NY Hiatus Discussion

Murderer's Crow

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That’s next week. New Rochelle, home of Mariano Rivera, is pretty bad. Ritchie Petrie‘s family under lockdown.
It's really no worse than most places. There's just restrictions on businesses and social activity.

Can't believe I'm saying it's not so bad. But yea, I'd say SF has it the worst right now in terms of restrictions. I went out yesterday to get meat from the butcher and places are just open but serving through their windows and people are following rules for the most part about standing apart from each other.
 

terrynever

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It's really no worse than most places. There's just restrictions on businesses and social activity.

Can't believe I'm saying it's not so bad. But yea, I'd say SF has it the worst right now in terms of restrictions. I went out yesterday to get meat from the butcher and places are just open but serving through their windows and people are following rules for the most part about standing apart from each other.
Much the same in Rhode Island, Crow. People get it. A month from now, who knows?
 

jon abbey

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I have a 2019 Yankee/Padres game on on YES, and Cameron Maybin came up, and I was sad again that NY decided not to bring him back even though he was awesome on and off the field and said publicly how much he wanted to come back. That was before he lined a single to RF, stole second and third and scored when the catcher threw it into LF.

So I decided to look at NY's OF depth, to remind myself and see where he might have slotted in.

NY had three OFs hurt when the world went on hold, Stanton is again as allegedly ready as anyone, Hicks I think is close but it depends when things actually restart, and Judge is still a huge question mark for the entire season as far as I'm concerned. So with that in mind:

LF: Andujar, Tauchman
CF: Gardner, Tauchman
RF: Stanton, Tauchman
DH/occasional LF: Frazier

So even with no Judge, that is five guys plus Hicks back soon for six, plus the very intriguing Zack Granite and Rosell Herrera next up, both 27 and possibly ready to blossom.

So I can see both sides of the Maybin thing, that's a good bit of OF depth already, especially once Andujar showed he could somehow be competent in LF despite never playing there before. It's a bummer though, maybe NY can pick him up down the stretch again if they need (he signed with DET).
 

terrynever

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Maybe the Yanks were trying to save a million bucks. Maybin signed with Detroit for $1.5M. Andujar and Tauchman are both minimum wage guys, right?
They can always buy him back at the Aug. 31 trade deadline! Joking.
 

Couperin47

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That’s next week. New Rochelle, home of Mariano Rivera, is pretty bad. Ritchie Petrie‘s family under lockdown.
Strongly suspect I'm the only one going to get the Petrie reference. My best friend came from New Rochelle (RIP Peter), which was the town we Jews moved to since Scarsdale was VERY restricted back then.... Speaking of that era, Peter's family lived next door to Arnold Stang an iconic character of that era's TV....
 

terrynever

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Strongly suspect I'm the only one going to get the Petrie reference. My best friend came from New Rochelle (RIP Peter), which was the town we Jews moved to since Scarsdale was VERY restricted back then.... Speaking of that era, Peter's family lived next door to Arnold Stang an iconic character of that era's TV....
Arnold Stang was great. Had a juicy cameo in “It’s a Mad, Mad, World” with Jonathan Winters.
 

terrynever

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Watching Larsen’s perfect game tonight. The Yankees’ lineup hardly befits the dynasty. Yogi, Mickey, and then some solid guys like Bauer, Martin and McDougald. 40-year-old Enos Slaughter in left. Andy Carey on third. Joe Collins on first. A young Elston Howard on the bench. Pitching staff was nothing special, outside of Ford. And they won the World Series. Talent is so much deeper now, with twice as many teams.
 

Couperin47

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Of the era’s household names and faces, certainly, but what do you make of Ralph Terry, Bobby Richardson, and Bobby Brown?
I'm basically the same age as Terry, so I was also 8 when Larsen was perfect and '56 is the first year I have strong memories of the Yankees. Brown, like DiMaggio, is really just before my time. Terry was a legit star for a few years and should have made a greater impression, but Richardson I freely confess is a major blind spot probably because I was a big fan of Kubek and I wasn't sure he was still with us....
 

jon abbey

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Michael Schur/'Ken Tremendous', responsible for great TV shows like The Good Place and Parks and Recreation and The Office (co-creator) is a big Sox fan/Yankee hater who posts here occasionally, and who just posted a video after his LA food bank fundraising goals were hit. I know I'm a terrible person for taking advantage of that, but also this is a super tempting avatar.



View: https://twitter.com/KenTremendous/status/1263145349914308608
 

jon abbey

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News today that Paxton says he is a hundred percent back currently, we thought this already but good to have him reconfirm it:

""I think I've thrown probably 12, 14 bullpens," Paxton told the YES Network on Friday. "It's my back feeling really good. My back is a non-issue. I feel totally healthy, so I'll be ready to go as soon as the season comes about. ... I think I'm back to full strength.""

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29212319/yankees-james-paxton-full-strength-back-surgery
 

Marciano490

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jon abbey

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NY is joining almost every other team in MLB by releasing some minor leaguers today. They are taking a lot of flak on Twitter, but guys get released at the end of every spring training, plus there will almost certainly be no minor league season this year, plus there's a good chance NY will have 1-2 less affiliates next year, so this makes total sense to me and is the kind of thing people wouldn't even notice under normal circumstances.

Pending the specifics, of course, which have yet to be announced.
 

jon abbey

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JJ Cooper points out that NY cut 51 players in the same March-June span in 2018, and 35 in 2019. 45 seems like a lot, but it is combining the normal spring training releases with the normal post-draft releases. There's a lot of kneejerk bitching on Twitter and Reddit but as is often the case, people don't understand or choose to ignore the context.
 

jon abbey

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Yankees picking next in the first round, there are a ton of college pitchers for Matt Blake and Cashman to choose from.
 

jon abbey

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Huh, another C after taking two in the 1st/2nd rounds in 2018, Austin Wells from Arizona. Keith Law had him going 26th overall, NY drafted him in the 35th round out of high school in 2018 also.
 

EvilEmpire

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I guess it is encouraging that they drafted him before and presumably have been following him closely for years. In a draft where there is less information from the current season because of Covid, maybe that means more.
 

jon abbey

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It seems like a pretty good pick to me, everyone had them taking a college pitcher but they have an incredible amount of high-ceiling pitching in the system already.
 

jon abbey

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Here is Mike Axisa’s paywalled writeup from April:

“2020 draft prospect: Austin Wells.

Wells was considered unsignable out of his Las Vegas high school but the Yankees took a shot anyway, selecting him in the 35th round in 2018. Obviously he didn't sign. Wells, a lefty hitting catcher at the University of Arizona, starred against elite competition in the wood bat Cape Cod League last summer (.308/.389/.526) and authored a .375/.527/.589 batting line in 15 games before the shutdown this spring. MLB.com ranks him as the 23rd best prospect in the draft class. Baseball America (subs. req'd) ranks him 21st. The Yankees hold the 28th overall pick.

There is no question that Wells' bat plays. The left-handed hitter has power to all fields, with good timing and a simple setup at the plate. He has strength and bat speed and controls the bat head well to make loud contact. He does strike out a bit, but he also draws a lot of walks. There are more concerns about where he might play defensively. He's adequate behind the plate, though he'll split time there with Matt Dyer at Arizona in the spring, and while his arm stroke and release are fine, his throws are inconsistent. He is a decent enough athlete to play first or figure things out in left field.

A team taking Wells with its first pick might want to send him out as a catcher until he proves he can't play the position. His bat should play regardless of his eventual defensive position and he could end up following a Kyle Schwarber type path to the big leagues.

It is notable the Yankees drafted Wells once before but be careful not to read too much into it. Like every team, they fail to sign several draft picks each year. Sometimes they draft the player again in the future, most of the time they don't. It's more notable the Yankees have shown a willingness to select bat first catchers in the early rounds in recent years (Pete O'Brien in 2012, Josh Breaux in 2018). Wells is cut from a similar cloth and the Yankees hired Tanner Swanson over the winter not only to work with Gary Sanchez, but also to oversee catcher development in the farm system. They may see Wells as a good candidate for Swanson's catching program. Turn him into a passable defender and the bat could make him an All-Star. Money could be an obstacle though. Wells is a draft-eligible sophomore, giving him more leverage than the typical college draftee because he could go back to school for his junior year and reenter the draft next summer. Unless MLB shortens the draft less than expected, the Yankees will have only three picks and a $3.7M bonus pool this summer. The Yankees would have to be absolutely sure they can sign Wells before pulling the trigger -- pre-draft agreements happen all the time even though they are technically illegal -- otherwise they risk losing him and the $2.5M in bonus pool money tied to their first round pick. I am skeptical the Yankees will play games with their bonus pool this draft only because they have so little of it (and only three picks), but maybe they really like Wells, and really believe in the bat and his ability to improve defensively. At the end of the first round, catchers who can bang are fine selections. The upside is considerable. “
 

jon abbey

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Comparisons are close to pointless, but it seems like he is generally in the area of Kyle Schwarber, and it's worth keeping in mind that if an electronic strike zone is instituted, it will be decidedly easier for guys to stick at C.
 

Wingack

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Seems like a good pick to me. I love lefty power bats, and it feels like the Yankees haven't had a lot of those coming up through the system lately.
 

jon abbey

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NY has no second round (or fifth round) pick because of the Cole signing, so just two picks tomorrow, 3rd and 4th rounds.
 

BigMike

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Yeah, BA had Wells going to the Yankees in one of their mocks, and I think Pitchers in most of the rest.

I think Yankee fans should be happy when they swing at a high ceiling player. They have made so many early picks which weren't. Given the depth of their system, and the money etc I tend to believe they (like the Sox) should always go for top end potential
 

jon abbey

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The concept of 'high ceiling' to me for position players is a little confusing, to me someone like Kyle Holder is not just high floor (his defense has always been considered Gold Glove level since the day he was drafted) but high ceiling too because if you are athletic enough to be one of the best few defensive SSs in the world, it takes very little on the offensive side to be really valuable really quickly. Wells like Schwarber seems like he will probably be best off at DH or at least pretty far down the defensive spectrum so his bat needs to be immense, and to me defense is much more constant than offense, so there's something I'm missing.

Also as long as we are dreaming big about guys whose value mostly comes from their bat, Wells went to the same HS in Las Vegas as Joey Gallo. Yes, please.
 

terrynever

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Comparisons are close to pointless, but it seems like he is generally in the area of Kyle Schwarber, and it's worth keeping in mind that if an electronic strike zone is instituted, it will be decidedly easier for guys to stick at C.
Don’t know why but while reading the scouting report, Matt Nokes’s name flashed through what remains of my brain.
 

jon abbey

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Yeah, another bat-first college player from ARI, I think NY is implicitly showing how much they love their crop of young pitchers by not adding to them.
 

Wingack

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Yeah, another bat-first college player from ARI, I think NY is implicitly showing how much they love their crop of young pitchers by not adding to them.

Also, two guys with maybe no real positions but show some versatility.

Seems like an interesting strategy. Big bats potentially though.
 

jon abbey

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So Hauver hit 3rd for Arizona State this year, #1 overall pick Torkelson hit second. Torkelson had a ridiculous 1.378 OPS in 17 games this season (before everything was cancelled), but Hauver was not so far behind him with an impressive 1.189 OPS. (Edit: Hauver is 9 months older)

"In the first 17 games of the season, Hauver had a slash line of .339/.494/.695 with 5 home runs, 20 RBIs, 6 doubles, and he once again had more walks (20) than strikeouts (15). He drove in multiple runs on 7 different occasions and drew more than one walk 5 different times."

https://thesundevils.com/sports/baseball/stats/2020