Yankees Rumors

Royals Acquire Ryan McBroom

By Dylan A. Chase | August 31, 2019 at 11:03pm CDT

The Yankees have traded infielder Ryan McBroom to the Royals in exchange for international signing bonus pool money and a player to be named later or cash considerations, according to announcements from both clubs.

Despite quality offensive performance at the highest levels of the minors in recent years, the 27-year-old McBroom is still waiting for his first taste of major league action. Considering that Kansas City’s Triple-A affiliate is ending their season within days, it stands to reason that this move was made with the club expecting to bring up McBroom for a September look.

Across 2911 minor-league at-bats since being taken by Toronto in the 15th round of the 2014 draft, McBroom has mustered a .288/.353/.472 batting line and 101 home runs. With Scranton Wilkes-Barre this year, the righty swinger has mashed to a 145 wRC+ and .315/.403/.570 slash.

Yankees Place CC Sabathia On 10-Day Injured List

By TC Zencka | August 31, 2019 at 9:34am CDT

The Yankees placed lefty CC Sabathia on the 10-day injured list for the fourth time this season, the team announced. Jonathan Loaisiga has been recalled from Triple-A.

This news hardly comes as a surprise after Sabathia exited Friday’s start after three innings. Right knee inflammation is the diagnosis, but it’s certainly worth wondering if Sabathia will be healthy enough to pitch again, in this the final season of an epic career.

The 39-year-old Sabathia finally showed signs of slowing down this season as he’s struggled to stay healthy and productive. At 5-8 with a 4.93 ERA/5.97 FIP across 20 starts and 100 1/3 innings for the Yanks this year, he’s posted just 0.5 rWAR and 0.3 fWAR on the year.

Loaisiga, 24, has 3 starts and 3 relief appearances under his belt so far this year. A lackluster 5.12 ERA/5.50 FIP can be traced to 4.7 BB/9 and 1.9 HR/9 in the small sample. He hasn’t done much more in Triple-A in an injury-shortened season, though believers can point to 11.2 K/9 to 2.5 BB/9 in Scranton Wilkes-Barre as a sign of returning to form.

Latest On CC Sabathia

By Connor Byrne | August 30, 2019 at 10:09pm CDT

C.C. Sabathia’s longstanding right knee problems reared their head again Friday, when the southpaw exited after just three innings in a loss to the Athletics. The Yankees announced that Sabathia departed with knee discomfort, and the 39-year-old was “dejected” afterward, according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Sabathia still hopes to pitch again this season, though, and will have his knee drained and potentially undergo a cortisone shot in hopes of making a quick recovery, Feinsand reports.

There is plenty at stake for Sabathia as the season winds down. The possible Hall of Famer’s set to retire at the end of the campaign, for one, so he obviously doesn’t want his illustrious career to conclude with an injury. Beyond that, Sabathia’s aiming to help pitch the Yankees to a World Series title, which would be their second since they inked him to a mega-deal as a free agent heading into the 2009 season.

As great as Sabathia has been during his Yankees tenure, it no longer looks as if the longtime workhorse has much left in the tank. Sabathia’s knee, on which he has undergone surgery multiple times, has already forced him to the IL on three occasions this year. When he has taken the mound, Sabathia has had difficulty going deep into games, having amassed 100 1/3 innings over 20 starts. Sabathia has also had uncharacteristic trouble preventing runs. He owns a below-average 4.93 ERA/5.96 FIP – both of which represent massive steps backward relative to his career and the numbers he put up just a year ago (3.65/4.16).

Of course, Sabathia’s hardly the lone member of New York’s starting staff who has come up shy of expectations in 2019. With the exception of Domingo German, the same also applies to every other regular starter the Yankees have run out (Masahiro Tanaka, James Paxton and J.A. Happ). Because of the vulnerability of the Yankees’ rotation, there’s skepticism regarding their chances of hoisting the Commissioner’s Trophy in a couple months and sending Sabathia out on a high note.

Yankees Activate Luke Voit, Place Gio Urshela On IL

By Steve Adams | August 30, 2019 at 12:05pm CDT

The Yankees announced Friday that they’ve reinstated first baseman Luke Voit from the injured list and placed third baseman Gio Urshela on the 10-day IL due to a left groin injury.

Voit, 28, hasn’t played in a month thanks to an abdominal injury that, at one point, looked like it could require surgery. Rather than undergo a sports hernia procedure, though, the burgeoning slugger was able to rest and rehab the injury sufficiently enough to suit up for a minor league rehab assignment recently. To say that Voit didn’t miss a beat would perhaps be putting things mildly; in four games with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, he went 8-for-17 with two doubles, two home runs and two walks (against two strikeouts).

This marked the second time in 2019 that Voit missed time due to abdominal injuries, but those have been the only blemish on an otherwise excellent showing in his first full season of big league duty. In 94 games (416 plate appearances), he’s hitting .278/.392/.493 with 19 home runs, 16 doubles and a triple. Overall, he’s raked at a .293/.395/.547 clip in Yankee Pinstripes, although the trade that brought him from St. Louis to the Bronx now looks quite a bit less lopsided in light of righty Giovanny Gallegos’ own breakout in the Cardinals’ bullpen.

Speaking of breakouts (and of players named Giovanny), the 27-year-old Urshela has erupted at the plate this summer. Long touted as a steady defender with questionable offensive capabilities, he’s not only looked like a potential regular but been one of the Yankees’ best hitters. In 414 trips to the dish, he’s laid waste to MLB pitching with a .331/.370/.555 batting line.

While his .366 average on balls in play still looks ripe for some regression, Urshela’s hard-hit rate and average exit velocity are both well above the league average. Statcast pegs him as one of the game’s leaders in expected batting average, slugging percentage and weight on-base average. In short: he’s hitting with excellent power and demonstrating previously unseen levels of power. Offensive breakouts throughout the league abound in 2019 amid questions about structural changes to the baseball itself, but it’s impossible to ignore just how valuable Urshela has been for the Yankees to date.

The Yankees didn’t provide any sort of timeline on Urshela, so it remains unclear just how long he’ll be sidelined. Presumably, manager Aaron Boone will have an update later tonight. In his absence, the Yankees can still lean on a high-quality quartet of Voit, DJ LeMahieu, Didi Gregorius and Gleyber Torres around the infield, though the roster is unequivocally stronger with a healthy Urshela in tow.

AL Notes: Blue Jays, Tigers, Gardenhire, Yanks, C. Frazier

By Connor Byrne | August 29, 2019 at 1:55am CDT

Oft-injured Blue Jays second baseman Devon Travis is unlikely to remain with the team next season, per Gregor Chisholm of the Toronto Star. Travis hasn’t played at all this season (and nor will he) as a result of left knee issues, and his absence has opened the door for rookie Cavan Biggio to take over the keystone. While Travis could stay with the Jays next year as a backup infielder (or they could simply option him to Triple-A Buffalo), Chisholm suggests he’s not a fit to stick around because the team wants a reserve who’s capable of playing shortstop. As of now, Travis – who’s on a $1.93MM salary – has two more years of arbitration control remaining.

Unlike Travis, odds are “good” that right-hander Matt Shoemaker will be back with the Blue Jays next season, Chisholm reports. It’s possible, though, that Toronto will first non-tender Shoemaker and then attempt to re-up him at a lower cost. Otherwise, the 32-year-old would earn a raise over his current $3.5MM salary in his fourth and final trip through arbitration. The Jays signed Shoemaker in free agency last winter, and the former Angel initially justified the investment with 28 2/3 innings of 1.57 ERA/3.94 FIP pitching with 7.53 K/9 against 2.83 BB/9. Shoemaker’s potential bounce-back year came to an end April 21 when he suffered a torn left ACL.
Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire has helped oversee their extensive rebuilding effort since last year, and it’s likely he’ll helm the club’s dugout again next season. The soon-to-be 62-year-old Gardenhire’s “in little to no jeopardy” of not returning in 2020 for the final season of his contract, Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press writes. Gardenhire, for his part, seems uninterested in going anywhere else. “That’s to be determined for (general manager) Al Avila, with where they want to go and what they want to do, but I enjoy this and I love this city,” Gardenhire said of his future. The Tigers have stumbled to a miserable 103-158 record under Gardenhire, but it would be unfair to judge him for that. Anyone would’ve been hard-pressed to guide last year’s roster or this season’s team to respectable marks.
The Yankees will “probably” recall outfielder Clint Frazier from Triple-A Scranton when rosters expand Sunday, manager Aaron Boone said (via George A. King III of the New York Post). The 24-year-old Frazier’s weeks-long stay in the minors has gotten plenty of coverage, in part because he was the subject of numerous trade rumors leading up to the July 31 deadline. However, the Yankees kept the former top prospect, who posted a quality batting line of .283/.330/.513 with 11 home runs in 209 plate appearances before they sent him down in mid-June to make room for a just-acquired Edwin Encarnacion. The Yankees’ wealth of outfield talent, Frazier’s well-documented defensive issues and his remaining minors options have all conspired to strand him in Scranton, for which he has hit a meek .243/.300/.426 with seven HRs over 250 PA.

East Notes: Yankees, Cano, Nationals, Marlins

By Connor Byrne | August 28, 2019 at 12:57am CDT

Injured Yankees ace Luis Severino is set to begin a rehab assignment at the Double-A level Sunday, manager Aaron Boone told George A. King III of the New York Post and other reporters. It’ll be a long-awaited return to game action for Severino, whose shoulder and lat issues have prevented him from taking the hill this season. He’ll “probably” throw around 35 pitches in the contest, per Boone. Meanwhile, in encouraging news for the first-place Bombers’ lineup, first basemen/designated hitters Luke Voit and Edwin Encarnacion are progressing in their rehabs. Voit, who hasn’t played since July 30 because of a sports hernia, is “on track” to come back Friday, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com tweets. The 36-year-old Encarnacion’s not as close, but Boone “believes” he’ll come off the shelf soon, per Hoch. Encarnacion has been down since Aug. 3 with a fractured right wrist.

Here’s more from NYC and a couple other cities:

Mets second baseman Robinson Cano is making notable progress as he works back from a torn hamstring, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports. Cano – out since Aug. 5 – “appears likely” to return sometime next month, per DiComo, which would represent a best-case recovery for someone who was expected to miss six to 12 weeks at the time of the injury. The longtime star, 36, has posted weak production in his first year as a Met, with whom he has slashed .252/.295/.415 with 10 home runs in 346 plate appearances. But Cano’s bat seemed to be waking up in the days before his injury, which aided New York during a white-hot stretch in which it raced into wild-card contention. The Mets are now mired in a four-game skid, though, and sit three out of playoff position.
Nationals left-hander Roenis Elias could rejoin their bullpen “by the end of the week,” Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com writes. Elias has only made one appearance and recorded two outs for the Nationals, who acquired him from the Mariners at the July 31 trade deadline. He succumbed to a hamstring strain on the base paths, of all places, back on Aug. 2. Teammate Ryan Zimmerman has been out for even longer (plantar fasciitis in his right foot has kept him out since July 23), but his return also appears imminent, Zuckerman relays. This has been a tough age-34 season for the first baseman, who has been on the IL twice thanks to foot issues and has mustered a subpar .246/.311/.390 line over 132 plate appearances.
After suffering a broken bone in his left hand last Friday, Marlins third baseman/outfielder Brian Anderson will indeed miss the rest of the season, according to Joe Frisaro of MLB.com. However, Anderson won’t need to undergo surgery, and will go through “a normal winter” as a result, manager Don Mattingly announced. That’s a silver lining for the Marlins and Anderson, one of their few offensive threats over the past couple years.

Health Notes: Lopez, Gott, Indians, McKay, Yankees

By Jeff Todd | August 27, 2019 at 12:37am CDT

Marlins righty Pablo Lopez returned today from the 10-day injured list. The 23-year-old had been out since June with shoulder problems, so it’s good to see he was able to get back up to speed before the end of the season. Lopez wasn’t at his best, allowing four earned in five innings, but averaged 94.1 mph with his fastball.

Here are some more health notes from around the game …

The Giants are sending reliever Trevor Gott in for a closer look after he experienced tightness in his right forearm tonight, as John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle was among those to cover on Twitter. That’s not the news anyone wanted at the end of an enormously successful season for the young reliever, who has been among the nicest surprises in San Francisco. At this point, there’s nothing to be done but wait and hope that there isn’t a significant underlying problem.
There are a bevy of updates on the health front for the Indians, as MLB.com’s Mandy Bell covers on Twitter. In particular, the club has a big slate of rehabbing hurlers appearing over the next few days. Danny Salazar threw a frame today at Double-A without incident. Jefry Rodriguez is slated to appear with the club’s top affiliate tomorrow, with fellow starter Carlos Carrasco and reliever Dan Otero scheduled to throw in game action on Wednesday. Meanwhile, long-absent outfielder Bradley Zimmer has reached the Triple-A level and seems likely to be an option in the majors again soon.
Prized young Rays hurler Brendan McKay, optioned down after a rough recent start, has hit the injured list at Triple-A, as MLB.com’s Juan Toribio was among those to tweet. He’s said to be dealing with shoulder fatigue, which sounds worrisome but doesn’t appear to be cause for any concern. The expectation is that he won’t miss more than a week of action, which means he ought to be ready to help the Rays again soon — if and when he’s needed.
As usual, there’s a lengthy list of Yankees injury updates to touch upon. MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch has the latest (all links to Twitter account). Key righties Luis Severino and Dellin Betances are just one step removed from possible rehab outings, which puts them back on the map for activation down the stretch — and potential postseason availability. The situation is less certain for outfielder Giancarlo Stanton, who “could take on-field batting practice Tuesday for the first time” since going down with a PCL strain about two months ago. And the club indicates it’s possible that southpaw Jordan Montgomery will be ready to throw in the majors before the end of the regular season. He’s slated to continue his rehab work at Double-A. As for shortstop Didi Gregorius, he’s bouncing back quickly after being hit by a pitch. He could be back in the lineup in short order.

Didi Gregorius Day-To-Day With Bone Bruise In Right Shoulder

By Mark Polishuk | August 25, 2019 at 9:19pm CDT

Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius suffered what the team described as a right shoulder contusion after Gregorius was hit by a Clayton Kershaw pitch during a first-inning plate appearance. The shortstop was removed from the game in the third inning. Manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch) that Gregorius is day-to-day with a bone bruise after x-rays were negative.

It isn’t yet known if the problem could require an injured list placement, as some bone bruises have been known to cause lingering discomfort. The Yankees are all too familiar with injuries both great and small this season, as virtually every player on their roster has spent at least some time on the IL in 2019. This includes Gregorius himself, as his recovery from a Tommy John surgery last October delayed his season debut until June 7.

Since taking the field, Gregorius has been essentially a league-average player, with a 97 wRC+ from a .263/.293/.479 slash line over 249 plate appearances. The shortstop has 13 homers and is still showing a lot of the power he displayed over much of his Yankees tenure, though his on-base numbers are a concern and his .296 xwOBA is well below his .322 wOBA (both of which are below the league average). It isn’t the platform year Gregorius was hoping for as he enters free agency this winter, though assuming this injury doesn’t sideline him, there’s still time for him to recoup some value in September and throughout what could be a lengthy Yankees postseason run.

AL Notes: Encarnacion, Gallo, Buxton

By Dylan A. Chase | August 24, 2019 at 8:49pm CDT

The Yankees dropped a 2-1 decision to the Dodgers in L.A. on Saturday, but the game wasn’t without one historic highlight for New York fans. Aaron Judge’s solo home run in the fourth inning was the club’s 58th dinger in August–tying the record for most team home runs in a single month. Judge’s homer put the club even with the 1987 Orioles, who hit 58 home runs in 28 games, and the 1999 Mariners, who accomplished this feat in 27 games. The Yankees, of course, have only played 23 games so far this month and will have six more August games to carve out a singular place in the power-hitting record books.

Their chances of doing so would be much aided by the return of slugger Edwin Encarnacion, who has been out of action since fracturing his wrist on Aug. 3. As it turns out, Encarnacion has at least resumed some baseball activity, as James Wagner of the New York Times relays that the 1B/DH has begun taking ground balls and hitting off a tee (link). It’s obviously doubtful that Encarnacion will get back before September, but his return could just as well power another historic Bronx power binge in the season’s final month.

Luke Voit Begins Rehab Assignment

By Connor Byrne | August 23, 2019 at 6:23pm CDT

Yankees first baseman Luke Voit is set to begin a minor league rehab assignment tonight, James Wagner of the New York Times reports. The Yankees are hopeful Voit will rejoin them when they begin a homestand next Friday, per Wagner.

This has been an injury-limited summer for Voit, who has been dealing with core problems since the end of June. He landed on the injured list July 2 with an abdominal strain, returned after 10 days off and then wound up back on the shelf July 31 on account of a sports hernia. There was fear then that Voit would require season-ending surgery, which looked all the more concerning when fellow first base option Edwin Encarnacion suffered a fractured right wrist in early August. But it appears the first-place Yankees will at least welcome Voit back this season.

Dating back to the most recent appearances of Voit and Encarnacion, New York has turned to DJ LeMahieu and Mike Ford at first. LeMahieu, of course, is a batting title contender who has proven himself as one of the best free-agent signings of last offseason. On the other hand, Ford has logged below-average production over the first 102 plate appearances of his career.

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