for 40 man space anyway. Cody Carroll is not on the 40 man yet and should be higher on the pecking order, maybe NY could move Ben Heller, who I love but who has not yet been able to break into NY's stacked pen, and they would still have German and Acevedo and Holder and Gallegos, Chance Adams and Carroll and Dillon Tate all not on the 40 man, all at AA or above and waiting.

Maybe a few more weeks for each team to better evaluate their guys and the other's, but there really seems like there should be a match here before the season starts. Reports have Ruiz and Farmer looking great so far and Grandal not so much, getting Grandal in March would be rough on Romine but I think you have to do that at a fair price.
 
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wallypip

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Has anyone seen the details of Lind's contract, opt-out, MLB clause, etc.? I have to believe that Lind wants to be more than a once a week player and has a pretty good out clause and expensive MLB clause.
 

DanoooME

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Has anyone seen the details of Lind's contract, opt-out, MLB clause, etc.? I have to believe that Lind wants to be more than a once a week player and has a pretty good out clause and expensive MLB clause.
Per Cot's:

1 year (2018)
  • signed by NY Yankees as a free agent 3/2/18 (minor-league contract with salary of $2M in majors)
  • may opt out at end of Spring Training if not on Major League roster
 

jon abbey

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Supposedly only one other team even inquired about him, and that was also just before he signed with NY. I don't think it'd be totally impossible for him to agree to go to Scranton, but I still think he'll make the team over Austin.
 

jon abbey

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Once Clint is back from his concussion, if the Scranton everyday OF is Frazier, Cave and McKinney, that is some nice head to head competition for next man up.
 

jon abbey

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So the details on the Lind deal are in:

"Adam Lind will earn base salary of $2 million if he makes #Yankees big league roster with $650k in incentives. If not on MLB roster by 3/22 or 6/1, he can request his release"

3/22 is a week before Opening Day, rosters don't have to be set yet. It really seems like it has to be one or the other of Lind/Austin and Austin has options but Austin kills lefties (as Chris Sale can attest to) and Lind can only hit righties. Bird/Austin is better roster construction but Lind is a better hitter/player in a vacuum, good luck making that call.

Only one other team asked about Lind and that was on a minor league deal also, so maybe if Bird/Austin stay healthy, Lind will go to Scranton until June 1 and see. If Bird goes down, a Lind/Austin platoon is solid, so the longer they can keep Lind around, the better.
 

jon abbey

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No surprises here, but NY makes their first cuts:

"Yankees announce they've reassigned RHP Cale Coshow, RHP Raynel Espinal, LHP Trevor Lane, C Chace Numata, LHP Justus Sheffield and RHP Dillon Tate to minor league camp."
 

Big John

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When they traded Beltran everyone thought that Dillon Tate was a steal, but he's done virtually nothing s a pro. He'll be 24 soon; hopefully he can get it together in the next year or two.
 

Wingack

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When they traded Beltran everyone thought that Dillon Tate was a steal, but he's done virtually nothing s a pro. He'll be 24 soon; hopefully he can get it together in the next year or two.
What are you talking about? He had a great year last year and was fine this spring training 4 IP, 1 run, 3 K's and 0 BBs.

These guys are getting sent down so they can get more work as Spring Training playing time now shifts to people closer to the majors.
 

jon abbey

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Yeah, TEX gave up on Tate very quickly, but he was always regarded as a possible high-ceiling project, not a definite steal. He was drafted in 2015, traded to NY in 2016, and didn't pitch much until last year when he was great in high A and solid in AA. He'll go back to AA this year, he'll likely be traded in the end, but he's done about as well as one could hope when NY traded for him (in exchange for 2 months of a fading DH/great clubhouse guy, one should keep in mind).
 

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The Yanks are deep in pitching prospects. If they have five elite kids to choose from, and two of them blossom into big league starters, that is going to be awesome.
 

Big John

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What are you talking about? He had a great year last year and was fine this spring training 4 IP, 1 run, 3 K's and 0 BBs.re work as Spring Training playing time now shifts to people closer to the majors.
Wasn't he the 4th overall pick in the draft? Since being drafted he's had one solid year in A and AA. His WHIP at Trenton was ok, not great, although he only pitched 25 innings in AA (small sample). It took him 3 years to get that high.
We'll see....
 

jon abbey

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Texas drafted him that highly, then changed his mechanics and gave up on him really quickly, it was strange. He doesn't have to be on the 40 man until next winter, same draft as Chance Adams, so they still have plenty of time to develop him if needed.

As Terry said, the number of high-ceiling pitching prospects in NY's system right now is ridiculous, one reason they could move a fairly promising guy like Widener in the Drury deal. I count 10 guys I'd consider legit SP prospects currently (Widener was 11), RAB has all ten of them in NY's top 15 prospects, mlb.com has all ten in NY's top 18, I think you can see how deep these lists are by how low Domingo German is on both of them, a 25 year old who has dominant stuff and crushed AAA down the stretch last year:

RAB:

Sheffield
Abreu
Adams
Tate
Medina
Perez
Sauer
Acevedo
Schmidt
German

mlb.com

Sheffield
Abreu
Adams
Medina
Perez
Acevedo
Tate
Sauer
Schmidt
German

When John Sickels does his top 200 overall prospects in MLB soon, I am guessing NY could get 7 or 8 pitchers in there (plus maybe 4 or 5 hitters, how long can these lists ignore Billy McKinney?). Tate is just another option.
 

terrynever

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Wasn't he the 4th overall pick in the draft? Since being drafted he's had one solid year in A and AA. His WHIP at Trenton was ok, not great, although he only pitched 25 innings in AA (small sample). It took him 3 years to get that high.
We'll see....
Nobody's saying Tate is a sure thing just because of his draft position. There are no sure things when it comes to pitching prospects. As Jon pointed out overnight, NY is flush with pitching prospects.
In my 60-plus years following the Yankees (almost as old as Coup), I have never seen this franchise so loaded with young pitching. Tate is just one of them. He could wash out, or he could develop into a solid big league starter over the next two or three seasons.
Some kid pitchers take longer than others, for a variety of reasons. And most of them don't pan out. But if you have 10 legit pitching prospects in your system, chances are good you get two of them through, and maybe trade two more for assets in other areas. Maybe one or two end up in the bullpen.
This is why following the Yankees' farm system has become fun again. Something interesting is happening almost every night at almost every level.
 

Big John

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I'm almost as old as you, and I agree with everything you say. The Yankees' farm system is loaded wth pitching, and that's a good thing. But I'm guessing that Sheffield, who is three years younger, throws from the left side and who also did some nice work in Trenton last year is a more valuable prospect than Tate.
 

jon abbey

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But I'm guessing that Sheffield, who is three years younger, throws from the left side and who also did some nice work in Trenton last year is a more valuable prospect than Tate.
Yeah, you don't have to guess, everyone thinks that except maybe Tate's mom.

Also they got Sheffield as one of the two lead prospects in exchange for 2 1/2 years of Andrew Miller, and again Tate was for two months of a largely washed up Beltran.
 

jon abbey

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Gleyber and Higashioka sent to AAA after today's game. See you in June, Mr. Torres.
 

terrynever

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Gleyber and Higashioka sent to AAA after today's game. See you in June, Mr. Torres.
Or September, depending upon Neil Walker's performance. He may light up the RF porch. Switch-hitter but his lefty pull hitting is intriguing.
 

jon abbey

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So maybe Lind bumps Austin back to AAA even though Bird is LHH, Austin is RHH, and Lind is another LHH, because that way NY can keep the depth and they are thin behind Bird at 1B otherwise. Current position player list to break camp, as I see it:

Gardner
Judge
Stanton
Sanchez
Bird
Hicks
Didi
Andujar 3B
Drury 2B

Wade
Lind
Romine
Ellsbury

Austin and Torreyes to AAA, along with Clint Frazier and Gleyber (temporarily).
So an update on where I think we are with the position player roster after Walker signed and Lind was released, two weeks before Opening Day:

Gardner
Judge
Stanton
Sanchez
Bird
Hicks
Didi
Drury 3B
Walker 2B

Wade
Austin
Romine
Torreyes (la cucaracha) or McKinney maybe (assuming Ellsbury is not ready)

Andujar and Gleyber try to get into a groove in AAA, both only have a couple of months there so far. Throw in McKinney and Clint once he recovers and even Higashioka and that is a scary middle of the order for Scranton opponents.
 

jon abbey

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Tyler Wade has definitely made the team, will split 2B with Walker and both may fill in elsewhere also.

Also ATL returned rule 5 pick Anyelo Gomez and he was assigned to Scranton. Still out there are two pitchers in BAL (Cortes, Mesa) and a 1B in SEA (Ford), Ford and Mesa should be offered back soon and we'll see about Cortes, who is scheduled to face NY again tomorrow. Put in that A lineup, Aaron... :)
 

jon abbey

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Austin and McKinney both sent down and Ellsbury will be on the DL, so NY will go with 13 pitchers (why?), I guess Holder or Cessa as the last one. So their bench to start will be Romine, Wade or Walker and Torreyes. and Scranton will be hilariously loaded for now.

"Prior to tonight’s game, the Yankees optioned INF/OF Tyler Austin, RHP Giovanny Gallegos, RHP Ben Heller and OF Billy McKinney to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre."
 

jon abbey

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Chapman is a big guy, that odd ad really makes you realize how giant Betances is.
 

jon abbey

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Yeah, I put the full lineup in the rolling game thread, this might be what they go with against lefties.
 

jon abbey

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Jonathan Holder gets the temporary 8th reliever spot until Ellsbury is ready to be added a week or two in, German thankfully sent down to stay stretched out since he is by far their best 6th SP option currently.
 

terrynever

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Marly Rivera with an ominous tweet about Greg Bird's latest foot injury:

"The Yankees announced that Greg Bird had an initial exam with a specialist in Tampa and will undergo "further diagnostic tests"; will include a CT scan and an MRI in his right foot. Bird was scratched from a split-squad game today due to a sore right foot and was then examined by a doctor. The 25-year-old first baseman had surgery to remove a bone from his troublesome right ankle last year."
 

jon abbey

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Yeah, I wouldn't jump to good or bad conclusions yet there, because after this happened last year and was misdiagnosed for months, I'm sure they want to test everything possible just in case.

Adam Lind is still a FA, FWIW...
 

terrynever

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Yeah, I wouldn't jump to good or bad conclusions yet there, because after this happened last year and was misdiagnosed for months, I'm sure they want to test everything possible just in case.

Adam Lind is still a FA, FWIW...
Walker played first base today. He's a great fit on this roster.
 

jon abbey

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Mike Ford was returned by Seattle today, so that helps the 1B depth some also. He actually had been coming on strong the last week or so and had his OPS up to almost .900, but Vogelbach has been literally the best hitter in MLB this March, plus Healy and Cruz at DH and there was just no room for Ford. Welcome back!
 

jon abbey

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We will know more about Bird tomorrow or Tuesday after he sees a specialist in NYC, but the x-rays aren't showing anything wrong besides inflammation.

In the meantime, NY has plenty of options, 1B will probably be covered by a combo of Walker/Austin to start, Walker had a .854 OPS against righties last year (just behind Jose Abreu) and Austin has destroyed lefties whenever healthy and given a chance (1.164 OPS against lefties the last two seasons combined, admittedly only 44 PAs but he has killed them in AAA also). That means more Wade at 2B and Andujar and Torres still waiting in AAA (along with McKinney, Frazier and Mike Ford).