Blogs – Page 91 – Keefe To The City

Mar 17, 2021

Yankees Thoughts: Opening Day Roster Competitions Over?

There’s only two weeks left until Opening Day. It seems like the Yankees’ remaining questions have been figured out, or at least they should be figured out by now.

Two weeks. That’s it. Two weeks until Opening Day.

Here are 10 thoughts on the Yankees.

1. We are past the point of spring training baseball being exciting because it’s baseball. It’s time for the regular season to start. Two more weeks of games for the Yankees to potentially suffer more injuries isn’t ideal. I would be astonished if the Yankees went the rest of March without an injury. That’s just what I have come to expect for the third straight season marred by injuries.

2. There were three “competitions” coming into spring training. They were the fifth spot in the rotation, the last bench spot and the last bullpen spot. The Yankees have wanted Domingo German to win the fifth spot in the rotation, they have wanted Mike Tauchman to be the last man on the bench and they have wanted to give the last bullpen spot to either Michael King or Nick Nelson. With two weeks to go, there’s now some good clarity on the three roster battles.

3. The Yankees have gotten what they wanted entering spring training and that’s scumbag German pitching well, so they have a built-in excuse for sending Deivi Garcia down to begin the season. The Yankees were always going to put German in the rotation to start the season. They didn’t keep him around after his actions and they didn’t sit through his suspension and deal with the public criticism and backlash to not pitch him at the major league level. He has pitched very well in spring training, but I don’t know how anyone could be rooting for him to succeed. I want him to fail and fail miserably. I want him to give up six earned runs in the first inning of his starts and have the offense overcome it, so the team doesn’t lose. I don’t how anyone could think differently.

4. There might not only be one bench spot now. The Yankees played Gio Urshela at shortstop this week, and that means maybe they are thinking of not carrying Tyler Wade on the Opening Day roster. I’m all for this. Once upon a time I was a big Wade believer (2017-18) because the Yankees made him out to be their version of Ben Zobrist. The only difference being that Zobrist actually hit major league pitching. A great glove can only go so far, and when you have a career .575 OPS, that glove better be the best glove in the history of gloves. There has always been the idea Wade would hit with consistent playing time, but in his limited playing time, he hasn’t done nearly enough (since he hasn’t really done anything) to earn extended playing time. He’s been as close to an automatic out in the lineup as one can be in the majors and continue to be in the majors. He’s basically been the Yankees’ version of not having enough players for a co-ed softball game in Central Park in which the last spot in the order is then an automatic out.

5. The Yankees’ willingness to play Urshela at short is very bad news for Wade. The one thing Wade had going for him was that he was the team’s only option to play shortstop in the event of a Gleyber Torres day off or Torres injury (knocking on wood). If Urshela can play short than Wade has no business being on the team. No business at all. Give that roster spot to someone who can actually do something other than roll over a ground ball to the right side.

6. All along it’s been sort of a given that Wade would be on the bench with Kyle Higashioka and Brett Gardner. If the Yankees are seriously considering not carrying Wade, that means there are two bench spots available. To me, Mike Tauchman shouldn’t be one of those spots. He’s not good enough (he’s not good at all, outside of a six-week run in his entire career), and he’s a left-handed hitter who plays good defense. That sounds like Gardner (minus the ability to get the occasional big hit). Why have two Gardners on the team? It wouldn’t make sense to. Miguel Andujar is injured, so he’s out. Thairo Estrada could be a possibility, but he hasn’t done anything this spring to stand out. That leaves Derek Dietrich and Jay Bruce, and I think the Yankees are thinking about keeping them both.

7. Dietrich can play the outfield and the infield, while Bruce can play the outfield and first base. LeMahieu can play first, second and third. Torres can play short and second. Urshela can play third, second and short. Dietrich can play first, second, third and the corner outfields. Bruce can play the corner outfields and first. The Yankees are more than covered in the event of an emergency or injury. Dietrich and Bruce give the team legitimate major league bats when regulars get days off, and Aaron Boone will probably start giving days off in the third game of the season. (That wasn’t a joke. The third game will be the team’s first back-to-back and the second game of five game in five days.) No one wants to see Wade playing whenever Torres or LeMahieu need days off.

8. The Zack Britton injury opened an additional bullpen spot. The Yankees are going to have 13 position players and 13 pitchers. Five spots go to the rotation, leaving eight relievers. Aroldis Chapman, Chad Green, Darren O’Day and Justin Wilson are obvious, leaving four spots. Jonathan Loaisiga and Luis Cessa will get two of those spots, leaving two more. The final two spots come down to Michael King, Nick Nelson, Albert Abreu and Lucas Luetge. Whether or not Abreu has an option remaining will determine his roster fate. If he does, he goes to the alternate site for Opening Day. If he doesn’t, I think he makes the team. The Yankees paid Brian McCann $5.5 million to play for the Astros and beat them in Game 6 of the 2017 ALCS, and received Abreu in return. It would be nice if Abreu amounted to something.

9. I don’t want King on the Opening Day. He was awful last season in every role he appeared in and he should have to earn his way up in 2021. Nelson was also bad in 2020, outside of his first career appearance, but I liked him and his stuff much more than King. I want Luetge on the team. A 33-year-old, left-handed journeyman who last appeared in the majors in 2015 (he pitched in one game that season for Oakland) and who has struck out 13 in 6 1/3 scoreless innings this spring? Give me that guy.

10. This is the 26-man roster I would go into Opening Day with:

Gary Sanchez
Luke Voit
DJ LeMahieu
Gio Urshela
Gleyber Torres
Clint Frazier
Aaron Hicks
Aaron Judge
Giancarlo Stanton
Kyle Higashioka
Brett Gardner
Jay Bruce
Derek Dietrich
Gerrit Cole
Corey Kluber
Jameson Taillon
Jordan Montgomery
Deivi Garcia
Aroldis Chapman
Chad Green
Darren O’Day
Justin Wilson
Jonathan Loaisiga
Luis Cessa
Lucas Luetge
Nick Nelson

That’s the roster I would go with. In reality, you can remove Garcia for German, and if Abreu doesn’t have an option remaining, you can probably remove Nelson or Luetge for him. It still seems like the Yankees will take Wade and Tauchman over Dietrich and Bruce, and I won’t believe they aren’t going to until they don’t, but it would be a mistake to pick the two clearly lesser talented players.

Subscribe to the Keefe To The City Podcast. New episodes every Monday and Thursday during the offseason.

My book The Next Yankees Era: My Transition from the Core Four to the Baby Bombers is now available as an ebook!

Blogs • Rangers • Rangers Thoughts

Mar 17, 2021

Rangers Thoughts: Frustrating First Half Ends Without David Quinn

David Quinn can’t be happy with his team’s 9-0 win over the Flyers. That’s because he had nothing to do with it, and now everyone everywhere is questioning whether the team is better off without him.

David Quinn is the head coach of the Rangers, and right now, he can’t be happy with his team’s 9-0 win over the Flyers. That’s because he had nothing to do with it, and now everyone everywhere is questioning whether the team is better off without him.

Here are 10 thoughts on the Rangers.

1. I don’t think David Quinn should be the head coach of the Rangers, and if you frequent Keefe To The City, you will know that’s nothing new. I don’t think Quinn is the right guy for the job now, and I certainly don’t think he’s the right guy to lead this team into future when they are supposed to contend as quickly as next season. His lineup decisions, in-game strategies and ice-time decisions are too much to overcome. He has made too many head-scratching choices between last season and this season for me to change my mind about him.

2. I don’t think the 9-0 win over the Flyers on Wednesday was completely a result of Quinn not being on the bench, but I don’t think it was a complete coincidence either. I don’t think it was an accident that Mika Zibanejad scored a hat trick, a natural hat trick at that, after having three goals in the first 27 games of the season in which he has been benched and criticized publicly by Quinn. I don’t think it was by chance the Rangers happened to put together one of the most dominant offensive performances in franchise history in a game in which they didn’t have to worry about the lines being shuffled from minute to minute or have to fear a lack of ice time for a momentary lapse of judgment.

3. There was always going to be sarcastic comments about Quinn if the Rangers won by any score on Wednesday. Shutting out the Flyers and scoring nine goals in the process was the absolute worst-case scenario for any Quinn fans, Quinn himself and the Rangers’ front office, which is definitely still unsure if Quinn should be given a fourth season at the helm when the Rangers are expected to shed the “rebuilding” title from in front of the team name.

4. Six different Rangers scored in the rout of the Flyers. Brendan Lemieux for the second time this season, Artemi Panarin for the seventh, Pavel Buchnevich for the ninth and 10th (exactly two minutes apart), Jacob Trouba for the first, Zibanejad for the fourth, fifth and sixth and Filip Chytil for the fourth. Just a nonchalant five-point night for Zibanejad without the head coach who has benched him and who has publicly called him out. Freakin’ Brett Howden got on the scoresheet in the game. That’s how much of a team effort this one was.

5. If you’re Quinn, you have to be sick over Wednesday’s performance. Sure, his team played well, picked up two points and is that much closer to a postseason berth, but they also put together the best effort of the season and one of the best of all time without their head coach on the bench and without anyone from his coaching staff on the bench. That’s embarrassing at best for Quinn, and at worst, has to make the front office question everything. That’s how different the Rangers looked.

6. Now the Rangers head to Washington D.C. for games on back-to-back days against the division-leading Capitals, who the Rangers are somehow 2-0 against this season and have outscored 8-3 in those two games. The Capitals are tied for the league lead in points, and the Rangers have easily handled them in both games this season. It’s those types of efforts that make the Rangers’ .500 first half even more frustrating and harder to accept. They have shown they can play with and beat the best teams in the league, but they have also shown they are incapable of holding third-period leads, completely overcoming deficits and winning games in which they dominate possession and win in expected goals.

7. Even though the Rangers have picked up five of a possible six points in their last three games against the Bruins and Flyers, I still don’t think they will make the postseason. That pains me to say, but the math isn’t in their favor at the halfway point of the season. A .500 record wasn’t going to cut it for a half-season in a shortened, 56-game season, and that’s what the Rangers provided in the first 28 games, going 12-12-4. The 1.20 points per game threshold I have written about since before the season began wasn’t picked out of thin air. It was a historical measuring stick from seasons past with a little cushion built in. The Rangers averaged 1.00 point per game in the first half of the season and are three wins off pace. Three wins in three games they can’t get back on the schedule. There are four teams averaging at least 1.20 points per game in the East. They are the four teams currently holding the four playoff spots.

8. The Rangers could have easily won three more games. They have lost seven games in which they had a lead, including four in which they held a third-period lead. Against Pittsburgh alone, they have had leads in five of the six games between the two and have lost five of six. The difference between being holding a playoff spot right now and being the three points out of one that they are is their head-to-head series against the Penguins. The Rangers are currently six points out from the Bruins, who have a game in hand on the Rangers. They are nine points in back of the Penguins (those five blown leads loom large) and 14 points behind both the Islanders and Capitals. Let’s focus on the fourth spot, and the Bruins with 34 points because that’s the Rangers’ best path to a postseason berth.

9. The Bruins are averaging 1.26 points per game. If they play to that pace over their remaining 29 games, the will finish with 71 points. The Rangers would need to get 43 points in their remaining 28 games, a 1.54 points-per-game pace to reach 71 points. That’s a 21-6-1 or 20-5-3 or 19-4-5 record. That’s not happening. The Bruins have an odd number of games left (29), so let’s say they played one-game-over-.500 the rest of the way and finished with 64 points. The Rangers would have to play to a 1.29 points-per-game pace to earn 36 points in 28 games. That’s an 18-10-0 or 17-9-2 or 16-8-4 record. It’s much more reasonable, but unless the Bruins’ recent slide is going to continue, it’s not likely. On top of the Rangers playing exceptionally well for the next nearly two months, there’s still the issue of the Flyers sandwiched between them and the 4-seed.

10. It’s going to be hard, very, very hard for the Rangers to overcome their mediocre and mostly disappointing first half to reach the postseason. Not impossible, but unlikely. I’m not ready to give up on them yet, and I’m not ready for the season to completely turn into watching the development of the young core. I’m close, but I’m not there yet. A few more blown third-period leads, and I won’t have to give up on the Rangers. They will have done it for me.

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Blogs • Yankees • Yankees Thoughts

Mar 11, 2021

Yankees Thoughts: When Will Injuries End?

The biggest news to date in spring training isn’t good news, and that’s the elbow injury to Zack Britton, which requires surgery.

A week ago, I wrote about the Yankees needing to stay healthy for four more weeks until Opening Day. So much for that.

Here are 10 thoughts on the Yankees.

1. The biggest news to date in spring training isn’t good news, and that’s the elbow injury to Zack Britton, which requires surgery. Britton is the Yankees’ best reliever, and removing him from the bullpen weakens the Yankees’ biggest strength over the entire majors.

2. There was no way Britton reporting elbow soreness to the team was going to result in him getting an MRI and then picking up where he left off a few days later. An MRI on a 33-year-old who has thrown as hard as he has for as long as he has was always going to find something, and for Britton, who knew something was off enough to report it because he didn’t feel right, the MRI wasn’t going to come back clean. Even if the MRI showed nothing (which it was never going to), the Yankees were going to proceed with caution and shut down Britton for some amount of time anyway.

3. Without Britton, Chad Green becomes more important. As do both Darren O’Day and Justin Wilson. Everyone becomes more important, and that includes Jonathan Loaisiga and Luis Cessa, and even Nick Nelson and Michael King, and any other reliever Aaron Boone will inexplicably pitch in situations they don’t belong in.

4. The Yankees turned Adam Ottavino into O’Day and Wilson this offseason, but they should have kept Ottavino and signed O’Day and Wilson. The reason they didn’t is because of the imaginary salary cap and Hal Steinbrenner’s fear of paying a luxury tax. So Steinbrenner decided he would rather pay Ottavino to pitch for the Red Sox and potentially beat his team than pay a luxury tax to put together the best possible roster and try to win a championship for the first time in 12 years.

5. The Britton injury isn’t debilitating the way other injuries might be (and no, I’m not going to name them for fear of them happening), but it’s still not good. It could be the difference between being a one-game playoff team or having home-field advantage throughout the postseason. I would rather have Britton pitching in an important spot than any other Yankees reliever, and now for at least a few months he won’t be an option.

6. If Britton misses the first month of the season, that’s six games against Toronto and six games against Tampa Bay he won’t be available for. Immensely important games against the Yankees’ two division threats. Not to mention a pair of games against the Braves. If Britton misses two months, he’ll miss those games in addition to three games against the Astros, another four games against Tampa Bay, three games against the White Sox and another three games against Toronto. If he comes back at the end of June, he’ll miss another three games against Tampa Bay and another three games against Toronto. If he returns after the All-Star break, add in another three games against the Astros.

7. Enough is enough with the injuries. Enough was enough in 2019. In 2020, they lost Luis Severino in the first iteration of spring training and James Paxton had to undergo back surgery before spring training. Had the 2020 season started on time, Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Hicks would have missed roughly half the season because of injuries. Then once the season did start, not even a two-month, 60-game season was short enough for the Yankees to avoid injuries as they lost their starting catcher, second baseman, shortstop, third baseman, right fielder, designated hitter, No. 2 starter, No. 3 starter and best reliever to the injured list at various points.

8. From the start of the 2019 season through the end of the 2020 season, here are the Yankees that have been placed on the injured list (not including anyone placed on the IL for COVID-19):

Jordan Montgomery (recovering from Tommy John surgery)
Didi Gregorius (recovering from Tommy John surgery)
Aaron Hicks (left lower back strain)
Luis Severino (right shoulder inflammation and Grade 2 lat strain)
Dellin Betances (right shoulder impingement)
Ben Heller (recovering from Tommy John surgery)
Miguel Andujar (right shoulder strain)
Giancarlo Stanton (left biceps strain)
CC Sabathia (rehab from cardiac surgery)
Troy Tulowitzki (left calf strain)
Greg Bird (left plantar fascia tear)
Aaron Judge (left oblique strain)
Clint Frazier (left ankle sprain)
James Paxton (left knee inflammation)
Jake Barrett (right elbow inflammation)
Domingo German (left hip flexor strain)
Kendrys Morales (left calf strain)
Cameron Maybin (left calf strain)
Giancarlo Stanton (right knee sprain)
Luke Voit (abdominal strain)
Gary Sanchez (left groin strain)
Brett Gardner (left knee inflammation)
Luke Voit (sports hernia)
David Hale (lumbar spine strain)
Edwin Encarnacion (right wrist fracture)
Aaron Hicks (right flexor strain)
Jonathan Holder (right shoulder inflammation)
Stephen Tarpley (left elbow impingement
Thairo Estrada (right hamstring strain)
Gio Urshela (left groin injury)
CC Sabathia (right knee inflammation)
Mike Tauchman (left calf strain)
Dellin Betances (partial tear of Achilles tendon)
Luis Severino (Tommy John surgery)
Masahiro Tanaka (concussion)
Tommy Kahnle (right UCL injury)
Kyle Higashioka (right oblique strain)
Giancarlo Stanton (left hamstring strain)
Aaron Judge (right calf strain)
DJ LeMahieu (left thumb sprain)
Zack Britton (left hamstring strain)
James Paxton (left flexor strain)
Gleyber Torres (left hamstring strain)
Aaron Judge (right calf strain)
Gio Urshela (right elbow bone spur)
Ben Heller (right biceps nerve)

9. Are the Baseball Gods done evening things out from the Yankees’ 1996-2000 championship years? Four championships in five seasons and a fifth World Series appearance in 2001 was always going to have to be evened out, but hasn’t it by now? The 2002 ALDS loss to the Angels. Losing the final three games of the 2003 World Series. Blowing a 3-0 series lead in the 2004 ALCS. Gary Sheffield and Bubba Crosby crashing into each in Game 5 of the 2005 ALDS. The rainout in the 2006 ALDS. Chien-Ming Wang completely losing it in the 2007 ALDS. The 2008 injury bug. Losing four of the last five games of the 2010 ALCS. Stranding 11 baserunners in Game 5 of the 2011 ALDS. The 2012 ALCS sweep to the Tigers. The 2013 roster. The 2014 roster. Having to face Dallas Keuchel in the 2015 wild-card game. The 2016 disaster. Losing both chances to advance to the World Series in 2017. Getting embarrassed in the 2018 ALDS. Setting the all-time, single-season record for most players placed on the injured list in and losing four of the last five in the 2019 ALCS. The continuation of the injuries from the season before and Aaron Boone’s legendary pitching strategy in the 2020 ALDS. As Yankees fans, we get it, Baseball Gods. We get it. We were very fortunate for the run 1996-2000 run, and even the 1995-2012 run and then the 2017-present run, but it’s time to move on.

10. Three weeks from today is Opening Day. Three weeks. I’m excited about how close that is, but also petrified of how far away it is. That means three weeks of spring training games, batting practices, simulated games and bullpen sessions for more injuries to occur. The Yankees have already lost their top pitching prospect and top reliever in the first half of spring training, and there’s another half to go. Can the Yankees please get to Opening Day without anymore injuries? I know it’s a lot to ask, especially these last few seasons, but maybe it’s time the going-on-three-seasons injury bug moved on from the Yankees.

Subscribe to the Keefe To The City Podcast. New episodes every Monday and Thursday during the offseason.

My book The Next Yankees Era: My Transition from the Core Four to the Baby Bombers is now available as an ebook!

Blogs • Yankees

Mar 10, 2021

Zack Britton Injury Very Bad for Yankees

The Yankees will be without their best reliever for some unknown amount of time, and the team’s bullpen depth will be tested right away this season.

The Yankees couldn’t get through the first week of spring training without an injury, shutting down top pitching prospect Clarke Schmidt. Then they barely went two weeks without another injury, announcing their top reliever Zack Britton would need to undergo surgery to remove a bone chip in his elbow.

It could have been worse. The Yankees could have announced Britton needs a much more intense, career-changing surgery, and that he wouldn’t pitch again for them until sometime during the 2022 season. So the result of his left elbow soreness isn’t the worst-case scenario, but it certainly isn’t the best-case scenario either.

There was no way Britton reporting elbow soreness to the team was going to result in him getting an MRI and then picking up where he left off a few days later. An MRI on a 33-year-old who has thrown as hard as he has for as long as he has was always going to find something, and for Britton, who knew something was off enough to report it because he didn’t feel right, the MRI wasn’t going to come back clean. Even if the MRI showed nothing (which it was never going to), the Yankees were going to proceed with caution and shut down Britton for some amount of time anyway.

So now the Yankees are without their best reliever for some unknown amount of time. There has been a lot of speculation based on others who have had a similar surgery, like Gio Urshela, who underwent the same surgery and is just now getting back to playing, even so, he’s a position player. There have been estimates of two months and three months and the All-Star break and September. There have been fears of Britton not pitching again this season because he pitches for the Yankees and because it’s hard to find an injury or diagnosis or rehab the Yankees haven’t botched like a routine ground ball to Gleyber Torres at short over the last few seasons. No one knows exactly when Britton will return, and the Yankees certainly aren’t going to give an expected return date considering how well that has gone for them ever since Aaron Judge’s broke his wrist in July 2019. All we know is Britton is unavailable and will be for a while.

The Yankees planned for something like this. Not as well as they could have, but they still somewhat planned for it. They turned Adam Ottavino into two relievers in Darren O’Day and Justin Wilson, giving them an additional bullpen arm and more depth. But if not for the imaginary salary cap, they could have kept Ottavino and signed O’Day and Wilson, giving them more depth and more insurance in the event someone like Britton went down, which he now has. Instead of paying Ottavino $9 million and some luxury tax fees for this season’s payroll, the Yankees will pay Ottavino $850,000 to pitch for the Red Sox and against the Yankees and their all-right-handed lineup up to 19 times this season. (Most likely, the expected-to-suck Red Sox will move Ottavino at the trade deadline to a contender and get themselves a few prospects to expedite their rebuild. The Yankees hurt themselves in the short term and the long term with the trade.)

Britton’s injury makes the Yankees weaker at a position of strength, and it means Aroldis Chapman can’t be walking the park in the early part of the season, and it means Chad Green can’t have the type of early part of the season he had in 2019 when he allowed 14 earned runs and a 1.228 OPS against in 7 2/3 innings and was sent down. The injury means everyone moves up one spot in the bullpen pecking order, and because the Yankees love set bullpen innings, that means Green is now the eighth-inning pitcher for the Yankees. O’Day and Wilson go from the fifth and sixth innings (depending on the handedness of the batters in those innings) to the sixth and seventh innings. The domino effect caused by Britton’s absence means the Yankees will rely more heavily on Jonathan Loaisiga (not ideal), Luis Cessa (oh no) and even Nick Nelson (I don’t feel so good) and Michael King (I think I’m going to be sick). The small bullpen circle of trust is forced to increase it’s circumference and the Yankees are weaker because of it.

“I think we have a very strong bullpen on paper, but we have to wait and see how it plays out,” Brian Cashman recently said. “And if it’s not, we’ll have to make adjustments along the way like any team fighting for something has to do.”

The bullpen is strong, in theory. Like the Yankees’ rotation. It’s strong until something like this happens.

To use Cashman and Boone’s favorite word, “ultimately,” the Britton injury isn’t going to ruin the Yankees’ season. It makes them weaker, though it’s not going to keep them out of the postseason. The Yankees are going to go to the postseason, and as they have proven in the past, they don’t care how they get in. Whether they have to play in a one-game playoff, or play mores games in the ALCS in Houston or play a best-of-3 in Cleveland, they don’t care. They just want to get in. Britton’s injury won’t keep them from getting in, but getting in as the No. 1 overall seed or division winner is a different story.

If Britton misses the first month of the season, that’s six games against Toronto and six games against Tampa Bay he won’t be available for. Immensely important games against the Yankees’ two division threats. Not to mention a pair of games against the Braves. If Britton misses two months, he’ll miss those games in addition to three games against the Astros, another four games against Tampa Bay, three games against the White Sox and another three games against Toronto. If he comes back at the end of June, he’ll miss another three games against Tampa Bay and another three games against Toronto. If he returns after the All-Star break, add in another three games against the Astros.

Any missed time is a problem, and that amount of missed time is a big problem because right now, the assumption is Chapman, Green, O’Day and Wilson can combine to get the outs Britton would have gotten if he were available. That’s assuming Chapman, Green, O’Day and Wilson stay healthy themselves and are as effective as possible.

The Yankees have lost their top pitching prospect to an elbow injury and their top reliever to an elbow injury in spring training. There’s three weeks left in spring training. Three weeks of spring training games, batting practice, simulated games and bullpen sessions. Three weeks too many for the 2021 Yankees to continue the injury trend started by the 2018 and 2019 Yankees.

Subscribe to the Keefe To The City Podcast. New episodes every Monday and Thursday during the offseason.

My book The Next Yankees Era: My Transition from the Core Four to the Baby Bombers is now available as an ebook!

Blogs • Yankees

Mar 9, 2021

Brian Cashman Gives Spring Training State of Yankees

Brian Cashman recently spoke about the state of the Yankees and the health of his new-look rotation at the halfway point of spring training.

If you thought the Yankees could go two straight weeks without an injury, you’re a fool. Zack Britton will undergo an MRI on his elbow soreness and all Yankees fans now await word on the health of the team’s best reliever. The Yankees still have to three-plus weeks until Opening Day and that’s a lot of games and innings and batting practices and bullpen sessions for things to go wrong.

Brian Cashman recently spoke about the state of the Yankees and the health of his new-look rotation at the halfway point of spring training, and when Cashman speaks I listen since he’s the most important voice in the organization.

On the health of Corey Kluber and Jameson Taillon.
“Still kicking. It’s early. Everybody is getting their work in, and so far so good is all I can say.”

Cashman’s joke was a good joke, but it was also the truth. Still kicking in early March is a good sign for them. Still kicking after pitching in spring training games and simulated games is a good sign for them. Cashman is also right when he says “It’s early” because it is. The Yankees still have a little more than three weeks to leave Florida in one piece and not suffer any injuries to the expected Opening Day roster. As Cashman said, “So far, so good.”

On the rehab of Luis Severino.
“I’m sorry I don’t want to give the wrong information. I know it’s going really well. I don’t want to give you the wrong information.

You could hear in Cashman’s voice that he knows how many times he and his manager and the organization have looked foolish over the last three seasons by giving incorrect injury timetables that he wasn’t about to venture down that road when it comes to Luis Severino. Especially since it was Severino who Cashman admitted wasn’t thoroughly checked out before being allowed to throw following a spring training injury back in 2019. Everything does seem to be going well with Severino and he seems to be on track for the mid-summer return, which was anticipated when Cashman said he would undergo Tommy John surgery a little more than a year ago.

On trading Adam Ottavino.
“I remember when I had to talk to Otto on the phone and give him the surprise news that not only were you traded, or being traded, but you’re going to our arch-rival. As you all know, were completely right-handed lineup for the most part and we play, obviously, Boston within our division more times than you want so it’s going to create great lanes for him.”

Cashman didn’t want to trade Ottavino. I know he didn’t. He was forced to by the mandate from ownership to get below the imaginary salary cap and not spend a single penny over the luxury-tax threshold. Ottavino ending up in Boston means the Red Sox were the Yankees’ only option.

Cashman laid out my biggest fear: Ottavino dominating the Yankees’ right-handed in the late innings of close games. The Yankees and Red Sox play 19 times, which means there will be plenty of opportunities for Ottavino to come in to face DJ LeMahieu or Aaron Judge or Giancarlo Stanton or Luke Voit or Gary Sanchez or Gleyber Torres or Clint Frazier or Gio Urshela. Thankfully, the Yankees have Aaron Hicks and Brett Gardner to combat left-handed pitching!

On the depth of the bullpen.
“I think we have a very strong bullpen on paper, but we have to wait and see how it plays out. And if it’s not, we’ll have to make adjustments along the way like any team fighting for something has to do.”

Well, so much for that “very strong bullpen on paper” after the news that Britton was sent for an MRI due to elbow soreness. Britton is 33 and knows when something doesn’t feel right, and for him to need an MRI, something is clearly not right. Even if the result of the MRI is to rest, a shutdown will be implemented and Britton will eventually have to redo spring training. Very rarely does a pitcher undergo and MRI and nothing is found and they pick up where they left off. When it comes to the Yankees and the handling of injuries, you can forget about that option.

The bullpen might be strong, but just think about how strong the 2019 bullpen was supposed to be with Britton, Aroldis Chapman, Dellin Betances, Chad Green and Ottavino. Betances appeared in one game, Green had to be sent down in April and Chapman was as wild as ever before throwing the season on a hanging slider. The Yankees were fortunate Tommy Kahnle bounced back after a down 2018 and that Ottavino lived up to his $9 million salary. The 2021 bullpen isn’t as good as that bullpen was supposed to be, and it will be a lot worse if Britton’s soreness is something serious.

On re-signing Brett Gardner.
“We didn’t bring him back as a reward for what he’s done in the past. We brought him back because we think he can impact us in the present. We know he can and we know he will as long as he stays healthy he’s going to help us a lot.

I’m still very scared about Gardner continuing to wrongfully stunt Frazier’s growth. Boone claims Frazier is the team’s starting left fielder, but I don’t buy it. Boone didn’t start Frazier over Gardner in the playoffs, and what has changed since then? Nothing.

I would say maybe Boone was talked to by the front office during the offseason and instructed to play Frazier over Gardner, but then that would go against what Cashman said at his end-of-the-season press conference when he said:

“In terms of the lineup and in-game strategies, those are the manager’s. It always has been and as long as I’m the general manager, it never will be different.”

Or when he said:

“I know there’s that narrative about the manager being a puppet and none of that’s true. I’ve never ordered a manager to do anything specifically and Aaron would be able to testify to that as well as Joe Girardi and Joe Torre. They’ve never been directed at any time by me or our front office to do something they didn’t want to do.”

It’s going to be Boone’s call as to who plays left field and when. Frazier being in the starting lineup only against left-handed starting pitching isn’t enough. Gardner needs to be what he was re-signed to be: the fourth outfielder who plays infrequently.

On Derek Dietrich or Jay Bruce being on the Opening Day roster.
“They were brought in to get a legitimate shot to try and find a way to make this roster, and it’s a strong roster. But so far the early returns are strong. They look like they are going to make us have decisions. That’s what we want. We want to be in a position to make tough calls.”

There seems to be a general consensus that Mike Tauchman is going to make the Opening Day roster. I’m not sure why. The Yankees have outfielders in Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks, Clint Frazier and Brett Gardner. (We’ll leave Giancarlo Stanton out since Cashman said at his end-of-the-season press conference that Stanton is only a DH now.) Tyler Wade has also played all three outfield positions in his career. Keeping Tauchman would mean keeping yet another outfielder, and even though he’s left-handed, he isn’t very good. His entire career is being kept up by a six-week stretch in 2019. That shouldn’t be enough to have him on the team over Derek Dietrich, who is also left-handed hitter, but can play the infield in addition to the outfield, or Jay Bruce, who is also left-handed and has had the best career of three. I expect Tauchman to be on the Opening Day roster with the other two either no longer in the organization or at the alternate site.

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