June 10th, 2024: Dodgers Series, Volpe, Cole, Domínguez, Trade Deadline

I don’t know how many of you made it out to Yankee Stadium this weekend, but my goodness, what an atmosphere. It was postseason-like between the crowd, the hordes of media, every pitcher throwing 1-2 mph harder than usual, and the way the Yankees played (kidding!). There were two home teams. When a Yankee hit a home run, the crowd cheered. When a Yankee struck out, the crowd cheered. Dodgers fans really showed up and there are a lot of them in New York. A lot of people here are Dodgers fans because their parents or grandparents were Dodgers fans during the Brooklyn days, and it got passed down. I can’t imagine another regular season series in June having that much juice. Too bad the series played out the way it did, but if you’re going to lose two of three, winning the third game leaves the best taste in your mouth. Here is Tuesday morning’s post on Monday after the best two-way player on the field this weekend pitched Saturday and hit a home run Sunday (Oswaldo Cabrera). I figure it's best to run this post after the Dodgers series and before the Royals series than to wait another day.

1. Weekend thoughts. Y’all can blame this series on me. I went to Friday’s game and Saturday’s game, but I did not go to Sunday’s, so yeah. I’m pretty sure I have a losing in-person record this year. I haven’t been to that many games and I don’t keep track of the wins and losses when I’m in attendance, though I feel like I’ve left the stadium disappointed more often than not so far this season. So yeah, my bad.

For real though, Saturday’s game was a major stinker, but Friday’s game was 0-0 into the 11th inning! And it was Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. the castoffs. Yamamoto is something else, isn’t he? Can’t believe the guy all the smart teams offered $300M is really good. Yamamoto was great and the Yankees matched him with Cody Poteet, Victor González, Michael Tonkin, Caleb Ferguson, and Clay Holmes. Those guys were so good.

Hands down, the coolest moment of the weekend was Trent Grisham cutting through the “We want Soto!” chants with a go-ahead three-run home run Sunday (video). During his next at-bat, the crowd chanted “We want Grisham!” That was pretty great. I choose to believe Grisham hitting fifth was a cry for help from Aaron Boone, but it all worked out in the end. The weird lineup moves are working this year.

“Grisham works his butt off every single day,” Aaron Judge told Bryan Hoch after Sunday’s win. “… Soto is going to heal up fine, but Grish is a heck of a ballplayer and he showed it tonight in a big moment when we needed him. I wasn’t too happy with (the ‘We want Soto!’ chants), but I think he made a good point. He got his point across with that homer.”

(I haven't found a short clip I can link to but if you go back and watch the game, right after the home run Judge went up to Grisham in dugout and high-fived him yelling "You want who? You want who?" There's a reason everyone who plays with Judge loves him.)

Juan Soto did not play over the weekend and, surprise, the offense is not so good without the second best hitter in baseball. The best hitter in baseball, Judge, went 7-for-11 (.636) with a double, three home runs, and three walks against the Dodgers. He’s up to .305/.436/.703 (215 wRC+) on the season. In 2022, the year he set the AL’s single-season home run record, Judge slashed .311/.425/.686 (209 wRC+). Sheesh.

One problem Soto is not going to fix is in the lineup length, specifically the No. 4-5 slots behind Soto and Judge. Anthony Rizzo is slumping so hard that he sat Sunday and might sit Monday too, and Giancarlo Stanton is currently in the “nothing” phase of his all-or-nothing production. Did you know Yankees cleanup hitters are hitting .211/.262/.327 (73 wRC+) this year? The cleanup hitter leaderboard:

1. Athletics: 147 wRC+ (!)
2. Dodgers: 145 wRC+
…
MLB average: 109 wRC+
…
28. Astros: 77 wRC+
29. Reds: 77 wRC+
30. Yankees: 73 wRC+

There is no hitter in baseball – not Yordan Alvarez, not Bryce Harper, not Shohei Ohtani, not anyone – who will change the way teams pitch to Judge by hitting behind him. What the Yankees need is someone who will make the other team pay whenever Judge gets pitched around, which is happening more frequently. He has walked 10 times in eight games in June. It’s going to happen more and more.

When Stanton’s on a heater, he’s the best option the Yankees have to hit behind Judge, and that ain’t great. Rizzo looks done (like done done), Gleyber Torres is spraying singles more than driving extra-base hits, DJ LeMahieu is hitting everything into the ground, so on and so forth. Maybe this is where Jasson Domínguez fits? I dunno, but the Yankees have to lengthen the lineup. It was a glaring issue over the weekend.

I don’t want to make too much of three games in June no matter how great the atmosphere was or how big the games felt. The Yankees played three games against arguably the most talented team in the game with Soto watching from the dugout and without Gerrit Cole, won one and came close to winning another. They didn’t win that coin flip game Friday and that sucks, but I don’t think one game or one series tells you much about a team.

The Yankees need to improve the bottom half of their lineup and the middle relief. That’s nothing we didn’t know last week. I’m certain I would feel grouchier if the Yankees had lost again Sunday and gotten swept, but they didn’t. I enjoyed the games and the atmosphere. It was the most electric regular season series I can remember. A nice little taste of October before we settle into the dog days of summer.

Volpe’s on-base streak ends

Anthony Volpe’s on-base streak is over at 34 games. Jason Heyward made a sliding catch to rob him of a single in the first inning Sunday (I thought it was a catch) and the replay crew said he wasn’t hit by a pitch in the seventh (I didn’t think there was clear and convincing evidence it hit him). No use crying about it now. Volpe’s and Judge’s simultaneous 34-game on-base streaks are tied for the third longest by a pair of teammates in the Expansion Era (since 1961):

1. Cal Ripken Jr. and Eric Davis, 1998 Orioles: 36 games
2. Edgar Martinez and Ichiro Suzuki, 2001 Mariners: 35 games
t-3. Rafael Furcal and Andruw Jones, 2003 Braves: 34 games
t-3. Aaron Judge and Anthony Volpe, 2024 Yankees: 34 games
4. Wade Boggs and Mike Greenwell, 1988 Red Sox: 32 games

Volpe’s 34-game on-base streak is the longest by a 23-and-under player since Wander Franco had a 43-gamer in 2021. Let’s hope the similarities end there. The last 23-and-under Yankee with an on-base streak as long as Volpe’s was Mickey Mantle in 1951. He had a 35-gamer as a 19-year-old. Judge’s on-base streak is still going strong at 35 games. He’s reached base 81 times in the 35 games (lol).

Injury updates and roster moves

Soto went through his pregame routine Sunday and it sounds like all went well, though the Yankees are being their usual difficult selves with injury updates. He has inflammation. There is no structural damage in his forearm or elbow (Aaron Boone was asked specifically about Soto’s UCL and said it was checked and is intact), and he’s on medication. Soto could return at some point during the Royals series, though that does not necessarily mean Monday night. If Soto has to miss a few more days, then he has to miss a few more days. He’s too important to rush back and risk a more severe injury, especially this relatively early in the season … Cole’s second rehab start went well Sunday: 4.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K on 57 pitches (video). He was scheduled to throw 55-60 pitches. Cole told Jeff Gold he’s going to make at least one more rehab start, which I figure will get him into the 70-75 pitch range. Boone said the Yankees could bring Cole back before he is fully stretched out, though that will depend on how the next few days go and how Cole feels. He’s getting closer … Domínguez played nine innings in center field for the first time Sunday (the game went to extras and he was removed before the tenth). He had a ridiculous week with Triple-A Scranton: 10-for-20 with three doubles and two homers. Look at this home run El Marciano hit Sunday. Good lord. His 10-day rehab extension expires Thursday (he might be eligible for another 10-day extension (or two!), I dunno). He’s yet to play back-to-back days in the field, so maybe that’ll happen Tuesday and Wednesday before activation day (Monday is the universal off-day in the minors)? … So long Dennis Santana. He allowed 13 runs in his final 10.2 innings as a Yankee and Saturday’s laborious 39-pitch outing punched his ticket out of town. The Yankees needed a fresh arm Sunday and that fresh arm is Ron Marinaccio. Marinaccio probably should’ve been up 2-3 weeks ago, but better late than never. Santana finished with a 6.26 ERA (3.90 FIP) in 27.1 innings with the Yankees. His DFA opens a 40-man roster spot, which figures to go to whichever one of Cole or Domínguez is activated off the 60-day injured list first.

Up next

The homestand is over and the Yankees will be in Kansas City for four games this week. After that, they go to Boston for the first time in 2024. It’s the middle of the June and that will be the first Yankees vs. Red Sox series of the season. Blame the new schedule, I guess. Here are the week’s pitching matchups:

• Monday at Royals: LHP Carlos Rodón vs. RHP Seth Lugo (8pm ET on YES)

• Tuesday at Royals: RHP Marcus Stroman vs. RHP Brady Singer (8pm ET on YES)

• Wednesday at Royals: RHP Cody Poteet vs. TBA (8pm ET on Amazon)

• Thursday at Royals: LHP Nestor Cortes vs. RHP Alec Marsh (2pm ET on YES, MLBN)

I’m not sure what the Royals are doing with that TBA. Daniel Lynch lines up for that day, but he gave up seven runs in the first inning last time out (the Royals came back and won!), and the Royals officially listing TBA means they’re thinking of making a change. Lynch is still on the MLB roster. He has not been sent to the minors. My guess is they’re considering an opener rather than calling up someone else. We’ll see.

The Mariners did the Yankees a solid Sunday and wore out Kansas City’s bullpen. They did that by blowing the save in the ninth and going to extras, so thanks Seattle. Royals nominal closer James McArthur needed 30 pitches to get two outs Sunday and it was his third appearance in four days. The Royals bullpen has an 18.0% strikeout rate this year, the lowest in baseball. They let you put the ball in play in the late innings.

Bobby Witt Jr. is a superstar, Salvador Perez is having his best season in years, and Vinnie Pasquantino is hitting .276/.323/.474 (115 wRC+) since May 1st. The Royals have a good middle of the order and they still do all that Royals-y stuff like steal bases and run like crazy. Pesky, pesky team. They’ll make you pull your hair out. Kansas City is 39-27 with a +76 run differential.

2. 2024 trade deadline primer. I swear it feels like Opening Day was last week, but the draft and All-Star Game are only five weeks away, and the trade deadline isn’t long after that. Gerrit Cole’s injury aside, this season could not be going much better. Juan Soto rules, Luis Gil and Anthony Volpe have broken out, and Carlos Rodón has bounced back. A great 67 games, this has been.

The Yankees are not perfect, no team is, and they will be in the market for upgrades at the trade deadline. A few times in recent years the Yankees were inactive at the deadline despite being in the race and needing help (see: 2019). They also tried to get better at the deadline and failed a few times (see: 2021). I expect the Yankees to be active this summer. Will the trades they make work? We’re going to find out.

Before we dive into specific players who might be available and who the Yankees could target, let’s get the lay of the land, and figure out what the Yankees need, which teams might sell, and who the Yankees could give up to get a deal(s) done. Here is the official RAB 2024 trade deadline primer. 

When is the trade deadline?

Remember when the trade deadline was July 31st every year? That was nice and easy. Nowadays Rob Manfred can schedule it for any day between July 28th and Aug. 3rd. This year it’s Tuesday, July 30th, at 6pm ET. Apparently front offices like having the deadline on a Tuesday, so Manfred schedules it for the Tuesday that falls in that date range. Tuesday, July 30th, is the trade deadline this year. Onward.

What do the Yankees need?

The good news is the Yankees do not have a long list of needs up and down the roster. You can always get better, though the list of glaring issues is fairly short. We’ve seen the Yankees go into the deadline needing a starter, a bat, a reliever or two, a bench guy, etc. The shopping list, which is subject to change between now and the deadline, is on the shorter side this year. It looks like this:

Corner infielder: This is the top priority. Soto’s absence this past weekend did the Yankees a favor and really drove home how quickly the lineup thins out behind the top 3-4 guys. They’re getting below league average production at both corner infield spots, and not by a small amount either. The numbers entering Sunday’s game:

NYY 1B: .230/.291/.345 (86 wRC+)
MLB 1B: .241/.317/.398 (105 wRC+)

NYY 3B: .247/.302/.329 (85 wRC+)
MLB 3B: .245/.313/.393 (102 wRC+)

First base is pretty much all Anthony Rizzo, who has an 83 wRC+ this year, a 93 wRC+ since the start of last year, and a 111 wRC+ since the start of 2022. Rizzo is hitting .192/.250/.264 (52 wRC+) since May 1st and there have been no signs of life lately. He’s been getting worse and is currently in a 1-for-29 skid, and did not play Sunday and might not play Monday either.

“I just felt like it was time,’’ Aaron Boone told Dan Martin about sitting Rizzo on Sunday. “It’s been on my mind a little bit. I felt today was the day and we’ll see where we go from here.”

It could be the concussion, it could be his back, it could be his age, it could be a million other things. Whatever the reason, Rizzo’s bat is devoid of impact, and his defense isn’t good enough to compensate. I mean, there’s no level of defense that makes a 93 wRC+ since the start of last season acceptable at first base. The offensive bar at first is pretty high at the position and the Yankees aren’t close to it.

Third base has been mostly Oswaldo Cabrera with some Jon Berti and DJ LeMahieu, and therein lies the problem: The Yankees have several guys who can play third base but they don’t have a third baseman, if that makes sense. LeMahieu is 7-for-32 (.219) with four GIDP since coming off the injured list and one of those hits wasn’t a hit. Rizzo intentionally ran into a grounder to prevent a GIDP, which gets scored a hit. LeMahieu has a 63.6% GB%. Egads.

LeMahieu and Rizzo aren’t near the end of their leashes – LeMahieu in particular deserves more time since he’s just coming back from a major injury – though first and third base have emerged as weak spots. Upgrades are sensible. At the same time, LeMahieu has another two years remaining on his contract and Rizzo is beloved in the clubhouse. Those are complicating factors. We can’t pretend they don’t exist.

Given that, I think it’s unrealistic to expect the Yankees to outright replace Rizzo and LeMahieu at the trade deadline. I think the more likely outcome is bringing in a bona fide third baseman, platooning Rizzo and LeMahieu at first, and also giving LeMahieu spot starts elsewhere. Reducing their roles could improve their performance through better matchups and more rest. Clearly though, corner infield help is a top priority.

Bullpen help: Ideally the Yankees would add one more Circle of Trust™ type. Someone who can come into a jam and miss bats, and escape without the defense needing to make a play. The Yankees like Caleb Ferguson’s stuff and Victor González has been sneaky great against lefties (.191 wOBA and 80.0 GB%) in a small sample, but if there’s a shutdown left-on-left guy out there, by all means, go get him. Ferguson and González shouldn't stand in the way of anything.

The bullpen ranks third in ERA (3.05) and third in ground ball rate (46.6%), but also 22nd in strikeout rate (21.9%). I know I’ve been harping on it all season, but strikeouts are important! And although the numbers say the bullpen has been great, when you can convincingly argue Michael Tonkin is the team’s third best righty reliever, you need bullpen help. The optimal post-deadline bullpen probably looks like this:

• Closer: Clay Holmes

• Setup: Luke Weaver and Someone New

• Middle: Ian Hamilton and Tommy Kahnle

• Lefties: Caleb Ferguson and Victor González (or Someone New)

• Long: Michael Tonkin, revolving door, etc.

For all intents and purposes, the Yankees have to replace Jonathan Loáisiga. Loáisiga was firmly in that high leverage/eighth inning mix before his elbow gave out a week into the season. Keep in mind Ferguson, Holmes, and Kahnle (and Loáisiga) are all coming up on free agency. Trading for a late-inning type with control beyond 2024 wouldn’t be a bad idea. Still, the priority is improving the 2024 Yankees.

Lou Trivino’s setback and slower than expected recovery takes him out of consideration for a second half bullpen boost. If he comes back at some point, great, but there have been bumps in his rehab. He’s a long way away. Scott Effross recently started facing hitters and Nick Burdi still exists. How do the Yankees view them? As coming to save the bullpen, or it’s a bonus if they contribute anything? Should be the latter. (Both can be optioned to Triple-A if that becomes necessary for whatever reason.)

The Yankees have done great work building good bullpens out of low cost pickups the last few years, and they have a good bullpen! They just need another bat-misser. It’s a good bullpen with a deficiency. I would not be surprised to see them stick with the “no name guy we can coach up” approach. It’s okay to be the Yankees and get a big name though. They haven’t done that with a reliever at the trade deadline since Zack Britton in 2018.

A corner infielder to lessen the reliance on LeMahieu and Rizzo (and Berti and Cabrera) and a late-inning bullpener (or two if they want a better lefty) are the top items on the deadline shopping list, and I hope it stays that way. We don’t need anyone getting hurt or cratering performance-wise between now and July 30th. Lineup length and bullpen length. Upgrades, not an overhaul. That’s the deadline approach.

Which teams are selling?

There are five very bad teams out there and two of them (Angels and Rockies) are unpredictable and don’t always do the sensible thing. The others (Athletics, Marlins, White Sox) don’t have much to offer. We’re at a point now where the bad teams are so bad that they don’t have desirable veteran rentals. Here are the deadline tiers Jeff Passan (subs. req’d) came up in his early deadline preview:

• Unloaders: Angels, Marlins, Mets, Nationals, Rockies, White Sox

• Hinge teams: Astros, Blue Jays, Diamondbacks, Rays, Red Sox, Tigers

• Tweeners: Cardinals, Cubs, Giants, Pirates, Reds, Twins

• Likely adders: Brewers, Guardians, Padres, Rangers, Royals

• Definite adders: Braves, Dodgers, Mariners, Orioles, Phillies, Yankees

Astros GM Dana Brown recently said they are “going to be buyers” at the deadline and I believe it. It’s their last year with Alex Bregman, Justin Verlander is 41, Jose Altuve only has so many prime years remaining, etc. Get help and the deadline and try to win. The AL West isn’t that good, and there are three Wild Card spots. It would take a hard, hard crash the next few weeks for the Astros to sell, methinks.

There could be AL East (Blue Jays, Rays, Red Sox) and crosstown (Mets) dynamics to navigate at the deadline if those teams sell. I could see the Mets and Yankees hooking up for, say, a Jake Diekman trade. But Pete Alonso? Eh. Would the Blue Jays send Vlad Guerrero Jr. to the Yankees? Guessing that’s a hard no. Isaac Paredes would be a lovely fit at third base if the Yankees are comfortable sending prospects to Tampa.

There are four – four! – National League teams with a winning record (Braves, Brewers, Dodgers, Phillies). The Mets are 28-36 and only three games out of a Wild Card spot! Every NL team except the Marlins and Rockies is a good week away from being in the race. What a trash league. We need some of these teams to crash these next few weeks and move into the unloader category.

That’s the competitive landscape though. There are few clear cut sellers right now. The worst thing would be that mushy middle of the NL staying mushy. We need some teams to fall out of the race and put their players on the trade block. The more options, the better. Otherwise the Yankees will have fewer places to shop and the prices will be jacked up because supply is short.

Who could the Yankees trade?

The Jordan Montgomery trade showed that, even when the Yankees are in the race, they’re willing to trade from the MLB roster. Not in a seller’s way (big leaguer for prospects, etc.), but if they can use this guy to upgrade a different part of the roster while having a replacement lined up, they’ll do it. Contenders don’t like to subtract from their big league roster. Sometimes though, it makes sense to do it.

I could see the Yankees trading Gleyber Torres. What could they get for him and how do they replace him? I do not know. The dopey errors are bad, but now that Torres is hitting again, there’s no in-house replacement who offers as much with the bat. I guess the Yankees could trade Torres, bring in a new third baseman, and put LeMahieu at second, but that just shifts the infield problem from third to second. It doesn’t solve it.

Trading an outfielder (Alex Verdugo is the only plausible outfield trade candidate) and installing Jasson Domínguez is a thing that could happen, though I’d say it’s unlikely. Are the Yankees comfortable enough with their rotation depth to trade Nestor Cortes? Maybe they do a smaller version of the Montgomery-Harrison Bader trade and swap 1.5 years of Cortes for 1.5 years of a corner infielder. Clarke Schmidt’s injury hurts here.

I don’t think the Montgomery trade was the start of the trend and the Yankees will suddenly start swapping big leaguers every deadline. Montgomery strikes me as like an outlier, and the Yankees will look to upgrade their roster by trading prospects. I expect them to add, not add while subtracting at the same time. With that in mind, here are the prospects who could be peddled over the next few weeks.

OF Spencer Jones: The Yankees reportedly made Jones off-limits in trade talks about Corbin Burnes and Dylan Cease over the winter and, uh, maybe that wasn’t the best idea? I’m only half-joking. Jones is hitting .228/.308/.380 (92 wRC+) in Double-A with strikeout (34.1%) and swinging strike (16.0%) rates that are in red flag territory. Jones is starting to get hot (three homers in his last four games), but yeah, it hasn’t been smooth sailing in 2024.

Selling low on Jones at the trade deadline after making him an untouchable in the offseason does not seem like something the Yankees will do, but I would not rule it out. We’ve seen them quickly pull the plug on recent first round picks when things began to go sour. Blake Rutherford is the best recent example, but you can also go back to C.J. Henry in 2006, James Kaprielian in 2017, and even Trey Sweeney this past offseason.

Those guys were all first round picks the Yankees traded before they reached Rule 5 Draft eligibility. Other than Sweeney, they were all in significant trades. Henry was traded for Bobby Abreu, Rutherford was in the big Todd Frazier/David Robertson deal, and Kaprielian was part of the Sonny Gray trade. I don’t think the Yankees will trade Jones. But, if they do, I would expect it to be in a blockbuster type trade.

OF Everson Pereira: Pereira was having a typical Pereira season before being placed on the injured list two weeks ago – .265/.346/.512 (118 wRC+) with a 32.4 K% and 20.0% swinging strikes – and that injury throws a wrench into things. I figured Pereira was Grade-A trade bait since this is his final minor league option year. If he makes it back soon and shows he’s healthy, great. He’ll go back to being trade bait. But, if Pereira is still on the Triple-A injured list as the deadline approaches, that’s gonna complicate things.

SS Oswald Peraza: Peraza missed the first six weeks of the season with a shoulder injury and he hasn’t hit since returning: .145/.314/.159 (40 wRC+) in 19 games with Triple-A Scranton. I don’t think the Yankees would – or should – hesitate to trade Peraza, but he might have more value to them as “you know he’ll catch the ball” shortstop depth in case Anthony Volpe gets hurt than as a trade chip. What are you getting for a guy coming off an injury and hitting like that in his fourth (!) try at Triple-A, even with Peraza’s glove?

C Agustin Ramirez: Friday night’s three-homer game (video) gave Ramirez 15 home runs this season after hitting 18 last year in more than twice as many plate appearances. He’s a catcher, he pairs excellent exit velocities with strong contact rates, and he’s performing in Double-A (.276/.368/.566 and 161 wRC+). Ramirez has emerged as one of the Yankees’ top prospects, which in turns makes him one of their top trade chips.

The Yankees really like Ramirez, so much so that they put him on the 40-man roster one year out of rookie ball. Jose Trevino will be a free agent after 2025 and you can see a path to a Ramirez/Austin Wells tandem behind the plate, or even Ramirez at first base if his defense behind the plate doesn’t improve. At the same time, Ramirez might be their best trade chip if Jones is off the table. He might be their only way to get an impact piece in that case.

LHP Brock Selvidge: The Yankees have traded a small army of pitching prospects the last few years. Chandler Champlain, Luis Medina, JP Sears, Ken Waldichuk, Hayden Wesneski, and others at the 2022 deadline. Glenn Otto in 2021. Roansy Contreras was traded during the 2020-21 offseason. This past winter it was Richard Fitts and others. Grow arms, keep the best, trade the rest. Good plan, I’d say.

It could be difficult to do that this deadline. Touted pitching prospects Chase Hampton, Henry Lalane, and Carlos Lagrange are all hurt and have yet to pitch in 2024. Clayton Beeter got hurt a few weeks ago. Will Warren is having a rough go of it in Triple-A, ditto Kyle Carr in High-A. Others like Yoendrys Gómez, Zach Messinger, and Trystan Vrieling are nice prospects but probably not needle-movers at the deadline.

Among pitchers, Selvidge is the best combination of health, performance, and prospect stock in the farm system at the moment. The Yankees really like him, there’s a reason he was allowed to pitch deep into Spring Breakout, but what other pitching prospects can they trade without other teams using health and/or performance to drag them down? The pitching prospect well is running dry this deadline.

Single-A infielders: The Yankees have lots of them, enough to trade even after parting with Keiner Delgado to complete the JT Brubaker trade. Some of these infielders (Roderick Arias, George Lombard Jr.) are more highly regarded than others (Roc Riggio, Enmanuel Tejeda, etc.), and as with so many prospects in the system this year, most of these guys aren't performing:

• Arias: .224/.324/.379 (103 wRC+) with 35.2 K% and 12.4 BB%

• Lombard: .208/.360/.268 (96 wRC+) with 23.1 K% and 17.7 BB%

• Riggio: .213/.357/.340 (102 wRC+) with 17.3 K% and 15.7 BB%

• Tejeda: .330/.374/.402 (122 wRC+) with 22.2 K% and 6.5 BB%

Performance isn’t everything but you do have to perform a little, right? Other than Riggio, those kids are all teenagers in Low-A, where the offensive environment is all screwy because of the automated strike zone and because there are no more short season leagues. Arias and Lombard really could have used a stint at Short Season Staten Island! But that level doesn’t exist anymore, so Low-A it is.

Anyway, the Yankees have a good collection of Single-A middle infielders and it’s an area they could trade from – continue to trade from after dealing Delgado – at the deadline. They barely have enough roster spots to accommodate these guys. How much they can get for them depends on the other team’s evaluation, not the stats, the prospect rankings, or how the Yankees feel about them. 

The Rule 5 Draft eligibles: This group is worth a longer breakdown at some point but the Yankees have a large class of Rule 5 Draft eligible players coming up after the season. Larger than usual. Here are the notables:

• Catchers: Ben Rice

• Infielders: Ben Cowles, Caleb Durbin, T.J. Rumfield, Jared Serna

• Outfielders: none

• Righties: Zach Messinger, Jack Neely, Will Warren, Danny Watson

• Lefties: none

Cowles is breaking out, the Yankees love Durbin, and those pitchers all figure to be up/down options at the very least next season. There is not enough 40-man roster space for all of them. Trading away the Rule 5 Draft eligible players on the 40-man bubble is standard procedure at the deadline. Everyone in this group is a trade candidate this summer, some more than others.

Miscellaneous prospects: 2B Jorbit Vivas is the kinda near-MLB-ready secondary prospect teams love as the second or third piece in a package. RHP Cade Smith is this year’s breakout mid-round draft pick and could interest clubs (he struck out 11 on Sunday). Pre-breakout rookie ballers like RHP Jerson Alejandro, OF Brando Mayea, and C Edgleen Perez are increasingly popular trade targets (it’s how the Yankees got Luis Gil). Filling out the second and third pieces in a trade package won’t be tough. It’s coming up with a headliner that could be a challenge given the current state of the farm system, especially if Jones is off-limits again.

* * *

To wrap it all up, the Yankees are going to need a corner infielder and bullpen help, they need a bunch of mediocre teams to slump so they become sellers, and they need a few (or more) of their prospects to turn their seasons around so they become more tradeable. The deadline is seven weeks away and a lot will change between now and then, but this is where things sit right now.

3. 2024 draft prospect: Tennessee 3B Billy Amick. The 2024 MLB Draft will take place during the All-Star break and the Yankees hold the No. 26 pick. Here are the draft prospects I’ve already profiled. Some are players the Yankees are reported to have interest in, some are players who fit the team’s M.O., and some are players I like for whatever reason. We’re covering a little of everything.

Amick, 21, began his career at Clemson, though he barely played as a freshman and was limited to first base and DH duty as a sophomore. He transferred to Tennessee this year so he could play third base, and he’s hitting .311/.388/.676 with 23 home runs in 59 games while helping the Volunteers to the College World Series. That line is very good, obviously, though it is down quite a bit from his .413/.464/.773 slash line last year, albeit in a less competitive conference.

In the wood bat Cape Cod League last summer, Amick slashed .368/.442/.579 against top competition, which is when he thrust himself into the first round mix. I will say though his strikeout (17.8%) and walk (9.9%) rates this spring are not in line with what you usually see with first round college bats, even back half of the first round guys. Here’s where the latest draft rankings have Amick:

• Baseball America (subs. req’d): No. 18

• ESPN (subs. req’d): No. 16

• Keith Law (subs. req’d): No. 55

• MLB Pipeline: No. 26

Kiley McDaniel (subs. req’d) says the Yankees have been in on Amick this spring and the ultra-plugged in Jim Callis had the Yankees taking Amick in his latest mock draft, which is a pretty good sign their interest is legit. Callis’ mocks are rarely speculation. Here’s video and here’s MLB Pipeline’s free scouting report:

Amick has a quality right-handed swing and repeatedly barrels balls despite frequently chasing pitches out of the strike zone. His aggressive approach yields hard contact to all fields but does cut into his walk totals. His bat speed and strength create plus raw power that plays all over the ballpark and should translate into 20-25 homers per season.

Amick has gotten the chance to man the hot corner for the Volunteers and looks like he'll be able to stay there in pro ball. Equipped with below-average speed and quickness along with average arm strength, he's a fringy to average third baseman who has looked more comfortable as he has gained more experience. He does have the work ethic to continue to improve but also may wind up at first base.

Back in January, Carlos Collazo (no sub. req’d) noted Amick had the “most egregious” chase rates among the top college draft prospects with a sub-70% contact rate. And that was coming off his monster sophomore season at Clemson, not his merely great junior year at Tennessee this spring. Amick’s exit velocities are excellent, but there are contact and chase concerns here. Can he get the bat on the ball enough?

Between that and what sounds like decent at best third base defense – just about all the public scouting reports say Amick may wind up at first base down the line – you’re looking at close to a one-tool player. That one tool is very valuable – power pays! – but it’s a narrow skill set. Other than Austin Wells, every hitter the Yankees have taken in the first round in recent years had good secondary skills (defense, speed, etc.).

I wrote up Amick because he’s been connected to the Yankees and sheesh, the college hitters projected to be taken in the back half of the first round aren’t all that exciting this year. Teams love college bats because they carry less injury risk than pitchers and there’s more data on them than high schoolers, but when this is what you’re looking at with No. 26, maybe don’t be afraid to take a pitcher or a high school kid?

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