New York Yankees 2017 Season Thread

[Déjà Bru]

This is the New York Yankees 2017 Season Thread. It begins with a bombshell: The Yankees have released Nathan Eovaldi, only 26 years old and their #2, 3, or 4 starting pitcher depending on how well he was doing at the time.

Which overall, was not too shabby: Eovaldi went 23-11 with a 4.45 ERA in 51 games (48 starts) with the Yankees. He was part of the future.

Not any more. He was going to miss the entire 2017 season, recovering from his second Tommy John surgery. It seems the Yankees did not want to wait to see how it goes, although they could sign him for 2018 if nobody else wants him.

So now the rotation is down to Tanaka, Pineda, Green, Cessa, and Mr. X. Uh-oh.

[Leo_The_Lip]

Severing, possibly Rich Hill.

[Skipaway]

Nathan Eovaldi being released was known for awhile now. He'd be up for third year arbitration in 2017. No way the Yankees would have given him a tender. He was also designated for assignment weeks ago to create a roster spot. Releasing him now just means nobody else want his third year arbitration right, and he'd become a free agent one year earlier.

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Leo_The_Lip

Severing, possibly Rich Hill.

A year ago, I would have said "Yay" about Severino. Not now, after the dreadful season he had this year with the Yankees. But, he's only 22 and he went 8-1 with 3.49 ERA in AAA, so maybe he will step up in 2017.

Rich Hill? The Yankees had him for a couple of months in 2014. He couldn't get a MLB job in 2015, so he signed with the Long Island Ducks and did well enough to attract interest from the Red Sox. The A's gave him a deal for 2016 and he pitched well for them too but they traded him to the Dodgers. He's the guy that got pulled from a game in September after pitching seven perfect innings.

So Hill looks like he's enjoying a career renaissance, as long as it lasts (age 36), but he's still a free agent for now. The Yankees are in "full pursuit" of Hill, according to this article. We'll see.

[knightdreamer2k]

Matt Holiday is now a Yankee. Safe pickup if you ask me. Need a closer, another starter, and it would be great to have an impact bat in the lineup.

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by knightdreamer2k

Matt Holiday is now a Yankee. Safe pickup if you ask me. Need a closer, another starter, and it would be great to have an impact bat in the lineup.

Same old, same old. Another guy whose best years are behind him and is now beginning his end-of-career slide (turns 37 next month). Yawn.

EDIT: Sure enough, I read just now that he's to be a part-time DH and a backup for Greg Bird at 1B. Which is fine, until you look at his pay for 2017: $13MM. Stop and think for a minute; it sounds cheap compared to star salaries these days, but $13MM? (Plus he's getting a $1MM buyout from the Cardinals.)

[RchW]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

A year ago, I would have said "Yay" about Severino. Not now, after the dreadful season he had this year with the Yankees. But, he's only 22 and he went 8-1 with 3.49 ERA in AAA, so maybe he will step up in 2017.

Rich Hill? The Yankees had him for a couple of months in 2014. He couldn't get a MLB job in 2015, so he signed with the Long Island Ducks and did well enough to attract interest from the Red Sox. The A's gave him a deal for 2016 and he pitched well for them too but they traded him to the Dodgers. He's the guy that got pulled from a game in September after pitching seven perfect innings.

So Hill looks like he's enjoying a career renaissance, as long as it lasts (age 36), but he's still a free agent for now. The Yankees are in "full pursuit" of Hill, according to this article. We'll see.

Rich Hill 3 years 48 Million?

Keep that in mind the next time a stupid OOTP AI thread comes up. LOL what are they smoking in LA.

Seems like many teams including the Yankees don't want too much on the books for next seasons FA Bonanza.

[Déjà Bru]

Yes, we are raising our eyebrows here over $13 and $16 million a year for guys like these, but then Bryce Harper wants more than $400 million (for 10 years). That puts things in perspective, don't it? God bless free market capitalism!

[Déjà Bru]

Like, this is news as in "Who knew?"

Derek Jeter’s No. 2, Last of Yankees’ Single Digits, to Be Retired

[Déjà Bru]

So, Aroldis is back for 5 years and $86M. Not a bad turn of events in the past six months, if your name is not Steinbrenner: Trade him for prospects in July, when it's apparent the Yankees are not going anywhere. Bring him back in November and still keep the prospects.

Not a bad deal, even if your name is Steinbrenner. They can afford it and would have needed to pay similar money to another closer, now or in the near future.

[actionjackson]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

So, Aroldis is back for 5 years and $86M. Not a bad turn of events in the past six months, if your name is not Steinbrenner: Trade him for prospects in July, when it's apparent the Yankees are not going anywhere. Bring him back in November and still keep the prospects.

Not a bad deal, even if your name is Steinbrenner. They can afford it and would have needed to pay similar money to another closer, now or in the near future.

Don't forget that there's a third part to this: the original acquisition cost for him in the deal with Cincinnati on December 28th, 2015. Rookie Davis, Eric Jagielo, Caleb Cotham, and Tony Renda somehow turned into Adam Warren, Gleyber Torres, Billy McKinney, and Rashad Crawford at the deadline, and then the Yankees turned around and got Chapman back. As Joel Sherman said, that's the baseball version of having your cake and eating it too.

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by actionjackson

Don't forget that there's a third part to this: the original acquisition cost for him in the deal with Cincinnati on December 28th, 2015. Rookie Davis, Eric Jagielo, Caleb Cotham, and Tony Renda somehow turned into Adam Warren, Gleyber Torres, Billy McKinney, and Rashad Crawford at the deadline, and then the Yankees turned around and got Chapman back. As Joel Sherman said, that's the baseball version of having your cake and eating it too.

Yep. That's why, after four seasons of no post-seasons (I don't count that stupid wild card game with the Astros), preceded by two disappointing flops in the ALCS (2012, 2010), I am like this:
Sure, I know it may be quite a while longer before we see success again in the Bronx, but I like the way the Yankees are going about things these days (the Holiday signing notwithstanding).

[actionjackson]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

Yep. That's why, after four seasons of no post-seasons (I don't count that stupid wild card game with the Astros), preceded by two disappointing flops in the ALCS (2012, 2010), I am like this:
Sure, I know it may be quite a while longer before we see success again in the Bronx, but I like the way the Yankees are going about things these days (the Holiday signing notwithstanding).

As a Blue Jay fan, I hate the way the Yankees are conducting business these days. They're ten times more dangerous when they allow Cashman and his staff to use their brains rather than throwing good money after bad at every roster spot.

As for Holliday, that's a decent pick up. It's only one year and in my book, there are almost no bad one year contracts. He helps the kids and his contract is up by the time they're really ready to kick it into high gear. He's had injury trouble the last two years, but before that he was an absolute model of consistency.

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by actionjackson

As a Blue Jay fan, I hate the way the Yankees are conducting business these days. They're ten times more dangerous when they allow Cashman and his staff to use their brains rather than throwing good money after bad at every roster spot.

Heh, a back-handed compliment!

Originally Posted by actionjackson

As for Holliday, that's a decent pick up. It's only one year and in my book, there are almost no bad one year contracts. He helps the kids and his contract is up by the time they're really ready to kick it into high gear. He's had injury trouble the last two years, but before that he was an absolute model of consistency.

I'll go along with this, thanks, but only as long as he's one of the few guys of this nature that they pick up this offseason. I want the kids to have playing time!

[actionjackson]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

Heh, a back-handed compliment!

I'll go along with this, thanks, but only as long as he's one of the few guys of this nature that they pick up this offseason. I want the kids to have playing time!

No need to play kids at DH is there?

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by actionjackson

No need to play kids at DH is there?

Maybe Holiday will have a Chili Davis kind of year. Don't ask me why Chili popped into my head, but he just did. Chili came to the 1998 Yankees at the age of 38 and all he did was DH. He only got into 35 games that season and had 103 at bats, but he hit .291 and had quite a few timely hits. More importantly, he was a guy who had been around quite a while, had known success, had been an all-star, was a cheerleader, and who motivated younger guys on the team. Chili is a part of our history, the 1998 (and 1999) Champion New York Yankees.

[Caporegime]

Wish we had Holliday 10 years ago...heck, even 5 years ago. At any rate, I think he'll be a fine DH for the Yanks. He hit 20 hrs in 380 AB's last year for the Cards in an injury plagued season. I certainly think 25+ hrs & 65+ BB's is still well within his capabilities.

BTW, the Yanks really got hammered in the Rule V Draft. It's almost as if every other organization singled out the Yankees' system specifically. The one upside is that Cashman and Gary Denbo in particular can take this pillaging as the ultimate compliment from other organizations and a definite sign that they're doing a great job creating the sort of productive farm system that's chock full of prospects that other teams find desirable.

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Caporegime

Wish we had Holliday 10 years ago...heck, even 5 years ago. At any rate, I think he'll be a fine DH for the Yanks. He hit 20 hrs in 380 AB's last year for the Cards in an injury plagued season. I certainly think 25+ hrs & 65+ BB's is still well within his capabilities.

BTW, the Yanks really got hammered in the Rule V Draft. It's almost as if every other organization singled out the Yankees' system specifically. The one upside is that Cashman and Gary Denbo in particular can take this pillaging as the ultimate compliment from other organizations and a definite sign that they're doing a great job creating the sort of productive farm system that's chock full of prospects that other teams find desirable.

Yes, it is unusual that the Yankees have so many prospects to raid!

[Skipaway]

Yankees typically have decent number of marginal players to be picked in rule V draft.

It actually has nothing to do with the team's capability of drafts or development. It's all about its international scouting efforts, which is directly linked to their wealth. And really their wealth means they can sign better international free agents than other teams.

Yankees moved six players into the 40-man roster before the rule V draft, and five out of the six are international free agents signed from overseas.

[Déjà Bru]

I overlooked this myself when contemplating the Aroldis Chapman signing:

Brian Cashman couldn’t say it enough last week about how much he loves [Dellin] Betances. And before agreeing to that $86-million deal with Chapman, the Yankees’ general manager also repeatedly mentioned that he would be totally comfortable using Betances as the closer if the Yankees weren’t able to sign one of the Big Three available. Well, they did, and that means Betances — already one of the game’s most dominant relievers — is stuck in a setup role for at least the next three years, and possibly five if Chapman chooses not to opt out. At age 28, that’s tough to swallow.