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Cashman Discusses Yankees’ Offseason, Provides Injury Updates

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During the press conference announcing the return of Aaron Boone as manager, Yankees GM Brian Cashman offered some insight into the club’s offseason plans. Cashman was open with regard to the Yankees’ needs, telling reporters he’ll need to offer Boone more flexibility in lineup construction (Twitter links via The Athletic’s Lindsey Adler).

Most notably, the GM addressed the club’s need at shortstop directly and candidly, stating that “[s]hortstop is an area of need. We have to address it.” With one of the most highly regarded classes of shortstops in free agent history about to hit the market, the big-market, big-spending Yankees are a near certainty to feature prominently in the offseason rumor mill.

As MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand and ESPN’s Marly Rivera further noted, Cashman broke several pieces of news on the injury front: starter Jameson Taillon will undergo ankle surgery on October 28 and is expected to be out for five months. DJ LeMahieu, who underperformed expectations after a stellar 2020, has had a procedure to address a sports hernia that will keep him out roughly eight weeks. Cashman also noted that outfielder Aaron Hicks, out since a May wrist surgery, should be ready to resume baseball activities by December and hopes to play winter ball. Assuming all goes to plan, LeMahieu’s surgery shouldn’t have an impact on his availability to start the 2022 season, but Taillon’s timetable suggests he’ll only be ready to return to game action around the end of Spring Training, putting his availability for the Opening Day roster in question.

While Cashman suggested that he hopes to add more athleticism and contact skills to a lineup that had the sixth highest K% (24.5%) in the majors in 2021, Yankees fans have already begun to salivate over the forthcoming free agent market. All three of Corey Seager, Carlos Correa, and Trevor Story would bring a significant potential for star-level production to the Bronx — as might Marcus Semien or the enigmatic Javier Baez, potentially — and each would offer a significant defensive upgrade over incumbent Gleyber Torres.

Any from that group could represent an upgrade on both sides for the Bombers, but how Cashman views them remains to be seen. Though none are poor with the glove, Correa and Story (who have compiled 68 and 69 career DRS at short, respectively) have been a cut above the others. Correa will be 27 next season, giving him an edge in the age department, although Seager isn’t far behind as he heads into his age-28 campaign. Both Story and Baez will play next year at 29, while Semien — who played second base in Toronto this season but has a long track record at shortstop — will play next season at 31.

Though the Yankees are regularly players at the top of the free agent market, payroll implications may also play into their approach, as might the particulars of the forthcoming collective bargaining agreement (presuming, of course, that one is forthcoming). The club’s payroll came in just below the luxury tax threshold of $210MM in 2021, which may allow them to pay a lower rate should they become tax-payers again in 2022, but the only significant salary to come off the books is Corey Kluber’s ($11MM in 2021).

With a number of players set for significant raises in arbitration (most prominently Aaron Judge, though both club and player may prefer to reach an extension agreement), there’s not likely to be much room below the tax threshold for splashy free agent signings. Owner Hal Steinbrenner has not declared any plans to cross the threshold, but the club probably dipped below in 2021 for a reason. Paired with Cashman’s assertion that the Yankees will be “open to anything and everything” (Twitter link via SNY’s Andy Martino), the stage is at least ostensibly set for an active winter.

Following a season that saw them settle for a wild card spot and get bounced from the playoffs by the rival Red Sox, Cashman’s mixed tone is no surprise. Per Rivera, the longstanding GM described the 2021 Yanks remarkable inconsistency, stating that while they were at times “unstoppable,” they were at others “unwatchable.” As MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch relays, Cashman addressed fan disappointment directly with the “obvious” admonition that “we want more. We expect more.”

Injuries clearly played a role, but poor performance also loomed large. Among players with more than 100 plate appearances, only Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Luke Voit, and Anthony Rizzo (acquired from the Cubs at the deadline) posted a wRC+ over 100 while wearing pinstripes. The club’s pitching fared somewhat better but was also bitten by the injury bug, with only Gerrit Cole, Jordan Montgomery, and Taillon notching 20 or more starts and potential high-end righty Luis Severino logging only six innings across four appearances as he made his way back from February 2020 Tommy John surgery. With Kluber out and Taillon a question mark, the club will likely look to dip into the pitching market for at least a depth piece or two.

How, exactly, Cashman will address these shortcomings remains an open question, but he did offer some insight into other offseason plans in the Bronx, including making clear that the club views Torres as a second baseman moving forward and is not entirely committed to Gary Sánchez as its everyday catcher.

Both players were disappointments in 2021. Torres posted a .259/.331/.366 line (down from career marks of .271/.340/.493 entering the year) and was eventually moved from shortstop to second basse. Sánchez regained some of the pop (23 home runs in 440 plate appearances) he’d shown from 2016-2019 alongside a career-high 52 walks but continued to struggle overall; he posted only a .307 OBP driven by a dismal .204 batting average and 27.5 K%. By DRS, both players also struggled with the glove, with Torres costing the Yankees nine runs in the field and Sánchez ten (while throwing out only 17% of would-be base-stealers).

With Torres permanently moving to the keystone and Rizzo’s future uncertain, LeMahieu will likely serve as the Yankees’ primary third baseman in 2022, perhaps sharing time there with Gio Urshela as well as Voit at first — assuming Voit is back in the next year. With the Yankees looking to add a shortstop to the mix, they’ll be left with four regulars (LeMahieu, Urshela, Voit, and Torres) for the other three infield spots. As none of this group has any significant experience in the outfield, a healthy roster might leave Boone facing something of a logjam for at-bats.

With Severino expected to offer quite a bit more on the mound in 2022, better health from Hicks and Voit and bounceback years from LeMahieu and Torres could already go a long way toward righting the ship for a club used to contending for titles year after year. Addressing their need at shortstop with a high-end signing that improves the team on both sides of the ball may go even further.

Injury Notes: Cousins, Andrus, Loaisiga, Taillon, Cisnero

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The Brewers placed righty Jake Cousins on the 10-day injured list due to a right biceps strain, as right-hander Miguel Sanchez was called up from Triple-A to take Cousins’ spot on the active roster.  Speaking with The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Todd Rosiak and other reporters, Brewers GM Matt Arnold described Cousins’ injury as “nothing major,” adding that “We just want to be careful.  It’s that time of year where we want to make sure he’s available in a playoff capacity.”

Considering that Cousins didn’t even make his MLB debut until June 21, his status as a potential postseason weapon is a sign of how well he has performed during his rookie season.  Cousins has a 2.70 ERA over 30 relief innings, along with an eye-popping 35.2% strikeout rate — not far off his minor league numbers since joining the Milwaukee organization in 2019.  While Cousins’ control hasn’t been nearly as impressive (15.2% walk rate), opponents haven’t been able to take much advantage, as Cousins has been carving up batters with his wipeout slider.

More on other injury situations around baseball…

  • While scoring the game-winning run in the Athletics’ 2-1 walkoff win over the Astros today, Elvis Andrus suffered a left ankle injury and had to be helped off the field.  A’s manager Bob Melvin told MLB.com’s Martin Gallegos and other reporters that Andrus is getting x-rays after “feeling a pop” in his ankle.  More will be known after Andrus has been tested, but it certainly looks like the 33-year-old’s season could be over, as the shortstop could be facing a serious injury.  It has been a tough year overall for Andrus, as he has hit only .243/.294/.320 over 541 plate appearances in his first season in Oakland.
  • The Yankees could have Jonathan Loaisiga and Jameson Taillon back from the injured list during the club’s upcoming series against the Blue Jays, manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including ESPN’s Marly Rivera and Newsday’s Erik Boland).  Loaisiga was sidelined on September 5 with a strained right rotator cuff, but the reliever has already thrown one bullpen session and will throw another soon, Boone said.  Taillon has missed close to the game amount of time with an ankle injury, though he has been on a minor league rehab assignment and threw a bullpen today.
  • Jose Cisnero’s IL stint has lasted beyond the minimum 10 days, and Tigers manager A.J. Hinch told reporters (including Chris McCosky of The Detroit News) that while Cisnero hasn’t yet been shut down, a return this season is “improbable.”  Cisnero has been hampered by swelling around the right elbow laceration that first sent him to the injured list back on September 14.  If this is it for the right-hander in 2021, Cisnero will finish with a 3.65 ERA over 61 2/3 innings, marking his third consecutive year of solid work out of Detroit’s bullpen.

Yankees Activate Domingo German; Jameson Taillon Begins Rehab Assignment

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The Yankees have reinstated right-hander Domingo Germán from the 10-day injured list. Outfielder Estevan Florial was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in a corresponding move. Additionally, New York announced that Jameson Taillon will begin a minor league rehab assignment with Scranton this evening.

Germán returns after missing nearly two months due to shoulder inflammation. He’d been a reliable back-of-the-rotation option for the Yankees over the season’s first few months, tossing 97 innings of 4.45 ERA ball over 21 appearances (including 18 starts). The 29-year-old has posted solid strikeout and walk numbers, contributing to a more appealing 4.02 SIERA, but he’s been a little too prone to the home run ball.

While Germán served almost exclusively as a starter earlier this year, he seems likely to work from the bullpen for the stretch run. With the regular season dwindling, the Yankees sent Germán on a rather brief rehab assignment in which he made two appearances with the RailRiders. He topped out at 35 pitches in his last outing, so he seems likely to occupy a similar multi-inning relief role to the one Luis Severino took on last night.

Taillon has only been away from the club for two weeks because of a partially torn tendon in his right ankle. Given that shorter absence, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he’s back in the majors after a lone rehab start. Acquired from the Pirates over the offseason, Taillon has a 4.41 ERA/4.29 SIERA in his first year in the Bronx.

The Yankees enter play tonight half a game back in a jam-packed American League Wild Card race. After tonight’s series finale against the Rangers, they’ll play road series against the two clubs directly ahead of them in standings — the Red Sox and Blue Jays — before closing out the year at home against a Rays team that looks likely to have clinched the AL East by that point.

Yankees Place Jameson Taillon On Injured List, Designate Jonathan Davis

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The Yankees announced Thursday that they’ve placed right-hander Jameson Taillon on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to Tuesday, with a “right ankle tendon injury.” Right-hander Sal Romano was selected from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in his place, and outfielder Jonathan Davis was designated for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Romano.

Taillon suffered a partial tear in the tendon in his ankle, manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including Erik Boland of Newsday). While that certainly sounds ominous, Boone suggested there’s optimism Taillon could miss at little as one start before returning. It seems rookie Luis Gil could assume Taillon’s rotation spot for the time being, with Gerrit Cole, Jordan Montgomery, Corey Kluber and Nestor Cortes Jr. rounding out the starting staff.

Acquired from the Pirates over the winter, Taillon got out to a slow start to his Yankees’ tenure. He was tagged for a 5.43 ERA through the end of June, with significant home run troubles offsetting quality strikeout and walk numbers. The 29-year-old was one of the league’s best pitchers in July, though, and has generally been quite productive over the past couple months. Since July 1, Taillon owns a 3.39 ERA as he’s done a better job keeping the ball in the yard. On the season, Taillon has a 4.41 mark across 138 2/3 innings with an average 23.4% strikeout rate and a solid 7.2% walk percentage.

Romano has bounced on and off a few teams’ rosters over the course of the season. He began the year with the Reds, struggling badly in April and finding himself designated for assignment. After clearing waivers, he elected free agency and signed a minor league deal with the Yankees. He was selected to the big league roster but quickly DFA’d again, this time landing with the Brewers via waiver claim. Milwaukee became the third team to bump the right-hander from the 40-man roster not long thereafter, and Romano again elected free agency and signed with the Yankees.

Over his prior three big league stints, Romano compiled a 5.63 ERA in 24 innings of relief. His 13.9% strikeout rate is well below-average for a reliever, as is his 5% swinging strike rate. That said, Romano has been far better with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where he’s worked to a 3.56 figure over 30 1/3 innings. His 19.1% minor league strikeout rate is still a few points worse than the league average, but it’s quite a bit better than his big league mark. More impressively, Romano has walked a minuscule 3.8% of batters faced with the RailRiders, so Boone should at least be able to count on him throwing strikes consistently in the middle innings.

The Yankees claimed Davis off waivers from the Blue Jays a little more than a month ago. At the time, New York’s roster was reeling from COVID-19 spread. With those players having recovered from the virus, Davis found himself optioned to Triple-A and eventually squeezed off the 40-man entirely. The Yankees will now place Davis on outright or release waivers in the next few days.

Over parts of four seasons with the Jays and Yankees, Davis owns a .171/.272/.248 mark in 259 plate appearances. The right-handed hitter has a more productive .250/.355/.421 line in three seasons at Triple-A, though, and is capable of playing all three outfield positions. He is in his final minor league option year, so any team that claims Davis could keep him in the high minors as a depth option for the rest of the regular season. Because he’s being designated for assignment after August 31, Davis wouldn’t be eligible for a new team’s postseason roster if he’s claimed off waivers.

AL Notes: Santander, Astros, Indians, Taillon, Yankees

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Anthony Santander isn’t in the Orioles lineup today, and it seems as if the outfielder will miss his fifth consecutive spring game.  Manager Brandon Hyde told MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko and other reporters that Santander has been bothered by a sore oblique, though Santander has still been working out and could potentially get back on the field as early as Monday.

Such a quick return would probably mean Santander is ready to roll for Opening Day, but the O’s are likely to be cautious considering that an oblique strain brought Santander’s 2020 season to an early end in September.  The injury cut short a breakout year for the 26-year-old, as Santander hit .261/.315/.575 with 11 homers in 165 plate appearances.

More from around the American League…

  • The Astros are looking for possible outfield or pitching additions as spring camps draw to a close, manager Dusty Baker told reporters (including Chandler Rome of The Houston Chronicle).  While every team keeps an eye on other clubs’ cuts or waiver moves at this time of year, the Astros may be more inclined than usual to make a move, given both some recent absences due to COVID concerns and the fact that outfield depth was already something of an issue.  Chas McCormick looks like the favorite for the fourth outfielder job, and Houston would have to make a 40-man move to include either Jose Siri or Bryan De La Cruz on the active roster.  None of this trio has any MLB experience, and starting center fielder Myles Straw could be facing some time on the COVID-related injury list.
  • Triston McKenzie, Cal Quantrill, and Logan Allen were all competing for the final two spots in the Indians’ rotation, and McKenzie and Allen have won the jobs, though their roles have yet to be specifically determined.  (The Athletic’s Zack Meisel was among those to report the news.)  McKenzie and Allen could be used in regular turns throughout the rotation, or the Tribe might use either in piggyback outings, or perhaps use an opener for an inning or two before giving way to McKenzie or Allen as the bulk pitcher.  Quantrill might factor into this situation as well, since Quantrill also made the roster and will work out of the bullpen.
  • Manager Aaron Boone announced the Yankees’ starting rotation for its first six games of the year, and Jameson Taillon won’t make his debut in the pinstripes until the sixth game.  The intent, as Boone told The Athletic’s Lindsey Adler (Twitter links) and other reporters, is to ease Taillon back into action after the righty missed the entire 2020 season recovering from his second Tommy John procedure.  New York will start Gerrit Cole in both the first and fifth games of the year thanks to an early off-day, with Corey Kluber, Domingo German, and Jordan Montgomery slated to take the mound in between Cole’s two outings.  The Yankees will also likely adopt a six-man rotation for at least part of April, Boone said.

MLBTR Poll: Forecasting The Yankees Rotation

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Jameson Taillon is aiming for 120 to 150 innings in his comeback from Tommy John surgery, writes Ken Davidoff of the New York Post. Taillon has just 37 1/3 innings to his name over the past two seasons, and since this will be his second time coming back from TJ, there’s reason to temper expectations regarding his workload. Davidoff looks at PECOTA, Steamer, and ZiPS to get an idea for what the projection systems think Taillon can handle in 2021 – though the creators of the systems admit this is an area that requires guesswork. Still, it’s instructive to know that the three systems project 103 innings, 133 innings, and 106 1/3 innings – in line with Taillon’s thinking.

How those innings manifest might be the question for the Yankees. The mean of the three projections is 114-ish innings, which would be just under four innings per start over a full 30-game workload. That’s not likely to be the shape of Taillon’s 2021 production. We know that depth will be key in 2021 across the league, but thinking in this way about Taillon all but erases the possibility of a five-man rotation surviving the season.

While that’s an absolute best-case, rarely-achieved feat in the first place, it’s worth keeping in mind before getting frustrated when Deivi García, for example, doesn’t make an opening day roster, speculatively speaking. And while Clarke Schmidt’s injury doesn’t appear to be serious, it serves as a generous reminder that the injury bug can bite at any time.

As if Taillon didn’t cloud the Yankees’ projections enough on his own, the rest of the group doesn’t bring much certainty either – beyond Gerrit Cole, of course. The projection systems collectively tag presumptive No. 2 starter Corey Kluber with an expectation for about 137 innings in 2021, a forecast largely born from the fact that the soon-to-be 35-year-old managed just one inning in 2020 and 35 2/3 innings the year before. Still, Kluber was a workhorse before 2019, with five straight 200+ inning seasons with the Indians.

Jordan Montgomery slots into the No. 4 spot, and he logged just 51 2/3 innings over the past two seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery himself. Somewhat remarkably, the starter with the most innings after Cole the past two seasons is the guy who missed all of 2020 under the league’s domestic violence policy: Domingo Germán. Germán made 24 starts and amassed 143 innings with a 4.03 ERA/4.72 FIP, 38.1 percent groundball rate, 25.8 percent strikeout rate, and 6.6 percent walk rate in 2019. Those are above-average walk and strikeout numbers. Germán faces his own uphill climb, of course. Given comments made by his Yankee teammates this offseason, there’s more than a little doubt about how well he’ll be able to re-acclimate to the spotlight that comes with donning Yankee pinstripes.

García will obviously be a candidate to join the rotation, as could other 40-man roster arms like Schmidt, Michael King, Nick Nelson, Alexander Vizcaino, Luis Medina, and Luis Gil. Veterans Jhoulys Chacin and Asher Wojciechowski are also in camp as non-roster invitees. Jonathan Loaisiga, Albert Abreu and Luis Cessa are expected to pitch out the bullpen, but they’ve spent time starting games in the past. The Yankees also hope to receive a mid-season boost when Luis Severino returns from Tommy John. Severino threw just 12 innings the past two seasons, but he was an ace in the two years before that, averaging a 3.18 ERA/3.01 FIP, 5.5 fWAR in 192 innings per season in 2017 and 2018.

Of course, no matter the starting five, most teams are going to call upon more than just their opening day rotation to toe the rubber. The Yankees themselves used nine different starting pitchers in 2020 over just 60 games. They used 12 in 2019, 12 in 2018, and 11 in 2017. Those units finished eighth, fifth and fourth in the American League by measure of FIP, ninth, third and third by fWAR. Yankee starters ranked third in the AL by both FIP (4.19 FIP) and fWAR (5.3 fWAR) last season.

Volume isn’t everything, but for pitchers, inning totals do often point to success, or at the very least, health. Given the uncertainty of the Yankees new rotation, what are your expectations? Who of the starters after Cole stands the best chance of surviving the season?

(Poll link for app users)

(Poll link for app users)

AL East Notes: Vazquez, Angels, Tanaka, Blue Jays, Taillon

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The Angels signed Kurt Suzuki this offseason, and with a catching corps of Suzuki, Max Stassi, and Anthony Bemboom, adding an upper-tier backstop “would be a luxury and not a necessity” for the team, FanSided’s Robert Murray writes.  However, the Halos have at least checked in on some prominent catchers, including Christian Vazquez of the Red Sox.  No deal appears to be close, as the Sox naturally want quite a lot for Vazquez and “there are doubts whether the Red Sox will entertain trading him” whatsoever.

Vazquez is entering his final guaranteed year of the contract extension he signed in March 2018.  He’ll earn $6.25MM in 2021, and the Red Sox hold a $7MM club option ($250K buyout) on his services for 2022.  It’s a very affordable price for one of the game’s better defensive catchers, not to mention a catcher who has swung an increasingly dangerous bat — Vazquez has hit .278/.327/.472 with 30 homers in 710 plate appearances since the start of the 2019 season.  He does turn 31 in August, so the Sox could think about moving him at a high point in his trade value, but the Angels or any suitor would have to step up with a very big offer to get Boston’s attention.

More from the AL East…

  • In a press conference announcing his return to the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, Masahiro Tanaka implied that he could return to Major League Baseball even before his two-year deal with the Eagles is up.  “I feel I have unfinished business in America, and I haven’t given up on that, so they agreed on terms that would keep those options open,” Tanaka said.  This could seem to hint at an opt-out clause after the 2021 season, Ken Davidoff of the New York Post notes, and quite possibly a return to the Yankees in 2022.  With the Yankees intent on resetting their luxury tax penalty limit this winter, the team opted to spend its resources elsewhere rather than re-sign Tanaka at his desired asking price.  Come next offseason, however, the Yankees might well be willing to exceed the tax threshold (and pay only a first-timer penalty fee) in order to acquire Tanaka and other roster upgrades.
  • Also from Robert Murray, Blue Jays outfielders Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Randal Grichuk are drawing trade interest.  The addition of George Springer has created a surplus in Toronto’s outfield, with Grichuk seemingly relegated to fourth outfielder duty as Gurriel and Teoscar Hernandez are slated for the corners.  It’s safe to guess that Gurriel is the more sought-after player, since Gurriel is over two years younger than Grichuk and has a less-expensive contract — Gurriel is owed $13.4MM through the 2023 season, while Grichuk is owed $29MM.  One of the outfielders could be dangled a way of obtaining pitching, since the Jays continue to look for both rotation and bullpen help.
  • The Rays were one of the other suitors trying to obtain Jameson Taillon from the Pirates, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.  Taillon ended up traded to the Yankees, and as Topkin points out, the Rays had interest in both Taillon and Corey Kluber, New York’s two main pitching acquisitions of the offseason.

Yankees Acquire Jameson Taillon

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12:49PM: The trade has been officially announced by both teams.

11:35AM: The Yankees have worked out a deal to acquire right-hander Jameson Taillon, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.  The Pirates will receive four prospects in return.  ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan (Twitter link) reports that the minor leaguers in question are right-handers Miguel Yajure and Roansy Contreras, infielder Maikol Escotto and outfielder Canaan Smith.

Multiple reports broke yesterday that a Taillon trade was nearing completion, with the Yankees emerging as the favorites to land the 29-year-old.  According to Mackey, “at least three clubs” submitted offers for Taillon, but it was indeed New York who eventually landed the right-hander.

Jameson TaillonTaillon joins a Yankees rotation that is headlined by Gerrit Cole, and otherwise has a lot of upside but an equal number of question marks.  Corey Kluber has two AL Cy Young Awards on his resume but also has barely pitched in two seasons due to injuries, Luis Severino won’t return from Tommy John surgery rehab until midseason, Domingo German didn’t pitch in 2020 due to a domestic violence suspension, and the likes of Jordan Montgomery, Deivi Garcia, Clarke Schmidt or Michael King are lacking in MLB experience.

Taillon is himself not exactly a sure thing, as he didn’t pitch in 2020 (and threw only 37 1/3 innings in 2019) due to Tommy John surgery.  This was the second TJ procedure of Taillon’s career, following an earlier surgery during his days as a star prospect in Pittsburgh’s farm system.  While there is risk involved in the acquisition, the Yankees are betting that Taillon is healthy and can match or surpass the form he has showed over his 466 career innings.

Drafted second overall in 2010, Taillon has posted a 3.67 ERA, 21.5K%, and 15.5K-BB% over his Major League career.  While not a big strikeout pitcher, Taillon has a mid-90’s fastball, strong control, the ability to keep the ball on the ground (career 48.2% grounder rate) and does a good job of limiting hard contact.

The other important numbers from the Yankees’ perspective were two (as in the number of years of team control remaining over Taillon) and $2.25MM, which is what Taillon is set to earn in 2021.  The Yankees are known to be looking to stay under the $210MM luxury tax threshold and reset their tax penalties to zero, so there is added value for the team in acquiring a potential No. 3 or even a No. 2 starter at such a low financial cost.  According to Roster Resource’s projection, the Yankees are now less than a million dollars under the $210MM mark, so some creativity will be required if the team is going to make any more additions.

Contreras and Yajure were also both on the 40-man roster, so the Yankees have now opened spots up for Taillon and for one of Kluber or DJ LeMahieu, whose signings have yet to be officially announced by the team.

For the Pirates, this is the latest big move of a rebuild that has already seen Joe Musgrove and Josh Bell dealt in respective trades with the Padres and Nationals this winter.  There was no pressing payroll concern surrounding Taillon, but since the Bucs look to be more than two years away from contending, it made sense for the team to shop the righty now rather than risk an injury setback or poor performance from Taillon during the season.

For Musgrove, Bell, and now Taillon, the Pirates have added 11 young players to their organization via the three trades.  Similar to the Musgrove deal with San Diego, Pittsburgh received a larger package of prospects rather than a singular blue-chip talent, but it would be incorrect to say that the Pirates opted for quantity over quality.  Yajure (#15), Contreras (#19) and Smith (#21) were all ranked on MLB.com’s list of the top 30 prospects in the New York farm system.

Yajure made his Major League debut in 2020, posting a 1.29 ERA over seven relief innings while recording eight strikeouts and five walks.  Control wasn’t really a problem for Yajure over his minor league career, with only a 5.9BB% to go along with a 2.47 ERA and 20.8K% over 291 2/3 innings.  The 22-year-old also had a knack for keeping the ball in the park, with only 10 homers allowed during his minor league career.

Yajure started 54 of 61 minor league outings, and MLB Pipeline’s scouting report says he “has a high floor as a likely No. 4 or 5 starter.”  He could be a candidate for action in the Pirates’ rotation this season, but since he has yet to pitch at the Triple-A level, Yajure will probably begin the year in the minors.

Contreras, 21, was a product of the 2016 international draft class and has yet to pitch beyond the A-ball level, but he has a 3.25 ERA over 249 1/3 innings, starting 47 of 50 games.  There is some doubt as to whether or not Contreras will stick as a starter or be moved to the bullpen, according to MLB Pipeline, since he doesn’t record many strikeouts (20.1K%) and is “a flyball pitcher without much life on his fastball.”  Both his fastball and changeup receive a 55 on the 20-80 scouting scale, however, and his fastball averages in the 92-95mph range with some quality spin rate.

Smith was a fourth-round pick in the 2017 draft, and the 21-year-old has already shown an aptitude for getting on base.  Smith has hit .280/.389/.426 over 936 plate appearances in his young career, reaching as high as the A-ball level in 2019.  His left-handed swing doesn’t have much loft, as per Pipeline, but his slugging percentage did jump upwards to .465 in 2019.  Smith has played mostly left field and is an average defender overall, and he has shown good skill as a baserunner in stealing 21 bases in 28 chances despite average speed.

An international signing out of the Dominican Republic, the 18-year-old Escotto hit .315/.429/.552 over 218 PA in Dominican Summer League action in 2019.  Baseball America ranked Escotto 27th on their list of Yankees prospects, citing his “compact swing” and “solid plate discipline” and also describing him as a plus runner and plus defender.  Escotto played mostly second base in the DSL but also saw action as a third baseman and shortstop.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

East Notes: Mets, Hand, Bradley, Yankees, Rays

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The Mets made an offer to free agent reliever Brad Hand that was “right in the ballpark” of the one-year, $10.5MM deal he agreed to with the Nationals, reports Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link). New York was linked to Hand throughout the offseason, with team president Sandy Alderson acknowledging the club might’ve claimed him last fall had the team’s ownership change been finalized at the time Hand was available on waivers. After missing out on their top lefty bullpen target, the Mets could look into a Justin Wilson reunion, Heyman posits.

More news and notes from the game’s East divisions:

  • Elsewhere on the Mets, free agent center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. is “on their radar,” hears Heyman (Twitter link). That’s hardly an indication New York is actively engaged in the bidding for Bradley, but he does make sense as a potential target for the Mets after they missed out on George Springer. Outfield isn’t necessarily an area of need, but acquiring a true center fielder would push current projected starter Brandon Nimmo into a corner role for which he might be better suited. Bradley is one of the game’s best defenders and coming off a strong 2020 season at the plate.
  • The Yankees tried to acquire Joe Musgrove and Jameson Taillon in a package deal with the Pirates before Pittsburgh traded Musgrove to the Padres, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link). New York ended up pulling in Taillon for a package of four prospects this morning. Taillon and free agent signee Corey Kluber have been New York’s most important rotation pickups this winter.
  • The Rays are hiring former major league outfielder Denard Span as a special assistant in baseball operations, per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. A Tampa native, Span spent part of the 2018 season playing for the Rays. The former first-rounder also played for the Twins, Nationals, Giants and Mariners over an eleven-year MLB playing career. Span explained his decision to retire as a player last June.

Jameson Taillon Could Be Next Pirates Player To Be Traded

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10:45 pm: A trade does appear to be on the horizon, potentially as soon as tomorrow, per Jason Mackey (via Twitter). By all accounts, nothing has been finalized. The Pirates are said to be looking for high-ceiling prospects, even if that means taking players who are further away from reaching the Majors.

8:45 pm: The Yankees are indeed one of the teams talking to the Pirates about Taillon, tweets MLB Insider Jon Heyman. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter) goes as far as to say they “appear to be emerging as the frontrunner.” The Yankees are not the only team involved, however, as the Pirates have offers from multiple teams, adds Jason Mackey of PGSportsNow. Taillon has two years of control remaining.

2:23 pm: Joe Musgrove now gets his paychecks from the San Diego Padres, and Josh Bell his from the Washington Nationals, so it’s only natural that someone step into the void as the “next Pirates player to be traded.” According to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter), right-hander Jameson Taillon is in the proverbial on-deck circle. Feinsand and MLB.com’s Adam Berry hear that Jameson could be moved as soon as this weekend.

When Taillon made his debut as a 24-year-old in 2016, he and then-rotation-mate Gerrit Cole represented a promising core that was meant to build on the success of a 98-win 2015 team. That future never quite came to be, of course, as the Pirates fell back to the basement of the NL Central and now face yet another organizational rebuild. From that perspective, trades of the roster’s veterans are borderline inevitable. Still, a Taillon trade at this juncture is not without its complications, given his uncertain status returning from Tommy John surgery. Taillon went under the knife in August 2019, missing the entire 2020 season. It was the second Tommy John surgery of his career.

Taillon’s one full season came in 2018 when he made 32 starts and logged 191 innings with a 3.20 ERA/3.46 FIP, 22.8 percent strikeout rate, 5.9 percent walk rate, and 46.2 percent walk rate. That’s the version of Taillon that will stick in the heads of opposing teams as they consider acquiring the 29-year-old. Generally speaking, Taillon brings better-than-average strikeout rates, near-elite walk rates, and a career-average 85 FIP-. Though expectations should be tempered to reflect his injury status, it’s fair to hope that Taillon might again provide mid-rotation-or-better production for a contender.

The Yankees were linked to Taillon earlier this offseason and could still be a potential landing spot. Of course, it would not be hard to find a team in need of a starting pitcher – even one coming off his second TJ surgery. Given the caution with which most teams are approaching increasing workloads for 2021, a rehabbing hurler like Taillon may benefit from a smoother transition back to action, as he would not be expected to post a 200-inning season out of the blocks.

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