- The Yankees left a great impression on closer Aroldis Chapman during his stint with them last year, which led him to prioritize re-signing with the club in free agency. Ultimately, he returned to the Bronx on a five-year, $86MM deal – a record-breaking pact for a reliever. “The first moment that I got here in Spring Training, the way that they treated me, the attention that I got,” he told Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. “The work ethic of this team, the clubhouse, the athletes that they have. Those things, all of them made me feel very comfortable. That for me was the most important thing, and I wanted to come back.” Chapman, who ended last season with the World Series champion Cubs, sees similarities between the way the Yankees are assembling their roster and how Chicago has built its juggernaut of a squad. “Chicago started doing the same thing, bringing young players in the beginning, combined with veterans,” he said. “It worked for them, and it’s a solid team. The Yankees are similar in that way. They’re trying to bring in some youth, athletes that are very gifted.”
Yankees Rumors
Yankees Talked Chris Carter Trade With Brewers Before Non-Tender
- The Yankees discussed a potential Chris Carter trade with the Brewers before the slugger was non-tendered by Milwaukee, according to ESPN’s Buster Olney. Had that deal come to fruition, the Yankees would likely have been on the hook for an arbitration salary near $8MM for Carter, who instead agreed to a one-year, $3.5MM free-agent deal with the Yanks earlier this week. Certainly, that could’ve had a trickle-down effect on the Yankees’ offseason, as those talks would’ve occurred prior to the Yankees’ signing of Matt Holliday to a one-year deal. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times spoke to Carter’s agent, Dave Stewart, who wouldn’t directly comment on how the Rays’ bid compared that of the Yankees (Twitter link), though Stewart did note that Carter “felt the opportunity was the same.”
Yankees “Have Checked In On” Travis Wood
With no established major league starters beyond Masahiro Tanaka, C.C. Sabathia and Michael Pineda on their roster, the Yankees “have checked in on” free agent left-hander Travis Wood, tweets FanRag’s Jon Heyman. However, the Yankees “don’t necessarily seem at the forefront of talks” for Wood, whose market has heated up in recent days.
Wood, who turned 30 on Monday, worked exclusively out of the Cubs’ bullpen last season, but “multiple teams” have offered him opportunities to return to a starting role this winter. That could include the Yankees, who are currently set to have Luis Severino, Chad Green, Bryan Mitchell, Luis Cessa and Adam Warren battle for their final two rotation spots during the spring. Those five have combined for just 68 big league starts, whereas Wood piled up nearly twice as many (133) with the Reds and Cubs from 2010-15. Wood was fairly effective during that six-year, 776-inning span, too, as he recorded a 4.19 ERA, 7.11 K/9 and 3.15 BB/9.
While Wood is coming off a career-best season in terms of run prevention (2.95 ERA in 61 innings), he also had the good fortune of pitching in front of the Cubs’ all-world defense. His ERA masked a subpar K/BB ratio (1.96; well below the 2.53 league-average mark for relievers), and advanced metrics like FIP (4.54), xFIP (4.83) and SIERA (4.46) weren’t particularly impressed with his performance. Further, Wood generated ground balls at a meager 37.4 percent clip, and his careerlong trend of relying on fly balls – not to mention his below-average velocity and struggles against right-handed hitters – could make him a poor fit for Yankee Stadium and the AL East. To his credit, Wood has somewhat offset his lifetime 33.6 grounder percentage with an 11.9 percent infield fly rate, which climbed to a lofty 17.8 percent in 2016.
Regardless of whether it’s with the Yankees, Wood seems likely to land a deal soon. With spring training closing in and former Cubs teammate Jason Hammel now off the market, Wood is arguably the top starting-caliber arm available in free agency.
Yankees Interested In Chris Carter
The Yankees are “keeping tabs on” one of the best free agents remaining on the board, first baseman Chris Carter, and have had talks with agent Dave Stewart, sources told Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Even though he co-led the National League with 41 home runs last season, the 30-year-old Carter has struggled to generate strong interest since the Brewers non-tendered him in late November. Milwaukee would have owed Carter an estimated $8.1MM in arbitration in 2017, which the club deemed too rich for the flawed slugger. Few provide more thump than Carter, who has swatted at least 24 homers in each of his four full seasons, and he also brings above-average patience, having walked in 11.6 percent of career plate appearances. However, he has posted strikeout percentages in the low-30s and contact rates in the mid-60s in each of his major league seasons, leading to an unsightly .218 batting average and a below-average .314 on-base percentage. Moreover, the lumbering Carter doesn’t offer value as either a defender or baserunner, which has made it all the more difficult for him to find work this offseason.
As a right-handed hitter, Carter would complement the Yankees’ likely starting first baseman, the lefty-swinging Greg Bird, and give the team proven insurance if the latter struggles in his first full season. The 24-year-old Bird excelled over 178 plate appearances in 2015, his rookie year, but he missed all of last season after undergoing shoulder surgery. Another homegrown talent, the righty-hitting Tyler Austin, is primed to platoon with Bird, though he has only totaled 90 big league PAs and has two minor league options remaining. New York’s next best option is high-profile free agent signing Matt Holliday, but the longtime outfielder has minimal first base experience (10 games, all of which came last season) and is set to serve as the club’s designated hitter.
It’s worth noting, too, that the Yankees lack power threats outside of catcher Gary Sanchez, Holliday, Bird and unproven outfielder Aaron Judge, so picking up Carter – who paced the NL in ISO (.277) last season – would address that. The Yankees are mindful of the luxury tax, though, as Crasnick notes, which could prevent a deal from happening. As of now, Carter has several single-year offers worth $2.5MM to $3MM in hand, but he’s waiting for a more lucrative proposal to come along, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (Twitter links).
New York Notes: Yankees, Mets, Romo, Betances, Bullpens
Here’s the latest baseball news from both Big Apple teams…
- Both the Yankees and Rays made late pushes to sign right-hander Sergio Romo before he agreed to sign with the Dodgers, MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez reports. Romo, a southern California native, preferred to remain on the west coast, as FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman tweets. Heyman noted earlier that Romo had larger offers, including one from a “mystery” team that made a late increase in its offer to Romo. The New York Post’s Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that the Yankees never made a formal offer to Romo, so the late increase would’ve had to have come from Tampa Bay or perhaps another mystery team in the mix.
- There hasn’t been any change in the Yankees’ “file-and-trial” stance towards Dellin Betances’ arbitration hearing on February 17, George A. King III of the New York Post writes. “Nothing has changed, we haven’t talked. We have no intention of talking. It’s not close. Somebody else will make the decision,” GM Brian Cashman said. As King notes, other teams who have recently taken firm stances against negotiating prior to an arb hearing have instead worked out an agreement (such as the Royals and Kelvin Herrera or the Orioles and Kevin Gausman). Betances filed for a $5MM salary in 2017 while the Yankees countered with a $3MM proposal.
- In another piece from Joel Sherman, he looks at the contrast between how the Mets and Yankees are pursuing relief pitching upgrades. Both teams seem to be operating under stringent budgets, though the Mets showed flexibility and a bit more of a win-now mentality in adding Jerry Blevins and Fernando Salas on deals that aren’t guaranteed beyond 2017. The Yankees, meanwhile, missed out on Romo and don’t seem to have much willingness to add another veteran arm to their bullpen unless that pitcher meets their asking price. It should be noted that the Yankees did make a big splash to sign Aroldis Chapman and, with the Chapman/Betances/Tyler Clippard trio in place at the end of games, the Yankees had less of a pressing need in the pen than the Mets did. Still, as Sherman points out, the Yankees would like to add another experienced reliever to both add depth to the bullpen and to possibly allow the team’s young starters to stay stretched out in Triple-A rather than requiring them for relief work.
- Better health from the rotation will be the biggest change to a Mets team that saw little roster turnover, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo writes. Yoenis Cespedes, Neil Walker, Salas and Blevins are all returning to a roster that managed to reach the NL wild card game in 2016 despite injuries to virtually every member of the starting staff. The Mets are aiming to keep their pitchers healthy by cutting short starts if necessary or skipping starts altogether, and by deploying a six-man rotation to keep everyone fresh. If the rotation is healthier, it stands to reason the Mets could equal or surpass their 87-win total from last season.
Yankees Made Starlin Castro Available In Trade Talks
The Yankees explored trades for several high-priced veterans on their roster this winter, with Joel Sherman of the New York Post reporting that Starlin Castro was among these names. The Yankees “let some clubs know [Castro] was available,” which comes short of actually shopping the second baseman but it does indicate at least an openness to the idea of a deal. As with Chase Headley and Brett Gardner, the Yankees weren’t able to drum up much trade interest in Castro.
In his first year in the pinstripes, Castro hit .270/.300/.433 with 21 homers over 610 plate appearances, making him a below-average runs creator (94 wRC+). Castro hit for more power than ever before (a career-best .163 Isolated Slugging mark) but he also set a new career high with a 19.3% strikeout rate. He also posted subpar glovework as per the Defensive Runs Saved (-8) and UZR/150 (-7.7) metrics in his first full season as a second baseman.
Castro showed enough promise early in his career that the Cubs signed him to a seven-year, $60MM extension in August 2012 but his production has since declined. With the exception of a strong 2014 campaign, Castro hasn’t delivered much at the plate in three of the last four seasons, and with below-average baserunning and on-base skills, a bump in power might not create enough extra value for Castro if his contact rate and defense continue to decline. It’s worth noting that Castro is both still young (he’s entering his age-27 season) and he has had a year to adjust to AL pitching, so it could perhaps be too early to write him off.
Still, as Castro is owed $30MM through the 2019 season (plus a $16MM club option for 2020 that carries a $1MM buyout), it makes sense that the Yankees would at least consider moving a player who has generated just 1.9 fWAR combined over the last two seasons. The Yankees have been operating under a tighter-than-usual budget this winter, Sherman notes, as the team is aiming to get under the luxury tax threshold by next season.
Aroldis Chapman and Matt Holliday were the club’s major free agent expenditures, while Brian McCann was dealt to the Astros and the likes of Castro, Headley and Gardner were all floated in trade talks. The Yankees have shown a willingness to eat some money to facilitate trades (as in the McCann deal), though outright salary dumps appear to be out of the question as the club continues to rebuild its minor league system.
That deeper farm system may also play a role in New York’s willingness to discuss Castro deals. Shortstop Gleyber Torres was the centerpiece of the Yankees’ midseason trade of Aroldis Chapman to the Cubs, plus Jorge Mateo, Wilkerman Garcia and Tyler Wade are all ranked within MLB.com’s list of the Yankees’ top 15 prospects. With Didi Gregorius seemingly locked into a spot in the middle infield for years to come in the Bronx, this surplus of second base/shortstop talent could make Castro an odd man out for reasons beyond just his salary.
Yankees Re-Sign Solano, Rumbelow To Minor League Deals
- The Yankees announced their invitations to Major League Spring Training today, and the list includes infielder Donovan Solano and right-hander Nick Rumbelow, each of whom re-signed to a minor league deal. (Others on the list have already been noted at MLBTR in recent months.) Solano, 29, hit .227/.261/.455 with a homer and a pair of doubles in 23 plate appearances with the Yankees last season. Capable of playing second base, shortstop and third base, Solano also slashed .257/.307/.328 over the life of 1145 plate appearances across parts of four seasons with the Marlins prior to his time with the Yankees. As for Rumbelow, the 25-year-old had Tommy John surgery last season. He’d made his Major League debut in 2015 and tossed 15 2/3 innings of 4.02 ERA ball as a followup to 52 2/3 innings with a 4.27 ERA in Triple-A. Rumbelow has averaged better than 10 strikeouts per nine innings in the minors while also walking just 2.4 batters per nine frames.
Yankees Notes: Young Pitching, Severino
- The Yankees’ young pitching depth is lacking a clear-cut potential ace, scouts tell Bleacher Report’s Danny Knobler, though there’s still a lot of promising talent in the system. “There are not a lot of givens with their guys. They could end up with the best pitching on the planet, or they could have problems,” one NL scout said. Justus Sheffield, acquired as part of the Andrew Miller trade last summer, may be the most intriguing of the bunch. “A lot of people love [Sheffield]….When teams talk to the Yankees about trades, he’s the one they ask for,” an NL executive said.
- Righty Luis Severino is among the Yankees’ highest-upside pitchers, but the 22-year-old disappointed as a starter last season after a promising showing in 2015. Severino laid out why he posted a 8.50 ERA across 11 major league starts in 2016, telling Brendan Kuty of NJ Advance Media that he had release point issues with his fastball, changeup and slider. With the help of both Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild and the legendary Pedro Martinez, Severino has worked to fix those problems this offseason. “I’m doing very well,” Severino said. “I’ve been throwing my bullpen and my changeup is way better than last year. My fastball location is better, too. So hopefully in spring training it’ll be good.” Severino also “dropped like 10 pounds” at the insistence of the Yankees, who will continue to use him as a starter – whether in the bigs or the Triple-A level to begin 2017 – despite a superb 23 1/3-inning run as a reliever last year. Although Severino logged a pristine 0.39 ERA and held batters to a laughable .105/.209/.158 line out of the bullpen, he’d rather start. “(Brian Cashman) knows I’m going to be a good starter,” he said. “I’m happy with that. I want to start. That’s my goal.”
Latest On The Market For Left-Handed Relievers
The agents for Jerry Blevins and Boone Logan are signaling to interested teams that each left-hander will be able to land two-year, $12MM deals or better, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. That two-year, $12MM figure — the same contract inked by Antonio Bastardo with the Mets last offseason — was recently used a potential template for both Blevins and Logan by one executive that spoke with Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith.
Nicholson-Smith recently reported that the Jays remain in contact with Blevins, and Rosenthal lists the Dodgers as another club that’s interested in his services. As is the case with their interest in Joe Blanton, though, the Dodgers are interested in a one-year deal, which could make it difficult to secure one of the top remaining names on the relief market. The New York Post’s Kevin Kernan writes that the Mets are checking in with Blevins’ camp on a daily basis. The Yankees are also in touch with the representatives for the remaining lefty relievers, Rosenthal adds, though they’re only interested in one-year deals with a low base salary or even minor league deals with Spring Training invites. That, it would seem, removes the likes of Blevins and Logan from the Yankees’ realistic options.
Both Blevins and Logan averaged better than 11 strikeouts per nine innings this past season, though Blevins did so with a lower ERA (2.79 to 3.69) and better control (3.2 BB/9 to 3.9 BB/9). That strikeout rate represented an easy career-best for Blevins, while Logan has averaged better than 11 K/9 in each of the past five seasons with the Yankees and Rockies.
Meanwhile, Craig Breslow’s recent showcase, which was attended by roughly half the league, has thrust him into the conversation of available lefties. Breslow’s new arm slot was said to pique the interest of some clubs, and he represents a significantly more affordable option than other southpaws that have yet to sign with a new team. Rosenthal reports that the Indians, Mets and Dodgers each had multiple evaluators in attendance, and WEEI’s Rob Bradford reported recently that the Rockies, Blue Jays and Cubs were all in attendance as well. Kernan notes that he spoke to a scout who was in attendance for Breslow’s workout and came away impressed.
Travis Wood, too, is still seeking a new home this winter, but Nicholson-Smith notes that many in the industry still expect Wood to seek a starting job due to his experience in the rotation. That makes him a tough fit for the Blue Jays, and the fact that teams like the Yankees and Dodgers aren’t looking to break the bank, in my mind, makes either club seem like a long shot as well.
Yankees Notes: Gregorius, Torres, Castro
- The Yankees’ system is flooded with well-regarded shortstop prospects (led by Gleyber Torres), and with Didi Gregorius continuing to elevate his game in the Majors, that gives the team plenty of options, writes ESPN New York’s Andrew Marchand. GM Brian Cashman tells Marchand that he doesn’t think Gregorius has reached his ceiling yet and should continue to improve. If that’s the case, it’d be hard to displace Gregorius even when Torres is ready for the Majors, though Cashman didn’t sound the least bit concerned about eventually having a potential logjam. “If you have the physical ability to project to play shortstop at the major league level, that also means you have the skill set to play second, third, typically center, left or right because of your speed and the arm,” said the GM. “So, first and foremost, it provides a great deal of creativity and flexibility that you can have with that athlete.”
- One player that could eventually be impacted by the glut of up-the-middle talent in the Yankees’ farm is Starlin Castro, though he tells Newsday’s Steven Marcus that he “[doesn’t] really think about” the possibility of being displaced or even traded. Castro notes a parallel between the Yankees’ current situation and the end of his Cubs tenure. “That’s the second time it happened to me,” he said of the Yankees’ upcoming wave of talent. “That happened my last year with the Cubs. All the younger guys coming to the team. Here, the same thing.”
