Ex-Yanks’ coach Down dies at 68.

One-time Yanks’ hitting coach Rick Down passed away Saturday Jan. 5th at the age of 68.

Seahawks’ QB Russell Wilson will once again visit and work out with the Yanks in spring training. It’s expected he’ll get an at bat in an exhibition game. It’s more a publicity thing than anything else.

The Phillies hired a former mentor of Manny Machado in an effort to lure the slugger to Philadelphia.

Rumors are that Machado wants Stanton-like money or more. If that is the case, good luck with that, because the Yanks won’t go there. If Machado really wants to come to NY, it’s going to be on the Yankees’ terms.

Update: The Yanks and Greg Bird agreed to a 1 yr., $1.2 MM deal. A raise from $582K, but you can’t really say he deserved it.

 

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S.T. Game 8. Austin’s walk-off HR gives Yanks 5-4 win.

Sorry for the late report. High winds in the northeast have knocked out power off and on.

As for Friday’s game, there is something about getting someone who may take your job that puts a bug up your butt and makes you work harder, and in the case of a couple of Yankees, better.

We’ve seen what Miguel Andujar has done since the Yankees traded for Brandon Drury.

Yesterday the Yanks signed Adam Lind to a minor league contract to have insurance for Greg Bird. Tyler Austin responded by hitting a 2-run walk off HR in the bottom of the ninth to give the Yanks a 5-4 win and better their record to 7-1 in this exhibition season.

This has been a strange free agent off-season. I mean, Lind is forced to accept a minor league deal? It has an opt-out at the end of spring training, so Lind may not be here long. But if anything happens to Bird or Austin between now and then…. Lind, 34, is a lefty hitter who, in a platoon role with Washington last year, hit .303-14- 59, OPS+ 123. He has hit 20 or more HR in six different seasons, and in 2009 had a .305-35-114, OPS+ 141 season for Toronto, for whom he has spent most of his MLB career. His 162 game average is .272-24-87, OPS+ 112. A professional hitter who has exactly 200 HR in his career. You think someone would have picked him up by now.

The only thing about Lind is his splits, and why he platooned last year. A .288 hitter vs. righties, just .217 against lefties in his career. Primarily a 1B or DH, he can play LF, but it isn’t advised.

Speaking of LF, manager Aaron Boone stated that Jacoby Ellsbury would get some playing time there (a nice decision if Gardner is hurt or needs a day, because you are getting the same type of player there), but Ellsbury then strained an oblique so he’s out for a while.

Clint Frazier is still having problems after getting that concussion a week ago.

As for the game, you don’t know what to make of Masahiro Tanaka. He had a bad outing yesterday, but you don’t know how spring training carries over to the regular season. In 2016, Tanaka had a rough spring training, but a 14-4, 3.07 regular season. Last spring, he only gave up one run all spring training long, but then struggled most of the year to a 13-12, 4.74 year before his great postseason. So who knows? Anyway, he couldn’t make it through two innings and gave up four runs.

Down 4-0 early, the Yanks got two in the fourth on a double by the red-hot Andujar, and another in the fifth on an RBI single by Didi Gregorius, who went 3 for 3.

Austin then hit his two-run walkoff HR in the ninth for the 5-4 win. Tyler Wade got the inning going by beating out a bunt. Nice to see.

Giancarlo Stanton had two doubles.

Seattle Seahawks’ QB Russell Wilson had a pinch-hit appearance, and struck out. He did take a couple good rips, though.

Jordan Montgomery had a nice outing.

Tanaka 1 1/3 IP, 4 R, 4 H, 1 W, 1 K. Gave up HR to top Atlanta prospect, maybe the best young prospect in the game today.
Shreve 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 1 K.
Montgomery 3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 W, 5 K.
Kahnle 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 2 K.
Loaisiga 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K.
Feyereisen 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K.

 

 

Girardi gets new job; QB goes to Yanks & Pecota has projections.

Joe Girardi will be an in-house commentator for the MLB network.

The Yanks made a deal with Texas to get Russell Wilson for cash considerations. Yes, that Russell Wilson, the QB for the Seattle Seahawks. This is probably for publicity and Wilson may get a ST at bat like Billy Crystal did some years back. Wilson, 29, was drafted by the Rockies and did spend two years in A ball. Most likely he is there to work out, keep in shape, provide some leadership advice (albeit from a different sport) and maybe get in a ST game or two for publicity sake and nothing more.

Pecota came out with their projections for 2018. They have the Yanks winning the AL East with 96 wins. Boston and Tampa Bay both make the postseason as wild cards. The Yanks’ 96 wins are 3rd in the AL behind Houston and Cleveland. We’ll see. As far as individual players are concerned, they may be selling some guys a bit short. They have (not listing all, and some batting averages seem a bit low):

Sanchez .269-34-97
Bird .246-28-86
Torres .233-12-47
Andujar .254-12-41
Judge .247-37-94
Stanton .259-41-16
Gardner .251-13-59
Hicks .236-12-49
Didi .262-19-75
Torreyes .265-7-39

As mentioned, some averages seem low by a lot of points. Watch out for Bird. I think the 28/86 seems good, but if he stays healthy, I think a lot of people are overlooking him.

Hopefully Judge and Stanton hit way more HR than projected. Maybe 10 more each.

As for pitchers:

Tanaka 14-8, 4.09
Severino 15-6, 3.22
Gray 13-8, 3.98
Montgomery 10-8, 4.62
CC 11-9, 4.85
Chapman 3-2, 40 saves, 2.09
Betances 4-3, 2.07 5 saves
Robertson 3-2 2.75 5 saves
Green 3-2, 3.05
Kahnle 3-2, 3.00
Warren 2-2, 4.32
Shreve 1-1, 4.20
Gallegos 1-1, 3.91
Heller 1-1, 3.89
Holder 1-1, 4.27
German 2-2, 4.19
Cessa 4-3,4.68
Acevedo 2-2, 5.39
Sheffield 2-2, 5.29
Adams 2-2, 4.69

We will see who meets expectations & who doesn’t.

Pitchers and catchers report next Tuesday, first workout next Wednesday. Can’t wait!

Minor League Report. 3 HR, Adams lead SWB. Tate shines for Tampa.

AAA: SWB (72-41) won 7-5. CF Aaron Hicks, 2 for 3, double, on rehab. 3B Miguel Andujar double, HR, 2 RBI. Tyler Austin, rehab, also 2 for 3 with a double. LF Billy McKinney 2 for 3, HR, 3 RBI. 1B Ji-Man Choi solo HR.

Adams (W, 8-3, 2.37) 6 IP, 2 R, 5 H, 1 W, 5 K. Gave Up 1 HR. (AA/AAA 12-3, 1.99)
Jones 1 2/3 IP, 2 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K. 3.81
Mantiply 0 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 0 K. 3.21
Rumbelow (S, 2) 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 0 K. 0.00

AA: Trenton (75-37) won 4-2 in 11. CF Rashad Crawford 2 hits, Walkoff 2-run HR. C Francisco Diaz 2 hits, RBI.

Koerner 5 1/3 IP, 1 R, 6 H, 1 W, 2 K. Gave up 1 HR. 3.46
Espinal (H, 1) 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 1 K. 0.00
Carroll (BS, 3) 2 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 1 W, 2 K. 2.23
Schwaab (W, 1-0, 5.40) 2 IP, 0 r, 1 H, 0 W, 1 K.

Low A: Tampa (66-46) won 9-2. LF Trey Amburgey 2 hits, HR, 2 RBI. 2B Gosuke Katoh 2 hits. DH Chris Gittens 2 RBI. RF Devyn Bolasky double, solo HR. C Wes Wilson 2 hits, 2 RBI.

Tate (W, 6-0, 2.62) 8 IP, 2 R, 7 H, 1 W, 2 K.
Foley 1 Ip, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 2 K. 2.70

Low A: Charleston (61-51) won 2-1. DH Isiah Gilliam solo HR.

Rosa (W, 4-3, 3.04) 6 1/3 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 5 H, 2 W, 4 K.
Bristo (H, 1) 2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 W, 3 K. 0.00
Diehl (S, 2) 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 1 K. 3.76

Minor League Report.

AAA: SWB (63-38) lost 3-2. LF Jake Cave (.377-10-25) 2 hits, solo HR. DH Billy McKinney 2 hits, RBI.

German 2 2/3 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 W, 5 K. 3.82
Feyereisen (L, 1-2, 3.25) 2 1/3 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 1 W, 3 K
Shreve 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 2 K. 0.93
Jones 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 1 K. 3.54

AA: Trenton (66-33) had their game suspended because of rain with Trenton leading 5-1 in the fourth inning. LF Zack Zehner 3-run HR.

Littell 4 iP, 1 R, unearned, 6 H, 0 W, 4 K. 2.05

High A: Tampa (58-42) won 7-3. C Wes Wilson 2 RBI. 2B Nick Solak 2 hits, RBI. Same for LF Trey Amburgey. 2 hits 1B Tim Lynch.

Widener 4 2/3 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 3 W, 6 K. 4.03
Tarpley (W, 4-0, 0.00) 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 3 W, 3 K.
Foley (H, 3) 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 3 K. 3.06
Frawley 1 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 0 W, 0 K. 4.91

Low A: Charleston lost a game called early because of rain. They were losing 2-0 after six. They got just 3 hits.

Rosa (L, 3-3, 3.44) 5 2/3 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 3 W, 6 K.
DeCarr 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 W, 0 K. 7.29

 

Minor League Report.

AAA: SWB (61-35) won 6-3. LF Jake Cave 2 hits, HR, 5 RBI. 2 hits apiece for RF Billy McKinney, CF Mason Williams & 1B Cito Culver.

German 3 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 0 W, 3 k. 3.86
Gallegos (W, 2-1, 2.00) 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 3 K.
Feyereisen 2 Ip, 1 r, 2 h, 0 W, 0 K. 3.20
Heller 2 iP, 1 r, 1 H, 1 W, 3 K. 2.77 gave up 1 HR.

AA: Trenton (64-31) won 9-4. LF Zack Zehner 2 hits, HR, 4 RBI. 1B Dante Bichette, Jr. 2 RBI. SS Jorge Mateo 2 hits, RBI. DH Jhalen Jackson 2 hits.  3B Billy Fleming 2 RBI

Littell (W, 5-0, 2.25) 6 IP, 4 R, 7 H, 2 W, 9 K. Gave up 1 HR.
Gomez (H, 1) 2 1/3 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 0 W, 1 K. 0.00
Coshow 2/3 IP, 0 r, 0 H, 0 W, 1 k. 4.58

Littell’s record this year, A+/AA is 14-1, 1.94.

High A: Tampa (53-42) won 7-6 in 13 innings. Down 6-1 after six, they got one in the seventh, one in the eighth, and three in the ninth to tie before winning in the 13th. SS Angel Aguilar 3 run HR in the 9th. CF Jeff Hendrix 3 hits. DH Nick Solak 3 hits, RBI. 2B Gosuke Katoh 2 hits, 2 RBI. 1B Tim Lynch 2 hits, RBI. C Wes Wilson 2 hits.

Widener 4 2/3 IP, 3 R, 3 H, 3 W, 4 K. 4.03
Lane 2 1/3 IP, 3 R, 5 H, 0 w, 2 k. 11.57. 1st game at Tampa after promotion.
Harvey 1 IP, 0 r, 0 H, 1 W, 2 K. 0.00
Tarpley (W, 3-0, 0.00) 4 IP, 0 r, 1 H, 2 W, 3 K.
Espinal (S, 1) 1 IP, 0 r, 0 H, 0 w, 3 k. 1.42

Low A: Charleston rained out.

Minor League Report.

Changes at AAA. Ernesto Frieri exercised his June 1 opt out. He’s gone. The Yanks released Jason Gurka.

AAA: SWB (31-21) won 7-5.  2 hits, Solo Hr, SS Tyler Wade. LF Mason Williams 2 hits, RBI. 2 hits, 2 RBI 2B Cito Culver

Lail (w, 3-2, 5.36) 5 2/3 IP, 5 R, 6 H, 3 W, 1 K. Gave up 1 HR.
Webb (H, 4) 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 W, 2 K. 2.63
Heller (S, 2) 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 2 W, 4 K. 2.96

AA: Trenton (34-19) lost 2-1. SS Thairo Estrada 2 hits. 1B Mike Ford 2 hits. LF Zack Zehner 2 doubles.

Sheffield (L, 4-3, 3.04) 7 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 9 H, 0 W, 5 K.
Rumbelow 1 Ip, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K. 0.00

1st game for Rumbelow. He went 1-1, 4.02 for the Yanks in 2015 and missed almost all of 2016, pitching in just one game.

High A: Tampa (28-27) a 7-5 win. DH Greg Bird rehab: 1 for 3, double, RBI. CF Jorge Mateo 2 hits, triple, RBI.  2B Nick Solak 2 hits. 2 hits, RBI for C Wes Wilson.

Swanson 2 1/3 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 H, 1 W, 3 K. 4.37
Mesa 2 2/3 IP, 2R, 4 H, 3 W, 1 K. 2.14
Gomez (W, 2-1, 2.13) 3 Ip, 0 R, 1 H, 2 W, 3 K.
McNamara (S, 8) 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 w, 0 K. 1.17

Low A: Charleston (26-28) 4-2 loss. LF Estevan Florial 2hits. 2B Diego Castillo 2hits.

RF Isiah Gilliam solo HR. 2 hits 3B Oswaldo Cabrera.

Perez 5 2/3 IP, 2 R, 6 H, 1 W, 5 K. 4.12
Lane (L, 4-2, 1.01) 2 1/3 IP, 2 R both unearned, 1 H, 1 w, 2 K.