April 21st, 2023: Volpe, Peraza, Cabrera, Hamilton, Calhoun, Mailbag

Six series, no series losses. The Yankees are 5-0-1 in their six series this year and they’re the only team in baseball without a series loss. They keep making it difficult on themselves by losing Game 1 (they’ve done it each of their last four series), but they always rally. This is the first time the Yankees have gone undefeated in their first six series since 2003. Keep it going against the Blue Jays this weekend. Not losing Game 1, I mean. Winning series. Let’s get to today’s post.

1. Weekday thoughts. Aaron Judge robbed Shohei Ohtani of a home run Wednesday – “If I was a good outfielder, I would have caught it on the first try,” he jokingly told Bryan Hoch about the bobble – for the second straight year. He did it last season too. According to ESPN, Judge has robbed a homer and hit a homer in the same game three times in his career. That’s the most of any player in their home run robbery database, which dates back to 2012. Pretty cool. Now here are a few thoughts on the last few days.

Volpe on the bases

It’s been a long time since the Yankees had someone as entertaining on the bases as Anthony Volpe. Brett Gardner stole a lot of bases and was a great baserunner overall, but he wasn’t this energetic. There’s a controlled chaos to Volpe’s stolen base game and it unnerves pitchers. Twice this season he’s coaxed a pickoff throw while literally standing on first base. This rules:

“He’s gotten really good at being under control while also being super aggressive and working his momentum out there,” Aaron Boone told Mark Sanchez earlier this week. “He’s just really heady and really good at it, and he causes problems when he gets on the bases.”

Volpe is a perfect 8-for-8 stealing bases this year and he entered play Thursday tied for third in the big leagues in steals (Cedric Mullins was 9-for-9 and Nico Hoerner 9-for-10). Here is the franchise rookie stolen base leaderboard:

1. Alfonso Soriano: 43 in 2001
2. Bert Daniel: 41 in 1910
3. Willie Randolph: 37 in 1976
4. Roberto Kelly: 35 in 1989
5. Neal Ball: 32 in 1908
6. Jimmy Austin: 30 in 1909

Those are the only six rookies in franchise history to steal at least 30 bases, and the Yankees were the Highlanders up until 1912, so only three Yankees have stolen 30 bases as a rookie. Volpe can do that, right? Catching Soriano will be tough (43 of anything is a lot in this game) but 30 seems doable, even once fatigue and wear and tear set in later in the year.

There is also a “distraction” component to Volpe’s baserunning and it’s impossible to quantify, but it does exist, and it’s not necessarily all positive value! I’m pretty sure Volpe distracted Aaron Judge with his hijinks at second base Wednesday night:

Volpe played that perfectly. The pitch clock was down to two seconds, so Volpe knew Griffin Canning didn’t have enough time to look him back to second base. He got a huge shuffle lead and took off. Textbook. But it also looks like Volpe distracted Judge? That was a terrible swing decision by a very disciplined hitter, and Judge was agitated about something afterward. Then he shot a look in Volpe’s direction. Hmmm.

Maybe Judge was just annoyed at himself for that bad swing. After the game he said Volpe didn’t distract him – “Not at all. I kinda told him a couple days ago, I said, ‘I want you stealing every pitch,’” Judge said (video) – but what do you expect him to say? Even if Judge was distracted by Volpe, he’d tell us all he wasn’t, then they’d hash it out behind closed doors.

(I’m not saying there’s clubhouse drama here. Teammates get together and hash out stuff like this all the time. During Wednesday’s broadcast Paul O’Neill said he had to talk to Derek Jeter and Chuck Knoblauch because, when they were on the bases, they distracted him at the plate. They got together and got on the same page. Judge and Volpe will do the same, if necessary.)

Volpe went 2-for-4 with a walk and two stolen bases Wednesday, and he is 7-for-29 (.241) with eight walks (.405 OBP) and nine strikeouts since the start of the Guardians series. It’s starting to come together. He’s more comfortable in the box and he’s grinding out at-bats. The walks and singles are showing up, and eventually the power will follow. Volpe is an animal on the bases and it’s a blast, and if he needs to get on the same page with Judge, they’ll do it.

“Probably his best game all-around so far. I think you got a look of how good of a player he is,” Boone told Sanchez after Wednesday’s game. “... We’re starting to see those at-bats where it’s just like, he’s a load up there. Because he doesn’t chase, makes them work, really stings some balls. Got behind in some counts and battles his way back.”

(I’m glad Volpe is playing shortstop well according to both the numbers (+3 DRS and +1 OAA) and the eye test. Somehow “he has an average arm and Oswald Peraza is a better defender” turned into “Volpe’s not a shortstop” in some corners of Yankeeland this spring and it irked me. Volpe may not be Peraza with the glove, but the kid can play the position.)

Peraza’s playing time

Josh Donaldson’s rehab game with Double-A Somerset did not go well Tuesday. He still had tightness in his hamstring and the Yankees sent him for another MRI on Thursday. Donaldson is in a holding pattern now and for all I know he could play another rehab game this weekend if he feels good. Seems like he will be shut down for a bit though.

“I was doing something defensively and made a throw on it and felt it,” Donaldson told Ryan Dunleavy. “It wasn’t to the extent of when I came out of the game (with the injury initially), but still to the point where I didn’t feel like I was 100% able to do the things I wanted to do. One of those deals where there are things I’d like to feel better about. I didn’t feel anything grabbing or anything like that, so we know that it’s not major. It’s just managing it now to get the strength back.”

With Donaldson’s return delayed, Oswald Peraza figures to remain with the Yankees for the time being, and to state the obvious, he should play a lot. He started Tuesday, pinch-hit Wednesday, then started again Thursday. We’ll see what happens this weekend, but every other day isn’t enough. Peraza is young, talented, and MLB-ready, and the bottom of the order stinks out loud. He should be an everyday guy.

Squeezing four infielders (Peraza, Volpe, DJ LeMahieu, Gleyber Torres) into the lineup isn’t much of a problem now that Giancarlo Stanton’s injury has opened up the DH spot. The Yankees really should have given Peraza time at third base in Spring Training and Triple-A, but they didn’t, and there’s no unringing that bell. He should start taking grounders there if he hasn’t already.

Peraza made his two starts at second base with Torres at DH, and other than Peraza playing short when Volpe sits or has a DH day, that’s the only way to get him in the lineup without throwing him right into the fire at third base. The Yankees put Oswaldo Cabrera in the outfield despite very limited experience last year. Would they do the same with Peraza at third? I’m not sure. I don’t think they’re as desperate right now.

The larger point is Peraza is an exciting young prospect who is ready for an extended big league stint, and the Yankees should give it to him now that Donaldson will miss more time. They keep saying Peraza and Volpe are the future, right? Well, the future starts with the present, and countless young players break into the league because someone else got hurt*. It is the natural order of things.

* Donaldson was a Triple-A catcher who got the opportunity to play third base in the big leagues when former Yankee Scott Sizemore tore his ACL in 2012 and again in 2013. Sizemore’s injury opened the door for Donaldson and now Donaldson’s injury opens the door for Peraza.

Peraza is 2-for-7 with two walks, a hit-by-pitch, and several standout defensive plays in his limited big league time this year. The Yankees passed up the chance to play him regularly last September and they shouldn’t repeat that mistake. The bottom of the lineup could use a jolt, but that’s not really the point here. The point is the Yankees have a talented young player ready for the big leagues and a chance to play him. If they’re not going to play Peraza now, when will they?

Cabrera’s struggles and a possible demotion

Harrison Bader is tentatively scheduled to begin a minor league rehab assignment Friday and he is expected to be down there a while. It won’t be one or two games. The Yankees head out on a seven-game road trip Monday. They return home May 1st and I wonder if that’s the target date for Bader. That gives him enough time for 7-8 rehab games, somewhere in that neighborhood.

I bring this up because I think Oswaldo Cabrera is a candidate to be sent to Triple-A when Bader does return. I’ve been under the assumption Franchy Cordero would get optioned or Willie Calhoun would get designated for assignment to make room for Bader, but Cabrera has been very bad and the Yankees are comfortable playing Isiah Kiner-Falefa all over*. So maybe Cabrera goes down?

* Except shortstop, which is kinda funny after they touted Kiner-Falefa as an elite defensive shortstop all last year. Cabrera started at short during Volpe’s only day off this season. With Peraza around though, the Yankees won’t need Kiner-Falefa to play shortstop in the event Cabrera is sent to Triple-A and Volpe is out of the lineup for whatever reason.

Oswaldo’s hitting .228/.250/.263 (36 wRC+) with 30.0% strikeouts and 3.3% walks, and his contact quality has not been good (2.6% barrel rate). That’s just not going to cut it. He’s had a hard time with fastballs up in the zone …

… and he looks like he’s starting to press too. Wednesday night Cabrera was easily thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double, and he forced a bunt that resulted in the lead runner being thrown out at second. Cabrera is struggling at the plate and it seems like he’s trying to do a little too much to make up for it. He’s trying to help his team, but he’s kinda making it worse.

Sending Cabrera to Triple-A for a reset once Bader returns would be a bummer, he’s fun and I love his energy and passion, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world. Many players have had to go back to the minors to make adjustments and figure things out before arriving for good. Even Mike Trout had to do it once upon a time. This is how it goes sometimes.

Cabrera is where he is now because he remade his swing during the lost pandemic season, and returned with much more power. He’s so instinctive in the field too. Cabrera has a great baseball mind and he’s shown the ability to make adjustments. Send him down, let him iron some things out and build up some confidence, then bring him back up. A demotion doesn’t have to be permanent.

In a perfect world Cabrera will start mashing tonight and force the Yankees to keep him in the big leagues. But, if Oswaldo is still running a slash line that starts with 2s across the board and is striking out nine times as much as he walks when Bader returns, then yeah, a trip to Scranton is in order. It wouldn’t be a punishment. It would be a step toward getting Cabrera back on track so he could help the Yankees the way he did last season.

Hamilton dominating in the early going

The easiest way to look dumb in this game is making too much of a reliever’s small sample size success … but I think Ian Hamilton might be a guy? Like a capital-G Guy. In 10.2 innings spanning six appearances he’s running a 34.9% strikeout rate, a 58.3% ground ball rate, and an 85.5 mph average exit velocity. There’s a lot of red here:

Hamilton wasn’t even on the Opening Day roster (remember the opt out thing?) and he’s had to work a few extended outings as the low man on the bullpen totem pole, but he’s climbing the depth chart. Boone went to Hamilton to start the tenth inning Wednesday and he was able to strand the automatic runner. It was his first high leverage outing as a Yankee and Hamilton could see more high leverage work because:

• Hamilton has been really good. That is Step 1 in earning trust.
• Jonathan Loáisiga is hurt. Ditto Tommy Kahnle and Lou Trivino.
• Mike King isn’t available many days because of his multi-inning outings.
• Clay Holmes is grinding through location trouble.

I wrote about Hamilton’s slambio in last week’s mailbag and maybe he’s just a gimmick pitcher, and the league will catch on eventually. Edwar Ramirez had a nasty changeup, then once hitters realized the changeup was all he had, he stopped having success. Maybe the Yankees get 40 good innings out of Hamilton and move on. That’s how it can be with relievers.

But, getting 40 good innings out of a non-roster guy would be a great outcome, plus the Yankees are pretty good at identifying bullpen arms who have more to give. Hamilton said his previous teams all tried to tweak or shelve the slambio. The Yankees said throw your unique pitch and throw it a lot, and he’s thrown it 54.9% of the time thus far. It’s similar to Holmes throwing more sinkers when he got to the Yankees, or Wandy Peralta throwing more changeups.

“It definitely felt like a restart. Like a redo almost, even though it’s not necessarily a redo,” Hamilton told Gary Phillips about joining the Yankees. “But it’s just a second wind type thing. It feels good.”

I don’t want to make too much about 10.2 innings. I just want to say Hamilton has been really good thus far. The Yankees have a recent track record of unearthing quality relievers and maybe Hamilton’s next in line. I hope he is. And if he’s not, then he’s not. For now, Hamilton and his slambio have done nice work in his limited time in pinstripes. He’s been a pleasant surprise.

(In other small sample size reliever news, Jimmy Cordero has a 38.5% strikeout rate, a 3.8% walk rate, and a 64.3% ground ball rate in 6.2 innings. He’s always been a big ground ball guy. The high strikeouts and low walks are new. Would be cool if that’s Cordero’s new normal.)

(Also, read this if you’re not aware of the traumatic injury Hamilton suffered in 2019. It’s rather remarkable he made it back to the big leagues and is having success. Hamilton is an easy guy to root for.)

Miscellany

Good bounce back start for Jhony Brito. He got some help from Judge’s home run robbery and otherwise finished with one run allowed in 4.1 innings. That’s closer to what I expect from him, 4-5 workmanlike innings. Brito’s not really as good as he was in those first two starts nor is he really as bad as he was in that disaster against the Twins … Nice game for Kiner-Falefa on Thursday. Yes, those two great diving catches were diving catches because he took poor routes, but the guy has barely played center field. And the sun was fierce too. Bottom line, Kiner-Falefa made the catches, and he iced the game with a two-insurance run single. This is not me saying Kiner-Falefa has had a good season or anything like that. I’m just acknowledging a good game under difficult circumstances (i.e. playing an unfamiliar position in that sun) … And finally, not even changing his warm up music from Jay-Z to the obviously superior OutKast is enough to help Clarke Schmidt. He allowed four runs in 3.2 innings Tuesday and he's completed four innings just once in four starts. In those four starts Schmidt has a 8.79 ERA (5.98 FIP) and opponents are hitting .349/.400/.651 against him. He’s staying in the rotation because the Yankees don’t have any alternatives, but I dunno, maybe try an opener? Getting Schmidt away from the top of the lineup once per start could be helpful.

2. Yankees sign the other Calhoun. The Yankees are cornering the market on Corderos and Calhouns. On Thursday the Yankees announced they’ve signed longtime Angel Kole Calhoun to a minor league contract. He’s currently in Tampa getting at-bats in Extended Spring Training and will presumably join Triple-A Scranton in the near future.

I first wrote about Calhoun as a trade target way back in 2012, when he was still a prospect and seemingly blocked by, uh, Peter Bourjos. Now we’re both old with our best days behind us. Last year Calhoun, now 35, hit .196/.257/.330 (67 wRC+) with 12 home runs, too many strikeouts (32.1%), and not enough walks (6.4%) in 424 plate appearances with the Rangers.

Calhoun was in camp with the Mariners as a non-roster player and performed well enough in the Cactus League (.286/.342/.343 in 38 plate appearances), but he didn’t make the Opening Day roster, and opted out of his contract. Now he’s with the Yankees and trying to get back to the big leagues so he can accrue the 42 days of service time he needs to reach 10 years and lock in the full pension.

The Yankees will give Calhoun a look in Scranton to see what’s what. Maybe they have a few tweaks in mind and can turn him into the next Matt Carpenter. Would be neat. I think this is also a preemptive replenishing of depth. The other Calhoun (Willie) could get cut from the roster when Harrison Bader returns. This gives the Yankees another veteran outfield body.

You never know when one of these seemingly washed up veterans will find the Fountain of Youth for a few weeks and contribute. More often than not though, nothing happens, and the guy never sees the Bronx. If Calhoun can help the Yankees at some point, great. If not, oh well. A minor league contract amounts to a free look-see with the RailRiders.

3. Rapid fire thoughts. The Diamondbacks designated Madison Bumgarner for assignment Thursday. He’s allowed 20 runs in 16.2 innings this year and has a 5.23 ERA (5.18 FIP) in parts of four seasons with Arizona. The Yankees could use someone better than Clarke Schmidt and Bumgarner will be available for the league minimum once he clears waivers and is released, but he’s not any kinda solution. It’s been five years since Bumgarner was even an average pitcher. If the Yankees want to sign him and try to iron a few things out in Triple-A, go for it, but I’m not sure Bumgarner will go for that. The only way to get him may be a guaranteed MLB rotation spot. (Safe to assume Brian Sabean will have some input here.)

The larger point is, if the D’Backs (21st in payroll) can eat $34M to make Bumgarner go away, why am I still watching Aaron Hicks? The Yankees have to pay Hicks the $30.5M left on his contract whether they like it or not. They can either pay him to be bad, or pay him to go away so they can replace him with someone better. The D’Backs chose the latter with Bumgarner. The Yankees are sticking with the former with Hicks … Earlier this week MLB announced the new rules it will test in the independent Atlantic League this season. Here are the trial rules:

• One disengagement per plate appearance: Rather than the two MLB has now.
• Double hook DH rule: When the starter fails to complete five innings, his team loses the DH.
• Designated pinch-runner: Each team designates a player to pinch-run, and the pinch-runner and the player he replaces are allowed to return to the game.

Only one disengagement per plate appearance might be too few. It may lead to stolen base chaos, but might as well try it out. The double hook DH rule seems like a waste of time. I like that MLB is looking for ways to limit openers and other intentionally short starts, but we don’t need to reintroduce pitchers hitting (plus why make it harder for a team to come back when their starter has a bad night?). I’m not sure how I feel about the designated pinch-runner rule. On one hand, it would be nice to have Isiah Kiner-Falefa run for Giancarlo Stanton without losing Stanton’s bat (or Kiner-Falefa’s legs). On the other hand, you made your bed when you rostered a slow, plodding runner, and you should have to deal with it. Force me to pick and I’ll say I’m against the designated pinch-runner. Baseball doesn’t need a fleet of Herb Washingtons. No harm in trying though … And finally, the Athletics are leaving Oakland. It’s not official yet, but ownership signed a binding agreement to buy land in Las Vegas and Oakland’s mayor says they’re done negotiating a new ballpark deal, so the VegA’s are happening. The A’s will get a new stadium not far from the Las Vegas Strip sometime in 2027. I feel for fans in the East Bay. They’ve lost all their sports teams (Athletics, Raiders, Warriors) in less than a decade and A’s ownership treated them terribly. Gutted the roster, raised ticket prices, then said they have to move because the fans don’t support the team even though ownership was always taking the A’s to whichever city gave them the most tax dollars to build a stadium. It’s a sad day for a lot of baseball fans in Northern California.

Mailbag Questions of the Week

Taylor asks: Judge’s K% is through the roof. Anything particular to worry about or just early season small sample noise? Obviously he’s still hitting well regardless.

Following a 1-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts on Thursday, Aaron Judge is hitting .273/.383/.576 (163 wRC+) with a 33.3% strikeout rate and a 16.2% swinging strike rate. That’s the 11th highest strikeout rate and 11th highest swinging strike rate in baseball. The biggest change is, well, the change. Judge is seeing more changeups than ever. Here are his numbers against changeups the last few years:

From 2021-22, Judge saw a changeup 8.9% of the time from righties. In the early going this year it’s up to 11.9% right-on-right changeups. That number is coming down (it was 15% when I checked in the middle of last week) but Judge has seen more changeups in the early going and he’s struggled against them. He’s chasing and swinging and missing more than usual against the pitch.

Judge is whiffing more on fastballs and breaking balls too, but not nearly as much as he is against changeups. It’s still so early and Judge is such a good hitter and so good at making adjustments that I am nowhere close to panic city. This is a thing that’s happening though. Judge is striking out a ton and is having a hard time with changeups, and is seeing more of them. He’ll continue to see more of them until he gets this ironed out.

Eric asks: With the lineup as shallow as it is, would it make sense to slide Judge back to 3rd? I know the logic in putting him second but with “Murder Me Row” (IKF, Hicks, Higgy) at the bottom so often I feel like getting some guys on for the Captain makes sense too.

Murder Me Row is a good one. I like it.

Anyway, I’m not opposed to moving Aaron Judge down from No. 2 to No. 3 and potentially getting him one fewer at-bat each night (Judge standing on deck while someone else makes the final out of a one-run game would suuuuck) in exchange for hitting with more runners on base. I just don’t know who to move up ahead of him. Would this make sense?

1. SS Anthony Volpe
2. 3B DJ LeMahieu
3. CF Aaron Judge
4. 1B Anthony Rizzo
5. DH Gleyber Torres
6. RF Franchy Cordero
7. LF Oswaldo Cabrera
8. 2B Oswald Peraza
9. C Jose Trevino

That would potentially put more runners on base for Judge. The Yankees could also put Rizzo in the No. 2 spot. Rizzo in front of Judge seems like the best way to maximize the number of ducks on the pond for Judge. In a perfect world Peraza would come out hot and earn a spot atop the lineup. That would really lengthen things.

Given the current personnel, the lineup is going to drop off badly following the No. 4-5 spots no matter what. We’re rearranging the furniture when the room needs a fresh coat of paint. I’m not against moving Judge down to No. 3 and running out a lineup like the one above. I’m just not sure it’ll make much of a difference. The Yankees need better hitters, not a new batting order.

Rich asks: I know the Yankees don't need another right-handed batter, but Jo Adell is lighting AAA on fire right now. The Angels seem to have a full outfield with Trout, Ward and Renfroe. Any interest in putting together a package for him or is there no longer any prospect shine left?

Two weeks ago Adell had a six-game home run streak, and hit eight homers in an eight-game span. The Angels acquired Hunter Renfroe over the winter and pushed Adell back to Triple-A, where he’s hitting .288/.407/.727 (147 wRC+) in the early going. Still only 24, Adell has a Quad-A thing going:

• Triple-A: .273/.343/.560 (114 wRC+) with 30.2 K% and 8.9 BB% (732 PA)
• MLB: .215/.259/.356 (68 wRC+) with 34.8 K% and 4.7 BB% (557 PA)

Adell is in a tough spot. This is the fourth straight season he's spent time in Triple-A and he has to play in the big leagues to continue his development. At the same time, Adell hasn’t performed in his various MLB stints (he’s also at -4 DRS and -8 OAA, so it’s not like he’s saving runs in the field), and the Angels are trying to end the sport’s longest postseason drought. I don’t blame them for going Renfroe over Adell.

Even in Triple-A this year, Adell’s contact rates have been terrible, and he chases out of the zone a ton. This is his fourth in Triple-A and he's still running a 15.2% swinging strike rate. Estevan Florial had a 14.7% swinging strike rate in Triple-A last year, for reference. Adell’s plate discipline and swing decisions are really bad, and potentially a fatal flaw.

I assume the Angels hope Adell will have a breakthrough in Triple-A this year, and can replace Renfroe in the outfield next year (Renfroe will be a free agent this winter). If they’re willing to sell low on Adell, then sure, bring him in and see what the minor league hitting people can do. I don’t think the Yankees could trade for Adell with an eye on an immediate MLB job though. He is Anaheim’s Florial.

Nick asks: Hey Mike, what do you think about the Brewers' Sal Frelick as a LF trade target? He's a lefty high-contact hitter who has hit at every level of the minors. Of course all prospects are suspects, but he's young, cheap, controllable, and seems like he would fit the Yankees needs perfectly.

I feel like I’m the low man on Frelick. He’s obviously very good, but he’s top 40-ish on all the top 100 lists, and that seems a bit high for a guy whose skill set points to a future as Brett Gardner with much less defense. Here is Eric Longenhagen’s spring scouting report:

(He) has premium feel for the strike zone. Short levers enable Frelick to turn on inner-third fastballs and let him spray or spoil pitches that travel deep into the hitting zone, making him very tough to strike out. Frelick’s style of hitting should enable doubles (and some triples) pop, but there isn’t likely to be any kind of over-the-fence power here … Frelick is not a crisp center fielder, and later in the 2022 season he saw lots of time in left (though some of it was due to the sudden presence of Esteury Ruiz), where he also looked tentative. The area in which it’s most important for him to show late growth is on defense. This guy hasn’t had a clear defensive home for much of his life as a prospect. There was a stretch as an amateur when Frelick was viewed as a potential second baseman, an experiment that didn’t really go anywhere … Frelick might develop in center field and turn into a Brandon Nimmo-type player, and that possibility is why he moved onto the Top 100 this offseason. If he ends up in left field, he bears a closer resemblance to Tony Kemp.

Frelick, the No. 15 pick in the 2021 draft, has started slowly this year (.232/.317/.321 and 67 wRC+), but he slashed .331/.403/.480 (137 wRC+) with nearly as many walks (9.3%) as strikeouts (11.2%) while climbing three levels last season. Reaching Triple-A the year after being drafted is impressive. Frelick has certainly performed.

The Brewers have more young outfielders than roster spots. Garrett Mitchell and Joey Wiemer are in the big leagues (Mitchell just got hurt though), Frelick is knocking on the door in Triple-A, and Jackson Chourio is the consensus No. 1 prospect in the minors. He’s in Double-A. Also, Christian Yelich isn’t going anywhere. The Brewers owe him $162.5M through 2028. Lots of outfielders and only so many roster spots.

It seems likely Milwaukee will trade an outfielder at some point, and assuming they can’t unload Yelich, Frelick or Wiemer is most likely to go. Mitchell has been very good in his brief big league career and Chourio’s a top of the line prospect. Wiemer’s a swing-and-miss prone exit velocity righty. The Yankees don’t need another one of those. Frelick it is.

Just eyeballing depth charts and prospect lists, the Brewers need pitching (who doesn’t?) with Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff (and Eric Lauer) set to hit free agency after next year, and they could use a long-term shortstop too. Willy Adames will be a free agent after next season as well. The Yankees can’t really afford to give up pitching at the moment, so:

These trade values aren’t precise enough to think there’s a meaningful difference between 32.7 and 27.8 (plus teams all have their own evaluations of players). The Brewers have MLB-ready outfielders and need a young shortstop. The Yankees have a spare young shortstop and need an MLB-ready outfielder. Each team would trade from an area of depth to address a weakness.

Frelick’s a quality prospect and he’d help the Yankees get younger, become more athletic, more left-handed, more contact-oriented, etc. I think the prospect rankers are overrating the slash line a bit, but he’s a good prospect, and even "Gardner with much less defense" can be a productive player on a World Series contender. If the Brewers are listening, the Yankees should call.

Mike asks: Hey Mike can you explain why Donaldson’s tax number is $25 mil?

Each player’s luxury tax number is the average annual value of what’s remaining on his contract at the time he’s acquired. Josh Donaldson had two years and $50M guaranteed left on his deal at the time of the trade, so that’s $25M per year. Here is the actual money Donaldson will be paid with the Yankees:

• 2022: $21M salary plus $2M trade bonus
• 2023: $21M salary
• 2024: $16M club option ($6M buyout)

Club options are not considered guaranteed years for luxury tax purposes but buyouts are guaranteed money, so they get added in. $21M + $2M + $21M + $6M = $50M across two years. In the unlikely event the Yankees pick up that option, Donaldson would carry a $10M luxury tax number in 2023 ($10M minus the $6M buyout that was already taxed).

Also, Donaldson’s 2024 buyout was originally $8M. I did not realize this, but per the terms of his contract $2M was converted into a bonus once he was traded, and the buyout was lowered to $6M. That means the Yankees owe Donaldson $27M in real dollars this year, not $29M. Small difference, but maybe the $2M in savings helps facilitate a trade at the deadline (crowd laughs).

Ray asks: The umpire made Nestor Cortes black out the white #44 on his glove during (I think) the April 9 game against the O's. Domingo German wore what appeared to be the same glove Saturday (April 15) against the Twins, with the white #44 --- and he was allowed to wear it. What gives?

I have no idea why the umpire had Cortes black out the 44 in Baltimore. 44 Pro Gloves are common, dozens of players use them, so it’s not like Nestor uses a unique glove hitters rarely see. It was a very bright afternoon at Camden Yards, so the only thing I can think of is the sun was reflecting off the logo. Seems like home plate umpire Bill Miller had an issue with the glove on that specific day, and that’s it. There’s no grand 44 glove conspiracy or anything.

(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.)