Yankees Release Spencer Howard
The Yankees announced Wednesday that they’ve released right-hander Spencer Howard. The former top prospect, acquired from the Rangers in exchange for cash prior to the trade deadline, was pitching with the team’s Triple-A affiliate. His release opens a spot on the 40-man roster.
A second-round pick by the Phillies in 2017, Howard ranked among baseball’s top 100 prospects prior to the 2020 and 2021 seasons on the vast majority of publications. He went from the Phils to the Rangers as part of 2021’s Kyle Gibson swap.
Things haven’t panned out for Howard in the Majors. He’s appeared in parts of four seasons but tallied just 115 innings while pitching to a grim 7.20 earned run average. He excelled up through the Double-A level, breezing through the lower levels of the minors with pristine ERAs, strong strikeout rates and mostly sharp walk rates. Injuries have played a significant role in his struggles, as he’s battled shoulder trouble at multiple points and spent the bulk of the current season on the 60-day injured list due to a lat strain.
Howard, 27, struggled to a 5.40 ERA in 18 innings in the Rangers’ system prior to the trade, and his three outings with the Yankees’ top affiliate weren’t any better. He was tagged for five runs on seven hits and a walk with four strikeouts in 2 2/3 innings. He’s sitting on a 6.86 ERA overall between the two teams’ Triple-A clubs in 2023 and now carries a 4.43 mark in parts of three seasons at that level.
With Howard’s release the Yankees’ 40-man roster is now down to 38 players. That likely sets the stage for them to add a pair of players to the 40-man roster when rosters expand from 26 to 28 players on Friday of this week. The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner reported yesterday that top catching prospect Austin Wells — who’s not on the 40-man roster — is among the likeliest candidates to be selected to the roster Friday. His colleague, Brendan Kuty, later added that the Yankees have also given consideration to promoting top outfield prospect Jasson Dominguez. Like Wells, he’s not on the 40-man roster.
There’s no guarantee just yet that it’ll be Wells and/or Dominguez receiving those September call-ups, though that’d certainly align with the Yankees’ recent youth movement. The Yanks released Josh Donaldson yesterday, firmly signaling that they’ll give young Oswald Peraza a legitimate look at third base down the stretch. They also called up outfielder Everson Pereira for his big league debut and have started him every day since.
Wells, 24, is hitting .243/.335/.447 in 424 plate appearances across three minor league levels (including .262/.355/.467 in 32 Triple-A games). Baseball America currently ranks him as the game’s No. 81 prospect. Dominguez has been generating fanfare since signing as a 16-year-old amateur and currently sits 60th on Baseball America’s list. “The Martian” has only played eight Triple-A games after slashing .254/.367/.414 in 507 Double-A plate appearances, but he’s handled himself quite well in Scranton, going 12-for-27 with a pair of doubles, a triple and more walks (five) than strikeouts (two) in 32 plate appearances.
Yankees Place Harrison Bader On Waivers
The Yankees have placed center fielder Harrison Bader on waivers, reports Erik Boland of Newsday (Twitter link). As is the case with the Angels’ series of waiver placements, New York’s hope is that another team will claim the remaining salary on a player who was headed to free agency in a couple months.
To be clear, these are irrevocable waivers — either of the outright or release variety. The previous system of August waiver trades — where a team could rescind a placement if another club made a claim and the two sides didn’t work out a trade — was done away with in 2019. Whichever claiming team with the highest waiver priority as of Thursday morning will get Bader while taking on the remainder of his arbitration salary. (The waiver priority is in inverse order of the MLB standings and is not league-specific.) The Yankees won’t receive any compensation besides the salary relief. In the unlikely event that he goes unclaimed, New York could opt to keep him on the major league roster for the stretch run.
It’s probably the end of Bader’s year-plus long tenure in the Bronx. New York acquired him at last summer’s deadline in a surprising one-for-one swap that sent Jordan Montgomery to St. Louis. Both players had a season and a half of remaining arbitration control at the time, making it a rather straightforward swap of veterans among contending clubs to address positions of need.
The deal worked out better for St. Louis, as Montgomery has stayed healthy and performed at an upper mid-rotation level since leaving New York. Bader played well at times for the Yankees — headlined by his five homers in nine postseason games last October — but continued dealing with various injury concerns that have plagued him throughout his career.
Bader has landed on the injured list twice this season. He started the year on the shelf with an oblique strain and missed a few weeks with a hamstring issue. He has struggled mightily since returning on June 20, slumping to a .230/.272/.304 batting line in 55 contests. His season slash is down to .242/.279/.370 with just seven homers through 302 plate appearances.
It’s arguably the worst offensive showing of Bader’s career. While he’s never posted huge on-base numbers, this year’s mark is a personal low. It’s the 11th-lowest figure for a hitter with 300+ trips to the dish. Bader is avoiding strikeouts but very rarely walks and has hit just .274 on balls in play.
The offensive struggles are ill-timed for a player on the verge of his first trip to the open market. Yet his secondary skills are strong enough he’s likely to attract interest from another team down the stretch. Bader is a plus defensive center fielder who has again rated highly in his 655 1/3 innings there this season. He has stolen 16 bases in 18 attempts. He at least looks the part of a high-end fourth outfielder, even if other teams are reluctant to displace their starting center fielder for a player who hasn’t hit well of late.
Bader is only likely to appeal to teams in playoff contention. He’ll still be a free agent at year’s end. Taking on what remains of his $5.2MM salary (a little under $900K) only appeals to teams with a shot at contending. The Yankees would save that amount in salary, plus the 75% tax they’re paying for exceeding the CBT for a second straight season. With New York out of playoff contention and Bader’s rough season taking him out of consideration to receive a qualifying offer, the Yankees have decided to make him available to other clubs.
Yankees Release Josh Donaldson
The Yankees announced that third baseman Josh Donaldson has been released. Andy Martino of SNY relays that Donaldson will be on release waivers until 1pm tomorrow, at which point he will surely go unclaimed and become a free agent. The club’s 40-man roster is now at 39.
Donaldson, 37, has had a storied career that included literal MVP upside, but his time in the Bronx has been obviously disappointing. In March of 2022, the Yanks acquired Donaldson as well as catcher Ben Rortvedt and infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa from the Twins, sending catcher Gary Sánchez and infielder Gio Urshela the other way. Donaldson still had two years and $50MM left on the four-year deal he signed with the Twins, with the Yanks taking on all that remained at that time.
The third baseman was still plenty effective in his two years as a Twin, hitting .243/.355/.474 for a wRC+ of 126 along with solid defensive grades. But his production tailed off after the trade. His first year as a Yankee saw him hit just .222/.308/.374, which translated to a wRC+ of 98, his first subpar offensive showing since 2012. His defense was still solid but his strikeout rate jumped to 27.1%, more than two points above his previous career high, apart from his cup-of-coffee debut in 2011.
Here in 2023, things have gone from bad to worse. Donaldson has spent most of the season on the injured list, first due to a right hamstring strain and then a right calf strain, only getting into 34 games so far this year. When on the field, he’s only tallied 15 hits in his 106 at-bats, leading to a .142 batting average. Bizarrely, 10 of those 15 hits were home runs, leading to a lopsided slash line of .142/.225/.434 and a wRC+ of 75.
Donaldson is currently on the 60-day injured list and had been nearing a rehab assignment of late, but it seems the club didn’t plan on adding him back to their active roster. The Yanks are 63-68 and 11 games out of a playoff spot, seemingly planning to use what’s left of their schedule to get a look at younger players, recently promoting Everson Pereira and Oswald Peraza, with Austin Wells possibly coming soon as well.
With those players set to get plenty of playing time in the coming weeks, there would be less room for Donaldson, especially since his contract is winding down. There’s a $16MM mutual option for 2024 but the Yanks were clearly planning to take the $6MM buyout instead. By nudging Donaldson off the roster now, they open a spot for someone else and keep the playing time open for younger players.
Releasing Donaldson now might also have been a courtesy to him. If he signs with a new club prior to September 1, he’ll be playoff eligible with that team. Based on his health and performance issues this year, he’ll clear waivers by tomorrow afternoon and then have a day and a half to latch on somewhere else. Once released, the Yanks will be on the hook for the remainder of his salary. Any of the 29 other clubs would be free to sign him for the prorated league minimum, with that amount subtracted from what the Yankees pay.
The interest would obviously be limited based on the recent struggles, but he’s not too far removed from being an effective big leaguer. The MVP upside is almost a decade in the past now but, as mentioned, he performed well for the Twins as recently as 2021. If any club thinks he has more left in the tank, they could give him a shot for essentially no financial cost.
But for the Yankees, the Donaldson trade is obviously one they would like to have back. Kiner-Falefa has been a solid utility player but has been subpar at the plate and is about to become a free agent himself, while Rortvedt has been injured for much of the time since the deal. Sánchez was an impending free agent last year and Urshela had two years of control at the time, meaning they didn’t give up much, but taking on Donaldson’s contract tied up a lot of money that could have been spent elsewhere.
Donaldson will now see if there are other opportunities awaiting him, here in 2023 and beyond. He has previously expressed uncertainty about playing beyond this year, which will be a decision for the months to come, but he will first see if there’s a job for him in the short-term.
Pat Corrales Passes Away
Former big league player, manager and coach Pat Corrales has passed away, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Corrales was 82 years old.
Born in Los Angeles in 1941, Patrick Corrales attended Fresno High School before signing with the Phillies as an amateur free agent in 1959. He worked his way up the minor league ladder and made his major league debut in 1964, though only got into two games that year. He would carve out a semi-regular role as a backup catcher in the seasons to come, bouncing to the Cardinals, Reds and Padres.
From 1964 to 1973, he got into 300 games and made 858 plate appearances. He had a batting average of .216 in that time, getting 166 hits, including 28 doubles, three triples and four home runs. He scored 63 runs, drove in 54 and stole one base. The 1970 Reds won the National League West and then defeated the Pirates in the NLCS to advance to the World Series, though they were then defeated by the Orioles. With the O’s up 3-1 in the series and 9-3 in the fifth game, Corrales was sent up to pinch hit for Hal McRae with two outs in the ninth. Corrales grounded out to finish the series and the season, the only postseason plate appearance of his career. (YouTube link via the Orioles.)
After his playing career ended, Corrales shifted into a managerial role, starring with the Rangers in the late ’70s before serving as skipper for Philadelphia and Cleveland. As a manager, he had a record of 572-634 over parts of nine different seasons. His last season as a manager was 1987, but he went on to spend many years as a bench coach, starting with the Yankees. He served in that role for Atlanta for nine years, including the club that won the 1995 World Series. He also served as a bench coach for the Nationals before being hired by the Dodgers as a special assistant to the general manager in 2012.
We at MLB Trade Rumors extend our condolences to his family, friends and loved ones.
AL East Notes: Yankees, Kjerstad, Swanson
The Yankees are among the teams interested in star NPB pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, as noted by Newsday’s Erik Boland. Boland added that the club’s director of pro scouting Matt Daley is currently in Japan and another top scout visited to watch Yamamoto pitch earlier in the year. Jon Heyman of the New York Post also notes the Yankees interest, listing them among ten teams that scouted Yamamoto’s most recent start. That list of teams includes the club’s crosstown rival Mets as well as their division rival Red Sox.
Yamamoto, who claimed the #3 spot on MLBTR’s newest edition of the 2023-24 Free Agent Power Rankings, sports a sensational 1.34 ERA in 127 innings of work with the Orix Buffaloes this year, his age-24 season. That level of excellence extends all the way back to 2021; in 514 2/3 innings of work the past three seasons, Yamamoto’s ERA is 1.50 while he’s struck out 27.2% of batters he’s faced, walking just 5.2%. That level of dominance even eclipses that of former Yankee Masahiro Tanaka, who made two All Star appearances and posted a 3.33 ERA in ten postseason starts for the club after signing a seven-year, $155MM deal with New York prior to the 2014 season.
It’s no wonder the Yankees would have interest in Yamamoto; while they’ve gotten another excellent season out of ace Gerrit Cole, the club’s other starters have largely disappointed. Lefties Carlos Rodon and Nestor Cortes, nominally the club’s #2 and #3 starters, have been limited to just 7 and 12 starts respectively this season thanks to injuries and struggled badly. A Yamamoto signing would certainly give the Yankees a quality arm to pair with Cole at the top of their rotation while simultaneously helping to alleviate pressure not only on Rodon and Cortes, but also on youngsters like Clarke Schmidt, Jhony Brito, and Randy Vasquez entering 2024.
More from around the AL East…
- Orioles outfield prospect Heston Kjerstad is on the club’s radar for a possible call-up option when rosters expand on September 1, as GM Mike Elias told reporters (including BaltimoreBaseball.com’s Rich Dubroff). The 2nd overall pick in the 2020 draft, Kjerstad didn’t make his MiLB debut until last June thanks to a myocarditis diagnosis but has done nothing but hit since then. In 473 trips to the plate this season between the Double-A and Triple-A levels, the 24-year-old outfielder has slashed a sensational .308/.378/.542 with a strikeout rate just below 18%. If called up for the stretch run, Kjerstad would join an outfield that typically sports Austin Hays in left, Cedric Mullins in center, and Anthony Santander in right.
- Blue Jays reliever Erik Swanson exited today’s game against the Guardians with right mid-back discomfort, as noted by The Athletic’s Kaitlyn McGrath. The severity of Swanson’s injury isn’t yet known, but even a short absence for the right-hander, who sports a 3.10 ERA and a 29.4% strikeout rate in 58 innings of work this season, would be a substantial blow to Toronto’s bullpen. Of course, the club would still have right-handers Jordan Romano (2.60 ERA, 29.9% strikeout rate) and Jordan Hicks (3.83 ERA, 30.3% strikeout rate) available for the late innings even if Swanson required a trip to the injured list.
Greg Allen Elects Free Agency
The Yankees announced that outfielder Greg Allen has elected free agency after clearing outright waivers. New York had designated him for assignment on Tuesday when bringing up rookies Everson Pereira and Oswald Peraza from Triple-A.
Allen has had a pair of stints in the Bronx. After suiting up for 15 games two seasons ago, he returned to the organization in May when the Yanks acquired him in a minor trade with Boston. Allen rather quickly thereafter suffered a strained hip flexor that cost him more than a month and a half. He returned in late July and operated in a fourth/fifth outfield capacity until this week’s DFA.
The switch-hitting Allen tallied 28 plate appearances over 22 games this time around. He picked up four extra-base hits, including a homer, while striking out 10 times. The former fifth-round pick has now appeared in seven straight MLB campaigns, working mostly in a depth capacity. He’s a .231/.300/.340 hitter in 828 career plate appearances. Allen has an excellent .292/.403/.433 batting line through parts of five seasons at the Triple-A level.
A plus runner, Allen has 48 stolen bases in 57 attempts at the major league level. That’s an 84.2% success rate that’s nearly five percentage points better than this year’s league average (despite the fact that the bulk of Allen’s attempts came before the introduction of the more favorable rules for baserunners last offseason). That speed gives him the ability to cover all three outfield positions, though public defensive metrics suggest he’s better suited for work in the corners than center field.
Active rosters expand from 26 to 28 players at the start of September. Clubs are required to bring up at least one position player as part of that expansion, leading some to roster a pinch-running specialist for the stretch run. Allen could hold some appeal in such a role. If he finds another landing spot before end of day on August 31, he’d be eligible for postseason play with his new employer.
Brian Cashman Discusses Yankees’ Season, Future Plans
The 2023 season has undoubtedly been a disappointing one for the Yankees. They snapped a nine-game losing streak yesterday but lost again today, bringing their record to 61-66. That has them last in the American League East, 6.5 games back of the fourth place Red Sox. They are 10 games away from the final Wild Card spot in the American League and FanGraphs pegged their playoff odds at 0.3% coming into today’s action. For a club that came into the season aimed at contending and ran up one of the league’s highest payrolls, it’s obviously not an ideal outcome.
General manager Brian Cashman spoke to the media yesterday, acknowledging the obvious, with Brendan Kuty of The Athletic among those to relay some of the specifics. “It’s been a disaster of a season,” Cashman said. “We’re embarrassed by it.” He also made it clear he was aware of the disappointed fans who wanted him fired but also defended his claim on continuing in his job. “I think we’ve got a pretty good track record here,” he said. “We’ve had a real good run of success. But this, at the same time, is not an easy sport. Nothing is guaranteed.”
The overall track record is indeed strong, when looking back to Cashman becoming the general manager in February of 1998. The Yanks have never finished below .500 since then, with their last losing season coming back in 1992. Since 1995, they’ve only missed the postseason four times and have won the World Series five times.
For some fans, that’s not enough, or it’s been too long since the most dominant stretch of the Cashman era. Four of those five titles came from 1996 to 2000 with the last one in 2009. Though the Yankees have made the playoffs in each of the six previous years, they haven’t made it past the ALCS in over a decade and have a chance to break their 30-year streak of winning seasons here in 2023. Whether that track record is enough to keep him in his current position remains to be seen and Cashman himself provided little clarity, saying that it would be “somebody else’s decision that’s above me,” presumably in reference to chairman Hal Steinbrenner.
How much blame Cashman deserves for the struggles of the 2023 club is a matter that could be debated, and certainly is in certain circles. Injuries have been a significant factor in their results, as various players who were hoped to be key contributors have missed significant time. The starting rotation has been without Frankie Montas all year while Nestor Cortes and Carlos Rodón have each bounced on and off the injured list while posting diminished results when on the field. On the offensive side of things, players like Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo and others have dealt with significant injuries issues that led to absences or downturns in performance or both.
Defenders of Cashman could point to that litany of injuries as evidence that a strong on-paper roster was cursed by the baseball gods, but detractors could highlight the fact that all clubs deal with injuries and part of the job is building a roster than can succeed over an entire season as player health ebbs and flows.
Regardless of the reasons, it seems like all manner of possible changes will be considered in the coming months. “I think we’re all going to be evaluated,” Cashman said, referring to himself and manager Aaron Boone. “You’re going to see look at every aspect of the operation because that’s what you have to do under these circumstances, and then that takes us where it takes us. Nobody’s happy here. We’re better than this, but it’s not played better than this, and we’ll see. Stay tuned.”
How the franchise responds to this down year will be an interesting thread to follow over the coming weeks and months. The Yankees are usually one the most reliably aggressive teams when it comes to competing and spending. Before the offseason has even begun, their 2024 payroll is at $186MM while their competitive balance tax figure is at $197MM, per Roster Resource. Those figures don’t include arbitration salaries for players like Cortes, Gleyber Torres, Clay Holmes and more. Factoring in raises for those players will put the Yanks in the vicinity of next year’s base luxury tax threshold of $237MM before even making any offseason additions.
Assuming the Yanks look to compete again next year, there would be plenty on the to-do list this winter. The rotation theoretically has a strong front three, with Gerrit Cole followed by Rodón and Cortes, though that’s dependant on the health of the latter two. Even if they are healthy and Clarke Schmidt takes a back-end spot, there would be room for another pitcher in there, keeping Jhony Brito and Randy Vásquez as minor league depth.
The lineup has many question marks, as the team has collectively hit .229/.304/.400 this year for a wRC+ of 94. Some of that can be explained by the aforementioned injury struggles of Judge and Rizzo, but the club has also received poor performances from veterans like DJ LeMahieu and Giancarlo Stanton. The 35-year-old LeMahieu has hit .239/.316/.370 this year, 91 wRC+, and still has three years and $45MM left on his contract after this one. The 33-year-old Stanton has a line of .193/.277/.423 this season for wRC+ of 88 while still being owed $128MM over the next four years. The Yanks could try to move on from those players but their respective contracts and ages will make it very difficult.
There will also be fresh holes made in that lineup, with Harrison Bader and Isiah Kiner-Falefa set to reach free agency. Neither played is having an outstanding season at the plate but Bader at least provides speed and excellent center field defense while Kiner-Falefa also has speed and can provide cover at multiple positions. Josh Donaldson is likely to depart for the open market as well, as his deal has a mutual option that is unlikely to be picked up.
There are many questions for the Yankees to answer between now and 2024, but it seems they will start by using the remainder of the current campaign to get a look at some younger players. Earlier this week, they promoted youngsters Everson Pereira and Oswald Peraza to get some reps in what’s left of the schedule. That group could soon be joined by Austin Wells, as Kuty reports the catching prospect is likely to join the club when rosters expand from 26 to 28 in September.
Wells, 24, was selected in the first round of the 2020 draft, with the Yanks taking him 28th overall. He has since climbed the minor league ladder and is considered by many outlets to be a top 100 prospect, with Baseball America currently having him in the #83 slot. He’s considered a bat-first catcher and is hitting .241/.333/.443 in the minors this year, walking in 10.8% of his plate appearances while hitting 26 home runs.
The Yanks are without Jose Trevino for the rest of the season, as he underwent wrist surgery in July. They are currently using the duo of Kyle Higashioka and Ben Rortvedt behind the plate but the expanded rosters could allow them to carry three catchers and get a look at Wells before the offseason arrives. Wells isn’t yet on the 40-man roster and would require a corresponding move to be added.
Yankees Announce Several Roster Moves
The Yankees announced Tuesday that they’ve reinstated Carlos Rodon from the 15-day injured list, recalled infielder Oswald Peraza and outfield prospect Everson Pereira from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, placed outfielder Billy McKinney on the 10-day injured list due to back spasms, and designated outfielder Greg Allen for assignment. The recalls of Peraza and Pereira were reported on yesterday.
Allen, 30, will lose his spot on the active and 40-man rosters to clear the way for Pereira to enter the outfield mix in the Bronx. Allen is out of minor league options, so he can’t be sent down without first clearing waivers. He appeared in 22 games for the Yankees since returning to the organization but received just 28 plate appearances in that time (during which he went 5-for-23 with a pair of walks and 10 strikeouts). Allen has been used primarily as a pinch-runner and defensive replacement late in games.
That’s a role with which Allen has become increasingly familiar over the years. The fleet-footed switch-hitter hasn’t topped 134 plate appearances in a big league season since 2019 and has never tallied 300 trips to the plate in a given season. Allen is a career .231/.300/.340 hitter with 11 home runs and a 48-for-57 showing in stolen bases (84%) at the MLB level. He’s played all three outfield spots extensively and draws above-average marks at each, per Statcast. Defensive Runs Saved pegs him as a plus left fielder but a lesser option in center field.
Allen’s brand of speed and defense could prompt a clear postseason contender to consider him on waivers in the next few days. Rosters will expand from 26 to 28 players on Sept. 1, and as long as Allen is with a new organization at 11:59pm ET or earlier on Aug. 31, he’d be eligible for postseason play with that new club. It’s relatively common for teams to carry pinch-running and defensive specialists in such settings, so Allen isn’t a lock to make it through waivers. If he does go unclaimed, he’ll be able to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency and sign with any team.
Rodon will look to get into a good groove and carry some momentum into 2024. He signed a six-year, $162MM deal in the offseason but hasn’t yet been able to provide the Yanks with any return on that investment yet. He dealt with forearm and back issues early in the year and wasn’t able to make his team debut until July. He struggled through six starts, posting a 7.33 ERA, before landing back on the IL due to a hamstring strain.
The Yankee season has largely been sunk by injuries, including those of Rodon but also many others. They are now 60-64 and 9.5 games back of a playoff spot with just over a month left on the schedule. Their playoff odds are down to 0.4% at FanGraphs. But both the club and Rodon would surely be encouraged if he could post some good starts before the offseason gets going, carrying some good feelings into the winter.
Yankees To Promote Everson Pereira, Oswald Peraza
The Yankees are promoting outfield prospect Everson Pereira before tomorrow’s series opener against the Nationals, reports Jack Curry of the YES Network (Twitter link). Infielder Oswald Peraza is also being recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, according to Curry. Both players are already on the 40-man roster, so New York will only need to make corresponding active roster transactions.
Pereira, 22, is headed to the majors for the first time. A native of Venezuela, he was one of the better prospects in the 2017-18 international signing class. While he didn’t have particularly flashy tools, he landed a $1.5MM bonus based on his advanced offensive ability and the chance to stick in center field. He has lived up to that billing by producing at every minor league stop, typically against older competition.
Early-career injuries and the pandemic cancelation of the 2020 minor league campaign meant Pereira didn’t reach full season ball until 2021. He played well enough there for the Yankees to add him to the 40-man roster at year’s end to ensure another club didn’t take him as a developmental flier in the Rule 5 draft. He spent most of last season in High-A, earning a brief look late in the year with Double-A Somerset.
Optioned back to Somerset to open 2023, Pereira hit .291/.362/.545 in 46 games. The Yankees bumped him to Scranton in early July and he’s responded with a .312/.386/.551 showing through 35 contests. Between the top two minor league levels, he has a .300/.373/.548 line over 343 plate appearances. He has connected on 18 home runs and stolen 11 bases in 13 attempts.
Despite the lofty batting average, Pereira hasn’t been an elite contact hitter. He’s gone down on strikes at a lofty 28.6% clip on the season. Pereira has hit for power and walked at a solid 9.3% rate to post strong numbers overall, though prospect evaluators have expressed concern about the swing-and-miss in his game.
Pereira has split his defensive work almost evenly between the three outfield spots. Scouting reports peg him as a viable if unexceptional center fielder. The Yankees figure to break him in at left field alongside Aaron Judge and Harrison Bader. They’ve given most of their left field work of late to Jake Bauers. The left-handed hitter had started his Yankee tenure well but has fallen into a .178/.247/.370 funk while striking out over 43% of the time since the All-Star Break.
Peraza has been on and off the MLB roster on a few occasions. A highly-regarded prospect in his own right, he’s hitting .268/.357/.479 in 63 Triple-A contests on the year. Peraza has scuffled in scattershot MLB time this season but had an impressive 18-game debut in 2022.
The impressive upper minors numbers for each player gets them a look on a free-falling New York club. The Yankees have dropped eight straight and sit at 60-64 after being swept by the Red Sox over the weekend. They’re 26-40 since the start of June and almost certainly going to miss the postseason for the first time in seven years.
Perhaps the promotions of Pereira and Peraza can inject some life into a struggling offense, but their calls seem more about evaluating the 2024 roster. They’re each highly-regarded young players who could plausibly play regular roles next season. Brendan Kuty of the Athletic tweets that both are expected to be everyday players for the stretch run. New York has had no stability in left field all season. Bader and Isiah Kiner-Falefa (who has taken over as the primary third baseman) are impending free agents.
Pereira and Peraza each appear on the back half of Baseball America’s recent Top 100 prospects update. Kiley McDaniel of ESPN included Pereira as an honorable mention behind his own Top 50 refresh. While Peraza will exceed rookie eligibility at season’s end, Pereira will remain rookie eligible so long as he takes fewer than 130 MLB at-bats. As with a number of other recent prospect promotions, that could be a meaningful distinction.
Teams that carry a prospect who appears on two of three Top 100 lists at Baseball America, ESPN and MLB Pipeline for a full service year during their rookie seasons can receive a bonus draft choice under the Prospect Promotion Incentive. Pereira isn’t necessarily a lock to meet that prospect standard but certainly has a chance to qualify, particularly if he plays well down the stretch. If he does and the Yankees carry him on next year’s Opening Day roster, he could earn them an extra draft choice with a Rookie of the Year win or top-three finish in MVP balloting during his pre-arbitration seasons.
MLB Trade Rumors Podcast: Pete Alonso’s Future, Yankees’ Rotation Troubles and Should the Trade Deadline Be Pushed Back?
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss:
- Should the trade deadline be moved back, as has been considered by some? (1:15)
- Mets need to pick a lane with Pete Alonso (9:35)
- Yankees’ rotation is dealing with injuries again (14:15)
Plus, we answer your questions, including:
- How can the Cardinals get in shape this offseason? (20:05)
- Can the Mariners line up on a trade with the Cards? (24:10)
- What will be the biggest needs for the Diamondbacks this winter? (27:00)
- What does Mitch Garver‘s free agency look like this winter? (28:30)
Check out our past episodes!
- The Streaking Mariners, the Struggling Angels and Injured Aces – listen here
- Trade deadline recap – listen here
- The Angels Are All In, Lucas Giolito and Picking a Lane – listen here