February 21st, 2023: LeMahieu, Cortes, Shortstops, Wells, Carrasco, Wacha

In case you missed it Monday, I ran a poll about Domingo Germán vs. Clarke Schmidt for the No. 5 starter’s spot. Schmidt currently has a commanding lead, though the poll doesn’t close until Wednesday morning, so vote if you haven’t already. Also, I’m going to link back to my Top 30 Prospects List one last time, just in case you somehow missed it. Now let’s get to today’s post.

1. Spring Training news and notes. Position players have reported and Spring Training is fully underway. Everyone who is supposed to be in camp is in camp (no visa issues, etc.), including non-roster outfielder Michael Hermosillo. His wife gave birth to their second child last week and he still reported to Spring Training on time Monday. Congrats to the Hermosillos. Ron Guidry and Willie Randolph are in camp as guest instructors and Bernie Williams either is there now or will be there at some point soon. I’m certain there will be many other guest instructors. Always are. Here’s the latest from Tampa.

LeMahieu says he's 100%

After spending the offseason trying to avoid what he called a “tricky” foot surgery, DJ LeMahieu says he is 100% and has no restrictions this Spring Training. Here’s what LeMahieu told Marly Rivera over the weekend:

"[Foot surgery] was definitely under consideration," LeMahieu said at the Yankees' spring training facility in Tampa on Sunday. "But we weren't sure if we wanted to do surgery on the big toe, the second toe or both. It was just never clear like, 'This was going to be it, and this is the rehab, and this is how it's going to feel,' so I think I made the right decision.”

…

"When you're banged up, don't feel like yourself, it's frustrating, and I'm excited where I'm at," said LeMahieu, who turns 35 in July. "I have to really make sure that physically ... I can't just go out and take a thousand swings every day or a thousand ground balls and call it a day. I really have to make sure that I'm physically ready to go every single day for the whole season. Nothing changes, that's always the mindset, but probably spending more time making sure I can be on the field and be myself rather than making sure my swing is right."

As I understand it, the surgery would have involved cutting through a bunch of soft tissue to remove the broken bone and repair the damaged ligament, and come with a long recovery time. It bothered LeMahieu most while hitting. It was his right foot, his back foot when hitting, and he couldn’t rotate the foot properly during his swing. His ability to hit the ball even moderately hard vanished entirely.

Now that we have Spring Training Statcast data, we’ll be able to check up on how hard LeMahieu is hitting the ball, and this is one of those Spring Training stats that will matter. It won’t matter if he hits .300 or .150, but is he driving the ball the way he did before the injury? Is he putting it on a line or hitting grounders? Spring Training will give us a good idea how LeMahieu actually feels. Hopefully he’s over the foot injury. Healthy LeMahieu is so important to the lineup.

"That's the worst feeling,” LeMahieu told Rivera about missing the last two postseasons. “Just kind of gives you motivation to do everything I can to stay on the field and be myself. I'm used to playing through stuff my whole career, but it was so limiting that I couldn't be myself, and that was extremely frustrating."

Cortes already throwing off a mound

Not even a full week after being pulled from the World Baseball Classic with what the Yankees called a Grade 2 right hamstring strain, Nestor Cortes was back throwing off a mound this past weekend (video). Cortes is not completely over the injury yet – he’s running at only 75% still – but he threw 24 pitches off a mound and felt good.

“Everything felt good. Better than I expected actually. Ever since (the injury) until now, we’ve been working pretty intense and hard to feel as normal as possible,” Cortes told Greg Joyce and Bryan Hoch. “... I’m trying not to really aggravate it, so we’re going slow on that part. But as far as throwing, I haven’t shut down or anything.”

Cortes and the Yankees originally said it would be a “few weeks” before he got back on a mound, which might have compromised his Opening Day availability. He’s not fully healthy yet, but he is already throwing from a mound, which suggests we can move Nestor’s timetable up a bit. That’s good news. Hopefully he doesn’t overdo it and suffer a setback. That would stink.

If I were a conspiracy theorist, I’d say the hamstring is a phantom injury to get Cortes out of the WBC, but I don’t believe that. He could have just dropped out. No need to invent an injury. I think Cortes hurt his hamstring and the Yankees jumped at the opportunity to pull him from the WBC, and he’s making better progress with his recovery than anticipated. Phantom injury? Nah. Those aren’t really a thing. Not with important players.

Shortstop candidates will move around this spring

The Yankees are planning to play their shortstop candidates all around the field this spring. Isiah Kiner-Falefa has played some second base and a good deal of third base in the big leagues. Oswald Peraza has 16 career games at second base and none at third. Anthony Volpe has two games at second and three at third. The two kids need to start moving around a bit.

“All of our shortstops will play more than one position this spring,” Aaron Boone told Brendan Kuty.

Only one guy can play shortstop at a time and Spring Training is when you introduce players to new-ish positions. If Peraza is going to be the shortstop, then Kiner-Falefa has to familiarize himself with other positions. If Volpe is indeed a second baseman long-term, then he has to start playing the position. It would be more noteworthy if the Yankees didn’t move these guys around this spring.

Also, the plan is to again use LeMahieu as an infield rover, and he’s fully on board with it. “I really like playing different positions and moving around. I think it fits my skill set well and helps our team,” he told Hoch. After finishing the last two seasons on the injured list, the Yankees probably have to watch LeMahieu’s workload. Still, I hope we see him at third base more often than not.

Wells out with bruised rib

Austin Wells, my No. 6 prospect, has been sidelined by a bruised rib early in camp. It’s a bone bruise, actually, which is a bit worse than the typical black and blue. He is shut down from all baseball activity – it sounds like Wells hasn’t done anything in camp yet – and is day-to-day.

“The first day here warming up, I felt a little discomfort there,” Wells told Randy Miller. “I had some tests done and it’s just a bone bruise. So it’s a day-to-day thing. I’m hoping by Monday I’m ready to go, but we’ll just have to see. It’s a sensitive area, so we’ll see what happens.”

Wells added there was not a specific play or movement that triggered the injury. It was just kinda there, and as far as I know he did not start baseball activities Monday as he hoped. Bone bruises can be really tricky and linger a while, though at least it’s early in camp. Wells could sit out another two weeks and still have enough time to get ready for the season.

Also, there are no plans to move Wells to another position. “I haven’t been informed yet. You guys might know before me,” he told Miller about a possible position change. The Yankees are sticking with him at catcher even though he would likely get to the big leagues quicker as a first baseman or left fielder. Maybe things change in the coming weeks, but he has to get healthy first.

(Speaking of catcher injuries, Ben Rortvedt has a finger injury and saw a specialist Monday, Boone told Kuty. They’ll know more soon.)

Miscellany

It’s Spring Training and that means it’s time for the Yankees to say they want to play Giancarlo Stanton in the outfield more often. Boone downplayed the possibility more than he usually does this time of year though. “I think he’s gonna be primarily our DH more than anyone else, but my hope is that the outfield is very much in play,” Boone told Joyce. For what it's worth, Joel Sherman says Boone has not ruled out playing Harrison Bader or Aaron Judge in left field to get Giancarlo in Yankee Stadium's tiny right field (Boone's already spoken to Judge about it). Stanton played 38 games in the outfield last year and did it just once after the All-Star break (he did play left field twice in the ALCS). That’s probably a realistic target this year, 35-ish games. More than that would surprise me. Less than that would not … Not a shock here, but Boone said Clay Holmes will open the season as the closer. Or, rather, he’ll get the majority of the save chances. They plan to be flexible with the ninth inning depending on matchups. “I would expect (Holmes) to close a lot of games for us. Probably most games, and hopefully a lot of games. But I do see a number of guys getting saves,” Boone told Andy Martino. The Yankees did the closer-by-matchups thing for a bit last year and it mostly went well. They run into trouble when Boone gets a little too cute and forces things. There are times he runs his bullpen like a blackjack player hitting on 19 … Deivi García threw live batting practice over the weekend, which is a decent indication he’ll pitch in one of the first Grapefruit League games this coming weekend. What did Boone think about Deivi? “I thought he did some good things out there,” Boone told Miller. Not exactly a ringing endorsement, especially since this is the time of year when all you hear is how great everyone looks. I am out on García, though I hope he proves me wrong and has a big spring, and manages to rebuild some prospect stock this summer. It sounds like García does not have a fourth minor league option, by the way. I think he's likely to clear waivers anyway … And finally, just to follow up on Domingo Germán’s switch to No. 0, he told Pete Caldera he voluntarily gave up No. 55 to Carlos Rodón to “make sure he felt comfortable” with his new team. Rodón wore No. 55 with the White Sox and it is his preferred number, though he wore No. 16 with the Giants because No. 55 is unofficially retired for Tim Lincecum. Nice gesture, Domingo.

2. Mining the news. Got a few Yankees-related tidbits to pass along while we wait for Grapefruit League games to begin. Let’s get to ‘em.

Yankees had interest in Carrasco and Wacha

The Yankees had interest in Mets righty Carlos Carrasco and free agent Michael Wacha over the winter, according to Andy Martino and Joel Sherman. The Carrasco interest was back when the Mets thought they had Carlos Correa, and were looking for ways to trim payroll. The Wacha interest was more recent, though still before we learned Frankie Montas needs shoulder surgery.

I traded for Carrasco as part of my 2020-21 Offseason Plan. The soon-to-be 36-year-old is still a steady performer, though he’s no longer the impact starter he was with Cleveland. He threw 152 innings with a 3.97 ERA (3.63 FIP) last year and his under-the-hood numbers were a tick better than average across the board: 23.6% strikeouts, 6.4% walks, 46.0% grounders, 7.0% barrels.

Given the money that was thrown around this winter, Carrasco is a solid No. 3-4 starter with a good contract (one year and $14M). Here are some recent trades involving one full year of a veteran starter:

• RHP Chris Bassitt: Traded for a top 10 team prospect (RHP J.T. Ginn) and a top 20 team prospect (RHP Adam Oller).
• RHP Lance Lynn: Traded for a top five team prospect (RHP Dane Dunning) and fringe top 30 team prospect (LHP Avery Weems).
• LHP Sean Manaea: Traded for two top 20 team prospects (IF Euribiel Angeles and RHP Adrián Martinez).

Carrasco was hurt and ineffective in 2021 (6.04 ERA and 5.22 FIP in 53.2 innings). That plus his age puts him in the Manaea bucket, not the Bassitt and Lynn bucket. Bassitt and Lynn were legit No. 2 type starters (very good but short of ace-caliber) at the time of their trades. Last winter’s version of Manaea and the current version of Carrasco are a bit south of that.

Would you give up, say, RHP Jhony Brito (my No. 20 prospect) and RHP Richard Fitts (No. 22) to get Carrasco? I think that’s fair. The Mets might have even taken less seeing how Carrasco is a $26.6M expense for them once you factor in the luxury tax. Yeah, Steve Cohen is cartoonishly rich, but if they were gonna move Carrasco to save money, I think they would have looked to save as much as possible.

The timing of the Carrasco interest is, well, interesting. The Mets agreed to their deal with Correa after the Yankees signed Carlos Rodón, so the Yankees showed interest in Carrasco after bringing in Rodón and having five starters in place. Then again, they knew Montas was behind with his offseason work at the time. My guess is the Yankees were doing their due diligence more than actively pursuing Carrasco. Whatever. Doesn’t matter now.

As for Wacha, the Padres signed him days before the Montas surgery announcement and they gave him a (needlessly?) complicated contract. He gets $7.5M in 2023, then the Padres have a two-year club option worth $32M. If they decline that, Wacha has a three-year player option worth $18.5M. He had a superficially solid season with the Red Sox last year (3.32 ERA and 4.14 FIP), though the underlying numbers aren’t great …


… and Yankees fans might have a skewed perception of the guy because Wacha’s dominated the Yankees the last two years. He had a 1.82 ERA (3.32 FIP) in seven starts against the Yankees the last two seasons and a 4.56 ERA (4.47 FIP) in 45 starts against everyone else. Aaron Judge is 0-for-15 with 10 strikeouts against Wacha! Sheesh.

The Yankees likely knew the Montas surgery was coming before Wacha signed with the Padres, but I gotta say, I would not have liked a contract that could potentially tie him to the team the next four years. Maybe Wacha would have taken a large one-year contract ($16M?) over the Padres contract, but I dunno. That three-year player option is nice peace of mind.

There are no indications the Yankees are seriously pursuing rotation depth following the Montas surgery news. That’s their M.O. these days. They’ll cycle through their internal options, and if nothing sticks, then they’ll look outside the organization. Wacha would’ve been fine from a depth perspective, you can never have enough arms, but it would have been tough to compete with that contract in a way that didn’t lead to regret.

Cubs sign Ríos

The Cubs did something I hoped the Yankees would do: sign Edwin Ríos. It’s a one-year Major League contract worth $1M guaranteed, per Kiley McDaniel. Ríos has a minor league option remaining, so the Cubs can stash him in Triple-A, and he’ll remain under team control as an arbitration-eligible player through 2025. Here’s what I wrote about Ríos in December:

A player I have interest in: Edwin Ríos. The Dodgers non-tendered him after he missed most of 2021 with shoulder surgery and a chunk of 2022 with a hamstring injury. He’s a lefty hitting corner infielder with power and big exit velocity numbers (the power is legit), and also swing and miss issues (30.3% strikeouts and 17.4% swinging strikes in Triple-A this year). Ríos is not an ideal fit, but it’s a minor league deal. If he’s open to going to Scranton for a few months, I’d like to see Ríos brought aboard as lefty hitting corner depth. He’s got an option left too.

Ríos didn’t get a minor league contract, but the Yankees have three 60-day injured list candidates (Scott Effross, Luis Gil, Frankie Montas), so adding him to the 40-man roster would have been a piece of cake. 40-man roster flexibility is no issue at the moment.

It takes two to tango, and if I were Ríos, I’d sign with the Cubs over the Yankees too. Would you rather compete with Eric Hosmer, Trey Mancini, and Patrick Wisdom for playing time, or Josh Donaldson, Anthony Rizzo, and Giancarlo Stanton? Exactly. Maybe the Yankees tried for Ríos and there was no reasonable number that would have kept him away from that opportunity with Chicago. I dunno.

Looking through the list of free agents, there’s no one available who provides what Ríos provides (corner lefty bat with power and an option). The only notable free agents with options are injured pitchers: Steven Brault (lat), Josh James (flexor), and Cody Stashak (shoulder). Ríos isn’t a massive missed opportunity. I just thought he was just a good fit for what amounts to the 41st spot on the 40-man roster. Alas.

The looming RSN problem

There is trouble brewing in the regional sports network world and it should be getting more attention. Diamond Sports, which operates the Bally Sports RSNs, is going bankrupt, and it missed a $140M interest payment last week, according to Scott Soshnick. Also, a few AT&T SportsNet outlets recently made only partial payments to MLB teams, per Anthony Crupi.

Bally Sports broadcasts 14 MLB teams (Angels, Braves, Brewers, Cardinals, Diamondbacks, Guardians, Marlins, Padres, Rangers, Rays, Reds, Royals, Tigers, Twins) plus many NBA and NHL teams. As of 2019, Diamond held a 20% stake in the YES Network, and I have no idea what the bankruptcy means for the Yankees or YES. I guess we’ll find out eventually.

Rob Mains (subs. req’d), who actually understands this financial stuff, broke Diamond’s situation down recently. Here’s a chunk of his explainer:

Bankruptcy is not the same as closing up shop. In the corporate world, a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which is what Diamond would pursue, involves restructuring the amounts owed to other entities with a goal of keeping the business going. (Chapter 7 bankruptcies liquidate all assets and end operations.) There’s been speculation that the teams whose games are broadcast by Bally won’t get paid any rights fees, and/or that the games won’t air. That is highly unlikely. (In finance, we generally never say never. We do say highly unlikely.) The purpose of Chapter 11 is to keep the company going.

Elliotte Friedman, essentially the NHL’s Ken Rosenthal, says that rather than Diamond walking away from everything, the “more likely outcome seems to be that it will pick and choose what it wants to keep and what it may drop or try to restructure.” So Diamond could say we’ll keep the Braves and Padres, they’re good and popular, but someone else can have the Marlins and Royals.

So what does this all mean? It means a bunch of teams (in multiple sports) could suddenly lose a chunk (or all?) or their local television revenue. Commissioner Rob Manfred told Evan Drellich (subs. req’d) that if Diamond doesn’t pay what it owes, MLB will cancel the contracts and take over broadcasts until they can sell them to someone else. The league will ensure fans have a way to watch games. From Drellich (subs. req’d):

“We have taken those preparation efforts really seriously,” Manfred said. “We know that we can produce games in the event that Bally is not broadcasting. We know that we can put those games up on in conjunction with MLB.tv digitally. And we are in the process of trying to work out arrangements that will put us in a position to make those games available within the cable bundle as well.

“From a fan’s perspective, while it may not be whatever channel is your traditional RSN, if you think about it from a reach perspective, the games being available digitally in-market is something fans have been screaming for, for years. I don’t relish any of this. I think it’s necessary to have a centrally based solution to what’s a really serious problem and move us forward to our next stage of delivering games to fans, on delivering them where they want to watch them, and without the kind of blackouts that we’ve had in the old model.”

As a fan, a blackout-free direct-to-consumer product would be ideal. From MLB’s perspective, there are two problems with that model. First, they’d lose a lot of passive subscribers. There are A LOT of people who pay for YES because it’s bundled into their cable package, but don’t watch it because they’re not baseball fans. The cable companies could lose those passive subscribers, and if that happens, the losses will get passed down to MLB.

And second, teams would have to work to get subscribers with a direct-to-consumer model. You have to give people a reason to subscribe and watch and a lot of owners don’t want that. They prefer the guaranteed cable money and not sweating whether anyone is actually watching. Some owners are in for a potentially rude awakening. To which I say: good. It’s about time they feel the heat. Fans have been exploited for too long.

Again, I have no idea what this all means for the Yankees and YES, but it seems like some other teams have a problem on their hands. What if, say, Cleveland’s television money takes a hit and they can no longer afford (or choose to no longer afford) José Ramírez? The easiest and most straightforward way to cut payroll is dumping one big salary, not 3-4 smaller salaries. Hmmm.

A bunch of RSNs not paying what they owe feels like the beginning of the cable bubble bursting. It’s a very big deal for MLB (and all sports, really), and it could result in a seismic change to the game’s financial structure. Eventually MLB will come out ahead and in better position than they are now, they always do, but there may be some short-term pain first. I’m not sure we can say the Yankees are immune to it either.

(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.)