While Brandon Drury may be the favorite, at present, to open the season as the Yankees’ third baseman, GM Brian Cashman made clear in speaking with the New York Post’s George A. King III that there will still be a competition for that spot. “Nothing has been handed to anybody, so the competition will play its way out,” said Cashman. “…You have horses coming into races as favorites and I think the experience that Drury has along with his abilities should give him a leg up going into this process. But we will wait and see what it looks like and how it plays out.” Miguel Andujar will still be given a chance to win the job this spring, per the GM, who also notes that the team still views Andujar as a player who will have a major long-term role with the Yankees. Both Cashman and new skipper Aaron Boone suggested that they’ll focus on third base as Drury’s primary position for now. Drury spent most of the 2017 season playing second base in Arizona, but the hot corner is his natural position.
More from the division…
- While J.D. Martinez is expected to be the Red Sox’ primary designated hitter, the team did tell him during negotiations that he’ll see some time in the outfield, per Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston. Andrew Benintendi, Jackie Bradley and Mookie Betts will obviously still shoulder the bulk of that workload, but Drellich notes that first-year manager Alex Cora wants to keep that group as fresh as possible. Drellich also reports that the Red Sox were not initially willing to give Martinez an opt-out provision after both the second and third year of the contract. The year-two opt-out was a particularly crucial tipping point in negotiations, he adds, and seemingly one that may have pushed the deal across the finish line.
- Colby Rasmus, who signed a minor league contract with the Orioles yesterday, candidly spoke to the Baltimore media about his decision to step away from baseball last season while on the disabled list with the Rays (links via MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko and the Baltimore Sun’s Eduardo A. Encina). Rasmus and his wife were expecting their third child at the time, and the outfielder ultimately prioritized spending time with his young family above all else last season. The 31-year-old Rasmus has suggested in the past that he may not play into his late- or even mid-30s, but he felt pulled back to baseball this offseason as he began working out. “I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel, so I got back to working out and mentally I feel good,” said Rasmus. ” I feel like I still have a little bit left to give to the game and show the game some respect and go out in a good way.”
- Blue Jays second baseman Devon Travis missed the final 100 games of the 2017 season following knee surgery, but he’s healthy and participating in a full slate of baseball drills thus far in Spring Training, writes Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith. “You watch him move around, and if you didn’t know he’d had an injury, you wouldn’t think anything of it,” said manager John Gibbons. “Really, he looks that good.” Travis only just began running in January but has worked his way up to being able to go full speed, though he implies that he’s tempering the aggression of his workouts rather than pushing himself unnecessarily at this point. Injuries have limited Travis to 213 games over the first three seasons of his big league career.
Gardner LF
Judge RF
Stanton DH
Didi SS
Sanchez C
Bird 1B
Hicks CF
Drury 3B
Torres 2B
Devastating lineup but don’t underestimate the Red Sox JDM was a must sign and now they have a good lineup as well, but honestly don’t think it’s as fierce because of the lack of the power of ur putting them next to the Yankees.
Benny LF
Pedroia 2B
Betts RF
Martinez DH
Devers 3B
Bogaerts SS
Hanley 1B
JBJ CF
Vazquez C
I’d like to see bird between Judge and Stanton and DD between Stanton and Sanchez
Yes and hopefully that’s the way Boone does it.
Cora already said Betts, Benni are his 1-2
And ellsbury on the bench with all that money
And Panda in SF with all his. 😉
They are still around $57 million less than the Sox payroll with a $23 million bench warmer. They paid Arod more than that to disappear last year.
I feel like they have a good excuse to leave Torres down to gain another year. I know they want to win, but 162 games 6 years from now> 2 weeks now. Don’t think he makes it. Hasn’t played AAA but I agree he’s ready
Why? sure of he struggles in camp or the first few weeks but if be shocked if hebisnt better than wade, torreyes and andujar.
He played about 23 games at AAA last year. I think they might send him down for the 2 weeks but if he has a tremendous ST then I think it won’t matter. From a culture standpoint I’d like the Yanks to let his play determine whether or not he breaks camp with the team.
Hicks had the 3rd highest walk rate behind Judge and T. Frazier last year, In fact, among hitters with 350 AB or more, he ranked 15th. I think Hicks is putting it together and between his power, his ability to draw a walk and his speed he would make a good candidate to be in the top 1 or 2 spots. I would love to see the following lineup.
Gardner
Hicks
Judge
Stanton
Didi
Sanchez
Bird
Drury
Torres
I hate having Bird bat so low with little protection but he knows the strike zone and should be ok. I think Hicks needs the support at this critical point in his career.
You’re out of your mind, Sanchez is the best Yankee hitter and you’re hitting him 6th ? Ridiculous
Agree on Sanchez about being best hitter.
Didi
Judge
Sanchez
Stanton
Bird
Hicks
Torres
Drury/ Andujar
Gardner
There’s no way they’re gonna bat Didi lead off and bat three RH in a row. How do you figure Sanchez is there best hitter? No one is set at 2B or 3B. They still might have another move to make.
Why people insist in breaking up Judge Stanton Sanchez literally 3 of the top 25 players in baseball in favor of Greg Bird and Didi Gregorious for handiness reason is beyond human understand. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
Replace,:
Hicks with Frazier
durry with andujar
he could but the yanks wont
Long term I think Drury is super utility guy at 1b/2b/3b/of with Andujar starting at 3b too. He can cover either 2b or 3b full time if the kids don’t win the job.
You think Frazier is going to not only play his way onto the roster AND take CF from Hicks? Truth be told there is a part of me that hopes you’re right about that. He’s gonna need one hell of a spring to do that.
I hope you’re right about Frazier too but from the start of the season I fully expect Hicks to man center. I do expect Frazier to play more than Ellsbury at least on the field with Ellsbury more of a pinch running role. Who knows, maybe they’ll cut him at the end of spring
Frazier heading to triple a. he’s not going to be up as a full time platoon guy between hicks ellsbury and himself
Hicks, Ellsbury , or Gardner would have to go before Frazier is moved up. He will probably out play them in spring but there’s a bit of a jam up in front of him. Cashman loves Hicks as his reclamation project. Hicks or Ellsbury or both can go and they would be better off.
“Hicks or Ellsbury or both can go and they would be better off” in what way? So what you think Frazier should play CF over Hicks. Are you a Yankees fan and if so do you watch the games?
Drury can also play both corner outfield spots
Hicks has the job,besides he is a far superior CF then Frazier and despite those injuries had a good year. Hicks arm is considered one of the best in all of MLB.
It’s ridiculous to me how some yankee fans think frazier is the second coming of christ. I am a yankee fan and he hasn’t exactly blown me away, and if it wasn’t for fowler getting hurt last year we probably wouldn’t have even seen him called up at all or at least not till september. His AAA numbers werent that amazing. Why people would rather have him in cf than hicks makes no sense, especially considering how great hicks is defensively, plus frazier’s a corner outfielder, would not want him patrolling center
Thank you. I think if Fowler wasn’t hurt Frazier might have been part of the package sent to the A’s for Gray. Perhaps some of these people are to enamored by the whole top prospect ratings and are locked in too much to them.
That’s true of every team’s fans. They don’t really pay attention to bust rates.
Im really hoping Frazier turns out better than Fowler. Unfortunate what happened to Fowler in his first MLB game though
Frazier over Hicks isn’t happening. Like it or not the reality likely is that the starting CF job is Hicks’s job to lose. I just can’t see Hicks performing bad enough in spring training to lose it. My prediction is you’ll end up disappointed meaning Frazier starts out at AAA. Assuming Judge, Gardner, Stanton, and Hicks all stay healthy through spring training that’s 4 OF’s right their. Yes, they can rotate through the DH spot but Ellsbury is still on the bench and going no where. Another OF. I can’t see the consistent playing time being their for Frazier right now. Unless he comes out and blows everyone away in spring training it’s better for his development to start at AAA getting consistent playing time. Not sure he’s shown enough yet to say he definitely couldn’t use more ‘seasoning’ at AAA.
Why in the world would you do that? I don’t get why most Yankee fans seem to be against Hicks? Yes, it took him a few years to develop and last year was hampered by injuries. However, if he shows it was a fluke then that would put the Yanks in an amazing position.
Consider what Hicks strengths are. He hits for power (15 hrs in 360 AB), draws walks a high rather (15th overall in mlb), can steal some bases and is the best defensive CF we have. I like Frazier but what has he done to deserve CF over Hicks?
I meant if Hicks proves it WASN’T a fluke last year…then the Yanks would be in a great position.
It would not surprise me if Boston would secretly be hoping that JDM opts out.
Opt-outs are tricky. He kills it for 2 years and opts out, it sucks that the Red Sox lose a good bat, but also don’t need to pay him for declining years. They are mostly in the favor of players but it’s not completely terrible for the teams either.
TOTALLY in favor of the player
If Boras went to the Sox in October and offered JD for 2/$60 mil I’m almost certain the Sox would’ve signed him immediately. If he walks after 2 years then yippy for the Sox. Limit your risks,
Player opt outs benefit only the player, 100% of the time. The only scenarios in which a player opts out are the ones where he’s good enough to get more money. That means the team loses the surplus value it would have received without the opt out.
The only scenarios where the player stays are the ones where he is not performing particularly well.
Source: I work in finance and contractual analysis is a big part of my job.
Do you work in sports contracts where you have to analyze a person’s aging factors?
Has nothing to do with aging, just performance
and if the player thinks he can beat the contract in the market! It always favors the player!
Aging might lessen the likelihood that he opts out but it doesn’t change the calculus I just outlined. Its still a direct benefit to the player because it puts a ceiling on the amount of value the team can receive on the deal.
Explain Tanaka. He stayed.
Always in favor of the player!
How the Orioles just let Mike Moustakas sit there on the sidelines?
SMH
They should scoop him up. Play him at 3B, Machado at SS and Beckham in a backup role (maybe getting starts against lefties with Mous at DH or on the bench).
I agree why not sign him to 3 yr deal that way when Manny leaves you still have him at 3rd and Beckham at SS. They in no way compare to Manny but atleast they won’t be running looking for a replacement
Yes and there is no one really in the pipeline ready at 3rd for the Orioles
Why sign him for 3 years? he’s still going to want som3 money. sign him to a 1 year deal and then if you like what you see sign his as an fa next summer. he’s going up against machado and Donaldson. with Part time playing time this year and two all stars on the market, you will pay him less next summer than this summer.
Yes!
We have enough 1 dimensional home run hitters. ORIOLES should be stock piling pitchers like the Rangers and Brewers
Orioles can walk and chew bubble gum at the same time
At least in my mind, then again I am not sure.
Red Sox have quite the problem on their hands with a Ramirez and Moreland rotating at 1B. Moreland is way better defensively and ok offensively but if Ramirez gets 497 at bats in 2018 he’ll be vested for 22 million in 2019. If anyone doesn’t think this will be brought up by the press in Boston repeatedly and effect Hanley’s attitude they’re crazy
It’s being brought up quite a bit and it’s been a major topic of conversation ever since the Sox re-signed Moreland. It’s being treated as a win-win situation. Right now the plan is to have Martinez hit behind Ramirez with the hopes that Ramirez gets back to form. If Ramirez doesn’t, expect him to ride the bench more in favor of Moreland.
So basically if Ramirez proves himself early, Boston will be ok with paying and will probably sell off Moreland for peanuts in the offseason. If Ramirez doesn’t then he likely won’t reach his mark.
Does Moreland have a NTC?
No
they will place him on the 10 man DL or just not play him towards the end of the season. I know how this story goes
No they won’t.
Nah, they’ll take the usual smear campaign route and paint Hanley in a bad light (which won’t be that hard if he’s not hitting, not getting ABs and mouthing off about it). Media and fans will get on his case and management will exile him to wherever. They did the same type of act with Francona, Nomar, Pedro, Manny, etc. Classic Boston.
Nomar was dead weight and pissed off that he wasn’t offered a massive contract. After he was traded I can’t tell you the number of fair weathered Sox fans, who all claimed to be life long fans, suddenly proclaimed themselves life long Cubs fans. The press hammered Epstein for that trade until it won us a World Series.
Pedro was no longer the classic Pedro. The “smear campaign” was the press saying thanks but it’s time for a change.
As for Manny… frankly I don’t know what to say. Every other fanbase was annoyed every time a Red Sox fan said the phrase “Manny being Manny” and when he was finally traded, he was suddenly a cuddly teddy bear. What smear campaign are you talking about?
Francona… the team collapsed. Epstein resigned Francona willingly left, and the ownership decided on a new direction. Francona barely got any blame, it all went to Beckett and Lackey over “beer and chicken.” When he returned as an Indian, standing ovation.
All this talk about smear campaigns coming from the ownership. Bull. We got a long tradition of baseball in Boston with a huge fan base and a tough media. Of course there will be bad press, but a smear campaign… please.
SWP – excellent details – saved me a few words responding to yet another example of unsubstantiated hyperbole, although I suppose pointless speculations and generalizations are what idle fans do.
Thank you, well put.
I’ll never forget the 4July04 game, every Yankee and Red Sox on the top rail of the dugout. Derek Jeter faceplants, ARod at SS, Sheffield at 3B, everyone into it on both teams, about 44 of the 50 eligible players play, except the other starting pitchers and Nomar, sitting at the back of the dugout like a petulant child. He was traded next day…
No, you really don’t know “how this story goes.”
this happens all the time, player A has a vesting clause in his contract so the team doesn’t use him late in the season so the option doesn’t vest, yes, I know how this story goes
Before signing JD, reasonable projections for PA’s were:Betts 630, Beni,JBJ,Hanley & Mitch between 530 and 540 each. This still leaves over 600 PA’s for JD and others at OF/1B/DH. It won’t be hard to have plenty of PA’s for the other 5 and keep Hanley around 450.
I wonder if the Rays are going to take all 10 days to drum up the best offer for Dickerson before trading him. Can’t see them just letting him go for nothing. Probably just collecting offers and responding to the best one at the last minute.
I’d like to see the Padres get involved, instead of trading Renfroe, he can be sent to AAA and can work on things a little more down there. You move Myers to right and then left field could be filled by Corey Dickerson, he Myers and Hosmer could hit right in the middle of the order.
You could also unclog the log-jam’s to send back to TB for Dickerson. So one of Spangenberg or Asuaje, plus one of Jankowski or Sczcur. Don’t know if that would be enough but that’s where I would start the discussions if I was San Diego.
I think teams can even add a DFA’d player back onto the roster as long as they do so within 7 days
that would have made sense before adding Gomez. not so much now.
I could be wrong, but i don’t think dickerson was that great defensively, as he was DHed a lot on the rays, so i’m not sure the padres would really want him
Yeah but neither is Renfroe, he had 9 errors in right last year for the Pads and miss-played a lot of balls. Pirela is okay in left not great, probably going to get more work at 2B against LHP to spell either Asuaje or Spangenberg and Alex Dickerson is coming back from major back surgery so I don’t expect his defense to be all that good either.
Dickerson could atleast lengthen the lineup a little bit more, could put him in the 5 hole behind Hosmer and in front of Headley.
Colby Rasmus – respect the game – never thought I’d hear those two in the same sentence. He’s got a lot of making up to do!
1) Hicks
2) Didi
3) Sanchez
4) Stanton
5) Judge
6) Bird
7) Drury
8) Gardner
9) Torres or Andujar
Yankees won’t do this because they don’t want to hurt Gardner’s feelings, but this is the best Yankee lineup
Gardner is their table setter and is a above average player. WTF
Gardner is an excellent defender, hits .260 every year. Doesn’t steal any bases come on man. He’s a 8th, 9th hitter at best
Gardner averages a .350 OBP,steals 20+ bases a year plus he’s quite durable. How is that an 8th or 9th hitter out of the players you listed?
The Yankees have arguably the best lineup in baseball, it’s between them, Houston or Boston. Look at those other teams who they have hitting 1-7, all .280 plus hitters. In this Yankee lineup Gardner should not be leading off. He had a career year last year and still hit .260, he’s not getting any better.
Replace Frazier with Hicks. I think he could be a lead off type in future. Gardner at 9 gives you a double lead off in front of the guns.
Counting Stanton’s .376 OBP from last year, Gardner had the 4th best OBP of all Yankees last year with his .350 OBP, behind just Judge, Stanton and Hicks, while Didi had one of the worst OBPs of the starters (.318 – the only starter with a worse OBP was Holliday’s .316 and he is effectively out of baseball now. Even Castro managed a .338 OBP). That was actually tied for Didi’s highest OBP in his three seasons in New York.
I don’t think that that suggests that Gardner should be hitting in the back of the lineup. or that Didi should hit at the top of the lineup.. I think Gardner should still lead off and then some combination of the Judge/Stanton/Sanchez trio should follow.
Brian these two guys don’t even seem to be Yankee fans. If they are then why in the world the previous posts throughout this thread about Gardner? Didi is in now way gonna bat leadoff and let’s see who wins 2B or if the Yanks add anyone before the season begins.