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Yankees Designate Thairo Estrada For Assignment

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The Yankees announced that they have designated infielder Thairo Estrada for assignment and optioned right-hander Michael King to their alternate site. They made those moves to clear space for newly acquired infielder Rougned Odor.

This could bring an end to a long run in the Yankees organization for Estrada, who first joined the club as an international free agent from Venezuela in 2012. Estrada eventually became a prospect of note with the Yankees, topping out as Baseball America’s No. 8 farmhand for the team in 2018, but he hasn’t been a particularly productive hitter during his time in the pros. The 25-year-old has put together a .280/.337/.389 line with 26 home runs and 52 steals on 81 attempts in 1,949 plate appearances in the minors, and he batted .214/.267/.348 over 121 PA as a Yankee from 2019-20. Still, with another minor league option remaining, it’s not that far-fetched to think another team could take a chance on him in the next week.

King could return to the Yankees’ pitching staff sometime soon. However, after he threw six shutout innings in relief against the Blue Jays on Sunday, it was logical for the Yankees to send him down on at least a temporary basis and use fresher arms in the meantime.

Yankees To Sign Mike Montgomery

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The Yankees have agreed to a deal with free-agent left-hander Mike Montgomery, pending a physical, Robert Murray of FanSided tweets. It’s a minor league pact.

This is the second straight minors deal for the 31-year-old Montgomery, who signed with the Mets during the winter. He was unable to earn a roster spot with the club, though, as he yielded six runs (five earned) on 10 hits in 7 1/3 innings of work during spring training. That continued a difficult run for Montgomery, who pitched to an ERA around 5.00 in each of the previous two seasons and threw just 5 1/3 innings last year in Kansas City while dealing with a lat injury.

Recent issues aside, Montgomery has enjoyed a successful career as a swingman since he debuted in 2015. Also a former Mariner and Cub, Montgomery has recorded a solid 3.84 ERA in 541 innings and 183 appearances (70 starts), and he earned the save in Chicago’s historic Game 7 victory over Cleveland in the 2016 World Series. Now, with the Yankees’ bullpen facing injuries to the likes of Zack Britton and Justin Wilson, Montgomery could provide the unit some left-handed depth.

Yankees Most Valuable Franchise In MLB

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Major League Baseball teams are up in value by 3 percent from 2020, per the annual report from Forbes’ Mike Ozanian. Baseball’s 30 clubs are now being valued at an all-time high of $1.9 billion. The Yankees saw a 5 percent bump to $5.25 billion at the top of the list. They are not only the most valuable franchise in baseball, but one of the top three most valuable franchises in North America, along with the Cowboys and Knicks. Despite the operating losses many franchises suffered because of the pandemic, the long-term values were buoyed by the sale of the Mets and the valuation of the Boston Red Sox with their pending private equity deal. Ozanian reports that revenue was down 65 percent in 2020 as teams lost $1.8 billion after raking in a $1.5 billion profit the year prior. Check out the full article for the list and methodology. More from around the game…

Latest On Zack Britton

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  • After undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left elbow in March, Zack Britton is “doing really well” in his recovery, Yankees manager Aaron Boone told ESPN.com’s Marly Rivera and other reporters.  Britton “is scheduled to play catch this week.  He has full range of motion already,” Boone said.  It isn’t yet clear whether or not this progress could mean that Britton returns at the shorter end of the 3-to-4 month projection initially attached to his surgery.

Luke Voit To Return In May

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Yankees manager Aaron Boone provided an update on injured first baseman Luke Voit today, per Marly Rivera of ESPN (via Twitter). Boone put a four to six week timeline on Voit’s return, putting him on track for a May return. The reigning AL home run king had to have a torn meniscus in his left knee repaired, which has shut him down completely for three weeks. It’s sounding like he won’t make his debut this season until mid-May.

Voit’s 22 home runs in 56 games last year not only led the league, but it marked a career high for the now 29-year-old. He broke out as a 26-year-old for the Cardinals, but 2020 was the first time he was able to be a consistent everyday regular. His 118 games played in 2019 remain a career-high, however, because of the shortened season. Whenever healthy, Voit has been a power dynamo with a .254 career ISO, .527 career slugging, and 62 home runs in 1,029 plate appearances.

In the meantime, veteran Jay Bruce got the start on opening day, and he will be at first base again today. DJ LeMahieu slid to first late in the season opener as Tyler Wade took over at the keystone. That’s a likely defensive alignment that the Yankees will deploy late in games until Voit returns.

Yankees Select Lucas Luetge

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The Yankees announced that they have selected the contract of left-handed reliever Lucas Luetge, whom they signed to a minor league contract in the offseason. To make room for Luetge on their 40-man, the Yankees placed fellow southpaw reliever Zack Britton on the 60-day injured list. Britton will miss the first few months of the season as a result of elbow surgery.

Luetge makes for an interesting story as someone who hasn’t pitched in the majors in several years. A 21st-round pick of the Brewers in 2008, Luetge debuted with the Mariners in 2012 and stuck with the organization through 2015, though he combined for only 89 innings during that stretch. As a member of the M’s, Luetge logged a 4.35 ERA with unimpressive strikeout rates of 19 percent and 12.1 percent, respectively, while averaging a little over 90 mph on his fastball. He has since pitched in the minors with a handful of other teams, and he spent last year with the A’s organization.

To Luetge’s credit, he improbably shut down opposing hitters this spring with Yankees, as the 34-year-old tossed 10 1/3 innings of two-run, eight-hit ball with an eye-opening 18 strikeouts against two walks. Thanks to that tremendous performance and injuries to Britton and lefty Justin Wilson, whom the Yankees placed on the 10-day IL with shoulder inflammation, Luetge was able to earn a season-opening spot in the Yankees’ bullpen. He’ll be their relief corps’ top southpaw behind Aroldis Chapman until Wilson returns.

Along with the above moves, the Yankees placed first baseman Luke Voit (left knee) and third baseman/outfielder Miguel Andujar (right wrist) on the 10-day IL, retroactive to March 29. Neither decision came as a surprise – Voit just underwent surgery, while Andujar’s wrist has bothered him for a couple of weeks.

Reds Return Rule 5 Selection Kyle Holder To Yankees

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The Reds have returned Rule 5 Draft pick Kyle Holder to the Yankees, according to announcements from both teams. The Yankees subsequently assigned the infielder to their alternate training site.

It was actually the Phillies who used a Rule 5 selection on Holder last December, but they wound up trading him to the Reds for cash considerations in late January. The 26-year-old went on to total 32 at-bats in spring training with the Reds, but despite a solid on-base percentage (.350), he hit for little average (.219) or power (.250 slugging percentage).

Originally a first-round pick of the Yankees, who took him 30th overall in the 2015 amateur draft, Holder hasn’t climbed above the Double-A level yet. He did hit well there in 2019, though, as he slashed .265/.336/.405 with nine home runs, seven stolen bases and a 13.8 percent strikeout rate in 472 plate appearances. But Holder’s at his best in the field, where he has experience at both middle infield spots and third base. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen wrote after the Rule 5 Draft that Holder “can absolutely pick it at shortstop,” adding he could turn into a defense-first utility player in the majors.

Yankees Notes: Wilson, Luetge, Voit, Wade, King, Nelson

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Yankees lefty Justin Wilson will open the 2021 season on the injured list, general manager Brian Cashman announced to reporters Monday. Wilson was slowed by some shoulder discomfort recently, though an MRI taken last week came back clean and the reliever recently threw from 90 feet. Cashman added that Wilson has “responded well” to the downtime he had when he was slowed down and threw a bullpen session today without issue. It seems this is likely just a matter of building him back up, but there is not sufficient time to do so before the season begins Thursday. With Wilson and Zack Britton both sidelined to open the season, the only lefty assured of a spot in the bullpen is closer Aroldis Chapman, though Lucas Luetge has turned heads this spring and could grab a spot, Erik Boland of Newsday tweets. Luetge hasn’t appeared in the bigs since 2015, but he signed a minors deal with the Yankees in the offseason and has since yielded just two earned runs on eight hits and two walks (with a whopping 18 strikeouts) in 10 1/3 innings.

More from the Bronx…

  • Luke Voit’s surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee will be performed tonight, according to Cashman. There’s still no firm timetable for his return to the active roster, though at the time the injury was reported, it was said that the slugging first baseman would go three weeks without baseball activity following the procedure. That alone will take him to April 20 or so, and then Voit will of course need to ramp back up and get in some reps at the alternate site or in a Triple-A game, depending on what happens with the Triple-A season. Cashman added that Britton, who is recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his left elbow, is doing well but is also still without a timeline.
  • Tyler Wade, Michael King and Nick Nelson each made the roster, according to Cashman. Wade has barely hit since he debuted in 2016, having slashed .190/.274/.301 in 361 plate appearances, but he’s a speedster who can play several positions. Meanwhile, King and Nelson – both righties – will be part of the Yankees’ bullpen. King has struggled to a 7.22 ERA over 26 2/3 frames in the majors since 2019, but the 25-year-old owns an excellent 2.30 mark with almost a strikeout per inning and fewer than two walks per nine in 62 2/3 Triple-A frames. Nelson, also 25, didn’t post exceptional numbers with the Yankees last year, when he tossed 20 2/3 innings of 4.79 ERA ball with poor strikeout and walk rates (20.0 and 12.2 percent, respectively). However, Nelson dominated this spring, allowing one earned run on six hits and a walk (10 strikeouts) across 10 frames.

Chacin Granted Release By Yankees; Dietrich, Chirinos Agree To New Contracts

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The Yankees have granted veteran right-hander Jhoulys Chacin so that he may explore options with other teams, general manager Brian Cashman announced to reporters Monday (Twitter link via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). Fellow veterans Derek Dietrich and Robinson Chirinos have agreed to new deals that will keep them with the Yankees, per the GM. They’ll head to the team’s alternate site to begin the season.

Chacin, 33, pitched just five big league innings with the Braves in 2020 and struggled considerably between Milwaukee and Boston through 103 1/3 frames in 2019. As recently as 2018, he was a solid member of the Brewers’ rotation, though, pitching to a 3.50 ERA through 192 2/3 innings. He’s spent parts of a dozen seasons in the Majors and carries a career 4.04 ERA in 1324 innings — despite many of those innings coming at the hitter-friendly Coors Field in Colorado. Chacin has been solid in camp with the Yankees, allowing four runs on eight hits and four walks with nine strikeouts in 9 1/3 innings.

The 31-year-old Dietrich drew five walks in just 33 plate appearances, showing the type of discipline that he’s developed in recent years. However, he was just 4-for-24 with a homer overall and didn’t do enough to beat out fellow veteran Jay Bruce for a roster spot, even though Dietrich has more defensive versatility.

Dietrich, a lefty-hitting utility man, has ample experience at second base and all four corner spots, so he could be called upon in the event of a variety of injury scenarios at the MLB level. He’s morphed into a three-true-outcomes slugger over the past couple years, hitting .189/.332/.462 with 24 homers in just 381 plate appearances dating back to 2019.

The 36-year-old Chirinos, meanwhile, appeared in just five games and recorded seven plate appearances before suffering a fractured wrist that sidelined him for much of camp. The veteran catcher will continue his rehab with the Yankees at their alternate site and could eventually emerge as an option at the big league level depending on health and performance of top catchers Gary Sanchez and Kyle Higashioka. Chirinos posted poor numbers in a small sample of 82 plate appearances between the Rangers and Mets in 2020, but he batted .238/.347/.443 with 17 homers in 114 games as recently as 2019.

Yankees Set Rotation For First Six Games

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  • 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.
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