2018 Yankees Off Season / Spring Training Thread | Page 10 | Syracusefan.com

2018 Yankees Off Season / Spring Training Thread

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You have to figure that some of these guys will be coming back. Still, if they are in demand, maybe they should have tried to work them into some trades.
blame DLsbury.

If would’ve agreed to a trade, we could’ve thrown some in to get them to take more $$.

Like the Headley deal.

Think I hate him more than mcadoo...
 

Ford is from the next town over from where I live. I followed his HS career and then he ended up playing for Princeton and also the Trenton Thunder. This guy has hit where ever he's played. Will be curious to see if he moves up with Seattle.
 
Yankees, Pirates Discussing Gerrit Cole Trade

By Mark Polishuk | December 14, 2017 at 11:03pm CDT

The Pirates and Yankees are discussing a trade that would send right-hander Gerrit Cole to the Bronx Bombers in exchange for a trade package that includes outfielder Clint Frazier, George A. King III of the New York Post reports. The Bucs are also reportedly looking for a young starting pitcher who is on the verge of being ready for the big leagues; righty Chance Adams may be the Yankees prospect that best fits this description, though there isn’t any indication the Pirates are specifically targeting Adams.

Cole has been linked to the Yankees in rumors throughout the Winter Meetings, though New York was (at least at one point) under the impression that Cole wasn’t being made available. Then again, Pittsburgh hasn’t given much indication all offseason if the team plans to start selling off pieces or if it still plans to contend in 2018. Cole, Andrew McCutchen, and Josh Harrison have drawn the most trade buzz this winter, with the consensus being that McCutchen is the likeliest to be dealt regardless of whether the Bucs are going for it or not. Since McCutchen is only under contract through 2018, adding a big league-ready young outfielder like Frazier would seem to fit right into the Bucs’ plans.

Trading McCutchen or Harrison would free up more money from the Pirates’ 2018 payroll, though dealing Cole would also be the bigger indicator that Pittsburgh will explore at least a soft rebuild. Cole is also set for a pretty healthy salary next season (projected by MLBTR to earn $7.5MM) in his second year of arbitration eligibility, though hardly a big sum for a team like the Yankees, their desire to get under the luxury tax threshold notwithstanding. There is no shortage of teams that would be interested in two years of control over a 27-year-old who has shown ace-like stuff in the past — the Twins, Rangers, and Orioles are a few other teams known to have checked in with the Pirates on Cole this offseason.

Cole posted a 4.26 ERA, 8.7 K/9 and 3.56 K/BB rate over 203 innings for Pittsburgh last season. It was the second time Cole has topped the 200-inning mark in his young career, as he bounced back nicely from an injury-shortened 2016 season. One worrisome number, however, was a big spike in home runs allowed, as Cole’s 1.4 HR/9 rate was more than double his 0.6 career mark prior to last season. He was hardly the only pitcher to run into trouble with the long ball in 2017, though it is a bit of a troubling statistic if Cole is moving from pitcher-friendly PNC Park to a hitters’ paradise like Yankee Stadium.

Frazier has already been part of one blockbuster deal in his young career, as he and Justus Sheffield were the headliners of the prospect package the Indians sent to the Yankees in the Andrew Miller trade in July 2016. The fifth overall pick of the 2013 draft, Frazier has long been touted as one of the game’s best prospects, ranked as high as 16th in the sport by the Baseball Prospectus top 100 list prior to the 2017 season.

For all of Frazier’s promise, however, he may be an expendable part in the Bronx. Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge look to own the corner outfield slots for years to come, with Aaron Hicks, Brett Gardner, and Jacoby Ellsbury in center field and in reserve roles. (This doesn’t even account for other prospects like Estevan Florial, or the possibility that the Yankees could pursue another star outfielder like Bryce Harper in free agency.) New York’s farm system is more than deep enough to withstand the potential loss of Frazier or a pitcher like Adams for a young arm of Cole’s caliber, as he would slot right into a scary starting five that also includes Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka, Sonny Gray, and Jordan Montgomery.
 
Yankees, D'Backs Discussed Jacoby Ellsbury

By Mark Polishuk | December 14, 2017 at 7:46pm CDT

Jacoby Ellsbury’s name was mentioned in trade talks between the Yankees and Diamondbacks, NJ Advance Media’s Brendan Kuty reports, and though “nothing is believed to be off the table,” Arizona didn’t have much interest in the veteran outfielder due to his big price tag. Ellsbury is owed over $63.3MM through the 2020 season, plus a $5MM of $21MM club option for 2021. He no longer has a starting job in the crowded New York outfield due to his underwhelming .261/.331/.372 slash line over the last three seasons, and it seems like the Yankees would surely have to eat some money to facilitate a trade, particularly with the D’Backs. Ellsbury can also block any deal due to his no-trade clause, though he does own a home in Arizona and he has a past relationship with D’Backs GM Mike Hazen from their time in the Red Sox organization.

  • The Orioles were again aggressive with Rule 5 selections, taking three players (left-hander Nestor Cortes and righties Pedro Araujo and Jose Mesa) in this morning’s draft, though they’ll now face a bit of a roster crunch, Eduardo A. Encina of the Baltimore Sun writes. With the O’s in need of southpaws in the pen, Cortes is the likeliest of the trio to actually spend the whole season on the team’s 25-man roster, which is required for Rule 5 picks to fully become property of their new teams. Araujo and Mesa are longer shots to take up valuable 25-man spots, though it’s possible Baltimore could work out trades with their original teams (the Cubs and Yankees, respectively) to officially acquire their rights.
 
Latest On Manny Machado

By Mark Polishuk | December 14, 2017 at 6:11pm CDT

Trade winds continue to swirl around Manny Machado, as the Orioles’ apparent willingness to consider dealing its star third baseman was one of the major storylines of the Winter Meetings. The Orioles have received ten “legitimate offers” for Machado, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports, though the quality of those offers and the number of teams involved may be hampered by Baltimore’s refusal to allow a 72-hour window for a new team to talk to Machado’s agents about a possible extension.

The Cardinals didn’t make “a formal offer” due to that lack of negotiating period, and the White Sox (previously thought to have made the strongest of all the offers) apparently didn’t include any of their top prospects in their proposal, Nightengale reports. Two executives said that Chicago made its offer with the belief that the Sox would only have Machado for the 2018 season.

One major factor influencing talks is Baltimore owner Peter Angelos’ insistence that Machado not end up with the Yankees in 2018. This naturally rules out a direct trade with New York, though Angelos also doesn’t want a scenario where Machado is dealt to a team that would flip him to the Yankees for prospects, be it before the July trade deadline or even later this offseason. These parameters would seem to limit the Orioles’ list of potential trade partners to only contending teams, and maybe even to contenders that would seemingly have no chance of a midseason collapse and subsequent deadline fire sale (though obviously one can’t know for sure what would-be contenders could be in for a nightmare season, a la the 2017 Giants.)

The White Sox aren’t expected to contend for even a couple of seasons yet, and thus would seem like potential candidates to deal Machado in order to further hasten their rebuild. The Sox are apparently willing to address Angelos’ concerns, as Nightengale writes that “if the Orioles even wanted it in writing that they’d keep him around until at least mid-summer,” Chicago would be fine with that assurance. This would be quite an unusual type of trade provisio, of course, and one that Angelos may still not be fine with if he wants to eliminate any chance of Machado wearing Yankee pinstripes in 2018.

Beyond the teams already reported as having interest in Machado, the Diamondbacks are also in the mix, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney tweets. Arizona “checked in” on the Machado talks, though it isn’t clear if the D’Backs were just performing due diligence or if they were one of the clubs who made Baltimore an offer. Machado would seem to be something of an unlikely fit for a D’Backs team that doesn’t have the payroll space to afford Machado’s $17.3 projected salary for 2018, though they could clear some of their own pricier arb-eligible players off the books by sending them back to the O’s. Patrick Corbin, for instance, would be an upgrade for the Orioles’ rotation, while Jake Lamb would replace Machado at third base and give some much-needed left-handed balance to Baltimore’s lineup.

MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently took a broad look at the Machado situation, gauging all 29 other teams by how plausible they seem as contenders to actually land the star infielder. Needless to say, Angelos’ specifications would seem to narrow an already thin market, since there aren’t many teams willing to meet the Orioles’ big asking price (reportedly two controllable starting pitchers) for just a year of Machado’s services. Adams listed both the White Sox and Diamondbacks as “out of the picture” candidates, so their chances of working out a deal could be even more remote given Angelos’ wariness of any “creative” follow-up trades a Machado suitor could make.
 
They could still acquire another starting pitcher and give Montgomery more time in AAA, right? Chances are somebody will break down.
 
Sterling will be 80 on July 4.

Suzyn is 71, 72 late in year.

Hate away!!!!...
 
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