NY roster 2016

jon abbey

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It's good to have a dedicated thread for roster moves, so here's where we stand, with NY hoping to solidify the 25 man roster by the time they break camp tomorrow:

=====================================================

C: McCann
1B: Teixeira
2B: Castro
SS: Gregorius
3B: Headley
LF: Gardner
CF: Ellsbury
RF: Beltran
DH: A-Rod

bench: Romine, Ackley, Hicks, Torreyes

rotation: Tanaka, Eovaldi, Severino, Pineda, Sabathia
bullpen: Nova, ???, ???, Mitchell, Shreve, Betances, Miller (Chapman suspended the first 30 games)

=====================================================

Torreyes wins the backup infield job over Kozma and Romine gets the backup catcher spot over Corporan, so all that's left is two bullpen spots, with the favorites being Kirby Yates and Johnny Barbato.
 

jon abbey

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Nova with six strong scoreless innings today against the Braves, the 5th starter job isn't completely CC's yet, although it would have been a lot better for Nova if he'd done that last start too.
 

jon abbey

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If he works out, another very nice move by Cashman moving one year of Shawn Kelley for him in winter 2014. Kelley is solid, but he got a 3/15 deal this winter, and Barbato of course still has plenty of cost-controlled years to go.
 

jon abbey

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Yankee Opening Day roster is officially set, CC unsurprisingly officially get the 5th starter spot, and Kirby Yates seemingly begrudgingly gets the final bullpen spot.

=====================================================

C: McCann
1B: Teixeira
2B: Castro
SS: Gregorius
3B: Headley
LF: Gardner
CF: Ellsbury
RF: Beltran
DH: A-Rod

bench: Romine, Ackley, Hicks, Torreyes

rotation: Tanaka, Pineda, Eovaldi, Severino, Sabathia
bullpen: Nova, Yates, Barbato, Cessa, Shreve, Betances, Miller (Chapman suspended the first 30 games)

=====================================================

At least one of the Yates/Barbato/Cessa trio will need to be solid over the first 30 games, or things could get ugly before Chapman gets back. They were really counting on Mitchell as the second righty, big loss.

On an unrelated note, I've seen more than one beat writer name Ellsbury as the most indispensable Yankee. From my perspective, he is actually the most replaceable of the starters, Hicks would be an instant upgrade on D, possibly on offense too, plus he would allow Girardi more batting order flexibility (obv no one is stopping him from moving Ellsbury down if he wants, but I'll believe it when I see it). Teixeira or McCann or Didi (Castro would presumably move to SS with Refsnyder or Ackley to 2B, a defensive downgrade at both positions) seem much more irreplaceable.
 

jon abbey

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They said at the end of last year he would be, they say this year that he is not, but it's a reasonable bet he is and they just don't want to make it public. He did throw 162 innings last year over three levels, so it wouldn't be an issue for a while, and I guess they figure they'll deal with it then, if NY is still in contention and if he doesn't miss any starts along the way for whatever reason.
 

jon abbey

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This is quite exciting from a macro perspective, the average age should continue to drop over the next two seasons:

"The Yankees started the season with the roster’s average age under 30 for the first time since 1992. The average age of the 2016 Opening Day roster is 29 years and 99 days."
 

jon abbey

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He has a June 15th optout, NY will keep a close eye on his 1B defense in AAA and Ackley's in the bigs. Ackley didn't look adequate in his first game there yesterday, only his 9th career MLB start there.
 

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No matter where he is these days, I love me some Nick Swisher and would love if he could find his way back onto the big league roster. Always one of my favorite Yankees.
 

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No matter where he is these days, I love me some Nick Swisher and would love if he could find his way back onto the big league roster. Always one of my favorite Yankees.
Well having mrs Joanna Garcia Swisher around the game certainly makes me happy. Even if I as a Sox fan hate Nick
 

jon abbey

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The thing is that he can't play OF competently anymore, and it's highly unlikely he can hit much, so his only potential value would be as a reliable defensive 1B and maybe a clubhouse presence. Ackley has been an odd fit on this roster ever since they traded for Castro and Hicks, so there is an opening there, but ideally it's for someone more versatile than the current incarnation of Swisher.

I think this is mostly a favor to an old contributor, give him some AAA ABs at a position of relative weakness after Bird got hurt and maybe they'll catch lightning in a bottle, but chances are really good he'll opt out in June when he can (well, if anyone else wants him, which I guess is far from certain).
 

jon abbey

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NY has a ton of potential room on the 40 man roster now because of injuries: they have 39 spots currently filled, but Bird, Mitchell, and Rumbelow can all go on the 60 day list whenever NY needs.
 

jon abbey

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NY makes a slightly odd move, sending down Luis Cessa and recalling Tyler Olson. Presumably they'd prefer to have an extra lefty against the Mariners and they'd also like Cessa to be stretched out as a starter if he's not desperately needed in the bullpen, but Olson threw 69 pitches on the 11th (4 shutout innings) so if he pitched today, that would be three days rest. I guess they don't especially care about being careful with Olson as he's not a prospect, but this move still would have made more sense to me tomorrow when Olson would be fully rested.
 

jon abbey

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Severino left the game with a '"mild triceps strain" after throwing 81 pitches in 3 innings, he will go on the 15 day DL and won't pick up a ball for 5-7 days.

Chad Green is up for tomorrow's game, he was scheduled to start tomorrow so can give them length if they need. Presumably he will stay up until Severino's spot comes around, then they can always bring up Cessa and send down Green or someone else. Green has been very good in AAA so far this year, only 5 ERs total allowed in 7 starts, a 1.22 ERA:

http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?player_id=643338#/gamelogs/R/pitching/2016/MINORS

Anyone who wasn't sure why Cashman moved Justin Wilson for Green and Cessa in the offseason, now you see. Those two are their 5th and 6th starters right now.
 

jon abbey

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Addition by subtraction, he really should never have been on the roster once they traded for Castro.
 

jon abbey

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Sounds like it might be season-ending, Parmelee up to NY, Tyler Austin up to AAA. It could even theoretically be the end of his career, and certainly his career in NY as his contract is finally up.
 

jon abbey

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And now Parmelee hurt his hamstring, it looked pretty bad, MRI should confirm that. NY has now lost their top four options at 1B, Tex/Bird/Ackley/Parmelee.

They have Swisher in AAA, who has been pretty horrible and really shouldn't be an option. Tyler Austin (top 100 MLB prospect after 2013 and still only 24) has been raking in his week or so at AAA, but I think the best option might be to bring up Gary Sanchez, and let McCann/Romine/Sanchez and Refsnyder handle C and 1B between them. Sanchez was taking grounders at 1B in AAA before the Parmelee injury, FWIW.
 

jon abbey

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Sanchez played today, 1-4 with a HBP.

NY signs Ike Davis to a major league deal, he'll presumably platoon at 1B with Refsnyder. Davis is 29 with a career split of .794 OPS against RHP (.578 vs. LHP) and is supposed to be a good defender, seems like a nice pickup for a team who has lost their top four options at 1B.
 

jon abbey

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Heh, Davis' splits in AAA this year are even more extreme, a .910 OPS in 128 PAs against RHP and a .315 OPS in 33 PAs against LHP (3 for 30).

NY hasn't had a lot of strict single position platoons in recent years but Davis and Refsnyder seem like they will be one at 1B at least until Tex and/or Parmelee are back.
 

jon abbey

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Teixeira finished his 3 game AAA rehab 1 for 9 with a walk, right in line with his awful performance all year.
 

jon abbey

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Huh, that's a little odd, I wonder if it means Nova or Pineda or Eovaldi is being traded. Severino has been pitching OK in AAA but not anywhere near as dominant as he was there last year, and not anywhere near as well as Chad Green has been in AAA this year. I figured Warren would fill Chapman's spot.
 

jon abbey

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OK, so Severino is up because Green threw 2.1 innings yesterday and NY needed a fresh emergency long man, and Severino was scheduled to start in AAA tonight and is already on the 40 man. Seems like there is a good chance he will go back once Warren is available...

"Severino was due to start (in Triple-A)," Cashman said. "He was the obvious (choice). He was coming off a tremendous outing and has been going in the right direction. Think his last outing, he struck out 11 guys. So it was an obvious choice. He was on the roster. He was due to start today. Let’s bang him from the start in Triple-A and have him as an availability for us at the big league level in the event that something happens in the game early with our starter or you go long and you need length because you have a game like we had Saturday here in New York, that we have coverage. As you know, the pitching staff is something that’s an evolving situation and you have to protect guys from overuse. We had a very healthy, strong and fresh arm that could come in here and be used as Joe and Larry see fit."

http://www.lohud.com/story/sports/mlb/lohud-yankees/2016/07/25/-rod-bench-luis-severino-bullpen/87543778/
 

jon abbey

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Shreve goes back to AAA to clear space for Warren, a little odd as he hasn't given up a run since coming back up, but maybe Swarzak and Bleier have no options and Cashman doesn't want to lose them quite yet?

Severino staying up and in the bullpen is also strange to me, it's not even an innings issue (he was over 160 last year and is around 100 currently). There must be more moves expected this week, maybe Nova gone.
 

jon abbey

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How long of a leash does Aaron Hicks have? He has an amazingly strong (not always accurate) arm and pretty good range defensively (although his nonchalance can be infuriating), but holy cow has he not hit at all this year.

He has the second worst OPS of any player in the entire AL, any position (200 ABs minimum), at .546 (Yan Gomes is at .512). When does NY give up on him and give one of the many promising guys in AAA (Judge. Gamel, Mason Williams, Cave, Puello) a shot? They have Fowler and now McKinney in AA, they need to decide who to protect this offseason and some major league ABs would help. Hicks has no options, so it would be DFA for him. It's a shame to give up on someone that athletic because sometimes they figure it out later like Eduardo Nunez, but you can only wait on guys for so long.
 

terrynever

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How long of a leash does Aaron Hicks have? He has an amazingly strong (not always accurate) arm and pretty good range defensively (although his nonchalance can be infuriating), but holy cow has he not hit at all this year.

He has the second worst OPS of any player in the entire AL, any position (200 ABs minimum), at .546 (Yan Gomes is at .512). When does NY give up on him and give one of the many promising guys in AAA (Judge. Gamel, Mason Williams, Cave, Puello) a shot? They have Fowler and now McKinney in AA, they need to decide who to protect this offseason and some major league ABs would help. Hicks has no options, so it would be DFA for him. It's a shame to give up on someone that athletic because sometimes they figure it out later like Eduardo Nunez, but you can only wait on guys for so long.
Is Cashman forcing Girardi to use Hicks?
 

jon abbey

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No, Joe is trying to keep Beltran healthy by DHing him as much as possible, and Hicks is the only option (and still a decided upgrade defensively).
 

jon abbey

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Most GMs won't DFA guys this time of year, waiting to see how the deadline shakes out. That being said, it's possible (although quite quite stupid) that Hal and Randy won't let them DFA him even after the deadline.
 

E5 Yaz

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I have no idea, but do you think they'd release before 700?
 

jon abbey

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I have no idea, but do you think they'd release before 700?
I mean, he's not playing at all, he hasn't had a single AB in a week, so it's going to be hard to get to 700 that way.
 

terrynever

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This is another issue that hinges on whether the Yanks think being wild card contenders is a good idea in the final two months of 2016. If ownership does, and this team continues to play well, then A-Rod is hurting the team, just by being on the bench as a non-contributor who cannot field or run. OTOH, if the team opts to shed Beltran, that opens a spot for A-Rod at DH to chase 700 in meaningless games down the stretch.

No way he is back next year, right? Just eat the $20M already.
 

jon abbey

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Bryan Mitchell has faced batters informally 3-4 times already in Tampa, he expects to start a rehab assignment next week.
 

jon abbey

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OK, so resetting the roster:

=====================================================

C: McCann
1B: Teixeira
2B: Castro
SS: Gregorius
3B: Headley
LF: Gardner
CF: Ellsbury
RF: Hicks
DH: A-Rod

bench: Romine, Gamel, Refsnyder, Torreyes

rotation: Tanaka, Pineda, Eovaldi, Sabathia, Severino/Green/Warren
bullpen: two of Severino/Green/Warren, Goody, Bleier, Swarzak, Clippard, Betances
=====================================================

Cashman just talked about more moves coming (they have NL park games with no DH tonight and tomorrow), and specifically he mentioned Gary Sanchez maybe coming Wednesday. He also mentioned Judge and Austin, so my guess is Refsnyder back to AAA (he hasn't done much in his 100+ ABs and is not really a part of the future) and A-Rod released (WISHFUL THINKING) with Sanchez/Austin up to replace them. Then when Judge is ready, he flips with Gamel. Hicks probably deserves to be released, but Cashman made it sound this weekend like he wanted to hold onto him for now.

The back of the bullpen might be ripe for some new auditions also, but not quite sure who that would be besides guys like Barbato and Shreve who we've already seen plenty of. Hopefully Bryan Mitchell is ready before too long.
 

jon abbey

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Bryan Mitchell with a rehab start tonight in low A, his first real game since he hurt his foot near the end of spring training.

NY was counting on him to play a pretty big role this season, the 2015 Adam Warren swingman role, so if he is fully back, could be a nice boost to a currently thin pen down the stretch.
 

jon abbey

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They sent down Bleier for Layne, also today they claimed Blake Parker, a 31 year old reliever DFAd by Seattle, who had very good numbers in the PCL this year (56 Ks in 40 innings and a 0.882 WHIP).
 

jon abbey

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Severino sent back down for Blake Parker. They say it's to fix his changeup, which has some truth to it, but also I'm pretty sure they get an extra year of control on him if he spends a couple more weeks in the minors.
 

jon abbey

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Tyler Austin is up in A-Rod's spot tomorrow, but there is no good reason why Judge isn't up also, and starting every day in RF.

=====================================================

C: Sanchez
1B: Austin
2B: Castro
SS: Gregorius
3B: Headley
LF: Gardner
CF: Ellsbury
RF: Hicks
DH: Teixeira/McCann

bench: Romine, Torreyes

rotation: Tanaka, Pineda, Sabathia, Severino, ????
bullpen: Layne, Parker, Shreve, Swarzak, Heller, Cessa, Clippard, Warren, Betances
=====================================================

Either Cessa (3 days rest from 2 innings of relief) or Chad Green (would need to be called up again) will start Monday, so send down Shreve for Judge and DFA either Parker or Swarzak if you want to start Green on Monday. As I said above, there is no good reason for Aaron Judge not to be in the middle of this lineup starting tomorrow.
 

jon abbey

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Judge is up! Heller back down, Mullee (another surgery) to the 60 day DL to make room on the 40 man.