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Yankees Halt Greg Bird’s Rehab Assignment, Place CC Sabathia On DL

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The Yankees have “pulled the plug” on the rehabilitation efforts of first baseman Greg Bird, GM Brian Cashman tells Erik Boland of Newsday. New York has now announced that move, while also placing lefty CC Sabathia on the 10-day DL — as had been expected — and optioning righty Ronald Herrera.

Heading up to the active roster are righties Luis Cessa and Domingo German. The former will enter the rotation for at least one start, Boland tweets.

Bird, 24, raised expectations with a thrilling debut in 2015, then missed all of last year after shoulder surgery. Hopes were high that he’d lock down the first base job in the Bronx, but he struggled before hitting the DL with a bone bruise in his right ankle.

Now, a setback has Bird heading to visit with team doctor Christopher Ahmad tomorrow. Per Cashman, Bird reports that his “leg isn’t feeling right and not functioning right.” That has been reflected in his numbers; through six games at Triple-A, he’s slashing just .143/.357/.238 — with seven walks against just three strikeouts but also only three hits in 28 plate appearances.

With Bird’s outlook in question and Chris Carter struggling in his stead, New York is facing some questions at first base. But Carter has hit much better of late — .263/.333/.447 since the calendar flipped to June — and it stands to reason that the organization will have a variety of options at the trade deadline. Finding a left-handed bat would seem to make the most sense.

Draft Notes: Lewis, McKay, Day 2, Gore, Greene, Wright, Beck

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No. 1 overall draft pick Royce Lewis will take his physical with the Twins soon, tweets Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. There aren’t expected to be any hangups in negotiations, per Berardino, who notes that the industry expectation is for Lewis to receive a bonus north of Dansby Swanson’s $6.5MM bonus from the 2015 draft. The top pick in the draft came with a slot value of $7.7MM, and MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger wrote this week that Lewis could sign for around $1MM less than that sum. That’d put his bonus in the $6.5MM to $6.7MM range, saving the Twins anywhere from $1MM to $1.2MM from the slot value. FanRag’s Jon Heyman pegs the expected value at “just a tick over” $6.7MM. Rays top pick Brendan McKay, meanwhile, is expected to sign for somewhere between $7MM and $7.2MM, according to Berardino. That’d be the largest bonus ever given to a college player under the current draft structure, surpassing Kris Bryant’s $6.7MM sum.

More notes on the draft…

  • The Twins “crushed” Day 2 of the draft, MLB.com’s Jim Callis opines. Adding high school right-hander Blayne Enlow, a potential first-round talent that dropped due to a strong commitment to LSU, kicked off a day in which Minnesota selected five players that ranked inside MLB.com’s top 200 draft prospects. Enlow, Callis writes, has the best curveball in the draft as well as a fastball that has touched 94 mph and has room to grow as his projectable frame grows. Callis also lauds the White Sox, Dodgers, Red Sox and Brewers for the talent they secured in rounds three through 10. ESPN’s Keith Law agrees that the Twins did quite well to land Enlow with the No. 76 pick and also gives quite a bit of praise to the Athletics, who landed a first-round talent (in his estimation) with the 81st pick by taking shortstop Nick Allen. Law opines that the undersized Allen, who is listed at 5’8″, would’ve been a top 10 pick if he were three inches taller.
  • FanRag’s Jon Heyman provides some insight into the progress being made with the top five picks in the draft. The Padres, according to Heyman, are expected to sign No. 3 overall pick MacKenzie Gore, a high school left-hander, for the full slot value of $6,668,100. Reds top pick Hunter Greene, meanwhile, is expected to sign for a deal “close” to the $7,193,200 slot value of his No. 2 overall selection, per Heyman. (Also of note for Reds fans: Heyman spoke to a rival exec who heaped praise on the Reds’ draft, opining that they “won the draft by far.”) And the Braves look to be going well over slot to sign Vanderbilt right-hander Kyle Wright, as Heyman reports that they’re discussing a deal worth close to $7MM, while the No. 5 slot carries a value of $5,707,300. Of course, Wright was long rumored to be a potential No. 1 overall pick, so it stands to reason that he’d come with a fairly sizable price tag.
  • Baseball America’s John Manuel reported yesterday that Stanford right-hander Tristan Beck, a potential first-round talent that missed the 2017 season due to a stress fracture in his lower back, will not sign and plans to head back to Stanford (Twitter link). That didn’t stop the Yankees from drafting him late (29th round), though New York would obviously need to give him a massive bonus in order to convince him to forgo a return to college, as a healthy Beck would do quite well in next year’s draft. The Yankees may not have the leftover money even to make a legitimate effort to sign Beck, though he makes for a nice contingency plan if the team unexpectedly finds itself with some extra pool money to play with.

CC Sabathia Diagnosed With Grade 2 Hamstring Strain

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The Yankees have announced that lefty CC Sabathia has been diagnosed with a grade 2 strain of his hamstring after undergoing an MRI, as WFAN’s Sweeny Murti tweets. While no official move has been made, it seems clear that Sabathia will require a DL stint.

An expected timetable isn’t yet known, but in all likelihood the Yankees will need to cover at least a handful of starts. As you might expect, a grade 2 strain falls in the middle of the severity chart, representing a partial tear of the muscle. Many other details of the injury, along with the individual’s actual progress, will obviously bear on the amount of rest that’s required.

It’s obviously unfortunate news for Sabathia, who was off to a rather impressive start to the year even as he closes in on his 37th birthday. Through 75 1/3 innings, he owns a 3.46 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9, including a stellar 0.99 ERA over his past six trips to the hill. While he’s obviously not likely to return to his former dominance, the veteran has shown himself more than capable of being a productive rotation member while preparing to re-enter the open market at season’s end.

The injury comes at an interesting time for the Yankees, who currently pace the AL East by three games. While the organization has emphasized its desire to build for the long run, it’d be hard to pass up entirely on a chance to capitalize on that kind of position. Generally, then, the Yanks are lining up as deadline buyers, even if they shouldn’t be expected to push in significant chips for rental players.

Though the staff has been a rather pleasant surprise, the depth has always been somewhat in question. The club has used just five pitchers for all but one start thus far, but that’ll soon change. With questions also hanging over the struggling Masahiro Tanaka, and long-term rotation openings also factoring into the equation, it’ll be interesting to see whether New York ends up wading into the starting pitching market this summer.

It’s not yet clear who’ll take over for Sabathia in the meantime, though at least that’ll give the club a chance to take a closer look at another arm. Chad Green has already made one start this year and could move over from the bullpen. Luis Cessa and Domingo German are other 40-man members with MLB experience.

Yankees Acquire Matt Frawley From Pirates

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The Yankees announced that they’ve acquired minor league right-hander Matt Frawley from the Pirates to complete the April 17 trade that sent right-hander Johnny Barbato to Pittsburgh in exchange for a player to be named later. Frawley, 21, will be assigned to the Yankees’ Class-A affiliate in Charleston.

Frawley was Pittsburgh’s 17th-round selection in last year’s draft and has gotten off to a fine start in his pro career. After posting a 4.18 ERA though 28 innings with Pittsburgh’s short-season Class-A affiliate in 2016, he’s tossed 33 1/3 innings of 1.62 ERA ball with 8.6 K/9 against 1.1 BB/9 in with Class-A West Virginia in the South Atlantic League thus far in 2017. The Purdue product isn’t especially young for that level, however, so it’ll be more telling to see how he performs against higher levels of competition. Baseball Amercia wrote at the time of the draft that he sits in the low 90s with his fastball and has a fringy curveball as well.

The 24-year-old Barbato has logged 22 1/3 innings with the Pirates this year, resulting in an uninspiring 4.84 ERA with 6.9 K/9, 5.2 BB/9 and a 35.2 percent ground-ball rate. Barbato has averaged better than 94 mph on his fastball and does come with a strong Triple-A track record, though, so the Pirates have plenty of time to turn him around into a more serviceable member of the big league bullpen.

Yankees Outright Tommy Layne

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  • The Yankees announced that they’ve outrighted southpaw Tommy Layne to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Layne, 32, thrived in the Bronx following a midseason pickup in 2016, but he’s had a rough go of it in 2017. Thus far, he’s totaled 13 innings and been tagged for 11 runs on 16 hits and eight walks with nine strikeouts. Layne has been hit hard by lefties and righties alike, but he’s held same-handed opponents to a .187/.286/.230 line through 346 big league plate appearances.

Yankees Designate Tommy Layne For Assignment

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The Yankees have designated left-handed reliever Tommy Layne for assignment, reports Bryan Hoch of MLB.com (on Twitter). In a corresponding move, the team has recalled Triple-A right-hander Domingo German.

The 32-year-old Layne joined the Yankees last August after the division-rival Red Sox designated him, and his first taste of action with the Bombers went well. Layne tossed 16 innings of 3.38 ERA ball, generated ground balls at a 46.5 percent clip and posted 7.31 K/9 against 3.94 BB/9. Most impressively, Layne held the 38 lefty-swingers he faced to a .147/.237/.147 line.

Layne’s initial work with the Yankees earned him a roster spot this season, but he has been among the few weak links in one of the majors’ top bullpens. Prior to his designation, Layne logged a 7.62 ERA, 6.23 K/9 and 5.54 BB/9 over 13 frames. He also experienced a dip in velocity, saw his swinging-strike rate drop from 8.9 percent last year to 6.6 percent this season and was subpar against the 26 same-handed hitters he faced (.318/.423/.409).

Aroldis Chapman Likely To Return Next Weekend

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  • The Yankees expect closer Aroldis Chapman to come off the disabled list next weekend, manager Joe Girardi said Saturday (via Mark Fischer of NJ.com). The flamethrowing southpaw landed on the DL on May 13 with an inflamed left rotator cuff, which came after back-to-back rough outings that saw Chapman combine to allow four earned runs on six hits and two walks (three strikeouts) over 1 1/3 innings. Prior to those performances, Chapman gave up only one earned run, six hits and four walks, with 18 punchouts, in 11 1/3 frames.

Yankees Notes: Cashman, Girardi, Sabathia

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  • The Yankees are leaving the door open for southpaw C.C. Sabathia’s return in 2018, according to Cafardo. A free agent in the offseason, Sabathia’s next deal certainly won’t come anywhere close to his expiring five-year, $122MM contract. Still, the erstwhile ace is making a case for a decent payday at the age of 36. Across 71 1/3 innings this year, the soft contact-inducing Sabathia has recorded a 3.66 ERA, 7.32 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 and a 48.8 percent ground-ball rate.

Yankees Linked To July 2 Dominican Prospect

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  • Baseball America’s Ben Badler (subscription required) looks ahead to the next international signing period that opens on July 2, profiling five highly-touted young players from the Dominican Republic who are already rumored to be signing with the Mets, Pirates, Rockies, Twins, and Yankees.

Latest On Shohei Otani

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A legitimate sense of mystery shrouds Japanese star Shohei Otani, writes Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports, as Major League scouts and general managers have no idea whether the 22-year-old phenom will actually enter the posting system and leap to Major League Baseball this offseason. Passan spoke to at least five general managers and multiple scouts for his extensive column, which I’d highly recommend reading in full.

There’s skepticism that Otani will actually leave NPB this offseason, as doing so would mean subjecting himself to MLB’s newly reconfigured international bonus system, which will undoubtedly cost him more than $200MM. Otani’s maximum payday this winter would be $10.1MM, Passan notes, and while many have speculated about Otani quickly signing a multi-year extension after inking his initial deal, that may not be likely. Passan cites multiple “high-ranking sources at MLB” in reporting that “the league expects to be vigilant to ensure the sanctity of the system is not made a mockery by extralegal payments.” Then again, Major League Baseball intervening in a contract would certainly be a bad look, and Passan wonders if the league would actually follow through on such an extreme measure.

[Related: Scouting Shohei Otani]

Passan’s survey of big league front offices and scouting departments resulted in many within the game speculatively connecting the Rangers, Dodgers, Padres, Giants, Yankees, Cubs and Astros to Otani, although the clear takeaway is that no one really knows who the favorite would be. Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union Tribune, in fact, suggests that the connection to the Padres is largely overblown (all Twitter links), especially considering the fact that they’d be limited to a $300K signing bonus.

Several American League clubs believe themselves to have an inside edge over their National League rivals due to Otani’s desire to continue as a two-way player in MLB, Passan continues. Serving as a DH and then pitching every fifth day seems more feasible than playing the outfield between starts.

Further complicating matters is the fact that Otani has yet to even pitch in 2017 and has been limited to eight games as a designated hitter. Otani missed the World Baseball Classic due to an ankle injury and has yet to take the mound because a hamstring injury that Japanese media outlet Sponichi recently reported would keep him out until at least July. A recent report from Japan’s Nikkan Sports revealed that Otan threw a 31-pitch bullpen session but did so at a distance of less than the standard 60 feet and did not throw at full strength.

The injury isn’t likely to be a significant detriment to Otani’s market, though. Teams familiar with Otani are well versed in his repertoire and his skills at the plate, having seen him extensively in the past. The questions stemming from his injury wouldn’t center around a lack of ability to gather relevant scouting data, but rather whether interested teams need to have long-term concerns about these injuries either lingering or recurring. And all of that, of course, assumes he even enters the posting system this winter in the first place, which is hardly a given.

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