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Latest On Yankees’ Deadline Approach

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With the Yankees in last place in the AL East despite a decent 55-51 record, their path forward remains somewhat murky with less than four hours to go before the trade deadline. Joel Sherman of the New York Post indicates that the club could look to both buy and sell, searching for long-term controllable pieces in areas of need while fielding offers on the pending free agents on their roster.

Several of the club’s pending free agents, including Luis Severino and Isiah Kiner-Falefa, have had difficult seasons in 2023, but could nonetheless draw interest as low-cost, depth additions from other clubs. Lefty Wandy Peralta, who has a 2.29 ERA in 47 appearances out of New York’s bullpen this year, and center fielder Harrison Bader have both fared better in their walk years, with Bader in particular drawing interest per the New York Post’s Jon Heyman. Sherman more specifically notes that the Yankees and Phillies have discussed Bader, though there is “limited traction” on a deal between the sides.

Sherman adds that the Yankees have discussed closer Clay Holmes in trade talks, despite Holmes being controllable through the 2024 campaign. That being said, Sherman noted that the asking price for Holmes is exorbitant, rendering a deal regarding the club’s closer unlikely. The Athletic’s Brendan Kuty adds to that doubt, noting that it’s “highly unlikely” the club parts with either Holmes or fellow leverage reliever Michael King.

As far as buying goes, the club has been frequently connected to Cardinals outfielder Dylan Carlson in the days and weeks leading up to the deadline, and those connections haven’t stopped today. Kuty, Sherman, Chris Kirschner of The Athletic, and MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand have are among those who have linked the Yankees and Carlson recently. That being said, Heyman cautions that the Cardinals are unlikely to deal Carlson unless they get a young MLB starter in return. That’s a price the Yankees could pay if they so chose, with youngsters Clarke Schmidt and Jhony Brito currently occupying spots in the club’s starting rotation.

As Feinsand notes, that Carlson’s ability to play quality defense in center field could be of particular value given Bader’s status as a pending free agent. Carlson could take over for Bader in center immediately in the event of a trade before the deadline, or play left field for the remainder of the 2023 campaign and shift over to center in the event Bader departs via free agency this offseason.

DJ LeMahieu Not On Yankees’ AL Division Series Roster Due To Foot Injury

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The Yankees were on a record wins pace early in the season. They hit a midseason lull and tailed off a bit down the stretch, but a strong month of September locked up the AL East title in convincing fashion. Their reward: a first-round bye as the AL’s #2 seed and an ALDS matchup with the Guardians, the Central division champs who dispatched the Rays in two games in their Wild Card round.

Here’s the roster the Yankees will roll out for this set:

Right-Handed Pitchers

Left-Handed Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Designated Hitter

Injuries are much of the story for New York. Notably, infielder DJ LeMahieu is not on the roster, as he continues to battle a right foot injury. The veteran hitter was reinstated from the injured list on September 30 after missing three weeks with toe inflammation. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports (Twitter link) that LeMahieu has a fracture in his foot/toe area that inhibits his ability to swing. While the Yankees aren’t ruling him out for the entirety of the postseason, he won’t be an option for this series and could be sidelined even if New York advances.

In LeMahieu’s place, the Yankees welcome back Matt Carpenter from the 60-day injured list. Carpenter has been out since the second week of August with a foot fracture of his own, his occurring after fouling a ball off his foot. While the 36-year-old hasn’t played in a game since the injury, he has taken live batting practice in recent days. Manager Aaron Boone informed reporters this afternoon he’s likely to deploy Carpenter as a left-handed bench bat but didn’t entirely rule out the possibility he sees some defensive action (Twitter link via Yankees Videos). Signed to a major league deal after being granted his release from a minor league pact with Texas in May, Carpenter ranked at a .305/.412/.727 clip in 47 games before going down.

There’s also a fair bit of intrigue in the bullpen. It was surprisingly revealed this morning that Scott Effross would require Tommy John surgery. He’s of course not on the roster, while Aroldis Chapman has been left off after missing a team workout last week. Boone told reporters that Chapman has been throwing in Miami over the past few days but “for now, he’s staying away” from the team (via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). Clay Holmes is on the roster after not pitching since September 26 due to a shoulder issue.

Yankees ALDS Notes: Rotation, Peralta, Holmes, Carpenter

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In the wake of the news that Aroldis Chapman will not be named to the Yankees’ ALDS roster for skipping a mandatory team workout, notes about other Yankees have helped clarify how the Bronx Bombers will prepare to take on the Guardians:

  • Gerrit Cole will be getting the start in Game 1 of the ALDS in New York on Tuesday night, manager Aaron Boone announced. Cole will be followed by Nestor Cortes and Luis Severino in games 2 and 3, respectively. Boone stated that he considered different alignments for his starting rotation, but ultimately decided on Cole for the opener. Boone added that the Yankees are likely to opt for a three man rotation of Cole, Cortes, and Severino for the ALDS, considering the series’s unique schedule, which features an off day between the first and second games. The extra off day will allow Cole to pitch Game 4 on full rest.
  • Clay Holmes is going to face hitters on Monday, in what he hopes will be a final tune up for the ALDS, reports Meredith Marakovits of YES (via Twitter). Holmes has battled a strain in his right shoulder since the end of September and was last used on September 26. Holmes said that his most recent bullpen felt “free and easy” and that his velocity was good. It remains to be seen whether or not Holmes will be used as a closer in the ALDS, given his second half struggles. Holmes accumulated a 4.84 ERA during the second half, a far cry from his dominant first half, during which he logged a 1.31 ERA.
  • Wandy Peralta will be ready and back in the Yankees bullpen for the ALDS, Marakovits reports (via Twitter). Peralta hit the 15-day IL retroactive to September 19 with thoracic spine tightness. Peralta, a left hander, has been one of New York’s most effective relievers, posting a 2.72 ERA in 56 1/3 innings. Peralta projects to be particularly important if the Yankees are to quiet the bats of Guardians lefties, like Andres Giminez and Steven Kwan. He has held lefties to an OPS of .422 in 2022. With Chapman off the roster, Peralta and Lucas Luetge figure to be the Yankees only left-handed options out of the bullpen.
  • Matt Carpenter expects to be ready to play in the ALDS, reports Bryan Hoch of MLB.com (via Twitter). Carpenter has been hitting, running bases, and took some grounders at first base on Sunday. After a sensational 47-game summer stretch in which Carpenter slugged 15 home runs and hit .305, the veteran infielder suffered a broken left foot on a foul ball. If Carpenter plays as a designated hitter against the Guardians, it is possible that Giancarlo Stanton will spend some time in the outfield, where he has not played since July 21.

Yankees Select Jacob Barnes, Place Zack Britton On 60-Day IL

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2:56PM: Though Britton’s season is over, his time in New York could continue, as ESPN’s Marly Rivera reports that “Britton and the Yankees are already engaged in preliminary conversations” about a new contract.

10:59AM: The Yankees announced they’ve selected reliever Jacob Barnes onto the major league roster. In a corresponding move, veteran southpaw Zack Britton has been placed on the 60-day injured list. His season is over after he left last night’s appearance with shoulder fatigue.

Barnes cracks a major league roster with a third different team of the 2022 campaign. The 32-year-old broke camp with the Tigers and pitched in 22 games, working to a 6.10 ERA through 20 2/3 innings. Barnes only struck out 11.2% of batters faced on a personal-worst 7.7% swinging strike percentage. Barnes did induce ground-balls at a career-best 51.5% clip, but the lack of swing-and-miss led the Tigers to designate him for assignment in June.

The veteran reliever signed a minor league deal with the Mariners and briefly made the major league roster in July. He spent a few days on the active roster but didn’t make an appearance before being let go. Barnes returned to Detroit on a minor league deal, spent a month in Triple-A and then was granted his release. He signed a minor league deal with New York at the end of August and pitched in ten games for their top affiliate in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

While Barnes hasn’t had much major league success this season, he’s pitched 18 innings of 2.00 ERA ball at the Triple-A level. Barnes has punched out 32.9% of opponents there against a 9.2% walk rate, and he’s missed plenty of bats at the big league level in years past. He punched out upwards of 30% of opponents with the Angels in 2020 and had an above-average 25.8% strikeout rate as recently as last season.

Because Barnes was in the organization by August 31, he’d be eligible for the Yankees postseason roster. He wasn’t on the 40-man roster at the end of August, but New York can still petition the commissioner’s office for him to be playoff-eligible as an injury replacement for Britton. Injury exemptions are a common occurrence each season, so the Yankees shouldn’t have an issue carrying Barnes for the playoffs if they desire. Now that he’s back on a 40-man roster, Barnes is technically arbitration-eligible for next season, but it’s probable the Yankees will take him off the roster at the end of the year and allow him to hit minor league free agency.

It seems unlikely they’d carry Barnes given his struggles at the big league level this year, but the Yankees pitching staff is navigating a number of injuries. Closer Clay Holmes has a shoulder strain, manager Aaron Boone revealed last night. New York won’t place him on the injured list and rule him out as an option for the AL Division Series, but he’s not expected to pitch again in the regular season. Bryan Hoch of MLB.com relays that the Yankees are hopeful Holmes will be ready for the start of the ALDS, but it’s hard to know for sure whether that’ll be the case.

Meanwhile, trade deadline acquisition Frankie Montas doesn’t look as if he’ll be an option for the ALDS. New York placed Montas on the IL with shoulder inflammation two weeks ago, and Boone said this morning that it appears he won’t be ready for the Division Series (Hoch link). Montas is playing catch today and the Yankees haven’t officially ruled him out for the ALDS, but Boone suggested it’s more likely he’d return as a relief option for the ALCS if the Yankees qualify.

Britton is certainly no longer a playoff option, with the 60-day IL placement ending his year. It could bring an unceremonious end to his four-plus year tenure as a Yankee. Acquired from the Orioles midway through the 2018 campaign, Britton was an elite late-game weapon for his first few seasons in the Bronx. He pitched to a 2.14 ERA over 105 1/3 innings through the end of the 2020 season, including grounders at an incredible 76.3% clip. The Yankees preemptively exercised a $14MM option on his services for 2022 at the end of that year to prevent Britton from triggering an opt-out that’d have allowed him to test free agency.

While an understandable move at the time, that decision proved very regrettable in hindsight. Britton was tagged for a 5.89 ERA in 18 1/3 frames last season, battling injury issues throughout the year. He eventually underwent Tommy John surgery last September, an issue that kept him on the injured list until last week. Britton made it back on September 22 and made three appearances, but he walked six of the nine batters he faced before yesterday’s injury.

Britton will hit the open market this winter coming off two virtually lost seasons. His fastball velocity was down in his very brief look this month, and he obviously battled extreme rust from a strike-throwing perspective. The 34-year-old hasn’t seemed fully healthy for two years, which’ll obviously deal a hit to his market value.

Yankees Place Scott Effross On IL With Shoulder Strain

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Yankees right-hander Scott Effross is going on the 15-day injured list with a shoulder strain, according to manager Aaron Boone, courtesy Lindsey Adler of The Athletic. Boone characterizes the strain as minor but says that Effross will be shut down from throwing for 7-10 days, per Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. Fellow righty Clarke Schmidt will take his place on the active roster.

It’s yet another blow to a Yankee relief corps that has seen its fair share of them this year. Earlier in the campaign, they lost Chad Green to Tommy John surgery. In July, Michael King suffered a season-ending elbow fracture. That month also saw Miguel Castro land on the shelf due to a shoulder strain. Here in August, the club has seen Clay Holmes and Albert Abreu go on the IL due to back spasms and elbow inflammation, respectively.

Effross, 28, was acquired from the Cubs prior to the trade deadline and immediately jumped into the mix for high leverage work in the Bronx. He recorded a hold in his second appearance with the club, later tallying a save as well. Unfortunately, the club will now have to get by without him as an option, at least for a few weeks. He’s thrown 52 1/3 innings this year between Chicago and New York, registering a 2.75 ERA with a 27.5% strikeout rate, 6.2% walk rate and 43.1% ground ball rate.

While the loss of Effross is certainly bad news, the Yankees got good news about their bullpen elsewhere. Holmes has started throwing bullpens without physical issues, per Meredith Marakovits of the YES Network, meaning he’s on track to return soon. Miguel Castro has started throwing as well, per Marly Rivera of ESPN, and could progress to throwing a bullpen by Friday. And in non-bullpen news, Boone tells Rivera that the plan for slugger Giancarlo Stanton is to be activated from his rehab assignment on Thursday.

Yankees Place Clay Holmes On 15-Day Injured List

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The Yankees have placed closer Clay Holmes on the 15-day injured list due to back spasms, as one of a series of transactions.  Miguel Andujar and Tim Locastro were optioned to Triple-A, while Ron Marinaccio, Estevan Florial, and Oswaldo Cabrera were all called up from Triple-A.  (Florial and Cabrera’s promotions were reported earlier today.)

Holmes’ placement is retroactive to August 14, and he hasn’t pitched since August 12.  There was increasing expectation that Holmes would need an IL trip to fully recuperate from his back problem, though New York manager Aaron Boone told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand and other reporters that the team is hopeful Holmes only misses the 15-day minimum.

Since being acquired from the Pirates prior to the 2021 trade deadline, Holmes has been outstanding in the pinstripes, posting a 2.10 ERA over his 77 innings in New York.  This outstanding performance elevated Holmes to the closer’s job when Aroldis Chapman went on the IL himself earlier this season, and with Chapman struggling even before he got injured, the Yankees kept Holmes as the top ninth-inning choice even after Chapman’s return.

However, just as the Yankees have looked shaky over the last five weeks of play, Holmes has also come back to earth after his incredible start.  The righty has a 9.00 ERA over his last 12 games and 11 innings pitched, and he has blown four of his last five save chances.  As a result, it now appears quite possible that Chapman (who has pitched better since his return from the IL) will reclaim the closer’s job in Holmes’ absence, and perhaps for the remainder of the season.  The Yankees could also essentially use both pitchers as closers or set-up men depending on the situation, rather than have a strict order to their late-game plans.

Yankees Place Zack Britton On 10-Day Injured List

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AUGUST 24: Britton is going for a second opinion, manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including Lindsey Adler of the Athletic). Some form of surgery is apparently on the table as a potential outcome.

AUGUST 23: The Yankees announced Monday that they’ve placed lefty Zack Britton on the 10-day injured list with a left elbow sprain, recalled outfielder Jonathan Davis from Triple-A Scranton and reinstated righty Clay Holmes from the Covid-19-related injured list. Additionally, the Yankees paused Miguel Andujar’s minor league rehab assignment and transferred him to the 60-day injured list.

Last October, the Yankees picked up Britton’s $14MM option for 2022, as declining it would have allowed the lefty to become a free agent.  In a sense, the club made a $27MM commitment for 2021-22.  In March of this year, it became apparent that Britton would require arthroscopic surgery to remove a bone chip in his left elbow.  This delayed his season debut until June 12th.  Not long after, he returned to the IL with a hamstring strain.  Never a control pitcher, Britton saw his walk rate this year balloon to 17.1% in 22 appearances.  His typically ridiculous groundball rate has remained, but Britton also lost his seeming ability to repress batting average on balls in play (.230 from 2018-20).  The result has been heavy traffic on the bases and a 5.89 ERA, perhaps related to a drop in fastball velocity exceeding two miles per hour.

Britton had already tumbled down the Yankees’ bullpen depth chart, with the team’s highest-leverage work this month going to Jonathan Loaisiga, Wandy Peralta, and Chad Green.  Another pricey reliever, Aroldis Chapman, returned from an IL stint for elbow inflammation on August 18th.

Andujar has been on the 10-day injured list since July 10 due to a left wrist sprain, so since his 60-day clock is retroactive to that date, he now isn’t eligible to return until well into September. There hasn’t been any specific word on a setback, though since Andujar hasn’t played in any minor league rehab games since last Wednesday, something certainly appears to be amiss. Andujar only began his rehab assignment last Tuesday, appearing in two games.

Between this injury and his prior status of getting shuttled back and forth between Triple-A and the Yankees’ roster, 2021 is shaping up as another lost season for Andujar, who has hit .253/.284/.383 in 162 plate appearances over 45 games this year. Since finishing second in AL Rookie Of The Year voting in 2018, Andujar has managed only a .588 OPS over 276 PA at the big league level, due to both injuries and the fact that the Yankees seem to have largely moved on. Gio Urshela’s emergence in 2019 covered Andujar’s old spot at third base, and recent attempts to convert him to an outfielder also haven’t yielded any additional playing time.

Injured List Activations: Schmidt, Frankoff, Blandino

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A trio of players were reinstated from the 60-day injured list and optioned to their teams’ respective Triple-A affiliates.

  • The Yankees activated right-hander Clarke Schmidt and optioned him to Scranton-Wilkes/Barre. The 25-year-old is one of the game’s better pitching prospects, but he’s been sidelined all year by an elbow strain. Schmidt, who briefly made his big league debut last season, tossed 8 2/3 innings on a rehab assignment and will continue to build up in the minors. Because of last year’s canceled minor league season, Schmidt has still yet to pitch at the Triple-A level. A 40-man roster spot was opened when reliever Clay Holmes was placed on the COVID-19 injured list due to virus-like symptoms.
  • The Diamondbacks activated right-hander Seth Frankoff and optioned him to Reno. The move fills Arizona’s 40-man roster. Frankoff signed a minor league deal over the winter and was selected to the big league club in April. The 32-year-old made four appearances and tossed 14 2/3 innings of 9.20 ERA/5.72 SIERA ball before landing on the IL with forearm soreness in early June.
  • The Reds reinstated infielder Alex Blandino and optioned him to Louisville. Reliever Art Warren was transferred from the 10-day to the 60-day IL to create a 40-man roster spot. Blandino, who has been out since June 5 with a fractured right hand, has a .200/.317/.257 line across 82 plate appearances this season. Warren landed on the IL with a left oblique strain on July 15. He’s now out until at least mid-September.

Pirates Trade Clay Holmes To Yankees

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The Yankees announced Monday that they’ve acquired right-handed reliever Clay Holmes from the Pirates in exchange for minor league infielders Diego Castillo and Hoy Jun Park. Catcher Rob Brantly, who’d been on the roster as a Covid-related replacement player, has been returned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to open a roster spot. Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported about a minute before the announcement that Holmes was being traded to the Yankees for a pair of minor leaguers (via Twitter).

Holmes, 28, has spent the season in the Pittsburgh bullpen and pitched to a 4.93 ERA, a 23.3 percent strikeout rate, a 13.2 percent walk rate and an enormous 72.8 percent ground-ball rate. To offer a bit more context on that percentage, Holmes has pitched 42 innings this season and surrendered just 16 fly-balls (three of which were pop-ups) and 15 line drives. He’s induced 83 grounders.

Control has been an obvious issue for Holmes, who has always hit four batters and thrown five wild pitches, but he’s only allowed 10 home runs in 119 2/3 career innings (0.75 HR/9). He’s also among the game’s best at limiting premium contact so far in 2021 (86th percentile average exit velocity; 91st percentile barrel rate).

Holmes has yet to reach arbitration but will be arb-eligible for the first time this winter. He’s making scarcely more than the league minimum and can be controlled all the way through the 2024 season if he ultimately sticks in the bullpen. He’ll have to prove his mettle with the Yankees at the Major League level, however, as he’s out of minor league options and cannot be sent down without first being exposed to waivers.

For much of his minor league career, Holmes worked as a starting pitcher. He’s made just four starts in the Majors, however, against 87 bullpen appearances. Because he can’t be sent down, it’s unlikely that the Yankees would try to stretch him out at the MLB level. He’ll head into the bullpen for now, where he can give them some length. Holmes has worked several outings of one-plus or two innings at a time and topped 30 pitches in an appearance on a few occasions.

Ground-ball rate looks to be something the Yankees have zeroed in on in recent years, at least with regard to their bullpen. Zack Britton is one of the most prolific ground-ball pitchers in history, and the current Yankee bullpen sports five more pitchers who’ve tossed at least 10 innings of relief this year with a grounder rate of 50 percent or better: Albert Abreu, Luis Cessa, Jonathan Loaisiga, Mike King and Wandy Peralta. At a time when the league is working to curb the use of foreign substances that increase the spin rate on four-seam fastballs and sliders, it’s perhaps not coincidental that the Yankees are seeking out another extreme ground-ball pitcher who relies on a low-spin sinker.

Yankees fans may be surprised to see Park included in this deal after he’s posted a .327/.475/.567 slash with 10 homers, nine doubles, a triple and eight stolen bases in 223 Triple-A plate appearances so far. The 25-year-old was recently called to the big league roster for the first time but only got one appearance before being sent back out.

Notably, however, the Yankees outrighted Park to Triple-A, however, indicating that he went unclaimed on outright waivers at the time of the move. The Pirates (or another club) could’ve had Park for free at that point, were they willing to dedicate a 40-man roster spot to him. The 29 other clubs passed. The Bucs will now pick up his rights (without having to dedicate a 40-man spot) and hope he can continue to build on that breakout showing he’s enjoyed so far in Triple-A this year. FanGraphs’ Eric Lonenhagen ranked Park 31st among Yankees farmhands prior to this deal, noting that his ability to play a viable shortstop an control the strike zone make him a “high-probability utility infield piece.”

Castillo, 23, had a history as a light-hitting middle infielder with premium contact rates before his production exploded in a pitcher-friendly Double-A setting this year. He’s hitting .277/.345/.504 (127 wRC+) with 11 home runs, 18 doubles and eight steals in 249 plate appearances on the year. Castillo has walked at a career-best 8.4 percent against a 13.4 percent strikeout rate. He’s another shortstop-capable infield prospect to add to the middle levels of the Pirates’ system — one whom Longenhagen ranked 21st in the Yankees’ system at the time of the swap.

Pirates Select Clay Holmes

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The Pirates announced Thursday that they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Clay Holmes. Pittsburgh also placed lefty Steven Brault on the 60-day injured list due to a strained left lat and placed righty Cody Ponce on the 10-day IL with forearm tightness. Righty Kyle Crick has been placed on the Covid-19 list as he goes through intake testing after being away from the team for the birth of his child.

Holmes, 28, was non-tendered by the Pirates back in December after missing much of the 2020 season due to a forearm strain. He quickly re-signed on a minor league pact, however, and he’s back on the club’s roster to begin the 2021 campaign.

The 2011 ninth-rounder has spent time with the Bucs in each of the past three seasons, pitching to a combined 5.91 ERA in 77 2/3 frames. Certainly, that’s not a great track record, but Holmes’ 59.2 percent ground-ball rate since 2018 ranks 12th among 484 big league pitchers with at least 70 innings thrown in that time. He also owns a lifetime 3.58 ERA in 223 2/3 innings of work in Triple-A, so the Pirates clearly believe there’s still some potential for him to unlock.

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