If the Blue Jays are in position at the trade deadline, the team may well have some extra cash to use. According to the math of Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca, Toronto might reasonably expect to have $5MM to $8MM in free 2015 salary available to work with.
Here’s more from the AL East:
- The Red Sox held their breath last night as the left side of their infield was evaluated for injuries that appeared to have at least some possibility of being worse than they first looked. As Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald reports, however, both Xander Bogaerts and Pablo Sandoval are dealing with nothing more than bumps and bruises at this point.
- Had either of those players gone down, of course, Brock Holt would have been a crucial component of the Red Sox’ reaction. As Bryan Grosnick of Baseball Prospectus explores, Holt has (rather surprisingly) turned into an extremely versatile, useful big league player who makes it possible for Boston to carry an unusual bench arrangement.
- The Yankees remain encouraged by how C.C. Sabathia is throwing the ball, even if the results have not yet been there, as MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch reports. His right knee has felt good, and manager Joe Girardi sees a difference. “I’m just seeing better movement on his fastball,” Girardi said. “I’m seeing consistency in his changeup, it’s not cutting. His slider is better. I just think he’s locating a lot better and I think it’s because he’s healthy. It’s hard when you’re dealing with nagging injuries to go out there and perform at a high level.”
Toronto might reasonably expect to have $5MM to $8MM in free 2015 salary available to work with
Yeah, but my guess is they will need a reliever and a starting pitcher if they get that far. So, will 5 to 8 million be enough?
Giradi: It’s hard when you’re dealing with nagging injuries to go out there and perform at a high level.” It is also hard when the Yankees pay the kind of money they do to CC.
Also have 5m in Navarro that we could move as well though.
If the Jays are offering a good enough return, a team would likely eat a few million to make a trade work mid-season.
Keep in mind that 5 million at the trade deadline is more like 15 million cause two-thirds of the season has gone by already. Seems more than enough to buy a useful player.
Thank goodness for Holt, and tomorrow’s off day. When guys are banged up, but not going on the DL, you’d still rather have that second infield option. Holt is great, but he can’t exactly play two positions at the same time.
In the short term, Sox can stick Ramirez in at 3rd, and even Alan Craig to finish a game, as he came up as 3B and still plays the infield.
They tossed the idea around is spring training of having Craig spend some time at third. My only though it must have not gone well at all if they threw it away without giving it much of a chance. Craig having that sort of flexibility would be helpful to this team because Sandoval would be best served never hitting right handed. Let’s just say there’s probably a reason Craig was moved off of third and hasn’t seen any time there since.
You don’t need the second IF option though when Betts and Hanley have a lot of recent IF experience. Plug one of those guys in the IF and let Craig/Nava fill the OF.
He can’t?
I think the promising part, coming from a Yanks fan’s perspective, is that CC’s stuff has looked considerably better than it has the past 2 years. None of us expect a Cy-Young run this year, but barring health issues, it’s not hard to envision him being a productive player, he’s just got to reign things in and pick his spots better at this stage of his career. I’m eager to see his progress as the starts pile up.
In what, one game looked better than in the past two years? Kind of intriguing not to say funny…
Not just one game, both starts, plus his spring work. I’m not talking hard results, i’m talking ball movement/stuff.
And he is 0-2…promising..wait as he will implode in the next couple of games.
Judging a pitcher based solely on wins-losses is not useful because it doesn’t paint you a full picture of the performance, at all. There’s a lot of factors that go into winning/losing a game. This is purely an assessment of his work, not the results.
Someone should have probably told you by now, but we don’t look kindly on cautious optimism here.
Apparently not,lol. That’s alright though, people can have their opinions on things of this nature, nothing wrong with that, though i’m not fond of a win-loss record argument to a point of me strictly saying his stuff has looked good and there’s reason for hope.
Hope is good. If Stephen Drew can hit a pinch hit grand slam anything is possible.
Win loss records? Are we still in the 90s?
So you make fun of someone for using a small sample then turn around and use W-L. That is impressive, sir.
I am not making fun of anybody and anything. But two years count more than a ST and two starts (0-2) sir?
You said it was “kind of intriguing not to say funny”
Anyway, the guy wasn’t talking about W/L, ERA or even strikeouts. He was saying CC’s stuff has looked better. If you’ve seen him and disagree, then explain why. Saying he’s 0-2 is not relevant in any way.
Thank you.
Saying that two bad years doesn’t count as much as a ST and two starts (0-2) makes any further talk irrelevant. Almost any Yankee fan thinks when CC starts the loss is a given but if you feel he is improving I am fine with that. He will have a stellar season even he goes 0-15 (as W/L does not matter).
lol
Let them keep sugar coating his outings, it makes it all the better to watch him deteriorate. Must be Michael Kay posts on here based on some of these comments?
The one massive concern, and its an obvious one, its the 89 mph fastball hes got. Hes always lived in the big leagues with power stuff. Gonna be interesting to see if he can start to be a more crafty kinda guy.
Yeah, the velocity is a big change for him as opposed to the CC of old, but it’s still got enough on it(he’s touched 96 on a 3 mph fast radar gun, so lets say 93, but sitting at 89-90 regularly) that it can still be a purpose pitch. If he can keep getting the movement on his secondary stuff he’s had thus far, and dedicate to finessing his game, he can be a solid mid-rotation arm, which is where the hope is coming from.
OK, if that makes you feel better about CC. Let’s talk again in a couple of weeks, ok?
CC is usually a slow starter, he plays better as the season wears on historically speaking.
It makes me feel much, much better about CC. If his stuff continues to have good movement, and he keeps himself off the DL, that’s enough to feel good about. No need to bet on an implosion when there’s reason to hold optimism.
Ala Andy Pettitte
He’s still producing alot of strikeouts. He had 8 SO in 5 2/3 against Toronto and 7 against the O’s in his 2nd start.
Unfortunately strikeouts dont mean good performance. Sabathia isnt used to pitching with a sub par fastball to set up his secondary pitches. His fastball is getting hit, and its getting hit hard.
His command is strong, CC has yet to walk a batter and his SO/K is the highest in the majors.
After 2 starts?
Like we said, we like what we see so far.
i was responding to the todd redmond comment..
No matter what, I tip the hat to Holt.
Holt has been a godsend so far. Almost makes the Melancon-for-Hanrahan trade worth it, since Holt came along in that.
Sure, easy to love him. How many guys are batting .636 these days?
Ben Cherington is looking like a genius for not making a deal that would have put Hamels in Boston and possibly losing players like Holt, Swihart or others who will likely be counted on as the season progresses. So far so good for Red Sox.
I know it is kind of nitpicky, but CC Sabathia doesn’t use periods in his first name. I think it is silly as well, but it is how he spells it.
I wonder what would have happened with Harrison if say the Pirates don’t trade Holt and he still has his breakout that he’s had in Boston
Looking at b-ref, Sabathia has a FIP of 1.86 and a Strikeout to Walk ratio of 15.0. How in the heck does that end up being an ERA of 5.86? Is the Yankees D really that bad?
Not sure I know what you mean.
Holt is the primary backup at 2B/SS/3B
Hanley is the secondary backup at SS/3B
Mookiet is the secondary backup at 2B and he could probally fill in for a pinch at SS/3B.
If Pedey, Panda, Xander all need an off day you can still do
Betts, Hanley, Holt with Vic in CF, Craig in LF, and Nava in RF.
If Holt, Xander, and Panda gets hurt then Hanley at SS with Betts at 3B is the worst case option.
Either way they have multiple options with their current roster.