April 4th, 2022: Trevino, Castro, McKay, Severino, Lineup, Minors

UPDATE: Added a quick note to the David McKay section below.

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Spring Training is almost over and soon we can get back to gnashing teeth over bullpen usage and runners left in scoring position. The Yankees have been busy the last few days, so here is Tuesday morning’s post Monday night. I don’t want the send everything I've already written to the Content Graveyard because the Yankees make another move in a few hours.

1. Trevino trade. The regular season is three days away and already I nailed one of my bold predictions. The Yankees did indeed make a trade prior to Opening Day, landing catcher Jose Trevino from the Rangers for righty Albert Abreu and lefty Robby Ahlstrom. Trevino will be the Opening Day backup catcher because Ben Rortvedt is hurt.

“He’s a premium defensive catcher and we’re really excited about that. I think it was something that we probably needed to do,” Aaron Boone told Bryan Hoch following the trade. “Just in talking to him last night, I know how excited he is to get here. We’re looking forward to him getting in the mix and entrenched in our culture with our pitchers.”

Trevino, 29, is another no-hit/all-glove backstop. He rates as one of the very best pitch-framers in the game and that is a common theme for Yankees catchers in the post-Gary Sanchez era. The team’s top three catchers are among the best framers in the sport. Here’s where they ranked in 2021 (min. 800 pitches caught, 116 total qualifiers):

The runs saved numbers teams (smart teams, anyway) use internally for framing aren’t as big as the public metrics (the public numbers say the best framers save 20 runs or so a year, which is a ton), though the public metrics work directionally. They tell us who’s great at framing and who isn’t, and the Yankees now have three catchers who are great at framing.

“With Higgy, Ben and Trevino, I feel like we’ve got three premium defensive catchers on our 40-man roster now,” Boone told Hoch. “We feel like there’s depth behind them with our non-roster guys that are still here. We feel like they can contribute. So we feel a lot better about our catching situation.”

Similar to Higashioka, Trevino rates as an excellent framer and just an okay blocker and thrower, so he’s not a truly elite defender. Still, he’s really good defensively, and he’s said to be a popular clubhouse guy with leadership qualities. That all said, Trevino can’t hit. He’s a career .245/.270/.364 (66 wRC+) hitter with nine homers in 519 career big league plate appearances spread across four seasons.

Trevino does make a good deal of contact (career 19.3% strikeouts and 9.7% swinging strikes), though there’s no underlying exit velocity reasons to think there’s more in there offensively. The Rangers hit .232/.294/.375 (84 wRC+) as a team last year and scored the third fewest runs in baseball. Their plate appearance leaders in 2021:

1. Isiah Kiner-Falefa: 677
2. Nate Lowe: 642
3. Adolis Garcia: 622
4. Nick Solak: 511
5. Joey Gallo: 388
6. Jose Trevino: 302

Bold strategy, acquiring a bunch of players a bad team decided it couldn’t win with. Of course, the Yankees will surround Gallo, Kiner-Falefa, and Trevino with Josh Donaldson, Aaron Judge, and Giancarlo Stanton. Not Garcia, Lowe, and Solak. Big difference there. Gallo is Gallo. He can hit (though it ain’t always pretty). The Yankees wanted Kiner-Falefa and Trevino for their gloves.

Trevino is in his final pre-arbitration year and he’s under team control through 2025. He also has a minor league option remaining. Rortvedt has two. Given their ages (Trevino is 29, Rortvedt is 24), I’d like the Yankees to keep Trevino as their backup and send Rortvedt to Triple-A once his oblique is healthy. He only has 34 career games at Triple-A. A little time there to finish off his development won’t hurt, and he can always be called up (and Trevino sent down) if he mashes.

“We’ll see how it all shakes out,” Rortvedt told Brendan Kuty after the trade. “I haven’t really been sat down yet, but just to expect to get healthy at this point. I’m focused on that. But it’s a team move. I’ve seen Jose catch. Great catcher. Can’t wait to pick his brain, see what he brings to the table. I think it’s a good pickup for right now for the team and it looks like they’re ready to roll, and it’s an exciting time for the whole franchise.”

As for Abreu, he was essentially the ninth man in the eight-man bullpen. That was the case last season, when Abreu was shuttled between Triple-A and the big leagues 12 times. MLB and the MLBPA even agreed to a new rule to prevent that many shuttle assignments in a single season. Abreu is out of minor league options, so shuttling is no longer possible. It’s MLB or waivers for him.

Abreu would have been on the Opening Day roster thanks to the two extra spots in April (Boone all but confirmed Abreu would be on the team as recently as Friday), though being out of options limits roster flexibility, and the Yankees love shuttling guys in and out. The trade tells us Abreu would not have cleared waivers, so the Yankees got out ahead of it and traded him.

There are things to like about Abreu (throws really hard and can break off a nasty slider) and things that will frustrate you (too many walks and doesn’t miss as many bats and the stuff would lead you to believe). Here’s part of what I wrote when I ranked Abreu the team’s No. 26 prospect a few weeks ago:

I’m going to guess Abreu is on the Opening Day roster and in a different organization by the end of the season … There were times last year where Abreu appeared to be working his way into the Circle of Trust™, which I guess is encouraging. I think he’s destined to be one of those guys who is always on the periphery of the Circle of Trust™ without ever actually being in it. Pitchers with Abreu’s arm tend to keep getting chances. There’s big league value to be had here even if it won’t be with the Yankees.

Getting traded is no fun, though it’s the best thing for Abreu at this point in his career. Texas can stick him in the bullpen all year and live with the ups and downs. The Yankees are trying to win a World Series and have several guys ahead of Abreu on the depth chart. He’ll get a much better opportunity with the Rangers than he would have with the Yankees.

Ahlstrom was last year’s seventh round pick and he still hasn’t made his pro debut (the Yankees shut down most of the college pitchers they drafted last year to limit their workloads). Apparently no one told Ahlstrom about the trade and he found out in his Instagram comments. Bad look, Yankees. Anyway, here’s what Baseball America wrote about Ahlstrom in their trade analysis:

He boasts three potentially average pitches, fronted by a 88-92 mph fastball and backed up by a solid curveball and changeup. Ahlstrom is a competitor on the mound

I haven’t heard any buzz about Ahlstrom this spring. That doesn’t mean he hasn’t impressed. Just that I haven’t heard anything. The Yankees are so good at turning these mid-round pitchers into real prospects that I’d never hesitate to trade them. There’s always another draft next year and always another wave coming.

A spare part reliever (albeit one with a tantalizing arm) and a mid-round draft pick who has yet to make his pro debut for a big league backup catcher with an elite skill (framing) is the kinda trade the Yankees should always make. They have the depth in the system to trade the arms and you never want to get shorthanded behind the plate. Good, smart trade, even if it isn’t terribly exciting.

I wish the Yankees weren’t punting offense at catcher (who knows, maybe Higashioka’s spring homer binge is a sign of things to come), but they’re doing it, and they’re all-in on framing. It is no coincidence the top three catchers on the depth chart are regarded as elite framers. The Yankees want as many extra strikes as possible and are willing to sacrifice offense to get them.

2. Castro trade. I’m so good that one of my bold predictions is correct twice. One day (11 hours and 41 minutes based on the press release timestamps, to be exact) after making the Jose Trevino trade, the Yankees sent Joely Rodriguez to the Mets for righty Miguel Castro. It's the seventh MLB player for MLB player trade in Yankees-Mets history. The previous six:

• Dec. 3rd, 2004: Felix Heredia for Mike Stanton
• July 16th, 2003: Jason Anderson (and prospects) for Armando Benitez
• Dec. 7th, 2001: David Justice for Robin Ventura
• June 8th, 1992: Random Yankee Lee Guetterman for Tim Burke
• Dec. 11th, 1987: Phil Lombardi (and prospects) for Rafael Santana (and a prospect)
• Dec. 7th, 1977: Sergio Ferrer for Roy Staiger

For all their spending this offseason, the Mets came into the spring without a reliable lefty in their bullpen, which is kinda important when you share a division with Bryce Harper, Matt Olson, Kyle Schwarber, and the great Juan Soto. Rodriguez ostensibly fills that role, and the Yankees still have Lucas Luetge and Wandy Peralta (and Aroldis Chapman) as lefties in their bullpen.

“We were serving each other’s needs, is what it seemed like to me,” Mets GM Billy Eppler* told Mike Puma. “(The Yankees) wanted to get a little more right-handed, we wanted to get left-handed, and just the circumstances aligned.”

* Eppler was Brian Cashman’s right-hand man from 2011-15, but this is only the second time they’ve hooked up for a trade. The first was the Andrew Heaney trade last year. They somehow went the first 4.5 years of Eppler’s tenure with the Angels without making a deal.

In Castro, the Yankees essentially get a more experienced version of Albert Abreu. He’s a power sinker guy with a sweepy slider, and the Yankees are into sweepy sliders (i.e. the whirly). Last season Castro had top 30 slider horizontal break among the 211 pitchers who threw at least 250 sliders. He’s also top 30 in exit velocity allowed in the Statcast era (in the good way). He suppresses hard contact. 

“He’s good. He is coming off a great season last year,” Aaron Boone told Kristie Ackert after the trade. “We’re pretty familiar with him just based on the Mets and obviously Baltimore for a lot of those years. A guy with great stuff I think deepens our pen a little bit.”

The downside is Castro walks too many (walk rates consistently in the low-teens) and isn’t a big swing and miss guy. His strikeout rates are just a tick north of average. Castro’s thing is weak contact on the ground (51.9% grounders the last two years), which plays right into the Yankees’ new infield defense. There’s also this:

• 2018-21 vs. RHB: .213/.268/.368 (.296 wOBA) with 27.8 K% and 12.2 BB%
• 2018-21 vs. LHB: .234/.355/.353 (.317 wOBA) with 21.6 K% and 14.6 BB%

I wouldn’t say Castro dominates righties, but he is better than average against them, and he’s a low arm slot guy with an unusual look. He’s an uncomfortable at-bat for a righty. Against lefties though? Castro can’t keep them off base. He’s not Adam Ottavino bad against lefties, but he’s bad. That will create headaches with the three-batter minimum rule.

The Yankees have three relievers with similar stuff in Castro, Clay Holmes, and Jonathan Loaisiga. They’re all righties with an upper-90s sinker and a sweepy slider (Loaisiga has the changeup too). The stuff is similar. The arm angles are not. Holmes comes over the top, Loaisiga has a traditional release point, and Castro slings the ball from down low. Their 2021 release points:

Forgive my amateur graphing skills, but I think you get the point. Holmes releases the ball from way up high, Loaisiga a little lower, and Castro a little lower than that. Know what’s wild? Castro is 6-foot-7! He’s 6-foot-7 and his average vertical release point was 4.90 feet last season. That’s the result of this arm slot:

Loaisiga is 5-foot-11, eight inches shorter than Castro, and yet he releases the ball from a higher spot than Castro. Wild. Castro, Loaisiga, and Holmes have a similar sinker/slider combinations, at least on paper, but the release points are very different. These three give hitters different looks because their arm angles are so different.

Castro spent all those years with the Orioles (remember this?) before landing with the Mets. It feels like he’s been around forever, but he’s only 27. He’s 52 days younger than Loaisiga! Castro is in his final arbitration year and will be a free agent after the season, so he’s a short-term add. The trade is close to a wash financially too ($2M going out and $2.62M coming in*).

* Joel Sherman says the Mets are paying Rodriguez’s $500,000 trade bonus, so they’re taking on $2.5M between salary and the trade bonus, and shedding Castro's $2.62M salary. The Mets not signing Rodriguez as a free agent and then trading a roster player for him right before Opening Day is pretty funny. Feel like that needs more attention.

I like the trade. Rodriguez’s velocity has been down this spring (though it was better last time out) and Castro’s ability to neutralize righties will come in handy in a division with Randy Arozarena, Xander Bogaerts, JD Martinez, Trevor Story, and that entire Blue Jays lineup. This is a small shuffling on the margins rather than a needle-mover, but I like it, especially if Rodriguez’s velocity doesn’t come all the way back.

3. McKay trade. 19 hours and 16 minutes after the Miguel Castro trade, the Yankees acquired righty reliever David McKay from the Rays for cash. McKay was on a minor league deal with Tampa and he used an opt out. The Yankees were willing to put him on their 40-man roster, so the Rays could either put him on their 40-man and keep him, let him go for nothing, or trade him for whatever the Yankees would give them. They took a few bucks.

(UPDATE: The Rays took literally a buck for McKay. The Yankees sent them $1, according to the Associated Press. $1 trades don't happen often but they do happen, and they're always in these situations (player has an opt out and his team has no leverage).)

McKay, 27, has big league time with the Mariners and Tigers. He’s allowed 19 runs in 26.2 MLB innings, with lots of walks (18) and lots of strikeouts (34). McKay had hip surgery last April and did not pitch at all in 2021. He is healthy now and he threw 3.2 Grapefruit League innings with the Rays before they sent him to minor league camp (and then traded him to the Yankees).

I never did write about him, but I remember flagging McKay as a possible trade/waivers target back in 2018-19 because he’s a big spin rate guy. In 2019, his only extended stint in the show, McKay averaged 93.9 mph with his sinker (hey look, another sinker guy) and 78.4 mph with a nasty little curveball. The curve averaged over 3,000 rpm. This’ll play (video):

McKay threw that pitch in 2019 and who knows what he looks like these days. The Yankees obviously think he looks pretty good seeing how they put him on the 40-man. Statcast is not in every Spring Training park (we’re fortunate it’s in every park in the Yankees’ little pod with the Blue Jays, Braves, Phillies, and Pirates) and we have no spring data for McKay. Alas.

I mentioned this last week: Stephen Ridings seems like a 60-day injured list candidate. That would clear the 40-man spot for McKay. This could be a very simple “if Ridings were healthy, we wouldn’t need McKay, but Ridings is not healthy, so let’s grab McKay” move. McKay has a minor league option remaining, so he can go to Triple-A. Not much more to say than that.

4. Grapefruit League thoughts. The internet tells me the Yankees are 8-9-1 this spring, and they’ve outscored their opponents 108-88. They will wrap up their Grapefruit League schedule Tuesday afternoon, then fly up to New York and prepare for Thursday’s regular season opener (weather permitting). Here are some thoughts on the latest Spring Training happenings.

Opening Day roster taking shape

The Opening Day roster does not have to be filed with MLB until Thursday morning, though the Yankees are leaving a lot of breadcrumbs. Here are the latest roster moves:

• Optioned to Triple-A: RHP Deivi Garcia, RHP Luis Gil
• Reassigned to Triple-A: LHP Manny Banuelos, RHP Matt Bowman, C Rob Brantly, UTIL Phillip Evans, C David Freitas, 1B Ronald Guzman, OF Ender Inciarte, OF Ryan LaMarre, C Max McDowell, RHP Shelby Miller, IF Jose Peraza, RHP Ryan Weber

The Blue Jays hit Gil pretty hard over the weekend (five runs in 2.1 innings) and I wonder if that was enough to bump him off the team. I hoped the Yankees would carry Banuelos on the Opening Day roster, though I fully admit my thinking is clouded by the emotion of wanting to see a former top prospect have success. I think we’re going to see Banuelos at some point this year either way.

Those moves leave 31 healthy players in big league camp, and 25 of the 28 Opening Day roster spots are accounted for. The Yankees have already told lefty JP Sears, my No. 28 prospect, he made the team, which is neat. He battled injuries earlier in his career and was a fringe prospect at this time last year. Sears used the time at home in 2020 to straighten out his mechanics, then he broke out in 2021. Now he’s a big leaguer.

“I think we’re just going to go out and get a good dinner. Go pack all my stuff and get prepared to hop on a plane (Tuesday). Nothing crazy,” Sears told Brendan Kuty when asked how he’d celebrate making the Opening Day roster (his parents happen to be in Tampa this week). “... I came into camp fully prepared to do my best and make the roster. That was my goal in the whole thing.”

Aaron Boone told Marly Rivera the Yankees are “leaning toward 16 pitchers” on the Opening Day roster and I hate it. I get it, but I hate it. Someone save us from the pitching changes. 16 pitchers means a three-man bench and an 11-man bullpen. It is close to impossible to use an 11-man bullpen in a way that helps you win games and also gets everyone enough work to stay sharp. Add in the Boone factor and in like two weeks the Yankees will have six relievers who are overworked and five who haven’t pitched since Spring Training.

Anyway, here’s what the Opening Day roster looks like right now using only players still in big league camp:

With a three-man bench, that last spot has to go to Gonzalez, right? I guess LeMahieu gives you enough coverage on the infield (with Torres as the backup shortstop) that Locastro could stick as an extra outfielder, but I don’t think the Yankees are going that way. Gonzalez gives them the most coverage and is a switch-hitter. He’s tailor-made for a short bench.

Locastro has a minor league option remaining and can go to Triple-A. Andujar has one as well, though I don’t think the Yankees are interested in paying him $1.3M to be a RailRider. Speaking as the world’s leading Andujar fan, I fear Miggy Missiles in his final 48 hours or so as a Yankee. I think the Yankees kept him just in case someone got hurt in camp, and now that no one did, they’re going to trade him before Opening Day. If they do, I will be sad, though I understand it.

Boone said the Yankees are leaning toward 16 pitchers and that leaves Marinaccio, McKay, and Schmidt as the three candidates for the final two roster spots. Gotta be Marinaccio and Schmidt, right? McKay has barely pitched the last two years and the Yankees just spent the entirety of Spring Training talking up Marinaccio and Schmidt (and Sears). I’m sure it’ll be those two. We should know the Opening Day roster with a good deal of certainty by the end of Tuesday.

Severino’s final tune up

Exhale (at least until the next bout of “general soreness”). Luis Severino made his final spring start Saturday and looked good, allowing one hit in four scoreless innings. More importantly, the velocity was there (averaged 96.4 mph and topped out at 98.2 mph) and Severino threw free and easy. If you didn’t know any better, you wouldn’t have been able to tell he was too sore to start three days prior.

“We focused on keeping his delivery together a little bit more, staying behind pitches, and controlling his lines to the plate,” pitching coach Matt Blake told Bryan Hoch. “We still saw some good velo out of him, and he controlled his tempo through home plate much better. There wasn’t as much effort spinning off pitches and fighting his delivery when guys got on.”

Getting through the start healthy was Step 1. Step 2 was waking up the next day and not feeling the same “general soreness,” and Boone told Hoch that Severino was “good” Sunday. No issues reported. It’s not uncommon for pitchers to come down with a dead arm 3-4 weeks into camp. Maybe that’s what got Severino? The fact 3-4 weeks into camp takes you right to Opening Day this year is kinda troublesome.

“Every time they give me the ball, that’s what I try to do, throw hard,” Severino told Hoch. “I noticed in the last couple of days, I don’t need to throw 100, 99, 98. If I can control the zone and go 94, 95, 96 for five or six innings, that would be more safe for me, saving my arm.”

Given how Severino looked Saturday, this “general soreness” really was minor, and not something the Yankees downplayed. I was bracing myself to see Severino putting everything he had into each pitch to get to 93 mph. The injury history suggests things like this will pop up throughout the season and the Yankees will have to back off Severino at various points. May those issues be as minor as this one looks to be.

On the batting order

Opening Day is three days away, so I guess it’s time we talk about the batting order. Donaldson has hit leadoff a bunch of times during Grapefruit League play, but it’s Spring Training, and you can’t read much into lineup construction. Usually the veterans bat up high so they can get their at-bats and go home. But in Donaldson’s case, batting leadoff could be a thing.

“I’ve been using Donaldson there a lot. I like it,” Boone told Randy Miller over the weekend. “... You want a good player hitting in that spot. You want to go with a guy that gets on base hitting in that spot. Yeah, it’s great if anyone can run. It’s great if the three hitter can run, the four hitter. The biggest thing is I want a good hitter that gets on base a lot. Donaldson and a lot of our guys fit that mold.”

LeMahieu was the leadoff hitter the last three seasons. From 2019-20, that was great. He was one of the very best hitters in baseball. In 2021, it was kind of a drag, because LeMahieu was only a league average hitter. If 2019-20 LeMahieu returns, then by all means bat him leadoff. That guy rules. Until we see that guy though, I think it has to be someone else.

Daniel Port recently made the case for batting Gallo leadoff. The short version: Gallo draws a ton of walks, a desired leadoff hitter trait, and the impact of his strikeouts is reduced (because he’d hit with fewer men on base), so much so that it makes up for turning a bunch of homers into solo shots. Plus he’s a legitimately great baserunner. Unconventional? Sure, but it makes sense.

There’s an argument to be made Judge should hit leadoff because he’s the Yankees’ best hitter and you want your best hitter getting the most at-bats. That said, you want Judge to hit with as many men on base as possible. There were nearly 80,000 plate appearances with men on base in 2021. Here’s how they were distributed per lineup spot:

1. 9.4%
2. 11.6%
3. 12.4%
4. 12.8%
5. 11.5%
6. 11.0%
7. 10.9%
8. 10.4%
9. 10.0%

Those are league-wide numbers and they could be different with one team’s specific lineup (the leadoff hitter would bat with more men on base if Judge hit ninth, etc.). Generally speaking though, the good hitters bat before the bad hitters, and I think the only set in stone lineup spots going into the season are Kiner-Falefa eighth and the catcher ninth. The 1-7 spots are less decided.

I like the idea of LeMahieu hitting toward the middle of the order. Even with the offseason lineup changes, the Yankees still have a few strikeout-prone hitters, and I like using LeMahieu’s high contact bat to break them up. That makes it less likely the Yankees see a rally die without a ball being put in play. Here is RAB’s official lineup proposal:

1. 3B Josh Donaldson
2. RF Aaron Judge
3. 1B Anthony Rizzo
4. DH Giancarlo Stanton
5. 2B DJ LeMahieu when he’s playing, otherwise LF Joey Gallo
6. 2B Gleyber Torres when he’s playing, otherwise LF Joey Gallo
7. CF Aaron Hicks
8. SS Isiah Kiner-Falefa
9. C Kyle Higashioka

That is my lineup proposal and I am not married to it. I’m not a true lineup agnostic but I’m close. Bat the good hitters before the bad hitters and you’ll be okay. The thing is, the Yankees prioritize splitting up the righties, and I get it. We saw Rougned Odor hit third at times last year! Brett Gardner a few times in recent years too. That priority complicates things a bit.

It sounds like we’re going to see Donaldson hit leadoff to begin the season – “Part of it is you get to set the tone early on. But I try to take my approach and at-bat pretty similar no matter where I’m at,” he told Dan Martin about leading off – and I’m fine with that. He’s a good hitter and signs point to him continuing to be a good hitter, so he should get a lot of at-bats. And if Father Time comes for Donaldson’s bat speed, the Yankees will make a change. For now, it looks like he will bat atop the lineup.

“Depending on who’s down that day kind of affects things,” Boone told Miller. “I feel like we have a few good options, and a lot of times depending on who the opponent is, you may or may not go for really good (righty-lefty lineup) spacing.”

PitchCom? PitchCom!

MLB teams have tested the PitchCom technology this spring and the Yankees gave it a try over the weekend. It is an electronic system to give signs. The catcher wears a wristband and punches the pitch call into a keypad, and the pitcher and infielders wear a receiver in their hat that tells them the call. A generic voice says “fastball in” or “slider away” or whatever in either English or Spanish (there are volume controls). This is the keypad:

“I think it was great,” Severino told Martin after trying PitchCom over the weekend. “I was a little doubtful at the beginning, but when we started using it, it was really good. With a man on second too. I would definitely like to use it in my first start (of the regular season). You know what pitch you’re going to throw right away.”

Nestor Cortes told Kristie Ackert: “I loved it. For a guy like me who has a bunch of pitches, I didn’t have to go through a whole bunch of signs. I could catch the ball, hear the call, and then go. I loved it.”

PitchCom is intended to combat sign-stealing (duh) and also improve pace of play, which I think it does based on the games I’ve watched this spring. The pitcher gets the call as he walks back to the mound and collects himself. The “look in for the sign” step has been eliminated. It’s only a few seconds here and there, but it adds up. The pace with PitchCom seems much better.

A quick search tells me the Rays like it, the Royals like it, the Rangers like it, and the Mets are on the fence. As far as I know MLB has not yet approved PitchCom for regular season use, but I hope they do. I’m all for anything that reduces downtime (no sitting through multiple signs with the bases empty!) and this has the added bonus of cutting down on sign-stealing. I hope MLB gives it the thumbs up. It doesn’t have to be mandatory. Optional works. It’ll catch on.

“If they allowed it, I could see us heading in that direction. We’re gonna try and ram it in as many situations as possible right now for the next three, four days,” Blake told Ackert. “I’d say positive reinforcement from the guys just based on the live BP and the game so far.”

Miscellany

Carlos Beltran made his YES Network debut Monday and immediately caused a stir by saying he was happy Judge committed to the Yankees long-term. Here’s the audio. Beltran later walked his comments back and clarified he hopes Judge will commit to the Yankees long-term. Hey, if anyone would know about sign(ing)s the Yankees are trying to keep under wraps, it would be Beltran. Would be kinda impressive if he managed to lose this job even quicker than he lost the last one. Anyway, Beltran was okay in the booth. Understandably rough around the edges, and he had a little of that “just do this easy baseball thing I used to do” quality that often makes great players poor coaches. Hopefully he grows out of it. Based on the few innings we’ve heard this spring, thumbs up for Cameron Maybin in the booth and so-so so far with Beltran … And finally, Jasson Dominguez on Monday’s lineup card as a reserve, though the Yankees later scratched him with a “stomach bug.” I hope he feels better and can play (and the Yankees let him play) in the Grapefruit League finale Tuesday. It’s a home game, so Dominguez wouldn’t even have to travel. Do it, Yankees.

5. Minor league Opening Day rosters. Triple-A Scranton’s regular season begins Tuesday and Double-A Somerset, High-A Hudson Valley, and Low-A Tampa all begin their seasons Friday. The Yankees announced their minor league Opening Day rosters Monday, so let’s run them all down now.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

Top 30 Prospects: O. Peraza (No. 3), Cabrera (No. 14), Florial (No. 16), Wesneski (No. 18)
Not Top 30 Prospects: None
Fallen Prospects: None
Others To Know: Krook (he is starting Opening Day, per Conor Foley)

The Yankees announced Scranton’s roster and about an hour later they announced Luis Gil (No. 4 on the top 30) and Deivi Garcia (No. 12) have been optioned to Triple-A. Manny Banuelos and Ender Inciarte were sent to Scranton as well, though Inciarte told Marly Rivera he may opt out of his contract rather than report to the minors. Those guys are with Scranton now too.

The highlight of the roster is the two-Oswald(o) infield and the prospect-laden rotation with Deivi, Gil, and Wesneski. I like Krook too. He’s interesting. Greene and Weissert are legitimate bullpen prospects, albeit likely as middle relievers moreso than high-leverage guys. Florial is Florial. We know all about him. This is his final minor league option year, so it’s an important season.

Just about the entire rest of the roster is journeymen. Some have MLB experience (Brantly, Evans, Freitas, LaMarre, McClain, Weber, the other Peraza, etc.) and some are organizational types (Alexander, Bristo, Lane, etc.). Rosario, 21, has played two career games above rookie ball and I assume he’s just a placeholder until the guys still in big league camp make their way to the RailRiders.

Under-the-radar guy to watch: Beltre. The former Reds prospect put up a .256/.344/.470 (121 wRC+) line with 16 homers and 37 steals (in 42 attempts!) in 109 Double-A games last season. The Yankees had several players break out offensively last year and maybe Beltre, now 26, did too, and I just didn’t notice. He’s a lefty bat. Perhaps there’s platoon outfielder potential.

Double-A Somerset Patriots

Top 30 Prospects: Volpe (No. 1), Medina (No. 5), Vasquez (No. 13), Waldichuk (No. 17), Dunham (No. 27), Breaux (No. 29)
Not Top 30 Prospects: None
Fallen Prospects: None
Others To Know: Brito, Chaparro, Jennings

What a fun Double-A roster. You’ve got the organization’s best prospect in Volpe and three actual prospects in the rotation, plus other notables like Dunham and Breaux. Volpe will be about three years younger than the average Eastern League player in 2022. He lost a full season to the pandemic and still might reach the big leagues as a high school draftee before being Rule 5 Draft eligible (he’ll be Rule 5 Draft eligible during the 2023-24 offseason). Incredible.

Lockridge has long been a “good but not top 30 good” prospect who might’ve been taken in the Rule 5 Draft had it been held. The Yankees get to hang onto him for another season, and maybe that means he’s a trade chip at the deadline. Breaux needs to make strides with his defense and/or swing decisions this year. He was Rule 5 Draft eligible this winter and he wants to force a 40-man decision after the season. Either add me or let someone draft me.

Under-the-radar guy to watch: Boyle (because I already wrote about Brito). The righty was involved in two no-hitters at two different levels in 2021 (High-A and Triple-A). He sits only 91-93 mph with his heater, but he’s funky, and his ball really sinks (video). Boyle has a slider and a changeup too. There’s enough here to be a big league option at some point. For the Yankees, he’s probably trade fodder.

High-A Hudson Valley Renegades

Top 30 Prospects: Pereira (No. 6), Sweeney (No. 7), Wells (No. 8), Way (No. 25)
Not Top 30 Prospects: Barclay
Fallen Prospects: Sauer, Sikkema
Others To Know: Bowman, Rumfield

I’m surprised Wells is going back to High-A. He hit .274/.376/.473 (130 wRC+) at the level last season, though it was only 38 games, so I guess the Yankees want Wells to get more time under his belt there. I just hope they aren’t waiting for the defense to catch up to the bat before promoting him. I don’t think that’s the case though. I think he’ll be in Double-A before long.

The Renegades have prospects at the four up-the-middle positions: Wells at catcher, Bowman at second, Sweeney at short, and Pereira in center. That’s awfully exciting. There have been a few rumblings about moving Bowman, who might be the fastest player in the organization, to center field to better use that speed, but he’s listed as an infielder, so I guess no move yet.

There are a few comeback stories on the pitching staff. Sikkema did not pitch the last two years because of the pandemic and an injury (lat). Hutchison was a personal favorite once upon a time and he didn’t pitch the last two years either (unsure of the injury). Myatt’s had a ton of injuries in his career. Sauer’s trying to rebuild prospect stock and Way is trying to get his suddenly hard sinker and slider under control. Couple projects on that staff. For sure.

Under-the-radar guy to watch: Warren. Definitely Warren. Last year’s eighth round pick out of Southeastern Louisiana has generated a lot of buzz over in minor league camp as a “he’s throwing 98 now and has the best slider he's ever had” breakout guy. There’s Hayden Wesneski 2.0 potential here. Warren is definitely a dude to watch in 2022.

Low-A Tampa Tarpons

Top 30 Prospects: Dominguez (No. 2), Vargas (No. 9), Gomez (No. 10), Garcia (No. 24), Green (No. 30)
Not Top 30 Prospects: Carela, Santos, Yulie
Fallen Prospects: Salinas, Seigler
Others To Know: Fitts

Heart eyes at that position player group. Dominguez! Vargas! Gomez! And Garcia might be the best present day hitter among ‘em. Well, no, not might be. He definitely is. Salinas and Santos are talented and tooled up too, and if they pop, this will be the affiliate to watch this season. As for Seigler, 2022 might be his last chance to rebuild any sorta prospect stock.

Relative to the typical 18-year-old, Dominguez performed well in 50 Low-A games last season. Relative to the hype, he disappointed. I think the Yankees are planning a quick promotion, and this is just a “let’s keep him in Tampa until the weather warms up” assignment. A quick promotion would be great news, because that will mean Dominguez is killing it and forcing the Yankees to move him.

Fitts and Carela are the guys to watch on the mound. Fitts was a possible first rounder last year, before hurting his foot and having a tough spring at Auburn. Carela has gotten better every year since signing in 2018 and I like him as a potential back-end starter. I know the Yankees like Milam, their 14th rounder in 2019. Ugly pro numbers (30 runs in 44.1 relief innings), but it’s a mid-90s fastball with a cutter and a slider in the upper-80s. There might be something there.

Under-the-radar guy to watch: Richardson. Elijah Dunham’s college teammate at Indiana hit .320/.397/.517 for the Hoosiers last spring, then the Yankees took him in the 17th round. He’s a big exit velocity guy, and as a lefty hitter (i.e. he’ll have the platoon advantage more often than not) with three years at a major-ish college program, Richardson should rip up Low-A.

Notable Omissions

Seven of my top 30 prospects are not on an Opening Day roster: SS Roderick Arias (No. 11), RHP Clarke Schmidt (No. 15), RHP Stephen Ridings (No. 19), RHP Ron Marinaccio (No. 20), RHP Yoendrys Gomez (No. 21), RHP Brendan Beck (No. 22), and LHP Brock Selvidge (No. 23). All seven can be dropped into one of three buckets:

• Baseball babies heading to Extended Spring Training: Arias, Selvidge (also Not Top 30 Prospect OF Fidel Montero, Prospect to Know OF Daury Arias, and recent trade pickup RHP Justin Lange)
• Injured: Ridings (back, shoulder), Gomez (elbow surgery), Beck (Tommy John surgery)
• In the mix for an MLB roster spot: Schmidt, Marinaccio

Fortunately there are no mysterious absences like last season, when Sikkema went MIA. The Yankees tend to be aggressive with their top international signings, so I expect to see Arias in the rookie Florida Complex League when the season begins in June. I don’t think he’s going to the Dominican Summer League, though I’m just taking a guess here.

6. Remembering a random Yankee: Jaime Garcia. By request, this week’s random Yankee is another 2017 Yankee, and he’s a pitcher who was better in pinstripes than you may remember. Here’s the random Yankee archive. You can find links back to everyone we've covered there.

Garcia was born in Reynosa, Mexico, which is right on the border with Texas. He went to high school in Mission, Texas, and also pitched for the Mexican junior national team. The Orioles took Garcia in the 30th round of the 2004 draft, but didn’t sign him because of what amounted to a clerical error. It was very Orioles. From Tyler Kepner:

“Back then, everyone they drafted had to take a test, and because he took the test and didn’t do well on it, they didn’t let me sign him,” said Joe Almaraz, then an Orioles scout. “But it wasn’t that he didn’t do well on the test. The problem was that when they translated the test into Spanish for him, it was misinterpreted. I read the whole thing myself.”

Almaraz, a former Spanish teacher, could not persuade the Orioles to sign Garcia, a left-handed pitcher who was born in Mexico. The Orioles soon hired a new scouting director, Joe Jordan, who wanted to sign Garcia. But by then, Garcia had decided to go back in the draft, and Almaraz, who had moved on to the St. Louis Cardinals, selected him in the 22nd round in 2005.

The Cardinals drafted Garcia even though he didn’t pitch anywhere in 2005. No junior college or anything. St. Louis took him based on Almaraz's 2004 scouting report. Garcia flew through the minors and reached Triple-A at age 21 in 2008. He made his MLB debut that July and went up and down, allowing 10 runs in 16 big league innings. That August, he had Tommy John surgery.

Garcia made it back into game action in July 2009, only 11 months after surgery (those were the wild west days of Tommy John surgery rehab), and in 2010, he finished third in the NL Rookie of the Year voting. That season Garcia pitched to a 2.70 ERA (3.41 FIP) in 163.1 innings. The next year he made six postseason starts en route to the Cardinals’ World Series championship.

From 2011-16, Garcia threw 880 innings with a 3.53 ERA (3.50 FIP), though he missed most of 2013 and most of 2014 with shoulder surgery. In Dec. 2016, the Cardinals traded Garcia to the Braves for a package that included John Gant. He was a year away from free agency and St. Louis was being proactive. They cashed him in as a trade chip while they could.

The 2017 Braves were quite bad (finished 72-90) and Garcia was solid, pitching to a 4.30 ERA in 18 starts in 113 innings. Not amazing, but good enough to help a contender. On July 24th, Atlanta sent Garcia to the Twins for prospect Huascar Ynoa. Four days later Garcia held the Athletics to three runs in 6.2 innings to get the win in his Twins debut.

And two days after that, the Twins traded Garcia to the Yankees. Garcia was with Minnesota for six days and they went 1-5 those days. His start was the only game they won. The Twins went from two games out of a postseason to five games out with three teams ahead of them. They went from buying to selling in a week (and then made the postseason anyway).

"Our people in our front office have been monitoring where we've been at, and the truth is, things have changed in the last 10 days, as far as a couple teams getting hot and we've had a little bit tough time closing some games out," Twins manager Paul Molitor told Michael Wagaman after the trade. "It's just kind of how the business is. You try to make the best decisions that you can and I think we have to trust those things. I wish him well."

The Yankees made the big White Sox trade on July 19th and Garcia was their first trade to bring in rotation help. I remember folks being mad the Yankees only added Garcia, then the next day they made the Sonny Gray trade, and everyone felt better (little did we know). Michael Pineda had Tommy John surgery earlier in July and Jordan Montgomery’s innings were piling up. Garcia and Gray replaced Pineda and allowed the Yankees to back off Montgomery.

“It’s a good pickup, man. A real good pickup. Veteran presence. I can’t wait to see what he’s got in store for us,” Todd Frazier, who faced Garcia for years when he was with the Reds in the NL Central, told Wally Matthews following the trade. We didn’t know much about spin rates in 2017, but Garcia was a spin rate guy. His Statcast profile that year. Note the red:

Garcia made his Yankees debut on Aug. 4th – it was his third straight start with three different teams – and it didn’t go well. Cleveland tagged him for six runs in 4.2 innings. Six days later he held the Red Sox to three runs in 5.2 innings, and five days after that he held the Mets to three runs in 5.1 innings. Great? No, but an upgrade over the guys the Yankees had in the rotation previously (Luis Cessa and Bryan Mitchell, most notably).

“It was almost like I got called up to the big leagues. My phone was blowing up with everyone congratulating me,” Garcia told Howie Kussoy after beating the Red Sox. “People at home, in Mexico, everybody. The Yankees are like as good as it gets.”

Garcia’s best start with the Yankees came against his former team (the Twins, not the Braves) on Sept. 18th. He struck out nine and allowed just an unearned run in 5.2 innings. Here’s video. “Jaime was just fabulous. An outstanding start on his part,” Joe Girardi told Matthews. When asked about Garcia, Molitor said: “I didn’t get to know Jaime all that well.”

The Yankees clinched a postseason berth on Sept. 23th. They partied that night, Garcia started the next day, and he got rocked in Toronto. Five runs in 2.1 innings. It was his final start of the season. Garcia finished with a 4.82 ERA in eight starts and 37.1 innings with the Yankees, and a 4.41 ERA in 157 total innings in 2017.

In the six starts between the poor first start and poor last start, Garcia had a 2.97 ERA in 30.1 innings. He allowed no more than three runs in all six starts, and four times he allowed no more than two runs. For a fifth starter who cost two bullpen prospects*, that’s pretty good! The two bad starts count, but geez, for a back-end depth starter, Garcia was perfectly fine.

Despite being rested and despite the nine-strikeout game against the Twins a few weeks earlier, the Yankees did not carry Garcia on the Wild Card Game roster. The Yankees won the game, then Garcia was put on the ALDS roster. Garcia and Montgomery replaced Tyler Wade and Clint Frazier, who were on the Wild Card Game roster as extra bench guys.

"We went with two longer guys because of what we went through on Tuesday," Girardi told George King, referring to the 8.2 innings the Yankees needed from their bullpen in the Wild Card Game. "Knowing that if something like that happens again you could really fry your bullpen. Jaime is a guy you can use for shorter or mix and match, so that allows you to use Montgomery as a long guy."

Gray got the start in Cleveland in Game 1 of the ALDS and didn’t make it out of the fourth inning. After Adam Warren cleaned up Sonny’s mess, Girardi went to Garcia to chew up innings and spare the relievers who worked hard in the Wild Card Game, and Garcia threw 2.2 hitless and scoreless innings. He struck out three. The core relievers were preserved. Here’s the video.

"I think Jaime did a tremendous job keeping them where they were,” Chase Headley told Bryan Hoch after Game 1. "... We'll have some fresh arms tomorrow. They're the least of my worries. They do a pretty good job for us."

Garcia did not pitch again the rest of the postseason, though he was on the ALCS roster against the Astros. He was the last guy in the bullpen and at no point during the rest of the ALDS nor in the ALCS did the Yankees face a mop up situation or play deep into extra innings. Garcia appeared in nine games as a Yankee and allowed 20 earned runs in 40 innings. He struck out 40.

After the season, Garcia became a free agent, and he signed a one-year deal worth $10M with the Blue Jays. He allowed 53 runs in 74.1 innings, got released in August, then finished 2018 with the Cubs. Garcia announced his retirement in Jan. 2019. He was only 31 at the time. Thanks largely to the early career extension he signed with the Cardinals, Garcia made over $60M during his playing career. The internet tells me he does work with Water Mission these days while living the retired life.

* The Yankees traded lefty Dietrich Enns and righty Zack Littell for Garcia. Littell was pretty good for the 107-win Giants last year (2.92 ERA in 61.2 relief innings). Enns appeared in two games with the Twins soon after the trade, then made it back to the big leagues briefly with the Rays last year. He is with the Seibu Lions in Japan now.

7. Rapid fire thoughts. Sean Manaea was traded to the Padres for a two-prospect package over the weekend, so we can scratch him off the trade target list. The return feels really light. The headliner is infielder Euribiel Angeles, who I acquired as part of my Offseason Plan. The Yankees equivalent to the package would have been something like Trey Sweeney and JP Sears, though Sweeney’s bat is more highly regarded than Angeles’ despite Angeles’ insane numbers (.330/.392/.445 at the two Single-A levels as a 19-year-old in 2021). I assume the Yankees will move on to missing out on Frankie Montas next … According to Andy Martino, the Yankees proposed a Luke Voit for Chris Paddack trade last month, but the Padres said no. The Yankees took Justin Lange instead. I like (but don’t love) Paddack as a trade target. He’s got a great changeup and great command, and the Padres have had trouble finishing off the development of their young pitchers the last few years. Paddack’s a good change of scenery guy. Maybe the Yankees will check back in after the Manaea trade pushed Paddack down to seventh on San Diego’s rotation depth chart? The Padres are said to want an outfielder and I’m not sure there’s a fit there, unless the Padres are willing to take Aaron Hicks (and the Yankees are willing to eat a bunch of money) … And finally, the trade deadline will be Aug. 2nd at 6pm ET this year. The new Collective Bargaining Agreement gives Rob Manfred the ability to schedule the deadline anytime between July 28th and Aug. 3rd. With the delayed start to the season, it makes sense to push the trade deadline back a little, and MLB has done that. It’s fine.

(Send your requests for Tuesday's random Yankee series and questions for Friday's mailbag to RABmailbag at gmail dot com.)