Yanks get Gray from A’s for three prospects.

Brian Cashman got the Yanks their ace in Sonny Gray. It went almost down to the wire, but the Yanks got Gray for three prospects.

So let’s reassess what Cashman has done in the past few weeks. He got rid of the struggling Tyler Clippard and a bunch of prospects (but not the top tier ones) for the following: brought back David Robertson. Got Tommy Kahnle. Got Todd Frazier for 3b (if only for two months, rental), enabling Chase Headley to move to 1B to solve the season long 1B problem. Got Jaime Garcia (if only for a 2 month rental) to fill the Pineda spot that was being filled by Mitchell/Cessa and rookie Caleb Smith. Upgrades all around.

Now he got an ace pitcher to top it off. I’d say Cashman definitely earned his money.

Gray is under team control through 2019. He isn’t a two-month rental like Garcia is. He’s 27, in his prime.

Two years ago, Gray was an All-Star who finished third in CYA voting.

He had a rough 2016, missing 1/3 of the year with an injury, but even with that, is 44-36 in his career with an ERA of 3.42, ERA+ 114 (100 is average, so 14% above). His 162 G. average is 13-11, 3.42. With that ERA his record should be better, and with this offense and this bullpen, I expect that to happen.

This year, he has been 6-5, 3.43. Even though he was just 5-11, 5.69 last season, the ERAs for the other seasons were all 3.08 or lower. Great.

He is an ace, and in picking him up, the Yanks gave up three prospects, and two of them are currently on the DL. Who knows how they recover from those injuries?

James Kaprielian. RHP. 23. Considered their #1 pitching prospect, he has been surpassed. He has missed all of the 2017 season due to Tommy John surgery. He missed almost all of 2016. Not counting the Arizona Fall League, he has pitched in only seven minor league games. He basically has hardly pitched in the last two seasons.

Dustin Fowler. OF Lefty hitter. 22. The poor kid who suffered a major injury in his first MLB inning before he got his first MLB at bat. With people like Clint Frazier and Aaron Judge ahead of him, the Yanks deemed him expendable. As I recently wrote, a pecking order. You may have a lot of talent, but if you are blocked by someone better….

2016 AA .281-12-88, 15 triples, 25 SB
2017 AAA .293-13-43, 13 SB, 8 triples, 70 g.

 

Jorge Mateo. 22. Once a top Yankees prospect at SS, he was passed on the pecking order by Gleyber Torres. Not only that, the Yanks have Didi and Castro at SS and 2B right now. The Yanks moved him to CF, and apparently he has been picking it up well, and has been playing well at AA, but the Yanks apparently like 19 year old Estevan Florial (compared to Adam Jones (5x all star, 4x Gold Glove) as far as ability) better. Florial is currently at Low A Charleston. As I mentioned, ….. pecking order. Not only that, who knows what happens with the free agent market in a few years. Could the CF of the future be Bryce Harper or Mike Trout?

Gray fits the now. He is just 27. Under team control for this year and the next two. Team him with the 23 year old Severino and you have a nice young 1-2 punch.

Now let’s say Tanaka regains his old form in 2018. He’d be 29.

CC is 37, and I’m not looking at him right now, nor Garcia who is a two-month rental, but Jordan Montgomery is just 24. And the Yanks still have Chance Adams, Domingo Acevedo and Justus Sheffield in the wings.

A young and hopefully good rotation. And with a bullpen featuring Chapman, Betances, Robertson, Kahnle, Green, Warren…. I am excited.

Severino and Montgomery are young, haven’t gone too many innings in a season and could be hitting a “wall” soon. The additions of Garcia and Gray guard against that.

Montgomery could be bullpen bound.

Cashman also traded prospect Yefri Ramirez to the Orioles for $$$ to be used against international signings.

So the Yanks get an ace. Granted they gave up three prospects. It wasn’t Torres, Frazier, Sheffield, Acevedo or Adams.

Two of those prospects are on the DL with major injuries and won’t be ready until 2018.

Great job, Cashman.

Minor League Report.

AAA: SWB (65-39) lost 2-1, and only got one hit.

Mitchell 6 IP, 1 R, 7 H, 3 W, 7 K. 3.42
Mantiply (L, 4-4, 3.22) 2 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 4 K. Gave up HR.

AA: Trenton (70-33) won 5-4. 2B Thairo Estrada 2 hits, solo HR. 1B Ryan McBroom 2 hits, HR, 2 RBI. RF Devyn Bolasky 2 RBI.

Ramirez 6 IP, 4 R, 5 H, 0 W, 5 K. Gave up 2 HR. 3.41
Espinal (W, 1-0, 0.00) 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 4 K. 1st AA Game. Started year at Low A Charleston.
Coshow (S, 14) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 4.25

High A: Tampa (61-42) won 10-4. DH Jeff Hendrix 2 hits, RBI. SS Gosuke Katoh 3 hits, RBI. CF Trey Amburgey 3 hits, 2 doubles, 3 RBI. 1B Tim Lynch 3 hits, solo HR. LF Alexander Palma 2 hits, 2 RBI. 3B Daniel Barrios 2 hits, RBI.

Swanson (W, 4-2, 3.16) 7 IP, 3 R, 8 H, 0 W, 6 K.
Frawley 2 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 0 W, 1 K. 4.76

Low A: Charleston (56-46) won 5-2. C Donny Sands 3 RBI. CF Estevan Florial (hotly sought after in trade rumors) 2 hits.  2 hits for 3B Oswaldo Cabrera.

Perez (W, 7-3, 2.82) 5 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 H, 4 W, 3 K.
Morris (H, 2) 2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 3 K. 2.51
Cedeno (H, 1) 1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 2 K. 0.93
Sosebee (S, 9) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 2.22

Saturday’s minors.

AAA: SWB (63-36) blew a 6-4 lead, giving up six in the top of the ninth to lose 10-6. 1B Mike Ford 2 hits, HR, 4 RBI. 3B Donovan Solano 2 hits. CF Jake Cave 3 hits, RBI.

Mitchell 6 1/3 IP, 3 R, 7 H, 1 W, 5 K. 3.70
Gallegos 1 2/3 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 4 K. Gave up 1 HR. 2.20
Jones (BS, 4; L, 6-3, 3.66) 1/3 IP, 4 R, 3 H, 1 W, 0 K. Gave up HR.
Heller 2/3 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K. 3.18

AA: Trenton (66-32) won a rain shortened game 4-0. It was called with two out in the bottom of the sixth. C Jorge Saez solo HR. 3B Dante Bichette, Jr. 2 hits, RBI.

Ramirez (W, 10-3, 3.23) 6 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 3 W, 5 K.

High A: Tampa (56-42) won 3-2.  3B Angel Aguilar 2 RBI. SS Gosuke Katoh 2 hits. RF Austin Aune 2 doubles.

Swanson (W, 3-2, 3.08) 5 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 1 W, 3 K.
Mesa (H, 5) 2 1/3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 3 K. 2.93
Frare (S, 1) 1 2/3 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 2 W, 2 K. 6.00

Low A: Charleston (53-45) lost 5-2. RF Isiah Gilliam 2 hits, RBI. CF Estevan Florial (a top prospect) 3 hits.

Garcia (L, 0-1, 1.99) 6 2/3 IP, 4 R, 2 ER, 4 H, 2 W, 3 K.
Diehl 2 1/3 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 0 W, 0 K. 4.04.

Florial, 19, is a lefty hitter. .292-11-40, 16 SB this year at Charleston. Scouts are watching and possibly asking for him if the Yanks want to make a deal right now.

Minor league report. Low A Charleston gets no-hit.

AAA: SWB rained out.

AA: Trenton (62-31) won 4-3. 2B Thairo Estrada 2 hits. 2 hits, 2 RBI for DH Devyn Bolasky.

Ramirez 4 2/3 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 H, 1 W, 5 K. Gave up 1 HR.  3.47
Pinder (W, 1-0, 0.00) 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 3 W, 0 K.
Carroll (H, 2) 2 2/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 3 W, 3 K. 1.63
McNamara (S, 1) 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 0 K. 6.17

High A: Tampa (52-40) won 3-2. 1B Tim Lynch solo HR. Two hits each for CF Jeff Hendrix, DH Daniel Barrios & LF Trey Amburgey.

Swanson (W, 2-2, 3.36) 5 2/3 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 1 W, 6 K.
Reeves (H, 3) 2 1/3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 4 K. 2.92
Pena (S, 1) 1 IP, 1 R, unearned, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K. 3.28

Low A: Apparently Oakland scouts were at this game, fueling rumors of a possible trade.

Charleston (51-43) only gave up two hits, but got no-hit in losing 1-0. Lakewood’s Nick Fanti went all the way, walking one and striking out 12.

Vargas (L, 0-1, 1.50) 6 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 5 K. Gave up HR.
DeCarr 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 3 K. 7.40
Mundell 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K. 2.67

 

Minor League Report.

The Yankees are off until Friday.

AAA: All Star Game. The International League (SWB’s League) lost to the Pacific Coast League 6-4. It wasn’t a good outing for SWB’s Caleb Smith, who took the loss.

1 IP, 4 R, 5 H, 0 W, 0 K. Gave up a 3 -run HR.

AA: All Star Game. The Eastern League East (Trenton’s Division) beat the West 7-1.

SS Thairo Estrada 1 for 3, two walks. Scored 1 run.
RF Zack Zehner 2 for 3, scored 1 run, 2 RBI

Yefri Ramirez 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K.

High A: Tampa (47-40) lost 4-2. 2-Run HR 1B Tim Lynch. SS Kyle Holder 2 for 2, 2 walks. 2 hits for CF Jeff Hendrix, 2 for C Austin Afenir.

Swanson 6 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 0 W, 5 K. Gave Up 1 HR. 3.73
Schwaab (L, 4-2. 3.53) 1 1/3 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 2 W, 2 K.
Pena 1 2/3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 1 W, 1 K. 3.38

Tampa was 39-31 in the first half (split season) and won the first half for their division by one game, so they already are guaranteed to be in the playoffs.

Low A: Charleston (47-42) won 6-3. 2b Hoy Jun Park 3 hits. RF Blake Rutherford 2 hits, rbi. C Donny Sands 2 hits, rbi. LF Isiah Gilliam 2 rbi.

DeCarr 1 IP, 3 R, 3 H, 3 W, 1 K. 7.78
Rosa (W, 3-2, 3.46) 7 Ip, 0 R, 4 H, 1 W, 8 K.
Sosebee (S, 4) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 2.47

Charleston was 34-36 in the first half, and didn’t qualify for the playoffs yet. They, like Tampa, play a split season.

Minor League Report.

The Yankees released minor league pitcher Travis Hissong.

Lower level leagues, like the short-season and Dominican Summer League have started up but I don’t go down to those levels. Not enough time.

AAA: SwB (43-27) split a DH. They lost the reg. sched. game 4-3. Solo HR’s CF Dustin Fowler, LF Jake Cave and RF Mark Payton.

Mitchell 4 1/3 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 1 W, 5K.  4.50
Webb 1 1/3 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 1 W, 2 K. Gave up 1 HR.  3.24
Jones (BS, 3; L, 5-2, 3.93) 1 1/3 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 1 W, 1 K.

They won the makeup of a May 7 rainout 6-2. DH Tyler Austin a 3-run HR.  1B Ji-Man Choi triple, 3 RBI. 3b Miguel Andujar 2 hits. RF Payton 2 hits.

Mantiply 3 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 1 W, 1 K. 3.03
Wotherspoon (W, 1-0, 2.35) 3 IP 1 R, 3 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Graham 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 1 K. 3.94

AA: Trenton (46-24) lost 14-4. 2B Abiatal Avelino 4 for 4, 2 doubles, RBI. 2 hits & an RBI for LF Devyn Bolasky.

Ramirez (L, 6-3, 3.47) 2 1/3 IP, 7 R, 8 H, 3 W, 2 K. Gave up 1 HR.
Carter 2 1/3 IP, 4 R, 5 H, 0 W, 1 K. 15.43
Rumbelow 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 3 K. 0.00
Coshow 2 IP, 3 R, 5 H, 1 W, 2 K 4.71

High A: Tampa (38-31) won 6-0.  CF Jeff Hendrix 2 hits, 2 RBI. DH Tito Polo 2 hits. 2B Nick Solak 3 hits. 2 hits and rbi for 3B Kyle Holder.

Dillon Tate came off the DL (sore shoulder) for his first minor league game of the season.

Tate (W, 1-0, 0.00) 5 2/3 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 1 W,  5 K.
Reeves 2 1/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 3 K. 4.26
Tarpley 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 0.00

Low A: The North and South for the South Atlantic League played to a 3-3 tie. It was played in rain which got worse after the seventh, when the game was stopped.

Charleston players (South): Blake Rutherford CF, 0 for 0; C Donny Sands 0 for 1.
SS Hoy Jun Park 0 for 1. LF Estevan Florial 0 for 2. 3B Angel Aguilar 0 for 2.

P Trevor Lane 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.

Minor League Report.

AAA: SWB (37-25) won 6-5. C Kyle Higashioka 3 for 3, HR, 2 RBI. DH Tyler Austin 2 hits. SS Gleyber Torres triple, 2 RBI. 1B Greg Bird is struggling since going up to AAA on his rehab. CF Mason Williams double, 2 RBI.

Lail 6 IP, 5, R, 10 H, 2 W, 5 K. 5.18
Webb (BS, 3) 1 IP, 0 r, 2 H, 0 W, 0 K. 3.19
Mantiply (W, 3-3, 2.93) 1 2/3 IP, 0 r, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Graham (S, 1) 1/3 IP, 0 r, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 4.20

AA: Trenton (41-22) came up short, 5-4, scoring all their runs in the top of the ninth on a grand slam by LF Billy McKinney. CF Rashad Crawford and 3B Miguel Andujar 2 hits each.

Ramirez (L, 6-2, 2.51) 3 2/3 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 W, 3 K.
Carroll 3 1/3 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 0 W, 5 K. 0.73
Coshow 1 IP, 3 R, all unearned, 3 H, 0 W, 0 K. 4.05

High A: Tampa (35-31) swept a DH.
Reg sched. game: Won 11-1. CF Tito Polo double, triple, 4 RBI. LF Trey Amburgey 2 hits, rbi. 2B Nick Solak 2-run HR. 3B Kyle Holder 3 hits, rbi.

Widener 4 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 2 W, 6 K. Gave up 1 HR. 4.19
Tarpley (W 1-0, 0.00) 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 2 W, 3 K.
Reeves 1 IP, 0 r, 2 H, 0 W, 0 K. 5.23

Won Makeup of 6/13 game 5-1. Polo LF, 2 hits, RBI. 2B Solak 2 RBI.

Koerner (W, 2-1, 2.45) 7 IP, 1 R, 6 H, 1 W, 4 K. Gave up 1 HR.

Low A: Charleston (32-34) won 5-2. CF Estevan Florial 3 hits. DH Angel Aguilar 2 hits, 2 RBI. LF Ben Ruta 2 hits, RBI.

Perez (W, 2-3, 3.51) 6 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 3 W, 6 K.
Diehl (S, 1)  3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 4 K. 3.75