The Yankees announced Monday that they’ve designated right-hander Parker Bridwell for assignment in order to clear a spot on the roster for lefty J.A. Happ, whose two-year contract to return to the Bronx is now official. They’ll have a week to trade Bridwell, run him through outright waivers or release him.
Bridwell, 27, is only a season removed from 121 innings of 3.64 ERA ball with the 2017 Angels, though his secondary metrics never made that output appear sustainable. Bridwell averaged just 5.4 strikeouts per nine innings pitched that season and stranded nearly 80 percent of the runners allowed — neither of which are conducive to long-term success. If he clears waivers, he can remain in the Yankees organization, though his 2017 success may pique the interest of a club in need of rotation depth. Of course, Bridwell is also out of minor league options, meaning any team that acquires him — be it via trade or waiver claim — would need to carry him on the 40-man roster and open the season with Bridwell on the 25-man roster or else once again expose him to outright waivers.
The 2018 season was an ugly one for Bridwell, as he was limited to just 6 2/3 innings at the Major League level and clobbered for 13 runs on 14 hits — including five home runs. His Triple-A work wasn’t much better, as injuries limited him to 28 runs and he was barely able to keep his ERA south of 9.00 in that time. New York claimed him off waivers back on Nov. 25.
I was hoping the corresponding roster move was the Gray trade.
This’ll work though.
Nobody is going to meet the Gray asking price.
Reverie, I agree with you. The Yankees asking price is WAY to high.
I know people are going to argue home/road splits. Those road splits also consisted of 4 games against the 2 worst teams in all of baseball in 2018. 3 @ Baltimore and 1 @ KC.
@ Baltimore 0.49 era 3-0 18.1 IP 21 K’s
@ KC 1.13 era 1-0 8 IP 5 k’s
You take away those 4 games and his road stats balloon. His era alone goes from 3.17 to 4.68 on the road. Every team trading for him saw this too. They break games down individually, not by the whole numbers.
I know you guys will also say that era is not the only/best way to judge a pitcher. I agree with that, but if his era goes up 1.50 points all his other peripherals will go up as well.
So removing the worse teams from a players stats and what does that tell you? I mean Chris sale beats up on those guys too? Not sure if that’s going to prevent anyone from wanting Gray. Numerous sources say they have plenty of suitors. If :Lynn can get 3/$30 guaranteed then I think we’ll find the right match for Gray on a 1/$8-10 mil deal.
Keep in mind that we got 5 years of Didi for Shane Green, 4 years of Hicks for JR Murphy and 6 years of Voit for Chasen Shreve and Gio Gallegos. Cashman’s “high-cost”might be a player out of favor or blocked on another team.
Why do you all care so much about trading Gray and what the Yankees are asking for return? So strange. How from day one so many treated Gray as this bad guy. Yankees traded players that each one has been a bust also. Not like any of them would be on the Yankees or even playing. The Pitcher the Yanks traded is still not throwing, the ss/of prospect was a headcase and still can’t play. So Cashman already said he will Move Gray. What’s the rush? Cashman should ask a lot. At worse Yankees hold Gray till trade deadline which would be smart as it will increase value. Also at worse if Yankees lose a starter due to injury they Have Gray to fill in. Who cares if fans think he stinks, he will be better then having to rush out a trade to find a pitcher or use some call up. So again why do fans care when Gray gets traded.. talk about not thinking something through. Go ahead post back all how Gra stinks. Not like any of the majority will know what they are actually asking or who. Reporters do not either.
Ask for the moon hope you get a star people over spend for pitching…
The only problem with holding Gray to the deadline is what his role is during the meantime. Long man? 6th man in the rotation? AAA?
Your logic makes sense to me but I think they need to complete whatever it is they will complete before final roster cuts.
Literally every year this question gets asked about teams with more than five MLB starters and every year it works itself out because pitchers get hurt. The Yankees do not have to move Gray by any means.
Exactly, I forgot the exact stat but last year teams averaged something like 11 pitchers that made at least one start and 8 that made 10+ starts. “You can never have too much pitching” becomes more and more accurate every season. Who knows which Sonny Gray will show up next season? I’m sure he hears all of this “can’t pitch in NY” talk and wants to prove everyone wrong, so if they hold on to him he may be pitching with a chip on his shoulder, plus it’s a contract year for him. Crazier things have happened than a previously good pitcher returning to form after a rough season.
I thought for sure the way that post began that you were going to tell me I could make tons of money working from home.
It seems cheaper, in terms of the cost of acquiring someone with a comparable ceiling, to keep him.
Agreed! I think Gray has a lot more value as a 6th starter with a lot to prove than he does as a trade chip. He’s still very talented. His stuff was there all year, he just couldn’t locate it consistently, and he also had some bad luck.
Cashman and Yankee fans expect a top prospect Trammel from Cincy yet does not think top Prospect Florial should be in a trade for Kluber. According to MLB Trammel is ahigher rated prospect #17 than Florial #45.. Gray does not deserve a top prospect.
of course not and that’s exactly why he’s asking for the moon. You don’t open a negotiation with what you’ll accept and then negotiate below that to make the deal. You open the negotiation with a pie in the sky demand and then “settle” for what you really will accept.
You also don’t open a negotiation with something that can’t be taken seriously.
That could work, but there’s also the reality that teams may think you’re delusional and just shy away altogether.
only us fans are delusional. Don’t you read the internet?
end sarcasm
I am still in the camp that I don’t think the Yanks move Gray. Yes he had a rough season last year in NY and then relationship seems a bit strained right now. But Gray seems like a professional unlike some of these other guys. He has yet to come out and demand a trade, speak badly of the .org or make any demands. Honestly for what they are paying him, he may very well bounce back and at his salary, if he is anything near what he was before last season, the Yanks have a huge value on their hands. So by trade deadline if his value is way back up, it would almost be stupid to trade him. I still think the guy can easily be a #3 with a very reachable ceiling as a #2
He is a Yankee. He must be the next coming of Greg Maddox.
Maddox didn’t pitch for the Yankees.
Neither did Maddux.
Surprising how many Maddox there were/are.
Just opening a spot for Harper. Nothing to see here.
Happ.
Happer?
Then they’ll dfa Harper in 2 years to make room for trout
There is a 0% chance that Trout signs with anybody who’s not Philadelphia or Los Angeles.
The best bet is, there’s way less than 0% you know what Trouts gonna do.
Trout is from Jersey that should help a bit.
South Jersey, the guy is in the front row for every single Birds game and is hunting buddies with Carson Wentz. While I’m not saying we’re going to get him, or anything, the fact that he’s from jersey doesn’t mean the Yanks have much of an advantage looking simply at his hometown.
Now Torreyes is with the Twins and Bridwell is in DFA limbo, great.
Would you feel better if Torreyes had been cut for Happ instead?
Did we ever get our player to be named later LOL
No, not at all.
Stranding runners is not conducive to success? So it would have been better for his long term success if they scored?
Stranding runners is not a sustainable recipe for long term success.
Modern baseball views OBP as the most crucial aspect of the game (because it works…teams that get on base win), and the flip-side of that, from a pitching perspective, is keeping runners off base.
I understand why people say that, but logically it is just weird. Just like how they say getting on base is important, but driving in runs is not despite the fact that runs, not baserunners determine the winner of the game. Logically it’s just strange.
People most often associate logic with certainly. i.e. if I go out when it’s raining, I’m gonna get wet. But logic can be applied to probabilities, as well (i.e. if I go out without checking the weather 100 times, I’m very likely gonna get wet).
Not just that: if someone gets extremely lucky and goes out without getting wet 100 times, that does not affect to probability of him getting wet at some point during the next 100 times. That’s called “regression toward the mean”, and it’s perfectly logical.
If you check the weather a gazillion times you’ll still get wet…..if you don’t have an umbrella.
With all these stats nowadays, I guess they only play so you guys have something to argue about.
What’s the odds that X is stansfield123. Esp quoting probabilities and regression toward the mean.
What’s the odds ey is Rosemary Clooney?
Clooney died in 2002.
So I guess there’s a chance.
Very good analogy, Stansfield!
In the last 5 years with pitchers who’ve thrown at least 400 IP.
Kershaw
Scherzer
Hill
deGrom
Greinke
top 5 in runners LOB. Over 5 years it’s not luck and it coincides with their ERA/FIP. It’s not nothing over a period of time.
Guess what: those guys are also top 5 (or close enough) in another statistic: runners kept OFF base. They’re great at stranding runners because they’re great at beating batters in general, not because they have some magical secret to beating the batter once the stakes get higher.
That’s not what this is about. We are talking about a pitcher who let a lot of runners get on base, but then magically got “better” with runners on base. That’s not “better”, that’s just luckier, and he’s gonna revert to the mean.
P. S. I just looked it up. Those five guys are top 6 in WHIP in the last five years. (only Kluber broke into the club). So they’re not successful because they’re effective with runners, they’re effective because they win PAs. All PAs, with or without runners.
There’s an absolute skill set that will allow you to strand runners. That ability is to
a) strike batters out w/ RISP
b) induce GB
c) induce weak flyballs.
Why is that hard to understand? I purposely used a larger sample size of 5 years and 400 IP to remove occasional luck. It’s a skill set dude.
You’re acting a little dull. Those guys are top 5 for a reason. Because they have the ability to do all those things you menioned AND limit runs scored when they DO allow base runners. The stat is % of runners left on base not the number of runners ALLOWED on base? It’s a % not a counting number.
Why was Bridwell even on the roster…
Safety net pickup in case they missed out on Corbin AND Happ AND Lynn (blech)
Lol So much for Bridwell’s high spin rate potential!!
Not the biggest J.A.Happ fan, but he’s obv better tho.
Could Bridwell go back to O’s?
Jays might pick him up
yawn
I didn’t know that the Yankees even had Bridwell, Doesn’t really matter to me, though.
Bronx bids Bridwell adieu
He joins with Jabari blash is what might have been I guess
Padres. They need pitching very very badly.
This guy has Twins written all over him.
Maybe they can get another player to be named later LOL
Orioles please sign him we need an pitcher and hes familiar with system