11:53 am: The Yankees have officially selected Bruce to the 40-man roster. Right-hander Clarke Schmidt was placed on the 60-day injured list (elbow) in a corresponding move. Additionally, non-roster invitees Robinson Chirinos and Derek Dietrich have been released from their minor-league contracts. Both are now free agents.
11:14 am: The Yankees are planning on selecting the contract of outfielder/first baseman Jay Bruce, Jack Curry of the YES Network reports (Twitter link). The veteran slugger had been in camp as a non-roster invitee. New York is also expected to hold onto Mike Tauchman, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter). At the very least, the Yankees don’t plan on exposing the out-of-options Tauchman to waivers, says Andy Martino of SNY (Twitter link), although a trade could still be a possibility.
Expected starting first baseman Luke Voit will begin the year on the injured list, Marly Rivera of ESPN was first to report. Yankees manager Aaron Boone confirmed Voit has suffered a meniscus tear in his knee and will undergo surgery. He’ll be shut down from baseball activities for the next three weeks (via Erik Boland of Newsday). New York expects Voit back “considerably sooner than” June, Boone said (via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com), but it seems possible the reigning home run champ could be out of action into May. In the interim, Bruce will be New York’s primary first baseman, relays Hoch.
The Yankees will have to officially add Bruce to the 40-man roster before Opening Day. The 33-year-old has hit for plenty of power but struggled to reach base in recent years, combining for a .212/.259/.510 line with 32 home runs across 436 plate appearances since the start of 2019. That kind of production would be a steep drop-off from Voit, who raked at a .277/.338/.610 clip last year.
Bruce will at least offer a left-handed bat to help balance a righty-heavy lineup. Tauchman also offers a lefty bat off the bench, and he’s capable of playing anywhere in the outfield. He’ll be limited to reserve duty behind Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks, Clint Frazier and Brett Gardner, assuming he isn’t traded. The 30-year-old has drawn rather strong interest around the league.
Interesting.
Cool.
That probably takes Schmidt out of all the TOR starter trade proposal wish lists I’ve seen floated over the last month on MLBTR. Yankees should’ve resigned Tanaka.
@FredMcGriff for the HOF- Nah it was definitely time for Tanaka to leave and find himself again. Clarke Schmidt was never offered to the Blue Jays and nor will he ever be. The Jays will have to go elsewhere for starting pitching, sorry.
Yankee-4 Life I must disagree. Blue Jays would be interested in all injured pitchers. They have a track record. But I think TOR stands for Top Of Rotation.
WereAllJustGuestsHere- ok, thank you for clarifying that. I was way off. I really like Schmidty. Hopefully one day could at least be a solid #3 or #4 in a pitching rotation.
Tanaka’s hurt in Japan. He’s a good dude, but they were lucky to get 6 1/2 healthy years out of him…
Thirteen could include Gardner, Wade, Higashioka, Bruce and Tauchman. It’s a smart move as Bruce provides needed pop off the bench.
Gardy is a lock.
Agreed. They had to fit him. He is still a decent starting outfielder and injuries are almost a given to that outfield. Cather is the position with no depth if someone goes down.
Romine is now a FA and I’ll gladly take him back if he’s willing to a take a MiLB deal.
Not Austin
I stand corrected. Thought he was still a FA.
@privy- And why can’t Austin Romine be the Yankees 3rd catcher? Or be playing regularly at AAA? Please explain.
It’s his brother that is the FA, not the ex-Yankee catcher
Tried finding it but I swear I remember Seeing he retired.
Only because Voit is out till May or June
Which knee? Not all knees are created equal. If it’s his back knee (right), he may not be right until well after the all-star break or maybe even 2022..
It is his left knee
That’s a lot better than his drive knee.
@hythemsbita12- you must be talking about Schmidty being out for 60 days? I doubt Voit will be out till May or June though. Maybe for a few weeks? No more then that.
3 weeks until they take the band aid off after the surgery. He’ll be out until May/June
Voit injured
Bruce is only 33? Good god, seems like he has been around for ages!
Is Bruce that much of a upgrade over Ford or Yankees giving Bruce a chance because Ford still has a option left. Wade has a option left so maybe Dietrich over Wade in the short term.
I think Gittens is an upgrade over Bruce and Ford.
@Joe Says- yeah I like Gittens a lot also. You’re probably right, unfortunately he will probably get a shot in another organization and perform. We’ve seen that before, haven’t we? Smh
Yep
And another example of why you hold all talent as long as possible. There’s usually an injury right around the corner.
Especially if your the Yankees they always have an injury around the corner.
Voit is injured again? Are we really surprised? When he gets better I’m sure Tyler Wade will be sent down to AAA. Unless the Yankees find a taker for Tauchman or Bruce. Sorry Chi-Sox fans it won’t be to you. So put that dream aside.
Was really hoping Yanks would pass on Bruce so WSox could take a chance on him. Better than their current options.
Wade makes the team. They need a backup infielder.
@privy- Wade is a back-up infielder no more or no less. He is what he is. A inexpensive utility player with speed, that’s lefthanded, that can play all over the diamond. It’s not like he’s starting anywhere on the team.
Yes, I’m sure every team is just dreaming to acquire (checks notes) Mike Tauchman.
You realize the White Sox could acquire him for some 24-year-old reliever still stuck in Low-A Kannapolis, right?
Man, this sucks but at least the Yankees doesn’t lose Tauchman. Sounds like Voit’s partial tear is minor given his return timeline.
Also Schmidt on the 60-day. Ugh.
See again, this is why I’m skeptical of this team. They absolutely can not escape the injury bug. Yet they are in the same tier as the Dodgers and the Padres in WS chances per MLB.com once again. sure.
This team you’re so skeptical of went further than all but one team in the AL, and that was not lopsided by any stretch. All while sustaining a record number of injuries… if anything, skepticism should be less not more, based on their actual performance.
You meant the same team that just replaced 3/5 of their rotation last season and all of the replacements combined have 1 inning pitched last season?
Yes, that exact team. Replaced is correctly written as the operative word, I remind you, not lost. Somehow you seem to take that as a quasi-prohibition on any further acquisitions, apparently? Sorry to inform you, but if something goes wrong they won’t just throw up their hands like…… your team.
It seems like every single time the Yankees have to ask themselves “what are we going to do with all this depth?” a better player gets injured and suddenly it’s “okay, who even plays first base at this point?”
In my OOTP 21 franchise, Luke Voit hit 60+ homeruns in four consecutive seasons for the Yankees lol it still makes me laugh
“Yankees manager Aaron Boone confirmed Voit has suffered a meniscus tear in his knee and will undergo surgery. He’ll be shut down from baseball activities for the next three weeks (via Erik Boland of Newsday). New York expects Voit back “considerably sooner than” June, Boone said (via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com), but it seems possible the reigning home run champ could be out of action into May.”
Classic yankee mumblespeak about an injured player. Yes, May is considerably sooner than June. Thanks for clearing that up. Holy cow.
Shouldn’t let it bother you so much.
I know. But I need something to bother me. Makes me feel important.
When he returns will he be able to play in the field or will he need to DH? A crowded OF and Stanton will DH. They might need to find Wash to teach Frazier, Judge or Stanton to play 1B.
“We want you at first base, it’s not that hard. Tell him Wash.”
Hope everybody got in on that Yankees Under 95 wins like I told ya’ll …… Free Money!!!
Three good teams with an improved Boston team and Baltimore is gonna be graduating top prospects soon. Slam the under all the way around, ALE is gonna be a blood bath.
@jdgoat- blood bath seriously? Lol. Maybe in like 3 or 4 years Baltimore and Boston will be better. The 3 top teams in the AL East are the Yankees, Rays and the Blue Jays. All facts sorry.
“Graduating top prospects ‘soon’…… bloodbath”
Are you….. serious? Top prospects & “soon”
Okay, I’ll bite. So, they aren’t even MLB, and when they finally make it, they have to actually succeed, like each of them, to be successful. And, the team(s) have to be monumentally more successful than any of these prior years to compete for top spot by 20 wins.
I’m gonna go ahead and just ask, “What exactly is it you would say you do here?”
“Oh, TPS reports….”
@yankee clipper
I’m not saying they’re making a push for the playoffs lol. I’m saying they’ll factor into the “under”, which is absolutely true. Or do you think they’re just going to all be bad when they make their debuts? I’m sure some will struggle, but the odds are some combination of their top guys will be instantly MLB caliber… seriously I don’t know what you are tying to argue.
“Slam the under all the way around” implies they will all equal each other when playing, because mathematically, the must in order to “slam the under all the way around.” The only way my statement is out of context is if I took yours out of context and you didn’t mean that. So, to my point….. yeah, not gonna happen.
I don’t think you understand. It’s not worth arguing, but If you pick the under on all three of Tampa, Toronto, and NY, you’re almost guaranteed to hit on two imo. I haven’t checked what each are set at, but it’s highly unlikely even two hit them in a division with three good teams, one average one, and one headed in the right direction. The Baltimore one will obviously have the least impact on those better teams, but they will be improved from last year. As a result, each of the better teams will likely lose a game or two that they would have one last year. It’s not worth reading into that much, it’s just what the odds would be lol.
Okay, so I took it way out of context…. my bad, I can live with that, I’m human. Mea culpa, Mr. JDGoat ……. ……… my hasty response has betrayed me.
Boston’s rotation will cough up 5-6 runs a start, so I hope their offense and bullpen show up each and every game.
@Very Barry- the Yankees are well over 95 wins this year regardless. Any other teams in the AL East besides the Yankees over 95 wins? Just curious… Smh
@Yankee4Life: It’s not worth it. You’re trying to convince a paranoid schizophrenic that the voices aren’t real…….
@Yankee Clipper- well said brother. And thanks!
Thank god Boone never went into medicine.
I could just imagine his Healthgrades patient reviews
“went to see doctor Boone, said I had a sore knee, be fine in a few days. I am now in the hospital being fitted for a prosthetic leg”
If he was, it would have to be in the middle of nowhere.
The Boone-docs.
Gardy Tauch and Bruce. One is not going to last the season. This is Gardy’s last season regardless. This is also Tauch’ opportunity to solidify the 4th OF’er going forward. Bruce needs to hit better than he has the last 2 years, plain and simple.
I wish these players would train their bodies for the vigors of a 162 game season instead of trying to pick things up and put them down.
I know as a Yankees fan that I’ve seen more than anyone else the last couple of years, but y’all have to be getting frustrated too. It seems to be the only sport where it’s a question mark if the best players in the game are going to be playing or not due to injury.
The injury gods have helped solve the Yankees log jam for now. However not a good way to get the season going
At this point, it’s been pretty much the only way every season gets going. That’s why we have a 40-man and a 40-man-invited……
Chances are very slim that Kluber, Taillon & Monty stay healthy all year. What happens if two go down with Scmidt on the 60 day IL? When does Severino come back? Could be a tough season in NY.
By tough season, do you mean we don’t win the AL pennant but still compete for it in the playoffs? Because that’s about as bad as it gets, which is why the jealousy of the NYY.
Domingo German is going to slay this year. That’ll help.
On the field or off?
@secretsatan- I’ll take your word on that.
If they keep Chacin, he could eat innings at the very least. But if he doesn’t make the big club, he’d have to accept a minor-league assignment for them to keep him, and I don’t think he’d do that.
Severino slated for June. They can also call up Deivi Garica or Mike King. Or go with Chad Greene as opener once again.
Or…… ya know, I know this sounds absurd for a top-tier financial team and all, but they may just go get a TOR starter. Say Cashman decides he wants Marquez as a solid #2-3, he gets him. Say he wants….. Castillo? Oh, what! He gets him….. how about Zac Gallen? No way… he gonna get da man. Don’t come back with “they aren’t free agents… blah”. No duh, he can trade for them. He has the pieces, if he really wants to part with them.
Haters gonna hate, but y’all know it’s true. Cash can close any deal tomorrow if he and the Yankees so choose and the only thing holding them back is their preference otherwise, at the moment.
@Yankee Clipper- your 100% right. I agree with a lot of your posts. What I can’t understand is how the Blue Jays don’t try to acquire a Castillo, or a Gallen or a Marquez? What are they saying to their fans? They are saying they don’t want to compete with the Yankees and the Rays in the AL East in 2021. Now I hear Gallen is hurt from picking up a bat and swinging. Smh.
They definitely have the trade chips. I just don’t think he’s ready push it all in this year. I fully expect them to go over the threshold in ’22. If Gleyber doesn’t improve over last year, I think he’s gone in a package for a young stud pitcher and they’ll sign one of the really good SS. Everyone talks about trading Sanchez but they’re going to ride him out until free agency.
I think they’ve done plenty. They don’t need to better than the Yankees or Rays. They’re a playoffs team and will be for a while if the league expands October games.
@ Yankee4Life:Yeah, I wholeheartedly agree. I think most Jays fans do as well. It’s frustrating to watch because they seem to be one really great acquisition away….. ya know what I’m saying?
I can’t figure that part out, other than to analogies it to an arms race. Jays know they have a good, playoff contending team. They know their fans are happy with that. They also know if they go for broke, the Yankees aren’t just going to sit on the sidelines, but rather, they will jump in the race and up the ante. That’s the only logical conclusion I can infer from the lack of trade acquisition to go for it all.
@Yankee Bleacher Creature: I am right with you and have posted the same. I think that’s the sole purpose of the stingy budget adherence this year.
As far as Sanchez? Man, I’ve been so hard on him because he’s pissed me off so much. But @Ducky convinced me to ride it out because he’s going to come around for various reasons. Nonetheless, yes, they’re going to ride it out. Personally, I think they will see if Gomez and especially Wells are viable options before acquiring another MLB catcher.
Back in May possibly? More like end of July. Even then it’s just DH. Anybody else had a knee scope?
Jay Bruce is still playing?