Yankees Rumors

Luke Voit To Return In May

By TC Zencka | April 3, 2021 at 10:38am CDT

Yankees manager Aaron Boone provided an update on injured first baseman Luke Voit today, per Marly Rivera of ESPN (via Twitter). Boone put a four to six week timeline on Voit’s return, putting him on track for a May return. The reigning AL home run king had to have a torn meniscus in his left knee repaired, which has shut him down completely for three weeks. It’s sounding like he won’t make his debut this season until mid-May.

Voit’s 22 home runs in 56 games last year not only led the league, but it marked a career high for the now 29-year-old. He broke out as a 26-year-old for the Cardinals, but 2020 was the first time he was able to be a consistent everyday regular. His 118 games played in 2019 remain a career-high, however, because of the shortened season. Whenever healthy, Voit has been a power dynamo with a .254 career ISO, .527 career slugging, and 62 home runs in 1,029 plate appearances.

In the meantime, veteran Jay Bruce got the start on opening day, and he will be at first base again today. DJ LeMahieu slid to first late in the season opener as Tyler Wade took over at the keystone. That’s a likely defensive alignment that the Yankees will deploy late in games until Voit returns.

Yankees Select Lucas Luetge

By Connor Byrne | March 31, 2021 at 6:51pm CDT

The Yankees announced that they have selected the contract of left-handed reliever Lucas Luetge, whom they signed to a minor league contract in the offseason. To make room for Luetge on their 40-man, the Yankees placed fellow southpaw reliever Zack Britton on the 60-day injured list. Britton will miss the first few months of the season as a result of elbow surgery.

Luetge makes for an interesting story as someone who hasn’t pitched in the majors in several years. A 21st-round pick of the Brewers in 2008, Luetge debuted with the Mariners in 2012 and stuck with the organization through 2015, though he combined for only 89 innings during that stretch. As a member of the M’s, Luetge logged a 4.35 ERA with unimpressive strikeout rates of 19 percent and 12.1 percent, respectively, while averaging a little over 90 mph on his fastball. He has since pitched in the minors with a handful of other teams, and he spent last year with the A’s organization.

To Luetge’s credit, he improbably shut down opposing hitters this spring with Yankees, as the 34-year-old tossed 10 1/3 innings of two-run, eight-hit ball with an eye-opening 18 strikeouts against two walks. Thanks to that tremendous performance and injuries to Britton and lefty Justin Wilson, whom the Yankees placed on the 10-day IL with shoulder inflammation, Luetge was able to earn a season-opening spot in the Yankees’ bullpen. He’ll be their relief corps’ top southpaw behind Aroldis Chapman until Wilson returns.

Along with the above moves, the Yankees placed first baseman Luke Voit (left knee) and third baseman/outfielder Miguel Andujar (right wrist) on the 10-day IL, retroactive to March 29. Neither decision came as a surprise – Voit just underwent surgery, while Andujar’s wrist has bothered him for a couple of weeks.

Reds Return Rule 5 Selection Kyle Holder To Yankees

By Connor Byrne | March 30, 2021 at 4:13pm CDT

The Reds have returned Rule 5 Draft pick Kyle Holder to the Yankees, according to announcements from both teams. The Yankees subsequently assigned the infielder to their alternate training site.

It was actually the Phillies who used a Rule 5 selection on Holder last December, but they wound up trading him to the Reds for cash considerations in late January. The 26-year-old went on to total 32 at-bats in spring training with the Reds, but despite a solid on-base percentage (.350), he hit for little average (.219) or power (.250 slugging percentage).

Originally a first-round pick of the Yankees, who took him 30th overall in the 2015 amateur draft, Holder hasn’t climbed above the Double-A level yet. He did hit well there in 2019, though, as he slashed .265/.336/.405 with nine home runs, seven stolen bases and a 13.8 percent strikeout rate in 472 plate appearances. But Holder’s at his best in the field, where he has experience at both middle infield spots and third base. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen wrote after the Rule 5 Draft that Holder “can absolutely pick it at shortstop,” adding he could turn into a defense-first utility player in the majors.

Yankees Notes: Wilson, Luetge, Voit, Wade, King, Nelson

By Steve Adams and Connor Byrne | March 29, 2021 at 5:16pm CDT

Yankees lefty Justin Wilson will open the 2021 season on the injured list, general manager Brian Cashman announced to reporters Monday. Wilson was slowed by some shoulder discomfort recently, though an MRI taken last week came back clean and the reliever recently threw from 90 feet. Cashman added that Wilson has “responded well” to the downtime he had when he was slowed down and threw a bullpen session today without issue. It seems this is likely just a matter of building him back up, but there is not sufficient time to do so before the season begins Thursday. With Wilson and Zack Britton both sidelined to open the season, the only lefty assured of a spot in the bullpen is closer Aroldis Chapman, though Lucas Luetge has turned heads this spring and could grab a spot, Erik Boland of Newsday tweets. Luetge hasn’t appeared in the bigs since 2015, but he signed a minors deal with the Yankees in the offseason and has since yielded just two earned runs on eight hits and two walks (with a whopping 18 strikeouts) in 10 1/3 innings.

Chacin Granted Release By Yankees; Dietrich, Chirinos Agree To New Contracts

By Steve Adams | March 29, 2021 at 2:38pm CDT

The Yankees have granted veteran right-hander Jhoulys Chacin so that he may explore options with other teams, general manager Brian Cashman announced to reporters Monday (Twitter link via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). Fellow veterans Derek Dietrich and Robinson Chirinos have agreed to new deals that will keep them with the Yankees, per the GM. They’ll head to the team’s alternate site to begin the season.

Chacin, 33, pitched just five big league innings with the Braves in 2020 and struggled considerably between Milwaukee and Boston through 103 1/3 frames in 2019. As recently as 2018, he was a solid member of the Brewers’ rotation, though, pitching to a 3.50 ERA through 192 2/3 innings. He’s spent parts of a dozen seasons in the Majors and carries a career 4.04 ERA in 1324 innings — despite many of those innings coming at the hitter-friendly Coors Field in Colorado. Chacin has been solid in camp with the Yankees, allowing four runs on eight hits and four walks with nine strikeouts in 9 1/3 innings.

The 31-year-old Dietrich drew five walks in just 33 plate appearances, showing the type of discipline that he’s developed in recent years. However, he was just 4-for-24 with a homer overall and didn’t do enough to beat out fellow veteran Jay Bruce for a roster spot, even though Dietrich has more defensive versatility.

Dietrich, a lefty-hitting utility man, has ample experience at second base and all four corner spots, so he could be called upon in the event of a variety of injury scenarios at the MLB level. He’s morphed into a three-true-outcomes slugger over the past couple years, hitting .189/.332/.462 with 24 homers in just 381 plate appearances dating back to 2019.

The 36-year-old Chirinos, meanwhile, appeared in just five games and recorded seven plate appearances before suffering a fractured wrist that sidelined him for much of camp. The veteran catcher will continue his rehab with the Yankees at their alternate site and could eventually emerge as an option at the big league level depending on health and performance of top catchers Gary Sanchez and Kyle Higashioka. Chirinos posted poor numbers in a small sample of 82 plate appearances between the Rangers and Mets in 2020, but he batted .238/.347/.443 with 17 homers in 114 games as recently as 2019.

AL Notes: Santander, Astros, Indians, Taillon, Yankees

By Mark Polishuk | March 28, 2021 at 1:16pm CDT

Anthony Santander isn’t in the Orioles lineup today, and it seems as if the outfielder will miss his fifth consecutive spring game. Manager Brandon Hyde told MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko and other reporters that Santander has been bothered by a sore oblique, though Santander has still been working out and could potentially get back on the field as early as Monday.

Such a quick return would probably mean Santander is ready to roll for Opening Day, but the O’s are likely to be cautious considering that an oblique strain brought Santander’s 2020 season to an early end in September. The injury cut short a breakout year for the 26-year-old, as Santander hit .261/.315/.575 with 11 homers in 165 plate appearances.

Pitcher Notes: Dodgers, Gray, E-Rod, Yankees, Fiers

By Connor Byrne and Anthony Franco | March 27, 2021 at 2:53pm CDT

The Dodgers are still deciding among fifth starter options, manager Dave Roberts informed Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times and other reporters Friday. Southpaw David Price is competing against righties Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin, who impressed as rookies during the Dodgers’ 2020 World Series-winning campaign. As a five-time All-Star and a former AL Cy Young winner, Price certainly carries the best track record of the three – not to mention the highest salary – but he didn’t pitch at all last season after opting out over COVID-19 concerns. Any of those three would join Trevor Bauer, Walker Buehler, Clayton Kershaw and Julio Urías in what will be a loaded season-opening starting five.

The latest on a few more pitchers around the game:

Reds righty Sonny Gray, who has been dealing with a back problem for a couple of weeks, came out of a sim game unscathed Friday, per Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. After throwing two innings and 30 pitches, Gray said, “I felt good. It was definitely a step in the right direction.” Gray will start the season on the injured list, but he doesn’t expect to miss much time. That’s uplifting news for a Reds starting staff that lost the aforementioned Bauer during the offseason.
Eduardo Rodríguez was recently set back by a dead arm but seemed to make some progress this morning. The Red Sox left-hander came out of a bullpen session feeling good about his chances of soon returning to game action, although a season-opening injured list stint remains a possibility (via Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com and Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe). Manager Alex Cora says the club will evaluate how Rodríguez feels tomorrow before making any decisions about his recovery timeline.
The Yankees have optioned right-hander Deivi García to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, according to a team announcement. The move suggests Domingo Germán will enter the season as the No. 5 in the Yankees’ rotation behind Gerrit Cole, Corey Kluber, Jameson Taillon and Jordan Montgomery, though odds are that García will make his share of starts this season. The 21-year-old, a former top 100 prospect, made his debut last season with a 4.98 ERA/4.21 SIERA with a 22.6 percent strikeout rate against a stingy 4.1 percent walk rate in 34 1/3 innings.
Athletics righty Mike Fiers will begin the season on the injured list, manager Bob Melvin announced to Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle and other reporters. Fiers has been dealing with left hip inflammation since midway through the month and hasn’t faced live hitters during his recovery. His injury could open the door for any of Daulton Jefferies, Cole Irvin or A.J. Puk to at least temporarily join the A’s rotation. Fiers tied for the A’s lead in starts (11) and finished second in innings (59) last season, but he struggled to a 4.58 ERA/5.41 SIERA and managed a personal-worst 14.4 percent K rate.

Luke Voit To Start Season On Injured List; Yankees Select Jay Bruce

By Anthony Franco | March 27, 2021 at 11:53am CDT

11:53 am: The Yankees have officially selected Bruce to the 40-man roster. Right-hander Clarke Schmidt was placed on the 60-day injured list (elbow) in a corresponding move. Additionally, non-roster invitees Robinson Chirinos and Derek Dietrich have been released from their minor-league contracts. Both are now free agents.

11:14 am: The Yankees are planning on selecting the contract of outfielder/first baseman Jay Bruce, Jack Curry of the YES Network reports (Twitter link). The veteran slugger had been in camp as a non-roster invitee. New York is also expected to hold onto Mike Tauchman, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter). At the very least, the Yankees don’t plan on exposing the out-of-options Tauchman to waivers, says Andy Martino of SNY (Twitter link), although a trade could still be a possibility.

Expected starting first baseman Luke Voit will begin the year on the injured list, Marly Rivera of ESPN was first to report. Yankees manager Aaron Boone confirmed Voit has suffered a meniscus tear in his knee and will undergo surgery. He’ll be shut down from baseball activities for the next three weeks (via Erik Boland of Newsday). New York expects Voit back “considerably sooner than” June, Boone said (via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com), but it seems possible the reigning home run champ could be out of action into May. In the interim, Bruce will be New York’s primary first baseman, relays Hoch.

The Yankees will have to officially add Bruce to the 40-man roster before Opening Day. The 33-year-old has hit for plenty of power but struggled to reach base in recent years, combining for a .212/.259/.510 line with 32 home runs across 436 plate appearances since the start of 2019. That kind of production would be a steep drop-off from Voit, who raked at a .277/.338/.610 clip last year.

Bruce will at least offer a left-handed bat to help balance a righty-heavy lineup. Tauchman also offers a lefty bat off the bench, and he’s capable of playing anywhere in the outfield. He’ll be limited to reserve duty behind Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks, Clint Frazier and Brett Gardner, assuming he isn’t traded. The 30-year-old has drawn rather strong interest around the league.

Gio Gonzalez Announces Retirement

By Steve Adams | March 25, 2021 at 2:15pm CDT

Veteran left-hander Gio Gonzalez took to Instagram this afternoon to announce his retirement from baseball after a 13-year Major League career. The 35-year-old Hialeah, Fla. native was in camp with the Marlins on a minor league deal and called simply donning the jersey of his hometown club one of his “biggest dreams.” However, Gonzalez also added that his “body wasn’t keeping up with [his] mind.” The lefty offered a heartfelt thanks to the Athletics, Nationals, Brewers, White Sox, Yankees and Marlins organizations.

“My heart and mind are finally at peace with my decision,” Gonzalez wrote at the conclusion of his post. “Here’s one last tip of the cap! I’m coming home to my wonderful family. I love u!”

Gonzalez was the No. 38 overall draft pick by the White Sox back in 2004 and had, to say the least, an unconventional career arc with the team. Chicago traded him to the Phillies in Dec. 2005 as part of the Jim Thome blockbuster, only to reacquire him a year later alongside Gavin Floyd in the trade that sent Freddy Garcia to Philadelphia. Gonzalez was close to big league ready at that point and looked as though he could make his debut with the team that originally drafted him … until the White Sox again traded him away — this time to the Athletics as part of the return for Nick Swisher.

Between his draft status, his inclusion in trades for three high-profile big leaguers and his annual placement on Baseball America’s Top 100 prospect list from 2006-09, it was clear that Gonzalez was highly regarded within the industry. It took him a bit to deliver on that talent, but he did so in a big way with a breakout showing in 2010, when he tossed 200 2/3 innings of 3.23 ERA ball and solidified himself as part of the Athletics’ rotation.

That marked the first of six consecutive seasons in which the durable Gonzalez would make at least 27 starts and pitch to a sub-4.00 ERA. Oakland, as is often the case, traded him when he was on the cusp of arbitration eligibility, shipping him to the Nationals in return for a prospect package of four future big leaguers: A.J. Cole, Tommy Milone, Derek Norris and Brad Peacock.

Gonzalez was nothing short of excellent in Washington, finishing third in National League Cy Young voting in his first season as a Nat. He inked a five-year, $42MM contract extension with the Nats in Jan. 2012 and would go on to spend the next seven seasons in D.C. under the terms of that deal (which contained a pair of club options). Gonzalez’s first season with the Nationals was his best, but he finished sixth in NL Cy Young voting in 2017 — his final full year with the club. In parts of seven years there overall, Gonzalez racked up 1263 1/3 innings of 3.62 ERA ball and helped the Nats to four postseason berths.

With the Nats out of playoff contention in 2018, they traded Gonzalez to the Brewers for a pair of prospects. Gonzalez was brilliant in five starts down the stretch with Milwaukee, helping pitch the Brewers into the postseason. He re-signed with the Brewers in April 2019 after being granted his release from a minor league deal with the Yankees organization and again pitched quite well, tossing 87 1/3 frames of 3.50 ERA ball.

In the 2019-20 offseason, Gonzalez had a full-circle moment when he signed a one-year contract to return to the White Sox. He finally took the mound with his original organization on July 26 last summer. Gonzalez was tagged for six runs in his first appearance, but he bounced back with 28 innings of 3.54 ERA ball for the South Siders the rest of the way.

Gonzalez will walk away from baseball as a two-time All-Star who twice finished sixth or better in his league’s Cy Young voting. Long one of the game’s more underrated starters, his career body of work stands as a testament to his consistency: in 1933 innings, Gonzalez went 131-101 a 3.70 ERA and 1860 strikeouts. He earned more than $73MM in a career valued by Baseball-Reference at 30.1 wins above replacement and valued by FanGraphs at 32.1 WAR. Gonzalez never won a ring but appeared in the postseason five different times, made a pair of All-Star Games and was always good for an entertaining interview. It was a strong career by any measure, and Gonzalez will head into retirement having left his mark on several fanbases and countless teammates and coaches around the sport.

Yankees Receiving Trade Interest In Mike Tauchman

By Steve Adams | March 25, 2021 at 11:00am CDT

11:00am: Eight clubs have contacted the Yankees about Tauchman, Martino tweets.

9:10am: The Yankees are receiving trade interest in outfielder Mike Tauchman, SNY’s Andy Martino reports. They’re looking past his 2020 season and valuing him more in line with his 2019 output, per Martino, who adds that it’d take a reliever with some team control or another piece with legitimate value for the Yanks to part with the 30-year-old outfielder.

That teams are inquiring on Tauchman comes as little surprise at this juncture of Spring Training. He’s out of minor league options and looks to be without much of a path to regular playing time, given the presence of Clint Frazier, Aaron Hicks, Aaron Judge, Brett Gardner and Giancarlo Stanton all on the roster.

The Yankees also have veterans Jay Bruce and Derek Dietrich in camp on non-roster deals. Bruce, in particular, has been rumored to pique the Yankees’ interest. Neither has put together a particularly overwhelming spring performance thus far, but both are left-handed bats with pop who could bring some versatility to the mix. While Tauchman is capable of playing all three outfield spots, he doesn’t have any experience in the infield. Bruce has spent a good bit of time at first base, however, and Dietrich can play second base in addition to all four corner positions.

Yankees skipper Aaron Boone acknowledged the looming decisions after yesterday’s game, telling reporters: “The reality is we — and a few of our players — have decisions to make in the next 24, 48, 72 hours,” (link via the New York Post’s Dan Martin). “But no decision has been made as of right now.”

Bruce’s minor league deal with the club contained an opt-out clause yesterday, which gives the Yankees 48 hours to put him on the roster. There’s no formal indication that Bruce triggered that clause, although there’s little reason for him not to have done so. Exercising the clause puts pressure on the Yankees and, if he’s not going to make the Opening Day roster in the Bronx, gives him the opportunity to pursue a roster spot with another club.

Martino has suggested it’s possible that both Tauchman and Bruce make the Opening Day roster, with infielder Tyler Wade being optioned to Triple-A to begin the season, although that’s obviously not the most ideal scenario for the Yankees. Doing so would mean a bench of Gardner, Tauchman, Bruce and backup catcher Kyle Higashioka. Each of Gio Urshela, Gleyber Torres and DJ LeMahieu can play multiple spots around the infield, but there’s not much of a safety net on the bench if one of them needs to depart a game with an injury. Keeping Dietrich, who has ample experience at both second base and third base, would be a cleaner fit in the event that Wade is optioned.

The simplest course of action for the Yankees would be to let Bruce and Dietrich pursue other opportunities, keeping Tauchman and Wade both on the bench to begin the season. However, there’s a case to be made that Tauchman is somewhat redundant with Gardner back in the fold and so many other outfield options on the roster. And with the Yankees losing Zack Britton for up to four months and Justin Wilson working through some shoulder tightness — yesterday’s MRI came back clean — it could work to their benefit if they could pry a useful reliever away from another club in a deal for Tauchman.

The 2020 season was a rough one for Tauchman, who played through a shoulder injury and recently acknowledged (via Martin in the previously linked piece) that he “developed some bad swing-path patterns” while trying to compensate for the pain he was experiencing. Tauchman hit just .242/.342/.305 in 111 plate appearances last season, maintaining the strong plate discipline he displayed from 2017-19 but showing nowhere near the power he did the prior year.

The 2019 season was a breakout campaign for Tauchman, whom the Yankees plucked from the Rockies in exchange for lefty Phillip Diehl. In 296 plate appearances with the Yankees that year, Tauchman slashed .277/.361/.504 with 13 home runs. He won’t be eligible for arbitration until next winter, and the Yankees control Tauchman through the 2024 season.

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