NY 40 man roster 2019-2020

jon abbey

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One month to the trading deadline, Cashman needs to start thinking about who he can protect from the rule 5 draft this winter, and who he needs to move for value before then. So I thought I'd take a shot at seeing where NY stands:

NY right now has a crazy 10 guys on the 60 day DL plus 39 players currently active on the 40 man roster. They have at least three must-add prospects in Estevan Florial, Michael King and Deivi Garcia, so that's 52, minus 6 guys whose contracts are expiring (Didi, Betances, CC, Gardner, Romine, Maybin) and minus 3 guys who are just dead weight (Tulo, Ellsbury, Barrett), so that is 43 currently.

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

SP (12): Paxton, Tanaka, Severino, Happ, German, Montgomery, Loaisiga, Cortes Jr, Adams, King, Garcia, Abreu

RP (12): Chapman, Britton, Ottavino, Kahnle, Green, Tarpley, Hale, Cessa, Harvey, Holder, Heller, Acevedo

C (2): Sanchez, Higashioka

IF (11): Torres, LeMahieu, Voit, Urshela, Estrada, Andujar, Bird, Ford, Wade, Valera (Encarnacion has a $20M option with a $5M buyout)

OF (6): Judge, Stanton, Hicks, Frazier, Florial, Tauchman

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

Other prospects who might need to be protected: JP Feyereisen, Kyle Holder (red hot recently), Luis Gil, probably others.

Cashman needs to move some relievers (he traded four at last year's deadline and could do that again), anyone after Green in the list is possible. From the SP list, Adams and Abreu are probably the most vulnerable.

They also need to thin out the infield a bit, Wade has been passed by Estrada and probably Valera so he is probably the top candidate to get moved there. Bird needs to go too but they will likely let him try to get healthy first. The OF still needs a backup with options who can play CF (Tauchman is good defensively but has been disappointing offensively so far), otherwise they might need to bring back Gardner yet again.
 

jon abbey

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Not only did Cashman not manage to acquire anyone this deadline (although Encarnacion should count), he didn't feel comfortable or wasn't able to clear out much of his depth (just Harvey), so now that will have to happen after the season. This post is for me to check in public if they will run into 40 man issues before then with IL activations.

So, 39 guys on the 40 man currently, plus 9 on the 60 man. Of the 9, the three position players (Ellsbury/Andujar/Bird) shouldn't be an issue plus Barrett from the pitchers, so that leaves Loaisiga (for the Harvey spot presumably), and then Betances, Severino, and possibly Montgomery/Heller.

Camarena can easily go for one of Betances/Severino, no loss there, but if all three of Loaisiga/Betances/Severino are back and no one else new is added to the 60 day IL, I am not sure who they would cut. Stanton has been out since June 25, so if he is behind those other three, he could go to the 60 man and at least delay a decision.

Also it really would be nice to get Feyereisen on the 40 man and up in September to see how he looks, but he will have to wait in line barring season-ending injuries. Mike King too, I sure wish Cashman had moved some more 40 man guys.
 

jon abbey

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The Fangraphs guys took a shot at this same thing yesterday, here is their list for NY going into the deadline:

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

New York Yankees

Current 40-Man Count: 49
Pending Free Agents: 7 (Edwin Encarnación, Didi Gregorius, Austin Romine, Cameron Maybin, Brett Gardner, CC Sabathia, Dellin Betances)
Must-Add Prospects: 3 (Deivi Garcia, Estevan Florial, Luis Gil)
Fringe Current 40-Man Members: 11 (Albert Abreu, Domingo Acevedo, Stephen Tarpley, Nestor Cortes Jr., Chance Adams, David Hale, Joe Harvey, Jake Barrett, Kyle Higashioka, Ben Heller, Daniel Camarena)
Possible-Add Prospects: 15 (Nick Nelson, Oswaldo Cabrera, Miguel Yajure, Luis Medina, Rony Garcia, Michael King, Ben Ruta, Dermis Garcia, Trevor Lane, Kaleb Ort, Pablo Olivares, Freicer Perez, Isiah Gilliam, Jio Orozco, Brooks Kriske)

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-40-man-situations-that-could-impact-trades/
================================

They are missing Feyereisen at least as a possible-add guy, Kyle Holder too. Miguel Yajure is the one who has pushed himself into possible consideration in recent weeks, a 21 year old RH SP who has dominated in high A (2.06 ERA) plus is already up to 109 innings.

http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?player_id=664337#/career/R/pitching/2019/ALL
 

jon abbey

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NY is going to need to protect a bunch of high-ceiling pitchers this winter, most of whom are not ready to help yet, and that will be tricky to do. They just dropped Domingo Acevedo, who had big upside at one point, but whose many injuries seem to have taken a toll on him as he was sitting low nineties all season, so that clears one more spot at least.
 

jon abbey

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This is 44, and it's not hard to get down to 40 (Bird or Ford, Valera, a couple of relievers), but the problem is you have 4 SP prospects who may not be able to help you in 2020 (the last 4 there).

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SP (15): Paxton, Tanaka, Severino, Happ, German, Montgomery, Loaisiga, Cortes Jr, Adams, King, Garcia, Gil, Medina, Yajure, Abreu

RP (10): Chapman, Britton, Ottavino, Kahnle, Green, Tarpley, Hale, Cessa, Holder, Heller

C (2): Sanchez, Higashioka

IF (11): Torres, LeMahieu, Voit, Urshela, Estrada, Andujar, Bird, Ford, Wade, Valera, Holder

OF (6): Judge, Stanton, Hicks, Frazier, Florial, Tauchman

=============================
 

jon abbey

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Hale was DFAd today to clear a spot for Hicks, they may try to sign him back if possible but he is off the 40 man for now. Valera is also gone from the list in the previous post, DFAd in September and picked up by the Blue Jays.
 

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Hale was DFAd today to clear a spot for Hicks, they may try to sign him back if possible but he is off the 40 man for now. Valera is also gone from the list in the previous post, DFAd in September and picked up by the Blue Jays.
When your talent pool is this deep, anyone booted off the 40 will be picked up by the scavengers. Hale was very effective this year.
 

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Yeah, disappointed to see Hale go. He was as previously mentioned very reliable in middle relief.
 

jon abbey

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First wave of moves getting towards the 40 man today:

Andujar, Bird, Ellsbury and Holder all activated from the 60 day IL.
Jake Barrett also reinstated and assigned to AAA.
Tyler Lyons also dropped and elected free agency (bye Ty).

NY is at 36 now but I think they need to add 5 guys still (Garcia, Gil, Medina, Yajure, Kyle Holder), plus if they resign Gardner this week, that's another spot, so more work to do still (please move Chance Adams for one).
 

jon abbey

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Oh, and I forgot Florial and maybe Nick Nelson, Cashman has some work to do in the next two weeks (deadline for setting the 40 man before the rule 5 is Nov 20).

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

SP (16): Paxton, Tanaka, Severino, Happ, German, Montgomery, Loaisiga, Cortes Jr, Adams, King, Garcia, Gil, Medina, Yajure, Abreu, Nelson

RP (9): Chapman, Britton, Ottavino, Kahnle, Green, Tarpley, Cessa, Holder, Heller

C (2): Sanchez, Higashioka

IF (10): Torres, LeMahieu, Voit, Urshela, Estrada, Andujar, Bird, Ford, Wade, Holder

OF (7): Judge, Stanton, Hicks, Tauchman, Frazier, Florial, Ellsbury

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

I believe German doesn't count as he is still in the limbo of administrative leave with no suspension yet set, but maybe that will come down in the next two weeks. Even without him, NY is still at 43 guys there. I wonder if two of three of Yajure/Abreu/Nelson would get someone to take Ellsbury's final year of salary (he would have to agree also), that would be a good deal for a team who could swallow a dead contract for a season (mostly paid by insurance even). If that doesn't work, Cortes Jr and Adams and Bird are all vulnerable, they will also need another spot if Gardner resigns quickly.
 

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German is interesting because if you're Cashman and the Yankees, you have to be pissed that the MLB hasn't been able to make a decision for so long. It has the potential to hurt planning decisions.
 

jon abbey

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One week to go now and no movement, I think NY has to add all of:

Estevan Florial
Kyle Holder
Deivi Garcia
Luis Gil
Luis Medina

Nick Nelson and Miguel Yajure also will likely get chosen if not protected, and with the new 26 man rosters this year, it will be a lot easier for a non contender to keep someone all year who is not close to ready yet, in order to keep their rights after that. You can only protect so many pitchers who won't be ready all season though, so maybe those two and some others get moved this week before they are lost in the draft. Also Albert Abreu is already on the 40 man but in this same category of 'special arm but seemingly far from ready', he could be moved to clear a spot too.
 

jon abbey

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The deadline for finalizing the 40 man before the rule 5 is now less than two days away, Wed. at 8 PM EST I think. It's not just NY who hasn't made moves yet, no one has and logically I would think there would be something like 15-20 trades baseball wide, it is maybe the best time of the year for a team with a weak back of the 40 man to scavenge a few high upside prospects, not every team even uses all their international slot allotment.

Also I would think relatively big trades could happen now, teams like the Padres and Rays and Yankees have guys to give away, to teams that are smart enough to know what to grab (hello Caleb Smith).
 

jon abbey

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Wow, Greg Bird (27) has only managed 611 total big league ABs in 5 seasons. They have Voit (28) and Ford (27) ahead of him now and Chris Gittens (25), AA Eastern League MVP for Trenton, right behind, and that's not even counting LeMahieu who just started every playoff game at 1B or Andujar who they are talking about trying there. I believe it's time for him to fly.

We will always have this though, which started the comeback series win down 0-2 in 2017 against the top team coming into the playoffs Indians. CLE had just won 22 in a row from late August to mid-September, 25-4 for the month, but Bird and Didi had the big hits to help NY win three straight including Didi's two homers off Kluber in CLE in game 5.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SstUwF3ieXE
 

jon abbey

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14 hours to go, I still think trades are coming. I checked the last few years and generally Cashman makes 1-3 trades this week and this year he has more guys to protect than usual.

But since it's getting close, let me take a shot if no one is moved.

Added: Garcia, Gil, Medina, Yajure, Nelson, Florial, Kyle Holder
Dropped: Bird, Cortes Jr., Adams

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

SP (13): Paxton, Tanaka, Severino, Happ, Montgomery, Loaisiga, King, Garcia, Gil, Medina, Yajure, Abreu, Nelson

RP (9): Chapman, Britton, Ottavino, Kahnle, Green, Tarpley, Cessa, Holder, Heller

C (2): Sanchez, Higashioka

IF (9): Torres, LeMahieu, Voit, Urshela, Estrada, Andujar, Ford, Wade, Holder

OF (7): Judge, Stanton, Hicks, Tauchman, Frazier, Florial, Ellsbury

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

Suspension limbo: German

That's less painful than I thought actually, but still they need to move one or two of the prospect pitchers as that's too many guys on the 40 man who won't be able to help this year. They will need a spot for Gardner presumably too, so there are deals coming after the deadline if not before, but hopefully both.

Chris Gittens is the unprotected prospect that I'm most nervous about losing, a 25 year old RHH 1B who was the MVP of the AA Eastern League last year. If they do drop Bird, they could choose to add Gittens in his spot, but it's hard to find another easy drop from my list above without a trade (Ellsbury I think they wouldn't drop because of insurance payouts but I don't really know).
 

jon abbey

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5 1/2 hours left, it's possible I may be the most excited person in the world about this.
 

cromulence

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I'm seeing other teams' moves roll in, and each time I get slightly disappointed on your behalf that it's not the Yankees' yet.
 

jon abbey

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Presumably they’re trying to move guys still, Adams or Cessa or (Jonathan) Holder.
 

jon abbey

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That could free up a spot for Gardner, they still need to make trades if at all possible.

8:07 now, still nothing official.
 

jon abbey

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8:18 now, everyone has announced except Yankees, Cubs and Giants.
 

jon abbey

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OK, here we go, I was very close, Ellsbury instead of Adams and Kriske (a reliever) instead of Kyle Holder.

The Yankees made the following roster moves:

•Added OF Estevan Florial, RHPs Deivi García, Luis Gil, Brooks Kriske, Luis Medina, Nick Nelson & Miguel Yajure to the Major League roster

•Released OF Jacoby Ellsbury

•Designated 1B Greg Bird & LHP Nestor Cortes Jr. for assignment

Added: Garcia, Gil, Medina, Yajure, Nelson, Florial, Kyle Holder
Dropped: Bird, Cortes Jr., Adams
 

jon abbey

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So this is the 40 man for now, so many pitchers.

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

SP (13): Paxton, Tanaka, Severino, Happ, Montgomery, Loaisiga, King, Garcia, Gil, Medina, Yajure, Abreu, Nelson

RP (11): Chapman, Britton, Ottavino, Kahnle, Green, Tarpley, Cessa, Holder, Heller, Adams, Kriske

C (2): Sanchez, Higashioka

IF (8): Torres, LeMahieu, Voit, Urshela, Estrada, Andujar, Ford, Wade

OF (6): Judge, Stanton, Hicks, Tauchman, Frazier, Florial

=============================
 

jon abbey

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Kyle Holder and Chris Gittens both left unprotected, both were 25 in AA last year but still I hope NY can keep both. The Rule 5 draft is December 12, so we'll see.
 

jon abbey

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Kriske I didn't really consider seriously because NY seems to always have a handful of relievers with very impressive numbers in AA and AAA. He was a 6th round pick in 2016 and went to Boone's alma mater USC. He is a righty reliever who will turn 26 in February and who spent most of last year in AA, a 2.08 ERA and a .161 BAA between high A/AA. Too many walks, though, wonder if he was protected just to be traded.

http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?player_id=621139#/career/R/pitching/2019/ALL
 

jon abbey

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Really happy to see Medina and Yajure both make the cut, in addition to Deivi and Gil and Nelson and Abreu. That is a lot of very young pitching, Gil/Medina/Yajure are all unlikely to be able to help at all this season but if 1 or 2 of those guys blossom into their potential, it will really help NY going forward.
 

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Kyle Holder and Chris Gittens both left unprotected, both were 25 in AA last year but still I hope NY can keep both. The Rule 5 draft is December 12, so we'll see.
Holder is the reason this thing is supposed to exist. Kid belongs in the majors somewhere at a minimum as a utility player.
 

jon abbey

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Yes, but good riddance. It was weird seeing his name on ESPN’s 40 man roster drop down menu.
Yeah, it wasn't a factor during the season because they just put him on the 60 day DL and got the 40 man spot back, but it's honestly somewhat cleansing to have both him and Bird totally off the 40 man, in part a tribute to how many better options Cashman has been able to put in place both in the OF and 1B in recent years.

Cortes Jr was kind of a savior for NY for a couple of months in the middle of the season, the combo of Green opening for Nestor's bulk innings was on a real roll for a while, but then Cortes really hit a wall in mid-August, over a 9 ERA from there.

He is a good rebound candidate for someone as he threw 135 innings in the minors in 2018, then went right to the Dominican Winter League where he threw another 42 (1.93 ERA!). Then he spent 2019 being shuttled up and down from AAA to very irregular outings where NY needed length, still getting to 105 innings in 40 games with no winter off in between, t's no wonder he burned out after what was about 16 months into his 2018 season and around 280 innings. Someone should give him a chance, he could be a good long guy/bulk innings behind an opener, especially on more of a regular schedule. He seems like a very smart pitcher so more experience in the bigs should only help him figure out which of his tricks work up here. Also his range of deliveries and release points and how long he pauses mid-windup is quite entertaining.
 

jon abbey

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Holder is the reason this thing is supposed to exist. Kid belongs in the majors somewhere at a minimum as a utility player.
I don't get it, he hit well in a serious pitcher's league last year too (admittedly at 25 in AA), 11th among qualified hitters in OPS in the league (http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?y=2019&t=l_bat&lid=113) and the defense is still stellar, compared to perennial Gold Glovers.

Guys who are that good defensively often figure out how to hit later in their careers, Urshela was a good example for NY this year. Also NY has backups for Gleyber in Estrada and Wade but Holder is the best defensively of the four at SS, I don't get how that doesn't merit a 40 man spot, especially for a guy you picked in the first round (long ago admittedly). Then again, I wanted him on the 40 man last winter too, and no one took him then...

Of course, if Cashman's plan is to sign Jose Iglesias for a bench role, especially with the 26 man roster, I am down with that too.
 

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I would be upset to see Iglesias in pinstripes. Always kind of root for him wherever he is at. That one play he made when he was with the tigers, flicking the ball to 1b from behind the pitchers mound, is one I’ll always remember
 

jon abbey

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I would be upset to see Iglesias in pinstripes. Always kind of root for him wherever he is at. That one play he made when he was with the tigers, flicking the ball to 1b from behind the pitchers mound, is one I’ll always remember
If it helps, there have been zero rumors about that. I've just always liked him and could see the fit depending on price of course.
 

jon abbey

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Bumping this thread too, NY has got to move some pitchers off this list. Current 40 man list without Cole (not yet official) or German (in suspension limbo):

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

SP (13): Paxton, Tanaka, Severino, Happ, Montgomery, Loaisiga, King, Garcia, Gil, Medina, Yajure, Abreu, Nelson

RP (11): Chapman, Britton, Ottavino, Kahnle, Green, Tarpley, Cessa, Holder, Heller, Adams, Kriske

C (2): Sanchez, Higashioka

IF (8): Torres, LeMahieu, Voit, Urshela, Estrada, Andujar, Ford, Wade

OF (6): Judge, Stanton, Hicks, Tauchman, Frazier, Florial

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

Cole needs to be added, Gardner presumably soon too. I have no idea obviously how Matt Blake values these guys, but Cessa/Holder/Adams all seem reasonably superfluous. Gil/Medina/Yajure/Abreu are all unlikely to be able to help in 2020, that is a lot of essentially dead 40 man spots for NY to work around so maybe one of those guys will go, Yajure or Abreu.
 

jon abbey

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Rule 5 draft is tomorrow, NY protected a lot of guys but I am hoping that Kyle Holder and Chris Gittens and Rony Garcia all make it through unselected tomorrow.
 

jon abbey

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Bumping this because NY is going to have 40 man issues all year, first let's update where they are currently.

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

SP (13): Cole, Paxton, Tanaka, Happ, Montgomery, Loaisiga, King, Garcia, Gil, Medina, Yajure, Abreu, Nelson

RP (9): Chapman, Britton, Ottavino, Kahnle, Green, Cessa, Holder, Heller, Kriske

C (2): Sanchez, Higashioka

IF (8): Torres, LeMahieu, Voit, Urshela, Estrada, Andujar, Ford, Wade

OF (7): Judge, Stanton, Hicks, Gardner, Tauchman, Frazier, Florial

60 day DL: Severino

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

Not sure exactly where Severino is but he is out for the year, so that puts NY at 39 currently. Guys who might need a spot on Opening Day:

Matt Duffy
Chris Iannetta
Rosell Herrera
David Hale
Clarke Schmidt

Those are just the most obvious candidates, NY is in a position where the Opening Day roster is 30 but they have at least 4 spots on their 40 man taken up by very young prospects who they need to protect but who can't help yet. They have 8 pitchers plus Florial (the last 7 SPs listed above and Kriske) with basically no big league experience between them.

Anyway, this will be tricky, I wonder if NY will try to put one or two of those young kids on the 60 day DL (or whatever is needed to free up a 40 man spot, might be a 45 day DL for that this season). The first four of those five potential additions can all easily just be DFAd if they are not helping, Schmidt is on for good once he is added.
 

jon abbey

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Bumping with David Hale being DFAd, let's see where we stand:

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

SP (13): Cole, Paxton, Tanaka, Happ, Montgomery, Loaisiga, King, Garcia, Gil, Medina, Yajure, Abreu, Nelson

RP (9): Chapman, Britton, Ottavino, Green, Avilan, Cessa, Holder, Heller, Kriske

C (3): Sanchez, Higashioka, Kratz

IF (8): Torres, LeMahieu, Voit, Urshela, Estrada, Andujar, Ford, Wade

OF (7): Judge, Stanton, Hicks, Gardner, Tauchman, Frazier, Florial

60 day IL: Severino, Kahnle

Suspension limbo: German

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

So the only changes from before the season are Kahnle going out, and Avilan and Kratz being added (the list in the previous post only had 39).
 

jon abbey

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Now Avilan has been DFAd, Jordy Mercer added (and likely DFAd this weekend when DJ is back).
 

jon abbey

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I should maybe start a 40 man roster thread for 2020-2021, but Eric Longenhagen points out just how many young pitchers NY will have to protect this winter. They already have Garcia, Gil, Medina, Yajure, Abreu, Nelson on the roster, and they will need to add:

Clarke Schmidt
Alexander Vizcaino
Roansy Contreras
Yoendrys Gomez

That's too many, they are going to have to move some, either now or before the rule 5 draft, Abreu maybe top of the list to go.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/do-teams-have-exploitable-40-man-crunch/