March 22nd, 2022: Correa, Story, Voit, Lange, Gonzalez, Aybar, Kiner-Falefa, Pitching, Rortvedt

Folks, I watched real live baseball the last few days. Not live live, I wasn’t there, but I watched it live on television, and it was glorious. Dingers, defense, prospects, it was great. Opening Day is a little more than two weeks away now, so soon the games will count. Until then, I’ll enjoy the fake games that don’t mean anything. Let’s get to today’s thoughts.

1. Correa to the Twins, Story to the Red Sox. What a perfect capper to one of the least enjoyable offseasons of my lifetime. The lockout has A LOT to do with that. It ain’t all on the Yankees. But after the manager said the rest of the league “closed the gap on us” and the GM called the team “unwatchable,” I thought we’d get an offseason where we could say “the Yankees are better” rather than “the Yankees will be better if X, Y, Z happens.” Wrong I was.

Over the weekend the Twins signed Carlos Correa to a contract that looks almost exactly like the short-term contract I proposed in the mailbag two weeks ago. It’s a one-year deal with two player options worth $35.1M each year. I proposed a one-year deal with two player options worth $35M each year, though I kicked in a signing bonus and buyouts. Which group of players would you rather have?

• C Gary Sanchez, SS Carlos Correa, 3B Gio Urshela (~$59M from 2022-23*)
• C Ben Rortvedt, SS Isiah Kiner-Falefa, 3B Josh Donaldson (~$60M from 2022-23)

* That’s assuming Correa opts out after the season, and I have to think that’s the plan barring a major injury or a disaster season. Also, Sanchez becomes a free agent after the season, so the Twins will need a shortstop and at least a backup catcher behind Ryan Jeffers come 2023. The Yankees won’t.

One day later the Red Sox signed Trevor Story to a six-year deal worth $140M. There’s an opt out (Story can opt out after 2025, though the Red Sox can void it by picking up a seventh year $20M club option) and he’s moving to second base. It’s amazing how these two signings seem designed specifically to make the Yankees look like chumps. Consider:

• The Twins were able to afford Correa in part because the Yankees absorbed the $50M they owed Josh Donaldson. Including arbitration projections, Minnesota saved roughly $36M from 2022-23 with the Donaldson trade.
• Correa signed a short-term deal that won’t block any shortstop prospects (Royce Lewis, the No. 1 pick in the 2017 draft, is about a year away). The Yankees hid behind the “we don’t want to block Oswald Peraza and Anthony Volpe” excuse all winter.
• The idea Correa wouldn’t be welcomed into the clubhouse because of the sign-stealing scandal falls flat when Donaldson called out Gerrit Cole for the sticky stuff last year, and they had to smooth that over first thing after the trade.
• The Red Sox signed Story despite already having a really good shortstop. Meanwhile, the Yankees are worrying about prospects while their core players (Cole, Giancarlo Stanton, etc.) only have so many peak years left.

It’s not often an offseason matches up so perfectly with the team’s needs. The Yankees needed a shortstop and five of the game’s best shortstops were free agents. They wanted a lefty hitting first baseman with good defense and there was one available via free agency and another via trade. Somehow the Yankees walked away with the sixth best available shortstop and third best available first baseman. I’m not even mad at this point. I’m sort of amazed.

“We evaluated all the market availabilities from trade to free agency, then placed our bets,” Brian Cashman told Bryan Hoch. “We were able to attack what was available to us. Once we pulled those down, it closed doors on other things. You only have a certain amount of money to spend, and once you fill those needs, you keep moving.”

I am Correa’d and offseason’d out at this point. I don’t want to dwell on this any longer. I just have two quick things to say. First, this could be a very toxic summer at Yankee Stadium, especially if the Yankees start slowly. Yankees fans aren’t Pirates* or Diamondbacks fans, who are apathetic and just won’t show up. If Yankees fans are unhappy, they’ll show up and boo the team into next week. I couldn’t tell you how many “Fi-Re Boone!” chants I witnessed last season. The fan base is not happy and they expected better this offseason. A poor start and it could get real ugly, real fast.

* I’m being unfair to Pirates fans. I get emails and messages from every fan base because of my work at CBS and they all tell me I hate their team or I’m not giving them enough credit, etc. Every fan base except the Pirates. Pirates fans email me to say I don’t hate their team enough. They’re a different breed, man.

And two, I enjoyed that with the exception of Clayton Kershaw and Justin Verlander, and maybe Starling Marte, every top free agent signed somewhere unexpected. Look at MLBTR’s top 50 free agent predictions. They’re so wrong! It’s not just that the teams are wrong, they’re not even close. Players signed with teams that are in completely opposite situations as those predicted (rebuilder instead of contender, etc.).

I don’t mean to pick on the MLBTR folks. They’re great and you all know I’m terrible at predictions too. I’m just using them as an example to show how free agency zigged when everyone thought it would zag. Maybe it was just the lockout and things will go back to being “predictable” next winter, but it was a breath of fresh air to see different teams get involved.

2. Latest roster moves. The Yankees had a busy weekend. They sent one notable player out and brought in three others. Also, today is the arbitration salary filing deadline, so more news is on the way. I would bet against an Aaron Judge extension, so the news doesn't figure to be anything too exciting (a few contracts signed, a few salaries filed, etc.), but news is news. The Yankees still have 12 unsigned arbitration-eligible players, including newcomer Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Now let’s break down the weekend activity.

Voit traded to Padres

So long, Luke. You are too cool for the 2022 Yankees. The Yankees finally pulled the plug and traded Luke Voit over the weekend. He went to San Diego for a low minors pitching prospect. Voit is the Slam Diego vibe personified and he’ll step in at DH to help the Padres replace the righty thump they lost when Fernando Tatis Jr. broke his wrist.

“Relief,” Voit told Randy Miller when asked how he felt about the trade. “I’m excited not only about the organization, but they’ve got a team ready to win. So I’m super excited. I get to play with my college teammate Pierce Johnson. I can’t wait. It’s 75 every day. I don’t have to deal with New York in April now. I’m really happy. It’s a good thing for my career. It’s a fresh start with a new team. I just want to go over there and mash again.”

In parts of four seasons with the Yankees, Voit hit .271/.363/.520 (137 wRC+) and averaged 36 home runs per 600 plate appearances. He never actually got 600 plate appearances in a season with the Yankees because he had the sports hernia in 2019, 2020 was shortened by the pandemic, and then he had knee trouble in 2021. When healthy though, Voit mashed.

I will miss Voit’s production and the Sammy Sosa hop, and also his refreshing honesty. He was never shy about calling out a team that wasn’t called out by its own players enough the last few years – “I feel like teams aren't really scared of us right now and it's kind of a sad thing because we're the New York Yankees,” he told Brendan Kuty in Sept. 2020 – and was one of the few Yankees who played with swagger. I’ll miss him.

“Luke brought energy every single day. Didn’t matter if it was a day game or a night game or if we were on a winning streak or a losing streak. Man, he was the same guy. Always played with heart, played with passion,” Judge told Kuty. “You guys saw that up in the press box, something I feel like the fans really gravitated toward, especially in New York. They want that grittiness. They want those guys that are going to be aggressive and give their all. Luke, I feel like, represents the New York spirit.”

There were reasons to keep Voit, but not great ones. Diversifying the lineup was imperative this offseason. The Yankees had too many swing and miss righties and Voit was an obvious candidate to go given the available options at his position. He was easier to replace than Judge and easier to move than Giancarlo Stanton. Whether the Yankees actually improved the offense remains to be seen, though a Voit trade has felt like an inevitability since the Anthony Rizzo trade last summer.

Trading an above average big league hitter, even one with negative defensive value like Voit, for a rookie ball pitcher is the kinda trade you’re going to lose more often than not, and I can’t say I’m optimistic the Yankees will put the projected $5.4M they saved to good use (or to use at all). This was a roster clearing trade, which is one step up from a salary dump. It is what it is.

Voit gets a fresh start, Miguel Andujar has a clearer path to a bench spot (maybe), and the Yankees get a prospect and some salary relief. The Voit era could have ended with a non-tender a few weeks ago, so the Yankees made the best of a self-inflicted bad situation (i.e. poor roster construction). Give ‘em hell in San Diego, Luke.

Yankees get Lange

Righty Justin Lange is the pitching prospect the Yankees received in the Voit trade. The Padres selected him with the No. 34 pick in the 2020 draft, six picks after the Yankees took Austin Wells, and paid him a $2M bonus. Lange has allowed 17 runs in 22 career innings (all in rookie ball last season) around the pandemic and injuries.

“He came in that COVID season, so he really hasn’t had an opportunity to go out and pitch a ton. Last year, he had some starts and stops. He’s a talent, he’s got a good arm, he’s a good athlete. All those reasons are why we liked him in the draft,” Padres GM A.J. Preller told AJ Cassavell about Lange. “Ultimately, it’s a prospect that’s a little bit away. It’s going to take him some time. But we expect him to go out and do well for the Yankees. You always have to give up something that’s good to get somebody that’s good. Overall we felt like it was a price we wanted to give up to get a bat that we think is going to help our lineup.”

When you see "No. 34 pick in the 2020 draft," your mind immediately jumps to “top prospect,” but that isn’t the case with Lange, who’s had shoulder and knee trouble (but no surgeries) in his brief pro career, and is very much a project. He’s got a big arm (Lange touched 100 mph leading into the draft) and a lot of work to do with his secondary pitches and overall command.

Baseball America (subs. req’d) ranked Lange the No. 16 prospect in San Diego’s thinned system prior to the trade. Here’s the relevant part of their scouting report and here's video:

Lange is a long-term project with very real but very raw arm strength. His fastball has exceptional carry and sits 95-98 mph when he’s healthy, although his balky knee sapped him of velocity over the summer. His work-in-progress secondaries include a potentially above-average slider that sits in the mid-to-high 80s and a seldomly-used change-up. Lange’s command of his secondaries have a long way to go for him to make good on the Padres’ investment. His control is well below-average overall, largely because of his inability to throw his secondary pitches for strikes … Lange remains a lottery ticket with a wide range of potential outcomes.

Eric Longenhagen says “Lange is a high-variance, high-upside talent who is now with an org that has shown an ability to develop dominant fastballs out of big-framed athletes like him.” Lange is better than what I thought the Yankees would get for Voit, and I wonder if the Padres got a little desperate after the Tatis injury, and ponied up a better prospect to get a bat.

The obvious comparison is Luis Gil. The Yankees acquired Gil as a rookie ball kid with a very big fastball, unrefined secondaries and control, and an injury history. Gil’s strike-throwing ability still isn’t all the way there, but he has stayed healthy since the trade, and the Yankees helped him develop a quality slider (after developing a curveball and then scrapping it).

Gil is a reasonable, demonstrated to be possible outcome for Lange, though the Yankees gave up a lot more to get Lange than Gil (they traded Jake Cave, who had been designated for assignment a few days earlier, for Gil). Lange is three years away from Rule 5 Draft eligibility, something the Yankees always have to keep in mind, and his ceiling is significant. Long way to go to get here, but he’s very talented.

All signs point to Lange beginning the season in Extended Spring Training. He’ll play almost the entire season at age 20, he has a lot to work on developmentally, he’s missed a bunch of time with injuries, and he has to get settled into the organization after being traded in the middle of camp. Extended Spring Training and a move up to Low-A at midseason strikes me as the “things are going according to plan” plan in 2022.

With the caveat that I’m not too familiar with Lange yet, I’ll say he’d slot in at No. 21 on my top 30 prospects list, between Ron Marinaccio and (the now injured) Brendan Beck. That’s a good spot for the long shot high upside guy, between the no doubt big league relievers and long shot guys with lesser upside. Lange’s gonna be on prospect lists for a while. Get used to the name.

Yankees sign Gonzalez

Over the weekend the Yankees signed utility guy Marwin Gonzalez to a minor league contract that will pay him $1.15M at the MLB level, according to Joel Sherman. I guess they’re mad enough about the sign-stealing scandal to not sign Carlos Correa, but not mad enough to pass up the cheap 2017 Astros. Funny how that works. (I’m half joking.)

“I don’t think I need to have a conversation about (2017),” Judge told Dan Martin about the Gonzalez signing. “I’ve got plenty of things to focus on. It might come up, but I’m not too worried about it. I’m excited if he can help this team out. I know he’s a great utility player. He’s been on some championship teams and had some good runs in Houston and with the Red Sox and got that deal with Minnesota. I think it’s good for us.”

Gonzalez, 33, received more documented trash can bangs than any other Astros player in 2017 and he had a career year, hitting .303/.377/.530 (144 wRC+) with 23 homers. He’s hit .238/.308/.378 (87 wRC+) in the four seasons since, including .199/.275/.304 (58 wRC+) last year. Gonzalez was so bad the Red Sox released him in August even though Alex Cora is said to be one of the biggest backers.

You have to squint your eyes to see Gonzalez, a switch-hitter, as anything more than a deep depth piece on a contender at this point in his career. He had decent exit velocity numbers last season and his .429 SLG against lefties wasn’t awful, and that’s about all the good. There’s not much to see here offensively. Gonzalez can play every position except catcher at a league average-ish level and that’s how he provides value to his team.

The four-man bench currently includes the backup catcher, DJ LeMahieu (or whichever infielder sits that day), and the fourth outfielder (Tim Locastro?). The fourth spot could go to Andujar. I hope it does. It also could go to the much more versatile Gonzalez. It seems like a thing that could happen. I guess we’ll see how he looks once he gets into games.

“He’s a guy with a lot of experience and a guy that’s had a really good career,” Aaron Boone told Bryan Hoch. “We’ll see what he’s got as this unfolds.”

Yankees claim Aybar

The Yankees claimed lefty reliever Yoan Aybar from the Rockies over the weekend. He was designated for assignment to clear a 40-man roster spot for Kris Bryant and he goes into Voit's vacated 40-man spot. Nick Groke says Aybar is having visas issues and still wasn't in Rockies camp when he was cut from the roster. I have no idea when he'll join the Yankees.

Aybar, 24, is a converted outfielder who’s been pitching full-time since 2018. He had a 6.22 ERA (5.74 FIP) with 23.7% strikeouts and 14.7% walks in 46.1 Double-A relief innings in 2021. Baseball America (subs. req’d) ranked Aybar the No. 27 prospect in Colorado’s system a few weeks ago. Here’s their scouting report and here’s some old video:

Aybar has a mid-90s fastball that tops out at 99 mph with cut. When he commands that pitch to both sides, he’s nearly unhittable. And even when the heater isn’t totally sharp, it’s still electric enough to get him out of trouble. His offspeed pitches need sharpening, as his high-80s slider doesn’t have consistent cut and he’s still growing confidence in his low-80s changeup. He’s still raw in his pitchability and his overall command needs refinement. His arsenal limits homers and there’s more strikeout potential in his arm than his 23.7% K rate in 2021 … If he can pinpoint his blazing fastball and his offspeed pitches progress, he could be a focal point of the Rockies’ bullpen in a couple years.

The conversion guys who make it and go on to have long-term success tend to pop early. They get on the mound and it looks natural. Like they belonged there from the start. Aybar is still trying to figure things out, so he’s behind the conversion 8-ball. That said, lefties with cut on their 99 mph heater will never look out of place as the 40th guy on the 40-man.

Getting updates on Yoendrys Gomez (elbow) and Stephen Ridings (back/shoulder) is like pulling teeth. For all I know they might be 60-day injured list candidates. If not, Aybar could be the first to go when a 40-man spot is needed. He has one minor league option remaining, so I assume the plan is to have him spend most of the season in Double-A once he gets his visa in order.

(Aybar would not have factored into my top 30 prospects list. The Yankees are loaded with hard-throwing, poor-commanding reliever types. He’s just one more.)

3. Grapefruit League observations. The Yankees have played four Grapefruit League games and I honestly could not tell you their win-loss record. That’s how it should be in Spring Training. Enjoy the meaningless stress-free baseball, because the games will count real soon. Here are some thoughts and observations on the first few exhibition games.

Kiner-Falefa’s leg kick

The Spring Training Adjustment Watch™ is underway. Isiah Kiner-Falefa has added a big ol’ leg kick at the plate. More accurately, he’s brought back a big ol’ leg kick. Kiner-Falefa used the leg kick early in his career, got rid of it in 2020, and has brought it back in 2022. Here are the obligatory slowed down GIFs (full-size image):

Open stance and a big leg kick in 2019, closed stance and no leg kick in 2021 (which started in 2020), and now a closed stance with a big leg kick in 2022. Also, Kiner-Falefa’s hands are down around his chest now. Previously they were up around his head. If Kiner-Falefa’s leg kick and overall setup at the plate looks familiar, this is why (full-size image):

That’s not a coincidence. Kiner-Falefa spent his offseason training with Justin Turner, one of the first (and biggest) swing change success stories. Specifically, Kiner-Falefa worked out at home in Texas from Monday through Thursday, then spent the weekend with Turner in Los Angeles. He did that all offseason. Like Turner back in the day, Kiner-Falefa wants to drive the ball in the air more often.

“We talked a lot about the struggles he had when he was with the Mets. He was able to make the adjustment and find a way to get better. He was in the later part of his career. It just shows the kind of guy he is and his character for him to make adjustments so late and have success. I want to be the best that I can too,” Kiner-Falefa told Randy Miller about working with Turner. “Last year when I struggled, I stayed back a lot and I just tried to flare the ball into the hole. I hear the noise sometimes -- get the ball in the air a little more -- but I’ve got a lot of work to do. I’m nowhere near where I want to be. I need to walk more and see more pitches and have scrappy at-bats that these guys here have.”

In Spring Training 2020, Kiner-Falefa told Evan Grant he eliminated the leg kick in an effort to be more on-time at the plate. “I think I made the adjustments that were necessary. Knowing that I’ve made sound changes and I’ve seen results has given me confidence,” Kiner-Falefa told Grant. I guess he believes he can be more on-time with the leg kick this time around?

Kiner-Falefa was a much better hitter without the leg kick from 2020-21 than he was with the leg kick in 2018-19, though a) he was still below average, and b) there could be more at play than the leg kick (experience, entering peak years, etc.). The numbers:

Looking like Justin Turner and hitting like Justin Turner are very different things. If it was that easy, New York area Little Leagues would have produced a few thousand Gary Sheffield clones in the mid-2000s. Gio Urshela made adjustments with the Yankees and meaningfully improved his exit velocity and Kiner-Falefa will have to do that to make this “hit the ball in the air thing” work. He doesn't hit the ball hard enough otherwise.

It’s interesting Kiner-Falefa made this adjustment on his own during the offseason, long before the Yankees traded for him. Did they know about it before the trade? I mean, how could they? Kiner-Falefa was locked out and there wasn’t supposed to be any contact between teams and players, and he was traded just a few days after the lockout ended. How much did the Yankees before making the deal? Hmmm.

Kiner-Falefa is off to a 3-for-5 start this spring, which is nice, but we know better than to put any stock into that. As with all Spring Training adjustments, this is something to monitor, and we’re a long way from declaring it a success or failure. Turner (and Urshela) are evidence players can make changes and supercharge their performance a few years into their careers. Kiner-Falefa doing something similar would change his (and the Yankees’) outlooks considerably.

“To go out and get some immediate results, especially when you’ve done some things in the offseason where you tinkered with your swing a little bit, to get some good feedback early on it doesn’t hurt,” Aaron Boone told Miller. “Look, he’s a really good athlete. He’s a really good bat-to-ball guy. When you have a work ethic to go with it, there’s always gains that are potentially there to be made, especially when you’re in the prime of your career.”

Pitching schedule

Sunday afternoon Luis Severino made his first Grapefruit League start since 2018, if you can believe that. He hurt his shoulder warming up prior to his first spring start in 2019, then missed camp in 2020 and 2021 while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. Severino was wild and got hit hard in Sunday’s outing, but the fastball was consistently 97 mph (averaged 97.5 mph), and he walked away in one piece. That’s all I care about right now.

“Today I felt more nervous than in my (debut) in 2015,” Severino told Mark Feinsand following Sunday’s game. “I haven't pitched in Spring Training since 2018, so just being here, whatever the result was, I was real happy. After I finished my bullpen, I feel relief. Health-wise, I feel pretty solid. My arm was feeling good. Results were not that good, but the good thing is I’m feeling healthy.”

Jameson Taillon, who had ankle tendon surgery in October and is the rare Yankee who is ahead of schedule with his injury rehab, started yesterday and looked really good. Like regular ol’ Taillon, or at least the Spring Training version of Taillon. I was worried his velocity would be down because he was said to be behind on his offseason throwing after the surgery. That wasn’t the case. His velocity was where it normally is.

“It’s still rehabbing. It’s still an injury that I have to take seriously,” Taillon told Bryan Hoch. “But mechanically, I feel like I’m where I need to be. I feel much more fluid with my arm. My arm feels great. (The timeline) was always meant to be a little fluid, because this is such a rare injury for pitchers. I don’t think we had a set playbook like with Tommy John, where they know exactly what you’re doing on every given day and every given week.”

Here’s what the projected Opening Day rotation has done five days into the Grapefruit League season:

• Fri., March 18th: Gerrit Cole 22 pitches (live batting practice)
• Sat., March 19th: No MLB starters pitched
• Sun., March 20th: Luis Severino 38 pitches (game)
• Mon., March 21st: Jameson Taillon 28 pitches and Nestor Cortes 29 pitches (game)
• Tues., March 22nd: Jordan Montgomery making Grapefruit League debut

(Taillon and Cortes both threw another 10 or so additional pitches in the bullpen after their two innings yesterday.)

Cole will throw another live batting practice session before pitching in an actual game. If it were early March and this were a normal Spring Training, no one would think twice. But it’s not and Opening Day is two weeks away, so it’s kinda weird? Then again, Cole is fairly high maintenance. He likes to do his work in controlled settings as much as possible.

“My focal point is to pitch the opener,” Cole told Dan Martin following Friday’s live batting practice session. “We know what we’re going into. It does a lot for people’s preparation in the offseason and not having to worry about making adjustments midseason.”

Cole is throwing his live batting practice session today, and assuming he gets to 40-ish pitches, and Montgomery throws 40-ish pitches in his game (like Severino, Taillon, and Cortes), everyone in rotation is on track to get stretched out to 70 or so pitches before the regular season. Might as well map it out (with the usual 15-pitch increase each time out):

• Tues., March 22nd: Montgomery 40 pitches and Cole 40 pitches
• Weds., March 23rd: Deivi Garcia (announced)
• Thurs., March 24th: Minor league spot starter (Luis Gil? Luis Medina?)
• Fri., March 25th: Severino 55 pitches
• Sat., March 26th: Taillon 55 pitches and Cortes 55 pitches
• Sun., March 27th: Cole 55 pitches
• Mon., March 28th: Montgomery 55 pitches
• Tues., March 29th: Minor league spot starter
• Weds., March 30th: Severino 70 pitches
• Thurs., March 31st: Taillon 70 pitches
• Fri., April 1st: Cole 70 pitches
• Sat., April 2nd: Cortes 70 pitches
• Sun., April 3rd: Montgomery 70 pitches
• Mon., April 4th: Severino 85 pitches
• Tues., April 5th: Taillon 85 pitches
• Weds., April 6th: off-day
• Thurs., April 7th: Cole 85 pitches on Opening Day*

That lines up Cole, Montgomery, Severino, and Taillon to start Games 1-4 of the regular season, all with an extra day of rest, in that order. It also lines Cortes up to be available in long relief on Opening Day. I don’t think the Yankees want to use Cortes in relief on Opening Day, but it doesn’t hurt to give yourself that option.

With Severino coming off his injuries and Taillon coming off ankle surgery, I can see the Yankees bringing them along a little more slowly. Maybe they’re only throwing 10 additional pitches each time out rather than 15, and they go into the season at the same place (stretched out to 70 pitches) as everyone else despite each making one more Grapefruit League appearance.

The exact pitching schedule is whatever. I’m mostly concerned with how stretched out they will be when the regular season begins. Last year the starters averaged 78.0 pitches the first time through the rotation, 78.8 the second time*, 86.0 the third time, and 91.8 the fourth time. Slow build ups are the Yankees’ thing. They did this in 2019 too, the last “normal” season, and there’s no reason to think they won’t do it again this year.

* A bad Corey Kluber start (five runs and 62 pitches in 2.1 innings) skews that a bit. Remove him and the other four guys averaged 83.0 pitches the second time through the rotation.

Going into the season with five starters stretched out to only 70-ish pitches a) wouldn’t be that unusual based on last season, and b) would be asking a lot from the bullpen (what else is new?). There’s no word yet on whether MLB will give teams an extra roster spot(s) to begin the season. It would be smart, but if not, the bullpeners better get ready to work a lot that first week or two. Carrying two long relievers (Mike King and Gil?) wouldn’t be a bad idea in that case.

(Max Scherzer threw five innings and 72 pitches in his first spring start yesterday. That seems … excessive.)

Rortvedt injured

New catcher Ben Rortvedt has a Grade I oblique strain and is questionable for Opening Day, so right out of the gate the Yankees will test their catching depth. Rortvedt told Lindsey Adler (subs. req’d) he suffered the injury during the lockout and it is still lingering, and the Yankees knew about it before making the trade. Also, Rortvedt trained at Eric Cressey’s facility over the winter, which I’m guessing had something to do with the Yankees acquiring him. (How did that work with Cressey and the lockout, exactly?)

“I don't think it should be too long-term of a thing,” Boone, a serial downplayer of injuries, told Feinsand. “I think he’s kind of feeling it when he's hitting, so we want to kind of back him off a little bit, try and nip that in the bud, and not allow that to become a long-term issue for him. Hopefully it's something that doesn't derail too much. We do want to make sure we get it out of there.”

Rortvedt is doing some catching work, he just can’t swing a bat or do anything that requires rotating. Opening Day is two weeks and two days away and it’s not realistic to think he’ll heal up in time. Obliques are tricky and very easy to reinjure, but Rortvedt needs at-bats to get ready for the season. He’ll need a minor league rehab appearance and all that.

So, with Rortvedt set to miss the start of the season, Kyle Higashioka will serve as the undisputed starter and Rob Brantly, who had some time with the Yankees last year as a COVID replacement, is the primary candidate to be the backup. It’s gonna be bad. This is what I get for saying Tucker Barnhart and Jacob Stallings weren’t big enough upgrades to pursue this winter.

Miscellany

Cameron Maybin made his YES Network debut over the weekend and I enjoyed him. Little rough around the edges, which is to be expected, but he was funny and broke the game down using his experience as a player well. I’m a fan and am looking forward to more Maybin broadcasts … Statcast had Ron Marinaccio’s 11 fastballs in the 94.3 mph to 96.2 mph range during his outing last Thursday, so last year’s velocity uptick has held. My No. 20 prospect was mostly 91-93 mph prior to the lost 2020 minor league season, which he spent at home working on his mechanics. Velocity spikes usually stick, but you never know for sure until you see the guy out there. Marinaccio’s stuck and he has a chance to be a real bullpen weapon thanks to his new mid-90s gas and knockout changeup … The Yankees gave Manny Banuelos No. 68, which is a cruel Killer Bs joke, and his velocity was up about 2 mph from his last big league stint in 2019. I mentioned he seemed like a candidate to add more sweep to his slider a la Nestor Cortes, but he threw only two sliders in his outing over the weekend, so we don’t know much about it yet. Banuelos finding another 2 mph on the fastball would be pretty neat though … And finally, Oswaldo Cabrera is the early favorite to be the guy who has a big Spring Training and everyone wants on the Opening Day roster. He slugged a grand slam Sunday. Here’s the video. That’s a pretty swing, huh? Cabrera, my No. 14 prospect, hit 29 homers last season after hitting 22 total from 2016-20. The utility infielder’s job is pretty wide open right now, so, maybe?

4. Remembering a random Yankee: Dustin Fowler. By request, this week’s random Yankee is the only position player in franchise history with zero career plate appearances despite starting a game. Here’s the random Yankee archive. You can find links back to everyone we've covered there.

Fowler grew up outside Atlanta and the Yankees gave him a $278,000 signing bonus as their 18th round pick in 2013 to buy him away from Georgia Southern. A speedy lefty hitting outfielder, Fowler had his breakout season in 2015, hitting .298/.334/.394 in 123 games between Low-A Charleston and High-A Tampa. Baseball America (subs. req’d) ranked Fowler the Yankees’ No. 10 prospect after that season. Here’s a piece of their scouting report:

He runs excellent routes in center field and takes a quick first step, too, which makes him appear even speedier than his home-to-first times would indicate. He hasn't shown it in games much yet, but some scouts believe there's enough raw power in Fowler's lefthanded swing to project average pop when he's done developing. Fringy arm strength is Fowler's only tool that ranks as below-average. When you put it all together, scouts can see an everyday center field job in Fowler's future if everything clicks.

At age 21, Fowler hit .281/.311/.458 with 12 home runs and 25 stolen bases in 132 games with Double-A Trenton in 2016. He was a fringe top 100 prospect going into 2017 (FanGraphs had him at No. 87 on their top 100) and he was outstanding with Triple-A Scranton that year, hitting .293/.329/.542 with 13 homers with 13 steals in 70 games.

The Yankees were dealing with injuries in late June and needed an outfielder, preferably a lefty hitter because they were scheduled to face nine righty starters in the next 10 games. That led them to call up Fowler, who reached the big leagues before being Rule 5 Draft eligible despite being an 18th round pick out of high school. He climbed the minor league ladder very quickly.

Fowler, then 22, made his MLB debut on June 29th, 2017, on the road against the White Sox. He started in right field and batted sixth. Not ninth. Sixth. Fowler was the first Yankee to start in his MLB debut and hit as high as sixth since David Adams hit sixth in his debut in 2013. Before Adams it was Brett Gardner as the leadoff hitter in 2008 (Garrett Cooper and Chris Gittens have done it since Fowler). This was the starting lineup the night of Fowler’s debut. Look at this infield:

1. LF Brett Gardner
2. DH Aaron Judge
3. SS Didi Gregorius
4. C Gary Sanchez
5. CF Jacoby Ellsbury
6. RF Dustin Fowler
7. 1B Austin Romine (third straight start at first base!)
8. 2B Tyler Wade (third MLB game and second start)
9. 3B Ronald Torreyes

“I’m very excited. Glad to be here,” Fowler told Jeff Arnold before the game. “It’s always nice to be in Spring Training, and so I know a lot of familiar faces, but I’m just overwhelmed right now.”

The Yankees scored a run in the top of the first inning on a Gardner single, a Judge walk, and a Jose Abreu throwing error on a Gregorius ground ball. Fowler was on deck when Ellsbury flew out to left field to end the inning.

With two outs in the bottom of the first, Abreu shot a liner down the right field line. Fowler chased after it but couldn’t make the catch, and ran hard into the short side wall. He took a step away from the wall, then crumbled to the ground clutching his right knee. Fowler had slammed into a metal electrical box. He had to be carted off the field and needed season-ending surgery that night to repair an open rupture of his patellar tendon. Here’s the video.

“I know what it takes to get here and how hard he’s worked,” Joe Girardi told Arnold after the game. “What is supposed to be a really exciting day for him turns into a really bad day. I’m still in disbelief. I’m in tears for the kid. I know he’ll fight to get back here, but he’s out for a while.”

Fowler was placed on the injured list the next day (to replace him the Yankees called up Clint Frazier, who was making his MLB debut), and he remained in the hospital in Chicago while the Yankees went to Houston to continue their road trip. His parents drove to Chicago to stay with him, according to Bryan Hoch, and Fowler was able to travel to New York a few days later. He spent the next several weeks rehabbing at Yankee Stadium.

“This is a journey I’ve gone through my whole life. Now I’ve got to work that much harder to get there. Maybe it will be a little more special this go-round,” Fowler told Kevin Kernan the day after the injury. “Everything is as good as it can be right now. The surgery went well. That’s always a plus. I’m just going to take it day-to-day right now. It ruptured, but they were able to put it back in place and there wasn’t any other issues, so they said it’s going to be a pretty positive recovery. They said I’d be out for about four or five months and then be ready for the spring.”

Fowler never did play for the Yankees again. 32 days after his MLB debut and the injury, the Yankees sent Fowler to the Athletics as part of the Sonny Gray trade. Obviously Oakland knew about the injury at the time of the trade. James Kaprielian was three months into his Tommy John surgery rehab at the time, and the A’s were willing to bank on their long-term upside.

"It was a little unique. I don't think in the case of a couple of these guys, had they not been injured, that we would have been able to discuss them. We view it as a risk certainly, but we also view it as an opportunity,” Billy Beane said during a radio interview after the trade. “The unique thing about Fowler's injury is it wasn't one you commonly see in baseball so we had to do a lot of consulting with NFL orthopedics. With the patellar tendon, it's more of an NFL injury. The success on the return has been very positive."

About the trade, Fowler told Randy Miller: “I'm completely shocked. I didn't have a clue what was going on or if my name was in the scoop of everything. But it's part of the game. You never know when or what's going to happen, but I'll just do what I can. I know Cash is doing what he does. Their GM is doing what they have to do to win. It's part of it. I'll just do everything I can to help my new club."

Despite the injury, Baseball America moved Fowler into their top 100 prospects going into 2018 (he was No. 88), and he made his first start with the Athletics on May 11th. The stars aligned and it was at Yankee Stadium against Gray. Fowler received a nice ovation before his first at-bat (video) and recorded his first career hit later in the game. Here’s the video.

“That was special. I didn’t want to think about it too much. I already had nerves on my side, but it was awesome how the fans reacted. It was pretty special,” Fowler told Steven Marcus after the game. “(The injury) was brutal. You wouldn’t want that from anyone in their debut. It was a special moment that was taken from me. I was thankful that I was able to come back and get it again. You don’t know if you’re ever going to be able to come back or play again. It was such a serious injury. You didn’t know how messed up it would be.”

In 2018, Fowler hit .225/.256/.354 with six homers in 69 big league games with the A’s. He spent the entire 2019 season in Triple-A, hitting .277/.333/.477 with a Las Vegas club that managed a .298/.371/.531 batting line as a team. The rocket ball and that hitter-friendly desert environment was a hell of a combination, huh?

Fowler spent 2020 at the A’s alternate site, then was designated for assignment last January to clear a 40-man roster spot for Trevor Rosenthal. Oakland traded Fowler to the Pirates for cash, he went 7-for-41 (.171) in 18 games with Pittsburgh, and was released in August. The Marlins (i.e. Yankees South) signed him soon thereafter, though he never did play a game in their organization. Fowler, now 27, is currently an unsigned free agent.

Tiny Baker, a shortstop with the 1919 Washington Senators, is the only position player in MLB history to start a game and finish his career with zero career plate appearances. Baker started a game that Sept. 14th, got spiked by Ty Cobb at second base, and never played again. Fowler avoided joining Baker in that club when he returned to the big leagues with Oakland in 2018.

I should note Fowler sued the White Sox and the agency that manages Guaranteed Rate Field for an undisclosed sum of money, claiming they “acted negligently by not securing the metal box or taking precautions to prevent players from colliding with it.” He filed the lawsuit in Dec. 2017, and a few months later a judge ruled the case can continue, which was a big deal. It eliminated the “athletes assume the risk of injury when they step on the field” defense.

I haven’t been able to find an update on Fowler’s lawsuit since that ruling in 2018. It might still be pending, the two sides could have settled at some point, or maybe Fowler quietly won and goes swimming in his money vault every morning like Scrooge McDuck. He’s still young and is center field capable. Hopefully he catches on with a team soon and can continue his career.

5. Rapid fire thoughts. An appeals court shot down the Yankees’ attempt to block the unsealing of a letter allegedly showing MLB hid a sign-stealing scandal, according to Brendan Kuty. Evan Drellich says MLB and the Yankees have 14 days to appeal the appeal (do they get to appeal the appeal of the appeal?), and if not, it’ll take a few weeks for the letter to actually be made public. It will be slightly redacted to protect identities. The judge said “MLB disclosed a substantial portion of the substance of the letter in its press release about the investigation,” which stemmed from the Red Sox’s Apple Watch scandal in 2017. The letter wound up in the courts because a bunch of DraftKings customers sued MLB claiming the sign-stealing scandal cost them money. Drellich says the Yankees argued the letter “would be distorted to falsely and unfairly generate the confusing scenario that the Yankees had somehow violated MLB’s sign stealing rules, when in fact the Yankees did not.” The judge said too bad, that argument carries little legal weight. So we’ll see what the letter says whenever it is unsealed. I’m glad ownership and the front office have to squirm a bit. This isn’t the reason I’d prefer, but it’ll do. (Here’s what Andy Martino reported on the letter in 2020.)

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