The Rangers and Yankees have announced a trade, as catcher Jose Trevino is headed to New York in exchange for right-hander Albert Abreu and left-hander Robby Ahlstrom.
The deal represents the latest shuffle in the Yankees’ catching situation, after Gary Sanchez was dealt to the Twins as part of the blockbuster deal that brought Josh Donaldson, Ben Rortvedt, and (Trevino’s former Texas teammate) Isiah Kiner-Falefa to the Bronx. The initial plan seemed to be a defense-first platoon of Rortvedt and Kyle Higashioka, though Rortvedt has yet to play in any Spring Training games due to an oblique strain. With Rortvedt not expected to begin the season on the active roster, the Yankees instead now turn to a more experienced big leaguer in Trevino, who has 156 MLB games played to Rortvedt’s 39.
Trevino and Higashioka are both right-handed hitters, making for more of an imperfect platoon fit than the Higashioka/Rortvedt combo, yet the first priority still seems to be defense considering Trevino’s lack of offensive pop. Over his 516 career plate appearances with the Rangers, Trevino has batted only .245/.270/.364. Framing-wise, Statcast considered Trevino to be among the best in baseball last season.
Today’s trade marks the third notable swap between the Yankees and Rangers in less than a year, following last season’s deals that saw Texas sent Joey Gallo and Rougned Odor to New York. It’s probably safe to assume that the two teams discussed Trevino, Abreu, or Ahlstrom at some point during those many negotiations before things finally lined up due to changing roster needs.
For the Rangers, the acquisition of Mitch Garver made Trevino expendable, as Jonah Heim now takes over as the backup catcher. Meibrys Viloria and Yohel Pozo are also in camp on minor league deals, and top prospect Sam Huff is still in the mix at catcher, even though he played only at first base after returning from knee surgery early last season.
It wasn’t long ago that Abreu was garnering attention on top-100 prospect lists, except injuries and control problems hampered his progress up the minor league ladder. Abreu has a 3.77 ERA, 24.2% strikeout rate, and an 11.26% walk rate over 455 2/3 innings in the minors, and he started 87 of his 115 games. In the majors, Abreu didn’t do much to retain a foothold in the Yankees’ bullpen, posting a 5.68 ERA and 12.6% walk rate in 38 innings as a big leaguer.
Abreu is out of minor league options, thus making him something of an expendable piece for the Yankees. The Rangers will replace Trevino with Abreu on their 40-man roster and see if the righty can get a fresh start working out of the Texas relief corps.
Ahlstrom was selected in the seventh round of the 2021 draft, and the former Oregon Duck has yet to officially begin his pro career. Baseball America’s pre-draft scouting report described the southpaw as “a fiery presence on the mound,” with the ability to consistently throw each of his three pitches (fastball, curve, changeup) for strikes. The latter two pitches are only graded as average, however, and Ahlstrom’s fastball generally clocked in the 88-89mph range, topping out at 92mph.
LoL what?
Yankees tripling down on defensive catching as Rortvedt is injured & they don’t have another C on their 40-man. Abreu is out of options so they had to trade him.
Trevino had a 15% caught stealing rate. What defense?
Defense compared with Sanchez, I mean, StfanArkansas. But I wouldn’t necessarily go with his caught stealing rate as the metric for defense, although it is important. I’m not thrilled about this as our offseason C move either, trust me.
The +8 DRS and +8.8 framing runs. That defense.
Nice, mlb1225, I didn’t realize he was that good on defense either. Thank you. That’s certainly defense-first guy, no question.
Trevino has won 29 PGA Tour events, at the very least he’ll help the Yankees golf game in October.
Good one.
@StefanArkansas- Trevino sounds like the next Johnny Bench.
If Trevino can hold 7 baseballs in one hand like Bench can, then he might already have a backup career in place.
I’m fine with this trade as I always felt Abreu had control issues.
Hopefully, Abreu can find success with the Texas Rangers as a reliever. The few times I seen him pitching for the Yankees he wasn’t good. Overall, I like this trade for the Rangers they need pitching and it’s great that they got two relievers. Go Rangers.
Clipper, I’m hoping they just misspelled Contreras.
On a positive note and it’s admittedly spring training, Higgy has been great recently.
Chris young swinging deals like Jerry Dipoto over here
I figured the Yankees would pickup Sandy Leon.
Leon is a worse hitter than Higashioka while Trevino is slightly better. This kind of reminds me of 2013 when Chris Stewart was the Yankees primary Catcher
I usually don’t look too much into Spring Training stats, but Higashioka has been raking this spring. He’s hitting almost .500 and leads the majors in home runs with 7. He had a pulled a long homer and then went opposite field for another in his next at bat today. It looks like his swing change is making a significant difference, at least in a small sample size.
See?
Now you went & got my hopes up.
@FMftHOF- Sandy Leon would have been fine. Great defender. I would of been happy with him instead of Trevino.
I guess they needed a catcher.
Who is this masked man?
I figured Abreu would be moved. Too many arms for the pen and not enough spots.
Well, at least he kind of resembles Willson Contreras…
@Clipper- really upset about trading Abreu, seriously. Couldn’t we have traded Chad Green instead? We will definitely regret this trade. I don’t care about Abreu being out of options. He was the pitcher to keep.
I agree. His stuff appears nasty, if he could ever harness it he could be something.
Yeah, this is part of my (several) issues with how Cashman operates. He retains guys for soooo long and doesn’t use them. He uses up options, buys more expensive versions of their production, & ultimately sells them off for whatever he can find because he doesn’t have a choice.
Meanwhile, we still didn’t fill the vacancy at C, we still may need Abreu (or another two arms) due to injuries already presenting, & we have….a third or fourth backup catcher.
I agree. This ties into his own statements he’s made in the past, where he admitted he wasn’t a great talent evaluator. And his indecision at times results in these kinds of moves, keeping some players too long letting other players go too soon etc. this is the end result of it.
If they were going to get rid of Sanchez which I wanted, he should’ve done it sooner when he actually had some value. But if they finally decided to move on from him ,they could’ve gotten a reasonable facsimile of a catcher ,not have gone from one extreme to the other, now have a bunch of back ups , who can’t hit to boot, And the problem last year was offense anyway ,so it certainly doesn’t help that area. It would be one thing if we improved enough in other areas that compensated for it but it doesn’t appear that way.
Doc, that’s a great point & actually, logically explains why Cashman has gone off the deep end on defense – it’s an easy evaluation. No prospect talent to evaluate, no questions as to what the player will be or not be, just, “this guy is a defensive catcher & can’t hit the braid side of a barn, but yes, he actually catches the ball when it’s thrown & its not a surprise when he does.”
In fairness to Cashman, he running part of a business. He has a large group of talent evaluators and an analytics group that provides the information. Few GMs or PoBO’s are out on the road scouting. If they are, they’ve got a problem!
That’s a great point.
RobM: You can just take your common sense & go somewhere else while we complain irrationally , sir!
I’m curious what this means for Rortvedt. Is the injury expected to keep him out for a long period, or do they want to send him to AAA to work with their hitting coaches before promoting him? Does Trevino have any remaining options?
Abreu has an intriguing arm, but he’s 26 and has never been able to find home plate. The Yankees have multiple arms they can replace him with. He’s out of options. His value to the Yankees is low.
Yeah, but they also had Max McDowell & he seemed like a fine backup backstop, defensively. I guess they’re doing the same thing as they did with SS. They neglected it for so long they’re just stockpiling their team with an abundance of opposite-minded catchers. Seems silly, really. They could’ve just…SIGNED REALMUTO
I agree. Wont miss Abreu. Obviously the injury to Rortvedt Must be more severe than they’re letting on, either that or they realize that he’s not a major league catcher
Dr2022, they seem to like Rortvedt quite a bit. They may believe they can unlock some offense in his bat, so they’d prefer to give him more reps and coaching at the AAA, a level where he’s only had 30 or so games. Their preference now could be to pair Trevino with Higgy while they work with Rortvedt in AAA. Related, it’s why I was wondering if Trevino has options left. The issue is Brantly is serving as the BUC. If they activate Rortvedt, they’d have to DFA him. He’s the exact type of catcher organizations are always trying to pick up. If he gets grabbed, they lose catcher depth, so adding Trevino covers them. If Trevino has options, as does Rortvedt, it greatly simplifies roster issues.
LordD, Travino does have an option left per PSA.
Joe, thanks. Both Rortvedt and Trevino having options is more important than many fans appreciate. Abreu’s lack of an option hurt him here, while Trevino’s helps.
No, I get that.
Had Cash not traded for damaged goods in the first place we wouldn’t have even been in this position.
I have been a pretty staunch advocate for Brian Cashman for years now. But after this off-season, I am beginning to rethink that particular position.
Could be. Let’s hope can unlock something sooner rather than later.judge cole and Stanton not getting any younger. That’s been my concern about waiting for Volpe and Peraza, by the time they’re ready to join the majors and then by the time it takes them to become really good ,if that ever happens, our so called core could be really old.
Yup, Dr2022! All teams have windows to win, and the Yankees did not maximize this current window at all. It’s not too late, but I believe some of the Yankee fan frustration is built on the idea that they didn’t maximize the Judge/Stanton core.
I think you are right RobM.
Finally !!!! Anyone know if he’s a good defensive catcher?
Great pitch framer. Lacks with the bat.
Come on, folks. We all know that this is going to be one of those little noticed, under the wire trades, which, by midseason….is going to be little noticed and under the wire.
I think you mean under the radar. Under the wire means that it was done just at the last possible instance. Under the radar means barely noticeable.
Mike gives new meaning to “under the wire”. I like it.
Waiver wire.
Thats where you will find Abreu and Trevino on May 2
Yankees finally get their big name.
How are there 190+ comments on a thread about a relative nobody.
Because everybody loves the Yankees, even if they refuse to admit it!
Absolutely! Everyone should love a team that accomplishes less with more talent.
Samuel troll post in… 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…
He’s still writing it. It has to be a novel by this point.
Definitely not the catcher, I was hoping for. The Rangers steal my boy Abreu! No worries Texas he’ll be your future closer. Smh
Probably.
No he won’t he’ll be exactly what he was in New York which is not very good. Maybe they can get actual use out of Trevino.
@Mystery Team- are you really sure about that? I wish you we’re a betting man.
Just another dumpster diving move by Cashman. He can’t hit either.OBP well below .300 and little power. Nothing too get excited about.
He hasn’t even had 500 AB’s lol…
Dr2022- please just fire Ca$hman already! I’ve seen enough!
Me too. I don’t think he’ll ever be fired, but maybe they could push him upstairs and someone else could be GM ,that’s about the best we could hope for realistically
@Dr2022- any interest in being the Yankees new GM? I certainly hope so! Your a Doctor so I guess your set.
I would consider it, but I would support you too Captain.
Defensive catcher, can frame great and block. Better than Gary when he was three true outcome hitter. The Yankees are putting defense approach since most of their pitchers keeps it on the ground so you need a good infield to save those ground ball plays.or when a pitcher bounces a ball into the ground. A good framer catcher can help sell the bad pitch a strike to the umpires who doesn’t want an AI to tell them they are wrong in the strike zone.
I never thought I would miss Sanchez, but already starting to.
Why? Kyle “The Sultan of Spring Training Swat” Higashioka looks like he’s primed to blow by Salvy’s catcher HR mark.
Just a mirage , but if would be nice if he could keep it up.
Without a catcher the umpire becomes an angry backstop and there are a lot of passed balls
Dang. As a yankee fan I like and don’t like this trade. I love abreu and we needed him in the pen but we do need a backup
Holy crap, Abreu for Trevy? Thank you, Yankees! Trevino is one of the most likeable guys in the game, though. Class act, too bad Yanks fans are already gonna hate him cause he’s a defensive catcher with a weak bat.
@Rangers29- hate Trevino already. Congratulations on getting Abreu, you’ll love him.
We’re overflowing with pen arms and Abreu is out of options.
Rortvedt is hurt. And there’s obviously been a shift in the Yankee philosophy moving away from the likes of Gary Sanchez and instead embracing defense first catchers.
I’m OK with this deal, they needed to trade Abreu and needed a better backup C.
@mrmackey- we should of just kept Sanchez as a backup. McDowell would of been fine. Whatever
God no. Glad Sanchez is gone. Dude was awful.
Sanchez will never be any good defensively at C, and as a backup he would also cost about $10 million. If they had room at DH and wanted to keep him there and as an emergency C, maybe? But I’m fine with moving on from him. He’s been frustrating to watch as a hitter and defender for the past 2 years now (and his 2018 was horrible as well).
@Joe says… you really think this Trevino guy will be any better? I betcha he’ll be released in a month.
@mrmackey- just pay Sanchez the $10 million. I don’t care. He’s better then Trevino blindfolded. Trevino is “releasable”
He has an option so he won’t be released.
Sanchez is the worst catcher I have ever seen. Not only that, the pitchers don’t want to pitch to Sanchez.
@mrmackey- we couldn’t have traded Chad Green instead? He was awful last year. Abreu is better then Green. Besides Green is a free agent next season. He’s not resigning, doubt it.
You do know that Chad Green threw 83.2 innings of 3.12 era ball, right? While I agree that he gave up a few too many big hits in big spots, he was worth 1.6 fWAR and was among the best relievers on the Yankees last year (and has been for his entire career).
Meanwhile, Abreu threw 36 innings of 5.15 era ball, good for -.7 fWAR. And I say that as a guy who doesn’t particularly like the trade because I think Abreu does have some potential and his ERA was dragged down by two outings where he was left out to dry.
I wish they’d shift away from one way players instead of acting like you have to choose one or the other.
Can’t Kiner-Falefa also catch?
Ladies and Gents, may I present your NEW New York Rangers!
@Rangers29- you want Joey Gallo back for Abreu? Lol
Yessirrr, I know Gallo was bad in the 2nd half, but most all of the Rangers’ fanbase has been clamoring to get him back ever since last trade deadline, believe it or not. He genuinely loved playing in Texas and was one of the most humble guys I’ve seen play here, too bad it looks like NY pressure might be weighing on him.
He was a nice guy. Treated my family like gold at fanfest couple years back.
@Bearded Texas Hulk- not really surprised about Gallo. I like him, expecting a better year from Joey this season, his last in pinstripes. I do believe he will sign with the Rangers next season. Thanks for sharing your story.
@Captain you are welcome. I think you are probably right.
He seems like a genuine person. I hope the Yanks extend him. He wants to be a Yankee and he’s incredibly valuable on defense. Plus, I love having great people on the Yankees. Hulk, that story makes people fans for life, man. That’s a guy who really appreciates his position and values the fans. Im really pulling for a Gallo bounce-back this year. Hopefully he hits a postseason walk-off grand slam or something…
@Bearded Texas Hulk- I think you Ranger fans are really going to love Abreu in a middle relief, setup role, and maybe eventually he’ll become your closer. I will miss him. I hear Jose Trevino is good guy. I will stop all the hating now. Lol
Trevino is a fine 2nd catcher. Issue is that he’s probably the Yankees’ starting catcher now.
Now they have at least 3 back ups but no real starter.
@mlb1225- no believe it or not Higgy is still the Yankees starting catcher.
I guess Willson Contreras is too expensive for the Yankees to get these days.
They don’t have any money, according to Hal. i guess they won’t be cleaning up from the new Amazon broadcast games?
He never said they don’t have any money. You’re purposefully distorting the issue. The payroll is plenty high.
I understand that a struggling Gary Sanchez is probably the most difficult player I have ever had to watch. No argument from me there, man.
However, once I began to look *past* his debut, I started to see who he *actually* was. Meaning: an above average bat with lots of power at a traditionally weak offensive position.
I also saw the reality of his defense.
Phat Sancho career DRS: -6. That is – again – his career mark. You see, his defense – such as it is – is not going to kill you. Similar to, oh say, Jorge Posada.
Man.
I remember how so many of my fellow Yankee fans clambered for a “good defensive catcher.” Well here ya go, fellas. Let’s all try not to choke on these sub .600 OPS “hitting” catchers.
I think this is an absolutely stunning display of idiocy on behalf of our front office. For an offense that ranked an abysmal 19th in runs scored, Higashioka, Rortvedt, & Trevino are decidedly *not* the answer.
Tldr: Careful what you wish for, fellas. You just might get it.
Unfortunately you are right in all counts. They are going from one extreme to the other. Never thought I would miss Sanchez, couldn’t wait for him to be gone, but now I’m starting to.
I don’t know what you think ,but I always thought if the team just accepted Sanchez the way he was, stopped trying to constantly change him, and just let him do his thing ,he would’ve become the best that he could be in New York.
That has been my assertion the entire time, Doc.
When he came up he had a very good bat, he threw very well, was a good framer & – yes – was a poor blocking catcher. We should have just accepted who he was. Instead, in ’18 we began tinkering with him. The tinkering continued until it became an all out overhaul. Those particular results were terrible.
All of it was unfeckingnecessary.
Cash has swerved so far away from where we were. I side with Clip on this. Cash wanted to improve our defense. Yet good two way players – at any position – are expensive. So. We get guys like this & Kiner-Falefa & Inciarte. Gross. Auto-outs. The whole damn lot of them.
I know it has been your belief ducky, I agree with it. And I think the same thing has happened with Torres, for several years they tried to make him into something he wasn’t, the shortstop ,and it took them that long to realize it ,hopefully now that he is back at second base he can realize his full potential whatever that is.
Absolutely.
I think we didn’t develop Gleyber particularly well either. These are two players who have lots of talent. Yet we seem dead set on making them worse for whatever reason.
This off-season just continues to disappoint me.
Excuse me but wasn’t Torres a SS in the Cubs System? We didn’t make him one, we gave him time to finish developing and it didn’t work out.
We moved him to 2nd and he’s still only 24, so I wouldn’t say he’s been ruined.
Me too.and having Boone as manager doesn’t inspire much confidence either in me. But hopefully they’ll rise above all this and be good somehow. hope springs eternal.
We won 92 games last season. This roster seems like another 90+ win team. Financially – which is now the deal with the Yanks – I am sure this season will be “successful.”
What that means is a packed stadium night after night & some kind of playoff spot. It’s hard to explain to a lot of fan bases how disappointing that is. There are well over 20 teams in MLB who’s fans would love to be similarly disappointed.
But as a Yankee fan, it’s really kind of a drag.
I don’t think he’s ruined, maybe just derailed for a couple years. At least I hope not, Yankees are pinning a lot of their hopes on him
Didn’t IKF hit .270 over the last 2 years? That’s not an Auto-Out. He doesn’t walk alot which hurts his OBP but he is a Decent Hitter. OBP represents both his walking and Hitting not one or the other alone.
He has a career OPS of .679. This includes an OB% of .312. Neither of those marks is very good. & even if you are a staunch batting average guy, I don’t know how you’d get excited about a career BA of .260.
With the bat, he is essentially a speedy Ronald Torreyes.
Yes it is. We don’t want just wins it would be nice to see a team that is exciting as well
“Trevino is one of the most likeable guys in the game, though. Class act, too bad Yanks fans are already gonna hate him cause he’s a defensive catcher with a weak bat.” – Me like 10 minutes ago
Guilty as charged. 100%.
We now have 3 glove first backup on the roster. Not all that easy for me to get excited about any of them.
In a vacuum, Trevino is just fine. In re the most important thing Cash was tasked with this off-season, he does nothing. He actually makes it worse.
You’re right Ducky, & as you first stated & I came to see, the optimal move was to keep Sanchez & go with a solid starting catcher – think: Murphy, Contreras, JTR, or similar.
IF Cashman was to make the Sanchez move, as I’ve said, he has to, at minimum, bring in a top notch, two-way catcher or the move could easily fail the Yankees. Maybe they buy into the Higgy 30-HR power hype. They trust in Hicks, after all.
Who is the Top-Notch 2-Way Catcher that’s Available and won’t Bankrupt the Farm?
Contreras.
Actually, he’s not a Great Defensive Catcher. Even if he was, what would you give up for him when he is in his decline phase?
I know you don’t care too much for Prospects but would you give up anyone rated highly for 1 year of him?
No. He’s not, Byron.
BBTV lists his value at $14 mil. So it won’t take all that much. Yes. I have always been a spender not a hugger. It would take a guy in our top 10 & another on the fringes of the top 30. (As one permutation.)
Even the most huggy of the prospect huggers shouldn’t be too panic stricken by the “cost”.
If that was all the Cubs wanted. We don’t know what their ask is though.
@Ducky- the Cubbies would of had interest in Abreu and Vasquez in a Contreras deal for sure. The Cubs front office are afraid to trade Contreras, because of the fan reaction. So my boy, Ca$hman continues to dumpsta dive instead. Smh
Which is it? The Cubs would have had interest, or they wouldn’t trade him for fear of Fan reaction ?
@BLIN7Y- both. My National League team is the Cubs. I would of loved to see Abreu and Vasquez playing for them instead of Texas. I don’t see the the Cubs trading a fan favorite in Contreras, truthfully. They really can’t.
You are assuming Cash has even checked. I am not.
He has just one year of control. He will make 8+ mil this year. The Cubs signed Gomes to a two year contract at starting catcher money. They have their catcher of the future already. They haven’t brought up an extension with him.
All of that points to a player whom is eminently very gettable. Sure. It’ll cost you guys some of your – & Brian Cashman’s ! – precious, precious prospect capital. Too bad. Such is life in the fast lane, Byron.
Coming into the winter, I felt our biggest need was the offense. We ranked 19th last year, man.
Where – exactly – has that been addressed?
Going from Urshela to Donaldson? Is that it? Where are we going to find a hundred or so runs lying around the roster somewhere? Kiner-Falefa’s .270 BA? Catchers whom are 40% below average offensively? Tim Locastro?
Seriously. Where are we going to get more offense? I can answer that! We are not. Not like this anyway. I have never been one to sprinkle sugar on a turd & tell you it’s a cookie.
We are looking at a plate full of turds, man.
ducky, Well they did acquire three or four new hitting coaches, so they think that will do the trick.
I think they are hoping for a rebound from a bunch of the players that are already there ,with this assistance,Gleyber, DJ, Gallo etc. I certainly hope so, but I am skeptical
Hey, “coach ’em up” is a perfectly viable strategy. In – ya know – high school, college, & the minors.
In the Bigs: not so much.
@Ducky- at this point Ca$h needs to be checked into “the closest mental institution” I’ve obviously had it with this dummy.
I hear you. No doubt Yankees have one of the biggest analytics departments in the world.
The problem in my opinion is that they don’t always know how to apply it appropriately, and they also sometimes ignore the human element which numbers can’t quantify. And ultimately it all comes down to Cashman using all this data appropriately. And we’ve seen the results of that , that’s one of the things we’ve been complaining about
Me too Captain.
I agree with you ducky. I guess to the Yankees brass though, makes it look like they are doing something,it’s easier to do( and less expensive)than bringing in Freeman, Seager, and Scherzer( hurt now by the way).
Yeah, they have certainly “done something”, uh?
I was perfectly content to merely run our entire pitching staff back en masse. It’s a good one.
But: Freeman, Olson, Story all strike me as having missed out on opportunities that would have actually made a tangibile difference.
Alas. Wasn’t in the cards.
Captain, I think the problem is that Cashman has already been to said Hospital, has been released and is now taking powerful meds that are retarding his thought process.
Yes Ducky, it is disappointing to me as well.there were many opportunities there for obvious improvements that were not taken.
Let’s not even delve into the missed improvement opportunities of the past four seasons…. Wow, what a boatload of misses. Kind of like Samuel’s insults – every single opportunity supposed to hit the mark, completely missed, not even near the target.
I can’t believe we haven’t even gotten a pennant out of these guys. Back in ’17 I thought that was a foregone conclusion.
It may actually be bit tawdry to complain about 5 straight post-seasons which included a couple hard fought ALCS’s. Not to call anyone out specifically (coughTwinscough) but there are all kinds of fans who would be happy af to have a run like that. In typical Yankee fan fashion, we are rather blasai about it. I understand that we need to keep up our collective facade of being jaded. (I do try.)
But it has been a pretty exciting run all told.
’17 will always be one of my favorite seasons, man. Remember when all of baseball was rather charmed by the Baby Bombers & for a brief few months we weren’t completely & abjectly hated?
That was swell. & – of course – Really Weird.
I understand if that is a bridge too far for some of you fellas. So I shan’t belabor that particular notion. Perhaps all this time in the Upper Midwest has…simplified or sawftened me.
I’ve had fun though. Serious. (I really do try.)
No doubt, Ducky. The season that was never supposed to be. The early arrival of the new dynasty. The new core four-plus, with Judge, Bird, Miggy-two-bags, Gleyber, Kraken, not to mention the pitchers…
It was only up from ‘17 right? Ugh, anyway, yeah they were a likable bunch, man; easy to root for & very much overachieved for their first year – magical.
But, yeah man, we are very lucky to be in the playoffs every year. But how I see it – man, we are Yankee fans. We have a right to expect more. Our team’s history & ownership set that goal of “WS or bust” long ago. We can and will expect a pennant, at minimum & rightfully so. It’s our lot in life as Yankee fans, man, & I embrace it.
Remember at every end of year press conference that Brian Cashman would apologize for the Yankees not winning the World Series? Remember how ridiculous that sounded after ’13 & ’14?
During his end of year press conference in 2018 in lieu of an apology he dropped, “the playoffs are a crapshoot.” Sea change. A notable one at that, uh?
I do not think the goal is championship or bust anymore. In fact: I am sure it is not. Normally when the Yankees are knocked out I quit watching baseball (same with NYG & football). Hey, that’s timberdoodle season, man.
This year – however – I watched the series from game two on. Object lesson: the Braves (great team name) were an 88 regular season win club. We pushed them around when we played them. None of that stopped them from winning the series though.
Something to think about.
I am unconvinced that the three of them will combine for 30 jacks. I wouldn’t lay much past even odds that they’ll combine for 20.
Lost in the shuffle here is that you have to bring a whole helluva lot of glove to make up for an OPS under .600. I don’t think these guys are anywhere near good enough defensively to do that.
Sanchez had to go. He was too expensive to be a backup and not good enough to catch.
Cashman failing to get a better catcher wasn’t a reason to keep Sanchez.
@Ducky, Catcher is a defensive position first. Would have loved a more all round catcher, but as you have pointed out many times there are very of them. We will see how it turns out. The Yankees are not going for it full tilt at this point. Their off season has been a disaster. I’m OK with this trade and with the IKF trades, but there were a lot of opportunities to drastically improve their starting SS, C, and SP that Cashman did not take advantage of. If Volpe isn’t a major player then Cashman has again not taken advantage of his opportunities, and we all know that opportunities are limited!!
Yeah, I hear ya, Mick.
But on our squad, C & CF have also been relegated to “defense first (only?)” positions. There is nothing wrong with Trevino. Just like every player Cash’s brought on. Just strikes me as poor job of addressing what was our most glaring need.
Yessir. Not a lot of urgency out of our front office, man.
Can’t argue with that. On a more positive note Sevy looked good today and couldn’t believe how smooth Marwin looked at short!
I am so excited about Sevy. A full rebound by him & we just may be a better squad than last year’s.
I caught bits & pieces of the game. Missed Gonzalez.
I don’t remember any SP not wanting to work with Posada though, and when Gary can’t play in a WC elimination game, he’s not really your starting catcher. He also didn’t play in the 2020 playoffs.
I’m fine with them moving on from him. Especially with his offense in decline.
I have no problem moving on from Gary. As someone who rooted for him, I’m glad to see him get the hell outta NYC. Best damn thing for that young man. I will see him play out here & I will root my ass off for him.
I never bought into the NY media narratives around him. Rather, I looked at his numbers & his overall comportment. The real story is there.
What I’m kicking back on, is the overall lack of offense we have added. The bottom third of our lineup could very well struggle to *combine* for an OPS in excess of 1.700. I can’t help but view that as a problem. Particularly in the light of last year’s offense.
You’re right. And add onto the fact that Boone/Cashman loves to rest all the good players at once so you can see that bottom line up you were mentioning, plus Stanton judge and DJ all out at the same time.ugh.
Okay, I’ve figured out what Cashman is doing:
Hal: “Brian, in light of the letter & what it’ll do to our reputation, we need to lead the league in cleaning up baseball. The Yankees are different than the other teams. We need to lead by example, Brian!”
Cashman: [Thinking… “Hal wants me to clean up baseball & use how the Yankees are different than other teams, but how? Oh, we make people shave, got it”] “Okay, Hal, got it, boss.”
Cashman to other clubs: “Hey, I’ve been given direction by the Boss. You have anyone with a beard you want to trade?
GM: “A beard? Funny request…”
Cashman: “Yeah, the boss wants me to clean up the league in light of the presumed cheating & use what the Yankees do that nobody else does…I would like to fill some of our vacancies while we are at it, but it’s not our priority”
GM: “Uh {chortles}, okay, Bri-Bri. Yep, one bearded guy coming up. You get this league cleaned up – doing an A+ job. Probably get another extension fella. Fine work, man… fine work.”
The only solution I have found for Brian Cashman this winter is bourbon.
Nearly every acquisition has been a multi-year thick-beard guy. And the ones he trades? Voit? Dude can’t even grow a beard …. Think about it, could be the underlying conspiracy here when nobody is looking – the Yankees de-bearding efforts – go for the strongest beards first!
And, Ducky, is it me or for having the largest, arguably most expensive analytics department in baseball, is it very problematic when the analytics department’s brilliant answer time & again is: “ Let’s just copy the Rays because they seem to do okay. “
If they trade for Charlie Blackmon we’ll know for sure.
I heard Cashman drew the line at homeless though.
Yanks seem interested in defense at the dish. Seems like a good idea.
I see nothing but morons on the message board complaining about how the Yankees gave away a superstar in Abreu for a backup catcher. Hey clowns in case you didn’t realize it Abreu is garbage and is out of options and there’s literally zero chance the Yankees can carry a guy with serious control issues who needs to work on his game. I feel like all of you would complain no matter what. Get it through your thick heads, you can’t have a $20 million player at each position and there’s nothing wrong with having a defensive minded catcher. People acting like Contreras is the second coming of Christ on a baseball field and that the Yankees should sell their soul to get him. I like what New York has done this off season they showed some restraint and trust that their system will produce some quality players in the coming years. There’s way too many “fans” on here claiming that Abreu is a good pitcher and you all look silly.
I feel like there’s more about you telling us how you feel. It’s a safe space here.
Spot on.
Bro. I’m part of the Bro Culture. I don’t do “safe places.”
@Ducky- being a Yankee’s Fan, and looking for a contract is “far from being in a safe place right now” Smh.
Mystery: I think there’s a bit of confusion between what’s written & the underlying problem driving the authored comments though.
Each move like this is compounding two very distinct problems the Yankees are repeating:
1) Keeping prospects until they have no value or have to be traded due to options, while simultaneously not filling voids through FA or the trade market, and
2) doubling down on one-sides players at the expense of the quality player they truly need in order to save both prospects & money, thus repeating the cycle again.
It’s borne out of the frustrating cycle we watch Cashman repeating with moves that aren’t advancing the club, after an offseason that was supposed to advance it in a very big way , after several seasons of not addressing positions.
Let’s have nine RH TTO guys!
Wait…let’s get a whole collection of slick fielding players that struggle mightily at the plate!
Bonkers.
Reminds me of ex-wife #2. (& certainly not her more desirable traits.)
Ex-wife #2 was short, bald and bought guys you really didn’t need? Lol.
She was really short. She may have claimed I made her pull her hair out too. That would certainly sound right anyway. & let’s just say that indiscretions abounded for both parties.
So. Yeah. Even more so than I’d thought.
Huh. Something to think about.
Alright. That’s enough of the Cashman Cure. Catch ya, Clip.
Gee Guys,
We have a lot of young Pitchers that are going to be debuting or in the 2nd season. Defense behind the plate and Framing as long as there are no Robo Umps is important.
If you’ve actually watched Good Catchers and then looked at Sanchez he was terrible with his Set-Up and how he went for Balls to his Left or Right.
We should be able to absorb a weak spot in the Line-Up, we have plenty of Thunder. I’m pretty sure that the Yankee Pitching Staff (Cole, Sevy, et al) are all for these moves. This is not a video Game, Great Catching Matters.
Seems like 2 of these guys will be on the waiver wire soon enough. The recently drafted guy in a few years.
Agreed.
I remember when the Cardinals Molina came up he was a Defense First Catcher with seemingly No-Bat but he developed into a Decent Hitter. Is that impossible for Higgy (showing signs of life) or Rortvedt to become better hitters?
The first job of a Catcher is being a Good Defensive Player and any offense they can provide is Icing on the Cake.. everyone wants Roy Campanella behind the plate or Yogi, it ain’t happening as easily as some here believe it can.
We look at the Rays and everyone marvels at how they bring in a lot of no-name players that end up excelling at the Roles they are given. The Yankees do something similar with these moves and all everyone talks about is why they didn’t go out and spend a fortune on a Superstar just so they can complain later that they shouldn’t have paid the price and that the contract will hurt when the Player is declining.
Just can’t Win
The Rays moves work primarily due to the manager using advanced analytics to spot players at different points in a game.
The Yankees analytic team is further behind the Rays then the programming in GM/Ford’s electric cars is compared to Tesla. And your manager……
I was wondering when Sam would add his uninformed drivel.
I have explained to him several times that – for better or worse* – the Yankees have the biggest analytics department in MLB. That has been the case since 2015. Yet he continues to drone on about how we need to *start* an analytics dept.
I don’t know if he’s just some old confused dude or quite simply the owner of a sub par intellect. Could be both I suppose.
* certainly could be for the worse.
He’s like that angry uncle everyone has who’s a total d*ck and blames the world for all his problems and keeps getting invited to family get-togethers. We just have to deal with it.
I hear you. No doubt Yankees have one of the biggest analytics departments in the world.
The problem in my opinion is that they don’t always know how to apply it appropriately, and they also sometimes ignore the human element which numbers can’t quantify. And ultimately it all comes down to Cashman using all this data appropriately. And we’ve seen the results of that , that’s one of the things we’ve been complaining about
@YBC- I heard the Royals don’t even want Samuel as part of their fan base, since he can’t even stick with his favorite team, so he continues to troll on a Saturday night.
Uh.
Well…I may actually be that particular uncle.
@Ducky, I don’t know who you’re talking about, but I suspect it’s just another standard troll. Certainly anyone who doesn’t know the investment the Yankees make in analytics and that they operate one of the largest analytics groups in the game run by Mike Fishman probably is not someone worth your time.
True Yankee fans are demanding. But the Yankees are raking in the books, they can afford to get some high priced players or superstars once in a while, that’s what people object to.
Deivi Garcia; opener.
I’m not sure what the hell the computer guys saw there, Doc.
Ha ha .I hope not ,for their sake.
I don’t either ducky, not to mention using the not great j. happ.
Right?
Let’s have two pitchers do something neither has ever done. In a playoff game! I hope they threw that particular algorithm in the round file cabinet. Because that is where it belongs.
So dumb.
They certainly think I’m strange because I have no desire to return to the The City, or – God forbid – live in Los Angeles.
Agreed Ducky.
Brantly led all catchers in Strike % last year but was credited with zero Framing Runs compared to Trevino’s 8 Framing Runs, for what that’s worth.. Brantly can’t hit southpaws, while Trevino’s career L-R splits are incredibly even. Looks like a modest upgrade for a backup catcher.
Anyway, Higgy is going to hit 75 home runs, so it’s all good.
Too me, the Bar for hitting for the Yankee Catchers is quite low. Players hitting .200 with 20 HRs isn’t Great. Sanchez was pretty close to an Auto-Out to use the phrase Ducky coined. The Bad Defense on top of that made his streaky offense almost Null and Void. He may have been slightly better as a Hitter for a Catcher but the Horrible Defense was untenable.
ha ha .
I don’t think you could even get Bob Melvin for them, maybe Mickey Callaway
That is quite true. I can remember Only a few times in his history with the Yankees when his home runs came at meaningful times
@BLIN7Y- the Yankees should of traded Voit, Abreu, and Vasquez for Luis Campusano. This is so lousy. I really hate Ca$hman and Boone. I would trade them both for Bob Melvin at this point.
ha ha .
I don’t think you could even get Bob Melvin for them, maybe Mickey Callaway
@Dr2022- lol. I heard Mickey Calloway was last seen by a middle school?
I hope not ,for their sake.
Ha ha .I hope not ,for their sake.
He’s not even starting for the Padres
Funny. Only in Yankeedom can the acquisition of a defensive-minded, back-up catcher for a reliever with control problems still generate 100+ notes on a Saturday evening. Looks like I just added another!
Wouldn’t have it any other way!!!
They had to bring in a catcher. It wasn’t going to be Brantly.
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again…Cashman must have nude pics of Hal’s wife.. how else does a GM keep his job having payrolls off 200 million for over 20 years with ONE World Series win…..19 years with one WS appearance
Well according to Cashman, he considers them to have won in 2017 because the stros cheated.
Talk about fallacy of the predetermined outcome, as K likes to say.
I think Cashman must have steinbrenner under deep Hypnosis.
Cashman and Randy Levine are a two-man outbreak of foot-in-mouth disease.
Cashman only calls attention to his massively funded failures by revisiting 2017 — and meanwhile, ex-Astro Marwin is almost certainly heading north with the club; and Levine makes sure that the issue of alleged Yankee cheating gets front-page treatment on sports pages by stupidly contesting the unsealing of a letter.
Well said.
BTW…this trade should solidify 4th place for the Yankees in 2022 in the east
Thank goodness I was beginning to worry
Got me thinking… If we wanted the Yankees to tank, how would we do it? They’re pretty much un-tankable with the current contract commitments and no-trade clauses involved. They’re doomed to the playoffs for the foreseeable future.
“doomed to the playoffs”
Pretty much. Not easy to explain how much that “sucks” to, say, fans of the Reds or Pirates or Mariners or.. well you get the idea here.
This trade makes one wonder — despite Cashman’s spin — how badly hurt Rortvedt is. Makes one wonder if the oblique injury is worse, perhaps far worse, than just a pulled muscle. Did the Yankees want him so badly that they were willing to accept him as damaged goods?
Damn what a fall for grace for Abreu. I thought he was still a fairly legitimate prospect but that is a pretty underwhelming return.
It looks that way at first glance, but if you dig into it, not really. Pitchers are more plentiful than backstops, so there’s a premium on competent catchers. Trevino has improved every year since 2020 in Framing Runs and Strike Rate to rank third in Strike Rate and Framing Runs last year. Abreu was out of options, so he limited Boone’s roster flexibility, which he’s likely to need to shuttle arms between the minors and the big club with starters having short outings following the short spring training. They’ve got several attractive options for the bullpen, more than they have spots for immediately.
Plus, I liked reading this:
“Trevino, who has been very active in the community, was the Rangers’ nominee for the 2021 Roberto Clemente Award and honored as the recipient of the 2021 Harold McKinney Good Guy Award and 2020 Richard Durrett Hardest Working Man Award as presented by the Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter of the BBWAA.”
A quality dude can only help the clubhouse. I like this trade.
The potential is still there, though. I dont hate the trade but I wouldnt say Abreu’s fate as a big leaguer is close to decided either.
Not at all. Abreu’s only 24. It was his situation of being out of options that made him trade material. Obviously the Rangers see potential.
Good on the Yankees for prioritizing defense at the catching position. They have enough offense through out the lineup as it is.
In reflecting on the Yankees series of moves this offseason, or lack thereof, this does have some resemblance to the MO of Gene Michael in a way – keep top & valuable prospects at all costs. Now, Cashman has gone to an extreme, mostly, but if this results in a highly productive core of:
1) Peraza (SS/3B)
2) Volpe (2B/SS)
3) Sweeney (3B/SS/2B)
4) Cabrera (Utility)
5) Pereira (CF/OF),
Cashman will have completely remade this team, 90’s style. Not only will the payroll drop like a rock, but these guys will be controllable for years. This conceivably fills out the entire IF plus UTL. This doesn’t include Dominguez or their numerous pitching pieces that are near-ready (Sears/Marinaccio/Gil).
If this works & the Yankees succeed in filing out more than half their starting roster with key performers, Cashman must be considered in the conversation as the best GM in the sport.
If not, and the prospects don’t pan out, as most don’t, he should be fired, kicked out of his house, and flagged at the USPCA so he can’t even adopt a pet.
Yes, but those are big “ifs” and how often has Cashman been right( Frazier, bird, Montero, Sanchez, gleyber-jury still out, etc). Meanwhile judge,, Stanton, DJ, Cole not getting any younger.
You are 100% correct. Just for clarity, I’ve been a very vocal critic of Cashman & his lack of movement. He should’ve/could’ve filled our potholes several times over with superstars & we would be in a much better position.
For example, and as I’ve noted before, we should’ve signed JT, but didn’t because of money; yet they spent nearly the same money on DJ as a utility option we didn’t truly need so Sanchez could flail behind the plate. Before that, Marlins wanted prospect Sanchez for an established Realmuto – NY said NO!
Example 2: We should’ve acquired Story/Correa (I loathe Correa, but I’m speaking only about performance & money). Correa was only a 3-year commitment & he will opt out after the first or second year anyway, costing us the same as Donaldson (I am a big fan of Donaldson’s game, however). That was very doable and would’ve solidified a top-tier SS until Volpe was ready, all for the same money they spent on Donaldson & offered Verlander.
Example 3: They could’ve signed Rodon, Ray, Lynn, mad Max twice, etc to cover our #2 spot
Example 4: We could’ve signed Freeman & locked in an incredible LH bat at 1B. I like Rizzo, I’m glad Rizzo is a Yankee, but Freeman is who Rizzo used to be.
Now, I say all this with one major caveat: This could’ve all been done at nearly the same payroll cost we currently have. In other words, they spent the money they tried to save when they didn’t sign the best of who we needed, and instead ended up using the same money on players we didn’t (DJL, Hicks, Donaldson, Rizzo, Kluber, etc, etc).
Agreed Clip. I think they don’t mind spending the money on a year-to-year basis when they feel they have to, they are just adverse to long-term commitments after being burned several times, in their view. So the result is what you described, And the better players hold out for long-term contracts so there’s the dilemma
they’ve been burned because they’ve made atrocious choices. idiocy like the ellsbury and hicks contracts should not prevent signing players who don’t get hurt making a sandwich
Spot on. I made that point on another post.they were burned on a number of contracts that were I’ll advised to begin with.
Oh, for sure, Clip.
After all it’s baseball & they’re prospects so I am quite sure it’ll go exactly like that. Have you worked out the batting order yet? (blinkblink)
Nice.
The era of free agents is over for the Yanks. It’ll be purely homegrown players from here on out. Hey, at least that Samuel guy’ll be happy. He gets mad when anyone signs a free agent. & it doesn’t look like we’ll be needing any of those.
Just think of the savings! Be still my little heart…
Ugh, Samuel will go off in some tangent about how he wrote that these prospects were going to fail & Cashman should’ve traded them…blah, blah, blah, five years ago.
Anywho, batting order? Yep, actually I got bored last night, so……
Cashman in the news saying if Astro’s didn’t cheat 2017, yanks would’ve won World Series…Brian..(ass-clown).. your team scored 4runs the last 3 games of that series… they didn’t lose because someone was banging on a trashcan…. Here’s a suggestion… better trades, better signings…LESS marital affairs
Yeah, even if he’s right, what about the other 18 years? That’s just a really, really sad misdirection.
as always, my first concern is the sterling home run call. hoping for a golf pun that confuses 99% of fans under the age of 60
Good move. I’m a firm believer in defense first catchers. Getting other guys to step up is the only issue.
Ben Rortvedts pitch framing skills are elite.
He may not hit, he may not quick throw, he may not ever be an on base guy. But the guy frames pitches and gets calls like I’ve literally never seen before .
He’s also athletic and fast of fleet feet