Official NY Yankees Thread

[moocow007]

Now even the one sure thing (backend of bullpen) is beginning to look iffy. What else can go wrong?

[MaseInYourFace]

Supposedly theres a ton of interest in Miller. So Yankees keep this up they are probably gonna dump him and maybe 1 or two guys more for some prospects.

[MaseInYourFace]

Quietly, starting pitching has solidified for the bombers. Outside of Pineda who remains untrustworthy, Tanaka, Eovaldi, and CC have all been very good. Tanaka is a genuine AS game candidate.

[Dr. Detfink]

I mean, the problem is the league KNOWS you can win a World Series without an ace closer. KC pretty much lined up their iffy rotation with a pen so they can win 10-12 inning games in the post season. The Giants had to re-insert another starter to win theirs. This is a strategic maneuver based on match up and sabremetrics. So obviously you are NOT going to get anyone juicy in return.

I'd rather let CC Sabbathia, Carlos Beltran, Mark Teixiera come off the books, and give a generous 2 year contract till the Yanks can throw good money at Matt Cain.

[Papi_swav]

Who can we find to replace Tex ? James Loney would of been a good replacement for now. Should yanks try Arod or Beltran at first?

[VirginiaKnickFan]

Who can we find to replace Tex ? James Loney would of been a good replacement for now. Should yanks try Arod or Beltran at first?

ARod can't play in the field anymore, Beltran perhaps but there's bound to be a vet they can bring in.

[MaseInYourFace]

The Yankees are going to play Refsnyder quite a bit at first.

[thebuzzardman]

Now even the one sure thing (backend of bullpen) is beginning to look iffy. What else can go wrong?

They are a mediocre to bad team now. Mediocre to bad teams lose in a variety of ways, just as good teams tend to win in more than one way.

The Yanks decided they needed to line Hal's pockets instead of pursuing decent free agents or pursue a faster rebuild by signing a few of the 3 trillion Cuban's who have defected the last 10 years.

Basically the Yankees are the 73 Yanks again. Or the just before Mattingly Yanks again. Content with mediocrity.

[thebuzzardman]

Wait the years out & sign Trout & Harper to rebuild the franchise.

Except that revenue sharing/luxury tax and the fact that a lot more rich guys got into baseball works against that. While simultaneously, the Yankees wound up in the hands of the SON of a rich guy, a son who has nothing else going on financially, so as opposed to George, who would spend down to making nothing, in order to win, Hal needs the club to generate money for his lifestyle.

Bad timing, as there are plenty of teams ready to spend like the Yankees USED to spend.

And the farm system blows. Rarely generates any pitchers other than relievers. Rarely generates position players. Best one it did, the Yankees got outbid for. The Yankees never used to get outbid.

Yanks have been mediocre the last few years, and right now look like they will be mediocre for a long time to come. Reluctance to spend money + crap farm system = years of poor teams.

[MaseInYourFace]

If you look at hardcore baseball analysis the farm system is not that bad currently. It was but they have restocked it fairly well. The Yankees have big names in the minors (Judge, Mateo, Sanchez, Kaprelian) and some promising international guys they signed within last couple of years.

[GIMME_DATT]

Angels are bad is trout really going to be stuck on a terrible team forever. Wish the Yankees could get him somehow

[Mecca]

If you look at hardcore baseball analysis the farm system is not that bad currently. It was but they have restocked it fairly well. The Yankees have big names in the minors (Judge, Mateo, Sanchez, Kaprelian) and some promising international guys they signed within last couple of years.

Judge/Sanchez should be MLB ready by now. Why does Cashman baby his youth? Hicks is painful to watch at the plate and Refsnyder, whom I like, should not be a starting first basemen in this league. Why not let Beltran/A-Rod/Ref platoon first with Judge getting time in the outfield.

[bishnykfan]

I would love to see Judge play this year, but the player he would replace would be Beltran or ARod if you moved Beltran to DH. Beltran has stated that he hates playing in the infield so putting him at first wouldn't work. Also, Judge is having a pretty miserable year in AAA this year. Yankees got burned at 1B when Bird went down in the offseason. He was the contingency plan for when Tex missed his given couple of months.

But maybe they can survive with a Refsnyder and Parmalee platoon. If they keep pitching the way they have for the majority of the year and the other guys in the lineup do what they are supposed to be doing, they should still be good enough to contend for a wild card.

And as for Sanchez, he got beat out in the Spring by Austin Romine, who has played very well behind McCann so far.

The problem with the offense at this point is at the top. You can see when the Yankee offense looks good, Ellsbury and Gardner are doing there thing. They need to be more consistent for the Yankees to win.

[MaseInYourFace]

If you look at hardcore baseball analysis the farm system is not that bad currently. It was but they have restocked it fairly well. The Yankees have big names in the minors (Judge, Mateo, Sanchez, Kaprelian) and some promising international guys they signed within last couple of years.

Judge/Sanchez should be MLB ready by now. Why does Cashman baby his youth? Hicks is painful to watch at the plate and Refsnyder, whom I like, should not be a starting first basemen in this league. Why not let Beltran/A-Rod/Ref platoon first with Judge getting time in the outfield.

Refsnyder doesn't really have a position but his bat has life. I'm glad he's playing and being given a good look. The Yankees caught a bad break when Bird and Ackley who was supposed to also be a backup got hurt. AROD is probably never playing a position again. Judge still has some holes in his swing. I think he'll be up soon though. Sanchez is close too but he honestly kinda blew it in spring. He had a bad spring training. Part of "babying" your prospects by keeping them in minors longer is that you get to have them at an affordable salary much longer that way.

[moocow007]

The Yanks have made a lot of really poor decisions with early round picks and that's been what has prevented them from having home grown talent on their roster and, as such, have perpetuated their reliance on trying to sign other teams players which, as we all know, has pretty much became a dead option now that so many more teams are willing to spend and are resigning their players before they hit free agency.

Here's a recap of their 1st round picks since Derek Jeter (the number at the end is the pick that was used to select them, * indicates that the Yankees were not able to sign the player):

1993 Matt Drews Right-handed pitcher Sarasota High School (Sarasota, Florida) 13
1994 Brian Buchanan First baseman University of Virginia (Charlottesville, Virginia) 24
1995 Shea Morenz Outfielder The University of Texas at Austin (Austin, Texas) 27
1996 Eric Milton Left-handed pitcher University of Maryland, College Park (College Park, Maryland) 20
1997 Tyrell Godwin* Outfielder East Bladen High School (Elizabethtown, North Carolina) 24
1997 Ryan Bradley Right-handed pitcher Arizona State University (Tempe, Arizona) 40
1998 Andy Brown Outfielder Richmond High School (Richmond, Indiana) 24
1998 Mark Prior* Right-handed pitcher University High School (San Diego, California) 43
1999 David Walling Right-handed pitcher University of Arkansas (Fayetteville, Arkansas) 27
2000 David Parrish Catcher University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, Michigan) 28
2001 John-Ford Griffin Outfielder Florida State University (Tallahassee, Florida) 23
2001 Bronson Sardinha Shortstop Kamehameha High School (Honolulu, Hawaii) 34
2001 Jon Skaggs Right-handed pitcher Rice University (Houston, Texas) 42
2003 Eric Duncan Third baseman Seton Hall Preparatory School (West Orange, New Jersey) 27
2004 Phil Hughes Right-handed pitcher Foothill High School (Santa Ana, California) 23
2004 Jonathan Poterson Catcher Chandler High School (Chandler, Arizona) 37
2004 Jeffrey Marquez Right-handed pitcher Sacramento City College (Sacramento, California) 41
2005 Carl Henry Shortstop Putnam City High School (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) 17
2006 Ian Kennedy Right-handed pitcher University of Southern California (Los Angeles, California) 21
2006 Joba Chamberlain Right-handed pitcher University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Lincoln, Nebraska) 41
2007 Andrew Brackman Right-handed pitcher North Carolina State University (Raleigh, North Carolina) 30
2008 Gerrit Cole* Right-handed pitcher Orange Lutheran High School (Orange, California) 28
2008 Jeremy Bleich Left-handed pitcher Stanford University (Stanford, California) 44
2009 Slade Heathcott Outfielder Texas High School (Texarkana, Texas) 29
2010 Cito Culver Shortstop West Irondequoit High School (Irondequoit, New York) 32
2011 Dante Bichette, Jr. Third Baseman Orangewood Christian High School (Maitland, Florida) 51
2012 Ty Hensley Right-handed pitcher Santa Fe High School (Edmond, Oklahoma) 30
2013 Eric Jagielo Third Baseman University of Notre Dame (South Bend, Indiana) 26
2013 Aaron Judge Outfielder Fresno State University (Fresno, California) 32
2013 Ian Clarkin Left Handed pitcher James Madison High School (San Diego, California) 33
2015 James Kaprielian Right-handed pitcher University of California, Los Angeles (Los Angeles, California) 16
2015 Kyle Holder Shortstop University of San Diego (San Diego, California) 30

Not for nothing but that is pretty much one real poor list. Brutal. B-R-U-T-A-L

The best player BY FAR on that list is Gerrit Cole and they couldn't sign him lol.

Of the rest? Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy and Joba Chamberlain have pretty much been the only guys (that should have already made the majors) that actually had any real impact (that's 3 out of 27 guys that should have made the majors by now). Brian Buchanan, drafted in 1994, is the last position player that the Yankees drafted 1st that actually was able to even stick in the majors as a bench player.

Yes yes they usually draft late in the 1st but that doesn't mean you can't at least find major league level contributors. The majority of those guys on the list never even made it past AAA.

[thebuzzardman]

The Yanks have made a lot of really poor decisions with early round picks and that's been what has prevented them from having home grown talent on their roster and, as such, have perpetuated their reliance on trying to sign other teams players which, as we all know, has pretty much became a dead option now that so many more teams are willing to spend and are resigning their players before they hit free agency.

Here's a recap of their 1st round picks since Derek Jeter (the number at the end is the pick that was used to select them, * indicates that the Yankees were not able to sign the player):

1993 Matt Drews Right-handed pitcher Sarasota High School (Sarasota, Florida) 13
1994 Brian Buchanan First baseman University of Virginia (Charlottesville, Virginia) 24
1995 Shea Morenz Outfielder The University of Texas at Austin (Austin, Texas) 27
1996 Eric Milton Left-handed pitcher University of Maryland, College Park (College Park, Maryland) 20
1997 Tyrell Godwin* Outfielder East Bladen High School (Elizabethtown, North Carolina) 24
1997 Ryan Bradley Right-handed pitcher Arizona State University (Tempe, Arizona) 40
1998 Andy Brown Outfielder Richmond High School (Richmond, Indiana) 24
1998 Mark Prior* Right-handed pitcher University High School (San Diego, California) 43
1999 David Walling Right-handed pitcher University of Arkansas (Fayetteville, Arkansas) 27
2000 David Parrish Catcher University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, Michigan) 28
2001 John-Ford Griffin Outfielder Florida State University (Tallahassee, Florida) 23
2001 Bronson Sardinha Shortstop Kamehameha High School (Honolulu, Hawaii) 34
2001 Jon Skaggs Right-handed pitcher Rice University (Houston, Texas) 42
2003 Eric Duncan Third baseman Seton Hall Preparatory School (West Orange, New Jersey) 27
2004 Phil Hughes Right-handed pitcher Foothill High School (Santa Ana, California) 23
2004 Jonathan Poterson Catcher Chandler High School (Chandler, Arizona) 37
2004 Jeffrey Marquez Right-handed pitcher Sacramento City College (Sacramento, California) 41
2005 Carl Henry Shortstop Putnam City High School (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) 17
2006 Ian Kennedy Right-handed pitcher University of Southern California (Los Angeles, California) 21
2006 Joba Chamberlain Right-handed pitcher University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Lincoln, Nebraska) 41
2007 Andrew Brackman Right-handed pitcher North Carolina State University (Raleigh, North Carolina) 30
2008 Gerrit Cole* Right-handed pitcher Orange Lutheran High School (Orange, California) 28
2008 Jeremy Bleich Left-handed pitcher Stanford University (Stanford, California) 44
2009 Slade Heathcott Outfielder Texas High School (Texarkana, Texas) 29
2010 Cito Culver Shortstop West Irondequoit High School (Irondequoit, New York) 32
2011 Dante Bichette, Jr. Third Baseman Orangewood Christian High School (Maitland, Florida) 51
2012 Ty Hensley Right-handed pitcher Santa Fe High School (Edmond, Oklahoma) 30
2013 Eric Jagielo Third Baseman University of Notre Dame (South Bend, Indiana) 26
2013 Aaron Judge Outfielder Fresno State University (Fresno, California) 32
2013 Ian Clarkin Left Handed pitcher James Madison High School (San Diego, California) 33
2015 James Kaprielian Right-handed pitcher University of California, Los Angeles (Los Angeles, California) 16
2015 Kyle Holder Shortstop University of San Diego (San Diego, California) 30

Not for nothing but that is pretty much one real poor list. Brutal. B-R-U-T-A-L

The best player BY FAR on that list is Gerrit Cole and they couldn't sign him lol.

Of the rest? Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy and Joba Chamberlain have pretty much been the only guys (that should have already made the majors) that actually had any real impact (that's 3 out of 27 guys that should have made the majors by now). Brian Buchanan, drafted in 1994, is the last position player that the Yankees drafted 1st that actually was able to even stick in the majors as a bench player.

Yes yes they usually draft late in the 1st but that doesn't mean you can't at least find major league level contributors. The majority of those guys on the list never even made it past AAA.

Yup. This is a real problem for them, and as you show, has been for a long time. I'll assume they've turned over who is in charge of minor league scouting once or twice over the life of this list, so HOPEFULLY, whoever is in charge now knows what they are doing.

At least in baseball, there are a number of all time, excellent, great, very good and good players picked after round 1. Still, it's wasting your first and best opportunity too often.

For those looking for Judge or Sanchez to make an impact, I wouldn't. One thing I've learned from years of being a Yankee fan, is that when you are very aware of the prospect, he's not that good. All their best prospects, in terms of becoming pro's, have been a bit more under the radar. I mean, I know this is a bit of an exaggeration. There have been players touted who've come along and done as expected, it just seems that guys you hear about for a few years don't pan out, where the ones that do you hear of quickly, then they come up and do well. That may be different now in the internet age but still examples are there. As far back as Hensly Meulens to as recent as Montero, when the Yankees let you know all about how good a player is in the minors, it seems he's not the best player they have and they are hoping to deal him before it's discovered they are only ok or a bust.

I mean, the Yankees were supposed to have all these great catchers. Montero. Romine. Murphy. Cervelli. Sanchez.

Montero - bust
Cervelli - nice backup (at least he is ok in the pros)
JR Murphy - may or may not be everyday player; traded for Aaron Hicks, who to put it politely, isn't a stud.
Romine - probably career backup; into his 4th year, 27 years old, apparently not an all star.
Sanchez - supposedly a high end prospect. We shall see. Those things were said about Montero and Murphy, though maybe not this late into their development.

To bead a dead horse again, they yankees, via cash, could have quickly rebooted their young prospect/young pro base by dropping some cash over the last 8 or so years on Cubans defecting left and right but no.

[moocow007]

And speaking of players drafted...

Looks like the Yankees have drafted Blake Rutherford, a HS OF'er in the 1st round (18th overall pick) and a college 2B Nick Solak in the 2nd round.

Blake Rutherford

The good? Rutherford was talked about as a top 5 talent heading into the draft (as a 5 tool type CF).
The bad? The reason that he dropped is because a lot of teams apparently felt that it will be tough to sign him away from his commitment to UCLA and because he's one year older than his fellow draft class.

Nick Solak

The good? Some believe he's an underrated (under the radar) hitter.
The bad? He was projected to be a 4th or 5th round pick.

[moocow007]

The rival Red Sox? They got the guy who most believe was the best pitcher with the best stuff in the draft, Jason Groome, at pick 12. So...yeah.

[Dr. Detfink]

Once again, Cashman is a lawyer by trade. He just signs cheques. A guy could sell him the next Felix Hernandez and he wouldn't know because he exclusively trusts sabremetrics.

Speaking of the old man Yankees, CC Sabbathia continuing his resurrection and extending the win streak to FIVE. Guess what? Yanks are ONE game above .500.

[EMG518]

I like the Rutherford pick. Seems like the first time since I have been following the draft that we actually went for the best talent available. I honestly don't get why he was available that late. He was one of the premier bats in the draft.