A concerning thing is that some Yankees’ prospects are off to very slow starts. In fact, there is an article (I think from NJ.com) on the internet about the regression of Jasson Dominguez, the Martian.
Ken Waldichuk isn’t one of them, however. Read on.
AAA: SWB (10-19) lost 2-1. SWB’s team batting average right now is just .221. They got just 3 hits.
Wesneski (L, 0-4) 5 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 W, 6 K. 2.48 (With that record and ERA, no run support). (#8 prospect) Greene 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 1 K. 4.97 Lane 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 1.64 Bristo 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K. 6.35
AA: Somerset (17-9) split a DH. Game 1: Lost 6-3, getting just 2 hits.
Medina (L, 1-2) 5 R, 3 ER, 2 H, 3 W, 2 K. 1 HBP 3.60 (#12 prospect) Maciejewski 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 4 K. 1 WP. 1 Balk. 3.94 Ramirez 1 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR. 4.50 Ernst 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 0 K. 2.45
Game 2: Won 3-2 on a one-hitter. Here is where Waldichuk dominated. SS Anthony Volpe solo HR (4). The #1 prospect is struggling, hitting just .195. RF Michael Beltre 2 hits, 2 RBI
Low A: Tampa (13-13) lost 6-5. DH Jasson Dominguez 2 hits. (The “Martian” is struggling at .235) CF Madison Santos 2 RBI LF Raimfer Salinas solo HR (1) C Ben Rortvedt 1 for 2 on rehab.
AAA: SWB started the season 3-0, but have slipped to 9-15. Checking the batting averages, no one is hitting, even former major leaguers like Greg Bird, Ron Guzman, or Ryan Lamarre. They lost 2-0 last night, getting just five hits. #2 prospect Oswald Peraza is hitting just .203, and so is #14 prospect Oswaldo Cabrera. And other prospects at lower levels (#1 prospect Anthony Volpe and #3 prospect Jasson Dominguez, for example) are also struggling.
Wesneski (L, 0-3) 5 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 0 W, 6 K. Gave up 1 HR. 2.63 (#8 prospect) M. Gomez 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 1 K. 1 HBP. 2.61 Bristo 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 3 K. 6.97
AA: Somerset (15-7) won 8-7. C Mickey Gasper 2 hits, RBI RF Michael Beltre grand slam (2)
Spence 4 IP, 5 R, 6 H, 1 W, 6 K. Gave up 2 HR. 1 HBP 4.76 Loseke (W, 4-0) 3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 3 K. 1.98 Ernst (S, 1) 2 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 0 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR 2.63
High A: Hudson Valley (12-10) lost 5-3. CF Everson Pereira 2 hits (#11 prospect) C Austin Wells 2 hits, 2 RBI. Solo HR (4) (#4 prospect)
AAA: SWB (9-14) lost to Lehigh Valley, 9-3, giving up 7 runs in the last two innings. (Didn’t SWB start out 4-0?)
CF Estevan Florial 2 hits, RBI (#30 prospect) C Max McDowell 2 hits. LF Ryan LaMarre 2 hits, RBI.
Banuelos 4 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 3 W, 4 K. 2.16 McKay 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 W, 0 K. 2.00 Marinaccio 2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 5 K. 0.00 (#28 prospect) McClain (L, 0-1; BS, 1) 1/3 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 0 W, 0 K. 7.56 Miller 2/3 IP, 3 R, 3 H, 1 W, 0 K. Gave up 1 HR. 4.15 Mujica 1 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 0 W, 0 K. Gave up 1 HR. 18.00
AA: Somerset (14-7) won 5-0 on a one-hitter. SS Anthony Volpe solo HR (3) (#1 prospect) DH Brandon Lockridge 2 hits, 2 RBI. (#18 prospect) 3B Andres Chaparro 2-run HR (5) C Mickey Gasper 2 hits.
Game 1: 7-6 in 8 innings (minor league games are 7 innings if a DH). 1B Greg Bird hit a 2-run HR (1) in his first at bat back with the Yankees’ organization. He had 2 hits. 3B Phillip Evans had 2 hits and an RBI, RF Tim Locastro had 2 hits.
D. Garcia (#29 prospect) 3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 3 W, 1 K. 1 WP. 2 HBP. Was Wild. 3.00 Nittoli 1 1/3 IP, 3 R, 1 H, 2 W, 3 K. Gave up 1 HR. 1 HBP 20.25 McClain 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 2 W, 1 K. 1 WP, 1 HBP. 0.00 Seeing a lot of wildness here, Walks, WP, HBP… McKay (W 1-0, BS, 1) 2 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 0 W, 3 K. Gave up 1 HR. 9.00 Weissert (S, 1) 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K. 0.00
Game 2: Won a blowout, 10-1. SS Oswaldo Cabrera 3 hits, 3 RBI, (#14 prospect) CF Ender Inciarte 2 hits, 4 RBI, Both hits were 2-run HR. (2) C David Freitas 3 hits, RBI, HR (1) LF Matt Pita 2 hits, RBI, HR (1)
AA: Somerset won their opener, 6-2. Interesting game. A combined one-hitter, but with 10 Walks and 2 HBP. #1 prospect SS Anthony Volpe 2 hits, RBI LF Elijah Dunham 2 hits, RBI (#27 ranked prospect in Yankees’ system) C Josh Breaux 2-run HR (1) (#26 prospect) RF Michael Beltre 2 hits
The Yanks had their first spring training game today, which they lost to the Pirates, 4-3, but first a couple of transactions.
P Domingo German was placed on the 60 day IL because of shoulder soreness.
Luke Voit was traded to San Diego for a 20 year old pitching prospect, Justin Lange. Lange is a former first round pick who has just 9 minor league games under his belt, but who apparenlty hit 102 MPH while in his senior year of high school. A project. One bit of trivia: Lange was born on 9/11/01.
In the game, newcomer SS Isiah Kiner-Falefa had 2 hits and minor league C Rodolfo Duran hit a HR.
Pitching:
Wesneski 3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 1 W, 4 K. Gave up HR. A top pitching prospect. Bristo (L, BS) 1 2/3 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 1 W, 4 K. Gave up HR. Milam 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K. Marinaccio 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 2 K. Nittoli 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 0 K. Spence 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 0 K.
Of note: Greg Allen, who was with the Yanks for 15 games last year, hit a 2-run HR in the game for Pittsburgh.
The Yanks placed 4 minor leaguers on the top 100 prospect list. #8 SS Anthony Volpe, #60 SS Oswald Peraza, #61 OF Jasson Dominguez, and #96 C Austin Wells.
I’ve written that my choice for a stop-gap short-term solution at SS until prospects Oswald Peraza or Anthony Volpe are ready would be Isiah Kiner-Falefa, but it looks like Kiner-Falefa is now off the table.
From ESPN.com:
Josh Jung, a top prospect for the Texas Rangers, had surgery Wednesday to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder, ending the third baseman’s chance of being an option for the big league roster this spring.
Texas still has Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who was the starting shortstop last season after being a Gold Glove third baseman for the Rangers during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Jung’s injury likely ensures Kiner-Falefa being their starting third baseman again whenever the season starts.
So I guess we can forget about Kiner-Falefa. Jung won’t be back for six months, and even then, can only DH and not return to the field until 2023.
Which probably leads us back to Andrelton Simmons, unless a deal is struck for another SS, or the Yanks actually go with either Gleyber Torres (who failed at SS last year) at SS again, or go with Torres at 2B, Gio Urshela at SS and D.J. LeMahieu at 3B. Urshela isn’t a true SS however. They do have Oswaldo Cabrera on the 40-man roster, but he’s only played 9 games above AA. He did hit .272-29-89 with 21 SB in AA/AAA last season, but only 9 games were at AAA. He plays 2B/SS and 3B. Peraza is probably AAA bound, and Volpe most likely ticketed to AA.
Simmons, 32, has won 4 Gold Gloves in his career, but has a light bat. Last year he hit just .223-3-31, with an OPS+ of just 57 (100 is average). He is a .265 career hitter, but his OPS+ for his career is just 88. If the Yankees did sign him, what can you expect? .250-5-40?
Kiner-Falefa, who besides a SS, won a GG at 3B and who has also caught 73 games, would have been a nice choice to get in a trade (especially since Texas has signed both Marcus Semien and Corey Seager) but with the injury to Jung, it appears that option is no more.
Ok, I’ve worked 2 days all month because of contracting Covid. Still recovering. My sinuses are a little better. At worst, they felt like a basketball was shoved up my nose. Also not fun was sneezing or blowing my nose and seeing a tissue filled with blood. (I am on Xarelto, a blood-thinner, because of a PE I had last summer). Between a partial nephrectomy due to renal cell carcinoma, a saddle pulmonary embolism and contracting this Omicron variant, the last year has sucked, health-wise. Anyway…
The Yankees are expected to sign the top international free agent on the market today, switch-hitting 16 17 year old Roderick Arias. Although not confirmed, the deal is supposed to be for about $4 million of the $5 million the Yankees have to spend on international signings. You may remember that a few years ago, the Yankees used all of that money on CF Jasson Dominguez, who is now 18 and who played a bit at low A Tampa in 2021.
Arias would join a trio of other top prospects, ALL shortstops, in the Yankees’ system. Let’s look at them and what the Yanks may do at SS.
Oswald Peraza. 21. Righty hitter. I expect him to start 2022 at AAA SWB. His 2021 numbers are at 3 levels. High A (28 games)/AA (79) and AAA (8). Total: 115 games. .297-18-58 with 38 SB.
Anthony Volpe. 20. Righty hitter. Played in 109 games at Low A (54) and High A (55) in 2021. I expect him to start 2022 at AA. .294-27-86 with 33 SB in 2021.
Trey Sweeney. 21. Lefty bat. 29 games at Tampa Low A, where I expect him to start 2022. .245-6-13.
With prospects like this, and the signing of Arias, you wonder a few things. #1, I don’t expect the Yankees to offer a long-term deal to Carlos Correa or Trevor Story. Why, when you have these youngsters that would be under your financial control just a few years away? #2 That $ you would be giving Correa or Story? That money has to go to Aaron Judge to lock him up into a long-term deal and keep him from becoming a free agent. So you then have huge multi-year deals with Cole, Stanton, and Judge. There is only so much $ (albeit, a LOT of it) to go around.
So what do you Yankees have in the infield now? Nothing at SS.
1B. LeMahieu? Voit? These are who are there now. Do they bring back Rizzo? Go after Freeman? Trade for Olson? If a trade for Olson, you can bet one of these prospects would be heading to Oakland in the deal. If you are paying $$ for Rizzo or Freeman, that leaves no $$ for a long-term SS. Which, with the prospects listed here, isn’t too bad since all you are probably looking for right now is a short-term SS anyways. But if you get another 1B, be it Rizzo, Olson, or Freeman, who are you trading Voit to, and for whom?
2B. Torres and LeMahieu. Having proven he isn’t your answer at SS, Torres moves back to 2B, unless you decide LeMahieu is your 2b (after solving who plays 1B) and trading Torres.
SS. At present, they have none. Unless Gio plays SS as he did late last year and LeMahieu plays 3B. Not optimal. Neither is sticking Gleyber back there.
3B. Urshela, unless … see SS above.
Remember Tyler Wade was traded to the Angels, Rougned Odor was released (and signed with the Orioles).
One player to remember as a utility man is 22 year Oswaldo Cabrera, a switch-hitter who can play 2B, SS (yet another SS prospect, negating the need for a long-term SS solution) and 3B. He has played 212 games at 2B in the minors, 159 at SS and 135 at 3B. A lot at each position. He has an excellent chance of making the majors in 2022 and even beginning the season with the team after a 2021 that saw him do very well (AA 109 games and 9 games AAA). Even though most of his time was at AA, his numbers of .272-29-89 with 21 SB in 118 games were outstanding. As for those 9 games in AAA? 15 for 30 with 5 HR. Extremely small sample size but he handled the jump to AAA quite well.
So for a short term solution, what would be available? My first guess is a deal with Texas for Isiah Kiner-Falefa. 26 and a righty hitter. He won a GG at 3B for Texas in 2020. He has played 173 games in the majors at SS, 117 at 3B. He can even be your 3rd string emergency catcher, having played 73 games there! (and throw in 20 games at 2B). His bat is below average (2021 .271-8-53, 20 SB OPS+ 85) but his defense and versatility fit fine as a short-term solution.
Another option is Andrelton Simmons. Excellent glove, but terrible bat. 32, righty bat. The free agent only hit .223-3-31, OPS+ 57 for the Twins last year. Awful. He is a 4x GG winner. If the Yanks sign him, they would have to make a huge splash (Olson? Freeman? Someone even better than Rizzo) to make up for Simmons’ lack of offense (162 game average .265-10-59, OPS+ 88). Simmons’ glove is so good that he has finished Top-15 3x for MVP, including a #8 finish in 2017. IF he can somehow hit close to league average, a decent short term solution. But that is a big if, and the rest of the lineup would have to carry his lack of a big bat.
Yet another is a deal for Elvis Andrus of Oakland. 33, righty bat. Andrus, like Simmons, didn’t have a good 2021. .243-3-37, OPS+ 73 with 12 SB. (162 game average .272-7-61, 29 SB, OPS+ 85).
Of the short term solutions, my first choice would probably be Kiner-Falefa. Now not every prospect makes it (remember Jorge Mateo? or at catcher, Jesus Montero?) but you wonder which of these SS prospects a) will be the future Yankees SS b) will be moved to another position (3B? 2B? OF? ) or c) will be traded for a big name because they can’t beat out another of the top prospects who play the same position.
As for possibly another signing? Like P Carlos Rodon (I don’t see Zack Greinke b/c of his anxiety issues) or OF Seiya Suzuki? That’s for another blog post. As for now, just focusing on SS (and a little at 1B).
And, of course, nothing can be done until there is an agreement and this lockdown (haven’t we heard that word too often in EVERY sort of way recently?) ends.
Here is a list of free agents. We will see who, if anyone, the Yankees bring back.
Corey Kluber (doubtful. 36 in April, missed 1/2 of 2021) Andrew Heaney (definitely not) Anthony Rizzo (maybe) Joely Rodriguez Brett Gardner (at 38, could retire) Darren O’Day (39, could retire) Ryan LaMarre Brody Koerner Adam Warren
The best shot of anyone returning seems to be Rizzo, and that is a question mark.
These players were placed on waivers and claimed by another team.
Greg Allen by Pittsburgh. Tim Locastro by Boston. Andrew Velazquez by the Angels.
I don’t understand the love and weeping over Velazquez. He was a nice story. Hometown lad, nice glove. But in 68 plate appearances struck out 23x and drew only 1 walk. Hit .224. A .184 career hitter in the majors with an OPS+ of 43 (100 is average). Besides, Anthony Volpe and Oswald Peraza are their top two prospects, both a year or two away, and both are SS. Not only that, the Yanks will probably make a big splash on the free agent market (Corey Seager?) for a SS.
Lastly, Rob Brantly was outrighted off the roster right to the SWB roster. UPDATE: He refused the assignment and became a free agent.
The Sommer Frieze 
