November 9th, 2021: Latest Roster Moves, Correa, Reds, Qualifying Offers

UPDATE (9:05am ET): Stephen Ridings is not listed on Baseball America's minor league free agent list, so I guess he's not a minor league free agent after all. Huh. He is Rule 5 Draft eligible this offseason. That I'm sure of.

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Looks like it’ll be Thursday for the annual Offseason Plan. I still have a good bit to write because I didn’t get nearly as much done this past weekend as I would’ve liked. My bad. It’s coming this week though, for sure. Let’s get to today’s thoughts.

1. Latest transactions. The offseason is officially underway. There were several deadlines on Sunday (option decisions, qualifying offer decisions, 60-day injured list activation, etc.) and the Yankees made several roster moves leading up to those deadlines. Let’s recap them all, going in order of when they were first announced or reported.

Pirates claim Allen

Greg Allen was on the Wild Card Game roster! Now he's a Pittsburgh Pirate. The Yankees put Allen on outright waivers to clear a 40-man roster spot prior to the 60-day injured list activation deadline, and the Pirates claimed him. Allen cleared waivers in March, but not this time. Had he cleared waivers, he would have been able to elect free agency, so he was gone either way.

Allen spent some time with the Yankees as a COVID replacement this year and went 10-for-37 (.270) with five stolen bases. Those five steals were fourth (!) on the team, and he was part of that brief Green Light Yankees period in August. Allen had a whale of a season with Triple-A Scranton, hitting .326/.442/.465 (152 wRC+) with 26 steals in 28 attempts in 73 games.

Once Brett Gardner declined his player option, I thought the Yankees might keep Allen around as a potential fourth outfielder. He switch-hits, he’s fast, he’s a good defender, and he’s only 28. If something better came along during the offseason, the Yankees could pounce and cut Allen then. If not, they’d at least be able to bring him to camp to compete for a job.

Allen is the only player the Yankees lost this weekend who I thought would be worth keeping, and even then we’re only talking about a fourth outfielder candidate. It’s fine. It’s not like the Yankees swimming with open 40-man spots. Allen gave the Yankees a nice little shot in the arm and didn’t hang around long enough to crash back to Earth. His cult hero status is cemented.

Red Sox claim Locastro

The Yankees dropped two potential fourth outfielders from the 40-man over the weekend: Allen and Tim Locastro. Locastro was activated off the 60-day injured list, put on outright waivers, and the Red Sox claimed him. The move technically doesn’t open a 40-man spot because Locastro was on the 60-day injured list, but he would have occupied a spot had the Yankees kept him.

Aaron Hicks got hurt on May 12th and the Yankees didn’t trade for Locastro until July 1st. They spent the interim seven weeks haggling with the Diamondbacks over Double-A relievers while Tyler Wade served as the backup outfielder. I’m not joking. The Yankees could’ve had Locastro days after the Hicks injury had they parted with a slightly better lottery ticket arm. Well, whatever.

Locastro appeared in nine games with the Yankees, going 4-for-21 (.190) with a homer before tearing his ACL making a leaping catch at the wall. Poor guy. Locastro is a 30-year-old fringe big leaguer whose game is built on speed, and now he’s coming off a major knee injury. Not great. He’s cheap though ($700,000 projected), so not much risk. Thanks for the nine games, Tim.

Angels claim Velazquez

Andrew Velazquez was somehow the first player born and raised in the Bronx to play for the Yankees (am I the only one shocked by that?), and now he’s an Angel. The Yankees put him on outright waivers and Anaheim claimed him. Lotta waiver claims this year, huh? Probably just a fluke thing rather than the start of the next great avenue of talent acquisition.

Velazquez, 27, started the Wild Card Game and went 15-for-67 (.224) with a homer and four stolen bases with the Yankees. He jumped into cult hero status with a 6-for-17 (.353) stretch against the Red Sox and Twins in August, including his first MLB homer. Velazquez hit .273/.362/.451 (119 wRC+) with 29 steals in 32 attempts in 77 games with Triple-A Scranton.

The eye test said Velazquez is a great defender, the numbers not so much (+0 DRS, -0.8 UZR, -4 OAA). I trust my eyes over 180.1 innings of defensive stats. The only legitimate shortstops on the 40-man roster right now are Wade and Oswald Peraza, and neither should be a big league regular in 2022. As we know, shortstop is a position that must be addressed this winter.

That said, dropping Velazquez was an easy call. For a contender, he’s an up-and-down depth guy or a bench piece at best. I thought Velazquez might clear waivers and return to the Yankees on a minor league contract given the hometown Bronx kid thing, but that’s off the table now. Stupid Angels. Velazquez is joining his fifth team in 29 months. Enjoy Disneyland, Andrew.

Brantly outrighted, elects free agency

Hark, a player who was not claimed off waivers. Catcher Rob Brantly cleared waivers and was outrighted off the 40-man roster, then elected free agency. The 32-year-old got into six games as a COVID replacement this year (including a start at first base!) and went 3-for-20 (.150) with a double. He hit .289/.379/.456 (127 wRC+) with nine homers in 68 Triple-A games.

Like Allen and Velazquez, Brantly was on the Wild Card Game roster. He was also part of the postseason taxi squad last year, so the Yankees trust Brantly enough to use him in the postseason, if necessary. I could definitely see another reunion on a minor league deal. You always need catching depth, Brantly knows the pitching staff, and the Yankees like him given how much they've employed him. It fits.

Yankees decline Rodriguez’s option

As expected, the Yankees declined their $3M club option for Joely Rodriguez, and instead paid him a $500,000 buyout. Actually, the Rangers are on the hook for the buyout, since they ate all the money owed to Rodriguez (and Joey Gallo) in that trade. There’s no luxury tax burden or anything. For the Yankees, it’s a clean break.

In a vacuum, I think Rodriguez at $3M is a nice deal. He’s a monster left-on-left matchup guy, holding lefties to .200/.277/.267 (.248 wOBA) with 32.1% strikeouts and 74.5% grounders the last two years. Righties eat him up though (.305/.357/.404 and .328 wOBA), and that’s an issue in the three-batter minimum era. Plus the Yankees aren’t short on relievers, so they moved on.

Rodriguez is a free agent now despite having less than six years of service time. He spent a few years in Japan and, as a professional courtesy, MLB allows players from overseas to become free agents once their contract expires regardless of service time. Normally Rodriguez would be arbitration-eligible this winter. Instead, he’s a free agent.

Sands added to 40-man

Welcome to the 40-man roster, Donny Sands. The Yankees added Sands, a converted third baseman, to the 40-man Sunday to prevent him from becoming a minor league free agent. The 25-year-old wasn’t invited to Spring Training as a non-roster player this year. Now he’s on the 40-man. Pretty cool. Gotta love an underdog story.

Sands broke out this season, hitting .261/.326/.466 (112 wRC+) with 18 home runs in 94 games split between Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton. He had eight home runs in 274 career games prior to this season, and had never played above High-A. Also, Sands hit those 18 homers with a promising 15.0% strikeout rate. Here’s MLB.com on his defense:

Sands has the soft hands, solid arm strength and enough quickness to stick at third base. After years of hard work and battling through injuries, he has made himself into a capable receiver whose arm plays as average behind the plate. He projects as an offensive-minded backup and has drawn trade interest from other clubs this summer.

The fact Sands drew trade interest all but guaranteed the Yankees would add him to the 40-man roster. Had he become a free agent, at least one other team out there would have given him a Major League deal and put him on the 40-man. I’m sure of it. Even if the Yankees don’t want to keep Sands, they at least have the option of trading him rather than losing him for nothing.

I think the Yankees like Sands though, and will keep him as their optionable third catcher going into 2022. He can go up and down without waivers in 2022, 2023, and 2024, and after 2024, Kyle Higashioka will be a free agent. You can see a path in which Sands spends his three minor league option years as the third catcher, then replaces Higashioka as the backup.

Ridings not added to 40-man

Unless he’s already signed a new minor league contract or originally signed a two-year minor league contract (or has something else going on that I don’t know about), Stephen Ridings is a minor league free agent. He was not added to the 40-man roster Sunday and qualifies for minor league free agency as a “second contract” free agent.

Ridings wowed in his brief big league stint and was very good in the minors (42 strikeouts and four walks in 29 innings), though he suffered an elbow injury in September and never returned to the mound even though the Yankees indicated he would pitch into games before the season ended. Maybe he had a setback or the injury was worse than expected?

The Yankees are deep in power relievers and it could simply be that they like some others more than Ridings. I noted in my Rule 5 Draft preview he wasn’t a stone cold lock to be added to the 40-man for that reason. The Yankees could always re-sign Ridings to a new contract and put him on the 40-man at the Rule 5 Draft protection deadline. This just means he’s a free agent right now. Not necessarily that he’s gone for good.

No Yankees receive qualifying offer

Not surprisingly, the Yankees did not tender the qualifying offer to any free agents prior to the deadline Sunday. They only had three eligible free agents anyway: Brett Gardner, Corey Kluber, and Darren O’Day. Any of them would’ve taken the one-year, $18.4M contract in a heartbeat. (Anthony Rizzo was not eligible for the qualifying offer because he was traded at midseason.)

As a team that did not exceed the luxury tax threshold nor receive revenue sharing this year, the Yankees will have to forfeit their second highest 2022 draft pick and $500,000 in international bonus pool money each time they sign a qualified free agent this offseason. That’s the signing period that begins in 2023, to be clear. Not in January. So, no qualifying offer news Sunday.

Yankees activate 60-day injured list players

The Yankees had seven players on the 60-day injured list at the end of the season. One was O’Day, whose contract options were declined and became a free agent. Another was Locastro, who was lost on waivers. The other five: Miguel Andujar (wrist), Zack Britton (elbow), Clint Frazier (vision), Aaron Hicks (wrist), and Luke Voit (knee).

All five players were activated as required prior to Sunday’s deadline and the Yankees currently have 39 players on the 40-man roster. The Rule 5 Draft protection deadline is next Friday and I expect Oswald Cabrera, Everson Pereira, and Randy Vasquez to be added. Chris Gittens and Rougned Odor stand out as the next 40-man casualties, but who knows. The Yankees keeping Odor and his $0 salary and luxury tax hit wouldn’t surprise me in the least.

2. Other moves around MLB. The Yankees were not the only team to make moves over the weekend. A few other goings-on around the league caught my eye and could have an impact on the Yankees, either directly or indirectly. A few thoughts on a few non-Yankees moves.

Astros make Correa another offer

Over the weekend Mark Berman, a longtime Astros reporter who is very plugged in, reported Houston has offered Carlos Correa a five-year contract worth $160M ($32M per year). That is at least the third contract the Astros have offered Correa, and that has been confirmed by Correa himself. Here are their other offers:

• First offer: 6 years, $120M
• Second offer: 5 years, $125M (made no later than April, per Chandler Rome)
• Third offer: 5 years, $160M

Six years and $120M is the Xander Bogaerts contract. He signed that deal in April 2019, when he was 26 and a year away from free agency. Houston offered Correa that contract prior to this season sometime, when he was 26 and a year away from free agency. Same point in his career. I don’t blame the Astros for trying. Bogaerts gave the Red Sox a pretty sweet deal.

The most recent offer, five years and $160M, is roughly the Jose Altuve extension (five years and $151M). Altuve signed that contract in March 2018, when he was about to turn 28 and two years away from free agency. Even coming off his now-tainted MVP award in 2017, Altuve then had less leverage than Correa does now given his age and proximity to free agency.

”I guess you’re looking for a number. We kind of know where he’s looking,” Astros owner Jim Crane told Berman last week. “We’re gonna try to give him something that fits into our formula and hope it fits into his formula.”

Five years and $160M is a lowball offer. Laughably so, really. Manny Machado was a few months away from his 27th birthday when he signed his 10-year, $300M contract with the Padres. Correa just turned 27 in September. A 10-year deal is appropriate. (When a 10-year deal is up, Correa will be younger than DJ LeMahieu will be when LeMahieu’s contract is up.)

The contract benchmark for Correa is not Bogaerts or Altuve. It’s Francisco Lindor, who signed a 10-year deal worth $341M this spring. He signed that contract at age 27, and when he was a year away from free agency. Correa is a free agent right now and can reasonably seek more. I don’t think anything less than 10 years and $342M gets you in the door, but we’ll see.

That said, the Collective Bargaining Agreement is up in three weeks, and who knows how that will change/shape the market. I don’t think any of the big free agents will sign before the CBA expires (because teams won’t sign them, not because they don’t want to sign), and if the lockout greatly condenses free agency as expected, getting 10 years and $342M+ may be impossible.

Not much we can do other than see what the CBA looks like. Houston’s offers to Correa do not appear to be competitive, however. Those are textbook “well, we tried” offers. I don’t know what the Astros are thinking here -- they tanked to draft No. 1 overall and landed his great franchise player, and now they won’t sign him? -- but some other team will benefit. I hope it’s the Yankees.

14 receive qualifying offer

A whopping 14 players received the qualifying offer prior to Sunday’s deadline. That’s up from six last offseason, and is the most since a record 20 players received the qualifying offer during the 2015-16 offseason. We can drop those 14 players in one of three buckets:

• Definitely declining: Nick Castellanos (will decline, per Bobby Nightengale), Michael Conforto (will decline, per Jeff Passan), Carlos Correa, Freddie Freeman, Robbie Ray, Corey Seager (will decline, per Jorge Castillo), Marcus Semien, Trevor Story
• Likely declining: Brandon Belt, Eduardo Rodriguez, Chris Taylor
• Could accept: Raisel Iglesias, Noah Syndergaard, Justin Verlander

Players who were traded at midseason (Javy Baez, Kris Bryant, Nelson Cruz, Starling Marte, Max Scherzer, etc.) and players who have previously received the qualifying offer (Alex Cobb, Kevin Gausman, Marcus Stroman) are ineligible for the qualifying offer, so they’re on the market with no strings attached this winter.

Verlander made only one start the last two years because of elbow trouble that required Tommy John surgery. If he declines the qualifying offer, it will mean he wants more than $18.4M. That’s pricey for a soon-to-be 39-year-old coming off elbow reconstruction, even if he is a future Hall of Famer. I suspect we’re going to hear lots of Yankees-Verlander rumors this winter. Just a hunch.

(Verlander is 13 months out from surgery now and Britt Ghiroli reports he threw for teams at Eric Cressey’s facility yesterday, where he’s trained for years. The Yankees were of course in attendance, according to Joel Sherman. I can’t imagine Verlander was anywhere close to midseason form. This was more of a “hey look, I’m healthy” showcase.)

More interesting than the 14 players who received the qualifying offers are some of the players who did not receive one. Three stand out in particular: Jon Gray, Clayton Kershaw, and Carlos Rodon. Rodon had a marvelous year but has a long injury history, and the White Sox tend to run a tight payroll. Are they being cheap? Are they worried about his health? Both? I dunno.

The Rockies badly screwed up with Gray. They didn’t trade him in July because they want to sign him long-term, and Nick Groke and Eno Sarris (subs. req’d) report Colorado recently offered three years and $40M or so. Free agency was right around the corner though, so Gray declined, and now he can talk to teams who don’t play in Coors Field. No idea how you keep him at the deadline when you’re not willing to qualify him as a last resort. Ah, the Rockies.

As for Kershaw, I think one of three things is happening. One, they’re close to an extension and the qualifying offer is unnecessary. Two, the Dodgers are doing Kershaw a solid after all he’s done for the franchise, and letting him test the market without draft pick compensation hanging over his head. Or three, Kershaw’s elbow is a mess and the Dodgers don’t want to risk having to pay him $18.4M to rehab next year. He had recurring forearm issues this summer. Eek.

Rodon and Kershaw not getting a qualifying offer is a bit of a red flag given their injury concerns. Gray is the non-qualified free interest who really interests me. He’s pitched well in a tough home ballpark throughout his career (he has basically no home/road split) and it’s premium stuff. I’d love to see what this guy could do pitching at sea level consistently.

The Yankees have been connected to Gray on and off over the years, though that was fans and media connecting the dots more than hard rumors or interest. They did draft him once upon a time (10th round in 2011), so there was interest at one point, but who knows whether it still lingers. The Rockies screwed this up and some other team will benefit. Gray is this offseason’s “untapped potential” guy similar to Zack Wheeler two years ago.

Cubs claim Miley

Last week the Reds essentially salary dumped Tucker Barnhart on the Tigers. Cincinnati took a non-prospect in return, allowing them to avoid the $500,000 buyout of his $7.5M club option. A few days later the Reds put lefty Wade Miley on waivers in hopes of avoiding the $1M buyout of his $10M club option, and the NL Central rival Cubs claimed him. So, mission accomplished.

Miley, 35 next week, was sneaky great this season, throwing 163 innings with a 3.37 ERA (3.97 FIP) and one of the lowest average exit velocities in the league (85.7 mph). The MLB WAR leaderboard among pitchers:

1. Zack Wheeler: +7.6 WAR
2. Walker Buehler: +6.7 WAR
3. Robbie Ray: +6.7 WAR
4. Max Scherzer: +6.0 WAR
5. Gerrit Cole: +5.7 WAR
6. Wade Miley: +5.7 WAR

Do I think Miley was actually as good as Cole this year? No, I do not. Do I think Miley will be that good again next year? No, I also do not. But Miley has spent the last decade as a league average innings guy, and that’s worth $10M on a one-year commitment. And yet, rather than keep him and try to trade him*, the Reds put him on waivers and let a division rival claim him.

* Reds GM Nick Krall told Nightengale he tried to trade Miley, but found no takers. That’s the kinda thing that happens when everyone knows you’re cheap, and likely to put the guy on waivers or decline his option and make him a free agent.

The Yankees didn’t have a chance to claim Miley (the Cubs are far ahead of them on the waiver order) and that’s not really what I want to discuss anyway. I just want to revisit something I said two weeks ago: teams will straight up give you good players these days as long as you pay their salaries. The Braves took advantage at the deadline, and the Cubs just did it with Miley.

I’m not sure how far the Reds will go with their cost cutting, but the Yankees might as well call about Luis Castillo (projected $7.6M), Jesse Winker (projected $6.8M), and even Nick Senzel (projected $1.1M). Winker’s an imperfect fit because he’s basically a DH, and Senzel’s hurt all the time, but they’re talented and might be available at a discount because the Reds are cheap.

Point is, teams will give guys away to save money. The Reds have done it and so have the Athletics, who let Bob Melvin go for no compensation and declined their reasonable $4M club option for Jake Diekman. Surely other teams will dump salary as well. The biggest market inefficiency in baseball is spending money. The Yankees should dominate this market given their resources.

Giants claim Palumbo

Lotta waiver claims this weekend as teams cleaned up their 40-man rosters. More than usual. I count 11 waiver claims over the weekend alone. There were 11 waiver claims all November in 2019, the last November in a normal offseason. The Yankees did not claim anyone but they did lose three players on waivers (Greg Allen, Tim Locastro, and Andrew Velazquez).

Only one of the 11 players claimed on waiver this past weekend jumped out to me: Joe Palumbo. The lefty went from the Rangers to the Giants, and the fact a very smart team claimed him makes me think I’m not crazy for thinking there’s something there. Palumbo, 27, is a Stony Brook native and he threw only 6.2 innings this season (all in Triple-A) because of back trouble.

Entering 2020, Palumbo was a top 10 Rangers prospect, and this spring Baseball America (subs. req’d) said he “has a 92-94 mph fastball and a 77-80 mph curveball that makes life hard on lefthanded hitters,” and the “stuff is there to be a quality pitcher.” Palumbo’s spin rates during his brief 2019-20 MLB stints were strong and the fastball has carry up in the zone (video links):

You can see how Palumbo would be tough on lefties. The concern is health more than stuff. Palumbo had Tommy John surgery in 2017 and missed most of this year with the back problem. Also, he has ulcerative colitis and maintaining his weight and strength is a challenge. Between injuries and the pandemic, Palumbo has thrown only 165.1 innings since 2017.

The Yankees passed on Palumbo -- the Giants had the best record in baseball and are thus at the back of the waiver line, so every other team passed too -- and I get it. They’re not exactly lacking interesting relief candidates, and 40-man space is at a premium. I just thought Palumbo stood out among all the waiver fodder. I bet the Giants turn him into a useful piece.

3. Remembering a random Yankee: Derek Lowe. By request, this week’s random Yankee is a pitcher who spent most of his career pitching against the Yankees. Here’s the random Yankee archive. You can find links back to everyone we've covered there.

Lowe grew up in the Detroit suburbs and was a four-sport star (baseball, basketball, golf, soccer) in high school. He signed with the Mariners as their eighth round pick in the 1991 draft and he made his MLB debut with Seattle in April 1997. Three months later, he was involved in one of the most lopsided trades in baseball history:

• Mariners get: Heathcliff Slocumb
• Red Sox get: Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek

"In Slocumb, we have experience late in the game," Seattle GM Woody Woodyard told Gordon Wittenmyer following the trade for Slocumb, a former All-Star closer. For the Mariners, the end result was +0.4 WAR coming in and +57.3 WAR going out (+29.8 WAR if you limit it to Lowe’s and Varitek’s team control years only). Ouch.

Lowe spent 1998-2001 in the bullpen, including saving 42 games and earning an All-Star Game selection in 2000, then he moved into the rotation. In 2002, he went 21-8 and had a 2.58 ERA in 219.2 innings, and he threw a no-hitter against the (Devil) Rays that April as well. Lowe finished third in the AL Cy Young voting behind Barry Zito and Pedro Martinez that year.

Famously, Lowe started Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS on two days rest because the Red Sox had no one else to start. He threw 88 pitches in 5.1 innings three days earlier. Nowadays teams would use a bullpen game. Back then they sent a guy out there with two days of rest in a Game 7. Crazy, eh? Lowe held the Yankees to one run on one hit in six innings. He threw 69 pitches.

“I don’t believe in that,” Lowe told David Laurila in 2012 about whether pitching on short rest in Game 7 helped his sinker. “I would much rather pitch at full strength. You still need your legs under you, and you still need your arm in the right arm slot. If you get too tired, your ball doesn’t move any more. I promise you. They should do that on the show MythBusters, because it’s not true.”

2004 was Lowe’s final season with the Red Sox. He signed a four-year, $36M contract with the Dodgers that offseason, threw 850.1 innings with a 3.59 ERA with Los Angeles, then signed a four-year, $60M contract with the Braves in Jan. 2009. That deal didn’t go so well. Lowe had a 4.57 ERA in 575.1 innings with Atlanta from 2009-11.

The Braves salary dumped Lowe on Cleveland in Oct. 2011 and the then 39-year-old pitched terribly, allowing 79 runs in 119 innings to begin the season. On Aug. 10th, Cleveland cut bait, and released Lowe. Three days later the Yankees signed him to a league minimum contract because CC Sabathia went on the injured list and they needed pitching depth.

“You know, it’s been a long time since I was with Boston,” Lowe told Zach Schonbrun about moving to the other side of the rivalry. “These cities demand that you play well. That’s something I understand, having pitched eight years in Boston and then LA. You understand what’s expected of you.”

The Yankees wasted no time throwing Lowe into the fire. A few hours after finalizing his contract, Lowe was on the mound in Yankee Stadium, trying to protect a three-run lead against the two-time defending American League champion Rangers. With the bullpen taxes, he threw four scoreless innings to record his first save since 2001. Here’s the video.

“I heard a lot of people saying ‘Derek, I love you,’ and I don’t know if they were talking to me or Jeter,” Lowe jokingly told Schonbrun after the game. “... So far, so good. I’m not going to do jumping jacks tonight because you pitched one good game. We’re in this thing for the long haul.”

Lowe pitched more with the Yankees than I remembered. He appeared in 17 games, including picking up a win against the Red Sox with two scoreless innings in Game 161. That said, the four-inning save was Lowe’s highlight as a Yankee. At one point he allowed a run in six straight appearances, and only nine of his 17 outings were scoreless despite pitching in short-ish relief.

“It’s the first time in 16 years I’ve never had a role,” Lowe told Schonbrun in September. “Even when you’re the long guy, at least you knew you were the long guy. So if a starter went down, you were the first guy to go in. I think that’s tough. But there’s nothing you can do. You just pitch when you’re asked.”

Lowe finished the season with nine runs allowed in 23.2 innings as a Yankee and it was not certain he’d be on the postseason roster. “You just do the math. They’re not going to carry 17 pitchers in the playoffs … I wasn’t very good at high school math, but when you start adding up people that are guaranteed to be on it, it adds up pretty fast,” Lowe told Schobrun.

Ultimately, the Yankees carried Lowe over Cody Eppley on the postseason roster -- “I really appreciate the opportunity. It’s great to get a chance to be in the postseason again,” Lowe told Pete Abraham -- and he made three appearances in October, all in losses:

• ALDS Game 4 vs. Orioles: Retired Adam Jones in the 13th inning, the only batter he faced. Baltimore took the lead earlier in the inning against David Phelps.
• ALCS Game 1 vs. Tigers: Retired Prince Fielder, then gave up a homer to Delmon Young and a double to Jhonny Peralta. Charged with two runs.
• ALCS Game 4 vs. Tigers: Gave up a homer to Austin Jackson, then retired Omar Infante, Miguel Cabrera, and Fielder.

Three appearances, nine batters faced, two home runs, three runs allowed. Ouch. Those would be the final postseason games of Lowe’s career. 232 players have played at least one game for both the Red Sox and Yankees, and Lowe’s 384 games with Boston are the most by a pitcher among those 232 players, one more than Roger Clemens.

Lowe signed with the Rangers in Spring Training 2013 and made the Opening Day roster, but got released in May after giving up 13 runs in 13 innings. He retired soon thereafter. Lowe finished with a 4.03 ERA in 2,671.1 innings (23.2 in pinstripes). He made over $110M in his career, and other than working with various charities that fight cancer (he’s a cancer survivor), it seems Lowe is doing nothing these days other than playing golf and living the retired life.

5. Rapid fire thoughts. As expected, Gerrit Cole is a finalist for the AL Cy Young award. He’s up against Robbie Ray and Lance Lynn. I imagine Ray will win and Cole will finish second. The Yankees do not have any other awards finalists this year, which isn’t surprising. Shohei Ohtani and Vlad Guerrero Jr. were always going to be two of the three AL MVP finalists, and Marcus Semien seemed destined to finish third most of the summer. He’s the other finalist and Aaron Judge is in the mix for a fourth place finish. Because of the injuries, Judge did not receive any MVP votes in 2019 and 2020. He surely received some votes this year, and I imagine he’ll finish higher than he did in 2018 (12th) … A Yankee won a Gold Glove! Kinda. Joey Gallo won his second straight AL Gold Glove in right field. He only played nine games in right with the Yankees though, so the award is for his work with the Rangers. That said, Gallo is a Yankee right now, and he was presented as a Yankee during the announcement broadcast, so a Yankee won a Gold Glove. Neat … A coaching staff search update! The Yankees interviewed former Mets manager Luis Rojas for one of their open base coach jobs recently, according to Ken Rosenthal, and Ken Davidoff and Joel Sherman say the Yankees are likely to hire him as third base coach. Rojas was pretty bad as a manager, but he’s a longtime player development guy who is highly regarded within the game. The Mets put him in an impossible situation after having to hastily cut ties with Carlos Beltran. Based on his reputation, I suspect Rojas would be a solid base coach. That’s a little more along his wavelength … The Hiroshima Carp will indeed post outfielder Seiya Suzuki this offseason, reports Jon Morosi. The Japan Series will end later this month and once posted, Suzuki will have 30 days to negotiate a contract with any team. I honestly have no idea how it will work once the Collective Bargaining Agreement expires Dec. 1st. I guess we’ll find out. Here’s what I wrote about Suzuki last week … And finally, they started using a new pre-tacked baseball in the Arizona Fall League earlier this month, reports Josh Norris (subs. req’d). The reviews are mostly positive thus far. “I think from what I've seen and heard everybody's liking the new ones a little bit more,” Athletics prospect Brock Whittlesey told Norris. MLB is trying to develop a sticky baseball like the ball used in Japan so they can really hammer down on foreign substances, yet still help pitchers grip the ball. I’m sure the current prototype will be tweaked and tested a few more times before we see it in the big leagues, though MLB is working on it. Good news.

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