The Yankees may soon have a welcome problem on their hands with multiple infield options, with youngsters Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres performing well as Brandon Drury has tried to sort out a long-standing migraine problem. (Neil Walker and Ronald Torreyes are also on the MLB roster, along with everyday shortstop Didi Gregorius.) As MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch discusses in response to a reader inquiry, there continues to be progress in Drury’s health issue and he could soon be ready to return. While he could be optioned, Hoch suggests the organization could consider moving him around as well, possibly giving Drury time at second, third, and the corner outfield. Hoch also checks in briefly on injured first bagger Greg Bird, explaining that he’s on track to return later this month. Barring further injuries, there’ll certainly be some interesting decisions to be made for a ballclub that has been on a tear.
More from the AL East:
- Blue Jays prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has obviously earned quite a few headlines with his excellent work thus far at Double-A level, leading many to wonder whether he’s a near-term option in the majors. Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca addresses that topic (video link on Twitter), arguing that the team has good reason to ensure the 19-year-old is ready for the huge amount of visibility a promotion would entail. That’s the larger factor than on-field readiness, says Nicholson-Smith, though of course it’s also worth bearing in mind that Vlad Jr. has only taken 118 plate appearances thus far in the upper minors. Nicholson-Smith proposes further experience there, perhaps including some time at Triple-A Buffalo, before weighing a possible mid-summer debut in Toronto.
- Another Blue Jays prospect is in the news, too, but for less promising reasons. Young righty Nate Pearson has been diagnosed with a non-displaced fractured ulna in his pitching arm, per a club announcement. He suffered the injury on a comebacker. At this point, all that’s known is that he’ll be down for four to six weeks before being evaluated further. The 21-year-old, a first-round pick in last year’s draft, was making his season debut after an oblique injury sidelined him to open the year. Pearson was appearing at the High-A level, so he’s likely still a ways away from the majors, but he had already emerged as a top-100 prospect and will now at least lose some development time while rehabbing.
- In other pitching injury news, the Rays have suffered another dent to their depth, as Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports on Twitter. 21-year-old right-hander Jose Mujica is sidelined with a forearm strain, per the report, which is never the sort of news you want to hear for a young hurler. Mujica had shown well in his first six starts at the Triple-A level, working to a 3.13 ERA with 32 strikeouts against ten walks in his 31 2/3 innings of action. His anticipated timeline is not yet known.
The Vladimir Guerrero Jr. link goes to Vladimir Guerrero Sr.
19 years old with 16 MLB seasons under his belt! Amazing!
He is certainly hitting like he has his dad’s experience. If anyone can hit from the womb, Vlad Jr. shall.
On another note, how long as it been since we’ve seen as good of hitting prospects as Acuna and Vlad Jr. — and they’re not a Dodger, Cub, Yankee or Red Sox, so you can cheer for them guilt-free.
Maybe I’m just a homer, but I’d throw Eloy in there too. Fun times.
Juan Soto is the best offensive prospect in baseball. Period.
yawn,,in low a ball? many prospects have killed it there,,blake rutherford did as well..moved up and nothing,,lets pump the brakes a little,,he is hardly the best offensive prospect in baseball.
“arguing that the team has good reason to ensure the 19-year-old is ready for the huge amount of visibility a promotion would entail.”
I’d argue that’s not going to change at all after a month or two of raking in Buffalo… That’s not really something you can prepare for at the minor league level.
Luckily for them, he *should* have a pretty good understanding of everything that’s about to happen to/for him based on his experience growing up.
Damn He’s already a HOFer!?!
Where’s the link on Ellsbury? Lol
Wait over the next 2-3 weeks and see who’s hitting amongst these Yankees infielders. If the ones without options are failing then that’s why they pay Cash the big bucks to make tough decisions.
Does Torreyes have any options? Also I think Cashman really likes Drury. Don’t be surprised if Andujar is packaged with someone to get another starter, especially if German can’t keep this up until Montgomery returns. But all things considered, these are good problems to have
I think the most interesting battle is between Bird and Austin. The Yankees have long been patient with Bird’s injury woes due to his left handed bat. But if Austin continues playing so well what do you do? Some corner OF duty? With Frazier close to being healthy and the inevitable return of Ellsbury the Yankees have some great problems
Tyler Austin has been awful. He had a nice couple of weeks, but go and look at his stats again. I root for Austin for sure, but it’s a no brainer – he’s getting demoted to AAA the first day Bird is ready.
When Cashman obtained Drury he stated that it would not block either Andujar or Torres in terms of their long term plans for the Yankees. No obviously, if Drury were setting the world on fire or Andujar regressed/failed then that would change things.
That being said, right now, in terms of what either has actually DONE, Andujar and Drury are pretty much the same. In terms of narrative it feels better to have a home grown kid grow into a full-time Yankee.
As for Austin vs Bird, I think Bird has the perception of having a higher ceiling and keep in mind that Austin has been very fragile for most of his career too.
A lot of questions.
Yeah but I think Andujar has more value in a trade right now due to Drury’s migraine issue. But as players they are the same which is why I think one of them is expendable. I think the biggest surprise is Torres. He’s locked down the position way sooner than we could’ve hoped
andujar is a keeper,,no need to go after a big name FA.
But yes a lot of questions, fortunately they’re good ones to have
Every time a team has as much talent as the Yankees everyone throws out crazy trade rumors. I dont think they trade Andujar at all. Torres is obviously not going anywhere. I think the play is Drury becomes a super utility. Austin and Bird r both oft injured so they will need DH days. I really think the play is to trade Hicks.
Lol talk about ridiculous trade ideas. Here we go: Cashman and Boone have repeatedly said they see Drury as a starter. With Andujar having exactly zero plate discipline his hold on 3rd is precarious at best. Why would you trade your best defensive OF when Gardner is clearly on his way out and Giancarlo isn’t a natural LF? Florial isn’t ready and no one else is really suited at CF unless you’re starting Ellsbury (no thanks). Finally with Bird/Austin. If one of them is hitting consistently, it makes no sense to platoon them, and we already have an insurance policy in Neil Walker (also Adam Lind for now). Unless Bird can remain health and productive, I don’t think the Yankees are gonna wait for him much longer
They barely start Austin as is and often opt to play Walker. You can imagine when Bird comes back that he gets most of the AB’s and Austin comes in against left handed pitchers. I can see Drury being super utility, getting regular AB’s playing everywhere so that you can keep Andujar on the club. Andujar is an aggressive swinger but that plays right into the plan when the 6, 7, 8 guys get a steady diet of fastballs after facing such a stacked lineup. Its why Torreyes has so much success jumping on pitchers early.
No room for Austin if you’re gonna keep Drury.
No room for Walker you mean
Let’s make a wager on who stays…
do you really think the guy with the .200 AVG stays over Austin and Drury? sheesh
Yea seeing as Austin isn’t exactly lighting it up and I didn’t say Drury would go..sheesh. Walker is historically a slow starter and they signed him for both his versatility and veteran presence. Austin will probably be on the DL soon so this will be moot.
Exactly, why in the world would the Yankees even entertain trading one of the best defensive CF in MLB with a cannon for an arm. Frazier can’t stay healthy, Gardner has a weak arm, Ellsbury is on th 60 day DL, and Florial just reached A-adv and is playing horrible. Austin is pretty much a four-A player and Walker a switch-hitter is starting to come around. Cashman traded to get Drury for a reason and he’s only a little over a year Oder then Andujar, plus he’s got big league time under his belt. When Bird and Drury come back I’d like to see them send Austin down, keep Andujar, and trade Torreyes.
Drury is still hurting. I don’t think he will be back for a long time. Austin will be sent down for bird
“Drury is still hurting. I don’t think he will be back for a long time” FYI..on WFAN yesterday Cashman stated Drury will be off the DL sooner then later. Yankees VP of baseball operations Tim Naehring was in the stands at Trenton to watch Drury Monday, after the game he got nothing but positives from the manager. The plan is to have Drury back the end of next week, so there’s that.
FYI Boone said today that Drury isnt where he and the Yankees want him to be, so theres that.
Please provide the source for that.
Mine-WFAN, Pinstripesalley, CBS.Com, River Avenue Blues, NJ.com all from yesterday…
I’ve looked and couldn’t find anything on Boone, I’ll go with who’s in charge Cashman…so there’s that
Just have to use google:
rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/playerbreakingne…
Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters on Wednesday that Brandon Drury (migraines) is going to stay in the minors.
Boone says that Drury isn’t where here or the Yankees want him to be at this point.
thx drjose
i saw bryan hoch report on it earlier but rotoworld works too:)
cereal, did you think im just making stuff up?
No, but I’m gonna stay with what Cash said. Maybe Boone was somewhat speaking out of turn, but player activations go though the FO anyway. Should be interesting to see what happens over the next week.
You gotta think that the Yankee starting infield is set in stone, barring injury. DH is taken as well, now that Gardner is out of his slump and likely to play every day.
So they gotta option Drury, and see what happens: either someone gets hurt/ineffective and makes room for him, or they trade him for pitching at the deadline.
As for Bird, he’s gonna take Austin’s spot on the roster, but you gotta think he’s competing with Walker for ABs against righties.
And I have no idea what they’re gonna do to make room for Ellsbury.
I think Bird is the everyday 1B as long as he’s healthy. I’d bet money on that. Cashman and everyone else that has a say, thinks the world of Bird. He’s their starting first basemen, when healthy. No question.