August 14th, 2023: Cortes, Rotation, King, Volpe, Cashman, Torres, Kiner-Falefa, Lee

Self-promotion: I wrote a thing at CBS about all the mistakes that led the Yankees to where they are today, which is the AL East cellar. It was originally on our schedule for Tuesday, but after that loss Sunday, my editors decided to push it up. Strike while the iron is hot and all (hate clicks are still clicks!). Anyway, nothing in there is new information if you’ve been reading RAB long enough, but that’s there if you’re interested.

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I missed this earlier this month: Blake Rutherford is a big leaguer. The Yankees drafted him with their 2016 first round pick and traded him to the White Sox a year later in the big Todd Frazier deal. Rutherford never hit in the minors with Chicago and he became a minor league free agent this past offseason. The Nationals called him up on Aug. 4th after he hit .345/.395/.583 (153 wRC+) between Double-A and Triple-A. Rutherford, now 26, is 2-for-19 (.105) in the show. Here’s his first career hit. It came against fellow former Yankees prospect Luis Medina. Good for him. Still has time to carve out a nice career too. Anyway, I don’t want to make a habit of running Tuesday morning’s post on Monday, but the Yankees have had a knack for annoying Sunday losses lately, so I figured I would publish ASAP rather than sit on it another day. Let’s get to today’s post.

1. Cortes hurt again. The Yankees have reached critical mass with their rotation. Did I use that right, critical mass? Whatever. Point is, the Yankees are running short on starters, and that was true even before Nestor Cortes went back on the injured list last Friday. The Yankees called it a rotator cuff strain, the same thing that sent Nestor to the injured list in May.

“It’ll probably be tough (for Cortes to return this season) with that kind of timeline. I know they’re going to reevaluate in three weeks,” Aaron Boone told Greg Joyce. “You’re talking 3-4 weeks of no-throw and then essentially starting over from there with catch. So it’d be pretty difficult, but we’ll see where we are in a few weeks.”

Cortes looked great in his return last weekend! It was very encouraging. He also skipped his third rehab game to make that start (because Domingo Germán leaving the team put the Yankees in a bind), which may or may not have played a role in the re-injury. Nestor had his best fastball of the season against the Astros. He threw gas, relatively speaking:

Maybe Cortes overdid it against a prime opponent while working on one fewer rehab start than planned? I could see it. What’s done is done though. Maybe Nestor will be able to return as a reliever in mid-to-late September, but why bother? The Yankees aren’t going anywhere and you shouldn’t mess around with shoulder problems. Let him get ready for 2024.

“It’s hard to pinpoint something. It’s probably a combination, a little bit of everything. I felt really good coming into Houston,” Cortes told Bryan Hoch. “... Taking everything into consideration, I feel like I hit my all-time top velo last game, facing the Houston Astros, not a Double-A team. Maybe there was some added (adrenaline) there. A lot of stuff that can happen that led to this. Hopefully I can get through it this time around.”

For all intents and purposes, the Yankees have a two-man rotation right now. It’s Gerrit Cole and Clarke Schmidt, and then three bullpen games. Luis Severino went two innings after an opener Wednesday, Randy Vásquez threw 3.2 innings after an opener Friday, and Mike King (two innings) and Jhony Brito (five innings) piggybacked Saturday. The current rotation depth chart:

1. RHP Gerrit Cole (amazing)
2. LHP Carlos Rodón (bad and hurt)
3. RHP Luis Severino (bad)
4. LHP Nestor Cortes (hurt)
5. RHP Domingo Germán (won’t pitch again this season)
6. RHP Clarke Schmidt (already set a new career high in innings)
7. RHP Frankie Montas (throwing but not expected back this year, per Hoch)
8. RHP Jhony Brito
9. RHP Randy Vásquez

Rodón threw in the bullpen over the weekend and is trending toward returning once his 15 days on the injured list are up, but even then, which Rodón are the Yankees getting? The ace they’re paying him to be or the guy who’s allowed 22 runs and eight homers in 27 innings this year? The Yankees are desperate enough for rotation help that they’re stretching out King. Geez.

Losing Nestor makes the Yankees approximately 74.5942% less watchable and they were pretty unwatchable to begin with. His injury also subtracts from their already slim postseason odds. Cortes looked great last weekend and getting that guy back would have been a huge lift. Instead, Nestor’s All-Star 2022 was followed up by a 4.97 ERA (4.50 FIP) in 12 starts in 2023. I hate this game sometimes.

The silver lining is there’s an opportunity for Brito and Vásquez (and King) now. Maybe someone like Clayton Beeter gets a look in September too. The Yankees will have a chance to audition a few younger pitchers who could have more prominent roles in 2024. Cole’s been great, Schmidt has come into his own, and the rest of the rotation has been patchwork all season.

“It’s been tough,” Boone told Hoch about the rotation injuries. “When you start with Frankie, get that news that he’s probably going to miss (the season), then having guys start and have a lot of incomplete seasons around injuries, it makes it challenging. But that’s part of it. You’ve got to roll with it, and it creates opportunities for other guys.”

2. Weekend thoughts. I gotta say, it was a nice change of pace watching the Yankees get shut down by an actual ace Saturday. Get shut down by Sandy Alcantara? Okay fine. I don’t like it but I understand. Get shut down by Chase Anderson and Griffin Canning and Austin Gomber? Nope, sorry, that’s not okay. Too bad the Yankees have backed themselves into a corner where they have to beat actual aces to have any chance at the postseason. Now for a few thoughts on the last few games.

King is a starter now, apparently

Mike King started Saturday afternoon’s game and he threw 41 pitches in two innings, and it was not an opener situation. He;s being stretched out to start. Nestor Cortes and Carlos Rodón are hurt, Domingo Germán is away from the team, and Luis Severino has been awful. The Yankees are short in the rotation and King has been bugging them about starting, so they’re gonna try it.

“I definitely wanted it. I talked to Booney about it probably a week ago and then the unfortunate Nestor news opened up an opportunity. I have no idea what’s going to happen in the future, but definitely like doing it,” King told Greg Joyce. “... I’m really just trying to be that Swiss Army knife I wanted to be coming into Spring Training. If they need another starter, then great and I would love it. If they need a one-inning relief appearance, great.”

King came up through the minors as a starter and he made several starts for the Yankees in 2020 and 2021. His career numbers are much better as a reliever (2.86 ERA and 3.06 FIP) than as a starter (6.64 ERA and 5.03 FIP), though it’s four times as many innings as a reliever, and who isn’t better as a reliever than as a starter? There is a huge gap in those numbers though.

I am uneasy about this. On one hand, King now isn’t the same guy who made 10 spot starts from 2020-21. He didn’t pick up the sweeper until Corey Kluber showed it to him in May 2021, and there is something to be said for learning how to get outs in relief, and using that knowledge as a starter. King is a smarter, more experienced, and more confident pitcher now.

On the other hand, King’s stuff ticked up significantly when he moved to the bullpen full-time late in 2021. His fastball jumped from the low-90s to the mid-90s and we’ve seen a few 98s and 99s out of the bullpen. We haven’t seen the 98s and 99s as often this season, but they’re there on occasion. As a starter, King looked kinda ordinary. As a reliever, he’s dynamite.

There’s also the injury history. King missed the first three months of 2019 with a stress reaction in his elbow and then he managed to fracture the elbow last summer. Can he hold up under a starter’s workload? Then again, maybe a set schedule as a starter rather than sporadic bullpen work is the best way to keep him healthy? I don’t know, but there is an injury history here.

I am uneasy about moving King into the rotation but I’m not completely against it. Hell, I proposed it in May. I’m mostly just worried he’s going to get hurt again. If he loses velocity and his stuff backs up as a starter, okay, then you just put him back in the bullpen next year. You’ve at least learned King isn’t a rotation option. There’s value in that. An injury would really stink though.

If the Yankees are going to try it (and it sure seems like they are), this is the time to do it. They’re likely going to miss the postseason and they’re missing a bunch of starters, so there are plenty of innings to go around. If it doesn’t work, so be it. But, if it does work and King looks like a viable big league starter, then that could be really helpful moving forward. Might as well try it.

“He’s just been so valuable, but as we’ve gotten some guys back to our bullpen, having obviously some injuries in our rotation, it makes a little bit of sense,” Aaron Boone told Max Goodman. “... Kinger has obviously served so many roles for us this year, whether it’s closing the game, high leverage late, length in the middle of the game. Just feel like with some of our injuries, this is potentially a chance to stretch him out a little bit.”

Volpe’s power and progress

Anthony Volpe hit a really impressive home run Sunday. Not because it was a long and majestic shot, but because it was a 97 mph fastball down and in, and Volpe just beat Eury Pérez to the spot (video):

This season right-handed batters are slugging .326 with a 65.1% ground ball rate on down and in pitches at 97+ mph. Volpe’s homer was only the seventh this year on such a pitch. The guys who hit the other six aren’t exactly a who’s who of great righty hitters – Nick Castellanos, Enrique Hernández, Jorge Soler, Spencer Torkelson, Andrew Vaughn, Nelson Velázquez – but the point is hitting a homer on that pitch doesn’t happen often.

The eye test is better than the numbers with Volpe – Sunday’s homer boosted his batting line to .211/.291/.383 (87 wRC+) – but there is very clearly legit power in his bat. I mean, he’s a 5-foot-9 rookie shortstop and he’s on pace for 22 homers. “His frame doesn’t scream projection, but if Volpe manages to add more strength, he will have a chance to hit a lot of home runs,” I wrote in my Top 30 Prospects list and nothing I’ve seen this year makes me believe otherwise.

Volpe’s strikeout and swinging strike rates have been trending down for weeks, even before the Yankees replaced Dillon Lawson with Sean Casey, and they’re at their lowest points right now. This is really encouraging:

When you see a home run like Sunday’s, and you see the positive strikeout and swinging strike trends, it’s hard not to get excited about what Volpe can be. Given the Yankees’ current state of affairs, the No. 1 item on my “stuff I want to see the rest of 2023” list is Volpe further honing his approach and reigning in the swing-and-miss, and finishing strong. There’s not much to get excited about with this team right now. I’ll take any positive signs from Volpe I can get.

Miscellany

Not much to say about Sunday’s loss. Clay Holmes just needs to be better. That’s all. He’s been great the last three months, but he melted down spectacularly Sunday, and it turned a 7-3 ninth inning lead into an 8-7 walk-off loss. The offense did its job, Gerrit Cole did his job, and Wandy Peralta and Keynan Middleton did their jobs. Holmes did not do his. This is one of those “the player has to be better” situations. It doesn’t mean Holmes sucks forever. He just had a bad game, and unfortunately it happened at a time when the Yankees can’t afford to have any bad games … Since returning from the injured list Judge has walked 18 times in 64 plate appearances, or 28.1%. He has come around to score only three times on those 18 walks. Teams aren’t pitching to him – this will continue right through Game 162 – and the rest of the lineup isn’t making them pay … Jake Bauers since Anthony Rizzo last played: 7-for-44 (.159) with 22 strikeouts and only four walks. Could be a slump, could be a sign Bauers is getting exposed with regular at-bats. He’s had enormous exit velocity and barrel rate gains this year, though there’s always been swing and miss in his game. I could see him being a guy who thrives as a platoon bat with specific matchups and is a liability otherwise. At minimum, the Yankees should get Bauers out of the leadoff spot so Judge hits with men on base on occasion. I guess put Isiah Kiner-Falefa up there? … Greg Allen has started one of 19 games since coming off the injured list, and he's come off the bench to pinch-run or play defense eight times. There has to be a better way to use that roster spot … And finally, Ian Hamilton opened the last game in Chicago and the first game in Miami. Excluding the “start the last game before the All-Star break and the first game after the All-Star break” move (CC Sabathia did that in 2011), Hamilton is the first Yankee to start back-to-back games since George Pipgras on July 29-30 in 1928. Pipgras allowed six runs without getting an out on the 29th, so they brought him back the next day and he allowed four runs in eight innings. That July 29th game was a 24-6 loss and the 24 runs are the most allowed in franchise history. The Yankees have allowed 20 runs in a game only four times ever, which is kinda nuts given how long they've been around. Anyway, the 1928 Yankees won 101 games and the World Series. Congrats to the 2023 Yankees for doing the one thing the 1928 Yankees did wrong.

3. Mining the news. I’ve been sitting on a few Yankees-related and Yankees-adjacent nuggets the last few weeks, so let’s go through them now.

Cashman suggested selling at deadline

According to Jon Heyman, Brian Cashman suggested selling rentals at the trade deadline, and ownership okayed it only if the trades netted good prospects and shed significant money. Given their rentals (Harrison Bader, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Wandy Peralta, Luis Severino), getting good prospects and saving money was going to be difficult, so no seller trades were made.

As far as we know Cashman has recommended selling at the trade deadline twice before: 2013, when ownership wouldn’t let him trade Robbie Canó, and 2016, when they sold only after Aroldis Chapman would not discuss an extension. For better or worse, ownership seems to view selling as a last resort, and I get that. It’s also kinda foolish. What good are the 15 or so innings Peralta will throw the rest of this season? There was a market for Wandy (and Bader and Kiner-Falefa).

The Yankees are 5-7 since the trade deadline and five games out of a postseason spot, and they could still “sell,” I suppose. Put Peralta on waivers and I’m 100% certain a contender would claim him. He’s cheap (roughly $840,000 the rest of the season), he’s nails against lefties (.209 wOBA and 66.7% ground balls), and he's proven he can get big outs in October. Bader and Kiner-Falefa could get claimed too, though I’m less sure about them.

For the Yankees, letting these guys go on waivers would be about saving cash and also creating opportunities for younger players. Let Peralta go and the Yankees could give, say, Clayton Beeter a look. Letting Bader go clears a path for Estevan Florial or Everson Pereira. There would be no excuse for keeping Oswald Peraza in Triple-A once Kiner-Falefa is gone. This would be the surest sign the Yankees have shifted their focus to 2024.

To be clear, I think there is zero chance the Yankees actually do this. Letting good players go for nothing on waivers after not trading them at the deadline would be thoroughly humiliating and a profound admission of failure, and the Yankees don’t operate that way. I buy Cashman wanting to sell at the deadline and I buy ownership not wanting to do it. It’s not the first time it happened.

Cashman will remain in 2024

Hal Steinbrenner has already decided Cashman will remain the general manager next season, reports Bob Klapisch. “The idea (of firing Cashman) isn’t even on the table. It’s not up for discussion,” a source told Klapisch. Aaron Boone’s fate is less certain – someone has to get scapegoated, after all – though apparently it has already been decided Cashman will stay.

Two thoughts on this. First, this isn’t surprising, is it? Cashman is basically a Steinbrenner, and he has positioned himself as difficult to replace. Say what you want about his roster-building, but Cashman is no idiot. Other than former general managers in their 60s serving as advisors (Jim Hendry, Omar Minaya, Brian Sabean), there’s no one in the front office who can step in to replace Cashman on a permanent basis. That is by design.

(The Yankees badly need a new set of eyes and fresh ideas. Whenever Cashman is replaced, either this offseason or 15 years from now, the Yankees would be smart to bring in someone from outside the organization and start anew. Also, I bunch of people have sent in mailbag questions asking about GM candidates. It'll get to that at some point. I'm not ignoring you.)

And second, it’s only August. I think Cashman returning is (by far) the most likely outcome , but there’s no reason to assume the decision is final. Let’s see how the rest of the season plays out and how Hal feels in a few weeks. Someone will be scapegoated, I know that much, and the hitting coach has already been fired. A last place finish and the end of the winning season streak could prompt ownership to look in a new direction.

Still no extension talks with Torres

The Yankees still haven’t approached Gleyber Torres about an extension, he told Mark Sanchez. “I wish,” Torres said. It is not the first time he’s said he wants to stay with the Yankees long-term. Gleyber will be a free agent after next season and the Yankees haven’t been shy about saying they view Peraza and Anthony Volpe as their middle infield of the future, so yeah.

Torres, 27 in December, is hitting .269/.337/.441 (115 wRC+) with 18 home runs this season and he has been the Yankees' best position player given all the time Aaron Judge missed. He is entering what should be his prime and there are several indications he’s about to make a leap:

• Career low 13.7% strikeout rate, down from 22.6% last year and 21.9% from 2018-22.
• Career low 8.8% swinging strike rate, down from 12.4% last year and 12.6% from 2018-22.
• Career high 86.2% in-zone contact rate, up from 81.3% last year and 81.2% from 2018-22.
• Set a new career high with a 112.4 mph max exit velocity (he set a new career high in May and then broke it in July).
• Six of the 15 hardest hit balls of his career have come in 2023.

Gleyber probably won’t hit 38 homers again. That season was a rocket ball mirage. I gotta say though, a soon-to-be 27-year-old making more contact than ever and hitting the ball harder than ever is an exciting development. The baserunning and defensive lapses are annoying, but have you watched the Yankees? They are hardly unique to Torres. Get better coaches.

I think this offseason needs to be decision time with Torres, who will be a free agent after next season. Either extend him or trade him. With the Yankees now being something less than a slam dunk World Series contender, taking Gleyber into next season as a lame duck would be a mistake. Either commit to him long-term or trade him over the winter, when the trade market is much less restricted (by payroll, by the standings, etc.) than it is at the trade deadline.

What does an extension for a 27-year-old Gleyber look like? I really have no idea. Nico Hoerner’s extension bought out one free agent year at $20M. I could also see Torres being viewed as the second base Andrew Benintendi, where five years at $15M per year is more appropriate, even while being on the right side of 30. Does he want the biggest contract possible? Or is he willing to roll the dice on a short-term contract and re-enter free agency at 29 or 30?

Gleyber wants to stay and replacing him will be more difficult than I think a lot of people realize. I want the Yankees to play Peraza as much as anyone, but he’s hitting .250/.352/.472 (103 wRC+) while repeating Triple-A. He’s not exactly forcing the issue. Torres has a 115 wRC+ in the show and he was a third year big leaguer when he was Peraza’s age.

Without knowing what the trade offers look like, I’m on team Extend Gleyber. There is also part of me that believes the Yankees need a fresh start, and part of that is turning the page on a player like Torres, who, while young and valuable, is through his cheap team control years and was part of the teams that couldn’t get over the hump. You can’t truly have a fresh start if you keep all your favorite players, you know?

IKF wants to remain with Yankees

Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who is a few weeks away from becoming a free agent, would like to remain with the Yankees, he told Sanchez. Of course, he also wants the opportunity to play, and he is willing to play any position as long as it gets him in the lineup. Kiner-Falefa has been very good as a utility guy this year. As an everyday player, he’s been stretched throughout his career.

“I love it here and would want to stay for sure,” Kiner-Falefa told Sanchez. “... I’m happy wherever as long as I get an opportunity to play and just be on a winning team. I think that’s the biggest thing. Going through a team that lost 100 games in 2021 (with the Rangers), I don’t really want to be a part of that. I want to be on a winning team.”

Still only 28, Kiner-Falefa is hitting .284/.358/.438 (122 wRC+) since May 16th, which coincides with his latest batting stance changes. His outfield defense is a work in progress but he’s shown he can handle moving around, and he is a low strikeout hitter (16.7%) in an age of big strikeout totals. He’s a player who fits on a contending team, though maybe not as an everyday guy.

Kiner-Falefa is an excellent candidate for a “they gave him how much???” contract this winter given the poor free agent class. Three years at $10M per season or something like that. A team will convince themselves he’s the next Ben Zobrist and that he’s just entering his prime, and roll the dice. And they might be right! I hope Kiner-Falefa gets paid. He seems like a good dude who works hard and genuinely loves being a Yankee. It’s not his fault the Yankees miscast him as an everyday shortstop.

I see Kiner-Falefa as a utility guy who’s nice to have during his cheap team control years, but I would be hesitant to pay free agent prices to keep him. Then again, these are the Yankees, and one of the advantages of their resources is being able to spend big on role players. That was the thinking behind the original DJ LeMahieu signing, right? Maybe Kiner-Falefa is on the cusp of his 2019-20 LeMahieu years and the Yankees should keep him. I dunno.

Hendriks has Tommy John surgery

White Sox closer Liam Hendriks, who I have mentioned as a possible Yankees trade target more than once, had Tommy John surgery last month. The timing of the surgery suggests he will miss the entire 2024 season or close to it. As long as he has no setbacks or complications, Hendriks should be fully ready to go for Spring Training 2025, when he will be 36.

"There is no doubt in my mind I'll be back. I'll be 35 (next year) with a brand new elbow. Hopefully it gives me a couple extra years,” Hendriks told Jesse Rogers. “... My goal is to pitch next year. Thirteen months would be around Sept. 2nd. Who knows if I'll need that little showcase at the end of the season to be able to get a job."

Hendriks has a unique contract. This is the third year of a three-year, $54M deal, though there is a $15M club option for 2024. The kicker: Hendriks gets the $15M either way. If the option is picked up, he gets a $15M salary next year. If the option is declined, he gets a $15M buyout paid out in $1.5M annual installments from 2024-33.

Because he is unlikely to pitch next year (or at least not pitch much), the White Sox will probably decline the option and spread the $15M out across 10 years, right? Owner Jerry Reinsdorf is one of the biggest payroll hawks in the game. I would be very surprised if the White Sox pick up the option and pay Hendriks $15M for a rehab year when they could spread it over a decade.

The Yankees haven’t done the “sign an injured player and rehab him” thing since David Aardsma in 2012. Well, no, they have done it, but only with minor league contracts (Matt Bowman, Art Warren, etc.). It’s been a while since they gave one of those guys a guaranteed contract and an offseason 40-man roster spot. (Jon Lieber is their big success story with one of these contracts.)

I don’t think the Yankees will do it with Hendriks and if they’re not willing to do it with him, I’m not sure they’ll ever do it again. He’s been a top flight reliever for years and he’s been beloved in every clubhouse he’s played. Give Hendriks two years and $10M ($2M to rehab in 2024 and $8M in 2025) plus a boatload of escalators, and hope he can contribute in a year. I don’t expect it to happen but I would be all for it.

Ankle injury likely ends Lee’s season

Kiwoom Heroes center fielder and reigning KBO MVP Jung-Hoo Lee had surgery to repair the “extensor retinaculum surrounding tendons in his left ankle” last month, according to Jee-Ho Yoo. Apparently there was no specific play that caused the injury. Lee felt some discomfort in his ankle while playing the field, the team sent him for tests, and they found the damage.

Lee’s surgery comes with a three-month recovery and it essentially ends his season (he might be able to play late in the postseason if the team goes on a run). Jon Morosi reports the Heroes will still post Lee for MLB teams this offseason. They said they would post him back in January and they’re sticking to it. That’s a tough break, seeing your franchise player’s final season with the team end early due to injury.

Last season Lee slashed .349/.421/.575 (175 wRC+) with 23 homers and twice as many walks (10.5%) as strikeouts (5.1%). His numbers took a step back this year, though they were still very good: .319/.407/.456 (141 wRC+) with six homers and way more walks (12.7%) than strikeouts (6.0%) in 85 games before the injury. Lee’s 2023 numbers are more in line with his 2019-21 numbers, and those 23 homers in 2022 are more than than his second and third best home run seasons combined (15 in 2020 and seven in 2021).

The Yankees had scouts watching Lee earlier this season, which really doesn’t mean much because they scout everyone. In February, Baseball America (subs. req’d) ranked Lee the fourth best non-MLB prospect in the World Baseball Classic behind Japanese stars Roki Sasaki, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Munetaka Murakami. Here’s the scouting report (here’s WBC video):

The son of Korean baseball legend Jeong Boom Lee, Jung Hoo jumped straight from high school to the KBO and set a new rookie record for hits en route to winning the rookie of the year award. He quickly blossomed into the league’s biggest star and won the KBO MVP award last season. Lee is a high-contact hitter with a fast lefthanded swing and a preternatural feel for the barrel. He consistently squares balls up and drives them on a line to all fields, using his plus speed to rack up doubles and triples. His lean build and flat swing path make him a contact hitter, but he has enough strength to turn on inside pitches and drive them over the right field fence. Lee has the speed and athleticism to stay in center field and is playable at all three outfield positions, although his fringe-average arm strength would be stretched in right field. He has a chance to be an everyday center fielder who hits for average near the top of a lineup in MLB and is expected to come over after the 2023 season.

Lee turns 25 this coming weekend and he will not be subject to the international bonus pools. He will be able to sign a contract of any size, though the team that signs him will have to pay the Heroes a posting fee based on the size of the contract. It goes without saying a 25-year-old lefty contact bat with good center field defense is pretty much exactly what the Yankees need.

Top KBO hitters have been a hit or miss in MLB. Byung-Ho Park and Hyun-Soo Kim flopped while Jung-Ho Kang and Ha-Seong Kim performed well. Eventually, in Kim’s case, because his first year with the Padres was rough. This year, his third in San Diego, he’s hitting .286/.380/.448 (132 wRC+) and is a +5.8 WAR player. He needed time to figure things out.

I don’t think Lee’s injury will hurt his market much (teams will have to be more thorough when they reveal his medicals though) because the free agent class stinks and high-end 25-year-olds aren’t available often. I’m planning a deep dive on Lee once we get into the offseason. He’s worth at least that. It’s not often you can get younger and more athletic for nothing but cash, and the scouting report suggests Lee fits what the Yankees need pretty, pretty well.

(Send your requests for Friday's mailbag to RABmailbag at gmail dot com. The random Yankee series is on hiatus, but feel free to send in requests for when it returns.)