Even though the Yankees had 2018 AL Rookie of the Year runner-up Miguel Andujar manning third base, surprise abounded when they didn’t aggressively pursue free agent Manny Machado in the offseason. Plenty has changed for those two players since then. Machado took a 10-year, $300MM offer from the Padres and has gone on to post a solid but unspectacular season. Andujar, meanwhile, amassed just 49 plate appearances – during which a shoulder injury limited him to a disastrous .128/.143/.128 line – before undergoing season-ending surgery in mid-May.
The lack of Machado and Andujar could have made the hot corner a black hole for this year’s Yankees, but the position has unexpectedly been a significant strength. Once-anonymous third baseman Gio Urshela is one of many Yankees who have come from nowhere to flourish, thus helping the club to a major league-best 81-42 record.
Urshela joined the Yankees in what looked like a minor trade with the division-rival Blue Jays last August. New York parted with cash considerations for Urshela, whom Toronto had just designated for assignment. It was understandable that the Blue Jays (and the Indians before them) gave up on Urshela. After all, at the time the Jays sent him to the Yankees, Urshela was just a .225/.274/.315 major league hitter over 499 plate appearances. He wasn’t exactly a force in the minors, either.
Despite the less-than-stellar pro track record Urshela once had, general manager Brian Cashman explained to Mike Mazzeo of Yahoo Sports this week that the club “had been trying to acquire him for awhile. We daydreamed about him being a very versatile utility player. We loved his glove. We were very fortunate that we ran into him at the proper time of his development.” Cashman admitted, though, that “nobody thought Gio would be this guy” and “no one expected him to be Manny Machado.”
If the Yankees had splurged on Machado over the winter, they wouldn’t have complained had he opened his Bronx tenure with a .337/.379/.585 batting line, 18 home runs and 3.1 fWAR in 364 PA. Amazingly, that’s the production they’ve received this season from the 27-year-old Urshela, whom the Yankees re-signed to a minor league deal during the winter. His offensive output since then has been an astounding 50 percent better than that of the typical MLB hitter, according to FanGraphs’ wRC+ metric. Urshela ranks eighth in the league in that category among batters with 350-plus PA, sandwiched between Anthony Rendon and Fernando Tatis Jr.
Whether Urshela can continue to handle opposing pitchers to this extent is rightly in question, though there are encouraging signs. Thanks to help from Triple-A Scranton hitting coach Phil Plantier, Urshela’s “staying through his legs more,” said Cashman, who added Urshela has also gotten stronger. Cashman believes those factors have“created a whole new dynamic.”
After entering the year with a nonthreatening .090 isolated power figure, the stronger Urshela has put up an imposing .248 mark this season. He hasn’t had to sell out for it with more strikeouts, having fanned in only 15.9 percent of plate trips and swung and missed at an above-average 10.4 percent clip. With an 81.3 percent contact rate, Urshela sits 5 percent better than average in that regard. His ability to consistently put the bat on the ball has helped offset a paltry walk rate (5.5 percent), and Statcast is mostly buying into Urshela’s enormous uptick in meaningful contact. He ranks toward the top of the league in hard-hit rate (75th percentile), average exit velocity (87th), expected slugging percentage (91st) and expected batting average (98th). Urshela’s also in the 91st percentile in expected weighted on-base average, owning a .382 mark that isn’t a great distance from his real wOBA (.403).
The Yankees may have found a bargain gem in Urshela, who’s on a minimum salary this year and still has three seasons of arbitration eligibility. Come 2020, the presences of Urshela and what should be a healthy Andujar ought to make for an intriguing setup. Having battled a litany of injuries to key players this year, the Yankees will likely be thrilled to have the depth.
Part of the package for Syndergaard coming soon…. also include Frazier, Garcia
Lol no….
Please no
Cashman most overrated GM in MLB. Only one World Series Championship in the last 18 years, and that was 10 years ago. What teams have been great recently? Giants 3 World Series Championships in the last 10 years. Red Sox 4 World Series Championships in the last 15 years. Mets have a better chance than the Yankees to win everything this year. If the Mets can make it to a wild card game they’ll advance. Why? Because the Mets have the starting pitching and the pitcher Cashman didn’t get that he needed (Stroman). I’m sure there’s going to be plenty of fair weather Yankees fans jumping ship to the Mets.
Well that’s certainly a lot of words strung together.
Someone didn’t read anything before the trade deadline.
Somebody forgot to take their xanax this morning
TL:DR – Todd76 doesn’t know a thing about baseball. Move along folks
Kids, this is why you don’t get drunk before posting comments.
Someone’s a serious Yankee hater and missed spelling and grammar class in elementary school. Cash, Theo, and Dave arguably three best GMs in all of baseball over the past 20 years
Is Urshela and out of nowhere HOF?
No, and it’s not even close. But, I am buying that he is a borderline all-star type player for more than just this year. He and Voit are two great unheralded acquisitions for the Yanks, as both seem to be above average players who are not one-hit wonders. As much as I like Tauchman, I am not sold on his ability to maintain this kind of production, but if you dig deep into Urshela and Voit’s stats it is promising. The infield alignment next season will be a good problem to have to work out. Let’s not forget how good Andujar was last year along with how young he is. I am hoping Didi as a free agent isn’t the odd man out, but that might be the case.
I hope the organization’s evaluation of Didi factors in his leadership. Sadly, at 30 with his peak years likely behind him, I suspect the Yankees let Gregorius walk and move Torres back to shortstop in 2020.
I think they’ll give him a QO this season. Demand will be high for a quality shortstop around the league so I think someone else grabs him and Yankees get compensation.
I tend to agree that Didi will be the odd man out as I don’t see them trading Andujar for pennies on the dollar when he returns. WIth DJ LeMahieu still signed for another year they could probably have him as the starting 2nd baseman, move Torres to SS and rotate Andujar between 1st and 3rd to basically platoon with Voit and Urshela. Maybe you extend LeMahieu for a couple more years if the price is right and find another utility guy to back up the infield to cover for the eventual injuries. Either way, they have options, which is a good problem to have.
Can’t say that Urshela isn’t a 1 hit wonder since this is his 1st extended run in the majors. Voit showed in 2018 that he can play.
Certainly a concern, and why I wouldn’t be for trading Andujar, but at some point they will need to make a decision on Didi. I like him and seems like a good fit for the team, but I think it will come down to what he is expecting for a contract and what they project for the rest of the infield. With what Urshela is doing, I think he has earned the job until he shows that it was a fluke.
Urshela can actually field the position. Andujar should never be allowed around 3rd again. I have said it before but Andujar is just another Pedro Alvarez. Let him rebuild some value next year then trade him at the deadline (in a package with high value prospects) for whatever Ace pitcher with control remaining that is made available.
@adamontheshore
I think one of the most important facets of this year’s team was position flexibility. I don’t think that’s lost on Cashman. I think he’ll keep Didi. Having DJ relegated to just one position. (2B) would be a poor usage of his overall ability.
I see Voit at 1B, Torres at 2B, Didi at SS, Urshala at 3B (better glove than Andujar). DJ will still rotate as needed and the possibility of injuries always seem to work itself out.
Once Andujar is healthy I would love for them to try to get him reps in LF and perhaps 1B in the winter league?
OF- Frazier/Andujar in LF, Hicks in CF and Judge in RF. Either Gardner or Tauchman as the 4th OF.
If everyone is healthy by the all-star break them maybe they use Andujar or Voit as trade bait for whatever their needs are at the time.
No way Andujar can handle LF in Yankee Stadium. He has the arm for RF though.
It’s sad to say but I think Cashman will let Didi walk after he turns down the QO. With the way the roster is built now he is expendable. The Yankees aren’t spending money like they used to and the money they will save between Didi and Sabathia should be close enough to sign the TOR pitcher they desperately need. Unless of course Cashman decides he needs yet another expensive late nning pitcher to go with Britton, Chapman and Ottavino.
@stanley Wow..no. He’s already 27 and while his numbers are great their not THAT great. But he can still have a very good career.
Andujar should be traded for pitching
I think his trade value is too low. He is too good and too young to sell low on. Let’s not use the “what have you done for me lately” and remember how good this kid was and can be.
He isn’t that good, he can’t play defense according to everyone
He wasn’t all that good, but it was his rookie year. If you traded away every offensively talented sophomore because they were not good defensively you would be a gm without a job. He has a ton of potential, and seems like he is willing to put in the effort.
Bro despite his horrible defensive metrics his war was still over 2. His rookie year was terrific
Andujar will never be a capable 3rd baseman. But it’s easy to see him replacing Encarnacion as a 1st base/DH in 2020. (Keep in mind EE is nearing his 37th birthday.) Miggy ‘s injury was a fluke, caused by diving back into 3rd base while a runner.
I like Andujar ‘s body long term more than the muscle-bound Voit. Despite many positive characteristics, Luke’s frame is likely prone to injuries due to a lack of flexibility. He is built to be a nose tackle or middle linebacker. Generally, people built like Voit don’t have long baseball careers.
This is the likely outcome. Little chance the Yankees re-sign Encarnacion and Gardner for 2020 despite both having nice seasons. Ideally they want Stanton in the OF and Andujar at DH. Selling low while he’s hurt would be a mistake. The kid already can hit, and will improve with experience.
Ideally they don’t want Stanton in the OF or else he would have played there more last season. He’s injury prone. They will keep him as a full time DH with and platoon him defensively but he will never be an everyday OF on the Yanks.
@ctyank7
All it takes is for Andujar to be a slightly below average glove at 3b to make him valuable if his bat continues to perform. To say he’s incapable of improving on his 1st year seems a little too harsh. And he would not be the only bat first non 1B/DH that is coveted. He has plenty of value, especially to smaller market teams that need cheap yet productive players.
Stanton is an overrated expensive DH. that kind of money for a guy that can’t play in the field, ridiculous !!
@pjc1966
I think as far as Stanton and Andujar are concerned, it’s the other way around. We need Stanton to DH and wrapped in bubble wrap otherwise.
@talking baseball
When the Yanks acquired him we already had Judge. Stanton’s metrics in Miami showed he was up and down in terms of his defensive ability. I say that to say that Cashman acquired him expecting him to be a DH first who saw time on the corner OF positions. But he’s also a lethal bat. He wasn’t signed for $300 mil because of what he offered defensively. Keep in mind he was the reigning NL MVP coming off of a 50+ hr season.
I’m not sure how Stanton is overrated lol. The guy is a beast. Sorry you are mad at him for being injured, but he’s a premier talent.
Another great Atkins move.
Please be sarcasm
Like mookie he was lower class and grew
It always amazes me how under appreciated Mr Cashman’s signings/trades/transactions are. He has brought a lot of stability and leadership to The Yankees organization. As a lifetime fan, I have come to appreciate his calculated moves, even those that don’t get made are net positives (such as the trade deadline this year, too many are quick to judge lack of transactions as being inaction).
If you really think he had a vision here you’re crazy as there was no way anyone would’ve predicted this emergence so many years after turning pro. They acquired him in a time of need and plugged him in. If he truly thought he was a star in waiting they’d have scooped him up a few months earlier when Cleveland was dumping him and not letting him get into the division in Toronto.
You just get it…
Between Urshela and Voit, the Yankees seem to have been able to pick up guys for cheap and get quality production from them. I agree there was no way that they could have seen Urshela performing at this level, but I’m guessing they saw something in both players to even both trading for them. With all the tape and analytics these days, teams have a lot of information at their disposal that can help them identify underutilized players. Look at how Houston seems to fix pitchers.
Urshela pulled off two of the best defensive plays of 2017 in a single inning against the Yankees, so it’s no surprise he’d been on their radar defensively. I can’t see him continuing to hit like this with his poor plate discipline, but he’ll still have value if he can OPS .700 with that glove.
@Polish Hammer
Luck meets preparation. The preparation comes from what Cashman said. His team saw him as a great super utility glove that they wanted to pick up and stash in AAA. He was acquired in 2018 so it wasn’t as if it was a reactionary move to Andujar hitting the DL this year. The luck is that Gio’s bat improved and it did so immediately once he joined their AAA team. .
Cash has done a GREAT job finding position players like that. Didi, Hicks and Voit are other examples. It’s the pitching that’s been a tougher thing for him to succeed at, at least on a major league level.
@southbeachbully
If Cashman was such a genius and knew what he’d have he’d have gotten him back in May when Cleveland DFAd him and took the best bag of bp balls they could secure instead of seeing him end up in the same division. Nice to see him as such a visionary but the truth is they got lucky.
@polish hammer
Hate to ruin your nice little narrative with facts, but Urshela was acquired last August. As in last season, was not picked up “in a time of need and plugged in” he was with the Yanks in spring training this year and impressed.
He was picked up because cash and crew saw something that other teams didn’t. No doubt they didn’t see this production but they didn’t just pick him up in desperation this season
@ShieldF123
I know Urshela was picked up last August as depth, never said he was picked up this year. He never hit in Cleveland and they finally couldn’t carry him anymore so they dealt him to Toronto in May. Had Cashman been such a genius and greatness was waiting to be tapped he wouldn’t have let a division rival get him. Instead he goes to Toronto and doesn’t hit even in AAA. Even with WB-S he was a Punch and Judy hitter yet somehow turns into the next Texiera or Giambi at the plate in NY.
No, because it was a waiver trade and Toronto was ahead of NY in the claim order.
That’s not how DFA works. You get DFAd and the team has 7 days to trade or release you, if not they then pass you through waivers hoping to clear. If you are claimed he goes to the claiming team, if not the original team keeps him. He was traded to Toronto and not NY and didn’t get as far as waivers.
“Urshela injured his right hamstring in spring training and had completed a 20-day rehabilitation assignment at Class AAA Columbus on May 2. Cleveland had seven days to trade, release or place Urshela on waivers following the designation.”
Is this Jeffrey Mayor
Did cashman also reflect on his pitching acquisitions???
With that comment.you didn’t need to call yourself the Polish Hammer to let everyone know you are Polish!!!
Racism. Cool.
Polish isn’t a race, its a nationality. Its stereotyping and insensitive, but not racist.
Polish is quite definitely a race, or is Italian not a race? Irish? Just because you consider all people of light skin color “white” doesn’t make it accurate.
Little Boy Blue is stuck in the 70s when ethnic jokes were in style…
All it takes to offend you is a lame line?
It was pointed out by somebody else genius. Takes more than that to offend me, takes far less than that to have comments deleted here. Replace that slur with the same about any other race, culture and/or ethnicity and it wouldn’t be tolerated. Lame indeed…
@polish hammer
I’m with you on that one, disagreements about baseball aside there’s nothing like a bit of ignorant racism to lighten the mood in an online forum
Other teams need to find out which PEDs the Yanks are giving their hitters.
Exactly, this reeks of the late 90’s. People talking about a juiced baseball and what kind of wood the bats were made of as the reason no name players were suddenly power hitting stars. If a guy goes from slugging in the low .300’s to the mid .500’s then raise a flag.
Sabermetrics have blinded most to the fact that players aren’t fix quantities; they morph, they change, year to year, sometimes month to month. And non-“base talent” (personal habits, attitudes, etc.) factor much more into the equation than is realized.
With Voight and Urshella, Cashman got them at the right time on their growth curve. they weren’t “sleeping giants” or “buried talents”. And they’re far from being the only example (see Muncy, Max). AND running through DFA-ers USUALLY is a waste of time and airline tickets.
But then there are the times it works…….
I love seeing stories like this. I always root against the Yankees, but I’m happy to see Gio doing well
To the writer.Please stop with all the stats in the articles. It so annoying to read a article these days with all this..Do we have to pinpoint everything now? Geez..We are going to have an online class Sabermetrics soon..Retarded..Play, watch and enjoy the game.. Analysize it til it’s anoying? Not!
Classic “if we get our hands on him, we can fix him” low risk
It’s amazing what regular ABs, and knowing that your name will in the lineup everyday will do for a hitter.
Some of us saw Gio’s quality when he was in the Indians’ farm system. Then he was moved to Toronto. What was the common factor throughout his development? Mark Shapiro.
And Yet Shapiro’s squad didn’t want him after the second time. Last season he wasn’t even close to being the player he is today. Not even close.
@basquiat Gio did have some good minor league seasons with the Indians while Shapiro was still in their front office.
DJ LeMahieu, Mike Tauchman, Gio Urshela, and Brett Gardner lead the Yankees in WAR this season. This is crazy.
Yanks have 4 players with WAR over 3… Dodgers have 6… Astros 7
Tigers have 1. Matt Moore and Edwin Jackson are 9th and 10 on the Tigers in WAR and they have only played 2 games each. 2 FREAKIN’ GAMES!!!!!
So here’s the question. If the Yanks end the season with the best record in the AL or all of mlb and both Urshela and DJ finish strong, which guy is the favorite to win the MVP?
Excellent question. The answer is Mike Trout.
Could be. But his team is also below .500 and history has shown that sometimes they overlook the team record and sometime they give it to a player on a good team.
Add 15 HRs, 35 RBIs, and .015 in BA to each player and it will still be Mike Trout if the season ended today. He’s in his own league and then there’s everyone else. But DJ’s performance this year is the real shocker for me.
The writers will give it to Trout whenever they can because they want him to have 8 mvps to eclipse Bonds. They view it as a tarnished record and in Trout see a guy who could be a legitimate 8 time MVP. He can fully restore a record. Personally, I like the old days when there was an unwritten rule no player would with the MVP or CY more than 3 times. It was broken for Steve Carlton and that was probably a mistake because it led to Clemens and Bonds holding records that are clearly the result of PEDs.