Yankees Nearing Deal To Acquire Todd Frazier, David Robertson, Tommy Kahnle
This post was originally published on the evening of Tues., July 18, prior to the announcement of the trade.
9:59pm: Levine tweets that there are four players going to the White Sox in the deal. Sherman adds that the fourth player will be another prospect, so it doesn’t seem as though anyone else on the big league roster is in the deal.
9:27pm: MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand tweets that the White Sox would indeed take Clippard’s contract back in the trade as a means of offsetting some salary. Sherman tweets that there will be no cash considerations exchanging hands. Clippard is earning $6.125MM this year in the second season of a two-year, $12.25MM pact. About $2.5MM of that sum is still owed to the veteran reliever, so he’ll offset roughly one quarter of the nearly $10MM the Yankees are adding to the payroll by taking on the salaries of Robertson and Frazier.
9:17pm: Sherman reports that left-handed pitching prospect Ian Clarkin would also head to the ChiSox as part of the package (Twitter link).
9:09pm: Outfield prospect Blake Rutherford, New York’s first-round selection from the 2016 draft, would head to the White Sox as part of the package, reports USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (on Twitter).
9:04pm: Heyman tweets that the two teams are hoping to finalize a deal tonight, suggesting that well-regarded but lower-level prospects will likely be headed to the ChiSox in return.
8:01pm: The Yankees are indeed “pushing hard” for that trio, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post, though he notes that the deal is not yet at the finish line.
7:52pm: The Yankees are “very close” to a deal with the White Sox that would bring Todd Frazier, David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle to New York, reports Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports (on Twitter). Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago first tweeted that the Yankees were the “closest” team to landing that trio.
Notably, Frazier was announced as a healthy scratch by the White Sox tonight. A move to grab all three of those players would obviously be a significant upgrade for the Yankees’ roster, particularly the bullpen, but would also be important in that it’d keep Frazier (and possibly Robertson) away from the division-rival Red Sox. Boston was reportedly in talks with Frazier within the past hour, and there were some rumblings connecting Robertson to the BoSox as well.
While Frazier has been primarily a third baseman in his career, he does bring quite a bit of experience at first base to the table. That’s a clear area of need for the Yankees, who have seen injuries ruin the seasons of Greg Bird and Tyler Austin, while offseason acquisition Chris Carter has been twice designated for assignment and now cut loose back to the open market.
The 31-year-old Frazier is set to hit free agency at season’s end, and while his production this year hasn’t been up to par, he’s turned things on since the the calendar flipped to June. Over his past 37 games, Frazier has batted .234/.361/.508 with nine homers and eight doubles. For a Yankees team that has seen its first basemen bat a collective .208/.295/.391, even Frazier’s overall .207/.328/.432 batting line would be a marked improvement, but if he can sustain his recently increased production, it’d be a particular boon for manager Joe Girardi’s lineup.
Yankees Sign Blake Rutherford
The Yankees announced today that they’ve signed their first-round pick Blake Rutherford. Terms of the agreement weren’t included with the announcement, but MLB.com’s Jim Callis reports (on Twitter) that the No. 18 overall selection will receive a significantly over-slot bonus of $3,282,000. That sum is $840K more than Rutherford’s slot value of $2,441,600.
An over-slot deal figured to be a requirement for the high school outfielder out of Chaminade Prep in California, however, as he slipped down the draft board a bit from where some earlier projections had him landing. ESPN’s Keith Law rated Rutherford as the No. 6 prospect in the draft, while Callis and Jonathan Mayo ranked him eighth at MLB.com and Baseball America rated him ninth overall. Scouting reports on Rutherford praise his hit tool and potential for above-average power in a corner outfield spot. All three of the reports referenced here note that some scouts are a bit down on Rutherford because he’s already 19 years old, meaning he offers a bit less projection than the typical high school pick, and he’s yet to fully tap into his power potential.
Certainly, those concerns didn’t seem to exist within the Yankees’ front office, and they’ll land a talent that many pundits felt should’ve been off the board by the time they selected. The Yankees added in their announcement that they’ve now signed all of their picks from the Top 10 rounds of the draft, meaning the vast majority of their work on the draft front is in the books. New York went considerably over slot on Rutherford and third-rounder Nolan Martinez, but the Yanks saved a good deal of money on picks five through 10, including four straight $10K signings of college seniors to close out rounds seven through 10 (as can be seen in the draft trackers at MLB.com and Baseball America).
Yankees fans seeking to learn a bit more about their club’s top pick can check out a Q&A that MLBTR contributor Chuck Wasserstrom conducted with the highly touted Rutherford back in late April.
Draft Notes: Puk, Phillies, Top 500, Groome
We’re five days from the start of the 2016 MLB Draft, and ESPN’s Keith Law’s latest mock draft (Insider only) has the Phillies taking Florida lefty A.J. Puk with the first overall pick. He notes, however, that the Phillies still haven’t settled on anyone. The selection of another player (like Mercer outfielder Kyle Lewis, Louisville outfielder Corey Ray, or California high school outfielder Mickey Moniak, all of whom Law mentions as possibilities) could cause uncertainty elsewhere in the draft. Here’s more on what to expect this week.
- Phillies GM Matt Klentak himself says the Phillies are debating who to select but have whittled their list of possibilities down to “a small handful,” writes Philly.com’s Matt Breen. In addition to Puk, Lewis and Moniak, Breen also names Tennessee third baseman Nick Senzel and California high school outfielder Blake Rutherford as possibilities.
- Baseball America’s list of the top 500 draft prospects currently features Puk at the top, with Lewis, Moniak, Senzel and Ray at Nos. 4 through 7, respectively. Between them are Kansas high school righty Riley Pint and New Jersey high school lefty Jason Groome. In the subscriber-only scouting reports, BA praises Groome’s mid-90s fastball and biting curveball, noting that he’s at least as physically gifted as any other player available this year.
- Many of this week’s high school draftees will face tough decisions about whether to go to college or turn pro, Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes. Reds starter Anthony DeSclafani explains that he turned down a bonus of about $600K from the Red Sox out of high school so that he could head to the University of Florida. He got a smaller bonus after the Blue Jays selected him three years later. “You go from not making decisions that matter through high school – you decide to do your homework or something, or what you’re going to eat – and then you decide whether to go play professional baseball or go to college,” says DeSclafani. “That can be a life-changing thing.”
Blake Rutherford (Chaminade Prep) Interview: Draft Prospect Q&A
MLBTR continues its Draft Prospect Q&A series in order to give our readers a look at some of the top names on the board in this year’s draft. MLBTR will be chatting with some of the draft’s most well-regarded prospects as they prepare for the 2016 draft on June 9-11; we’ve already spoken with Mercer’s Kyle Lewis, Oklahoma’s Alec Hansen and Louisville’s Corey Ray.
It’s wait-and-see time for Blake Rutherford. The left-handed-hitting centerfielder has been at the top of the prospect ranking charts all year – and figures to be among the first high school players selected in the June draft.
Rutherford, who attends Chaminade College Preparatory School in West Hills, CA, has been known in scout circles for years. In fact, he committed to UCLA as a freshman and played on the international stage last summer – earning a Gold Medal as a member of USA Baseball’s 18U world championship-winning team in Japan.
The 6’2 ½”, 195-pound Rutherford was recently called “the most advanced pure bat in the class, college or high school” by ESPN.com’s Keith Law – who ranks him as the draft’s No. 4 prospect. Rutherford began the spring as Baseball America’s No. 3 prospect, while MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo has him coming in at No. 6. Rutherford took some time out to talk with MLBTR:
Chuck Wasserstrom: Your brother, Cole is a first baseman at Cornell University. What have you been learning about college from your brother?
Blake Rutherford: “He’s told me that college is a great experience. Obviously, it’s hard sometimes to juggle both school and baseball, and he’s at a real prestigious school in Cornell. But he’s having a great time … he loves it. He just said it’s a really good experience for him, and he’s happy that he went across the country to go play baseball so that he could get a whole other perspective on life.”
How much of that is going to play in your decision as to whether you’re going to go to UCLA?
“It probably won’t. I’m going to have to make my own decision as to what’s best for me. He made the decision what’s best for him. He got into a good school like Cornell to play baseball. UCLA is another amazing school where you can get a great education. But I’m going to have to wait and see what happens with the draft. I’ll talk to him about it. We’ll talk about everything. When it comes down to it, I’m going to sit down with my family and make a decision that’s best for me – like he did when he made the decision to go to Cornell.”
I want you to describe your game for me. I don’t want a scouting report that I can read online. I want to hear you tell me about your game. So, Blake, how would you describe Blake?
“I would describe my game as someone who can do all things on a baseball field. I truly believe I’m a five-tool player who has a very overall strong game. I feel like the main thing people have always talked about is my hitting, but I really feel like my fielding, my running and my throwing have all taken a huge step this year. I’m also someone who’s super competitive, and I’m not going to stop until I get what I want – which is winning. I’m just someone who’s passionate and loves to play the game, but stays calm and cool during all situations.”
For most readers not in California, you’re a name. What do you do on the field that makes you unique, or at least makes you stand out?
“The thing that makes me stand out is I can try to change the game with my bat, on the base paths or in the field. I can make a diving catch that can save runs or save a game. I can steal bases consecutively; I’ve stolen home a couple times. I have the ability to hit a home run, hit a ball in the gap or get the base hit to get a rally started.”
Your high school was selected to the play in the National High School Invitational last month in North Carolina – where you went 9-for-14 facing some of the elite high school pitchers in this country. What was that experience like?
“That experience was unbelievable. USA Baseball did an amazing job putting us up and getting us around and getting the fields ready. But the competition out there was crazy. Every team had a couple guys on the mound that could deal. A lot of teams had hitters 1-through-9 that could absolutely mash. We knew going into it that we were going to have to play our best games. We did for three games, but in the fourth game we kind of ran out of energy and a couple things went the other way. I was really happy with how we did as a team. My performance individually … I was pretty happy with it because it helped my team win a couple of those games.
Baseball-wise, you’ve played on some pretty big stages already and done some pretty neat things like playing overseas. What stands out for you?
“This last summer, going to Japan (with the 18U USA Baseball national team) – I think that really stands out. We faced some adversity. We lost a couple exhibition games. We lost an earlier game to Japan. So we were kind of down a little bit. Then we came together as a team and bonded. We really got super close and we were able to pull it off. We came from behind in three or four of those games. And then to be able to defeat Japan in their big stadium in front of all their fans for the Gold Medal – that’s something I’ll probably never forget.”
To get there, you needed a 9th-inning rally against South Korea in the tournament opener – and you hit a clutch go-ahead three-run homer.
“We started the inning with a Will Benson walk. And then Hagen Danner had a pinch-hit double to set it up. Second-and-third, no outs … I knew somehow I had to get one run in. Their pitcher had thrown me all fastballs. I fouled a couple off. It got to 3-and-2, and I just got the barrel to the ball and it took off. At first, I didn’t know if it was gone; it’s kind of hard to hit the ball out of the park there. I never saw it go over. I just heard the crowd go crazy. And I saw the runners stop running – so I knew it must have gone out. I remember that I felt happy because we were now winning, but I wasn’t out of control or too excited because I knew South Korea still had to come up to hit – and they had a couple good hitters. Luckily, we were able to get a couple more insurance runs.”
You won the Gold Medal there, and as a result – your team was honored prior to Game Four of the World Series last fall (at Citi Field in New York). How amazing was that?
“That was so exciting. Not only were we at the World Series, but it was the first time the USA players had gotten together (since Japan). So we were just hanging out and loving every second of it. But just going on the field and meeting a lot of the guys and seeing the atmosphere of the World Series. It made all of us want to make it that much more.”
Growing up in Southern California, what are your favorite things to do?
“Obviously, going to the beach … Hanging out with my friends … Anything competitive. We might go hit on the local baseball field or go laser tagging. Me and my brother always grew up super competitive. We have a lot of friends who are competitive. So we ended up playing baseball or football. There was always some activity going on outside.”
Read on for more after the break …