NY bullpen 2022

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,715
One of the ongoing themes of this season will be that all of Chapman/Britton/Green are in the final years of their deals, $36M combined, so Cashman needs to build a 2023 and beyond pen as best he can this season so that he doesn't have to pay for any of those guys again unless he really wants to. That is why grabbing Clay Holmes at the deadline was big, they have him through 2024. If Ridings can stay healthy (big if), he and Holmes and Loaisiga could be the back end of the pen, also they have a ton of high-ceiling SPs who they could try in the pen if they decided, Gil and Medina and Deivi are all down to one option because they had to be protected so young.

Current depth chart at a guess:

Abreu
Peralta
Luetge
Rodriguez
Holmes
Green
Loaisiga
Chapman

The only guys there who have options are Loaisiga (no) and Peralta, Luetge will almost certainly be moved for flexibility before Opening Day. Michael King and Ridings and Marinaccio (or Nasty Nestor if he is bumped out of the rotation) all have options and can take that spot, I could see Cashman trying to add another guy or two with options here if possible.

https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/depth-charts/yankees
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,715
Greg Weissert is another in the seemingly endless line of solid relievers NY has developed, he had a sub-2 ERA in AA/AAA last year and was hitting 98 on his sinker in the spring training game just now. He turned 27 in February and has yet to sniff a 40 man roster (2016 draft pick), this is a tough sport.

https://www.milb.com/player/greg-weissert-669711
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,715
King
Banuelos
Luetge
Marinaccio
Rodriguez
Peralta
Holmes
Green
Loaisiga
Chapman

IL: German, Britton

Pitchers on the 40 man in AAA: Schmidt, Gil, Garcia, Medina, Sears, Ridings

Non-40 man pitchers who can maybe help: Greg Weissert, Matt Krook, Ryan Weber, Ken Waldichuk, Hayden Wesneski, Jimmy Cordero, Shelby Miller (heh)

------------------------------------------------------------

NY still will have a numbers/options problem at the end of April when rosters go back to 26, if everyone is healthy and they want to keep King up. I still don't really see the point of Rodriguez on this team, a (very good) LOOGY in an era where the three batter rule has made that a mostly non-job. Peralta and Luetge and Banuelos are all lefty relievers as is Chapman.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,715
I still don't really see the point of Rodriguez on this team, a (very good) LOOGY in an era where the three batter rule has made that a mostly non-job.
Rodriguez out, Castro in. I think this could be a precursor move to trading Chad Green, Castro fills Green's spot.
 

terrynever

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Aug 25, 2005
21,717
pawtucket
Rodriguez out, Castro in. I think this could be a precursor move to trading Chad Green, Castro fills Green's spot.
Castro was usually nasty when we saw him. That’s a steal, getting rid of Rodriguez and acquiring Castro in his place.
 

Petagine in a Bottle

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 13, 2021
11,921
0-1 with a 5.81 era career against the Yankees, 16 bb / 19 k in 31 innings. Feels like a guy who has always had good stuff with lackluster results; ton of walks and too many homers.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,715
0-1 with a 5.81 era career against the Yankees, 16 bb / 19 k in 31 innings. Feels like a guy who has always had good stuff with lackluster results; ton of walks and too many homers.
I might write more about this later, but he reminds me of Clay Holmes in that his issue may just be pitch selection. NY basically instantly made Holmes into a dominant reliever last year by changing his pitch selection/approach and I’m guessing that’s the thought process with Castro too.

Holmes had 25 walks in 42 innings for PIT in the first 4 months last year, then traded to NY and had just 4 in 28 innings the rest of the season.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/holmecl01.shtml
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,715

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,715
Ryan Weber cleared waivers, elected free agency, and then agreed to a new deal to come back to AAA with NY, so he is back.

Albert Abreu needs to be activated when he joins the team tomorrow, at least briefly. I am guessing that they will send down Marinaccio (who has been great but still has options) and then when one of the injured relievers is back (Chapman and German both starting minor league rehab outings in the next few days, Loaisiga hopefully not far behind), they will DFA Abreu and hope no one claims him so they can get him back to AAA and try to fix him.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,715
NY activated Abreu and sent down Clarke Schmidt, presumably to stretch out and log more innings this year.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,715
OK, time to update here, as even I'm a bit confused with all the movement:

Current pen:

Weber
Sears
Abreu
Luetge
Chapman
Peralta
King
Holmes

Miguel Castro is on the paternity list and maybe back as soon as Tuesday, so that would be Sears back to the minors or Weber DFAd again. Weber looked good in his inning against CLE but NY can only option Sears up and down 5 times in a season, so maybe they plan to keep him longer this time.

IL, back very soon: German, Loaisiga
IL, back allegedly in August or Sept: Britton
IL, no idea but not soon: Marinaccio, Ridings (I was so excited for Ridings this season, I hope he gets healthy soon but news has been sparse)
IL, done for the year: Green

Clarke Schmidt is also available and on the 40 man although stretching out again in AAA, Luis Medina is on the 40 man and would be a fun emergency short reliever with his off the charts stuff, veterans Jimmy Cordero and Shane Greene are waiting for their chance in Scranton, Greg Weissert is a 27 year old righty from Fordham who has never made the bigs but who has been good saving games in AA and AAA the last two seasons, just 43 hits allowed in 80 innings.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,715

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,715
Rodriguez was the Pirates closer this time last year, then traded to ATL at the deadline. He was good all year before being suspended this April. From last July 31:

“Rodríguez was solid as the Pirates’ closer in 2021, recording a 2.82 ERA while completing 14 of 17 save opportunities. His 1.17 walks-per-nine-innings rate is fifth best in the Majors among relievers (min. 100 batters faced), and his expected ERA of 2.86 is in the top 9% of MLB.”
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,715
I had in my head that Miguel Castro had been unreliable enough that he should maybe be dealt to open a spot, a la Cessa last year. But checking, he has actually been dominant for a couple weeks, a combined 6.1 4 0 0 1 10 in his last 5 games, 3 against HOU, 1 BOS, 1 OAK.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,715
NY can send down Sears for German (4 almost perfect innings in AAA today, just 13 batters faced) and let him stretch out again and build up innings. It's hard to see how NY can fit both German and Loaisiga into the bullpen without any injuries, maybe Castro will get traded (he is a FA after this year anyway).
 

ThePrideofShiner

Crests prematurely
SoSH Member
Jul 16, 2005
10,687
Washington
This is a fun story about Clay Holmes and his family, and includes an anecdote about his Dad following along on the MLB app because it is faster than TV feeds. I can relate! I do this during stressful playoff games.

https://theathletic.com/3436490/2022/07/20/clay-holmes-yankees-all-star/

On a normal night, Holmes’ parents would have watched his outing from their living room in southern Alabama, white-knuckling it through each out. “He’s calm in the ninth inning,” Wendell said, “which is pretty special because we’re not.” Wendell always has MLB’s Gameday app pulled up so he can see Holmes’ pitch metrics, but it also serves a second purpose: Gameday is ahead of their MLB.TV feed, so he’s able to see what’s coming. “Don’t worry,” he’ll tell Teresa during a jam, “he got out of it.” It’s a bad habit, but it helps Wendell’s nerves.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,715
OK, there will be moves today, but let's take a shot at updating this in the wake of the King injury.

Current pen:

Abreu
Luetge
Chapman
Loaisiga
Peralta
Holmes

NY is currently at least temporarily only carrying 12 pitchers, German is probably available for long relief as his spot will likely be skipped this time through because of an off day Monday.

IL, ready to be activated today or Sunday: Marinaccio
IL, back in August (?): Castro
IL, back allegedly in August or Sept: Britton
IL, no idea but not soon: Ridings
IL, done for the year: Green, King

Clarke Schmidt is available on fuil rest and on the 40 man. Luis Medina is on the 40 man and would be a fun emergency short reliever with his off the charts stuff, veterans Jimmy Cordero and Shane Greene are waiting for their chance in Scranton (and both have pitched well in recent weeks), Richard Rodriguez has yet to appear in a game but it probably wouldn't take him long to be ready once he does, Greg Weissert is a 27 year old righty from Fordham who has never made the bigs but who has been good saving games in AA and AAA the last two seasons, just 48 hits allowed in 86 innings. Ken Waldichuk is NY's top SP prospect currently, a big lefty in AAA who is not on the 40 man but who will need to be after the season.

Predicted roster moves:

Sears threw 44 pitches on Thursday so wouldn't be available until at least Sunday. I will guess they bring up Schmidt in King's spot today and Marinaccio for Locastro on Sunday.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,715
And Locastro down, Shane Greene gets the call. Marinaccio has to get that spot soon, though, but who knows what Cashman has in mind this next ten days.
 

Dan Murfman

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 21, 2001
4,186
Pawcatuck
I was down at my local bar in Pawcatuck and was talking with this guy at the bar last last weekend. He mentioned he’s a Yankee fan but used to be a Red Sox fan. I didn’t ask why. A little bit later his wife came in. Apparently she’s a singer and and has her YouTube page with all her videos. I was enjoying their company and it got back to why he switched. He looked at her and she said go ahead. Her brother is Michael King. Don’t know him barely know his sister was bummed to here the news.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,715
Yeah, King grew up in RI and went to BC, I believe he was a Sox fan growing up.
 

cromulence

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 25, 2009
6,699
I dreamed the dream of Shane Greene being good again, but now that dream has gone from me.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,715
There's no way David Robertson isn't coming back for a reprisal of his 2017 performance.
Many people seem to be under the impression that Robertson burned bridges in NY on his way out with some selfish behavior around playoff shares, so it’s not clear how much of an option this is.

My guess is if NY gets a reliever, it’s more likely to be someone off the radar, like Clay Holmes last summer.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,715
Presumably more moves to come, but where NY stands after trading for Effross:

Current pen:

Schmidt
Abreu
Luetge
Peralta
Chapman
Loaisiga
(Effross)
Marinaccio
Holmes

IL, back in August or September: Castro
IL, back allegedly in August or Sept: Britton
IL, no idea but not soon: Ridings
IL, done for the year: Green, King

Schmidt will go to the rotation to replace German or to AAA, presumably. NY has JP Sears on the 40 man in AAA also, and veterans Weber and Rodriguez and Cordero and Greene listed above, plus Deivi Garcia and Medina as emergency high-powered arms. Also poor Greg Weissert has been awesome as the closer in AAA this year, but cannot sniff a callup:

40 21 9 9 18 62, 13 saves in 14 chances, a 2.03 ERA and a .157 BAA.
 

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,715

jon abbey

Shanghai Warrior
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
70,715
NY claims Luke Bard from the Rays.

At first I thought this was a move barely worth paying attention to since NY already has a 40 man crunch, but I think NY might want to keep him if they can. He has good numbers in 14 innings with TB this year, a former #1 pick (admittedly in 2012). who still has an option left. He still probably won't last the season, NY still has to add Montas (Bader to the 60 day) and then Severino and hopefully Bader and maybe Britton to the 40 man roster, but he may last longer than I thought initially.
 

VORP Speed

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 23, 2010
6,633
Ground Zero
Crazy high spin rate on his fastball but his strikeout rate sucks and he’s walking too many guys. He’s also gotten knocked around pretty good in AAA. So I imagine the Rays hive mind thinks his good ERA is a mirage. Cleavinger and Yacobonis were brought in as upgrades.
 

EvilEmpire

paying for his sins
Moderator
SoSH Member
Apr 9, 2007
17,178
Washington
It seems like Matt Blake really likes finding guys with at least one elite attribute, pitch, or skill, and turning that into something useful.

It's fun to see if he can, but if Tampa couldn't do it I don't expect much.