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Tag: Didi Gregorius

Blogs • Yankees

Jun 4, 2015

The Yankees’ DFA Waitlist

David Carpenter was finally designated for assignment. Now that he’s gone, it’s time to to turn to the next three Yankees in line on the DFA Waitlist.

Esmil Rogers

On Wednesday, after 22 games and 18 2/3 innings, David Carpenter was designated for assignment. It was the start of a pleasure-filled day with the removal of one of Joe Girardi’s most-trusted, yet horrible relievers, followed by the return of Masahiro Tanaka pitching a gem in a 3-1 win. After looking like the team that pissed away a nine-games-above-.500 record for most of May, the Yankees have gotten back on track in June with three straight wins and a sweep of the Mariners to remain in first place in the AL East. But back to Carpenter …

Carpenter had been bad for most of the nearly two months he was a Yankee. The Yankees traded once heralded prospect Manny Banuelos to the Braves in the offseason for Carpenter and left-hander Chasen Shreve, who has climbed the Joe Girardi Bullpen Pecking Order. Carpenter’s strikeout numbers had drastically declined this season, and after striking out 10.1 per nine innings in 2013 and 9.9 in 2014, that number had dipped to 5.3 this season. He failed to record a strikeout in his final five appearances for the Yankees, facing 12 batters over that span, and with an increase in walks and an increase in contact against him, four of his last six inherited runners scored. Carpenter had just one perfect appearance in May. It was time to go and so he went.

The move had been long overdue, but when it comes to Girardi and Brian Cashman, no move is ever made on time or before disaster strikes. The Yankees are all about second and third and fourth and fifth and sixth and seventh chances for players with limited ability or players who clearly not working out or players with no future or who have reached their ceiling or who have a history of being bad. It’s why Esmil Rogers, a 29-year-old with a 5.50 career ERA, is still on the team. It’s why Stephen Drew, who has hit .163/.235/.301 over his last 482 plate appearances is still a Yankee. It’s why Chris Capuano, a career starter who has been detrimental to the team in all four of his appearances this season, is still a Yankee. And it’s those three that are on the DFA Waitlist.

UP: Esmil Rogers
Esmil Rogers has made 16 appearances for the Yankees. One of those has been perfect. That appearance came on Opening Day when he faced one hitter (Jose Bautista) and struck him out. Since then, Rogers has been the same old hittable Esmil Rogers that has pitched to a 5.50 ERA in 452 career innings.

On Opening Day, Rogers was the long man, but now with Capuano being forced to the bullpen, he doesn’t have a role anymore. In 10 of Rogers’ 16 appearances this season, he has either allowed at least one earned run or at least one inherited runner to score. So you can scratch the idea of him being trusted as a right-handed middle reliever in a big spot. His role now is to wake up every morning and thank God he is a Major League Baseball player for the New York Yankees making $1.48 million (!!!) this season.

Unfortunately, the only two right-handers in the bullpen for the Yankees now are Rogers and Dellin Betances. Girardi would rather pick a right-handed person out of the crowd to face a right-handed hitter prior to the eighth inning than let one of his left-handers face the righty, so this is a problem. As long as Rogers is on the roster, Girardi is going to find work for him, and if the situation calls for a righty and it’s not the eighth or ninth inning, it’s going to be Rogers getting the call until Girardi realizes that ability matters more than the arm you throw with.

If the Yankees designate Rogers for assignment (I say “if” because they let Sergio Mitre and Chad Gaudin hang around forever), I would bet heavily against another team picking him up.

ON DECK: Stephen Drew
I said Stephen Drew had full-season “Ladies and gentlemen” immunity after his grand slam in Baltimore in April, but I didn’t say he had “DFA” immunity.

The Yankees finally sat Drew down on the West Coast to give Jose Pirela a chance to play more than once a month and just when it looked like Drew was playing himself off the team, he came up with a game-saving hit against Fernando Rodney on Tuesday night. But like Stephen Drew does, he followed it up with an 0-for-3 on Wednesday to drop to .165. He hasn’t seen .200 all year with his highest average of .193 coming on April 27.

Drew has been lucky that he is the only player on the team that can play both second and short with Didi Gregorius only being able to play short and Jose Pirela only being able to play second. But Brendan Ryan is on his way back and he can play anywhere, so Drew will now have to play with some urgency, even though I would take Stephen Drew over Brendan Ryan every day of the week and twice on Sunday because the best Brendan Ryan is going to do for you is hit a single. At least Drew can hit for some power.

If it was my call, I would play Drew at short, Pirela or Rob Refsnyder at second and sit Didi Gregorius down, as he has been a disaster in the field, at the plate and on the bases. Put Drew back in the only position he ever played before becoming a Yankee and let him try to regain the comfort level he had with the Red Sox in 2013. However, Cashman will never admit to his mistake of trading for Gregorius and likely still views the player who lost his starting job with the Diamondbacks in 2014 as the shortstop of the future for the Yankees, so that idea is out of the question.

If Drew doesn’t start to hit with some consistency, he is going to lose his job. And he is going to lose it to .234 career hitter with 19 career home runs.

IN THE HOLE: Chris Capuano
The Yankees should have never re-signed Chris Capuano. The Yankees should have never done a lot of things they have done in the last two offseasons, but they did. Capuano made three starts for the Yankees going 0-3 with this line: 12.2 IP, 18 H, 11 R, 9 ER, 4 BB, 12 K, 2 HR. For $5 million, which is what Capuano is making, I could have made three starts for the Yankees and lost all of them.

Now that Tanaka is back, Capuano is in the bullpen, which is where he was for all 28 of appearances for the Red Sox last season before he was designated for assignment by them. Capuano’s only job will be as a long man since he doesn’t have the stuff to translate into a middle reliever or late-innings role. If he pitches the way he did in his three starts as a reliever, he will be designated for assignment for the second time in as many years.

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Blogs • Yankees

Jun 2, 2015

I Still Miss Robinson Cano

Despite his early-season struggles and the eight-plus years and money left on his deal, I still miss want Robinson Cano and wish he were a Yankee.

Robinson Cano

I never wanted Robinson Cano to leave. I said as much on Dec. 7, 2013 when his signing a 10-year deal with the Mariners became real. Coming off an 85-win postseason-less year, the Yankees let the best player on the team, in his prime, leave for money. Just money. The one thing that is supposed to separate the Yankees from every other team.

Cano left the Yankees after a .314/.383/.516 season in which he hit 27 home runs and 107 RBIs when his protection varied between Travis Hafner, Vernon Wells, Ichiro Suzuki and Lyle Overbay. He left for a 10-year, $240 million offer the Yankees were never going to give him, left the New York City life for the Seattle life and left behind Yankee Stadium for Safeco Field. But what he really left was a big gaping hole at second base and in the middle of the Yankees’ lineup.

Despite missing 14 games total over the previous seven seasons, being a career .309 hitter with four consecutive Silver Sluggers, two Gold Gloves and finishing in the Top 6 in MVP voting in the last four years, the Yankees decided to lowball their homegrown star with a $175 million offer while gladly overpaying Jacoby Ellsbury with $153 million. So instead of Cano continuing to hit third for the Yankees for the next decade, the Yankees turned a Top 5 hitter in the game, the best all-around second baseman in baseball and a Hall of Fame candidate into Ellsbury, Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran.

Since Cano’s departure, second base has been played by Brian Roberts, Brendan Ryan, Yangervis Solarte, Dean Anna, Kelly Johnson, Stephen Drew and Gregorio Petit, a revolving door of reclamation projects and career bench players that have all failed and failed miserably. Roberts was designated for assignment after half a season; Ryan has been hurt and an offensive disaster; Solarte was traded for Brandon McCarthy; Anna may or may not be in baseball anymore (just kidding, he’s playing Triple-A for the Cardinals); Johnson was traded to the Red Sox in a garbage for garbage deal for Drew; Drew hit .150 for the Yankees last year and hasn’t seen .200 this year and hasn’t seen .190 since April 27; Petit was about as good as a 30-year-old with 62 career games entering this season could be. The Yankees remain too scared to permanently put Drew on the bench or move Drew to short and put Didi Gregorius on the bench and let either Jose Pirela or Rob Refsnyder become the full-time second baseman. This is due to stubbornness and also being worried that Drew might find his .253 career average stroke one of these days even if there’s a better chance of finding a section of seats between the bases at the Stadium completely filled.

The Yankees needed and still need Robinson Cano and Robinson Cano needed and still needs the Yankees. Unfortunately, both were too stupid to recognize this with the Yankees worried about pinching their pennies for their superstar and Cano worried about getting every last penny he could in free agency. Financially, both are better off in their current state, with the Yankees continuning to up the price of everything at the Stadium even without Cano at second and Cano making $24 million per year last year, this year and for the next eight years. But from an on-the-field product perspective and from a wins perspective, which is what every decision should be based upon, the Yankees are without their homegrown talent who was born to hit in the Bronx and their homegrown star is struggling for a second year to find his power stroke for a once-again underachieving team which is closer to last place than first place in the AL West.

In a perfect world, the Yankees would all go back to the beginning of the 2013 season and never let Cano hit free agency. They would never offer him a disrespectful $175 million, while gladly opening up the bank and handing a blank check to Jacoby Ellsbury based off one of his six-plus seasons in the league. Cano would be a Yankee right now, would have been one last year, and would continue to be one for the remainder of his career. Brett Gardner and either Martin Prado or Chase Headley could hit in front of him, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira behind him and either Stephen Drew or Didi Gregorius wouldn’t be on the team. (Just writing it out brought a smile to my face.)

Unfortunately, we don’t live in a perfect world. We live in one where the Steinbrenners and Brian Cashman have made a series of bad decisions based off finances and incorrect talent and scouting evaluations. As a result, we’re left with a Yankees team that is currently first place in a division that will likely be won by a team with a mid-80s win total. It’s not a great Yankees team and compared to other teams in recent years, it’s not even that good, but it’s good enough to win the AL East in a down year, something that AL East hasn’t experienced in forever.

Maybe one day Cano will be back in the Bronx the way Alfonso Soriano made his way back when the Cubs no longer wanted to pay him and the Yankees need a power presence. There will come a day when the Mariners no longer want to pay Cano and with him hitting .246/.290/.337 with two home runs and 16 RBIs, they probably don’t want to pay him now. Maybe that day will come soon when the Mariners need salary relief and the Yankees can do what they should have done all along and pay Cano for the rest of his career.

This week, Cano said, “I would never regret my decision,” but he must and the Yankees must regret theirs. They needed each other and still do. Cano must miss hitting at the Stadium for half the season and the Yankees must miss having the best second baseman in baseball in the middle of their infield and the middle of their lineup. I know I still miss him.

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Podcasts • Subway Series • Yankees

Apr 24, 2015

Podcast: Bald Vinny

Mets fans have tried to steal Roll Call and now they are expected to pack Yankee Stadium this weekend for the Subway Series in the Bronx.

New York Yankees

The Yankees’ season looked to be in trouble on Sunday Night Baseball against the Red Sox in the sixth game of the season, but since that win, the Yankees have gone 8-3, including winning six of seven to finish their 10-game road trip. The Yankees have given fans something to be excited about over the last week and they take their three-game winning streak into the most-hyped Subway Series in years.

Bald Vinny of the Right Field Bleacher Creatures and Bald Vinny’s House of Tees joined me to talk about the state of the Yankees’ after the first 16 games of the season, their recent run to end their 10-game road trip, Mets fans stealing Roll Call from Yankees fans and what to expect at Yankee Stadium for the Subway Series this weekend.

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Podcasts • Subway Series • Yankees

Apr 23, 2015

Podcast: JJ Barstool Sports New York

After starting the season 1-4, the Yankees have won eight of their last 11 and are tied for first in the AL East with the first half of the Subway Series up next.

New York Yankees v Detroit Tigers

After the six-game homestand to open the season, it looked like the Yankees’ season could unravel before it really even began with a 10-game road trip to Baltimore, Tampa Bay and Detroit. But after starting the season 1-4 and being 3-6 after the first three games of the road trip, the Yankees have won six of their last seven and are tied for first in the AL East with the first half of the Subway Series up next.

JJ of Barstool Sports New York joined me to talk about the state of the Yankees after the first weeks of the season, the problems with the Yankees’ lineup, the hype surrounding the Subway Series and why the Yankees need to put an end to the Mets fans’ happiness this weekend.

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Blogs • Yankees

Apr 22, 2015

When Does the Free Pass for Jacoby Ellsbury Expire?

Jacoby Ellsbury hasn’t received any criticism since he became a Yankee and it’s time the $153 million center fielder was treated according to his performance.

Jacoby Ellsbury

Jacoby Ellsbury became a Yankee in the same free-agency class as Masahiro Tanaka, Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran. Five years after spending $423.5 million on Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett following a postseason-less season, the Yankees spent $438 million on Ellsbury, Tanaka, McCann and Beltran following another postseason-less season, which ended with a Red Sox championship.

The Yankees let Robinson Cano go to Seattle after lowballing their homegrown superstar and then used the money they should have used for a new deal to re-sign him to overpay for a 30-year-0ld center fielder, a 30-year-old catcher and a 37-year-old right fielder. And in the first season with the three new position players on the rosters, the Yankees went 84-78 and missed the playoffs for the second straight season.

Ellsbury hit .271/.328/.419 with 16 home runs and 70 RBIs in 149 games. McCann hit .232/.286/.406 with 23 home runs and 75 RBIs in 140 games. Beltran hit .233/.301/.402 with 15 home runs and 49 RBIs in 109 games. All three had bad seasons and that’s before you factor in their salaries and that they made $53.1 million combined. But in a year in which the Yankees finished only six games over .500 and missed the playoffs and somehow had a worse offensive team than the miserable 2013 Yankees, Ellsbury’s subpar season (in which he finished lower than his career averages in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage) was somehow considered “good”. Despite playing nowhere near that of a $21.1-million-per-season center fielder in his prime and posting a slash line nowhere near his 2013 season and nowhere even close to his 2011 season, Ellsbury was given a free pass for 2014, and apparently that free pass doesn’t expire because he’s been given one again to start 2015.

The Yankees didn’t need any of the three, but that didn’t stop them from signing them and putting more bad contracts on the books. (Thanks, Brian Cashman!) It’s still ridiculous that the Yankees were willing to give $153 million to an inferior player in Ellsbury while maintaining their stance and not willing to budge on their own Cano at $175 million. The Yankees didn’t and don’t need Ellsbury. They already had Brett Gardner, who is the cheaper version of Ellsbury. They did need Cano. And without signing a luxury, not a necessity, in Ellsbury, they would have been able to up their seven-year, $175 million offer to Cano (even though they’re the Yankees and they could have upped it anyway).

On Monday night, the Yankees trailed the Tigers 2-1 in the eighth inning with Chase Headley and Didi Gregorius on first and one out. Gregorius had just singled and chase Alfredo Simon from the game and Brad Ausmus went into his miserable bullpen and called on Joba Chamberlain to face Ellsbury. (Ellsbury has seen Chamberlain more than any other place in the majors since Joba’s 2007 debut.) After fouling off a first-pitch fastball, Ellsbury hit a second-pitch fastball into a 4-6-3 inning-ending double play. Rally over. Inning over. Game all but over as the Yankees would go on to lose 2-1.

It was the 13th game of the season for the Yankees and the 12th game of the season for Ellsbury. He finished the game 1-for-4 with his 15th hit of the season, 14 of which are singles with the other being a double, with zero home runs and zero RBIs.

On Tuesday night, Ellsbury went 0-for-4 with a walk, maintaining his one extra-base hit total for the season and once again failing to drive in a run. Even Gregorio Petit has one RBI this season and it’s shocking when he is able to make contact at the plate and a miracle when he puts the ball in play. But the Yankees won 5-1 on Tuesday thanks to contributions from players not named Jacoby Ellsbury, so he was able to get by for another night.

What if A-Rod, who is making $100,000 less than Ellsbury this season, was entering the 15th game of the season with one extra-base hit, no home runs and no RBIs? I’m sure Twitter and the Post and the Daily News and ESPN would leave him alone and let his performance go unnoticed and give him time to turn it around. But for some reason, no one is talking about Ellsbury’s lack of run production. It’s not like the Yankees are off to some impressive start and therefore no reason to complain about anything or be worried or concerned about the team. They’re a .500 team through 14 games and their second-highest paid position player (Mark Teixeira is first at $22.5 million this season … and next!) this season has been invisible offensively.

I didn’t want Jacoby Ellsbury on the Yankees. I didn’t want a 30-year-old center fielder on a seven-year, $153 million, who’s biggest part of his game is his speed, knowing that speed won’t last forever. I didn’t want to watch 37-year-old Ellsbury as a platoon player making $21.1 million in 2020. (The Yankees will have to pay him $5 million to not play for them in 2021.) But he’s here, and he’s for this year and at least the next five years after this one. And since he’s here, his performance needs to be treated accordingly.

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