2019-20 Yankees Offseason Discussion

bankshot1

Member
SoSH Member
Feb 12, 2003
24,661
where I was last at
I don't view the Betts/Price trade as positives for the Yankees. Both the Twins and Dodgers get better. The Yankees will likely have to face both in the postseason.
That was my TIC take-away I posted in the Sox trade thread.

So if i understand this correctly, the take away is we helped improve the Twins chances of beating the Yankees in the ALDS with some more starting pitching, (right) and then the LAD's chances of beating the Ys in the Series.
 

Wingack

Yankee Mod
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 14, 2005
34,372
In The Quivering Forest
Yeah, a lot of instant superficial analysis there, plus NY won't get to bat against Price anymore, which makes Gary Sanchez and the rest of them sad pandas. BOS is in worse position for this year without Mookie/Price but added two young talented players going forward.
Definitely. But for this year, the path for the Yankees has gotten easier with the Astros and Red Sox taking a couple of significant body blows. They can worry about the Dodgers if they both get there, but the path to get there is less bumpy tonight than it was in October.

And they did add two good young players. I think Sox fans should be happy with what they got for one year of Mookie.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
Maeda is a good fit for MIN to help them win the division, he can start games while they wait for Pineda's suspension to end and Rich Hill to return, but if he is starting postseason games against NY over Berrios/Odorizzi/Hill/Pineda, I think NY would be just fine with that.

Also it's ridiculous to look this far ahead in MLB, but if NY gets the #1 seed and HOU/MIN win the other two divisions again, NY can only face one of them in the playoffs.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
Digging a bit more into how today's blockbuster deal might affect NY, I checked Mookie's splits against current NY pitchers and a lot of their key guys are sleeping decidedly easier tonight.

Cole: 7-14 (!!), six singles, a double and a walk, 1.105 OPS
Chapman: 4-8 with a HR and 5 walks (!!), a ridiculous 1.692 OPS
Kahnle/Otttavino: combined just 11 PAs, but 3-7 with a HR and two walks and an OPS around 1.500
Paxton: 3 HRs in 24 PAs, .947 OPS
Tanaka: 17/51 with 2 HRs and a .920 OPS

That's not even getting into Happ's long-term trauma from that one AB (he has held Mookie to a .217 BA overall). Britton (2-16), Montgomery (1-8) and Green (1-9) are the only current guys to have success against him. If we see him in 2020, that means it has been a very good year already.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/batter_vs_pitcher.cgi?request=1&submitter=1&batter=bettsmo01&min_year_game=2014&max_year_game=2019&post=1&opp_id=NYY&throws=any&c1gtlt=gt&c2gtlt=gt&orderby=PA&orderby_dir=desc&orderby_second=Name&orderby_dir_second=asc
Price will be better the farther away he gets from the Yankee lineup, especially the way LA coddles their guys. I am not a big Dodgers expert but replacing Maeda and a second yet unnamed SP going to the Angels with Price is good news for May and Gonsolin to get every chance to contribute that they can handle.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745

terrynever

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Aug 25, 2005
21,717
pawtucket
My only take on the Betts trade is this: Boston won five World Series championships before selling Babe Ruth to the Yankees prior to the 1920 season.
100 years later, after winning four WS titles in the 21st century, Boston sent its best player to the Dodgers in time for the 2020 season.
Both trades were ordered by the owners, not for pure baseball reasons.
 

terrynever

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Aug 25, 2005
21,717
pawtucket
There’s an earlier discussion of Paxton’s injury and impact over on the 2020 rotation thread.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
Yep, it wasn't a surprise to the Yankees, just to us, as detailed in that thread, and it's why NY held onto Happ (Cashman said yesterday there was a bunch of interest in him).
 

terrynever

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Aug 25, 2005
21,717
pawtucket
Yep, it wasn't a surprise to the Yankees, just to us, as detailed in that thread, and it's why NY held onto Happ (Cashman said yesterday there was a bunch of interest in him).
I love the idea you mentioned in the rotation thread about going young in the final two rotation spots. I would much rather watch a younger guy learn his trade than an experienced guy who breaks down twice a season. It’s easier to root for young players. We know that because we watched so many older players as the dynasty faded away.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
One small benefit from the injuries is that both Hicks and Paxton can go on the 60 day IL starting next week, so that frees up two 40 man spots whenever NY needs them.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
Hoping NY signs Cameron Maybin on Tuesday when they can put Hicks on the IL.

I thought about saying both Maybin and Brock Holt, but I'm not totally sure Holt makes sense over letting Wade and Estrada battle for the bench spot in spring training (with Kyle Holder behind them).
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
Mike Axisa closed River Ave Blues in April 2019 in favor of a job at CBS, but he does a twice weekly $3/month Patreon newsletter on the Yankees that I just subscribed to (he got me with his 2020 Preseason Top 30 NY prospect list this week) and I have read back a few months and it is very good. RAB was always an incredible effort but sometimes he would get fundamentally wrong ideas in his head and just not stop, his Twitter handle for months last season was something like "SaveClintFrazier" even once Tauchman started crushing (3.6 bWAR in 296 PAs for the season by the end, and that was after a slow start).

So I was hesitant to subscribe especially since I felt like I had read his perspective a lot already at RAB, but I am glad I did. 8 roundups or so per month, and each is substantial, and I agree with a lot more of it than I seemed to at RAB (it certainly helps that there is less, he did I think multiple columns per day there pretty often). I have my train reading cut out for a bit catching up going backwards...

https://www.patreon.com/RABthoughts
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
Repeating from above, but...

Cameron Maybin changed agents recently so maybe that is a bad sign for my hopes here, but I really hope NY grabs him Wednesday when I believe they can add Hicks to the 60 day IL and create a 40 man opening. He seemed to be a fantastic clubhouse guy last year, he would be a rare veteran on a pretty young team (CC, Didi and Betances all gone, although CC is a 'special adviser' to Cashman now) and he had a .858 OPS in 269 PAs last year. I would give him a major league contract of $2-$3M if that is enough at this point, for me he would make the team out of spring training as of now:|

Sanchez
Voit
LeMahieu
Gleyber
Urshela
Tauchman
Gardner
Judge
Stanton

Bench: Higashioka or Iannetta, Ford, Wade or maybe Estrada, Maybin

AAA to start: Frazier, Andujar, Estrada or Wade, Kyle Holder, Zack Granite, Rosell Herrera, Chris Gittens (Eastern League MVP last year at 1B)

Same as with pitching, NY has stockpiled a bunch of depth that they can move in consolidation deals if and when they find the right one/s.

Andujar can rebuild a lot of trade value playing every day in AAA, especially if he is adequate in LF and/or 1B. If the Rockies start off slowly, pressure will quickly build to move Arenado before his post-2021 season optout and he has a full no-trade a la Stanton, so he is as in control of the process as he wants to be. I often can't see the fit between NY and top potentially available talent but Arenado would be a huge get long-term and I think Cashman would be happy to send a good package in return.

Also the Arenado situation stretching into the season gives NY and COL and everyone else a chance to see not just how Andujar comes back but more everyday Urshela and he can quickly gain value if he keeps up his 2019 level, which IMO is quite possible (very good exit velocity, at his best in big moments, and maybe this year the defensive metrics like him more because he sure looks better than the numbers). If even one of Gio or Andujar looks really good and the clock is ticking on Arenado, that is something that could happen quickly, I think.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,745
I forget who to credit, but someone pointed out that the only player currently on NY's 40 man who was not in the organization last season is Gerrit Cole. That is crazy, I still think more moves are coming if Cashman can find the right ones, but that really shows you how much depth NY built up last year dealing with the insane injury wave.